My October Picks

[Dan Slott]

Thought I'd start something new here...

A little heads up of what came out this past month that I thought was WELL worth my scratch/time/and-or-both.

Comic O' The Month:
BKV and Marcos Martin's DOCTOR STRANGE: THE OATH (Part 1 of 5)
Vaughan writes the best Doctor Strange story in decades. If you've ever been interested in reading about Stephen Strange-- even't if you have no idea what he's about or where he came from-- jump on here. I bought this one because I had a lot of trust in the creative team-- and I was NOT let down. Great, great comic!

TPB O' The Month:
INVINCIBLE Volume 7: THREE'S COMPANY
If you haven't read Kirkman's INVINCIBLE, you're missing out on one of the BEST ongoing superhero books on the market today. Seriously! Go out and buy the first two HC (which should take you up to INVINCIBLE #24), and then switch over to the trades till you're caught up! Go! I'll still be here...
...
So? Was I right or what?! Brilliant stuff! And Vol. 7 keeps the perfect track record going! (And, if you're a fan of Kirkman's MTU, there's a fun Easter Egg waiting for you.) Oh so good-- as always! And a major advancement for my favorite INVINCIBLE character: Robot!

BOOK O' The Month:
Scott McCloud's MAKING COMICS. While not as revolutionary or groundbreaking as McCloud's UNDERSTANDING COMICS (which I believe is the single BEST book about comics out there), MAKING COMICS is an awesome return to form-- and a book that EVERY comics fan should own.
Especially if they have any interest in MAKING comics. Just an all around PERFECT book about this medium-- and an entertaining read as well!

TV EPISODE O' The Month:
DOCTOR WHO: SCHOOL REUNION. How was that episode NOT dead on brilliant?! The return of Sarah Jane Smith! And K-9! AND an appearance by BUFFY'S Anthony Stewart Head?! Amazing! Great one-liners. Huge, smile-inducing moments. A smart look at the Doctor's almost Peter Pan/Wendy-like relationship with his assistants. Just well done on every level.
I spent a good chunk of my teen years growing up in England-- and addicted to Doctor Who-- and this is one of my favorite episodes. If you've got the SCI-FI channel and you're not watching this... AH! What're you waiting for?!

MUSIC O' The Month...
Sadly... Not listening to anything new this month. *Sniff*

DVD O' The Month...
Haven't picked up the JLU or BATMAN BEYOND box sets yet... So I'll have to go with the latest SCRUBS box set. I never seem to have time to watch it when it's on... So I'm VERY grateful to the season box sets! Best line of the season? "I have to be in Florence by midnight." I did NOT see the punchline for that coming AT ALL. Heck, I didn't even realise it was a set-up line! SCRUBS is good TV!

MOVIE O' The Month...
Sadly... Didn't get to go out and see a new flick. However, me and the girl caught FEVER PITCH (which I missed in the theater) on On Demand. And it was cute as a button. Good date flick if you've got the chance.

So? What was doing it for you guys in October?
ttyl
Dan

[Dingo]

Comic O' The Month:
Criminal by Brubaker. A very promising start. It feels like some sort of cross between gritty reality crime fiction (e.g. Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and suave and sophisicated career crims (e.g. Oceans Eleven).

TPB O' The Month:
Nothing Springs to mind.

BOOK O' The Month:
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. Technically a childrens/young adult book, but still great. Pratchetts kids books are better than most authors best work. Also, one of a very short list of writers that can make me laugh out loud. (Dan you are on the list too)

TV EPISODE O' The Month:
I don't watch enough TV to have a favourite of this.

MUSIC O' The Month...
Been listening to a lot of Cold Chisel lately. Not sure if that counts though since it is not new. But for all you Americans, find yourself a Cold Chisel Best of albumn for the best Australian music. Flame Tree's is my personal favourite.

DVD O' The Month...
Cars. Not Pixars best but it did have a lot to live up to. I don't think that they quite managed to make me like Lightning McQueen early enough for me to enjoy it properly.

MOVIE O' The Month...
The only movie I went to in the last month was The Devil Wears Prada. I came away pleasantly suprised but I had such low expectations that is not really saying much.

