On the first week of January, comic shipping was the same as the previous week, so I give to you, today, the comics of January 4.
Annihilation: Conquest 3
Basic Plot: Quasar and Moondragon fight off Ultron with the High Evolutionary. Star-Lord and his rag-tag team of rebels try and take out something or another. Ronan, with Kl'rt, Praxagora and Wraith in tow, confronts Ravenous.
To be perfectly honest, I don't actually remember the comic all too well. I do know that I like Annihilation: Conquest, but these parts I do remember. Ronan pulls an awesome double cross where he gets his way. Star-Lord eventually faces a Phalanx converted Blastaar and that Adam Warlock fights well against Ultron and that they still haven't explained Ultron's presence. Oh, yeah, Ultron is behind the Phalanx. It isn't just the Phalanx, but Ultron as well. Kind of weird, but interesting. I do like Tom Raney's art, most of the time, but the inking and coloring are not good with Raney's style. It doesn't feel like Raney half of the time. There are a few moments that I realize, "Oh, yeah! Tom Raney draws this!" Otherwise, I am completely clueless that Raney had anything to do with it. That does go for the entire series too. Looking forward to part 4. Not nearly as good, though, as Annihilation, which is now out in 3 paperbacks. Enjoy that!
Howard the Duck 4
Basic Plot: Howard and Bev confront MODOT and try and make a stand.
What can I say? It's Howard the Duck. It is not supposed to be serious at all, and it is only supposed to be fun. It was a great series and I did like all the references to the media. It was just an awesome time to read a comic. I recommend this highly. It is amazing, although don't go to it looking for a serious comic involving a anthropomorphic talking duck that has a plucky, hot, model girlfriend (not his girlfriend, but close enough). It's just a lot of fun.
Ultimate Human 1
Basic Plot: Bruce Banner wants a cure for being the Hulk. Tony Stark might be able to provide the answers, but only if Hulk doesn't kill them both first.
It was interesting. I did enjoy trying to figure out where it took place in continuity. I believe it does take place after the events of Ultimates 2, although I am not fully certain. In the aftermath of Ultimates 2, Bruce and the Hulk seem to have come to an agreement of sorts, and the Hulk isn't nearly the threat he once was. So, why the change for this comic? It seems interesting, of course, and provides Marvel a way to destroy Millar and Hitch's work even more. I talk of course about Ultimates 3, which is the saddest thing I have ever seen. It makes no sense, and is just poorly done. Ultimate Human, is okay, but does not quite fit things as well as it may want to. The Hulk just wouldn't be the same after Ultimates 2 as he was, even at the beginning of Ultimates 2. Hulk changed, and the writers have no reason to make people assume that Hulk is a menace again. Anyway, the story is kind of meh, and the art is okay, and it is bizarre that the Ultimate Leader (looking for both Bruce Banner's blood and Tony Stark's blood) is Peter Wisdom, the man who stole Kitty Pryde's heart before she realized she should be with someone better than him. So odd.
Huh, the week before was loaded, while this week was very light. Sigh, who can ever predict this kind of thing?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Comics I didn't get a chance to review over the break p2
On the 3rd Day of Christmas, I bought from the comic store for me... What? I celebrate Christmas as well as Chanukah. Anyway, Christmas pushed the day back to the Friday, or Dec 28 aka the 3rd day of Christmas.
These are the ones I am choosing to review. For a list of what I read, contact me and ask.
Amazing Spider-Man 545
Basic Plot: Will Spidey and MJ agree to give up their marriage to Mephisto to save May?
You already know how I feel. This was stupid. Pete was stupid. MJ Might not have known better, but Peter should have. Deal with the devil? Come on! 'Nuff said.
Avengers: The Initiative 8
Basic Plot: Taskmaster is the new instructor at Camp Hammond. Ant-Man causes trouble with Stature and Yellowjacket.
This is an awesome comic. I love Avengers: The Initiative. It is a horrible idea in the MU, but a great idea in the regular universe. We get to watch it all unfold and fall to pieces. I've said this before, and it still holds true. This was a great issue. I loved the Ant-Man series, written by the great Robert Kirkman, and I loved the character and am glad to see him again. The battle between him and Stature was funny and great, and when Yellowjacket gets involved, Gyrich wants Taskmaster to stop the giants. Of course, he doesn't want to, as he is still somewhat a villain, and is there "only to teach". Then, when Gyrich practically forces him to, he takes hi shield, throws it off of all their lower legs, bringing them all down. Then, he shield punches Yellowjacket in the neck, knocking him out. This was awesomeness. I like Taskmaster, and he is awesome in this. This is a great comic, and it looks like it might be ending, just because of what is going on, and that would be sad, as I want to see it fall forever.
Captain America 33
Basic Plot: Bucky is aboard the helicarrier. Awesomeness ensues.
Yes, that is the plot, effectively. Not much else. Some scolding from Red Skull, and some other stuff, but once he is there, he goes after Iron Man. Now, I have had respect for Winter Soldier as he is the once-dead Bucky, but I never thought he'd be able to take out Iron Man. He was cool, but not on an Iron Man level. I was wrong. He was able to trick Iron Man into all this stuff, before taking off Tony's helmet and sticking a gun in his face. WOOT! I love that. I wanted him to shoot Tony, but Tony was able to convince Bucky to listen to him, and it seems very much that Bucky will be the new Cap A. We shall see soon.
Giant Size Avengers Special
Basic Plot: Lots of different stories involving the Avengers.
