When I first joined, Instagram solved a problem — it was a fast, fun, and unique way to share photographs across a number of services. Anything I shot while mobile had the opportunity to be instantly shared to Twitter or Facebook, backed up to Flickr, and have the appeal of applied filters (something I'd been accomplishing via Photoshop and CameraBag respectively). I immediately dubbed it “the app Flickr should've built” after my first upload, but then retracted that assessment when I got a closer look at the cost in quality/resolution on the Instagram side.

Last year in February I ran a comparison of Instagram and Picplz and likened the two companies to the battle that was emerging between Facebook and Flickr over photosharing dominance. It's funny how that turned out, Instagram later sold to Facebook for piles of cash, and Picplz shut down. In many ways, Picplz launched an app similar to the existing Flickr product, with a few standouts — filters and the ability to toggle applied filters on/off post-publishing.

A lot has changed since then. I never gave up on Flickr being the place my photos are stored, however the community activity has waned a bit. The good news is, Yahoo! appears to be putting more wood behind the Flickr arrow in the new Marissa Mayer regime. The 2.0 app is a revelation — not perfect, but a damn solid step in the right direction. If you can do it on the Flickr site, you can do it in the app…and it's snappy as all hell. Filters have been added, although that's not the important piece of the puzzle. What matters is that the community infrastructure is still intact. The wood isn't completely rotted, it's just a little more vacant these days. That's not a bad thing.

I've been playing around with the new app in combination with Snapseed (full disclosure: I work for Google and they own Nik Software), and I find the pairing to be quite ideal. I have been favoriting photos, commenting, and uploading on the go since the launch of the app, and slowly others appear to be resurfacing as well.

So what solution does Instagram serve now? Nothing. Are there people there? Sure. I just don't know that I need to be there too. I'm increasingly more wary of the direction they will be heading in the future, so why stress about it? I have all the control I need on Flickr, and the Pro membership isn't unreasonable to ask for in trade-off.

Here is what I plan to upload as my final post on Instagram:

I'm not sure if I'll completely remove my account and all of my photos, but I will slowly delete photos of my kids and my home over time. I have them backed up elsewhere, so I don't see a need to keep them there considering the loose soil of the Instagram/Facebook TOS. For what it's worth, I've taken a hard line against uploading to Facebook as well. I guess this is the natural evolution of things, and I've decided to keep my eggs in the Flickr basket for now.

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While I’m mostly a tourist when it comes to playing Pokemon these days, I recently picked up a copy of Pokemon White, and I’ve been enjoying it. Nintendo has been doing some really interesting things with both social gaming (e.g. Streetpass) and DLC-like content on the 3DS, so I wasn’t surprised to find this email in my inbox on Friday:

This email opened my eyes to a bunch of cool stuff Nintendo has been doing with its Pokemon franchise, and I was eager to try it out for myself. Nintendo’s instructions for acquiring Keldeo are pretty straightforward, here’s what is listed on their site:

Visit participating GameStop stores starting on August 27th to receive Keldeo in your Pokémon Black Version or Pokémon White Version game via a special distribution event. This Keldeo will appear as No. 153 in your Unova Pokédex, and it will have the moves Aqua Jet, Leer, Double Kick, and BubbleBeam. Plus, it has the Justified Ability, which it shares with Terrakion, Cobalion, and Virizion. The distribution event is for a limited time only, so don’t wait to get Keldeo at GameStop stores!

Remember, Keldeo is available only from August 27th to October 6th, so don’t miss this brief opportunity to get this awesome Pokémon!

How to get your Keldeo at GameStop

To get Keldeo, you need:

• A Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™, Nintendo DSi XL™, or Nintendo 3DS system
• A copy of the Pokémon Black Version or Pokémon White Version game
• The Pokédex within your game
• No more than 11 Wonder Cards in your possession

They go on to list the specific steps to receive Keldeo in your game, the first of which is visiting a participating GameStop. The implication here is that the character is a playable Pokemon, which is genius because it aligns with the whole mythology of the series (e.g. Finding and catching rare Pokemon to then train and battle them with your friends). Anyone familiar with the franchise will immediately understand what is being offered.

Anyway, Iwas excited to see how this worked, and on Saturday the opportunity arose when we decided to grab lunch at Chipotle in Sunnyvale. Lucky for me, there is a GameStop next door. When arrived at GameStop, it wasn’t immediately clear whether I needed to be on their WiFi to complete the exchange, so I waited in line to ask the clerk for help. There was a 6-year-old girl waiting in line with her mom ahead of me, and I noticed she was clutching her pink DSi — obviously she was here for Keldeo, too.

