Lantern7

Given how much Marvel is putting into Deadpool #27, which is coming out on Wednesday, I thought that I'd start a topic on the company's "Merc With A Mouth." In case you haven't heard, Deadpool is getting married, and Marvel will be putting out an issue featuring every writer synonymous with the character. That includes Fabian Niciez (who co-created Deadpool with Rob Liefeld), Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Christopher Priest, Jimmy Palmiotti, Frank Tieri, Gail Simone, Daniel Way and Victor Gischeler, along with present scribes Brian Posehn (yes, the comedian) and Gerry Dugan. Even at a $9.99 price tag, I'll be in. Who's your favorite writer? I wound up getting all the "Deadpool Classic" books by Joe Kelly, even though I already had the issues. His work fleshed out Deadpool, and elevated himself into a higher tier. I think Priest's run was very disappointing, because I don't think Marvel's editorial department knew which way to take the character. I also like Posehn & Dugan's present run, though I still remain biased towards Kelly.

I'm guessing you had to be a boy from the Eighties to really get into it. That's a pity, since I thought the homages were near perfect. But I have to admit that I don't normally watch Community, so I might not be the right person to talk to about it.

On occasion, she does. Unfiltered, she can be quite dirty.

I don't know about horses. For the most part, the show has focused on litters. That said, a baby horse might be fun to see. Or a baby donkey. My mother is a sucker for those.

No, that would be Challenge 2000. Amaya was more well-behaved in BOTS1, back when she and Melissa were BFFs.

In the vein of the thread's title: who are your favorite comics? In my case, I'll defer to the last comic I've seen live: Maria Bamford. The woman is ten pounds of quirk in a five-pound bag. Like Gabriel, she's got impressive vocal range, and she makes it work.

I think it was Ruthie who said that Emily would've been "demon enough" to disassemble the puzzle. Then again, I vaguely remember Mark saying that his team beat the women by a half-hour, at least. More memories of this Challenge for me involves Melissa openly questioning the missions. I loved her so much, and I fretted over her each week, even though she wasn't in any real danger of getting voted off. And I liked her recaps, which weren't as self-indulgent as Colin's. Also, I was somewhat disturbed that James didn't say "dude" until near the end of his run. ETA for PumpkinSpice . . . I recapped this season, so I know what you mean about recording the stuff on VHS. I used to play, take notes, rewind, play, take notes, rewind, etc. Good times . . . this was back when I regarded Rachel, Veronica and Eric Friggin' Nies as human beings.

Out of curiosity, are there any other people like me who don't watch this show, yet watched G.I. Joe when they were kids? I think writer Dino Stamatopoulos (who I know is a weird puppy) did a great job capturing the essence of the cartoon and toy commercials, while mixing in the poignacy of a man turning 40 and trying to deny his age. Also, you had fun stuff like Destro getting killed, Abed/Fourth Wall breaking down reality, and Snake Eyes seemingly shocked speechless . . . which is one mean feat, since he never said anything in the series to begin with. Long story. Bonus points for making John Oliver play the Tomax and Xamot expies. ETA: How many of the original voice actors came back to play? I could've sworn that was the case for Duke and Flint.

After Battle of the Seasons and Battle of the Sexes, Bunim-Murray Productions decided to switch up the format for elimination. Instead of contestants being voted out for good (mostly due to low scores), they would have one chance to prove themselves by winning a do-or-die game. Winner stays, loser goes home. This would be a major turning point for BMP, and it would make a heroine out of Sarah Greyson. Sarah was a scrub . . . or at least she was on Road Rules: Campus Crawl. After underachieving in several missions, she was taken off by her castmates, most of whom were dicks about it (looking at you, Shane). Right off the bat, Darrell and Rachel immediately schemed to get her off the Road Rules team. Soon, they would be joined by the likes of Veronica and Adam . . . the latter being the ADD-addled jackass from RR: The Quest whose attitude sucked most of the time. Sarah would be voted into the Gauntlet five times, and she won all five times. She wound out taking out her best friend in one Gauntlet (Rachel the overgrown pixie from RW: Back to New York), she had major leg pain from hanging upside down in three Gauntlets, but she survived to join the final Road Rules team in their win over Real World. Speaking of Real World, the focus usually shined on Coral, who had found success on the Challenge circuit in BOTSeasons. She wasn't quite as good in this round, to the point where even her bestie Mike wound up voting her into the Gauntlet, whereupon she had a crying fit over it. Coral would take out her discount clone Tina in the Gauntlet, and she'd make the final RW team . . . but before the final mission, she got bit by a spider, and she suffered a severe allergic reaction, costing her team in the end. Some say it was exhaustion, but I buy the spider bite story. It's more tragic that way. I hated how Mike and Nathan threw hissy fits over it . . . though it was excusable in Nathan's case, since he probably knew he was never going to come back. There's a lot of other stuff to talk about here . . . like Rachel and Veronica lowering themselves to having a threesome with psycho Abram, Trishelle getting injured biking and going to "the medical place," Mike and Trishelle having a showmance (Mike's second for the show) much to Coral's chagrin, and Darrell killing the English language. Also, I'm still bitter than Trishelle upset Steve in the Gauntlet, and BMP didn't even give us footage of him leaving. But mostly, I'll remember Sarah hanging in there and winning. When BMP gave us a montage of her highlights in the finale, I almost broke down. No lie.