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

Neat idea, thanks Dan

COMIC O' The Month: Well seeing as there wasn't a She-Hulk in October (yeah yeah, butt-kissing, so sue me), I'm going with #1 of the new Bomb Queen miniseries 'Queen of Hearts'. In a word, gratuitous - sex, violence, cheap gags, the works - but smart, and that's the way we like it.

TPB O' The Month: Actually from last month, but I only got enough shinies saved up to buy it recently - Daughters of the Dragon: Samurai Bullets. Style, baby.

BOOK O' The Month: The Dumas Club by Arturo Perez-Reverte (not recent, I've just been re-reading it lately is all). 'The Ninth Gate' wasn't a bad adaptation, but the novel has so much more subtlety and guile that you really can't compare them. And as awesome as Emmanuelle Seinger is, the movie can't touch the novel's portrayal of The Girl.

TV EPISODE O' The Month: Battlestar Galactica's 'Downloaded'. Turning the tables and having Caprica Six hallucinate Baltar is one of the greatest ideas they've ever had, and that's saying something. Plus, a whole hour of manipulative Six, fractured Sharon, and frightening Lucy Lawless just can't be beat.

MUSIC O' The Month: Heather Nova's 'Redbird' album. The woman has never recorded a bad song in her life, or a song that's just a retread of something she's done before, it's that simple.

DVD O' The Month: Y'know what, I could pick one that's actually good, but... there's a special edition out at the moment, two discs, two hours of extra material, director commentary, custom-moulded plastic case modelled after a prop from the film, with a nice paint drybrush layer to bring out the detail. What movie merited this exorbitant, lavish production? Event Horizon. Yep, the half-assed Hellraiser In Space. How on earth did that happen? I nearly bought the boxed set out of sheer surprise that someone had gone to the trouble of making it.

MOVIE O' The Month: Haven't been to the big screen in a while, but on DVD some friends and I were lucky enough to catch Ice Planet. Not a good film - in fact, it could serve as the textbook example of 'so bad it's entertaining'. Everything about it is unintentionally hilarious. Perfect for watching and snarking at with friends, because the one thing it isn't is boring - every time the characters look like they don't know what to do and the plot grinds to a dead-end (every five minutes, just about) the script throws in some new, completely screwball development that'll just make you laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

[tom daylight]

Comic - Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man... specifically, the awesome Joss Whedon / Michael Gaydos story. A must-read for all comics fans!
TPB - Daredevil: The Devil in Cell Block D. I didn't get this as TPB but as single issues; this storyline achieved the impossible in that it surpassed Bendis' run straight off the bat.
Book - the Firefly scripts
TV - Extras, the BAFTA episode. Well-known faces doing terrible things came to a head here. More post-credits excellence and the finale episode was good too. Honourable mention to That Mitchell and Webb Show's "Numberwang" sketch.
Music - nothing new, been listening to the Smiths some more, and enjoying those OK Go videos again
DVD - I haven't even seen it but I know it'll be Family Guy series 5.
Movie - Children of Men is the only film I saw this "month" (if you include the last day of September). And it is, thus far, my favourite film of the year (out of the four I think I've seen). But I haven't seen Borat or Bond yet.

[Crimson]

Comic:
Criminal. I'm loving Ed Brubaker at the minute.

TPB O' The Month:
Captain America

BOOK O' The Month:
Haven't got a book in months that wasn't a TV tie-in or a "Comic Creators on...". I really need to get some new books.

TV EPISODE O' The Month:
Lost Season 3 Episode 4.


DVD O' The Month...
Scrubs. I love the show! It's so damn funny. I'm rewatching the 3rd season (and 24 season 1) over the next few weeks.

MOVIE O' The Month...
None this month apart from the ones in film class but their from the 50's so I don't think they count.

I REALLY need to try and get Invincible some time. I hear so much good stuff but my budget can't allow me to get the huge TPBS right now.

Doctor Who: School Reunion? You are far behind in the US... welcome to our would. You have some good stuff coming up. If you get Torchwood try that, its the more adult Doctor Who spin off. I think its so-so but everybody loves it over here.

[Anna]

COMIC O' The Month: I'll second DOCTOR STRANGE: THE OATH (Part 1 of 5). It was the best read I had in October. I suppose imagining Doctor Strange with Byron Orpheus' voice helps, but still! From the first page (which I loved) to the last it was all very, very enjoyable.

Honorable mention to ANNIHILATION #3.

