Welcome to a new, semi-recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM: Off-Topic Mondays.  Occasionally,  I have ideas, questions, or notions that I can’t even tangentially relate to Blaxploitation, and since it would be irresponsible to litter the Intenet landscape with another blog, I came up with Off-Topic Mondays, with all apologies to Gangstarr Girl’s Blaxploitation Friday.  The first entry in the series does kind of deal with the 1970s and genre fiction, but unless you want to have Billy Dee Williams in the captain’s seat, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with Blaxploitation.  Now give me one second to proudly unfurl my geek flag and here we go:

VS.

You’ve got three days to get across the galaxy.  Which would you rather travel in to reach your destination, the flagship of the Federation, the USS Enterprise (pick whichever model you want), or the Corellian freighter, the Millennium Falcon?

Personally, I’d buy a seat on the Millennium Falcon.  I figure it would smell like a curious blend of patchouli, motor oil, curry and wet fur, and I’d guess that your sleeping compartment would be separated from the others by a measly set of beaded curtains, but the trip would be pretty cool.   You probably wouldn’t even make it to your planned destination, but all the fun would be in the journey itself.  Han would tell awesome stories; I’m sure he’d know the best places to stop, eat, and drink along the way (I mean delicious, authentic, ethnic/alien food served at crappy hole-in-the-wall joints); and more than likely, he’d even let you fly the ship for a while.

With the Enterprise, you’d be guaranteed to reach your final port of call, and the crew would be polite and efficient, but the experience would be a little antiseptic.  I’m sure later models of the Enterprise could even replicate a tasty Applebee’s entree for you, if you so desired.  However, even if something interesting happened along the way, you wouldn’t know it, because some well-groomed crew member would hustle you off to your cabin at the first sign of danger, spout some techno-babble by way of explanation, and lock the door behind him on the way out.  Yawn!

Now let the nerd wankery begin!

- JEP

Welcome to the latest installment of a semi-recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM: Off-Topic Mondays.  Occasionally,  I have ideas, questions, or notions that I can’t even tangentially relate to Blaxploitation, and since it would be irresponsible to litter the Intenet landscape with another blog, I present to you Off-Topic Mondays.

Bruce Campbell is a geek icon.  He starred in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead film series, played the roguish title character of the short-lived FOX TV series, The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr., and can currently be seen on the USA Network’s critically-acclaimed series Burn Notice.  His quick wit, quirky sense of humor, movie star good looks, dedication to genre-related  projects, connection to a director beloved by sci-fi/comic book fans, and his massive chin have made Bruce Campbell a legend–LEGEND–in fanboy circles.   For years, whenever news leaked that a comic book property was being adapted to film, the first words uttered or typed by fanboys would be, “They should totally pick Bruce Campbell to play [insert famous fictional character]!”

Batman?  Yes.

Superman?  Absolutely.  He’s got Superman’s chin!

James Bond?  He can do a British accent.

Robin Hood?  See above.

Captain Marvel, SpongeBob Squarepants, Wonder Woman, the list goes on and on.  It didn’t matter who the character was, fans were certain that not only would Bruce Campbell be perfect for the role, he was the ONLY one who could play the part and do it justice.

Until now.

Now it seems like fandom has a new Golden Boy and his name is Nathan Fillion. Nathan Fillion, with his movie star good looks and powerful chin, came to the attention of fanboys by playing roguish space pilot, Capt. Malcolm Reynolds on the short-lived FOX TV series, Firefly, which was created by beloved genre director Joss Whedon (Buffy, The Vampire Slayer). Fillion demonstrated his own brand of quirky humor playing Captain Hammer in Joss Whedon’s webseries Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog. He also did a goofy turn as a hapless handyman in the Funny Or Die porn spoof, Nailing Your Wife.

