ALTERNATE REALITY, serving Chicago comic fandom since 1978  That's over 40 years of service!                                                                                                    We started at the Comicbook Emporium in February of 1978, Five & Dime Comics from 1983 to 1994 and Alternate Reality ever since, thats over 40 years of serving Chicago South Side Comic Fandom                                                                   SAVINGS! SERVICE! SELECTION! HISTORY! We have it all!

Welcome to THE BEEF, the place where our contributors spout off on what's bugging them and I take no responsibility what-so-ever for what they have to say! If you want to read past BEEFS (and really, who wouldn't?) try the...


"COMICBOOKMAN"
BEEF ARCHIVES
CURRENT BEEF: 060306

"BOCEPHEUS"		 "As you read this I am on vacation in sunny Las Vegas (well actually just getting back) and since I haven't had access to the Sneak Peeks for this week I can't give you my thoughts on this weeks releases, So instead what you are getting is my random thoughts on what's going on in comics and anything else that comes to mind. Something we used to call THE BEEF!  Check the bottom of the page (after you read my reviews) for a link to some SNEAKY PEEKIES of future titles"
HOW ABOUT THAT 52
First off, let’s take a look at the weekly 52 and how things seem to be going so far. We saw in the first issue (and this seems to be a recurring theme) that Booster Gold seems to be the character being focused on the most simply because one of the things that was the most interesting part of Booster was that he knew what was going to happen because he was from the future. Well here, he starts off pretty darn confident that Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are going to appear at the park for the ceremony marking the end of the Crisis but finds out that they are gone. The following issues have shown him getting trumped and not knowing what he thought he knew and that seems to be a clear intent to make something out of a character that was more or less a joke. We have also focused on Renee Montoya and her life problems as she is watched by the Question who is watching Gotham in Batman’s absence. The creative team has also taken a look at Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man by introducing us to him at a point of despair (and yes, it would be impossible for a man made of rubber to shoot himself but lets go with that) and dragging him out of it by handing him a mystery that should serve to make the character interesting for a change. The larger problem with the character was always his redundancy since DC already had Plastic Man. We have also focused on Steel and dealing with the lack of growth in his niece while mixing him in with Lex Luthor who used the Crisis as an out for everything he has done for the past few years. #3 showed him next to the dead Alexander Luthor as he claimed that he had been locked away while this copy did such horrible things. It was a nice out and since Superman isn’t there to contradict him he gets away with it. The weekly grind hasn’t become a problem yet but you do wonder how DC is going to keep the interest level up as the summer moves in upon us. The style of the book makes it a long term commitment but after a while you know some fans are going to decide to wait for the trades and read the whole thing in one swoop. Art-wise, the book has been consistent but not spectacular and that may also cause some to walk away.

GENERAL STARK AND THE ARMIES OF THE POTOMAC
The second major event happening right now is Marvel’s Civil War and if you haven’t picked up the first issue you do yourself a disservice because it is amazing. We have been teased about the Superhero Registration Act (which would have heroes become more or less government employees with pensions and vacation plans) but in this first issue the act becomes more likely due to the idiotic team the New Warriors. In an attempt to draw ratings for their reality show they raid a villain hang out in Stamford, Connecticut (yep, where the WWE is based) and that results in the Captain Marvel villain Nitro starting an explosion that kills hundreds of school kids (kids and baby chicks getting killed always make you look bad). This pushes the government to get the law passed and during a wonderful sequence Captain America (who is a SHIELD employee) shows that he is against the idea by busting out of the Helicarrier and hitching a ride on a fighter jet (then taking the pilot out for a burger and coke). The first issue ends with a meeting at the White House and Tony Stark telling all present that he will take care of Cap. The split between the Marvel icons has been teased for a while but here we get the sense that the end results to all this will make things very different in the Marvel Universe. Characters will have to decide whether to sign up and let the government know who they are or live as outlaws helping regular people but are considered by our government as criminals. And what we also have to wonder (but is not dealt with in #1) is that if the heroes are in battle with the government then what are the villains doing? There are tie-ins going on in regular books (the first Wolverine drawn by Humberto Ramos deals with the hunt for Nitro) but the main story takes place in the regular book from Mark Millar and the sublime Steve McNiven. In a related note when I was watching the store one Saturday a customer came in and picked up #1 and two issues of the lead-ins to War and he asked me if he needed to pick them up to enjoy the story. I told him no, you don’t have to and that is the truth. No one is obligated to buy the related books but remember, there are things that are going to be dealt with there that will be touched on but not focused on in War. Wolverine will deal with Nitro, She-Hulk is dealing with the New Warriors, New Avengers will deal with the choices made by each team member, Civil War: Front Line will show us the effects of the War on Marvel in general and so on and so forth. If you just want to follow the War then stick to the limited series but don’t complain later about unanswered questions.

