Into the depths of my mind...

My promise to you:

I will post no spoilers.
I will post no glimpses.
I will post no surprises.

I will say I read The Watchmen when the comic came out.  I read every issue.  I devoured them.  There was nothing like it before it, and very few things that came close afterwards.

Alan Moore said it was unfilmable.  He said a movie would never be able to capture the power, the passion and the complexity of the comic.

Alan Moore is an amazing talent when it coms to creating comics.

But he is no film-maker.  And he was wrong. 

I shuddered as the comic came to life before me.  When Rorschact spoke, I would have know who it was before he identified himself.  When Nite Owl and Silk Specter fought criminals, it was as belivable and as brutal as it had been in the book.  When Ozymandias spoke, the air of superiority lept from the ink to my ears.

If Iron Man was a triumph of the comics to movies medium, and The Dark Knight was robbed of Oscar nominations it deserved, then Watchmen is the movie that breaks the genre barrier, the same way the comic did.

In the end, it's a movie about the flaws that make people human, no matter how superhuman they are.

But i felt a need.  In my quest for inspiration in reading/writing I've been reading online stuff.  Specific stuff.

Online comics.

I didn't realize i had a problem until I noticed it was taking me over an hour to browse all the strips i was reading.

So here's my list of what I'm reading.

13) The Perry Bible Fellowship by Nicholas Gurewitch - Irreverant and surreal, it's a shame he's doing no new strips.  If he was, this one would be higher in my list

12) Ding! by Scott Kurtz- It's gone through a few incarnationsm but I like the new format.  I've got a few stories to submit. You may not need to play WoW, but you really do need to be an online gamer at least to get some of the gags. 

11) For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston- The only syndicated strip in the list.  I'm still waffling on the new format, but Lynn really does capture sibling relations unerringly.

10) Red String by Gina Biggs- I just found this in the last day.  Wow.  It's a keeper.

9) Fans! by T. Cambell and Jason Waltrip - T. Cambell is one hell of a writer.  I really loved the first couple arcs, then got lost for a few story arcs, and I'm starting to drift back.  This one's on the rise in my list.

8) Fun In Jammies - It's fun, the art's very clean, and the characters are real.  Meanders a bit, but I still enjoy it.

7) Striptease by Chris Daily - Great strip.  Could use a few less characters and plot meanders, but still very solid.

6) Candi by Starline X. Hodge - I love the writing because it's real.  The art is simple but very expressive. 

5) Menage a 3 by Dave Zero and Giz. - A funny, sexy and compelling story with one HELL of an artist.  Giz's art makes me want to hold my breath for updates.

4) PvP - By Scott Kurtz. Alot of people bash him, curse him and talk alot of crap about the writer/artist.  He's been doing the  strip for 10 years, and I think he's still funny.  Brent Sienna is my hero.

3) Wapsi Square by Paul Traylor - Hot babes, action, wierdness, mysticism and general mayhem combine for a great strip.  Paul makes me tear my hair out.  He gives you just enough plot development to keep the story going, but there are times i want to just choke him and scream "What the HELL is going on!"

2) Least I Could Do by Sohmer and Lar - Rayne is the world's biggest pig, and I love him in a manly-but-no-peen-touching way.

1) Penny and Aggie by T. Cambell and Giz, AGAIN - Who would believe a teen drama in comic form would have me completely enthralled.  Shades of DeGrassi High...

 Ok, I haven't seen it yet (and I plan to) and yes it looks amazing and yes Heath looks amazing and the movie looks great and....blah.

I'm not slamming the movie.  But something struck me as odd.

For the second day in a row, CNN.com's top headline is about "The Dark Knight".

Why is this notable?  Three reasons.

1) "The Dark Knight"  was made by Warner Brothers, owned by Time Warner
2) The movie is based on the character of Batman, published by DC Comics, also owned by Time Warner.
3) CNN is owned by Time Warner.

If you're going to hype your movie can you do it without compromising what little integrity your "news" outlet has?