I apologize for the tardiness of NMC. I was detained within a walk-in closet last evening due to nefarious actions beyond my control. When I returned, I found the following typed into a word document:

Ahoy! Mutiny on the Cyber-Sea! Caffeine Powered has been sent walking Spanish and now I, Pepsibones Krueger, am steering this vessel known as Near Mint Condition! Yes! Finally! I GOT THE TOUCH! I GOT THE POWER!

*Ahem* Yeah, so anyways, I’m going to highlight some of this week’s more notable comics releases. Join me – it’s going to be a blast.

Captain America #607

Bucky Barnes continues to rock the shield, even as Steve Rogers has been brought back from wherever. As a fan of character development (I know, I know, maybe I should reevaluate my loyalty to comic books), I am more than pleased that `ole Stars and Stripes’ status quo hasn’t been reinstated. Instead, Brubaker gets to keep pleasing fans readers by toying with paneled mythology.

Truthfully, I kind of forget what’s going on in the series right now. I remember that Bucky and Falcon slap down some thugs and Baron Zemo plans something treacherous. I’m assuming we’ll get more of that this week. With Brubaker/Guice teaming up, the book is virtually guaranteed to be enjoyable.

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Green Lantern #55

Holy shit. This might be the most ridiculous issue of GL in recent history. Setting the tone, this is a crossover with Brightest Day – an event whose direction I’m still unsure of. Yeah, we all know that it has something do to with the end of Blackest Night and whatnot, but what the hell’s going on? Is this something I should really care about or should I just put my eggs in the Return of Bruce Wayne basket? Nevertheless, I give Brightest Day the pass because I got hooked up with an ill White Lantern ring.

So, this comic promises a brawl between Lobo (at one-time a satire, now more of a pastiche) and Atrocitus (the Red Lantern who reminds me of Abdullah the Butcher). Of course, these two troublemakers won’t get away with this sort of intergalactic caca. If I had to guess, I’d say Hal Jordan is going to step it up, punch a hole in the butthead by whom he is most annoyed, and then call it a day.

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Invincible Iron Man Annual #1

You gotta love annuals. As I’ve come to know them, these editions usually offer more pages, better art, and more concise storytelling than their monthly counterparts. I’ll gladly shell out an extra buck for book that I’ll actually remember years down the road.

For Tony Stark’s first annual, the tried-and-true team of Fraction/Larroca present some sort of backstory for the Mandarin. From the descriptions I’ve read, it seems as though the issue will operate in a fashion à la The Killing Joke; there will be both genuine hints and well-played misdirection, captivating readers while never giving away too much.

If you liked the Iron Man flicks, you should check this comic out. Matt Fraction has done a terrific job of writing stories to lure in new fans while paying respect to the legacies that the more dedicated fanbase has spent years adoring.

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Do you like H.P. Lovecraft? Do you have five minutes to kill? Well then start off your day with this animated tale of  hubris based on Lovecraft’s short “The Other Gods.” It’s allegedly a restoration of a short from 1924, created by Lovecraft’s associate Peter Rhodes, but it’s obviously not. No matter, it’s still awesome – especially the design of the gods of the outer hells that guard the feeble gods of earth!

Once these guys start, they just don’t stop… like ever! And neither will I in posting these.

I stumbled up this video yesterday and I was losing it.  This company, Cold Steel, makes these videos for every single different sword they make.  But this one, for their GREAT SWORD, was by far the silliest.  We see dudes cut Rope, Pigs, Boots, Hunks o’ Meat, Huge Ice Cubes, Bamboo, Balloons, Animal Heads, Barrels With Liquid…NOTHING IS SAFE!  And everything the guy says is awesome.

“That’s what a Great Sword is all about, deep penetration!”

Nice!

I love animated Gifs. I keep meaning to start a whole collection of them that I just never get around to doing… So hopefully we never suffer an infopocalypse and lose them all!

Video maker Nasty Millionaire also loves him some animated Gifs. How do I know? Because this video for Small Black’s “Weird Machines” is constructed entirely from Gifs found across the net. Work those Gifs!

I was unable to check out Cyrus this past weekend, but my friend Kyle did so I asked him to write about it for the Bloglin. Thanks Kyle. For those playing at home, Kyle has guest-edited once before during last year’s Roller-Fiction Retrospective.

Cyrus is comedy that manages to produce more laughs out of the moments between its jokes than through the jokes themselves. While this task is made easier by the expressiveness of John C. Reilly’s face and the obesity of Jonah Hill’s body, writers and directors the Duplass brothers (Baghead) deserve credit for maintaining their low-key, subdued style in their first mainstream outing.

The plot begins after Reilly is dragged to a party by his ex-wife, where he is shot down repeatedly by every mildly attractive woman in the place. The evening is saved by the arrival of Molly (Marisa Tomei), whose attraction to Reilly at first seems completely contrived but gradually becomes more believable as the details of her dysfunctional relationship with her 22-year-old son Cyrus are revealed. The remainder of the film focuses on the efforts of HIll’s Cyrus to separate his mother and Reilly, who is pathetic and lonely enough to put up with Cyrus’ bullshit.

The movie is largely successful because of the Duplass brothers’ restraint. The gradual revelations of the nature of Cyrus and Molly’s interactions give the audience a growing sense of discomfort that turns every hesitation, gesture, or look from the principals into another significant piece of the film’s awkward comedy puzzle. Cyrus proves that comedy does not have to come from contrived slapstick set-pieces or ridiculous concepts, and excels by avoiding them

Cyrus is in theaters now, so go see it.

