Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Guardians of the Galaxy Casting Rumors



The have been a huge list of major Hollywood talent that has been linked to the upcoming Marvel production of Guardians of the Galaxy. Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler are two of the biggest and could also be the biggest mistakes that Marvel could ever make. They need actors that can blend into the roles of the characters, simply because these are characters that a lot of people have had no experience with. They need to get to know the characters and shouldn't have to focus on the fact that one of the characters will go into a silly random rant at an inopportune time. Sandler has become one of the biggest jokes in Hollywood and it has been close to a decade since he made anything resembling a solid movie. By shoehorning him into this movie, Marvel will be undoing the solid work that they have put in over the last decade to build a solid string of movies.

Keep it simple an go after low key, solid actors like they have been doing with the Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Avengers franchises. They molded or revived the careers of a bunch of actors and that has been a foolproof recipe to this point, so why break it. There weren't a lot of fans of Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. before the movie came out and the same could be said for Thor and Chris Hemsworth. Chris Evans was even a mid-tier actor in Hollywood before his casting as Captain America. Sandler would only distract people from the movie itself and he also doesn't have a ton of clout with audiences after atrocities such as  Jack and Jill, Little Nicky, and That's My Boy. I also take this rumor a little personally because Rocket Raccoon is one of my favorite comic book characters and I don't need his reputation sullied by Happy Gilmore. As for the rumor about Jim Carrey, I'm just not a huge fan of him. He may be excellent for the movie in some unknown way but his presence would distract people much like Sandler's involvement would.  Marvel should be looking towards casting Michael Rooker or another actor with a similar type of voice, it would just work.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Excision

I took a stab at this movie after hearing a lot of great things about it online and went into it without taking the time to watch any of the trailers for the movie. Looking back on it I probably should have prepared myself properly for the mind fuck that I was about to experience. This movie is fucked in the head and it never lets up for one moment. Richard Bates has crafted one of the weirdest and most disturbing movies that you will ever see or care to see.

Excision follows a high school student, Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord), who seems to be in a continual awkward phase. She has no friends besides her younger sister, Grace (Ariel Winter), who has been stricken with cystic fibrosis. Her mother, Phyllis (Traci Lords), is trying to get Pauline to break out of her shell and become more social in order to fit in with her classmates. But when your daughter is continually having vivid dreams about performing surgery on her classmates and having what could only be described as "blood" fantasies, your efforts can only go so far.

This movie was over the top in a really weird type of way. The first minute of the movie really sets the tone and there is no break from the insanity, you are in the mind of one truly fucked up teenager for the duration of the movie. The director tried so incredibly hard to make AnnaLynne McCord look disgusting and he manages to do it pretty successfully, she walks like a caveman, has pimples all over her face, and they try and hide all of her curves. The only times she looks like a smoke show are in the fucked up dream sequences in the movie where you barely pay attention to the way she looks. She plays Pauline as a modern day Carrie, she is withdrawn from society and has this delusion in her mind that she is going to be a great surgeon, meanwhile she can't pass Algebra. She is a sociopath  in the movie and she hits it right on the head in an internal monologue when she says that all teenagers are sociopaths. They only need to care for themselves and the betterment of their own situations. McCord is fantastic in the movie and proves that she isn't just another pretty face in the crowd.

Traci Lords also turns in an exceptional performance in the movie as the concerned mother of the main character. Lords perfectly captures what it must be like for a parent that is juggling the responsibilities of caring for a sick child, a lazy husband, and a socially awkward daughter. It is hard to believe that she was blowing dudes for paychecks in the 80's because she has turned out to be a pretty decent actress. This movie will not win her any awards but it does show that she is able to act in movies other than shitty ones produced by the SyFy Channel.

Now we get to the meat of the movie, the horror. There isn't a ton of horror elements in the movie until the last 10-15 minutes or so and it actually works to the movie's advantage. It spends a lot of time developing the characters and moving the story forward in a realistic way. For most of the movie it is really similar in a way to a psychological thriller/ black comedy. We know that the main character is bat shit crazy and we are just waiting for everyone else around her to get a taste of her crazy. The imagery in some of the dream sequences seems like it was ripped directly from The Cell, and is really disturbing. It is weird when  can describe the disturbing dream sequences as being beautiful, and that is a credit to the direction of Richard Bates and his team. They did an excellent job of making everything "work" in the context of the story they crafted. This is a movie that is going to disturb you way more than it will scare you.

