Still SMEGGIN' Here!

Despite the rumors of our demise...and by "rumors", I mean "cricket chirps", Flying Ace Comics is still here, but not quite operational.  Think of us as the U.S.S. Excelsior--it's not quite "Tuesday" yet, so-to-speak.  As the domain of real life can do, it's kind of slowed our progress here down to a crawl.  I will forgo any specific dates, because that never turns out well, and just say that we WILL be up and running sometime in the not-too-distant future ("Next Sunday, A.D."...okay, maybe not that soon).

Although the management (nice guy, we share the same name) had some big plans right out of the chute, we've had to scale down things a bit so we can get this thing off the ground.  *picture those crazy early 20th Century planes with the flapping wings slamming into things.*  We do have quite a bit of stock, but are always out to find more to supply our fellow Geeks with the coolest swag possible.  Just a few items involve Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and of course DC and Marvel Universe gear, with more expected soon!

Please keep checking back every now and then to make sure things are still in the works.  We'll probably get back on our social media accounts soon too, so bookmark those or throw us a "like" or follow us and we'll do the same for you when everything is back to normal (or some semblance thereof).

Peace,
-Chris

The Flying Ace Spoiler-Free Review - Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance REVIEW - By Chris Molinar

This is Flying Ace Comics' first attempt at a review; not just a review, but a movie review at that.  Keep in mind that this is not a professional review and is just one geek's opinion.  In the vast scheme of everything, you like what you like, and that's all that matters.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is the second film under the "Marvel Knights" banner; the first being Punisher: War Zone--a movie which I personally didn't like and didn't think was a good start for Marvel's "darker" banner (I will pick Thomas Jane's Punisher anytime over War Zone based on substance).  As much as I would like to say that Ghost Rider 2 is an improvement over its Marvel Knights predecessor, I don't think it's even much of an improvement over its franchise predecessor as well.

The original Ghost Rider, starring Nicolas Cage, though not a HUGE success when compared to Marvel's Avengers and subsequent tie-in movies, was still a very interesting movie and pretty fun, to boot.  Nic Cage brought a quirky personality to Johnny Blaze...kind of mixing in parts of Evel Knievel and Elvis Presley.  Peter Fonda's Mephistopholes (or "Mephisto" to his friends) was also kind of fun, throwing in a bit of Peter Fonda's personality and even topped off the character with a slick walking stick which hinted that "The Fallen One" had been injured when he hit the ground after being cast out of Paradise.  And let's not forget the super-foxy Eva Mendes bringing a bit of romantic intrigue to Johnny's past and present, dredging up conflict against his newly-acquired powers of Hellfire.

Unfortunately, somewhere between the first movie and Spirit of Vengeance, somebody decided to make things more "interesting" by giving the series a cold reboot, changing up things which had been established in the first movie--some of it slightly, and some of it quite noticably.  Some of which is never mentioned again, as if it never happened.  Nicolas Cage once again reprises Johnny Blaze, Hell's bounty hunter--The Ghost Rider.  However, it's not the Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider we came to know and admire in the first movie.  Gone are the slight "Graceland" accent and cocky charm that made him a likable rogue.  Instead, we're introduced to a broken-down Johnny Blaze, suffering from his powers and keeping to himself, struggling to stay away from evil, as not to uncontrollably turn into the Rider...in Eastern Europe.  From a production standpoint, I can see that they decided to use Eastern Europe as a less-expensive location shoot; but from a logic standpoint...if you've seen EuroTrip or Eli Roth's Hostel movies, that makes no sense whatsoever...might as well have hidden in the Deep South in a town that sells the most linen and rope.

Along the way, Blaze meets a mother and child who are in the sights of none other than Mephisto--now played by a completely different actor; something that is explained in the movie, but is pretty disappointing if you liked Peter Fonda as the Devil.  The mother's name escapes me--both the character and the actress who played her, which says something about her performance.  I don't know if it's her indistinguishable accent, or the fact that she mumbled through her lines, that I couldn't really understand what she was saying most of the time.  Thankfully, her kid had a full-on American accent, so at least he could be understood.  However, children as major characters in movies tend to sway me away from any movie.  I can trace that back to The Phantom Menace, but I digress.

The design of Ghost Rider himself is noticably different than it was during Cage's first foray into the leather and chains.  While looking quite like his comic book self in the original movie, this time around, he's given a "grittier" look.  By "grittier", I mean "burnt".  His skull is blacker, his leather motorcycle jacket is given a burnt look and texture to it, and the menacing spikes they went out of their way to introduce in the first movie are gone.  Not to say he still doesn't look like a badass, but it looks like they tried too hard to achieve what they already had.  There's not much that can be done after lighting a man's skull on fire.  The beloved Hellcycle is also given a "grittier" and more "realistic" look.  So if you loved the Hellcycle, a.k.a. "Grace" in the first movie...you probably won't like what the new Hellcycle looks like now.
In some aspects, Johnny Blaze's powers go through some noticable changes as well.  The Penance Stare takes a backseat this time around.  Sure, it gets some screen time, but doesn't have the same awesomeness that it once did.  However, a couple of new abilities are introduced into the movie universe, serving their purpose as the Deus Ex Machina to the storyline.

A couple of bonuses we get are in the form of supporting actors; one of which being Idris Elba, best known to the Marvel Universe as Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost in Kenneth Brannagh's "Thor" movie of last year.  The other big name supporting actor with a small role is Christopher Lambert, best known as Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod in the Highlander movies, as well as Lord Raiden in the original Mortal Kombat feature film.