When their turn came, her mom asked about the free Pokemon. What the clerk proceeded to do is so despicable, it still pushes me to frustration. Here is the exchange, paraphrased for the most part from memory:

Mom: She has a question about a free Pokemon?

Girl: The computer told me that if I brought my DSi here I could get Teldeo.

Clerk: Yeah definitely. Are you planning to get Pokemon Black or White 2?

Mom and Girl are confused.

Girl: Yes, I have Pokemon Black, and it said I could get Teldeo.

She takes out her cartridge to show the Clerk.

Clerk: Right, you have Pokemon Black, but they are going to release Pokemon Black and White 2 in October. See, I could give you Teldeo now, but it really would be pointless because as it turns out he isn’t actually playable until you get Pokemon White or Black 2. So if you’d like to go ahead and pre-order either of those, you only need to put $5 down and I’ll be happy to set you up with Teldeo.

Mom: Wait, you have to buy something for this? She thought it meant that she was going to get a little action figure…

Girl: No Mom, it is supposed to be a new Pokemon in the game.

Clerk: Right, it is, but you won’t be able to play him until you get the new one. Would you like to pre-order?

Girl looks longingly at Mom…might have whispered a please to her.

Mom: Let’s think about it, maybe for Christmas.

Mom and Girl leave and Clerk apologizes.

The entire time during this exchange I wanted to chime in, but I had no way of knowing whether or not Keldeo was playable or not. Maybe this was a horrible ploy by Nintendo to help boost pre-orders? I regret not saying, “I’d get the download anyway, just in case.”

When my turn came, I cut through the pre-order upsell and asked the clerk to set me up regardless. When I got home, I completed the instructions and discovered that not only is Teldeo playable, he’s awesome.

What happened in the GameStop is revolting for several reasons:

#1: Everything the clerk said was a bold-faced lie aimed at upselling kids into pre-ordering the latest version of the game.

It’s cheap and disgusting. Now, the Clerk might have actually believed what he was saying. The retrieval process requires that you go to the PokeCenter in a specific city in-game to meet a messenger who is carrying your Teldeo mystery gift. Perhaps the Clerk didn’t read the final steps? Perhaps he expected that Teldeo should automatically appear in your Pokedex, and when that didn’t happen he assumed that the character isn’t playable? Maybe, but I doubt it. Having worked in retail, special partnerships like this are usually announced to employees with detailed instructions from the corporate office. My hunch is that they seized this opportunity to boost pre-order sales in their stores.

Which brings me to…

#2: If this was an instructed approach, GameStop is making Nintendo out to be the bad guy.

If this turns out to be the official GameStop approach to handling inquiries about this promotion, then they are painting a really horrible image of Nintendo in the eyes of their customers. Nintendo crafted a fan-centric promotion aligned with the mythology behind the Pokemon franchise. As I mentioned earlier, any an of the series would read these instructions, just as that 6-year-old girl did and immediately understand what was being offered. When those feelings of surprise, delight, and geek joy are met with corporate chicanery and sneaky bottom-lining, you risk destroying the relationship established between customer and content producer around their product.

Edit: The fact that Nintendo already had a baked in upsell should be pointed out. The idea behind the whole promotion is to reward faithful Pokemon fans with a free Pokemon that can only be evolved into a super awesome state when transferred to the newer unreleased version of Black and White. The concept sells the new product all by itself, it doesn’t need a GameStop Clerk to intercept the free reward in an attempt to upsell.

If I were Nintendo, I would seriously reconsider doing business with GameStop in the future if this turns out to be the result of instructions from their corporate office.

Which brings me to…

#3: These lies undermine geek credibility.

This is a tougher one to explain, but here goes. I was the kid who grew up trying to convince my parents to let me do shit like this. I saved my allowance for months when I was 10 and convinced my Mom to let me go to a comic convention in search of rare gems. I walked my Mom through ordering my Dad a 49ers jacket via a scary new thing called “The Internet” before e-commerce became commonplace. I know what it is like to try convincing your parents to go in on geeky stuff like this, and luckily for me my parents learned early on to trust that I knew what I was talking about. Next time that 6-year-old asks to partake in any fun Pokemon promos how do you think her Mom is going to react? With skepticism. And all of that will have been based on the lies told by some GameStop Clerk who was either towing an underhanded line for his employers or didn’t care enough to figure out how things really worked before spouting off assumptions.

