Panel Vision - Justice Riders

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ne of the more surprising trends of the 2010s is that the Western is back from extinction.  This is mainly due to Tarantino re-introducing us to the versatility of the genre in 2012 with Django Unchained but it’s spread well beyond that.  There were more Westerns than superheroes movies in 2015 and now we’re gearing up for a double dose of the old west with the twin remakes of Magnificent Seven and West World.  This is hardly the first time Westerns have impacted the cultural landscape but the revival and the genre versatility it’s brought with it have certainly cast a new light on an old style. 

Even though this current crop of films are set in the Old West and feature cowboys and gun fights they all come with additional genre elements like Bone Tomahawk’s position as a horror movie, Hateful Eight is an Agatha Christie mystery, Ridiculous 6 was a comedy (hey I’m just talking about Westerns, not GOOD Westerns.)  All this genre crossover reminded me of my favorite Western comic book courtesy of DC Comics- the late ‘90s oddity that was The Justice Riders. 

Panel Vision - Green Hornet (2011)

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Edited by Robert Beach

One of the more bizarre powerhouse talents in Hollywood today is Seth Rogen. Rogen’s a relatively recent star, but he’s been around for a while, making his way through smaller roles before joining forces with Judd Apatow for Knocked Up and parlaying that success into a more substantive career. 

He didn’t really break big as a face of comedy till 2014 with Neighbors, though he took a big step forward with the 2013 comedy This is the End. Still, 2014 was the year Rogen became a name film journalists and bloggers starting talking about, first with the narrative of his R-rated comedy Neighbors beating the PG-13 tentpole of Amazing Spider-Man 2 and then with the “controversy” surrounding he and James Franco’s comedy The Interview. 

In the wake of all that attention, Rogen has only grown bigger and recently used that clout to launch an adaptation of the Vertigo Comic Preacher on AMC. Apparently, Rogen is a big comic book geek, which is why he did Preacher. Now that Preacher is a hit; he will probably produce that The Boys show he’s been teasing (Editor’s Note: Superheroes who fight meteors with their genitals). In honor of Rogen’s rise, I thought I’d look back on his own entry in the superhero genre. The other failed 2011Green superhero film: Green Hornet.  

Josh Segarra Cast as Vigilante in Arrow S5

Edited by Robert Beach 

Yesterday, I talked about how CW is approaching the question of what to do with Arrow now that it’s been more or less eclipsed by its adjacent series. My suggestion was that CW is modeling Arrow after Daredevil, bringing in 2^nd rate villains of more popular heroes like Ras Al Ghul and now introducing violent vigilantes ala Punisher in the form of Wild Dog.  

Well, CW seems to be doubling down on this approach by adding a second violent, street-level vigilante to the mix in the form of Adrian Chase, played by Josh Segarra. Much like Wild Dog, Chase is a low-rent Punisher knock-off from the ‘80s with possibly the most uninspired superhero name and gimmick of all time. He’s a hero so lame and non-descript his name is just a synonym for crime buster for he is…the Vigilante. 

Ant-Man Box Office, Small is Bountiful

Welcome to Would You Like To Know More, a new category of post where I deal with geek news.  In these articles I’ll be relaying news stories, expanding on announcements and events, explaining obscure nerdy news, and speculating on what’s to come.  With all that said let’s talk about Ant-Man’s box office returns. 

So, the opening returns are in on Ant-Man and while the film is making solid bank and managed to take the #1 spot from Minions it is coming in a bit bellow predictions and has had one of the weakest openings of any Marvel studios film.  Audience reaction seems to be pretty evenly spread across the spectrum with some people like myself really liking the film while others have at best found it forgettably enjoyable and at worst emblematic of Marvel’s bigger issues with diverse representation in their films.  However, Ant-Man’s role in the ongoing ‘Marvel Problem’ is a discussion for a different blog post, for right now I want to talk about the impact of Ant-Man’s more modest success might have on how Marvel produces films and the future of these characters.