This was just pure and simple fun. After Ms. Marvel, Wasp and Black Widow take out the BAD Girls (Black Mamba, Asp and Diamondback), then the fun begins. A great story involving how Jarvis always keeps Avengers Mansion clean and keeps everything important from breaking, even while the Avengers are fighting was fun and enjoyable. Jarvis is more powerful than any of the Avengers, telling them what to do. He commands Thor to take the fight outside. Heh, it is good, and you see an Avengers story through Jarvis' eyes. Next, Gyrich is seen as the hero of a small planet. This planet has lifeforms who do not speak English, and always rhyme when speaking. While fighting a being that looks like Meta-Ridley from Metroid (one of the most awesome video game series ever), Thor, Captain America and Iron Man draw him into this world, with Gyrich with them. Cap is down and hallucinating, Thor is out cold and Iron Man's armor needs to boot up. Gyrich is the only one left and Iron Man yells at him for being a coward and that everybody hates him. Then, eventually, the Avengers recover and Gyrich yells at them to just return, leaving Meta-Ridley behind, but the Avengers think they may be sentient beings on the planet, so they take out Meta-Ridley, with Iron Man launching his "F*&^ it! Fire Everything!" command protocol and Thor calling upon the constant lightning on the planet, destroying Meta-Ridley. The beings on the planet only saw Gyrich yelling at everybody and thought he was leading them, so when he left and said, "What are you looking at?" to the creatures, they took that to be holy words and whenever they say goodbye, they say "Wattaryulukinat" The rest of the stories are kind of amusing, but not as good, but enjoyable.
Marvel Zombies 2 #3
Basic Plot: Zombie Luke Cage and Spidey want to help the remaining humans from the rest of the zombies, while the rest want to eat and then go to other universes to eat.
I liked issue one. I disliked issue two. Robert Kirkman, you've done it again. I loved Marvel Zombies 2 #3. It was what I needed in the Zombieverse. Forge would have gone all around the world, taking Reed Richards' stuff and Tony Stark's stuff and Hank McCoy's stuff and Hank Pym's stuff and making his own stuff. That's what he did, especially with taking Reed's device to transport people to other universes and with Tony's original Iron Man armor, making it awesomely powerful as opposed to what it originally was. It still looks fairly similar, but is powered up a lot. The story just felt right this time around. Good job, Kirkman, good job.
Ultimate Power 9
Basic Plot: The Squadron, the Squadron and the Ultimates must team-up to take out Ultimate Hulk.
Yes, the Squadron Supreme is mentioned twice. One is the original Squadron Supreme, while the other is the Supreme Power Squadron Supreme. Each of the duplicates (Dr. Spectrum, Blur/Whizzer, Hyperion) have their power levels decreased by half, as there are two of them. So really, it is the Squadron, in groups of two, and the Ultimates vs Ultimate Hulk. Eventually, the good guys win (yay) and when looking who to blame for ruining the Supreme Powerverse, Spider-Man offers up Fury who was dealing with Doom (Doombot), who was dealing with Hamilton. So until they find Doom, Fury is their "Sorry, Try Again" and left in the Supreme Powerverse. Now, continuity issues abound and I'll go over that some other time, but a fun way to finish off the series.
Whew, what a week! And that wasn't all I read that week, just what I wanted to talk about.
These are the ones I am choosing to review. For a list of what I read, contact me and ask.
Amazing Spider-Man 545
Basic Plot: Will Spidey and MJ agree to give up their marriage to Mephisto to save May?
You already know how I feel. This was stupid. Pete was stupid. MJ Might not have known better, but Peter should have. Deal with the devil? Come on! 'Nuff said.
Avengers: The Initiative 8
Basic Plot: Taskmaster is the new instructor at Camp Hammond. Ant-Man causes trouble with Stature and Yellowjacket.
This is an awesome comic. I love Avengers: The Initiative. It is a horrible idea in the MU, but a great idea in the regular universe. We get to watch it all unfold and fall to pieces. I've said this before, and it still holds true. This was a great issue. I loved the Ant-Man series, written by the great Robert Kirkman, and I loved the character and am glad to see him again. The battle between him and Stature was funny and great, and when Yellowjacket gets involved, Gyrich wants Taskmaster to stop the giants. Of course, he doesn't want to, as he is still somewhat a villain, and is there "only to teach". Then, when Gyrich practically forces him to, he takes hi shield, throws it off of all their lower legs, bringing them all down. Then, he shield punches Yellowjacket in the neck, knocking him out. This was awesomeness. I like Taskmaster, and he is awesome in this. This is a great comic, and it looks like it might be ending, just because of what is going on, and that would be sad, as I want to see it fall forever.
Captain America 33
Basic Plot: Bucky is aboard the helicarrier. Awesomeness ensues.
Yes, that is the plot, effectively. Not much else. Some scolding from Red Skull, and some other stuff, but once he is there, he goes after Iron Man. Now, I have had respect for Winter Soldier as he is the once-dead Bucky, but I never thought he'd be able to take out Iron Man. He was cool, but not on an Iron Man level. I was wrong. He was able to trick Iron Man into all this stuff, before taking off Tony's helmet and sticking a gun in his face. WOOT! I love that. I wanted him to shoot Tony, but Tony was able to convince Bucky to listen to him, and it seems very much that Bucky will be the new Cap A. We shall see soon.
Giant Size Avengers Special
Basic Plot: Lots of different stories involving the Avengers.
This was just pure and simple fun. After Ms. Marvel, Wasp and Black Widow take out the BAD Girls (Black Mamba, Asp and Diamondback), then the fun begins. A great story involving how Jarvis always keeps Avengers Mansion clean and keeps everything important from breaking, even while the Avengers are fighting was fun and enjoyable. Jarvis is more powerful than any of the Avengers, telling them what to do. He commands Thor to take the fight outside. Heh, it is good, and you see an Avengers story through Jarvis' eyes. Next, Gyrich is seen as the hero of a small planet. This planet has lifeforms who do not speak English, and always rhyme when speaking. While fighting a being that looks like Meta-Ridley from Metroid (one of the most awesome video game series ever), Thor, Captain America and Iron Man draw him into this world, with Gyrich with them. Cap is down and hallucinating, Thor is out cold and Iron Man's armor needs to boot up. Gyrich is the only one left and Iron Man yells at him for being a coward and that everybody hates him. Then, eventually, the Avengers recover and Gyrich yells at them to just return, leaving Meta-Ridley behind, but the Avengers think they may be sentient beings on the planet, so they take out Meta-Ridley, with Iron Man launching his "F*&^ it! Fire Everything!" command protocol and Thor calling upon the constant lightning on the planet, destroying Meta-Ridley. The beings on the planet only saw Gyrich yelling at everybody and thought he was leading them, so when he left and said, "What are you looking at?" to the creatures, they took that to be holy words and whenever they say goodbye, they say "Wattaryulukinat" The rest of the stories are kind of amusing, but not as good, but enjoyable.
