Anthony’s Archie Comics picks for August 2013

May 202013
 

Archie #647Here’s my alliteratively-titled Archie comics picks for August 2013. Full solicitations are available here.

Comics

  • Archie #647, on sale Sept. 4, $3
  • Betty and Veronica Double Digest #215, on sale Aug. 28, $4
  • Jughead Double Double Digest #196, on sale Sept. 11, $6

Trade paperbacks

  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within, vol. 3, on sale Sept. 4, $11

Comments

The Archie-proper title seems to have eased off of the stunt storylines for the moment, though it’s delving back into parallel universes (again) with this month’s story.

Jughead gets the “Double Double” Digest treatment this month, coming in at 320 pages (and $6).

The third volume of the “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” manga paperback compilations is being released, completing most of the series’ run. One volume left to go!

“Archie & Friends Double Digest” features Kevin Keller on the cover. Until now, I don’t think Kevin’s ever appeared on a digest cover, this “Betty and Veronica” digest aside. Kevin’s also shown with Chuck; I don’t think the characters have interacted much in stories to date, despite that they both like sci-fi. In real world terms, both characters also were introduced to add diversity to Archie’s cast. Of course, like Chuck’s solo backup stories, I’d expect Kevin’s own stories to wind up reprinted in digests someday. I’d still like to see Chuck get his own solo series, something he’s never had; however, “Archie at Riverdale High” in the 70s/80s apparently became a Chuck-centric title for awhile.

“Teen Titans Go!” review: “Dude Relax” / “Laundry Day”

May 192013
 

Dude RelaxAnother episode of “Teen Titans Go!” is here…and another bunch of SPOILERS ahead.

“Dude Relax”

Plot: The team gets annoyed at Robin’s antsy behavior due to a lack of crime and his constant vigilance, and force Robin to learn to relax.

The funniest part was Beast Boy revealing he sometimes paints animals green to avoid going on missions. Guess it keeps with last week’s episode in showing Beast Boy’s not above using doppelgangers to get out of work.

Affirmation that this version of Robin’s Dick Grayson comes with a flashback to Dick’s days in the circus as a young child. The pre-Crisis Jason Todd was also a circus performer who was orphaned, but A) not a version anyone seems to use in favor of his more annoying post-Crisis characterization (that led to him being killed off), and B) he’s not well known as a Robin to the general public.

That monster the Titans are fighting looks a lot like the kind that usually appeared on “The PowerPuff Girls” or “Dexter’s Laboratory”…

“Laundry Day”

Plot: The team fights over who should do laundry, despite being Robin’s turn; meanwhile, Robin deals with being caught outdoors uniformless and nude.

This one was pretty amusing (a “grossout” gag with Beast Boy and nose mucus aside), particularly the parts with Robin dealing with being outdoors nude.

Gizmo from the previous Titans series puts in an appearance here.

Not surprised to see Beast Boy not mind being nude as much as the others…something he’d probably be used to from the constant animal shape-shifting. Also seen here is Beast Boy’s interest in tofu, as he’s chowing down on the stuff en masse.

Nexus 4 smartphone review

May 192013
 

Nexus 4About a week ago, I bought the Nexus 4 smartphone via Google’s website. After much consideration, I decided the Nexus 4 sounded like the best option for the following reasons:

  • It’s inexpensive. I bought the 8GB model for $299 + two-day shipping + tax.
  • It’s unlocked and not part of a contract, allowing me to use a range of company’s prepaid services via swapping out the micro-SIM card. Even with the cost of going through several lesser smartphones in the past few years, I’ve calculated being on prepaid has still been much cheaper than what being on a contract during that time would’ve ran.
  • The only other prepaid option at the $300 range would’ve been the Samsung Galaxy S II. While it’s a nice enough phone, I didn’t think paying that much for 2011-era smartphone tech was a good idea.

Registration and set-up

The phone arrived pretty quickly, as did the micro-SIM card I ordered from T-Mobile, the prepaid carrier I’ve decided to use. Registering on T-Mobile’s website lets one choose a $30/month prepaid plan that offers “unlimited” 3G/4G data (data capped at 5GB) and 100 minutes per month. If one needs more than 100 minutes, extra time costs 10 cents/minute, which would be $6 for an hour. While the Nexus 4 doesn’t have “true” 4G (no LTE), it’s still much faster than my former Virgin Mobile/Sprint network, so I’m fine with it. I also don’t get many phone calls, so 100 minutes (and any extra time as needed) should work fine.

