COMIC CHAOS - Favorite Comics of 2013

Okay, it's the last day of January. Last chance to write a top ten list for 2013. That's my rule anyway. In the world of comic books there are tons of really interesting titles currently being published. As someone who has read funny books for many moons, I am of the opinion that there are more good books on the market right now than ever before, which makes it hard to stay current with all of it. It used to be you could read all of the good stuff and still have room to read much of the crappy stuff. Not anymore. As a consumer, you must be choosy. So, here we go, Captain Creepy's top ten list of favorite comics of 2013.

10. Afterlife With Archie (Archie Comics) - This totally came out of left field. The Archie gang, in Riverdale, battling zombies in a serious horror comic. How weird! The setup is that Reggie accidentally runs over Jughead's dog Hot Dog, and kills him. Jughead is heartbroken and takes Hot Dog to Sabrina the Teenage Witch's house and begs her to perform some magic to bring back his beloved friend. Sabrina is so moved by Jughead and his grief, she goes against her better judgment and tries to resurrect the dog. Her magic works...kind of, Sabrina's aunts find out and banish Sabrina to another realm as punishment. Hot Dog is back, but is now an undead beast. Eventually Hot Dog bites someone, spreading the zombie virus, and let the craziness begin. This title is a serious horror comic, has wonderful artwork, and yet it still captures the personalities of all the Riverdale gang. Archie, Jughead, Moose, Betty and Veronica, Mr. Lodge, Pops, Miss Grundy, etc. They are all here. Great book that is only a few issues in, and I can't wait to see what happens in 2014.

9. Green Arrow (DC) - Early in the year Green Arrow absolutely sucked. It was deserving of being cancelled and was so bad it was almost unreadable. DC then made one of their few great moves of the year and put Jeff Lemire on writing duties and Andrea Sorrentino on art. Over just a few issues, these two guys turned this book around and made it one of the best things being published. Lemire is one of the best writers in comics and Sorrentino's art is incredible. Some people are comparing this run on Green Arrow to when Frank Miller reinvented Daredevil in his classic run. Great book.

8. All New X-Men (Marvel) - Marvel has completely killed it in the last year. They are publishing so many good books these days that even the most loyal DC readers are flocking to Marvel. Brian Michael Bendis took over writing All New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men and has returned the X-Men universe to glory after it had been struggling along for several years. The X-Men are actually fun again. If Bendis stays on X-Men for as long as he was in charge of the Avenger books, he will be going for years to come, so jump on now.

7. Lazarus (Image) - Greg Rucka is one of my favorite writers, having done great work on Gotham Central for DC, a great run on Wolverine and on the Punisher, and lots of other top notch books. Michael Lark is a tremendous artist who is truly at the top of his game on Lazarus. This may be my favorite art in any book right now. It is unbelievable. This book is set in a post cataclysmic world that is run by corporate families. Each family controls a region of the world. Each family has a "Lazarus", kind of the warlord that does what needs to be done to see that their family is in a position a power. Forever Carlyle is the Lazarus of her family. Her memories have been altered and nothing is quite like it seems in the Carlyle family. This series follows Forever as she slowly begins to uncover the truth. Again, this is a book in its first year of publication and I can't wait to see where Rucka takes the story.

6. Uncanny Avengers (Marvel) - Written by Rick Remender, probably my favorite writer at this moment. He tends to write everything with a wonky sci fi style that is very recognizable and unique in the current comic scene. Uncanny Avengers is a book about a team made up of a mix of Avengers and X-Men and led by Havok, Alex Summers. Remender seems to write traditional comic stories until you are way deep in and realize that he is going down a totally different road than the one you thought. He is a brilliant dude and weaves some serious magic on this title.

5. Cable and X-Force (Marvel) - This title is what you call a guilty pleasure. It is a small title tucked in the corner of the X-Men universe that gets very little publicity or talk. It also kicks major ass. Dennis Hopeless is the writer on this title and is, in my opinion, one of the top young up and coming talents in the industry. Much of the art is by Salvador Larroca, and he does the art in a very clean and different style. I love it. Cable is the main character and he is one of my all time faves. I have loved Cable for 20 years. His team also includes Colossus, Forge, and Dr. Nemesis. Just a fun, ridiculous, and over the top action book. This title has been cancelled, and the last issues are coming out now. It is being replaced by a new X-Force title that will also star Cable. Of course I will read that when it comes out.

4. Batman (DC) - Artist Greg Capullo is one of the top names in comics and people are loving his artwork on Batman. He is so good on this title. Writer Scott Snyder is a shining star at DC and if he were to leave their company they would be hard pressed to replace him. Snyder's run on Batman has been remarkable. It will go down as one of the best runs ever on this character. Snyder has introduced some new things to the Batman mythos like The Court of Owls. They are a behind the scenes secret society that has been operating covertly in Gotham City for a hundred years. An Illuminati type of organization that is awesome and added more coolness to an already amazing gallery of rogues for the Bat to defeat. Snyder also had a tremendous Joker story called Death of The Family that took Joker's insanity to another level.

