Stake Land

Buy It or Rent It

A few years ago I tried to read twilight and well I did it read them all in one god awful sitting. I did it because the world well to be honest I work in sales and need to talk about things to my customers. So yeah it finished off my love for vampires for awhile. I swear to not care about vampires again till the hype died down and that's when Stake Land came out rich when I need to revitalized my lovers for vampires. Well it did just that and I'am now going to explain what makes this one of the best vampire films I have seen in a very very long time.  

To start with I truly love the way the camera moves in this flick and the cuts are quick but annoyingly so.  Giving you the feel of paranoia and fear making it as jarring to you as the people on the run. Now that is not normally something we discuss on here so that is he last I shall mention it. I want to let the world know I love the style and editing and the script of this film. Now the reasons it's on this blog is of course about the content of said script. GOD DAMN this movie has a lot of really nasty bits in it that truly show the desperation of the human soul in pain and without hope. The world is truly over in this film and so far up shit creek that even a paddle and a boat engine can't save you. 

Also I love the fact they get into how vampires work in this world with a a lot of talk from Mister. Such as calling kid vampires Scamps. That is a very powerful word for a evil vampire child that just wants to feast on your blood.

 Side characters are a Nun they call Sister.  Who is sexually assaulted  in her first scene in this movie and they save her and she has to live with the guilt that the men claimed to be upstanding pious believers. 

The Crow Skinning the wolves

The Crow Skinning the wolves is going to be today's comic discussion. Well I picked this up at random being an old school crow fan. I grow up on the first graphic and even read it before the movie. So yeah I was shocked to see James O'Barr's name on this comic and pumped like a mad man. I figured it would let me down and not be fitting in the style of the crow. I was right and then I was impressed with the content of this comic.

To start with the shock first was the art more traditional comic book then the first crow which felt like a painting. But that went away after a few pages of this great graphic novel. The next thing that hit me was truly the lack of love or care just that this man throw himself into his work with great zeal. Now that would normally bother me given that the crow is almost a love song normally. But this is Nazi Germany and well that calls for a different style of crow. I LOVED the way they handle this matter with gusto and balls and touching on the horrors of this time period in a way that was still fun to read. Now I'am not saying that this was not a horrible and great awful thing but if I wanted that feel I would re-watch Schindler's List or read Night or Maus. There is enough story that tells us the horror this is the story with hope in a weird kinda of way. It was a victim striking back at one of the truly most horrible events in human kind and well it made me do a sick chuckle at times. I truly think this is a great comic. Only three issues meaning it fits nicely into one trade paper back and a great intro by James O'Barr leading into this comic. GO BUY IT if you like over the time action and a great time!

Hack/Slash

I was debating if I wanted to do this comic book. I use to read it monthly and then I got broke and then I forget about it. Last week I picked up all five Omnibuses from amazon. Book 1,Book 2,Book 3,Book 4,Book 5 there you go in case you wish to pick it up like always. So moving on the concept which is the reason I truly love this great comic.

 The concept is Miss Hack there is a hunter of what is know to her at least Slasher aka killers that come back from the dead. Meaning horror movie villains what a great fun concept. Too bad it's not written great and fun and that is why it is here. Not saying there is not fun moments in this wonderful comic. But the characters are humanized first and comic second. The great thin is they hurt and you feel their pain and their desires and their wants. This is groundbreaking stuff in a horror comic when it's truly not monster of the week. Other horror comics have done it and I'am sure I'll have some classic up soon to illustrate the growth of the horror comic as a medium. But this is the best modern horror comic I have read since the first 30 days of night.

The characters get  damaged both emotionally and physical and don't get magically healed in two issues. They have to learn to live with what has happened to them and what has been done to them forcefully sometimes. Also it is great about keeping it's cannon in a row meaning I'am halfway through the 4 book and have yet to notice anything that does not mesh with what has come before. This comic yeah it goes to the No No Place but it's a horror comic and if I was going to start listing why we would be here all day. JUST BUY it or READ IT or GET IT, ENJOY IT. I truly love this comic and I shall now go finish it up. No spoilers or even hints at them in this one.

Live Freaky! Die Freaky!