Marvel Zombies 2 #3
Basic Plot: Zombie Luke Cage and Spidey want to help the remaining humans from the rest of the zombies, while the rest want to eat and then go to other universes to eat.
I liked issue one. I disliked issue two. Robert Kirkman, you've done it again. I loved Marvel Zombies 2 #3. It was what I needed in the Zombieverse. Forge would have gone all around the world, taking Reed Richards' stuff and Tony Stark's stuff and Hank McCoy's stuff and Hank Pym's stuff and making his own stuff. That's what he did, especially with taking Reed's device to transport people to other universes and with Tony's original Iron Man armor, making it awesomely powerful as opposed to what it originally was. It still looks fairly similar, but is powered up a lot. The story just felt right this time around. Good job, Kirkman, good job.
Ultimate Power 9
Basic Plot: The Squadron, the Squadron and the Ultimates must team-up to take out Ultimate Hulk.
Yes, the Squadron Supreme is mentioned twice. One is the original Squadron Supreme, while the other is the Supreme Power Squadron Supreme. Each of the duplicates (Dr. Spectrum, Blur/Whizzer, Hyperion) have their power levels decreased by half, as there are two of them. So really, it is the Squadron, in groups of two, and the Ultimates vs Ultimate Hulk. Eventually, the good guys win (yay) and when looking who to blame for ruining the Supreme Powerverse, Spider-Man offers up Fury who was dealing with Doom (Doombot), who was dealing with Hamilton. So until they find Doom, Fury is their "Sorry, Try Again" and left in the Supreme Powerverse. Now, continuity issues abound and I'll go over that some other time, but a fun way to finish off the series.
Whew, what a week! And that wasn't all I read that week, just what I wanted to talk about.
Comics I didn't get a chance to review over the break p1
Well, on December 19, I picked up some comics from a local place that I like in San Francisco, liked mainly because of its proximity to another place I like, but I digress.
NOTE: These are not all the comics I got. If you want a list, then please let me know.
Cable & Deadpool 48
Basic Plot: Deadpool has to fix his mortal enemy T-Ray by bonding his soul to his body, with the help of guest star Brother Voodoo.
When the comic starts with Deadpool being happy, shooting a bunch of zombies, while Bob cowers in fear, you can tell it is going to be good. I love Deadpool, so I was going to like it, but it was still good, even without my love of Deadpool interfering. The whole concept was great as it is pushing for Deadpool to be a hero even though he is incredibly flawed. He still saved his mortal enemy because he knew the consequences would be worse for the universe. They have a fight inside T-Ray's soul and when T-Ray smashes Deadpool, he becomes a lot of tiny Deadpools that all are based off of superheroes. A Thor Deadpool. A Ms. Marvel Deadpool. An Iron Man Deadpool. He hates his Black Bolt Deadpool. He even was going to have his Captain America and Iron Man Deadpools fight a Civil War inside his head to determine something stupid. But, he still won. It was just a lot of fun, and I love fun, especially with my buddy, DP.
Mighty Avengers 6
Basic Plot: Ultron is trying to launch nukes. Ares is trying to deliver a virus to Ultron. Sentry is pissed at Ultron for killing his wife.
Well, finally! The first arc is over. How long did that take? I mean, New Warriors was a latecomer to The Initiative and they just had issue 8. It is absurd how long it took to come out. It was good, don't get me wrong. Frank Cho is an amazing artist and I love Bendis, but lateness is horrible. I don't understand all of what happened, with Ultron and Sentry's wife, because, spoiler alert from a while ago, she didn't die. Apparently. Okay... The story was good and I love all of the thought bubbles with people thinking being an important part of the dialogue. A Commodore 64. Seriously. Ah, I did enjoy the issue, even though it was late.
What if...? Civil War
Basic Plot: What would have happened if Iron Man had died of the Extremis injection thingy and Cap lead all the heroes against Registration? What would have happened if Iron Man had been a little more forthcoming when he tried to shake hands with Cap?
I loved this issue. The first part was kind of stupid, and I didn't like that Gyrich was leading Sentinels, and then man-powered Sentinels and then Clor clones against the heroes. It was kind of stupid and I thought it was pretty stupid. It also didn't show my point. The second part was amazing. It was all I needed. If, when Iron Man reached out his hand and Cap has his bug in his hand, Tony had been honest and said that he really wanted to make things right, Cap would not have given him the bug and nobody would have died that night. Iron Man would have saved Bill Foster from Clor and then all the heroes would have pounded on Clor and beaten him. Then, they would compromise, with Cap being the only person who knows the identities of heroes, which works. It shows then that a new Golden Age of heroism would have started. Many years down the line, they would have been friends still and glad they worked everything out. It was nice and I loved it because it really was true that things would have been better if Cap had won. Sure, Iron Man semi-won, but Cap did so much more because of it and I love that story. Of course, I realize that he never would have won, but this would have been better. Not happening, alternate universe, blah, blah, blah, but I still am glad there is the What if...? comics.
NOTE: These are not all the comics I got. If you want a list, then please let me know.
Cable & Deadpool 48
Basic Plot: Deadpool has to fix his mortal enemy T-Ray by bonding his soul to his body, with the help of guest star Brother Voodoo.
When the comic starts with Deadpool being happy, shooting a bunch of zombies, while Bob cowers in fear, you can tell it is going to be good. I love Deadpool, so I was going to like it, but it was still good, even without my love of Deadpool interfering. The whole concept was great as it is pushing for Deadpool to be a hero even though he is incredibly flawed. He still saved his mortal enemy because he knew the consequences would be worse for the universe. They have a fight inside T-Ray's soul and when T-Ray smashes Deadpool, he becomes a lot of tiny Deadpools that all are based off of superheroes. A Thor Deadpool. A Ms. Marvel Deadpool. An Iron Man Deadpool. He hates his Black Bolt Deadpool. He even was going to have his Captain America and Iron Man Deadpools fight a Civil War inside his head to determine something stupid. But, he still won. It was just a lot of fun, and I love fun, especially with my buddy, DP.