Last Wednesday I posted Gawker’s 13 highlights from the Courtney Love: Behind the Music before actually seeing the episode. This past weekend I watched it and now you can too because it’s online. I gotta say it was pretty damn awesome episode. Besides the obvious choice lines that have been making the rounds, Courtney Love was pretty forthright and genuine and I was pretty informative and comprehensive on her life pre Kurt… which took up half or maybe even more than half of the 90 minute running time.

Love her , hate her or just tolerate her, this is worth watching if you’re at all a fan of music or alive and conscious in the 90s. Personally I’ve always felt Courtney Love has been needlessly and pointlessly vilified forcing this sort of cycle of self-destruction on her part. When the episode started down the whole Vanity Fair “I shoot heroin while pregnant” article incident, I started suspecting that M.I.A. was soon headed into those same cross-hairs Courtney Love has endured being seen through. By the way, both that Courtney Love article and the recent “truffle fries” M.I.A. article (New York Times) were written by Lynn Hirschberg. So Watch out Maya!

We’re big fans of Frankie Rose & The Outs around here so I’m thrilled that they’ll finally be releasing a debut album early this Fall on Slumberland Records. For those of you who need a little history on Frankie Rose then head back to the You Should be Listening to… segment we did on them a little while back.

The first leaked song from their forthcoming album is called “Little Brown Haired Girls” and is a tasty little piece of Twee Pop that will be perfect once we hit sweater weather. This is a great appetizer and I’m really looking forward to hearing the rest of the album now.

Frankie Rose & The Outs – “Little Brown Haired Girls”

This 4th we’re bringing you Red, White, and Brews, this summer’s maddest day time rager. America, f#$@ yeah! As our 4th of July function approaches, I’ll be profiling each of the performing bands, rappers, and DJs, telling you what’s up with each of these awesome acts in several parts.

Start RSVPing now to rsvp@mishkanyc.com (Put 4th of July in the subject line) and/or visit our Facebook event page and sign up.

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last time around we clued you in on Flufftronix, Rx and Dirty South Joe but those aren’t all of the ill DJs on tap for the 4th. You see that dude in the picture? Well he’s ta Harvard graduate, an NYU professor, and  a two-time DMC World Champion? Say word!?? What up DJ Shiftee!

Shiftee began DJ at age 13 after buying turntables with money from his Bar Mitzvah. From then on he entered contest after contest, finally earning a runner-up spot at the 2004 DMC Championship in NYC.

While studying mathematics at Harvard, Shiftee could be found spinning any and every campus party. Ivy Leaguers never got buck on the dance floor until Shiftee came through! This past year Shiftee took home the gold (Technics) at the 2009 world DMC championships. So you better believe you’re going to be dancing once he hits the turntables!

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Udachi will be wrecking shit this Independence Day as well. Releasing and remixing material with labels like Party Like Us, Night Shifters, and Trouble & Bass, Udachi has put himself on the map as one of New York’s best producers. His bassy jams have been played out by the likes of Rico Tubbs, Crookers, and AC Slater.

Expect a lot of brown notes from this dude. Maybe consider bringing a change of drawers? Just sayin’.

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No strangers to the Мишка family, The Captain and 77Klash will be in full effect, smashing things on the 4th Trouble & Bass style. 77Klash recently released his debut EP, Shadow of Death featuring production from Drop The Lime and AC Slater.

The EP is totally mad, pushing the klash (oh!) between hip hop and dancehall to new levels

77Klash will be joining The Captain, label manager and crew member of Brooklyn’s infamous Trouble & Bass. The Captain always brings it, mixing up genres ranging from dubstep, 90s house, baltimore club and UK grime. Much bass will ensue, mark my words!

Sunday July 4th, 1pm
Water Taxi Beach
54-34 2nd St.
Long Island City, NY
FREE | RSVP Here

Wolf Parade - Expo 86 (2010) [Sub Pop] // Grade: B

A whine and squeal. A howl of guitars, indiscernible and sunny background noise stomping to a steady beat: Wolf Parade sounds more like their name here than ever, but it’s a wolf-dance down the boulevard, not a solemn march. We’re talking parade in the real 4th of July sense, you know, all streamers and ice cream on a humid summer morning. Flags and too-sweet lemonade. The accoutrement of celebration.

So there’s that: Expo 86 is celebratory above all else, danceable and immediate before you even think to notice the technical art of it. A confetti-explosion of fun. And then there’s this: the songwriting. It’s concise and catchy like never before, and it comes together without a hiccup. Unlike 2008′s At Mount Zoomer—which, even at its best, sounded a little like a solo-artist comp—Expo 86 is unified supreme. You can barely identify a track as originating with Krug or Boeckner or even Dante DeCaro; they’re mostly balanced in the moment, from the dream-haze round of “What Did My Lover Say” to the bittersweet and salty “Yulia”. And when you do notice the differences—the battalion of Springsteens vying for prominence—it hardly matters. It’s just a Wolf Parade quirk. As long as it doesn’t threaten the album’s cohesion with some noisy tug of war, it’s fine.

And even if Expo 86 isn’t quite the knock-you-down surprise of Apologies to Queen Mary, even if we’re inured to the spastic wall of sound by now, it still satisfies in a way Zoomer couldn’t. The songs aren’t good simply in their own little vacuums; they’re good as a whole. The full listening experience, a blurred-together parade charging through town as a single, neon-buzzed unit. Whether it’s this refreshed sense of togetherness or some other grand thematic overhaul, I don’t know, but Wolf Parade wear excitement on their sleeves here. And they’ve left streets littered with streamers and candy and the ghost sounds of a stoked processional to prove it.