Well this movie is full of mind fuck. It crawls in the brain and scratches the walls according to the person I was watching this with. She could not finish it. But I truly loves this film and think anyone that likes to be "Disturbed" or "Laugh" or "Musical" or "Punk rock" Should totally watch it. I have to say this is the best Charles Manson musical ever!

Now jokes asides this is a very strange movie and should be watched by the morbid. The plot is about a man in the post-apocalyptic world that finds a copy of  Helter Skelter and the film is a claymation  version of the things inside. Now because he has no idea about who Charles Manson is this leads to a very open interruption of these events in this book. It's a very odd movie.

The One

Now the intro by Alan Moore rocks it truly rocks. He dates the comic book and sets the tone perfectly. He even let's the dirty secret slip before the comic goes on that this came out before Watchmen and Dark Knight. The two comics given credit to changing the superhero world forever but this is the same type of comic. I have read this once before and don't remember it well so join me as we journey into The One.

The comic starts with an article explaining why A-bomb will save the world by helping us re-wire our brains. That is truly a strong place to start and has a lot of room for growth.  This is the story of war and how it is being used by companies to abuse the all mighty money of this world and control us. This event is caused by a man that makes weapons causing WW III always a great place to start.

Then it gets weird and in pops they strange geeky looking man with glasses and this awesome look. He is The One and fights The Other. The classic tale of good and evil done in only the way Vetich could do it with style and flair.

Now to the creepy and weird it's about government made superheroes the American one in hidden by the government and the Russian one made by a Joseef Mangele if you don't know who that is he is one of the worst of the Nazi war criminals. Truly a evil man and this is of course why this comic made this list.

Next up Incest  two of the superheroes are only attracted to each other due to hating normal people.  Any other version of this story they would not be brother and sister but we don't cover normal stories here so yeah that happened.

Then it turned into a tale about clones and then a debate between good and evil and the nature of gods and society. This damn book hit everything I like to think about and talk about in my personal life. This was one of the best comics I have ever had the pleasure of reading and needs to be a staple in every comic book fans library.  The reason for the super brief overview this time is well this needs to be read without much know about it to have the desired effect. Two comics entries in one day I feel good and the next one well that will be a surprise. 

The Maximortal

The Maximortal

Well here we go I just found out Brat Pack had a sequel/prequel. I garbed a copy of it and The one both of these are by Rick Veitch. So now to dive back into his comics this will be a two part article. So The Maximortal is about a minor character in Brat Pack that is mentioned a few times as True Man. He shows up for the end and this is comic is the history of superheroes in this world. Well the book just arrived so this is going to be typed up as I read it. So yeah these will be my fresh thoughts on this great comic and how I feel about it. 

It starts the superman style with a baby from space and well it goes horribly wrong in a mater of pages with the child killing his own adopted father in as nice long montage of gore it's almost funny if another writer did it. Now time seems like it will be a big factor in this comic due to years being listed which is something I like for epic tales to help you put it together. Visual does not always help this task even in the a comic sometimes it does but very rarely if you ask me. 

A man that throws poop named "el Gunao" shows up knowing that he needs this power and following this great arrival is the Military to take the child to Sherlock Holmes. I was quite surprised to do two Sherlock comics in one month but here it is. Thank you Rick Veitch for bring in a little bit of class to this great comic so far. 

Then cut to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as they discuss True Man their idea. They are taken into an office to turn this great idea into a comic. In our world this is the birth of Superman and this scene ends with the famous real life contract signing that lost them the rights to Superman.

Next on the list of people is Doctor Oppenheimer who finds our sleeping hero so to speak and awakes him and well we all know this story in the real world. He is the man that helped create the Atomic Bomb of course.

The next person we cover is a the first man to ever play superman George Reeves or as he is know for the purpose of this comic Byron Reeves. They cover this with tact to be honest which shocked me because of the lack of it on other part so far.

The next historical thing we cover is the comic book code. This is handled like the travesty it truly was with all the bile and hate it deserves. I laugh smiled and clapped my hands if you want to learn more about this horrible time period in the history of comics here is a great book Tales of Terror!: The EC Companion given that EC took the biggest commercial beating during this time.  This is when William Gaines enters into the story and argues for the freedom of comics doing a horrible job I might add.

