Valleys and Troughs

Bear Gryllls raw animal medley, including the infamous goat testicle.

One of our favorite aspects of Man vs. Wild, and the reason we'd pick Bear Grylls above Survivorman Les Stroud any day of the week has always been the stiff-upper-lip British pluck with which he will eat literally anything he finds, be it living, dead or of indeterminate status. Stroud's greatest claim to glory is that unlike Bear, he allegedly does all his own camerawork. Which does impress. But would he give himself a fetid-water enema if trapped on a raft in the ocean? We can't say for sure. But Bear Grylls would. The best part of the above video is the glimpse of the crew's perspective - "definitely needs... more garlic." If we ever find ourselves trapped in a remote wilderness, we will only momentarily hesitate before chomping down on some goat balls. Oh, and the fetid-water enema, just in case:

VALLEY?

Wolverines not long for this earth, if you believe in all that global warming malarkey.

We're all familiar with Marvel's rendition of Wolverine. That's a given. Superhuman healing factor, retractable claws, adamantium-infused skeleton and a once-promising but since-tarnished film portrayal by Hugh Jackman. A solid argument could be made that he's Marvel's most fearsome and tenacious hero. Unfortunately his namesake hasn't enjoyed as much success of late. Scientists (who seem only to bombard us with news that makes us feel bad, always) have announced findings that indicate wolverine populations are dwindling due to the decrease in snowfall brought on by warmer temperatures.

Research shows wolverine numbers are falling across North America. Their decline has been linked to less snow settling as a result of climate change.

The study is the first to show a decline in the abundance of any land species due to vanishing snowpack.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Not for one of nature's most feared and respected predators. Not that any creature deserves to suffer the effects of human-induced climate change (yes, despite the sentiments of the average American, we are still acting on the presumption that climate change is actually happening), but the wolverine? The inspiration for maybe the most badass fictional character of all time? It takes a particularly disconnected and almost willfully ignorant populace for news like this to skitter by as a BBC News sidetab. We like to think we shrink from proselytizing, but the endangerment of a species that not only represents everything that is wild about the wilderness but has also engendered Weapon fucking X is almost too much to swallow. We're surprised Sarah Palin isn't shooting them from a helicopter as we speak. If only there existed a band of costumed mutant do-gooders whose sole raison d'etre revolved around setting to rights wrongs such as these. Unfortunately we can look only to ourselves on this one. For shame.

TROUGH

via BBC

Iron Man 2 trailer released, and man does it look awesome.

Ah. Nothing like a good movie trailer. Especially two in two days! And while we're sort of excited about Robin Hood, we have to say that the Iron Man 2 trailer is... it's just unbelievable. You can download a bigger version from apple if you so desire, and we suggest you do. There are almost no words to describe how awesome it is. We won't provide you with a play-by-play, but some highlights include Tony Stark yukking it up at what appears to be a congressional hearing, a brief appearance by Scarlett Johannson, and Iron Man and War Machine brawling back-to-back a the end. Man. Our eyes are glazing over just thinking about it. We have a feeling this is going to be a good one, and there will almost certainly be some cameos setting up the next films in Marvel's arsenal (Thor and then the Avengers, specifically). Yeah, not a bad day for comics fans. Big things are on the horizon.

VALLEY.

Andy Kaufman: a life.

Andy Kaufman is a name you don't hear enough anymore. Granted, he's no longer living, but his contributions to comedy, television, and popular culture in general reverberate to this day. We've grown accustomed and even perhaps indifferent to comedy that shocks, surprises and sometimes disturbs, and it's easy to forget that it was not so long ago (though, to be fair, before we were born) when that type of stuff hadn't really been done. And so we come to Dear Andy Kaufman I Hate Your Guts, a collection presented by his widow, Lynn Margulies, of photos and letters mailed to Kaufman at the height of his publicly-berating-and-wrestling-women phase, letters which he meticulously catalogued and saved. Nick Gazin of Vice recently reviewed the piece for his Comic Book Witch Hunt:

When Andy Kaufman challenged all the women of America to wrestle him and made fun of them for being weak and stupid they responded by unleashing a giant wave of mail which crashed upon the shores of NBC. All kinds of women wanted to wrestle Andy. Women who hated him, women who loved him, and women whose feelings seem to be a tangy mixture of the two.

This summarizes Andy's character pretty well. He captured equally the attention of those who both admired and loathed him. The following video (watch to the end, if you have the time) highlights his often contentious relationship with Letterman and gives as clear a perspective as possible into his singular presence and distinct tendency to make uncomfortable pretty much everyone around him. There's something to be said for holding nothing back, and Kaufman epitomized that more than anyone before or since.

TROUGH, because he is gone.

DC heading back to the drawing board.