Now, with a new slate of superhero movies in development, Nathan Fillion is the fanboys’ choice for the roles they used to clamor for Bruce Campbell to fill.  In a recent installment of Newsarama’s Cast Off, wherein readers select whom they would like to see playing a particular character, Fillion came in heavily favored to play Captain America.  Also, a very cleverly produced fan-made trailer for a Green Lantern movie featuring Nathan Fillion as the title character is circulating on the Internet.

Despite Bruce Campbell’s fan favorite status, to date, he has never been cast as the lead in a major comic book movie, and it looks like Nathan Fillion may be following down that path as well.  Variety recently confirmed that Ryan Reynolds has been selected to play Green Lantern in a movie scheduled to go into production next year.

Is Nathan Fillion the “New Bruce Campbell?”  I think all signs point to “Yes.”

What say you, faithful readers?

- JEP

Welcome to a semi-recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE.COM: Off-Topic Mondays.  Occasionally,  I have ideas, questions, or notions that I can’t even tangentially relate to Blaxploitation, and since it would be irresponsible to litter the Intenet landscape with another blog, I came up with Off-Topic Mondays, with all apologies to Gangstarr Girl’s Blaxploitation Friday.

I found this on YouTube via The Huffington Post.  Visual artist, Kseniya Simonova was featured on the Ukrainian version of Britain’s Got Talent creating live “sand animation” depicting the German invasion of Ukraine during World War II.  I was transfixed by the beauty of Ms. Simonova’s work, the sureness of her hand, confidence in her skills, and the absolute mastery of her chosen medium.  It reminds me of the animated film, Persepolis, based on Marjane Satrapi’s critically-acclaimed graphic novel of the same name, but Ms. Simonova’s work remains a stunning, ephemeral, unique work of art…no, an experience…all its own. Again, it’s got absolutely nothing to do with Blaxploitation, but I felt obligated to share this beautiful work with you to start your week.

- JEP

…or Space-Time Continuum-Shattering Swipe File?  You decide!

Earth X was a Marvel Comics limited series, based on a concept by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger.  The series was published in 1999.  John Paul Leon illustrated the series, and his rendition of Wolverine is below:

Now here’s a mug shot of one James Lamarr Douglas taken this year:

 I vote for blatant swipe, since I wouldn’t put it past Alex Ross to have built a time machine in the present, just to take this photo to himself in 1999.  Why?  Because, A) the freakishly talented Alex Ross is big on photo reference, and B) he’s sitting on Uncle Scrooge-esque piles of money, which he could easily replenish in an afternoon by selling a Battle Of The Planets diptych or his thumbnail sketches of Space Ghost.  Hell, he and his brother built a full-size replica of the Batmobile from a 1950 Studebaker, for Pete’s sake, so with his ability to crank out 50 fully painted covers before breakfast, bending the laws of physics would be a slow day for Alex Ross.

 - JEP

(Special thanks to The Juice* for the mug shot link.)

On Wednesday, I promised a major announcement for WORLD OF HURT, and today, I plan to deliver.  I am extremely proud to announce that The Internet’s #1 Blaxploitation Webcomic will find its second home on Newsarama.com, the Internet’s premier home for comic book news, reviews, and information.

Don’t worry, of course, new episodes of WORLD OF HURT will continue to be posted every Wednesday, right here at www.worldofhurtonline.com, but starting next week, “re-runs” of WORLD OF HURT,beginning with the very first episode of “The Thrill-Seekers,” will run every Tuesday and Thursday at Blog @ Newsarama.  Think of it in the same way as a syndicated TV show like The Office.  Every Thursday, NBC airs new episodes, but you can also find previous episodes in syndication on your local TV station.   It is a tremendous promotional opportunity to reach new readers and spread the “gospel” of Pastor to fans of comic fans who may not have found the site otherwise.

I am very proud to be part of the Blog @ Newsarama family.  Troy Brownfield and David Pepose of Newsarama.com have been extremely accommodating and helpful.  In order to introduce WORLD OF HURT to the Newsarama.com audience, David conducted an interview with me this past week.  I was honest and candid as possible, and hopefully it gives you some insight into how WORLD OF HURT came to be, what I’ve learned along the way, and what more I want to accomplish.  The interview was posted last night and can be found HERE.