Setting up the Nexus 4 is just like setting up any other Android phone, including its hardware “cousin” the Nexus 7 tablet. After entering your Google email address and password, you’re prompted whether to restore previously saved apps/some options, which I chose to do. The Nexus 4 went ahead and downloaded most of the same apps I used on my previous phone and Nexus 7 tablet; for some reason, the Nexus 4 also imported the tablet’s wallpaper, which I soon changed.

Porting the phone number from Virgin Mobile ran into some problems. Porting required my Virgin Mobile account number, which forced me to call Virgin to acquire; the number wasn’t available via their online account management system. I finally got the number, after dealing with attempts by their customer service associate to hard sell sticking with Virgin. I then called T-Mobile and let them know I didn’t enter the account number when I registered online, which they soon entered for me. After this, the registration and number porting went through, and I set up the phone’s voice mail. Another reason for calling: when I initially went through T-Mobile’s online registration, the final step threw up an error message stating I hadn’t chosen some (unchoosable) payment option, an error I presume was related to my first account number-less attempt at porting the number from Virgin.

For more setup tips, GottaBeMobile’s Nexus 4 guide has some decent ones.

Android software

One of the Nexus 4′s signature traits is its use of a pure Android installation, without any manufacturer “skins.” Thus, things work quite smoothly, with the Nexus 4 running the newest version of Android. If you’ve used the Nexus 7 tablet, you’ll find the Nexus 4 works similarly. I am, however, still getting used to the size of the phone. With a 4.7-inch screen, it’s definitely the biggest smartphone I’ve ever used.

Protecting the phone

I purchased a case and plastic screen shield for the phone, as I usually do for smartphones. It’s also to address my one hesitation I had about buying the Nexus 4: comments online about the glass back cracking. However, none of the tech sites I usually read, nor Amazon.com’s user reviews, seemed to find it as prominent a problem as the comments made it out to sound. Phones made of glass don’t seem to have slowed down sales of the iPhone 4 or 4S, though Apple did wise up and dropped the use of glass from the iPhone 5. Hopefully, LG/Google will do the same for the next version of the Nexus phone.

Camera and photos

Taking photos works nicely, but some of the pictures have the wrong datestamp, defaulting to December 8, 2002 for some reason. While it’s easily fixed in iPhoto or Flickr, it’s still a concern.

The automatic backup of photos to either Google+ or Dropbox is nice. I’m still trying to figure out which one to stick with, though Google+ doesn’t expire access to most of its free storage space after a few years like Dropbox does. I wish Flickr would improve its Android app; automatic backing up of photos to Flickr doesn’t seem to be an option.

Here’s a few of the photos I’ve taken with the Nexus 4:

Downtown Milwaukee, May 2013

IMG_20130518_160227

IMG_20130518_160553

Conclusion

Overall, I’m enjoying the Nexus 4, and so far, I’m glad I bought the phone. I’m hoping the phone’s strong, mid-to-high-range specs (glass back/lack of LTE aside) make it last longer and have fewer problems than the previous two prepaid smartphones.

Those looking to buy a new unlocked or prepaid smartphone would probably be well served by the Nexus 4, keeping in mind the above mentioned caveats about the glass back/LTE. If buying a phone on contract, however, I’d also look at the HTC One, iPhone 5, and Galaxy S 4.

Anthony’s Marvel picks for August 2013

May 172013
 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #26Here’s what’s of interest from Marvel for August 2013. Full solicitations are available here.

Comics

  • Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #26, $4

Trade paperbacks

None.

Comments

As I said for July, my reading of Marvel’s slacked off. I really wish they’d make like DC and offer their single-issue books digitally for Nook/Kindle/Google Play instead of just Comixology. Still, I’ll recommend the above books anyway…

This month apparently sees another huge crossover featuring Thanos. Also, the build-up for “Guardians of the Galaxy” continues…

Minorities in cartoons: Trixie Tang

May 162013
 

Trixie TangThis week’s minorities in cartoons entry is Trixie Tang, a supporting character on Nickelodeon series “The Fairly OddParents.”