To mark its 75th anniversary, DC comics is planning to begin in 2010 a new Earth One line (somehow the best name they could have come up with), which will reintroduce Superman and Batman from the beginnings of their respective stories. One has to think this sort of thing can really go either way, and it will be interesting to see how the writers respond to being allowed to retell the stories of the two most prominent characters in just about any medium ever. We will say this: we like the new look for Batman (by artist Gary Frank). We will certainly temper our expectations, but it's hard not to be excited. Nothing like getting in on something from the ground floor. And it wouldn't be right not to include the Man of Steel himself:

VALLEY

via io9

Morning Marginalia: Epic films revisited.

Dr. Grant catching the eye of the T-Rex here (they can't see you if you don't move) is part of a pretty outstanding collection from Empire magazine, in which they celebrate their twentieth birthday by recreating scenes from blockbusters of the same period. Seeing Jurassic Park on the big screen when we were ten years old left an indelible mark on our psyche, and we applaud both empire and Sam Neill for plunging us once again into that era when dinosaurs ruled the earth. And because we are unabashed fans, here's a little of this too:

The rest of the gallery is pretty fantastic. Highlights include Mel Gibson as William Wallace (which very narrowly lost out to the above, we just love Viggo and the fact that he probably carries the sword with him everywhere he goes) and the Governor reprising T2. Not sure how Empire got them all lined up. One hell of a birthday party.

VALLEY

Morning Marginalia: Lego comic art: awesome.

From artist Ulises Farinas, author of the webcomic MOTRO, draws scenes from Marvel and DC comics acted out by Lego people. This strikes us as a conceptualization that is long overdue, legos and comics being two of the pinnacles of human achievement.

VALLEY

via io9

Scarlett Johannson as Black Widow pictures. Cause why not?

There's one thing one should never have to apologize for, and that's pictures of Scarlett Johannson. It's just one of those rare situations where everyone wins. In what we will laud as the best casting job in any superhero movie to date, Scarlett Johannson (whom we believe may well be the most beautiful woman on the planet, maybe ever) is playing the Black Widow in the upcoming Iron Man 2, set for release May 7th. Way back in the sixties when Stan Lee and co. created the Black Widow, a Soviet spy that would eventually defect to America, we imagine they would not have predicted this. Who could have? The Black Widow is trained in martial arts, espionage, marskmanship, etc. You get the idea.

And in even better news, she will reprise the role in the Avengers movie, scheduled for release in 2012 (barring armageddon). This could be the beginning of an exceedingly beautiful thing; May 7th can't come soon enough.

VALLEY, big time.

via superherohype

Highlight of the Night: Iron Man 2 poster unveiled.

That's the official Iron Man 2 poster, with War Machine in the background, released today to set the collective crotch of the internets ablaze with anticipation. We actually can't remember the last time we were anywhere near this excited for a movie poster, so well done, gentlemen.

VALLEY

via OliviaMunn

Superman thwarted - for the present.

Fans of the Man of Steel will have to keep waiting for another big-screen portrayal of their favorite costumed hero. Due to an ongoing legal dispute between Warner Bros. and the Siegel and Shuster families (Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster having created Superman in the thirties -Ed.) the details of which we can only imagine are obscenely boring to anyone not personally involved, any further installment of the franchise has been indefinitely delayed:

The debate continues to rage about what Warner Bros. should do with the DC Comics super-hero. Fans have been clamoring all over the web for a complete reboot. Warner Bros. execs believe that the last movie didn’t break the mold and wound up in some kind of middle limbo. They want to start over from scratch. While
Kick-Ass writer Mark Millar did pitch himself (to scant interest), WB in-house faves the Wachowski brothers and their protege James McTeigue were never approached. (It’s hard to imagine such hard-R types taking on what one blogger described as the “Big Blue Boy Scout.”)

It's no surprise that this process has staggered along, legal purgatory or no. The last time we saw the son of Jor-El in theaters was the 2006 Superman Returns, written and directed by Bryan Singer - the man responsible for the first two X-Men films (the good ones). Reception was mixed, to say the least, and though not a disaster the movie woefully underperformed as far as Warner Bros. was concerned. We happened to enjoy the film, going so far as to purchase it on DVD when people still did that sort of thing, and thought the acting especially was pretty solid all-around (especially Jimmy Marsden - can't get enough of that guy). And though Superman has never been our favorite character, we find ourselves looking forward a little anxiously to the next theater appearance of Clark Kent. Superman represents nothing if not the glorious and blinding embodiment of brilliant excess in every way, the spectacle of which lends itself so naturally to film. So in a way we hope that this process isn't rushed, and that the final product reflects some care and discretion. There have been some horrendous blockbuster superhero movies in the fairly recent past (read: Spiderman 3, which Christ isn't actually that recent now that we think about it. where does the time go?) and we'd hate to see the same happen to the prodigal son. He is, ultimately, too good.

TROUGH

via: toh!

As a postscript, those in need of a Superman fix are directed to All-Star Superman (named recently by The Onion AV Club as one of the best comics of the aughts), written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quietly - a fantastic team.