I can’t believe how far this little strip has come in the past six months.  Everyone has been so receptive and positive about the strip thus far.  I’d like to thank everyone who has discovered this site for sticking around for the ride, and I’d like to welcome all the new “WORLD” Travelers who have just joined us in progress.  I urge you all to buckle up and hunker down, ’cause it only gets more fun from here.

On another note, in three days, the ever-popular feature, Off-Topic Mondays, returns to WORLDOFHURTONLINE.

- JEP

Welcome to the latest installment of a semi-recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE:  Off-Topic Mondays.  Occasionally,  I have ideas, questions, or notions that I can’t even tangentially relate to Blaxploitation, and since it would be irresponsible to litter the Internet landscape with another blog, and with all apologies to Gangstarr Girl’s Blaxploitation Fridays, I present to you Off-Topic Monday.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing the band, Cage The Elephant, at Headliners here in Columbia, South Carolina.  The Bowling Green, KY-based rock/punk quintet was on the bill between the duo …And Horse and Silversun Pickup.  Although Silversun Pickup had nominal top billing, in my mind, Cage The Elephant absolutely blew them out of the water.  Silversun Pickup is a very solid alternative rock trio that, to me, sounded like Smashing Pumpkins fronted by John Mayer, or “smooth jazz” singer Michael Franks.  However, after the incredible set by Cage The Elephant, the very fact that Silversun Pickup was NOT Cage The Elephant kept me from enjoying their set more, and came damn close to making me angry.  One of my favorite pieces of music writing was a review of a Rolling Stones concert in which The Black Crowes were the opening act.  The reviewer spent the entire article praising the Crowes, then ended with the sentence, “The Rolling Stones closed for The Black Crowes.”  This is that kind of review.

Matt Schultz, the lead singer for Cage The Elephant, has the lean, wiry frame and soul of a punk rocker, but the thick neck and blunt, broken features of a boxer who’s fought one round too many.  He also has the most magnetic stage persona I have ever seen.  Ever.  It is a coy, mercurial stage presence that is alternately playful, menacing, pouting, but always compelling.  I dare anyone to take their eyes off him.  You have to remind yourself that there are four other guys out there with him.  As they took the stage, one fan in the front stretched his hand out to solicit a high-five from Schultz.  Just inches from the fan, Schultz glared at him for what felt like an eternity,  before his face exploded into a genuine, “I’m-just-fuckin’-with-ya” grin, and slapped him some skin.  As they performed, Schultz mugged, careened and lurched around the stage like an alcoholic spoiling for a fight.  At one point, he leapt down into the audience to form an impromptu one-man mosh pit, and I remember thinking, ”This guy is like Heath Ledger’s Joker, without the make-up.”  Schultz invites the audience in, and then challenges them.  You just don’t know what to expect from him next, but the fun is watching and listening where Schultz and Cage The Elephant  go next.

Cage thundered through a brisk, powerful set comprised of the songs from their self-titled debut album.  Incidentally, front-to-back, the album “Cage The Elephant” is one of the most solid albums I’ve heard in a long, long time.  It defines the term “all killer, no filler.”  There’s not one track on it that you want to fast-forward through.  Overall, it’s Southern flavored rock with a punk edge, but  Cage The Elephant’s most famous song is “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” a bluesy, hip-hop tinged number that can be heard on the commercial for the new videogame, Borderlands.

If Cage The Elephant comes to your town, they are a must-see act.  I know it sounds like hyperbole, but watching them in concert felt like I was watching the Rolling Stones sweating it out in an early club gig…before they could get upstaged by The Black Crowes.

- JEP

LINKS:

• Cage The Elephant official website
• Official Cage The Elephant YouTube Channel