3. The X Files (IDW) - Formally titled The X Files Season 10, this series started in 2013, and began right where the last X Files movie had left off. I wasn't sure how this was gonna go, but Chris Carter is involved in this title and is helping to steer the ship. Joe Harris is the writer and boy did they choose well when they picked him to write this book. All of the old favorite characters are back, and a new status quo is set. Mulder and Scully are investigating the strange and weird once again with the help of old friends. Old enemies abound as well. Cigarette Smoking Man plays a huge role in this series and Harris writes the characters so damn good! It really has the feel of watching an episode back in the day. So happy they brought this series out, it could rank even higher on my list next year.

2. The Walking Dead (Image) - I have read the walking dead comic since it made its debut years ago. I loved it. Then, after the tv show started, and the show went in a different direction than the book, I lost a little steam with the comic. I dug the tv show so much it was detrimental to my enjoyment of the comic. Well, not anymore. I caught up completely with the comic series, and it is safe to say that this book is still so freakin' awesome that it amazes me. Robert Kirkman writes these characters so that each one has their own voice, and you get pulled into their lives so dramatically. He has a bad guy in the series right now called Negan, and this dude makes the Governor look like a complete pussy. Carl is such a badass that it is ridiculous, and there are so many other characters that are amazing, and die at an alarming rate. Great book!

1. Daredevil (Marvel) - Here it is, my favorite comic of 2013. Daredevil, written by Mark Waid, with pencils by Chris Samnee. This is classic comic storytelling. Nothing fancy, no bells and whistles. Just a great character written by an amazing writer, and drawn by a tremendous artist. Telling classic superhero style comic book stories with such aplomb and care. Waid fleshes out a wonderful supporting cast and delves deep into what it means to be a hero. He writes classic villains like no other. Mark Waid  has taken a book that has had some of the best writers in comics, names like Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, and Andy Diggle, and put together a run on this book that rivals anything anyone has ever done with Daredevil. The art is also remarkable, from the pencils to the colors, this book has a definite look of its own. This is old school and incredible, and my favorite book of 2013.

A few honorable mentions from Captain Creepy include Hawkeye, Deadpool, and Avengers Arena from Marvel, Suicide Squad and Nightwing from DC, and half of the stuff that Image is putting out. They have tons of great books. Books I'm looking forward to getting into in 2014 include the new Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Black Science, Velvet, and Rat Queens. Don't be surprised to see a few of those titles on next years list. It is a good time to be a comic fan, take advantage and enjoy it.

FORTEAN FILES - Computer Creepiness

There is an interesting thing that has been happening for the last several months at my work.I have a program on my work computer that is used to track purchases I make from one of our parts suppliers. In order to receive certain incentives from this company I must spend a minimum of $1000 per month from them.The way I monitor my current months spending is by using a dashboard on their website that displays my totals.What started to become interesting was that, on occasion, when I would go to the dashboard to check my spending, certain numbers would show up as my total. Numbers that were not anywhere close to what my spending actually was. The numbers were $666.66.This would appear from time to time on my monitor, and then I would check back a little later in the day and the correct total would be displayed. I really didn't think a whole heck of a lot about it to be honest. I assumed they were default numbers that would appear if there was something goofy in the system. This actually went on for several months, until one day, the salesman for this company stopped in for his weekly stop and he had a representative from the bigger company with him. As I chatted with the company rep I went to their website and clicked on the dashboard, revealing the $666.66 total that was displayed.This was nothing unusual for me to see by this point, but since the company rep was standing right there, I showed him the display. I joked to him that the person that created this program must be a Satanist or something. I said that if that wasn't the case, the computer might be haunted. Well, the rep said he personally knew the lady that created and maintains this program, and that later that day he would call her and find out what is going on.
Now comes the fun part!
The following day I received a phone call from Brenda, the computer programmer.She relays to me that the rep did indeed call her the day before and clued her in on what was going on.She is very nice to talk to, yet came across as being nervous and somewhat upset as we spoke. Brenda explained to me that she was kind of freaked out because $666.66 was NOT a default number in any way, shape, or form.She said there was no way that should be happening, and, as a matter of fact, it was not possible that these numbers were appearing in this manner. She said she knows this, because this is her program. Yet there they were. Brenda was honestly frightened and uncomfortable with the entire situation. She said she was going to investigate deeper and would call me the next day with more information. Well, the next day she did call back, and still had no explanation for the Hellish numerals that adorned my dashboard.
It still happens. To this day it still happens. Not all the time. Just once in a while. I click on my dashboard display and there they are, staring me square in the face. $666.66.
I'm not sure what it means.Probably nothing. I'm reasonably confident that it is just a glitch in the system, a "ghost in the machine." I'm not even trying to say it might be something odd, or paranormal.
But Brenda isn't so sure, and who am I to argue?