The  final historical person is Albert Einstein and then his thoughts about reality then off we go to the end of brat pack and this whole journey is over. What a great ride. next up is The One same writer and looks amazing!

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

This movie is loved and honored for all the wrong reasons. To start with Cameron Crow wrote the screenplay based on a piece of investigative journalism he did for rolling stone a few years early and published as a book. Well the plot elements of the plot are in here that are going to be discussed and I'am not talking about the drug use that is wildly discussed.  Now the reason is it is held in such high place among the  people is the use of 80's music and nostalgia feel that seems to have started around 1999-2003 and still has a grip on our society.    

The big thing that is messed up about this film is Stacy Hamilton and her best friend Linda that lies about having sex and is pushing Stacy to do it for real living vigorously through her. her friend also claims that she lost it at 13 and that she needs to grow up and this leads her to having sex with a 26 year old man that thinks she is 19 in a very forced scene that she is only doing it to impress her best-friend. Also just to make sure I put this in her she is only 15 which is why I find this so disturbing. Now a little bit later Stacy uses sex as a weapon to make people like her. Now this would normally in any other movie lead to her learning a lesson about love by some guy not wanting to bang her silly. Well in this movie it leads to pregnancy and finish that up with a of a one two jab of abortion and her older brother being pretty much cool with her doing it. 

Also her big brother is obsessed with his kid sisters best friend as well. Who keeps saying she has a  boyfriend in another town that truly does not seem if he exists at all. This leads to the infamous masturbation scene where in walks Linda on her best-friends brother. Who's life is spiraling out of  control due to standing up to a customer and losing his shit over and over again as the movie goes on.

Now my issue is yeah this is all normal teenage bullshit but people tend to forget that it's based on dear I say it once again a undercover investigative journalist piece by the screenplay writer.

My point of this short article is simple this sometimes a movie reaches cult classic mainly as a comedy due to people not truly researching or understanding what they are watching. I also love this movie and the reason is it captures the awkwardness of being a young person is a society ruled by sex and partying given that this is what we have been told to enjoy. 

Honor Among Punks

My scanner is not working and this is the only image of the cover I could find. Now let us start with some background on this amazing comic and me. I love Sherlock Holmes and I was in a punk band for many years. So you take these and combine then and you have a most buy for little old me. I sought it out to no avail and I found it after much time and forgetting the name. I was shown 2 issues back in the mid nineties by a friend and was hooked right then and there. This is a common trend in my comic book love someone shows it to me and I seek like a hound.

This comic is about a world where WWI was not so bad to be honest and WWII never happened making it so the British Isle never drifted away from the Victorian way of thinking dressing and thinking. Because of this  we get this world where Hitler died an old man with no power and hence the world truly never learned of real country wide evil. A young girl american in 1988 moves across to the pond as all Americans to this day seem to dream about and gets involved in with a girl Sharon Ford and her best friend Sam. During this time she gets involved with a gang know as the Bakerfields who are at war with another gang know as the Goths. The battle leads up to great violence and during a fight a robbery happens and fingers are wagging at all sides. Like any good mystery it is a rollicking good fun. This was not the story arc that got it firmly placed here though.

The second arc is the reason it is here all by itself which tells a tale of female empowerment that goes to a very dark place. It delves into what it truly means to hate oneself and how far one can be pushed around by society till the breaking point is reached. The only word I think I should use is this story arc is powerful and heavy handed in a good way to teach us how it truly feels to feel like an outcast something everyone tends to forget once that situation is removed from our lives. Sexuality is the way they handle that here and it is truly amazing. 

The art is to die for and I wish I had a few sample images but I do not due to the scanner not working when I turned it on to start working on this project. The reason I picked this comic up though is mainly due to my love of Sandman Mystery Theater which was drawn by the wonderful Guy Davis and this is another great comic to check out if you can find it.  He wrote the second arc the one that got it placed on here. The great Gary Reed did the writing of the first arc and some of his deadworld stuff may be on a future list if I can dig up my copies. I truly like to re-read or have the comic as a reference when doing this articles. Now like always beacuse I know people tned to be lazy here is a Buy It button for the world to use. This comic is rather rare but it tends to be on amazon randomly. 