This is not a movie for everyone, if you really like horror movies then I would recommend this to you. Excision is a special type of deranged that only a handfull of other movies have been able to match. There are going to be points in this movie that will stay with you long after you are done watching it. The sex scene in the movie is especially disturbing and there is no way that I am going to spoil it, you need to see it for yourself. If you are a horror fan then this is a MUST SEE, and an AVOID AT ALL COSTS if you are not a horror fan.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Safety Not Guaranteed

Safety Not Guaranteed is a truly great independent comedy. This is the type of off beat comedy that more people need to be watching instead of another mediocre Judd Apatow production. The characters are well developed, the dialogue is natural, and the story is genuinely engaging. Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, and Karan Soni combine to form one of the funniest casts of the year.

We all know that classic story, man puts classified in paper seeking partner to time travel with, he meets a girl pretending to be interested, but she is really writing a story on him. I've seen it happen a thousand times. The story revolves around Darius Britt (Aubrey Plaza), an intern at Seattle magazine, who is assigned to help on a story about a man, Kenneth (Mark Duplass) looking for a companion to time travel with. She goes with Jeff (Jake Johnson), the main writer of the article, and Arnau, a fellow intern, to a small town in Washington where the man who wrote the classified ad lives. We are then taken on a journey of self discovery and potential time traveling shenanigans.

Aubrey Plaza is one of the bright young female comedians that are currently working in Hollywood, and this movie seems to her statement to the industry that she is here to stay. Her character is very easy to relate to because most people were social outcasts at some point in their lives and that is the plight of her character. She finds it hard to relate to the people around her and eventually she gravitates towards this man on a mission to fix a wrong in his past. As she begins to go along and actually believe that Kenneth will be able to actually build the device he needs to time travel, she starts to actually come out her shell and begin living her life. If this performance is coming in her first starring role, then I can't wait to see what she comes up with along the course of her career.

It is really hard to believe that Pete from The League is actually a pretty fantastic dramatic actor to go along with his comedy and writing skills. Mark Duplass gives an inspired performance and continued his breakout year. It is hard to believe that he is part of the funniest show on TV (The League), the best comedy of the year (Safety Not Guaranteed), and the best drama of the year (Zero Dark Thirty). He makes his character, Kenneth, seem both out of his mind and sane all at the same time because his ideas are wacky but his reasons are so grounded. He simply wants to be transported back to a better time in his life but happens to be building an actual time machine to accomplish his goals. His chemistry with Plaza is great and they never seem awkward on screen together and you can see how they become great friends over the course of the movie.

The main plot is awesome and it was great to see a sci-fi spin put on the "self discovery drama/comedy". The Duplass Brothers really should have gotten more love during award season because they wrote one of the best original movies of the year and it was leaps and bounds better than some of the movies nominated for Academy Awards. The B plots of the movie, Jeff trying to connect with a former fling, and Arnau becoming a "man", are fun but they sometimes take the focus off of the main story which you never want to be taken away from. That is my only real complain with the movie. Everyone in the movie gives above average performances with Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass being the breakout stars of the movie.

Safety Not Guaranteed is leaps and bounds ahead of your typical indie comedy. With a great original story, awesome characters, and witty dialogue, The Duplass Bros. have crafted one of the best movies of the year. More people need to discover this movie and give it the credit that it deserves.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Top 10 Best/Worst Movies of 2012