In the series, Trixie is Dimmsdale Elementary’s most popular and wealthiest girl. Most of the boys in the school have a crush on her and strive to attract her attention, usually without much success. Trixie spends much of her time hanging around two popular, wealthy kids named Chad and Tad who, like “Johnny Test”‘s Mr. Black and Mr. White, look like they could be twins if they weren’t of different ethnicities. She’s also been known to snub unpopular students in her class, even calling in bodyguards, etc. to remove them from her presence if necessary. Said unpopular kids, of course, include series star Timmy Turner, who has an unrelenting crush on Trixie and tries various tactics to win her over. One episode, “Information Stupor Highway,” revolves around Timmy trying, via wishing himself into the Internet, to prevent Trixie from reading a mushy love email he wrote, but didn’t mean to send.

In perhaps a nod to Archie’s Betty and Veronica, Trixie’s best female friend is Veronica, a blonde girl who does like Timmy, but is secretly and crazily obsessed with wishing she was Trixie.

A few episodes show Trixie actually indicating she might like Timmy on some level, or has some less-than-shallow interests. However, she usually reverts to type by the end of the episode.

Trixie is voiced by Dionne Quan, a Chinese-American voice actress who’s legally blind; her scripts are written for her in Braille. Quan also was the voice of Kimi in “Rugrats” and “All Grown Up.”

 

Anthony’s DC Comics picks for August 2013

May 142013
 

Batman '66 #2Here’s what’s of interest from DC Comics for August 2013. Full solicitations are available here.

Comics

  • Adventures of Superman #4, on sale Aug. 28, $4 (digital-first)
  • Batman ’66 #2, on sale Aug. 21, $4 (digital-first)
  • Batman: Li’l Gotham #5, on sale Aug. 14, $3 (digital-first)

Trade paperbacks

None.

Comments

More cancellations coming this month, including “Threshold” (so much for the new and “improved” “Captain K’Rot“) and long-time DC title “Legion of Super-Heroes.” I guess being set 1000 years in the future makes it difficult to have forced crossovers with the present-day DCU, and/or it’s hard to forcibly tie it into one of the 876 Bat-titles…

In more interesting areas (read: not the “New 52″), the digital-first weekly titles continue to roll along unabated with their paper versions, compiling several digital issues at a time. “Batman ’66″ sees the appearance of classic TV show villain King Tut, as well as a “1966″-ized version of Killer Croc. I assume we’ll surely be seeing a “1966″ version of Harley Quinn before long.

No “Showcase” volume this month, but there is a trade paperback release of the “Secret Society of Super Villains,” the classic super-villain team from their 70s run in various titles. This volume includes a reprint from “Cancelled Comic Cavalcade,” an “ashcan” black-and-white title “published” (via several dozen photocopied copies) by DC for copyright purposes. Said “title” consisted of several otherwise-unpublished black-and-white stories from titles that feel victim to the infamous “DC Implosion,” a mass cancellation of titles during the late 70s. The Secret Society consisted of various foes ranging from Star Sapphire to Gorilla Grodd.

 

Archie Comics now available through Google Play

May 132013
 

Archie & Friends #152Although  it was announced several weeks ago, I thought it’d be worth noting anyway: Archie Comics’ books are now available through Google Play’s digital media store.

The comics offered include some back catalog of books, as well as offering same-day digital versions of the paper books. Comics bought through Google Play may be read using the “Play Books” smartphone app or directly in your browser. Like other online bookstores (unfortunately), the comics sold here are laden with DRM. However, unlike Comixology, there’s the option of downloading an actual file for use on various devices, a DRMed PDF, which may be read on a computer using Adobe Digital Editions.

(It’s possible to remove the PDF’s DRM via various means, letting one keep one’s purchases unmaimed by DRM. No, I’m not advocating piracy, just the right to actually own what one paid money for…)

I tested the new Archie offerings via the 99-cent sale they held late April with the service’s launch, by buying the “Sabrina the Teenage Witch: 50 Magical Stories” volume offered. The stories (a compilation of various Sabrina stories over the decades) are entertaining, of course, but unfortunately, the comic itself has some severe quality issues. At least several stories are printed entirely as if someone had flipped a negative or something: all black with white outlines for the artwork, and no colors. The feature to download the PDF version is also disabled; the link leads to a “404″ error page. While I only paid 99 cents, I think I’d be greatly annoyed if I’d paid full price.