When all is said and done, would I recommend this movie to someone just starting out in the Marvel Universe of movies?  No.  Would I recommend it to fans of the original Ghost Rider movie?  Probably, but I'd prepare them for the changes first (which is why I'm writing this).  If you're a completionist like I am, then yes I would.  Am I looking forward to the possible other "Marvel Knights" franchise movies such as Moon Knight and a possible Daredevil reboot after PWZ and GRSV?  Not really.

Easily, I'd say rent it first if you haven't seen it already, and test the waters.  If it's your speed, add it to your collection.  If not, you've only spent a dollar at the Redbox or used up one space on your Netflix Queue. 

Plus, there's always this...fun or stupid?  Maybe a little of both?  You decide.

Rating: 2.5/5

'Til next time!
-Chris

State of Flying Ace Comics (Psst...the answer is "Texas")

Hopefully if all goes well, Flying Ace Comics will be fully operational by the end of the month, but by now I should know better than to come up with a full deadline.  It didn't work in school, and isn't working now.

The official Facebook and Twitter pages will be a hub of sorts, gathering info from all corners of Geekdom...comic books, tokusatsu, anime, gaming, tech, etc.  The Blogger site will have some of that, but will focus more on reviews and basic info about everything we're doing or plan on doing.  Time will tell if we become a full-fledged website...depends on how well I can dust off my HTML skills.

And of course, the eBay store will be the main focus as soon as our shipping supplies are purchased and delivered and final prices are set.  Eventually, we hope to evolve from selling just comic books to full-on sci-fi memorabilia...movies, toys, books, and maybe even goodies from Japan!

We may even set up a Tumblr account in the near future for even more random stuff.  Flying Ace Comics is basically the culmination of everything I've wanted to do, and everything I've done in life...learning from my dad about business, earning my degrees in college, and embracing how big of a nerd I truly am.  I believe that this will hopefully lead to even better and brighter things in the future, not only for myself, but people like me who are proud of being nerds, geeks, otaku, and just plain freaks.

Pain is strength!
-Chris

...LOADING...

I apologize for the lack of updates for a while. I kind of hit a wall and things came to a screeching halt, since I'm still in the process of upgrading hardware and stocking up on necessities (shipping materials, etc.) before officially opening Flying Ace's "doors".

Once things are finally set and ready to go, we'll be ready to rock and we won't be taking so many days off between posts.

'Til then, peace.
-Chris

P.S. - We finally acquired an eBay store, which the link can be found on the right side of the page.  However, it will be a while longer before we can actually start selling, but keep an eye on it...you never know when we'll start posting merchandise!

K'Plagh!

Superhero Hype! and TrekMovie.com have reported that during the recent MTV Movie Awards, J.J. Abrams' interview had a surprise in the background, in the form of a Klingon warrior in full battle gear, including the newly-adopted helmet (complete with cranial ridges).  This armor was last spotted in the deleted scene of the Star Trek reboot movie of 2009, which took place on the Klingon penal colony, Rura Penthe.

It's all speculation as to what the Klingons will look like during the upcoming sequel, but if you ask any Trekkie (including myself), it would be no surprise if we get a peek at the "old-school" Klingons who resemble Humans, from the original series.  For the uninitiated--or those who so unfairly dismissed Star Trek: Enterprise, the lack of Klingon cranial ridges is explained during the fourth season episode, "Affliction".  Experimentation with augmented Human DNA left over from Earth's Eugenics Wars and a mutated strain of the Levoidian flu, left the Klingon Empire as the ridgeless, shoe polish-hued Klingons we all grew up with (like Kang, Koloth, or Kor [pictured above]), and saw up until the Shatner/Nimoy-era films, which they eventually somehow reverted back to their natural fierce-looking state, i.e. - Commander Worf or General (and later Chancellor) Martok.

I personally cannot wait to see this movie, as I've seen the previous chapter close to a dozen times by now.

K'Plagh!
-Chris

Green Lantern's Light!

Intolerance is an unfortunate pain that we still have to deal with even this far into the 21st century.  Though it's great to see those who are completely ignorant get a right cross every now and then...especially when that fist is a construct made of green willpower.

The gay Green Lantern wins his first battle, against One Million Moms

Inaugural Post (still mint in original box!)

The first official post of Flying Ace Comics!  Things are still going a little slow, but taking form...like one person trying to form Voltron or trying to use all five Captain Planet rings or something.  With those mental images in place, it really does seem like a lot.  Anyway, a lot has gone on lately, but being our first post, I'll stick with the Cliff's Notes version.

First off, I want to give a shout-out to my old bud, Josh Wilson who just started his own gaming blog, The Maximum Maxinimity.  Be sure to check it out!  Next, our eBay store is not up and running yet, though it should be by next week...maybe Tuesday, along with our phasers and shields--well, at least A Tuesday.  Also, our Twitter account is up and running.  To keep the porn spammers away, the protection has been added, so just feel free to follow us and we'll gladly click accept! 

Finally, on the news front the big deal this weekend is DC Comics revealed that its new "Earth 2" comic series will feature an openly gay Alan Scott, a.k.a. Green Lantern, which you can read about here.  What I find personally funny/sad is that so many people are so up-in-arms about the whole thing--particularly the ones who wouldn't know Alan Scott from Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardener, Kyle Rayner, or even Kilowog.  Besides, it's just one version of MANY of the parallel Alan Scotts in the DC Multiverse...if you subscribe to the Parallel Universe theory, it's just bound to happen.

That's all for now, but keep an eye out for further news on our progress, as well as other comic book and sci-fi news.  Ikouze! ("Let's go!")

-Chris