Lower Decks

I didn’t attend Comic-Con International: San Diego 2009 but I read all about it on the Internet. That’s almost like being there, right? No, probably not. Still, I discuss some of the videos I watched and some of the things I read about over the past four days. And I’ll review Captain America #601 (A Very Special Issue).

Comic-Con International: San Diego 2009

I watched some videos of G4′s Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira at Comic-Con. My cable company doesn’t offer G4 at the level I’m paying for but I’ve seen a few episodes of Attack of the Show . It’s my opinion that Olivia and Kevin are better served in short doses. This video, for example, is wonderful in that it presents a bunch of short clips in which Olivia appears in many interesting and revealing outfits. And Kevin dresses up as a giant squirrel. As always, you may not be able to view this video if you’re outside the United States.

Here’s another G4 video in which Kevin interviews Chuck‘s Yvonne Strahovski. Good stuff.

Also, the futon critic covered a wide variety of television panels including Dollhouse, FlashForward and Chuck. And on Monday they’ll be posting even more coverage, including Lost, Supernatural, Fringe and Ghost Whisperer. I’m sure if I tried I could have found plenty of Twitter feeds and blogs chock full of write-ups, quotes, reviews, pictures and videos. There are exclusive video previews of all sorts of shows floating around, some official, some bootleg. It’s a little overwhelming just trying to take in all the online coverage. I can’t even imagine how it must feel to actually attend Comic-Con.

As an aside, I can’t quite figure out why shows like Psych, Bones and 24 have panels at Comic-Con. They’re not comic related. They’re not even science-fiction, fantasy or horror shows (I suppose one could argue that they’re all somewhat fantastic, but that’s neither here nor there). Of course, Comic-Con has become such a media free-for-all and supposedly provides so much promotion that shows with any sort of “cult” following want to get involved.

Captain America #601

When this issue arrived from Marvel Subscriptions I tore open the packaging, took one look at the cover and almost burst out laughing. Above the title was the line “A Very Special Issue Of” and I couldn’t help but think of the stereotypical “very special” sitcom episode in which someone learns they’re pregnant or deals with drugs or bullying or an alcoholic father. What’s so special about this issue? According to a review at Comic Book Resources the story was supposed to appear in a 2007 annual. Whether that means it was finished back in 2007 or just planned for release in that year I don’t know.

Aside from the fact that it’s a flashback to an adventure Captain America and Bucky had during World War II, the issue also features art by Gene Colan who, as an introductory page explained, is a member of Marvel’s old guard. It turns out he’s actually 82 years old so it’s pretty darn impressive that he can still produce a full comic book worth of pencils. Unfortunately, mixed with Dean White’s coloring I found the artwork disappointing. Muddied might be the correct term. Many of the characters often looked deformed and although the atmosphere was intentionally dark, the art was often too dark.

As for the story itself, it was equally disappointing, a tale about vampires framed by a brief conversation between Nick Fury and James “Winter Soldier” Barnes about allies fighting allies. It’s not a comic I would have purchased if it wasn’t part of my subscription. Perhaps the black-and-white variant, in which Colan’s pencils stand alone without coloring, may have fared a little better. I don’t know. It probably should have been used as a story in an annual.