Fortunately, several other comics (offered for free as samples) were printed correctly, and with their PDF download options functioning normally. The “Play Books” app seems to work well enough for reading comics, as they looked fine on my Nexus 7.

Overall, seeing more options to buy digital comics is a good thing. It’s also good that Google Play is using an actual non-proprietary file format (unlike Comixology) for its comics, DRM aside. Given Barnes and Noble’s possibly shaky future with the Nook/Nook Store, an alternative digital comics venue is nice. Hopefully DC and (especially) Marvel will follow suit in expanding their same-day digital offerings to Google Play.

Archie’s “Kevin Keller” wins the 2013 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book

May 122013
 

Archie Comics and Archie writer/artist Dan Parent announced on their Twitter feeds Saturday evening that they’ve won this year’s GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book (for “Kevin Keller”):

While any of the nominees would’ve deserved the prize, I was hoping for “Kevin Keller” to win. It’s one of the few pieces of American entertainment aimed at children that features an openly gay character. Unfortunately, LGBT folk are still seen as “off limits” for American children’s media as far as TV/movies are concerned. Thus, “Kevin Keller” winning highlights this aspect of media. It’s also an entertaining comic, of course…

(Unrelated, but if you’re wondering about “ParaNorman”‘s nomination in the “Outstanding Film – Wide Release” category, it lost to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”)

“Teen Titans Go!” review: “Double Trouble” / “The Date”

May 112013
 

The DateThis week’s “Teen Titans Go!” episode was pretty funny, though I liked the second one more than the first. SPOILERS ahead…

“Double Trouble”

Plot: Cyborg and Beast Boy trick Raven into making magically-created clones of themselves. Hijinks (and a twist ending) ensue.

Raven’s powers in this series seem to be much more powerful than in the original “Titans” show. All the better for comedic moments, I guess.

Still wondering if Beast Boy’s vegetarian or not in this show. Beast Boy seems to not mind eating what looks like pepperoni pizza, though tofu chips are also seen. Unless it’s some sort of meatless pizza topping, though I’d figure Cyborg would throw a fit about that. (Or not, since he ate that block of tofu with barbecue sauce in the original series…)

“The Date”

Plot: Starfire decides to go on a date with Speedy, which Robin resents, to the point of kidnapping Speedy/disguising himself as Speedy to sabotage Starfire’s interests in the archer hero.

Despite Robin’s less-than-heroic nature in this episode, I thought this one was funny. Making it even funnier is the episode quietly pointing out that Speedy originally was just a knockoff of Robin, as Green Arrow’s longtime kid sidekick. Similarly, Green Arrow himself was a knockoff of Batman for much of the Golden and early Silver Age. Since the 70s, Roy Harper (Speedy’s real name) has largely struck out on his own as a hero, taking up several different names (“Arsenal” seems to be the longest-lasting one), plus kicking an addiction to heroin (from the early 70s Green Lantern/Green Arrow storyline). Roy even had his own daughter at one point, per DC aging the sidekicks while not aging their mentors as much.

The restaurant Starfire, Robin and Speedy go to looks like Seattle’s Space Needle, which does have a restaurant inside. I’m not sure if Jump City is based on any particular US city, beyond being on the west coast.

I noticed both episodes had a theme of fake doubles replacing the real versions of individuals.

Minorities in cartoons: Angela Chen

May 102013
 

Angela ChenThis week’s minorities in cartoons entry is Angela Chen.

Chen appeared on “Superman: The Animated Series” during its 90s run on the WB network. There, Chen was the “Daily Planet”"s gossip reporter, as well as the host of a TV show. Chen’s personality tended toward being assertive; this and her focus on less-than-hard news led her to clash on a few occasions with the “Planet”"s star reporter Lois Lane.

Angela was never introduced into the mainstream “DCU” comics, unlike other animated DC characters like the Joker’s sidekick Harley Quinn, or “Superman: The Animated Series”‘s Mercy Graves, Luthor’s own henchwoman/sidekick. Chen does appear in the digital-only “Smallville” comic, however, where she’s presented as a more mainstream news reporter.

Angela Chen was voiced by Lauren Tom, a Chinese-American actress who starred in “The Joy Luck Club.” Tom also has done other voicework, including Amy Wong on “Futurama.”

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