Brat Pack

Comic books oh dear comic books. How I love thee and how I have wasted many an afternoon deeply enthralled as a child and later as a teen. I have been a fan of Rick Veitch since his work on Swamp Thing and I Can't Get No. This is a one shot he published awhile back and I had the pleasure of finding it and re reading it recently. I found it tucked away in a dust shelf in a comic book shop on a journey. It was a wonderful find as before I had only read the first two issues this was truly a treat.

This has a lot to do with Watchmen  meaning it is a another attack on superheroes taking it to the No No Place .  This comic is about how evil corrupts youth with everything it can muster in the world.

To start with this is about the death of sidekicks in the first few pages. Now the heroes of Slumburg,PA need new toys to play with I mean sidekicks and they go to an elder a priest that has found them sidekicks before young flesh and minds eager to bend to the heroes of this city. Leading to a setting that can be very easily driven into horrific and hateful situation filled with drugs and blood. This comic is all about the death of innocent and ravels in this feel. 

King Rad, The Mink,Judge Jury,Moon Mistress

So to explain the horrible let us walk through each of our heroes. I shall start with my personal favorite his Wonder Woman and her name is Moon Mistress. She is a super feminist thinking that men are worth nothing if they do not physical want her and will go to any means to enjoy sex. She her goal is to turn her sidekick into a raging whore like she is and is aging and truly hates herself for it.  Totally a truly fucked up persona of a woman that just needs to be loved and boned into happiness.

King Rad totally high like a kite and he needs the adrenaline to keep himself moving through these troubled times. His stunts are getting a bit erratic and truly he is embraced by the love of Live Fast Love Hard and Die with your Mask On. The tag line of this series. Also he is a little bit of flash and green lantern through into the mix.

The Mink well where to start here okay a check list here okay Batman check. Gay CHECK CHECK. Pedophile big red check so big it gleams in the sun with it's rhinestones kinda of like a group of gay pride dancing to the ymca at fill tilt through the streets of San Fran. Now I'll put this out here now I love the gays and well they truly are a blast to be around. My best friend well not to sound cliche is and to be honest what bothers me most is the pedophile that he is into talking about how fruit can get to be too ripe etc. This does not say all gays are pedophiles just that all pedophiles are evil.

Jude Jury oh my god did I say batman last time this is batman part 2. SO YES TWO HORRIBLE EVIL BATMEN. This one is drive to great lengths to give out law and order torture totally in a sexual manner who enjoys punishing minorities the most. It's a pleasure to see the horrors he gets up to in this comic. I will say no more about this one sorry. The true reason for this is due to the fact this comic is only 5 issues and would be spoiled way too quickly. 

The setting is a city on the verge of greatness saved before by a great hero who has quit and left. Now all that can be seen is great man leaving a  city still in danger and heroes that only care of themselves. This is the horror of this story. You truly need to see this city to believe all horror all the time.

Moving off of this plot and on to the art. IT IS AMAZING and dirty and hateful I shall now post a few sample images of this beauty of a comic.

Now if you wish to Buy it from amazon that was the link in blue go ahead and click it you know ya wanna! I love the joy of honesty people who buy the art they enjoy and well I hope you will honor my requests. If you read any of this and would like to discuss it feel free to post a comment and we shall.

Hello and welcome to the No No Place

Hello dearest Readers. My name is Travis and this is well I guess you can read the title. The No No Place and the purpose of this hear blog is to discuss things we do not wish to discuss in art cinema music and literature. The books that are not spoken about,the movies buried in time and the musics that takes us to the strangest places forever buried as well. So stay tune and soon the fear of the No No Place will take us to a magical land into of discovery.  Now the No No Place is a vague concept it's something truly buried or ignored in society. It can even be something praised for what may very well be the wrong reasons. Such as satirizing a group of people and then having that very seem group love your film.  I will be dealing these out in weekly installments or maybe even twice a week if it's a good week. I have quiet the back log of ideas new posts will go up Friday or Saturday given they are the days I have the most freedom to do so.