Mighty Avengers 6
Basic Plot: Ultron is trying to launch nukes. Ares is trying to deliver a virus to Ultron. Sentry is pissed at Ultron for killing his wife.
Well, finally! The first arc is over. How long did that take? I mean, New Warriors was a latecomer to The Initiative and they just had issue 8. It is absurd how long it took to come out. It was good, don't get me wrong. Frank Cho is an amazing artist and I love Bendis, but lateness is horrible. I don't understand all of what happened, with Ultron and Sentry's wife, because, spoiler alert from a while ago, she didn't die. Apparently. Okay... The story was good and I love all of the thought bubbles with people thinking being an important part of the dialogue. A Commodore 64. Seriously. Ah, I did enjoy the issue, even though it was late.
What if...? Civil War
Basic Plot: What would have happened if Iron Man had died of the Extremis injection thingy and Cap lead all the heroes against Registration? What would have happened if Iron Man had been a little more forthcoming when he tried to shake hands with Cap?
I loved this issue. The first part was kind of stupid, and I didn't like that Gyrich was leading Sentinels, and then man-powered Sentinels and then Clor clones against the heroes. It was kind of stupid and I thought it was pretty stupid. It also didn't show my point. The second part was amazing. It was all I needed. If, when Iron Man reached out his hand and Cap has his bug in his hand, Tony had been honest and said that he really wanted to make things right, Cap would not have given him the bug and nobody would have died that night. Iron Man would have saved Bill Foster from Clor and then all the heroes would have pounded on Clor and beaten him. Then, they would compromise, with Cap being the only person who knows the identities of heroes, which works. It shows then that a new Golden Age of heroism would have started. Many years down the line, they would have been friends still and glad they worked everything out. It was nice and I loved it because it really was true that things would have been better if Cap had won. Sure, Iron Man semi-won, but Cap did so much more because of it and I love that story. Of course, I realize that he never would have won, but this would have been better. Not happening, alternate universe, blah, blah, blah, but I still am glad there is the What if...? comics.
Justice League is distracting
I would have posted earlier, but with homework and breaks consisting of me trying to watch the entire Jusitce League TV show, I didn't have time.
Anyway, One More Day and Brand New Day. For those of you just joining us, I hate Brand New Day. Brand New Day is what is taking place in the Marvel Universe as a retcon of Spider-Man. This includes a lot of spoilers, so be careful. When Spider-Man revealed his identity in Civil War, he realized this was a mistake and switched sides. When he did that, he was on the run, with everybody knowing who he is because of his blind faith in Tony Stark. The Kingpin discovered where he was hiding, along with his wife and aunt. He hired an assassin to take out Spidey, but Spidey's Spider-Sense went off and he dove, protecting MJ, but Aunt May was shot and fell. After taking her to the hospital, he has never forgiven himself. He went through his period where he dressed in black to try and show that he was black on the inside too (it was stupid, but fit in time with the timing of the third Spider-Man movie). Eventually, May's condition demanded either more money or to be put aside with other people with small amounts of money, so Peter went to Avengers Tower, looking for Iron Man. When he found Tony, he was able to eventually convince Tony to lend money, which he did through Jarvis. The doctor said he would make her comfortable, but there was nothing he could do. Spider-Man knows a lot more people of course, so he went to Dr. Strange who could not help, but allowed him to go to other people who might be able to help, all at the same time, all over the world. Unfortunately, all of them, including Mr. Fantastic, Black Panther, The Wizard and Dr. Doom all said there was nothing. After a vain attempt to try and go into the past, Spidey eventually was walking somberly when he ran into a little girl with red hair who convinced him that he should stop thinking about himself all the time. Then, he ran into a computer programmer, who told his story as a version of Peter Parker who never got bit and just went through life ignoring people and everything. Then, he ran into a super successful rich version of himself who used the spite for him to become motivation and used his considerable intellect to make a fortune. Eventually he ran into Mephisto who told him that all three were versions of him, and that Mephisto could save May, but wanted Peter and MJ's marriage in return. They discussed this and, in one of the most idiotic choices, ranking up there with trusting Tony Stark, although maybe worse, he decided to take the deal, and Mephisto revealed that the little girl would have been theirs if they had not taken the deal. Still, the deal goes through and they never became married and Spider-Man's life gets completely and utterly retconned.
Now, everything is crazy and stupid. Don't get me wrong, the art is great and the story isn't half bad, but it doesn't fit at all. It should be an alternate universe, hey, maybe it should get its own series, but it should not be the Spider-Man series. I am appreciative of the story, but it feels like it should be set in the 70's or something, and I hate how they set it up. Peter is intelligent, right? He made some bad choices, but he also has made some good choices in his life. The entire story that was told in One More Day 1-3 made the case for Peter to let her go as it would make the most sense, and he had to accept it. Sure, he semi-caused it by being Spider-Man and being a target for assassination by the Kingpin, but May knew the risks, as did MJ, and both were willing to risk their life. Plus, in the last issue of Sensational Spider-Man before One More Day, God showed up and let Peter know he was doing a good job. You read that correctly. God shouwed up and said that he was doing a good job. How much clearer can it be than that? Peter might make a few mistakes, but he keeps on going and he doesn't just quit. He did that in One More Day.
I hate it because it is out of character. Yes, he would want to save his aunt, and he would do "anything", but he has lost her before. He has lost his uncle before. He has lost Gwen Stacy and even has lost MJ for a time (thought to be dead), but he continued on. This was his fault? So was Gwen Stacy. He moved on. Uncle Ben he always blamed on himself, but he became a superhero because of it. Peter is an intelligent individual. He invented his webshooters, he invented spider-tracers that he can find with his Spider-Sense. That was when he was a kid. He doesn't always think things through fully, and doesn't always have great common sense, but he is not an idiot. Otherwise, he never would have survived 46 years superheroing. There was a time I remember where Darkhawk had the opportunity to try and go back in time to help his father from dying, and Spidey said that he would do anything to change Uncle Ben's death, but (to himself, said that) he knew that he shouldn't do anything to try and change the past. Why did the writers think this was a good idea? I don't think this was all Stracyszinki (or however you spell it), but he made some bad ideas. He redeemed himself in my eyes a little when he said he wanted to change the Gwen getting pregnant thing from Sins Past during One More Day, but wasn't allowed, but that he made it in the first place and that he made Spider-Man more "magical" always made me sad.
