Nerd in the 'Noke

Doctor Strange: Into Shamballa - Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) #23 Prior to last fall, I really hadn't read much Doctor Strange (just Roger Stern and Mike Mignola's Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin's Doctor Strange: The Oath, and the recently finished Jason Aaron/Chris Bachalo run on the title).  I thoroughly enjoyed all of those, and as more collected material was released leading up to last November's film, I found myself picking up and reading more and more of the Sorcerer Supreme's adventures.  The one story that was always given overwhelming praise was Into Shamballa.  The only problem being that it was an OGN (original graphic novel) from the Marvel Graphic Novel line of the early 1980's that has never been reprinted.  I scoured the web, never feeling comfortable dropping the kind of cash being asked for the available copies I came across.  As a result, Into Shamballa took up residence on the 'in

Cars 3 (2017), G, 109 minutes - Over the years, Disney/Pixar has proven to be the cream of the crop when it comes to animated films.  While I would argue that Pixar's overall library ranks above-average to excellent, there have been a couple of missteps in recent years.  This film's predecessor, 2011's Cars 2, being one of them.  That film suffered from its attempt at making Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), a wonderful supporting character, into the star of the film. Cars 3 returns Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) to the spotlight, and rights the ship for one of Pixar's most recognizable franchises. Over the years, Lightning McQueen has risen to dominance of the Piston Cup circuit.  More often than not, either he or one of his buddies takes home the checkered flag, with the winner enjoying the spoils, and the others taking pride in playing pranks on the winner.  One day seemingly out of the blue a rookie, Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), takes the field by surprise and beg

Wonder Woman (2017), PG-13, 141 minutes - Anticipation for this film has steadily increased over the past year, since the world first got a glimpse of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , an appearance of limited screen time that was arguably the highlight of the film. As superhero films have risen to box office dominance over the last seventeen years, there has not yet been a successful female led superhero film released. That all changed this past weekend with this film directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gadot (reprising her role from Batman v Superman). Wonder Woman is a breath of fresh air for the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) and has already broken box office records. Wonder Woman uses a present day sequence (that loosely ties into existing DCEU continuity) to frame Diana's (Gadot) origin story, which is told via a World War I era flashback.  Diana grows up as an inquisitive, rebellious youth on the secluded, Amazon-inhabited, island

Wonder Woman by George Pérez Omnibus Vol. 2 - Collecting Wonder Woman (1987) #25-45, Annual #2 DC picked the perfect time to release the second omnibus volume of George Pérez's classic Wonder Woman run: just a couple weeks before this weekend's release of the live-action Wonder Woman film.  Having recently burned through the first volume , I was eager to continue reading Pérez's tales of Princess Diana of Themyscira's adventures.  Admittedly I had a small concern of the potential for a let down compared to the first volume as I enjoyed it so much.  It only took a handful of issues for me to realize that I had had nothing to worry about. This volume picks up with issue twenty five, the point in the series where Pérez transitioned from writing and penciling to 'just' writing.  To be honest, this is what caused my trepidation in regards to this volume.  The first volume opened my eyes to just how great his artwork can be and I was afraid that this volume m