I thought maybe we could have threads devoted to old seasons of The Challenge. I figured we could start with the original Battle Of The Sexes. We wound up with a mixed bag. Sure, we had fun and drama and Ruthie showing that she was more than a dangerous alcoholic. But then they was shit like Puck trying to run the show, up to and including having an episode dedicated to his wedding. He also took delight in picking fights with Ellen, whose skin was way too thin for the show. James and Emily's relationship took priority a few times, including when Emily left her team in the lurch when James was voted off. Finally, you had the final men's team (Mark Long, Jamie and Colin) cheat by working off the girls' (Ruthie, Ellen, Lori) puzzle in order to win. Hell, the first episode had so much to offer. You had Puck spitting in David Edwards' face, leading to his ejection from the game, which led to a cast revolt . . . which had to be staged, because grown men acting like that was too brutal to bear. You also had the feud between NOLA cast members Julie and Melissa, which ended prematurely when Melissa and Amaya won the first event (Sargent Says, anyone?), and Melissa proceeded to get the Inner Circle to vote Julie out. This was epic, because Julie was a huge Mormon pain in the ass, while Melissa was awesome . . . at least for me. Does anybody else want to share some BOTS1 memories? Antoine's Belgian awesomeness, the aborted David/Ayanna showmance, Emily using her "bloody axe" to chop down Rachel and Veronica . . . mostly good times.

I vote for "Small Talk: The Gauntlet." Just to honor the first do-or-die games, the real gamechangers in the show's history.

I just found out one of Spencer's idols is Mitt Romney. Suddenly, I'm rethinking my seat on his bandwagon. Whammo .. . swearing on his badge doesn't mean jack to Tony. He sees Survivor as a moral vacuum. He's like Russell Hantz, only not nearly as Chaotic Evil.

This thread is all about one of the wilder, more memorable RW seasons. At the very least, when Jamie Chung does something, we can post it here. It's not like we expect RWers to become legit actors, but I never saw her as an up-and-coming starlet. What do you take away from this season? Well, we had Brad and Randy's rampaging bromance. There was the time Brad and Robin got hammered and went to jail on their own. Then there was poor miscast Frankie, who was lured out of BMP's Starting Over, even though she was a better fit there. She agitated people, showed a fear of boats, and acted like the most "alt" chick ever. Sure, she was a pain in the ass, but her death from cystic fibrosis remains pretty tragic. Oh, and there was also Jacquese, a cool guy with way too much common sense for the show, and Cameran and her nut-shots. Oh, and Charlie, but nobody remembers him. What do you guys think of the original San Diego season? At least nobody sucked as hard as Frank and Zach from the subsequent San Diego-based season.

Thanks for the love, guys . . . but the seasons have blurred into a huge mess for me. I draw blanks a lot more often. In fact, when I saw Erika on the list I linked above, I could not remember her at all. Any idea for what to call this thread? I'm leaning towards "TRUE STOR-REH!," a la Jon from RW2

EC Amber . . . good point. That's why cast members of The Real World get all the Subway they can eat. Damn, I'm still mad at Kass. I guess that the idea of a Brains rebound into F3 was too good to be true. Spencer and/or Tash can shove Kass into a fire, and I wouldn't be too broken up about it.

Anybody else hate Kass as much as I do? I know that Sarah's probably a huge pill (not as big as Trish, though), but I feel that Kass has joined the bully faction of the game (and Woo). Stupid Kass. Not much else to add. When I see challenges, I wonder what would happen if J'Tia was still in the game. This week: she would've fell into the water before Probst officially started the game.

Well, I liked the season opener, and I think Amy is more than a "foul-mouthed Cathy." Granted, the Anna Kournikova-esque sketch shouldn't have made it on the show, but I thought the rest of it was pretty good.