 Best of 2012

1. Dredd- The forgotten movie of the summer brought everything possible to the table. Great central performances, superior effects, and a rock solid story. That is all on top of the fact that Karl Urban spends a good portion of the film shooting people in the face.
2. Looper- I love original science fiction movies and this was one of the best to come along in the last few years. This would have easily been in the top spot had Dredd not been released.
3. Zero Dark Thirty- One of the few award season dramas that I took the time to sit down and watch and I was blown away by the entire cast of the film. We all know the events that led to the creation of the movie and it did an amazing job bringing them to the big screen.
4. Goon- Most movies would kill to have the amount of heart that this movie had, and you also have to factor in that it was fucking hilarious as well. It was also nice to see that Seann William Scott can actually act as well.
5. 21 Jump Street- I was completely caught off-guard by this movie and it turned out to be one of the funniest movies of the year. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum make one hell of a duo and I can only hope they team up again.
6. Silver Linings Playbook- The performances by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence landed this movie in my top ten. It is also worth mentioning that Jennifer Lawrence is a complete smoke show in the movie.
7. Skyfall- This is the best of the Bond movies and there is no argument in the world that could convince me otherwise. Daniel Craig delivers a solid performance but Javier Bardem steals the show in every scene that he is in.
8. Prometheus- I chose to ignore the large holes in the plot and focus on the astounding effects and the solid performances of Noomi Repace and Michael Fassbender. One question: How in hell was Fassbender overlooked when it came to award season?
9. Chronicle- It seems like this movie came out forever ago but it delivered one of 2012’s most interesting plots and some badass fight sequences. This is one that is perfect as a standalone movie and does not need a sequel.
10. The Hunger Games- The movie that showed the greatness that is Jennifer Lawrence to the world. It delivered on every level and did the source material justice.


Worst of 2012

1. The Dark Knight Rises- The gigantic plot holes were just too much for my mind to handle. I had no idea that Batman could teleport from the Middle East to Gotham. JGL just “knows” that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Give me a fucking break.
2. Lockout- Guy Pearce looked so awkward in this movie and all I found myself thinking about was the fact that the anorexic guy from The Time Machine was beating the shit out of people.
3. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter- I liked how they took almost nothing from the awesome source material and added in a whole bunch of unnecessary CG.
4. The Bourne Legacy- After looking back at the movie, it was just another useless sequel.
5. Snow White and the Huntsman- It is great to know that Kristen Stewart still has no idea how to make facial expression or convey emotion in any way.
6. The Words- The filmmakers went for a really complex and intricate plot that turned out to be bland and boring.
7. Battleship- I would really like to punch Peter Berg in the face for making me sit through this piece of shit.
8. Savages- After seeing this one for a second time, I think that I have come to the conclusion that Oliver Stone has lost everything that made him great.
9. Lawless- I really wanted this one to be great but there was just so much unrealized potential here that it was hard to ignore.
10. Paranormal Activity 4- Welcome to the new Saw franchise folks.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Dredd

I just wanted to take a second and thank Lionsgate for producing a faithful Judge Dredd instead of making another piece of shit like Sly Stallone made. Pete Travis proved that you can make an engaging Dredd movie without sacrificing the integrity of the character. Karl Urban proved that his is a complete fucking BOSS with this role and showed that we don't always need pretty boys or meatheads in the lead roles of action movies. This movie proved a lot of people wrong and made up for all of the wrongs of the first Judge Dredd movie.

There is not a lot to the plot of this movie, and shows that sometimes less is more. Dredd (Karl Urban) and his partner Anderson (Olivia Thrilby) get a call about three murders at Peach Tree, a massive 200-story slum block, and are ambushed by the local drug lord, Ma-ma (Lena Headey) and her gang. They movie boils down to Dredd and Anderson raining destruction and death on the gang and Ma-Ma. There is nothing complicated, just Dredd fucking people up any way that he sees fit.

This is a pure action movie just like The Raid was. They are pretty much the same movie, except that Dredd has better acting, superior effects, and highly engaging characters. Karl Urban commands your attention from his first appearance and he simply never lets go. It is a complete mystery to me why he doesn't star in more movies, he is an unbelievably talented actor and usually plays second or third fiddle to lesser actors. I guess being gruff and a total badass doesn't get you a ton of leading roles, but this was one that he was destined for. Dredd is the embodiment of the law and is played that way, there is very little emotion to his character and when he dishes out justice, it is not a personal attack but instead he is upholding the law as he sees fit. He is such a badass character and it was great to see him played by an awesome actor who also loved the character.

I had my doubts when I saw that Olivia Thrilby was cast as Judge Anderson, but that doubt lasted for about five minutes in the movie. She is the emotional core of the movie the whole movie being her first day on the job in what is really an extended evaluation. Thrilby does a fantastic job with the character and really does the character from the comics justice. She uses her emotions to trigger her psychic powers and her interrogation scene is one of the highlights of the film because it is so delightfully disturbing. I actually liked her more than Dredd in most cases and she is just as important to the film as Dredd is. The movie would have really faltered without the inclusion of Judge Anderson. Hopefully we get to see these two team up again in a potential sequel (I'm talking to you Lionsgate).