TPB O' The Month: The Thing: Idol Of Millions TPB. It's from September, it seems, but I just acquired it, which is why I came to peek at this side of the board. I miss Ben being this funny on a regular basis.

BOOK O' The Month: I got nothing.

TV EPISODE O' The Month: Torchwood's premiere.

MUSIC O' The Month: I'm still on a Nouvelle Vague kick. Their second album, Bande A Part, was released a few months ago, but I didn't get it until October, so it still counts! I hope. It's a lovely band that makes lovely covers that often sound much better than the originals. This album (much like their previous one) puts you in a very relaxed, on-vacation state of mind. Much love.

DVD O' The Month: Nothing new, but I bought Kenneth Branagh's Henry V (1989) and Little Buddha (1993).

MOVIE O' The Month: The Prestige.

[Colin Solan]

COMIC O' The Month: I'm going to go with Fables #54 (I think that the right number) I love what Willingham is doing with Hansel. And the James Jean cover is scary as hell, one his best ever, which is really saying something.

TPB O' The Month: Fables: 1001 Night of Snowfall. I know, I know but Willingham and the myriad of artists on this project really knocked it out of the park. The artwork is gorgeous and the stories contain startling revelations about the Fables cast, particularly poor Flycatcher.

BOOK O' The Month: Did I read any non-graphic novels last month? I did read the two latest Star Wars novels but they were total dreck even though they brought back my favorite character from the old Marvel series. Oh! I have been listening to books on cd during my commutes back and forth to Boston. I listened to AMERICA: THE BOOK: THE AUDIOBOOK by Jon Stewart and the Daily Show Staff. That was hilarious

TV EPISODE O' The Month: I really enjoyed the "Tales of Ba Sing Se" episode of Avatar the Last Airbender. It was a good blend of comedy and drama.

MUSIC O' The Month: I dunno most of what I hear on the radio now annoys the crap out of me.

DVD O' The Month: I watched The Cat Returns an anime done by Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli. It was heartwarming and fun and I enjoyed it way more than I expected to.

MOVIE O' The Month: The Prestige was great!! Wolverine vs Batman!! And David Bowie as Nikola Tesla!! Andy Serkis played his assistant!! Totally saw the ending coming though.

[Anna]

TPB O' The Month: Fables: 1001 Night of Snowfall. I know, I know but Willingham and the myriad of artists on this project really knocked it out of the park. The artwork is gorgeous and the stories contain startling revelations about the Fables cast, particularly poor Flycatcher.

I... forgot about that one. I really liked it, but I had high expectations for Bigby's story and it wasn't matched, sadly. But Flycatcher's was fantastic.

TV EPISODE O' The Month: I really enjoyed the "Tales of Ba Sing Se" episode of Avatar the Last Airbender. It was a good blend of comedy and drama.

I had the same problem with this episode I had with 1001 Nights of Snowfall, actually. Zuko's, Iroh's and Momo's stories were great, but Aang and Toph are my favorites, and was hoping to get more insight on them. Boo. It was very fun episode nonetheless.

[Sam Little]

I like Dan Slott and I am bored so I will post here.

Comic of the month: CRIMINAL. I've been looking forward to a new crime comic from Brubaker and Phillips since the end of Sleeper. Off to a smashing start.

TV Show of the month: THE OFFICE. I actually enjoy this more than LOST even. And I reallllllllllllllllllllllllllly enjoy LOST.

Book of the month: DARWIN'S RADIO. A buddy lent me this one, sci-fi about the next step in human evolution. About 3/4 of the way through it and thoroughly impressed by this Greg Bear author that I never heard of.

Movie of the month: SCOOP. This just came out in Norway. I think it got kinda lousy reviews back in the states but I thought it was the funniest Woddy Allen flick in years. Scarlet Johanssen's acting seemed a little over the top, but I forgive her 'cause she's so goshdarned good lookin'.

DVD of the month: Battlestar Galactica Season One. Another thing that just got to Norway. About halfway through season one and am quite enjoying it. I never would've checked this out except for seeing all the raves around these here parts. Glad I did.

[Colin Solan]

Zuko's, Iroh's and Momo's stories were great, but Aang and Toph are my favorites, and was hoping to get more insight on them. Boo.

Cause they never do episode centered around Aang...?