Either way, the whole thing stinks, and in the end I feel sorry for anyone who fell victim to these lies. As for the 6-year-old kid, I hope she is able to sort things out in time to get her free Keldeo. Like I said, he’s a pretty cool addition to any trainer’s collection.

Edit: I wrote this late last night, and re-reading it in the morning I realize that my point was not as clear as I’d hoped. I’ve updated the title with a question mark, as my intent was not to make a definitive statement. My hunch is that there is something there, but it is merely speculative on my end. Below you’ll find the address of the GameStop I visited, so others can make a decision as to whether or not they would like to continue doing business there. I’ll be taking my business elsewhere going forward.

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Still here? Seriously, this post is about to get spoilerish…you’ve been warned.

Ok, like any hardcore comic book nerd I totally flipped out when the first stinger rolled during the credits revealing that the puppetmaster tugging at Loki’s puppet strings was none other than Thanos, of Infinity Gauntlet fame. Like the infamous Iron Man post-credit crawl that started paving the way to The Avengers, Marvel Studios has laid down the gauntlet, literally, that defines the next long thread they plan to pull through the next series of films.

If you think of the newer Marvel films in terms of chapter arcs, and then position The Avengers as signaling the end of one chapter and the start of another arc, then you can see the themes beginning to develop. The first chapter was all about the formation of the team, the pulling together of disparate heroes into one unit. By placing Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury at the end on Iron Man, Marvel began testing a hypothesis:

If promised the eventual formation of The Avengers teased through post-credit stingers and sly references in a series of films, audiences will show up.

And show up, they did. In recordbreaking droves. We can expect that team to expand its roster, and the current members to grow individually over the course of the next few individual films. So far that looks to be Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and Captain America 2. Rumors have been swirling around another Hulk film based on Mark Ruffalo’s excellent portrayal of Banner/Smash Machine, and one can only dream that Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man will one day see the light of day. Expanding the rosters, and “more of the same” would be playing it safe, but the megaton hint in the form of Thanos hints at an even riskier proposition for next chapter’s hypothesis:

If promised an antagonist-driven event film teased through post-credit stingers and sly references in a series of films, audiences will show up.

It’s no small feat to pull something like this off, but the same was said when Nick Fury showed up touting “The Avengers Initiative,” and look how that turned out. In some ways it’s logical for Marvel to pursue the Thanos storyline, as the character was inspired by a Jack Kirby creation for DC Comics, namely Darkseid. If Marvel’s “Distinguished Compitition” were to get the ball rolling on the long-stalled Justice League film they would be hard pressed to match what Marvel has pulled off on such a large scale. By choosing Thanos, Marvel is attempting to further bury that possibility, as Darkseid would be a logical villain for a team-up film surrounding the JLA. Not to say that it couldn’t be done, but DC has its work cut out for it. Each of their characters is living and breathing in their own isolated worlds, so a considerable amount of rebooting would need to be done, plus the introduction of cosmic beings within those worlds…it’s going to be tough for DC to not come out looking like copycats in all of this, which has a sting of irony on its own.

So back to The Avengers, what is the main thrust of the second chapter? Based on everything we’ve seen it would appear that Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Gems would fit in nicely here, however all is not as it seems.

In the comics, Thanos sought out each gem individually, and then affixed each one into a gauntlet which he used to kill and torture countless heroes. One could imagine well organized stingers teasing the progress Thanos is making in the background, matched with careful hints being dropped within each individual film’s plot arcs. Yet something doesn’t add up.

When unveiling Thor at Comic-Con, Marvel brought out the Infinity Gauntlet for all of five minutes, and fans went bonkers. The treasured glove appeared with the Infinity Gems in place, and it was displayed in Odin’s treasure room on the convention floor. A spectacle of Stan Lee proportions.

So if the Infinity Gems were last seen in Odin’s possession, then how did Thanos get his hands on the Mind gem? Regardless of the answer to that question, the point I’m making is that Marvel is not simply content building out a single franchise, they are hellbent on creating a cinematic universe for these characters to live in. If they continue, and succeed, then they will have elevated the comic book franchise to a whole new level, and I certainly hope this trend continues.

First day! (@ Meebo) http://4sq.com/gGQ8mr— Mario Anima (@marioanima) April 18, 2011

I made a change. The product I took on, at the time, was called “check-ins,” and it was largely about site loyalty, VIP, and a quest platform. In under a year, we've completely re-invented and are working hard on building an interest graph. I work with amazing people, I enjoy every minute of it, and I can't believe I'm at the 1 year mark already. Outstanding.

