Hmmm… Now, to be honest, I kinda miss crime story Tarentino. The even bigger chinned fella than myself who brought us Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction and even Jackie Brown. That’s not to say that I don’t think Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 are 4 hours of a great 2 hour film or that Death Proof didn’t have a cool car chase after all the boring-ass dialog. And, yeah, I’m going to to see Inglorious Basterds because, darn it, I love going to the movies.

So! Quentin chatting about his fave movies since he first directed a feature in 1992 is pretty interesting… I love that he seems to be completely honest and doesn’t feel the need to try to select critical darlings or anything like that. Good ol’ QT.

Once I agree with: Boogie Nights (amazing movie all around in pretty much every cinematic way), Fight Club (still talking about this one — in fact, just had a discussion about it today), The Matrix (yeah, it changed the game — despite the lackluster sequels), Shaun of the Dead (simply one of my favorite good time movies), Unbreakable (brilliant, and not recognized like it should be — one of the best superhero movies of all time).

I think this video might be old, but it’s cool he did this. Reminds me of why I like good ol’ QT.

Readers, odds are you know all about Superman’s main powers. We’re talking the flight, the strength, the speed, the invulnerability, the x-ray vision. You knew about those, right? Well, there’s also heat vision, super breath (cold when needed, also can be just windy), and super hearing.

Those are a shitload of powers, aren’t they? I mean, who would want or need more?

Movie Superman, that’s who.

In Superman II, we see the debut of several new powers: astral projection (?), laser finger, and, like, teleportation or something. But the greatest, the most awe inspiring, was the never before and never again seen PLASTIC WRAP SUPERMAN THROWING “S”!!!

But a power perhaps even awe-inspiring-er happens around minute 3:08  of Superman’s “epic” uncut 9 MINUTE AND 35 SECOND fight with the Nuclear Man from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

What is this movie Superman ability? None other than… GREAT WALL OF CHINA REBUILDING VISION! Yes, this is an incredibly specific power. He shoots this blue laser out of his eyes that apparently rebuilds the Great Wall of China brick by brick. Does it rebuild other walls? Or just Chinese ones? We don’t know, as this ability hasn’t been sufficiently explored since for my tastes.

That’s just the best part of this slow moving battle, though. If you want to see some truly cheap visual fx and experience how unkind the mid- to late-80s were to the Superman movie franchise, watch the whole thing! (Also worth noting: wind in space.)

It’s been many years since these movies let us know of the Plastic Wrap Throwing “S” and Great Wall of China Rebuilding Vision, but Superman comic book lore has yet to accept these Superman powers. Where would we be if the comics hadn’t adopted Super-flying? (From the Fleischer Studio cartoons of the 1940s.) Or his vulnerability to Kryptonite? (From the radio serial, devised when the voice-actor who played Superman wanted to take a vacation.)

All I know is: if Super-boy-man had thrown a plastic “S” or rebuilt a wall with eye lasers in Superman Returns instead of just being a peeping Tom on skinny Lois and lifting heavy things, the Superman Returns Again would already be out by now.

So, I live on the second floor of my majestic apartment building in sunshiny Hell A with my roommate, Prince Thrifty. It’s the second of three floors, and the Prince has made it no secret that he prefers to be at the top of wherever he is, with the power to reign over all he sees. There were no third floor apartments available when we first moved in, though, so it was to the second floor we went. And it worked out for us for the past year and half.

Now, however, the apartment directly above us has opened up. And the Prince, always looking for a better deal, wants the higher, top floor vantage point.

How do I feel about all this, you might be wondering if you’re still reading? Well, my usual response is to say that I don’t care. And part of me feels that’s true. But… but… do I care? Maybe I care more than I let on about things. Just want everyone around me to be happy, you know? And I’m fine so long as I have my interwebs and my TV and my comics, I’m a’ight, you know? I’m simple folk.