All in all, it just doesn't make sense for Spidey to agree. I know that MJ semi-convinced him, but he should know better than to deal with Mephisto. Mephisto, also usually known as Mephistopholes or Satan or the Devil. YOU DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH THE DEVIL! Oy. Well, as for the story itself, I find it kind of fun, but mostly when I imagine it as being a story set in the 70's and not in present day (with Harry around and stuff like that). It's not the best story in the world, but it could easily be worse, and it works for what it is, I guess.
IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!
Anyway, One More Day and Brand New Day. For those of you just joining us, I hate Brand New Day. Brand New Day is what is taking place in the Marvel Universe as a retcon of Spider-Man. This includes a lot of spoilers, so be careful. When Spider-Man revealed his identity in Civil War, he realized this was a mistake and switched sides. When he did that, he was on the run, with everybody knowing who he is because of his blind faith in Tony Stark. The Kingpin discovered where he was hiding, along with his wife and aunt. He hired an assassin to take out Spidey, but Spidey's Spider-Sense went off and he dove, protecting MJ, but Aunt May was shot and fell. After taking her to the hospital, he has never forgiven himself. He went through his period where he dressed in black to try and show that he was black on the inside too (it was stupid, but fit in time with the timing of the third Spider-Man movie). Eventually, May's condition demanded either more money or to be put aside with other people with small amounts of money, so Peter went to Avengers Tower, looking for Iron Man. When he found Tony, he was able to eventually convince Tony to lend money, which he did through Jarvis. The doctor said he would make her comfortable, but there was nothing he could do. Spider-Man knows a lot more people of course, so he went to Dr. Strange who could not help, but allowed him to go to other people who might be able to help, all at the same time, all over the world. Unfortunately, all of them, including Mr. Fantastic, Black Panther, The Wizard and Dr. Doom all said there was nothing. After a vain attempt to try and go into the past, Spidey eventually was walking somberly when he ran into a little girl with red hair who convinced him that he should stop thinking about himself all the time. Then, he ran into a computer programmer, who told his story as a version of Peter Parker who never got bit and just went through life ignoring people and everything. Then, he ran into a super successful rich version of himself who used the spite for him to become motivation and used his considerable intellect to make a fortune. Eventually he ran into Mephisto who told him that all three were versions of him, and that Mephisto could save May, but wanted Peter and MJ's marriage in return. They discussed this and, in one of the most idiotic choices, ranking up there with trusting Tony Stark, although maybe worse, he decided to take the deal, and Mephisto revealed that the little girl would have been theirs if they had not taken the deal. Still, the deal goes through and they never became married and Spider-Man's life gets completely and utterly retconned.
Now, everything is crazy and stupid. Don't get me wrong, the art is great and the story isn't half bad, but it doesn't fit at all. It should be an alternate universe, hey, maybe it should get its own series, but it should not be the Spider-Man series. I am appreciative of the story, but it feels like it should be set in the 70's or something, and I hate how they set it up. Peter is intelligent, right? He made some bad choices, but he also has made some good choices in his life. The entire story that was told in One More Day 1-3 made the case for Peter to let her go as it would make the most sense, and he had to accept it. Sure, he semi-caused it by being Spider-Man and being a target for assassination by the Kingpin, but May knew the risks, as did MJ, and both were willing to risk their life. Plus, in the last issue of Sensational Spider-Man before One More Day, God showed up and let Peter know he was doing a good job. You read that correctly. God shouwed up and said that he was doing a good job. How much clearer can it be than that? Peter might make a few mistakes, but he keeps on going and he doesn't just quit. He did that in One More Day.
I hate it because it is out of character. Yes, he would want to save his aunt, and he would do "anything", but he has lost her before. He has lost his uncle before. He has lost Gwen Stacy and even has lost MJ for a time (thought to be dead), but he continued on. This was his fault? So was Gwen Stacy. He moved on. Uncle Ben he always blamed on himself, but he became a superhero because of it. Peter is an intelligent individual. He invented his webshooters, he invented spider-tracers that he can find with his Spider-Sense. That was when he was a kid. He doesn't always think things through fully, and doesn't always have great common sense, but he is not an idiot. Otherwise, he never would have survived 46 years superheroing. There was a time I remember where Darkhawk had the opportunity to try and go back in time to help his father from dying, and Spidey said that he would do anything to change Uncle Ben's death, but (to himself, said that) he knew that he shouldn't do anything to try and change the past. Why did the writers think this was a good idea? I don't think this was all Stracyszinki (or however you spell it), but he made some bad ideas. He redeemed himself in my eyes a little when he said he wanted to change the Gwen getting pregnant thing from Sins Past during One More Day, but wasn't allowed, but that he made it in the first place and that he made Spider-Man more "magical" always made me sad.
All in all, it just doesn't make sense for Spidey to agree. I know that MJ semi-convinced him, but he should know better than to deal with Mephisto. Mephisto, also usually known as Mephistopholes or Satan or the Devil. YOU DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH THE DEVIL! Oy. Well, as for the story itself, I find it kind of fun, but mostly when I imagine it as being a story set in the 70's and not in present day (with Harry around and stuff like that). It's not the best story in the world, but it could easily be worse, and it works for what it is, I guess.
IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Comic Review for Wednesday, 1/16
Well, time again for comics. For those of you who want to know what I read during the break, I can easily show what I read and I will do smaller reviews over the next couple days. For now, though, I will review comics from this week.
New Warriors 8
Basic Plot: Night Thrasher comes face to face with Midnight's Fire (who came up with that name?) to talk to him. The Warriors discuss terrorism and whether they are terrorists.