I've got a deeper post brewing about what I've been up to, and the evolution of a product over time. Right now, it's off to work. Here's a few snapshots of what greeted me when my offer arrived. It sort of shows the kind of thought that goes into things over here.

Brownies! Everyone gets greeted with baked goods, and these were delicious.

The bike map, personalized card, and various tips and notes about Mt. View, etc. were not only helpful, but thoughtful. The team knew how much I love biking, and added a little extra care to help make me feel welcome.

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I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the screener cut of H.P. Mendoza’s latest film, “I Am A Ghost.” While I’m not equipped to give it a full review just yet, there are a few things you should know. Here’s a preview write-up to whet your collective appetites.

Anyone familiar with Mendoza’s films will immediately focus on the “Ghost as departure” angle. While it’s true the film is without a single musical number, ‘Ghost’ still feels like a film that has been on Mendoza’s mind for some time. The atmosphere, the framing, and the sound design, even in the rough screener cut, carry a weight of meticulous detail. This isn’t a departure, its an emergence.

The production design is at the center here. I’m not sure how Ersatz Film pulled this off, but the set and overall design is taken up several notches in comparison to Mendoza’s previous work. Cycles play out like streams of moving Instagram photos, revealing bits and pieces of the narrative as they progress and loop.

Like any good ghost story, ‘Ghost’ revels in a slow burn that pays off deliciously in several ways. I am about to write the most cliched sentence imaginable, but even when I thought I knew the expected outcome, ‘Ghost’ manages to jump the rails into something so devilishly frightening, you can’t help but jump.

In retrospect, I regret not seeing this in the theater. Even as I type this out, sitting in a bar in the dreaded Las Vegas airport, I yearn to see this project on a big screen. It’s too late for me, but not for you. “I Am A Ghost” is playing this weekend as a part of the CAAM Film Festival.

Meanwhile, I’ll settle for a single malt scotch and a replay of the screener cut on my iPad as I await for my delayed flight.

Update: Tomorrow is the last chance to catch the film. Do yourself a favor, if your in the Bay Area and enjoy supporting local film take a look at the screening times and buy a ticket.

The subscriber exodus from Netflix following their price hike has been eye opening. The company continues to take a beating on the stock market, and the announced intent to split the company into two separate entities (one focused on mailed disc-media rentals, the other on streaming content) has done little to thwart the rapid decline. If anything, the decision to name the new offshoot Qwikster (the butt of many jokes) combined with the unfortunate @qwikster account on Twitter has provided fodder for the comedic onslaught.

Somewhere along the way the company lost touch, and in turn it compromised the trust built up over the years between countless Netflix subscribers and a company who clearly seemed to “get it” from the onset — or so it seemed from the outside looking in. How did the company that foresaw the demise of disc media come up with the idea to split the company in two and apply a name seemingly rejected from every web 2.0 startup naming pool?

Anyone not paying close enough attention to the events as they’ve unfolded could easily blame the attrition on the price hike, after all this was the tipping point for a large group of people who’d grown accustomed to the virtues of Netflix’s service. Unfortunately the truth is that the poorly handled fee hike was just the result of the company’s detachment from reality, a side effect brought on by distancing themselves from the very things that built the company up as a disruptive service to a growing audience seeking new ways to access their content.

So where did it all go wrong?

CEO Reed Hastings had a vision when he founded the company in 1997, and it comprised of the very romantic tech dream of delivering the entire library of Hollywood content to living rooms in HD quality without the use of disc-media. That dream drove Hastings’ vision for the company, prompting him to publicly call out the shelf life of disc-based content consumption despite Netflix building their core business by disrupting the disc-based delivery and rental industry. It was this open public awareness of this industry-wide shelf life that painted the picture of Netflix being a company so forward-thinking, so innovative, and so aware of the needs of a growing audience of what would later be deemed “cord cutters” that it seemed destined for continued success.

Netflix was one of those companies that consistently found its way atop my list of “dream employers.” A few years ago I had the opportunity to interview with them for a product management position, and although I’m not going to answer “why” I will say this, the process was…enlightening. Looking back, this feels like a watershed moment, and the recent debacle has only helped fuel this realization — resurfacing specific changes to the product that should have stood out as a warning signs, but were instead somehow magically overlooked.