I know that I talk a lot about the characters and acting in my reviews and that is because that is what truly matters to me in the movies. But the action in this movie was pretty fucking amazing as well. What other movie can you say that has a guys throat getting crushed and we get to see the gory aftermath. People getting shot in the face in slow motion, brutal hand to hand fights, and people getting their dicks bitten off by crazy hookers are just some of the off the wall examples of brutal action in the movie. Each moment of the movie is glorious and it is a shame that it was left to rot in an early September release slot.

This is a movie that deserved better from the studio that released it. There was little to no promotion for the movie and it was given a release in the dreaded late summer slot. This was my favorite movie of 2012 and sits atop my list of best movies of 2012. Get off your ass and see this movie any way that you can. Just don't illegally download it because Judge Dredd might show up to your house to enforce the "law" on you.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook will most likely be the last of the 2012 movie that I will see in a theater, and it was certainly one of the best. David O'Russell  knows exactly how to craft a drama and when he has the right cast that particular movie generally ends up being one of the best of the year. He assembled his best cast to date comprised of Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, and Julia Stiles. The movie also happens to be his best to date as well and could challenge any of the other top movies of 2012 for the top spot.

In the movie we follow Patrick (Bradley Cooper), who has recently been released from a mental institution after he nearly beat his wife's lover to death. Pat is dealing with bi-polar disorder and is left in the care of his parents, Pat Sr. (De Niro) and Dolores (Weaver), who are having a difficult time dealing with his troubles. Pat Jr's sole mission is to be reunited with his ex-wife and he is trying to better himself both mentally and physically to potentially win her back. He then meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), one of his wife's friends, who is going through a tough time in her life after her husband dies and she loses her job. She is in the same boat as Pat Jr, she lives with her parents and everyone views her as a train wreck. Pat Jr and Tiffany soon come together to try and "fix" each other.

This is the best acted movie of the year, hands down. There is almost no other movie that is in the same ballpark when it comes to the combo of both leading roles and supporting roles. Bradley Cooper has shown flashes of greatness but this is the movie where he finally outshines everyone. You can see the repressed anger in almost every scene that he is in and the pure joy in his his scenes with Jennifer Lawrence. His character has an  unyielding hope that he will have a happy ending and Cooper has to portray that in every scene no matter what. Jennifer Lawrence continues her utter domination of 2012, with her best performance to date. With each movie she is in she keeps getting better and better with the exception of that piece of shit horror movie she slummed it in over the summer. She also happens to be a complete smoke show and is so in every single scene she is in. She could make a movie about farting in people's dinner and I would probably watch it.

De Niro and Weaver show up to lend their considerable talents and they do not disappoint. De Niro is especially great in this movie and it kind of lets you forget that he has been acting in pieces of shit for the better part of a decade. Jacki Weaver is new to American audiences but she is a fantastic actress and you owe it to yourself to check out Animal Kingdom to see her just flat out dominate and control a movie. It is also worth noting that Chris Tucker is in this movie, and it probably his first acting role since the last Rush Hour. The surprising thing to me is that he is not annoying in this movie at all and most people would barely recognize that it is him because he brings none of his shitty tendencies from the Rush Hour movies to this one.

David O'Russell also deserves some notice because the man knows how to tug at the heartstrings of his audience. He gets you so fully invested into these characters that you never want to see anything bad happen to them and that is the sign of a great director. He did it with Three Kings and The Fighter, and this movie follows suit and it outshines both of those movies in almost every aspect.

This is one of the best movies of 2012 and truly deserves all of the praise that it is currently getting. The combo of Cooper and Lawrence was a great casting choice and it payed off with both being nominated for major film awards. Check this out in theaters, download it, or wait until it comes out on Blu Ray/DVD. Either way, just give yourself the opportunity to see this incredible movie. Also, Jennifer Lawrence = Smoke Show.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Going to the movies tonight

Gonna check out either Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D, Gangster Squad, or Argo tonight. A review will be up by tomorrow either way.