Well, New Warriors is an interesting comic. Sometimes, it is good. Sometimes, it is meh. Today was more meh than good. Maybe if I knew all the people from old NW stuff (Midnight's Fire and more info about Night Thrasher (original), his brother (current) and Silhouette), I would understand more of the stuff between Thrasher and his old enemy (apparently). The rest, with the NW discussing whether they are terrorists was kind of stupid to me. I did not think Cap was on the wrong side of the Civil War. I don't remember when I chose Cap's side, but once I did, I saw very little good about Iron Man. Plus, they are acting a lot like how Spider-Man used to act back in the day (which is also the Brand New Day, but you'll see that later). I love classic Spidey comics, so I find their discussing of their own actions fairly pointless. They are doing the right thing, even if they are vigilantes. Like Thomas Jane says as Frank Castle in the Punisher movie, "In certain, extreme situations, the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law. To pursue - natural justice." Now, in a world with superheroes, there is a lot more reason to work outside the law. With this in mind, the New Warriors and vigilante superheroes make sense. All in all, an amusing comic. I enjoyed some parts, but, again, meh.
Amazing Spider-Man 547
Basic Plot: Spidey goes after the Spider-Man mask wearing guy who mugged him, when he gets caught up in a plot by the mysterious Mr. Negative.
Okay, first off, this entire idea is bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit. I am completely and utterly ashamed of Marvel. They decided to make their own Crisis event, but have the only person affected be Spider-Man (See how Zero Hour affected Batman). What Marvel did was think that Spider-Man was getting too complicated (or something stupid) and totally retcon to the point of stupidity. See, retconning can be good and can be bad. Sometimes, I like retcons. Sometimes, I don't. Most of the time, I can deal with it, but sometimes, it is just stupid. First off, as opposed to answering questions and making things simple and understandable, now they are not only more complicated than ever, but they are stupid too. What has changed since the retcon? Well, Aunt May is alive and well and working at a homeless shelter. Peter and MJ never got married and nobody knows who Spider-Man is aside from Peter Parker. Oh, and Harry Osborn is alive again. Craziness. And, somehow this also all fits into the regular MU. Apparently, people remember Peter unmasked during Civil War, but they don't remember who it was. Or something. It's stupid. See, Spider-Man is supposed to be one of my favorite heroes and they go and turn him into a pile of crap. One More Day started off really well. Issues 1-3 were amazing and great. Issue 4? I almost threw up. I was so disturbed by it. The rant you are getting here? To be continued tomorrow, along with my actual plot summary and review of 547. Sorry.
IncredibleHulk Herc 113
Basic Plot: Hercules and Amadeus are on the run. Lots of flashbacks to Greek Mythology. Ares is pissed at Herc. Amadeus keeps being smart.
I loved Hulk. World War Hulk was awesomeness. The Incredible Herc is a great series in the aftermath (aftersmash?) of WWH. I love Greek Mythology and think it is awesome. I grew up learning about it, and while I may have forgot some of it, and haven;t dealt with it much at this point in life, I have been reminded of it often by Herc in WWH and its prequels and sequels. A lot references Herc (known as Heracles in Greek, but Hercules in Roman, I remember some stuff) and his past trials and tribulations. It was an awesome story too. I do like the fight between Wonder Man and Herc, mainly with Ares butting in and saying Herc is threatening Wonder Man's life (both Herc and Wonder Man say that Herc isn't) before firing bullets with Hydra blood in them (not the organization, the actual creature), which is lethal to Olympians. Apparently, it cannot kill, but is still incredibly painful. So, Herc is now hallucinating and thinks Amadeus is Iolaus, his nephew who helped him defeat the Hydra. Craziness is ensuing and I love it!
Warbound 2
Basic Plot: The remaining Warbound have to deal with all the hidden surprises in Gammaworld.
I like the Warbound, but am not thrilled with the art. Anyway, the series is somewhat interesting. Kind of confusing. But I do like how the military is letting the Warbound help them in defeating giant bugs. What the Leader is up to, I don't yet know, but it can't be good. All I know is that while I do like the Warbound as characters, I don't quite like the story as much as I like them.
Wolverine Origins 21
Basic Plot: Deadpool goes after Wolverine.
It must be my birthday because I got two issues with Deadpool this week! Oh, wait. It was my birthday this week! Anyway, I was excited until I remembered that I used to read Wolverine Origins and stopped for a reason. I sincerely hate Steve Dillon's artwork. It's flat, boring, stiff and devoid of motion. Everything is just horribly rendered. Ugh... I don't know how anybody can like his art. Now, the cover is done by Simone Bianchi who is amazing (did the art for the DC Legends box), but the interior art? God, it almost makes me want to throw up. I read Wolverine Origins because it was semi-interesting in the aftermath of House of M (Decimation), but once they finished the arc with Cyber and Daken (Wolverine's son), I stopped reading it because of Steve Dillon. I would not get this were it not for Deadpool. I love Deadpool a lot and it was painful. It was seriously painful. Daniel Way does not know who Deadpool is, does he? So, is all Way knows is that Wade is crazy? Because while Wade is crazy, he isn't the kind of guy (especially at this point in time) that has all these hallucinations and is stupid. Act stupid? Sure! Be stupid? No. His text boxes are almost yellowish, but not quite. It is more like they are slightly spilled upon with lemonade. So Deadpool was hired to take out Wolverine? Sure, but why did Daniel Way have to make him act like a retarded monkey as opposed to a merc who has the traits of a retarded monkey. And with Dillon's art, I just was not happy, even though it was Deadpool.
Cable Ka-zar and Zabu and Deadpool 49
Basic Plot: Deadpool and Agent X argue about pay, when Irene Merryweather shows up about helping Rumekistan by going to the Savage Land and gettting a machine from there.