Let’s go back to the beginning

When Netflix launched, it couldn’t fully deliver on Hastings’ vision to deliver every movie in the Hollywood library. How could it? The company was restricted only to content released on DVD, so in some ways Netflix was at the mercy of the DVD release cycle resulting in a restricted catalog from the very beginning. However, this didn’t prove to be a huge problem for the company, as renters were already accustomed to a limited selection on DVD, and the team cleverly innovated around this hurdle by introducing the ability to save unavailable titles to a queue.

Genius.

If a title isn’t available yet, no need to worry. I can let my buddy Netflix know that I’m interested in the film by saving it to my queue, and when the title is available I’ll be excited to hear the news. Netflix delights me. It excites me.

It solves the age old FOMO problem.

Say what you will about any other area of innovation, from recommendations to streaming, nothing beats a simple functional utility that happens to smartly deliver on emotional returns. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. When new movies were released in theaters, I’d simply Netflix them in anticipation of an upcoming rental. Over time the company introduced and killed a swath of features geared toward utility and community. A feed of content reviewed by your friends was a notable addition, but ultimately bit the dust due dismal adoption numbers. I know firsthand that their user base wasn’t taking to community features and this lead to its demise, but in my circle of friends this was a blow to trust as well.

While in pursuit of a grander vision, the company seemed to have stumbled upon a mix of features, from rating to queuing and reviewing, that really caused its audience to embed further in the service. Not only was the service cost-effective from a savings perspective, but it also delivered on time invested as well. Netflix became a service I trusted because I learned that by giving Netflix more information I could come to rely on it to tell me when a movie I wanted to see became available, my ratings resulted in the recommendation of a new undiscovered title, or my friend posted a review of a recently rented movie.

It was fun. It was helpful.

So flash forward to the state of things now. The rate hike has caused countless people to either reduce their subscriptions, or flounce altogether. I fall in the former camp, and this has had implications for me as well. For example, as a streaming user I can only search the streaming catalog from here on out. Gone are the days where I could find a title that is unavailable, request an alert if streaming is available, and trust that Netflix will solve my FOMO.

Additionally, gone are the better recommendations as the content offering cannot compare to a library of DVD and Blu-Ray content. Instead, Netflix has turned into a dottering old fool regurgitating the same tired recommendations over and over again.

Lastly, the fun is long gone. Even though only a few people engaged, it was fun to see what my friends were watching on the service. Sometimes it made me embarrassed based on my selections, and other times it gave a sense of comfort that I’m not the only person who curls up to a horror schlock-fest from time to time. Either way, this was eliciting an emotional response.

Long ago the company swapped its insight into the needs of a growing user audience for the lust after business objectives. Hastings has admitted that his own arrogance played into this, and that the manner in which this was handled was shortsighted, but this feels like it might be a little too late. And that saddens me. Can the company get back in touch? I don’t know.

The original Hastings vision is not flawed, and the decision to make the necessary business moves to position the company closer to achieving that vision makes total senses. The manner in which these decisions were handled was flawed, and it speaks volumes about the value of the user in the eyes of the company. The decision to move away from solving small problems for users only reinforces this perspective.

Sorry Netflix, the trust is gone.

Twitter describes the service on its help pages as:

…an experimental feature that helps you find interesting new accounts to follow by tweeting Who To Follow suggestions, personalized just for you! This feature was created by Twitter, and it looks like a normal Twitter account – it will Tweet recommendations which you can reply to, retweet or mark as favorites.

Pretty cool, right?

Since then not every mention has been as flattering (obviously, the purpose of this service isn’t to dole out flattery to nobodies like myself), but for the most part they have been decent overall. Over time, the quality of the mentions declined. Today tipped the scale. In a tweet posted earlier I was @mentioned alongside what can only be described as a spam account. Nay, a porn spam account. See for yourself:

So, I may be guilty for tweeting a lot. I may also be guilty for running my mouth off from time to time. But how in the world am I in the same class as a porn spam account? Better yet, how can this possibly be acceptable from an official Twitter account?

How does it work?

@twittersuggests is a feature which looks like a Twitter account – it algorithmically generates suggestions of users to follow and sends them to you.

@twittersuggests will tweet recommendations to you via @mentions, and this Tweet will appear in your @mentions timeline.

Sure, the company describes this with words like “algorithmically” and “experimental,” but it’s really hard to believe that this was launched with any sort of testing whatsoever. If there are any resources applied to this experiment, they certainly don’t appear to be doing any tuning that is having a positive impact. To the contrary, the quality appears to be decreasing over time. The sad thing is, if I were new to Twitter I might find a service like this valuable if the accounts recommended remained of decent quality, but that’s just not the case here. Worse still is that there are so many simple ways this could be avoided.