John Dies at the End

This is a movie that I walked in with no previous knowledge of. I had not seen any trailers, read any synopses of the film, or heard anything about it. I knew that it was directed by the creator of Bubba Ho-Tep, Don Coscarelli, and it had Paul Giamatti in it. With those two factors alone, I was pretty much sold on seeing this movie. This movie is entirely bat shit fucking insane and it is glorious. There is an identical tone with that of Bubba Ho-Tep and any of the great horror comedies of the last decade.

John Dies at the End tells the story of Dave and John, two slackers, who are thrown into the middle of a supernatural conspiracy. They are exposed to a drug called "soy sauce" that allows them to see things that may or may not be real and interact with the strange forces of the world. They use their newly found "powers" to fight the undead and supernatural forces, and may also possibly have to save the world in the process.

To be honest I got blindsided by this bastard. I had no idea what I was walking into and I was thoroughly impressed by the end of the movie. We have a cast of mostly unknowns outside of Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown (First guy in the hatch on LOST). The story goes in every direction but it never feels scatterbrained, you have our main character, Dave, talking into a bratwurst to talk to his friend, John, one minute and then he is decapitating a zombie while contemplating the ramifications of going into a hardware store with a bloody ax to replace.  These are little things that bring this movie from great to fucking awesome. I love these quirky type of cult horror movies that come out of left field to surprise you. In 2012 there was The Loved Ones, Exit Humanity, and Detention, hopefully this is going to be a good indication of where the movies in 2013 are headed.

For a movie that features a cast of mostly unknowns, the acting in the movie is surprisingly solid. Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti hap it up in every scene they are in and they each seem to be having a lot of fun with their characters. The duo of Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes playing the movie's heroes, David and John, are awesome in every scene they are in together and even in scenes that they are seperated they are awesome. They play the stoners/heroes to perfection and you can believe that their characters really do want to help people with their "powers". The effects in this movie are also pretty badass as well with several creatures being the highlights of the film. Can't really tell you what they are because I'm not here to spoil the movie for you.

This is definitely in the running for the cult movie of 2013. It has all of the ingredients, bat shit crazy story, solid acting, and good special effects. Don Coscarelli has done it again and replicated the charm of Bubba Ho-Tep while giving us a fresh and original story. This is a movie that every cult movie fan should see and it is one hell of a way to kick off 2013.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty had me pumped from the time that it was first announced. I'm up for anything that Kathryn Bigelow is involved in, and the added bonus of seeing a huge collection of my favorite actors in one movie is also a huge plus. If you have never heard of Kathryn Bigelow, check out The Hurt Locker (Drama), Point Break (Action), or Near Dark (Horror), you'll thank me afterwards. This is a movie that needs very little set up because most people with half a brain know that the movie is about the manhunt for Osama bin Laden, and if you don't know the ending already then you may have to re-evaluate your life.

 A cast consisting of Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, James Gandolfini, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Duplass, Frank Grillo, and John Barrowman is what sets this movie apart from anything else that I have seen this year. I have been adamant about the fact that I thought Looper got disrespected and was the best movie of the year, but that was before I saw this incredible masterpiece. Each actor plays their respective role perfectly and none of them are over the top and they all come off as real people. That is a huge factor when trying to make a fact based movie. Jessica Chastain is phenomenal as Maya, the main CIA agent in the movie. She is a young CIA agent at the beginning of the movie and you see her mature over the years and how her singular goal of catching bin Laden takes its toll on her as well. This is a person who is willing to do whatever it takes to kill bin Laden, no matter how terrible those things are, and you are always right there rooting for her. It takes a special actress to make you sympathetic of someone you see torturing people.

I also want to take a second and talk about the tour de force performance of Jason Clarke. His character, Dan, is both incredibly menacing and charming all at the same time. He is the viewer's introduction to how far you must go to catch bin Laden. Dan has absolutely no qualms about torturing terrorists in order to get information and you get to see the wide arrange of method he employs to break their resolve. Jason Clarke plays the character with an unprecedented ferocity and his character comes out being very likable. Clarke is a very under appreciated actor and this may be the role that finally puts him into the spotlight. His performance is the second most important in the movie right behind that of Jessica Chastain.