If you didn't understand that basic plot, don't worry. Deadpool is of course the Merc with a mouth that I love a lot. Agent X is a guy who shares a lot of his attributes due to a complicated procedure with brain splitting and the likes. Basically, he is like Deadpool except currently he is incredibly fat because of a previous arc. He owns Agency X which hired Deadpool as its primary merc/go-to guy after he got chubby. Irene Merryweather was involved with Cable in complicated ways. Cable helped bring peace to a small fictional country called Rumekistan that he has helped before he recently died (although I don't know if he is currently alive or dead, at the very least, he'll be back). The Savage Land is in the Antarctic and is a wild jungle that is kept by alien technology and holds dinosaurs and is ruled over by Ka-Zar and his wife, Shanna, and his pet tiger, Zabu. Anyway, I loved this issue, especially since I am milking it for everything I can and the series for as much as possible as with Cable getting a new series, Deadpool's current series with Cable (although the most recent issues have been team-up issues) is getting canceled. Sigh... Well, this issue did not disappoint. I want all of you reading this to get this issue. It is awesome and funny. When Brainchild (an evil mutate designed by Magneto in a plan to rule the Savage Land) is trying to predict where the heroes are going (I guess Weasel, Bob and Deadpool can be counted as heroes), he easily predicts Ka-Zar, Zabu, Weasel and Bob's movements, but gets lost and confused when he can't predict Deadpool's. "How could he possibly outsmart me? Is he some kind of tactical genius?" Of course, the next panel shows that Deadpool is in the sewer pipes, because he wants to use Mario's strategy that always worked for him. Anyway, the next issue seems to be something with symbiotes on dinosaurs in Manhattan, maybe with the Mighty Avengers and FF being involved. Going out with a KA-BOOM!
New Warriors 8
Basic Plot: Night Thrasher comes face to face with Midnight's Fire (who came up with that name?) to talk to him. The Warriors discuss terrorism and whether they are terrorists.
Well, New Warriors is an interesting comic. Sometimes, it is good. Sometimes, it is meh. Today was more meh than good. Maybe if I knew all the people from old NW stuff (Midnight's Fire and more info about Night Thrasher (original), his brother (current) and Silhouette), I would understand more of the stuff between Thrasher and his old enemy (apparently). The rest, with the NW discussing whether they are terrorists was kind of stupid to me. I did not think Cap was on the wrong side of the Civil War. I don't remember when I chose Cap's side, but once I did, I saw very little good about Iron Man. Plus, they are acting a lot like how Spider-Man used to act back in the day (which is also the Brand New Day, but you'll see that later). I love classic Spidey comics, so I find their discussing of their own actions fairly pointless. They are doing the right thing, even if they are vigilantes. Like Thomas Jane says as Frank Castle in the Punisher movie, "In certain, extreme situations, the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law. To pursue - natural justice." Now, in a world with superheroes, there is a lot more reason to work outside the law. With this in mind, the New Warriors and vigilante superheroes make sense. All in all, an amusing comic. I enjoyed some parts, but, again, meh.
Amazing Spider-Man 547
Basic Plot: Spidey goes after the Spider-Man mask wearing guy who mugged him, when he gets caught up in a plot by the mysterious Mr. Negative.
Okay, first off, this entire idea is bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit. I am completely and utterly ashamed of Marvel. They decided to make their own Crisis event, but have the only person affected be Spider-Man (See how Zero Hour affected Batman). What Marvel did was think that Spider-Man was getting too complicated (or something stupid) and totally retcon to the point of stupidity. See, retconning can be good and can be bad. Sometimes, I like retcons. Sometimes, I don't. Most of the time, I can deal with it, but sometimes, it is just stupid. First off, as opposed to answering questions and making things simple and understandable, now they are not only more complicated than ever, but they are stupid too. What has changed since the retcon? Well, Aunt May is alive and well and working at a homeless shelter. Peter and MJ never got married and nobody knows who Spider-Man is aside from Peter Parker. Oh, and Harry Osborn is alive again. Craziness. And, somehow this also all fits into the regular MU. Apparently, people remember Peter unmasked during Civil War, but they don't remember who it was. Or something. It's stupid. See, Spider-Man is supposed to be one of my favorite heroes and they go and turn him into a pile of crap. One More Day started off really well. Issues 1-3 were amazing and great. Issue 4? I almost threw up. I was so disturbed by it. The rant you are getting here? To be continued tomorrow, along with my actual plot summary and review of 547. Sorry.
Incredible
Basic Plot: Hercules and Amadeus are on the run. Lots of flashbacks to Greek Mythology. Ares is pissed at Herc. Amadeus keeps being smart.
I loved Hulk. World War Hulk was awesomeness. The Incredible Herc is a great series in the aftermath (aftersmash?) of WWH. I love Greek Mythology and think it is awesome. I grew up learning about it, and while I may have forgot some of it, and haven;t dealt with it much at this point in life, I have been reminded of it often by Herc in WWH and its prequels and sequels. A lot references Herc (known as Heracles in Greek, but Hercules in Roman, I remember some stuff) and his past trials and tribulations. It was an awesome story too. I do like the fight between Wonder Man and Herc, mainly with Ares butting in and saying Herc is threatening Wonder Man's life (both Herc and Wonder Man say that Herc isn't) before firing bullets with Hydra blood in them (not the organization, the actual creature), which is lethal to Olympians. Apparently, it cannot kill, but is still incredibly painful. So, Herc is now hallucinating and thinks Amadeus is Iolaus, his nephew who helped him defeat the Hydra. Craziness is ensuing and I love it!
Warbound 2
Basic Plot: The remaining Warbound have to deal with all the hidden surprises in Gammaworld.
I like the Warbound, but am not thrilled with the art. Anyway, the series is somewhat interesting. Kind of confusing. But I do like how the military is letting the Warbound help them in defeating giant bugs. What the Leader is up to, I don't yet know, but it can't be good. All I know is that while I do like the Warbound as characters, I don't quite like the story as much as I like them.
Wolverine Origins 21
Basic Plot: Deadpool goes after Wolverine.
It must be my birthday because I got two issues with Deadpool this week! Oh, wait. It was my birthday this week! Anyway, I was excited until I remembered that I used to read Wolverine Origins and stopped for a reason. I sincerely hate Steve Dillon's artwork. It's flat, boring, stiff and devoid of motion. Everything is just horribly rendered. Ugh... I don't know how anybody can like his art. Now, the cover is done by Simone Bianchi who is amazing (did the art for the DC Legends box), but the interior art? God, it almost makes me want to throw up. I read Wolverine Origins because it was semi-interesting in the aftermath of House of M (Decimation), but once they finished the arc with Cyber and Daken (Wolverine's son), I stopped reading it because of Steve Dillon. I would not get this were it not for Deadpool. I love Deadpool a lot and it was painful. It was seriously painful. Daniel Way does not know who Deadpool is, does he? So, is all Way knows is that Wade is crazy? Because while Wade is crazy, he isn't the kind of guy (especially at this point in time) that has all these hallucinations and is stupid. Act stupid? Sure! Be stupid? No. His text boxes are almost yellowish, but not quite. It is more like they are slightly spilled upon with lemonade. So Deadpool was hired to take out Wolverine? Sure, but why did Daniel Way have to make him act like a retarded monkey as opposed to a merc who has the traits of a retarded monkey. And with Dillon's art, I just was not happy, even though it was Deadpool.