Before I get pummeled with the argument the “false positives are expensive” argument (Yes, I’ve read @kellan’s excellent write-up, and have firsthand experience with this as well) let me call out that this is an entirely different scenario. The cost of false positives is only applicable when you choose to deny accounts access to basic services. If a company restricts an account from using the basic functionality of a site because of an unsubstantiated suspicion, then sure…that’s expensive.

However, tweeting account recommendations that might otherwise trip overly sensitive spam-detecting algorithms is a choice mistake. Twitter owns this account, they have the right to be overly choosy about the accounts featured in their recommendations, and an account that includes obvious keywords like “sex” and “porn” is a safe one to filter out of that list, just to play it safe. Now, building a recommendations engine is tough. It’s not easy to get these things right, and I’m certainly sympathetic to this. I guess I’m reacting so strongly here because this feels like one of those avoidable mistakes, especially because there is literally no harm in restricting an account like this from being recommended.

In other news…

Speaking of mouthing off…I shared my thoughts on the news of the Beyonce-pregnancy-VMA induced milestone Twitter reached in terms of TPS (FYI — that’s, obnoxiously, “tweets per second”) this weekend, and look what happened. Awesomesauce.

I’ve been out of the comic book game for a while now, but have wanted to get back into collecting for some time.

When you’ve been away for so long (hint: I dropped off back when Marvel was in the middle of a Civil War and DC was recovering from Infinite Crisis vis a vis 52) how do you know where and when to jump back in? Thankfully a series of recent events have pushed me back in the direction of the comic bins, and I’m finding my way. So with this double-sized post I’m kicking off a new themed column called “From the Bin.” Enjoy.

Blame the Kid

First, I’m raising a comic book nerd. My daughter has a growing interest in comics ever sense she accompanied me to a screening of Thor. She found the trailer via the Flixster iPhone app, and had a dozen questions about the Norse God of Thunder. Eventually this lead to the penultimate question, “Daddy, will you take me to see Thor?” I knew it was a gamble. Branagh was hired on specifically to bring a staged feel to the film, so I knew there would be stretches of dialogue-rich banter between Thor and his paterfamilias. How would she fair during these sequences? In the end, she made it through loving the film and the characters, which has been odd for me because while I certainly enjoyed Thor’s involvement in The Avengers, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Thor books in standalone. The Warriors Three? That’s another story.

Whatever, it got her into the idea of comics, so who’s complaining? Certainly not me.

We took another gamble on X-Men: First Class. I was worried about the violence here, but she really enjoyed it overall. I’d think twice about showing her films like this if she didn’t leave asking the right questions. For example, after Thor she latched onto the problems Thor faced around listening to his father, and learning to be responsible for his actions. In X-Men she totally latched onto the themes of difference and tolerance.

Next up was Captain America, and in between the films I showered her with some comic book influenced content. We scoured the web for classic Kirby covers, especially those with Cap facing off against the Red Skull. I pulled some old comics out of my long boxes to give here. I wanted to get the feel of the pulpy page between her fingers, and even though these were throwaway issues, I made sure to pull ones with Thor and Beast, two characters she seemingly identified with from the films. These were totally garbage issues, so who cares if she thrashed them? In addition to comics, she started asking for Spider Man cartoons. The entire 1967 collection of Spidey cartoons are available on Netflix, so viola!

After Captain America she started asking for more comics, so I decided it was time to get back into collecting. The rules? She has to learn to care for her books.

Picking Our Books

So today we went to a couple comic shops. I love Illusive Arts, so we eventually ended up back over there. She gravitated to Cap, Thor, and Spidey. I helped her find a few age appropriate books, and she tossed in an issue of Megamind for good measure.

I, on the other hand, had far more trouble choosing which books to pull, and where to jump back in. With a slew of broad Avengers titles, where does it make sense to start? Mighty? New? The straight Avengers line or Avengers Academy? Seriously? I wanted to dive back into Brubaker’s Captain America run, pulling back issues to catch up, but then it looks like Cap is rebooting with a new #1 and Brubaker at the helm.

Speaking of reboots, DC is relaunching their entire line in two weeks, so what’s the point in catching up? Might as well wait for the relaunch and pick a few books to follow…right?