A BOTCHED INVASION
The TV season is over and we saw the end of Alias, the West Wing, Charmed and Invasion. The first three marked the end of the run for shows we watched for years but in the case of Invasion it was the end of a show that had great promise and died due to network and creative incompetence. The premise of the show was that aliens (well we assumed they were aliens) came down and dwelled off the coast of Florida. A major hurricane hit the town of Homestead and suddenly there were these weird lights in the sky that were living beings that absorbed humans when they were in the water and replaced them with water breathing copies. The main characters were the sheriff (the brilliant William Fichner), his wife, her ex-husband (a Ranger), his pregnant wife, her alien obsessed brother and their kids. Years before the sheriff was the sole survivor of a plane crash and he was merged/replaced by one of these lights. He was played as someone who felt the need to protect the town but was also shown as just a little bit off center. The season had a lot of twists and turns but the network (ABC) would take it off when things were getting good and the producers (ex-Hardy Boy Shaun Cassidy) spent way too much time on a subplot dealing with a crazy girl who ended up pregnant with aliens. Once things were righted and the relationship between the sheriff and the ranger twisted became more intertwined (they went from enemies to allies) the show became one of the best on TV but by then it was too late. The season ended with another hurricane (more hybrids were needed) and a shocking sequence that would make the main characters even more connected. Things ended with three characters at the water’s edge, one missing and total silence to a question that we the audience already knew the answer to. The season is coming out on DVD so wander into Blockbuster and rent it.

AND SHUT OFF THAT DAMN CELL PHONE
As far as movies go I would be remiss if I didn’t ask the following: How can a film that made $45 million dollars its first weekend be a ‘disappointment’? The film in question is Mission: Impossible 3 and even though it made three times more that the film that dominated the box office the previous weekend it was labeled a failure. Yes, Mission: Impossible 2 made more money its opening weekend but it opened Memorial Day weekend. Industry analysts went insane trying to figure out why the film didn’t make more. Tom Cruise is crazy was one reason but none focused on the fact that the damn thing was being bootlegged all over the city the day it came out. Why pay $10 to go see a movie when you can pay $5 and watch it at home? Sad to say there are a few people out there who feel that way (and having seen a copy of the film myself at work one night I have no idea why) due to the lack of class by some in the movie going audience. You have the cell phone babies who are apparently too weak to turn the things off, you have the folks who can’t shut up while the rest of us are trying to watch the movie (and that includes people of all ethnic backgrounds), the folks who bring a full course meal inside their bags and the kids who cant seem to sit the hell down. If you ask me the plot to MI: 4 should be Tom Cruise trying to stop people from acting like total asses when they go to the movies.
"See, I told you I'd be down here. We've got a bunch of SNEAKY PEEKIES of future MARVEL, DC and IMAGE titles right HERE"

Reviews © 2006 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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All books/images pictured on this page are the copyrighted property of their respective owners.
The views expressed are solely those of the individual writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Alternate Reality, Inc.

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