The Comic Book Collection by Kernie

[Punisherchad]

Not a request, I hate GI Joe

[Kernie]

Ugh... I guess I opened a giant can of worms with this last update. I don't think I have the energy to add all iterations of GI Joe to this collection.

Maybe it's time to retire since there's apparently a lot more work than I had anticipated. But seriously everyone, please refrain from requests (or "suggestions" or however you choose to phrase it), unless I ask for them. In all honesty, my interest is beginning to wane on this collection (doing anything in the same style for over three years will do that) and requests have always been the most discouraging thing about making these covers. So please, just let me make what I want at my own pace and hopefully I'll eventually get to the covers that you want. I know that doesn't sound very accommodating of me, but it's the best way to avoid making this hobby feel like work or that I owe everyone something. Thanks and I appreciate your continued support and understanding. If there is an important matter regarding the collection that you would like to discuss, please feel free to send me a PM. Thanks

[Punisherchad]

That was totally a joke! I'm sorry if you thought it was a request, I know better! I'd say all you have is new stuff coming, to me, conan and red sonja were just a special one time treat! Your pace is fine and I shall refrain from joking!

[Kernie]

Well, joke or not, I did do some more research and you were right, GI Joe was a comic strip before the toy line, so I could potentially consider it for entry into the collection. I had always assumed the old GI Joe (Ken-doll-sized figures) toy line came first, but apparently it did originate as a comic.

So, regardless of your intentions, your joke has made more work for me. From this point on... no more jokes of that type.

[Darksaber]

Ah the chicken or the egg syndrome

[Punisherchad]

QUOTE (kernie82 @ Jun 29 2012, 06:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, joke or not, I did do some more research and you were right, GI Joe was a comic strip before the toy line, so I could potentially consider it for entry into the collection. I had always assumed the old GI Joe (Ken-doll-sized figures) toy line came first, but apparently it did originate as a comic.

So, regardless of your intentions, your joke has made more work for me. From this point on... no more jokes of that type.

LOL That's insane, I was totally joking because of the Soloman Kane and whatnot, holy cow! Yeah, no more jokes like that, learn something new every day huh!

[Kernie]

QUOTE (Punisherchad @ Jun 29 2012, 12:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL That's insane, I was totally joking because of the Soloman Kane and whatnot, holy cow! Yeah, no more jokes like that, learn something new every day huh!

I understand now that it was a joke, but you'd be surprised how often I get PM's with serious requests for GI Joe and other things like that to be added to the collection. So please forgive me if I have trouble interpreting comments like yours as a joke.

[RRJR84]

Of course any new additions no matter what are always fantastic and sure they're would be other thins id love to see you do but i'd extremely happy and satisfied with what you've done, you've covered pretty much any cartoon and or movie ive ever wanted covers for that and i thank you for all your hard work. I joined this site for your comic collection and your my favorite artist hands down,not that any of the other artists aren't amazing. But ive grown to just love your style and all your work, Ive downloaded and printed a lot more than just comic covers of yours. I love all your covers, your work is amazing and inspiring and your the reason i decided to become a designer to begin with and all your patience and hard work in my early wips meant a great deal and helped alot. It because of you and my determination ive even reached where im at. so know that if or when you retire your legacy lives on no matter what.

[Punisherchad]

So what did we all think of the Amazing Spider-Man picture? I won't bury the lead, I think it was head and shoulders above the others with small exception to the CG on the Lizard being a bit weak in moments.

[Kernie]

Saw it last night and I'm having trouble deciding what I think of it. I'll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but if you haven't seen it and don't want anything ruined, don't read on.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!



I thought the web-slinging was outstanding and far better than anything we've seen in the Raimi films. The action scenes were also well done and really showcased Spidey's powers, agility, and (finally!) his sense of humor by wisecracking and mocking his opponents.

The romance between Peter and Gwen was much stronger than Peter and MJ, probably because they made Gwen likeable, as opposed to the ditzy-b!tch-floozy Kirsten Dunst. MJ was the biggest issue in all of Raimi's films... I could never understand why Peter would fall in love with her, besides the fact that the script said so. She jumped from boyfriend to boyfriend (Flash, Harry, John Jameson, Peter), got kidnapped by the villain in EVERY film, and was bi-polar in her relationship with Peter ("You missed my stupid, godawful play to save innocent people again!"). And Dunst was never really hot enough to pull off MJ... I never understood why Peter Jackson spent so much money on CGI Gollum when they could have Kirsten Dunst and her weird teeth available. But I digress... Emma Stone was way hotter, smarter, and much more believable in her flirtation/relationship with Peter.