After pacing Illusive in indecision for a half hour, I finally spoke up and asked for some pointers, and I think I landed in a good spot. Daredevil has been rebooted with Mark Waid at the helm, so I snagged that. I also grabbed the aforementioned Captain America, and Bendis’ Moon Knight #1. To top it off, I grabbed the second printing of Fear Itself #1 just to get a taste of the latest big Marvel event. Let’s dive into my reviews.

Note: I’m fully aware that the following books are not all new releases. As time goes on I’ll get caught up with newer releases, so bear with me.

Moon Knight #1

Bendis has been talking up a Moon Knight run for what seems like forever now, but apparently 2011 was the magic number for Marc Spector. Earlier this year Bendis and Maleev teamed up to relaunch Moon Knight, and the first issue delivers in several ways. I’ve always been a fan of this creative team — the work they did back on Daredevil never disappointed, and Maleev’s pencils are perfectly suited for Bendis’ grittier urban tales. Here we see a less photo realistic take to the art, and instead we get more of a raw, sketched looking world to play in. It’s a change, but I think it suits the direction the team is taking the characters in. This sketchier look seems to flourish when were drenched in street sequences at night, and becomes more traditional when elements of realism are introduced.

The relaunch begins with what feels like a re-imagining of the Spector origin, but then quickly shifts gears to reveal that it is exactly that. This is one of those unique Bendis flourishes — he plays with the audience in a way few writers do. For example, one would expect a formulaic re-telling of Moon Knight’s origin at the open of a relaunched title, especially when a creative team wishes to take established characters in a new direction. Bendis knows this and delivers on these expectations only to turn the tables on the reader. Spector, once a mercenary left to die, is now a Hollywood producer. His latest work is a re-telling of his own origin as Moon Knight. I suppose the phrase “hiding in plain sight” applies. What does this accomplish? A redefinition of the title character, but without some of the hairier retcon issues this industry typically falls prey to.

Bendis is at his best when weaving smartly interconnected references between plot points, and there are plenty here for fans.

He’s quick to remind us of Moon Knight’s role as an Avenger, setting the stage for Cap and the rest of the team to get involved on the West Coast as needed. Any Bendis critic would immediately jump at the chance to throw stones at this, claiming that Bendis is all too quick to pull these characters into a larger team arc. The formula: Take dated underused character, freshen them up, and toss them into a conspiracy yarn tying them to The Avengers. Continue to play in the comfy confines of that sandbox without stretching your creative muscles.

I get the criticism, although I tend to enjoy his work, but this is one of those cases that proves he’s a smarter writer than critics give him credit for. All the pieces are in place for a genuine Bendis conspiracy mystery right from the onset. Criminals are moving West to avoid the hero rich streets of the East Coast, but exactly which criminals are setting up camp remains unknown. A sly reference to Batman, and the countless fanboy arguments over whether Moon Knight is really just Marvel’s cheap knock off answer to the Dark Knight, and we’re knee deep in the makings of a procedural.

The mood is totally set by Maleev here, anything and everything could happen with the turn of a page, however Bendis is clearly toying with us via several hints dropped in dialogue between thugs. If, like me, you somehow managed to miss this book when released, I’ll refrain from spoilage. But know this, the book pulls a solid yet unexpected hook in the end, and I cannot wait to see how the mystery of the West Coast Kingpin plays out. Read, and then re-read those closing pages. Then flip back to the books opening and feel like the pawn that you are. Yes, its that good, and if this is any indication this book should be an excellent ride.

Captain America #1

Ed Brubaker’s first pass on Captain America was revitalizing. Not only did it do the unthinkable with the Winter Soldier, it pulled from nearly all aspects of Cap’s history. Throughout the first arc I anticipated the appearance of Baron Zemo, and with this series the villain is back to wreak havoc. Ultimately this is right in line with Brubaker’s previous take on the hero. Weaving nostalgia with modern story lines, the book is delicately spun together in a watt that commands your full attention. This is a no-brainer for Cap fans.

Daredevil #1

Matt Murdock is no stranger to turmoil. When I last left the red devil he was up to his ears in personal grief and public disgrace. His identity compromised, Matt has spent his time contemplating his return. Perhaps the easiest title to jump back into thanks to Mark Waid’s take on the Hell’s Kitchen attorney, I’m happy to find Matt in a new mindset. The opening sequence dives right in as Daredevil takes on The Spot at a mafia wedding and ends up on the front page of the morning paper while locking lips with the bride to be. Not a subtle return to the life.

But here’s where things could get potentially interesting. Matt’s costumed exploits prove problematic in the court room, and after a tip from the DA he sets off to investigate why his client has had such trouble finding a lawyer to defend him. This isn’t a jaw dropping beginning to the series, but it is a solid take on Murdock’s return to the spotlight.