The truth, however, is that moving is always a PIA (“pain in the ass” – did I just make that up?)… this is only one floor up, though. Literally, it is the apartment directly above us. So, it’s no big, right?

As I always recommend to anyone who comes to me for advice when a decision is to be made (keeping or quitting a job, breaking up with or staying with a significant other, black or white pleather pants), a “Pros & Cons” list is the surest way to help clarify things. So, let’s rock this so ‘n so…

PROS:

1. It has a better view — rooftops and mountains in the far off distance instead of the windows of the apartment building right across the alley from us where I once might’ve seen Raymond Burr murder someone. (Or am I getting me confused with someone else?)
2. Never will there be the clumping and clopping of tenants above us.
3. The spirit of the Confederate soldier who died in my room probably won’t follow us to haunt the apartment above.
4. We’ll lord over all others, from the highest point in the complex, looking down upon our neighbors like Thor and Odin lording over the feeble humans of Midgard.
5. When the inevitable zombie uprising comes, it’ll be harder for them to get to us. Sure, we have swords ready for the battle and have practiced our back-to-back fighting stance, but this will give us more time to prepare, plus, attacking from above to thin their undead numbers before they even get to us — always good.

CONS:

1. Moving sucks.
2. It really, really sucks.
3. I hate moving.
4. Who doesn’t hate moving?
5. If ninjas attack from the rooftops, we’ll be the first to be hit. Swords and back-to-back fighting stances or no, we ain’t ninjas. We’re as good as dead.

So, as you can see, thought must go into this.

Wait… I think I already said I didn’t care. Hmm.

When ninjas drink too much coffee,

their teeth take on the color of toffee.

A belly full of this fine ass roast,

ain’t always something of which to boast.

Dig it: ninjas have to be stealthy…

…quiet and sneaky to stay healthy…

… and if they kill for money, to get wealthy.

But drinking coffee effs with their digestion…

Weird noises abound,

causing sneaking around,

without making a sound,

kinda out of the question.

That type of noisy stomach shit could get a ninja killed, man.

SHHHHHHHHHH!

Ninjas should not drink too much coffee.

……………………………………………………………………..

Need more Ninja Poetry in your life? Sure you do.

Want even more… ? Well, okay. (Just scroll down… middle-ish, right-hand column.)

As one of the editors of Image Comic’s POPGUN anthology, I gotta make decisions. Decisions that are sometimes super easy — Awesome artist I probably shouldn’t mention yet for the cover? Hell yeah! What a genius I am for suggesting that bit of obvious goodness! Just fell outta my brain! — and some that are damn difficult…

Every volume of POPGUN, we invite some of the best and brightest creators in the business. It’s amazing to have the chance to read so many darn good stories and often discover new (to me, anyway) talent.

The tough part comes when, even at nearly 500 pages available for the book, we have too much goodness! An embarrassment of riches, sure, but… ah, what goes in? And what… darn it… just can’t fit???

I keep hoping for some secret formula, but I guess it just ain’t gonna happen. Time for bullets to be bitten, debating with my co-editors (Anthony Wu and Adam P. Knave), and hoping for the best.

One thing we’re all already sure of though: POPGUN 4 is going to be awesome. It’s not scheduled to be released until January (tentatively), so it’s going to be a long wait, but it’ll be worth it. So much goodness. The books keep getting heavier and heavier. Not metaphorically. Literally. One could develop a weight training program around them.

After stretching, start off with the 448 pages of POPGUN 1. Do that until it gets easier, and then you need to challenge the muscles more. That’s when it’s time to bump it up to the 472 pages of POPGUN 2 and 3. You should be getting comfortable with those by January, which will be right around the time to increase your weight to POPGUN 4, which will be… well, we’re not 100% sure on the exact page count yet. Gotta decide. Get the “okay” on the exact page increase — but it will be BIGGER.

Okay, enough bloggy distractions. I need to get back to this crazy (and exciting) POPGUN 4 story list…