Yes, the Lizard CGI was weird in places, but no worse than some moments with Sandman, Venom, and the Power-Ranger Green Goblin from Raimi's films. Connors also went from nice-guy doctor to mad scientist a bit too quickly and inexplicably, and his plan to mutate the human race was as silly as Magneto's in X-Men (and kind of reminded me of the Goombas from the Super Mario Bros movie). For a second-tier villain from Spidey's rogues gallery, I was surprised that they did a decent job with the Lizard. I was expecting far less. I also would have liked for Conners to have been a more wholesome family-man before the transformation (at least showing that he has a wife and son), but they decided to make him a single, slightly-unhinged scientist from the start, making what happens to him less tragic and sympathetic. (Oh, and what the hell happened to Irrfan Khan's Oscorp-executive character following the bridge sequence? He totally disappeared from the film!)

My main issues with the film are all the deja vu stuff from Raimi's movies, which I'm not sure is fair to blame upon this film (although it probably is, because the filmmakers knew they were making a reboot and could have spared us some of the tedious origin stuff). Most glaring is Uncle Ben's death and Peter's reaction to it. I loved the relationship between Peter and Ben in this film, Martin Sheen really did a great job of being a caring-but-stern-pseudo-father, but not once did the words "great power, great responsibility" ever get mentioned and Ben's death was so quick and anti-climactic that it didn't hold the weight that it should have. And Peter ONLY going after criminals that resembled Ben's killer was a big problem for me. In the comics, Peter was not motivated to become Spider-Man out of vengeance, he did it because of Ben's "power/responsibility" mentality. Becoming Spidey simply to find Ben's killer is selfish and shows that he learned nothing about his responsibility from his Uncle's death.

I was surprised how little the secret of Peter's parents actually played into the film. It's introduced and then forgotten about once the Spidey/Lizard/Gwen plots kick in, and to be honest, whatever his parents were up to is not as interesting as the present-day Spider-Man stories. The idea that Peter was somehow destined to become Spidey through his father's research and experiments is also silly. Peter was accidentally bitten by a spider and chose to use his accidental powers for the greater good (one of the better "life gives you lemons," "roll with the punches," "sh!t happens" lessons that exists in modern fiction). Being Spider-Man is a choice, not a destiny, because Peter is just a good-natured, helpful person. He's not Harry Potter, where he's destined for greatness and can't ignore it, Peter is destined for nothing but chooses to do what he can to help others. Whatever is up with his parents, I hope they leave "destiny" out of it in future installments. (And someone please tell Peter to stop taking his mask off and revealing his identity to EVERYONE... seriously, who doesn't know he's Spidey by the end of the film? Even Aunt May seems to have her suspicions.)

Which leads me to my final gripe... the mid-credits scene. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they use these scenes to reveal something that only the fans will really understand and excite them for the next installment (Fury's "Avenger Initiative," Mjolnir in the crater, the Cosmic Cube, and Thanos). In the Amazing Spider-Man, they use the scene to explain nothing and leave the fans scratching their heads as to what's going on. Other than the fact that there is some level of danger for Peter discovering more about his parents (which we knew from the opening scenes), the mid-credits scene tells us nothing and does little to excite the fans. A lame attempt by Sony to make us hungry for a sequel.

Sorry for the long and rambling review, but I'm trying to sort out my feelings for this film. At times, it's far better than Raimi's films, and at times it's worse. It might be unfair to compare the two, but considering how they tread the same ground, it's hard to see this film on its own. I hope the inevitable sequel sets out on its own path and does something different with this series, something to set it further apart from Raimi's films, so that it feels less like an unnecessary reboot to help Sony keep the rights and more like it's own trilogy that has it's own stories to tell. I hope that once more of the "bigger picture" is revealed, I'll have an easier time forgiving this film for re-telling an origin that we didn't need re-told.

But that's just my 28 cents...