I'm pretty sure we're not going to see Arielle and Ashley after the season ends. They're too normal for any Challenges. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast is a hot, unattractive mess. I'd say anything would be an improvement, but BMP are experts at finding the bottom of the barrel.

This is a thread for discussion of The Boondocks comic strip, the biggest casualty of the TV series. You can reminisce about Jolly Jenkins, Huey and Caesar looking for a mate for Condolezza Rice, Robert and Tom watching Brokeback Mountain in horror, and other stuff that will never make the show. Oh, and remember when Riley smacked Jazmine and Cindy upside the head with a toy lightsaber, and he was pissed that it didn't actually cut? That, too. Good times.

I figured that I'd start a thread devoted to any and all articles on The Boondocks. Also, I feel it's a good place to showcase this trailer of the new season, which debuts in less than three weeks. While I'm unsure as to if I'd like to direction of the show, I feel that it should be one helluva ride either way. Also, here's an article on Aaron McGruder confirming his non-involvement in the fourth season. Is Black Jesus worth it? Only time will tell.

I figured that even though Too Cute! has covered all sorts of kitten and puppy breeds, but there are some that have yet to be covered. Hence this thread. Anybody who's read the thread on TWoP knows that I will not shut up about the lack of English Bulldog puppies. If you do an image or YouTube search, you'll understand why . . . they are wrinkled balls of fat with a bit of attitude. Sure, the breed itself is messed up from years past (shorter, harder to breathe, c-sections because the puppy heads are too big, etc), but who cares? Other than that, the only other breed I think has been shortchanged has been the Boston Terrier, aka "The American Gentleman." What puppies and/or kittens do you want to see? Or maybe there are other domesticated animals you'd like to view?

. . . and here's the trailer for S4.

I used to go to Wizard World when it was in Philadelphia. Eventually, I stopped going because the emphasis was going off comics and onto multimedia guests. I went to their NYC show last year, but they were only offering one-day tickets. Wound up only getting two sketches. I think my big highlight was passing by Patrick Stewart. Also, one of my big regrets is not saving a pic I took of him when I was in Philly . . . it was the day of the USA/England World Cup match, and he was wearing an England jersey. ETA: Turns out MoCCA is this weekend, and I'll be away. If you're in the NYC area, I recommend going. It's a nice indie con in midtown Manhattan, and it's worth the time.

I figured that since Arrow has a forum, there should be a thread for Oliver Queen in comic books. For me, I have some exposure to Green Arrow . . . mostly through Brad Metzler and Judd Winick's runs on the book; the former exploring the will of a hero (Ollie) who wound up coming back to life. I also have the "Hard Traveling Heroes" collection from the Seventies . . . that's the run of Green Lantern where Ollie and pal Hal Jordan explore America and the hot button issues of the day. From what I can remember, that's also when Ollie became a hardcore liberal and grew the sweet mustache and goatee, becoming truer to the Robin Hood myth. I'm not following the "new52" version of Ollie, but I've heard good things about what writer Jeff Lemire has done for the book. What stories have you guys read about Green Arrow? Do you like his current look, or did you think he should've stayed a Batman knockoff with an archery motif?

If there's a sentence to encapsulate Last Comic Standing it would be "The Show That Refuses To Die." Even few years, it gets buried by NBC, and you think you've seen the last of it . . . but then the network digs that puppy up and plops it on their summer schedule. The premise is basic: who is the best comic out of a given field of aspiring comics? Sure, a lot of folks have gotten huge after LCS, like Ralphie May, Amy Schumer, Gabriel Iglesias and Alonzo Bodden . . . but a lot of the show and the judgements have been sketchy, ranging from the auditions to the finished product. I'm betting a lot of fans are still butthurt that Dat Phan beat Dave Mordall in the opening season, and that Dat would up winning that edition. His problem was the overuse of his Vietnamese ancestry in his jokes. Other LCS finalists have been guilty of that as well (being Italian, Indian, pregnant, etc). And the last guy to win LCS was Felipe Esparza . . . and he's better known for his antics in Gabriel's stand-up. Anyway, NBC has decided to bring the show back for an eighth edition, with JB Smoove hosting. The judges are electic: Rosanne Barr, Keenan Ivory-Wayans, and Russell Peters. There might be a good season to be had, but I doubt it. ETA: What are your favorite memories from the show? BTW, Dat Phan : Ralphie May :: Jesse Camp : Dave Holmes.