Basic Plot: Deadpool and Agent X argue about pay, when Irene Merryweather shows up about helping Rumekistan by going to the Savage Land and gettting a machine from there.
If you didn't understand that basic plot, don't worry. Deadpool is of course the Merc with a mouth that I love a lot. Agent X is a guy who shares a lot of his attributes due to a complicated procedure with brain splitting and the likes. Basically, he is like Deadpool except currently he is incredibly fat because of a previous arc. He owns Agency X which hired Deadpool as its primary merc/go-to guy after he got chubby. Irene Merryweather was involved with Cable in complicated ways. Cable helped bring peace to a small fictional country called Rumekistan that he has helped before he recently died (although I don't know if he is currently alive or dead, at the very least, he'll be back). The Savage Land is in the Antarctic and is a wild jungle that is kept by alien technology and holds dinosaurs and is ruled over by Ka-Zar and his wife, Shanna, and his pet tiger, Zabu. Anyway, I loved this issue, especially since I am milking it for everything I can and the series for as much as possible as with Cable getting a new series, Deadpool's current series with Cable (although the most recent issues have been team-up issues) is getting canceled. Sigh... Well, this issue did not disappoint. I want all of you reading this to get this issue. It is awesome and funny. When Brainchild (an evil mutate designed by Magneto in a plan to rule the Savage Land) is trying to predict where the heroes are going (I guess Weasel, Bob and Deadpool can be counted as heroes), he easily predicts Ka-Zar, Zabu, Weasel and Bob's movements, but gets lost and confused when he can't predict Deadpool's. "How could he possibly outsmart me? Is he some kind of tactical genius?" Of course, the next panel shows that Deadpool is in the sewer pipes, because he wants to use Mario's strategy that always worked for him. Anyway, the next issue seems to be something with symbiotes on dinosaurs in Manhattan, maybe with the Mighty Avengers and FF being involved. Going out with a KA-BOOM!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Not doing great
Well, my headache is pretty much gone, but my throat is still sore and I still am tired. Oh well. I do look forward to tomorrow, when the next issue of Cable and Deadpool comes out. Getting my computer back to the way it was is always a challenge for me, as I have to set up Firefox, Thunderbird and everything else the right way again, so that I can go back to doing things semi-normally. Sigh...
Well, sorry I am not being helpful on anything, but I am much too tired and feel too poorly to do a lot. See you tomorrow with reviews!
Well, sorry I am not being helpful on anything, but I am much too tired and feel too poorly to do a lot. See you tomorrow with reviews!
Monday, January 14, 2008
I'm back!
Well, my computer is up and running again, so I can use the internet again. This will be a short post, and I am sick, but I will continue to try and update regularly.
Over the interval where I was at home (and not posting), I did get a bunch of DC Legends cards and I have mixed feelings about the set. I feel they tried to do too much and nothing was as good as it could have been. With no more than 2 characters per legend and approx 1-3 support cards, they just didn't feel the same as someone like Jean Grey or Punisher. However, I have decided to build a Beast Boy deck. Rare Doom Patrol cards would be lovely (as I only have a couple), and I will give you something in return. Just comment with what and what you want and a place I can contact you and I'll try to get back to you.
I also finally got back to school, where I had four packages waiting for me, two of which were from UDE. Now I finally own a single Bishop and a single Apocalypse. WOOT! I also got something from Australia for building a United Front deck (Nova, Drax, etc). In it, I have received EA Deadshot, Blinding Rage and No Man, along with a foil Chill Out! (for my X-Men energy deck). Also, I got a birthday present from a friend, being a Marvel Zombies poster based off of X-Men 1 ( the one with Magneto on the right and all the different X-Men attacking him). I do have the issue and love Marvel Zombies, so it was awesome. Oh, yeah. My birthday was Sunday. Now I can do a lot more, being as I am finally 18. Thank goodness. I was getting really annoyed with things requiring me to be 18 or people mistaking me for 18, when being a year younger would benefit me (MUNI is San Francisco charges 50 cents for 5-17 year olds and $1.50 for adults). I also can vote and that will be fun.
Well, see you tomorrow.
Over the interval where I was at home (and not posting), I did get a bunch of DC Legends cards and I have mixed feelings about the set. I feel they tried to do too much and nothing was as good as it could have been. With no more than 2 characters per legend and approx 1-3 support cards, they just didn't feel the same as someone like Jean Grey or Punisher. However, I have decided to build a Beast Boy deck. Rare Doom Patrol cards would be lovely (as I only have a couple), and I will give you something in return. Just comment with what and what you want and a place I can contact you and I'll try to get back to you.
I also finally got back to school, where I had four packages waiting for me, two of which were from UDE. Now I finally own a single Bishop and a single Apocalypse. WOOT! I also got something from Australia for building a United Front deck (Nova, Drax, etc). In it, I have received EA Deadshot, Blinding Rage and No Man, along with a foil Chill Out! (for my X-Men energy deck). Also, I got a birthday present from a friend, being a Marvel Zombies poster based off of X-Men 1 ( the one with Magneto on the right and all the different X-Men attacking him). I do have the issue and love Marvel Zombies, so it was awesome. Oh, yeah. My birthday was Sunday. Now I can do a lot more, being as I am finally 18. Thank goodness. I was getting really annoyed with things requiring me to be 18 or people mistaking me for 18, when being a year younger would benefit me (MUNI is San Francisco charges 50 cents for 5-17 year olds and $1.50 for adults). I also can vote and that will be fun.
Well, see you tomorrow.
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