What I did find engrossing was the visual language being toyed with throughout the book. Matt’s encounter with The Spot is engrossing, and the switch from our perspective to Matt’s radar enhanced POV is a refreshing take on the power. The real treat came in the additional bonus story packed in at the end of the book. In this yarn we get an additional peek into the changing dynamic between Matt and his oldest friend, Foggy Nelson.

Matt’s new attitude is a change in direction for the character, and if not totally drastic it is certainly logical. Conflicting personal relationships are bound to arise due to his new carefree attitude, and this simple tale plants those seeds well. Additionally, the art in this bonus story is really amazing. We follow the pair through the streets and subways of Hell’s Kitchen, while seeing subtle hints at the sounds and smells triggering Matt’s actions. The panel layout is as much a character here as the two principles, and it really is a delightful read. I hope we get more of that sort of playful storytelling in the issues to come.

Fear Itself #1

The only thing I fear is a summer event that fails to deliver. It doesn’t appear that Fear Itself is on that track, but with only one issue deep the verdict is still out. That said, this first issue is ripe with excellent conflict between Thor and Odin, the all-father. Rightfully so, as the crux of the villainous build centers around the sins of Odin, and someone else claiming to be the true all-father.

I loved portions of this book, but the taste of the two punch House of M / Civil War is still strong in my mouth. I’m wary of big events coming out of the big M house, so I’m treading lightly here.

I’m not sure how I missed this in the onslaught of Comic-Con news, but here it is. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse brought a special gift to the convention this year for Lost fans — definitive proof that they had the entirety of LOST planned out right from the get-go. That’s right, this single scene proves, without a doubt, that they knew where this was headed. They held onto it for a while, but perhaps felt that this was best released now, at a time when it may have a chance to counter the wave of fan backlash from the series finale.

Take a look:

Well, there you have it. Still a doubting Thomas?

All joking aside, I really loved the entirety of LOST, and one of the best aspects of the show was the willingness of Cuse and Lindelof to poke fun at themselves. If anything, this clip should prove that without question.

But I’ve read Django Unchained. That has to count for something.

I’ve been fortunate enough to get my hands on Tarantino’s last three scripts prior to pre-production, and the process of reading before screening has been nothing short of rewarding. A Tarantino script is typically massive. The amount of detail crammed onto the page is, in some ways, overwhelming. Despite all of this detail, nothing compares to the finished product. Quentin has a vision for each film that isn’t always conveyed on the page. I liken this to a persona in some ways. For Kill Bill, the script clearly described some of the shifts in style, but without the luxury of being inside Tarantino’s head these shifts didn’t always make sense on the page. Yet when watching Volume 1 for the first time, the end result was a series of “a-ha” moments.

I expect nothing different when Django hits screens, whenever that happens.

Who is the Villain?

Slavery is a touchy subject. What Tarantino has succeeded in doing is weaving a tale that evolves the character of Django from slave to free man, and then to vengeful hero. Along the way, the figures of influence around Django are viewed through a lens that questions blame. With Inglourious Basterds the attribution of guilt was clear. Hitler, and those misled by him, were clearly the villains without question. This was a vengeance tale of global proportions, and Tarantino’s story of catharsis while watching with German audiences was telling.

They laughed, demons were exorcised, and the world was able to revel in what could’ve been…if only.

Slavery is a whole different ball of yarn, and Tarantino eschews the opportunity to pull in historical figures here. Inglourious Basterds was fact to a certain character level, then below that line was a thick layer of “what if…?” fiction. Django Unchained is intentionally calling the blame question out. It’s easy to identify the evil in hillbilly characters out to torture and rape slaves for no other reason than a desire to be cruel. But inserted into these characterizations are layers of implication, no one will question the level of blame attributed to slave owners inflicting pain and suffering on Django and Broomhilda. But what about those who use Broomhilda to better themselves? Are we to feel sorry for them, or attribute the same vengeful spirit because they allowed the system to perpetuate?

I’m trying to keep things vague here, but you get the picture. It’s a fascinating approach, and I really have to question how some will react. For example, I’m dying to see how Spike Lee will respond to this film.

At the end of the day, the 168 page script is a white hot page turner. It’s cringe-inducing at times, and other times emotional, but it is nothing short of compelling with every turn. I anxiously anticipate seeing that final frame rendered on the big screen, I think it is going to be an awesome moment.