MOVIE MUSINGS - A Creepy New Year - Top Ten Movies of 2013

Well, the last quarter of 2013 was a blur. I was unable to do any posts down the stretch of the year, but it is a Creepy New Year. It's time to refocus and get this year off on the right foot.
I want to start the year off with a few looks back and some traditional top 10 lists. The first list is Captain Creepy's top 10 movies of 2013.
Normally I see quite a few movies throughout a typical year, but again, 2013 was so stinking busy that I didn't see nearly as many as usual. Therefore, there may be many top notch films that are not on my list because I haven't seen them yet. Oh well, I can only rate what I have seen, so, here we go.

10. GI JOE RETALIATION- I know, I know. Keep in mind I have been a GI Joe fan my entire life. I enjoyed this sequel to Rise of Cobra. It was just a fun movie and I liked Bruce Willis and The Rock. I love the Expendables movies and this one is in that same vein. A popcorn, silly ass action flick. Also dig Ray Stevenson who is a total bad ass as always.

9. THE LONE RANGER- See above. Ha. I have been a Lone Ranger fan my entire life. I enjoyed this movie. It was fun. Lots of action, silliness, and popcorn. Sound familiar? Look, I did like this movie. It was not as crappy and terrible as people were saying. I didn't go see The Lone Ranger to expand my mind or change the world, just to escape for a couple hours and be entertained. Johnny Depp I could not care one way or another, I actually would prefer a more serious Tonto, but it was still good fun.

8. THE WOLVERINE- This was better than the first one. I am a fan of the Japanese part of Wolverine's history in the comics, and this was a decent portrayal of a chapter of that. Good story, good action, enjoyable.

7. THOR THE DARK WORLD- I liked this Thor movie a lot more than the first one. I loved the cast including Anthony Hopkins.Christopher Eccleston as the Dark Elf Malekith was outstanding. Fun escapism. It is a cool mixture of sci fi with fantasy elements as well as our regular world.

6. LORDS OF SALEM- Rob Zombie makes movies that appeal to a very small percentage of the population. The good news is Captain Creepy falls into this very small percentage of the population. Lords of Salem is graphic, offensive, dark, bleak, and grinds along at a very slow pace. I loved it!

5. PACIFIC RIM- Larger than life monsters fighting giant robots. Right up my alley. Ridiculous and fun.

4. THE CONJURING- I enjoyed this very much. The cast was outstanding and it was a very creepy film. As someone who has followed the work of the Warrens and their family (John Zaffis) work for many years, that only added another level of enjoyment for me. Felt like an old school slow burner which I totally love. Great!

3.DJANGO UNCHAINED- Tarantino can do no wrong. Actually he does everything wrong, yet somehow it all works out incredibly to create such original, over the top, nonsensical awesomeness that it is hard to comprehend. When you sit in the theater watching Django, your jaw drops open and you can barely understand what Tarantino must have been thinking when he filmed this junk. It is incredible. Christoph Waltz is an amazing actor, and Leonardo was crazy good in this. Two thumbs up.

2. MACHETE KILLS- Robert Rodriguez falls into the same category as Tarantino of course. Machete Kills is so stupid and ridiculous, you either get it and love it, or don't really get it and hate it. I laughed so much during this movie. How do the actors keep a straight face during some of these scenes? Must have taken many takes to get some of these in the can. The cast is outrageously great. The writing is stupid and awesome. The direction is corny and dumb. The action is silly. I cannot wait for Machete Kills Again...In Space. Incredible!

And, in what should probably be a surprise to absolutely no one, Captain Creepy's number one movie of 2013...

1. EVIL DEAD- Of course when hearing they were going to make a new version of Evil Dead, which is my favorite franchise of all time, I was wary that they would mess this up and royally piss me off. Especially when they announced that Bruce Campbell would not be involved. However, I also heard Bruce give this project a thumbs up when it was nearing the release date, so I was intrigued by what this movie would be. This rates as my number one movie of the year even just for the fact that they pulled off the remake without screwing it up. Now, it's not like the original, obviously, but it was a well made, fun, and gory horror romp. There were nods and Easter eggs for the old time fans. There was Sam Raimi's Oldsmobile. It was suspenseful and fun, in a bloody chainsaw kind of way. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and was so relieved that they made a respectable new version of Evil Dead. Well done!

As I stated, I did not see a ton of movies in 2013, and a few that I still need to see that may well have made my list include Insidious2 and You're Next. World War Z is another one that I have yet to see, so I have no opinion on this yet either. Skinwalker Ranch and Willow Creek I have to see as well.Both of these look to be right up my alley.
There are a few Honorable Mentions that were very close to cracking the top 10. This list includes Hatchet 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3, Dark Skies, and Man of Steel.A few of these were close, but couldn't quite crack the Creepy 10.
Be on the lookout for more Captain Creepy in 2014. Creepy out.