I know it seems like most of this review seems as though it being dedicated to the acting in the movie and that is for a good reason, it is incredible. Some of the other standouts in the movie are Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, and Mark Strong. Edgerton and Pratt are in the roles of two Marines from Seal Team Six, and they each knock it out of the park. Pratt plays the loudmouthed, Justin, and Edgerton plays quiet and reserved, Patrick. They are able to joke around with each other on screen and then turn up the intensity when they go on the raid for bin Laden. This was the first time that I have seen Pratt in a serious role and he proves that he can absolutely juggle between comedy and drama. Mark Strong also makes an appearance as Maya's boss in the United States. Strong is an incredible character actor and is generally used in small roles where he is put in heavy make up or prosthetics. He effortlessly blends into his characters and it is easy to forget that you are watching him act.

The action in this movie is extremely solid in its limited use in the movie. There are several suicide bomber scenes in the movie and they are really tense and you see them coming from a mile away but it never diminishes their effectiveness. You see the London bus bombings and there is just an incredible sense of dread in the air leading up the actual bombings. There are a few other scenes that I don't want to spoil because they are both awesome and heartbreaking. The end sequence of the movie is one of the most perfectly choreographed and tense action scenes that has ever been filmed.

This is a very emotional movie for anyone that lived through 9/11 and its aftermath. I felt a need to see this movie for its entertainment value and educational value as well. It took a neutral stance on its portrayal of the actions of the CIA operatives int he movie and didn't try and force the viewer to be for or against the use of torture to gain information. I am for one in favor of its use, and that might make me a horrible person but you have to do what you have to in those given situations. I am not going to pretend that I can even fathom the decisions that were going through the heads of the operatives in real life, their sole goal was to protect our nation from outside threats and they did everything that they could do to accomplish that goal. I wrote a very heartfelt piece on United 93 and I don't want this review to become that so this is where I am going to close it out.

This is a movie that you absolutely need to see. It was a great piece of filmmaking and showcased some of the best performances of the year. For anyone who lived through 9/11 and has followed the manhunt of bin Laden this is essential viewing. It is playing in a select few theaters and I had to drive a decent distance to go and see it but it was well worth the trip. Just go and see it.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Comic of the Week: Hellboy in Hell #2

This is one of our new weekly features for the site. I am huge comic fan and have really gotten back into them over the last year and a half. So every week I will be featuring the best comic that I read that week, and it will be posted on either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday depending on when I pick up my weekly books. This week the pick is Hellboy in Hell #2, and it is fucking fantastic to say the least. Everything from the art to the writing is top notch. Mike Mignola made a big splash in the comic industry by finally deciding to do a monthly Hellboy comic instead of just separate mini-series. So far the first two issue are on par with the top books being put out right now including Saga, The Walking Dead, Revival, and The Manhattan Projects. I use those series as a basis for ratings because they are the best books being offered at the point in time in my opinion.

The art in this book is simply incredible, and is the main selling point for a lot of readers. Mike Mignola is a master at his craft and has the uncanny ability of crafting dark, humorous, giant adventures with a seemingly simplistic art style. I have been a fan of his art for years and his work on this series is incredible, as he creates his own version of hell that has all sorts of twisted inhabitants. Its saying something when Hellboy is the "normal" looking character in your story. His version of Satan is twisted and odd and is completely different than any other time the character was featured in any form of media. This is what makes Mignola such a force in the comic industry, he draws epic adventures with amazingly odd characters and everything always seems to come together to make magic.

Hellboy in Hell is no slouch in the story department as well. Mignola has fun with the character even after his untimely demise at the end of his last mini-series. Hellboy, being from Hell, would naturally go back there when he died and we get the chance to see his adventures there. He is given the chance to kill Satan and assume his role as the King of Hell but has absolutely no interest in taking the mantle of King. It is going to be interesting how he deals with all of the demons and other creatures in Hell as they try and manipulate him. This is the great thing about creator owned series, you have the ability to craft these crazy, off the wall stories that would never pass at the big two, Marvel and DC.

If you are a comic fan, this is a series that you should be reading on a monthly basis. There is a lot of history to the character of Hellboy but his adventures are easily accessible and the great art by Mike Mignola is always a plus. This is a top notch series and it will be a permanent staple on my monthly pull list from my local comic shop.