Okay, so I am in San Diego, at Comic-Con. I decided to check out the new Wolverine vs Hulk animated movie. You know what was in it?
Deadpool.
I am not joking. Deadpool was in it.
For about 5 minutes after they revealed Deadpool was in it, I was in shock. It quickly faded though, when Deadpool spoke (which he did a lot [which is how it should be {why am I going in more?}]) and he was hilarious and he was Deadpool. The movie had no flaws to me. Honestly. None. The one thing I think people could say is that it is too short (45 minutes), but it isn't supposed to be a deep story with lots of thinking. It is Wolverine attacking the Hulk, as both are attacked by Weapon X, with a team of Sabretooth (no surprise), Omega Red (okay, interesting), Lady Deathstrike (cool, cool), and then it pans over to Deadpool (OMG!!!). When it first panned to him, people were just awed and really impressed. If it was only a movie with fighting, I might be sad, but Deadpool's moments of comic relief made you forget, then remember, meaning it isn't non-stop violence. Still, it is about 3/4+ violence, which I can live with. Oh, and you know what Marvel is working on? Hulk v Thor (cool) and Planet Hulk (yeah, ye...wait, Planet Hulk?). Yes, they are making a Planet Hulk animated movie. If they follow in the path of Hulk vs Wolverine, we are in for some good times.
Deadpool was awesome!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
TDK
Okay, so I saw The Dark Knight, and I feel I have to talk about it. This has spoilers, I think, but either way, read it if you have seen the movie, as I feel it doesn't work as well otherwise.
You people know I don't like DC, right? So I was planning on seeing this much later, and not on opening day. How it turned out, however, was that one of my friends called and asked if I wanted to see it. Man, apparently the Imax version at the theater I go to is sold out until Monday. And this was yesterday, just before noon. I digress...
The movie! Okay, so Heath Ledger was brilliant. The Joker, in this movie, was a deranged, psychopathic serial killer in clown makeup. Which is the Joker. Sure, he didn't have his joke gadgets, or his Joker gas (which I think would have been really creepy, considering how creepy it is on people in the comics. And, you know what, this is trying to be more realistic about Batman and everybody, so sure, I can see some deranged pyscho not having high-tech gadgets, relying upon other things to go around killing people and causing chaos and anarchy. And Ledger nails the Joker. The Joker that I love is crazy, no doubt about it, but not bouncing off the walls all the time, just a guy who goes around killing people, usually people he wants to kill, who you can tell is crazy, but is relatively calm and in control. It's not some trigger-happy crazy that just goes around shooting, it's a calm, collected, serial killer, who also happens to be completely out of his mind. And he looks really good in this, I feel.
Aaron Eckhart was a really good Harvey Dent. Now, I don't know much about Dent in the comics, but I know enough to get by. The movie does a pretty good job of capturing Harvey Dent, although it is fire and not acid that scars him. It really captures the differences between someone like Batman, in the shadows and taking out criminals while hiding, and someone like Dent, who goes after criminals in broad daylight. Often, throughout the movie, Dent is referred to as "The White Knight", which is fairly obviously a lead-up to calling Batman "The Dark Knight", but it really fits. Dent is a more public figure and the kind of guy that Gotham really needed to lead them. It was done really well.
Batman in live-action doesn't work. At least, not the Batman I love. Sure, the late Golden Age/early Silver Age silly Batman, who was more campy, that was captured well in the Batman series with Adam West. However, once "The Dark Knight Returns" came out and Miller took Batman back to his roots of being a dark, brooding vigilante, nothing can make him work. Let's start with his costume. In the comics, he wears an outfit that is fairly bulletproof, but is also made of a fabric, so it acts more like he is wearing a second skin. Sure, not realistic, but nobody really cares in the comics. In the movies, he has to be wearing light body armor, because otherwise, people aren't going to believe that his outfit is bulletproof (to an extent). So he wears an outfit that doesn't feel right. Plus, the rubber mask doesn't look right either. I prefer the all cloth stuff, like is in the comics. Alex Ross draws Batman well, although, as I stated, it wouldn't work for people, I don't think. Second, his gadgets. Okay, so yeah, in the comics, he has all this crazy stuff, and it works somewhat in the comics. In the movie, they have this sonar cellphone thing that collects sound and turns it into a 3-d representation of the room. It just felt silly in real-life. In the comics, I might believe it more, but in the movie, it didn't feel real. Plus, I like that Batman came up with all his stuff (for the most part), as opposed to Lucius Fox in the movies. Still, I guess I understand that they would require some tech-guy to make all that stuff, I feel it is still just wrong. Oh, and I hate that Batmobile that looks like an oversized Hummer. So stupid... Also, something that bugged me is that as Batman, Bruce has to lower his voice, and speak like he always has a sore throat. Sure, I understand why, because otherwise people would recognize his voice, but still, it sounds stupid. I just don't feel that the dark, brooding Batman works in live-action. I just don't.
The movie was good, with some corny stuff, and most of the surprises being not all that surprising, but still I enjoyed it.
You people know I don't like DC, right? So I was planning on seeing this much later, and not on opening day. How it turned out, however, was that one of my friends called and asked if I wanted to see it. Man, apparently the Imax version at the theater I go to is sold out until Monday. And this was yesterday, just before noon. I digress...
The movie! Okay, so Heath Ledger was brilliant. The Joker, in this movie, was a deranged, psychopathic serial killer in clown makeup. Which is the Joker. Sure, he didn't have his joke gadgets, or his Joker gas (which I think would have been really creepy, considering how creepy it is on people in the comics. And, you know what, this is trying to be more realistic about Batman and everybody, so sure, I can see some deranged pyscho not having high-tech gadgets, relying upon other things to go around killing people and causing chaos and anarchy. And Ledger nails the Joker. The Joker that I love is crazy, no doubt about it, but not bouncing off the walls all the time, just a guy who goes around killing people, usually people he wants to kill, who you can tell is crazy, but is relatively calm and in control. It's not some trigger-happy crazy that just goes around shooting, it's a calm, collected, serial killer, who also happens to be completely out of his mind. And he looks really good in this, I feel.
Aaron Eckhart was a really good Harvey Dent. Now, I don't know much about Dent in the comics, but I know enough to get by. The movie does a pretty good job of capturing Harvey Dent, although it is fire and not acid that scars him. It really captures the differences between someone like Batman, in the shadows and taking out criminals while hiding, and someone like Dent, who goes after criminals in broad daylight. Often, throughout the movie, Dent is referred to as "The White Knight", which is fairly obviously a lead-up to calling Batman "The Dark Knight", but it really fits. Dent is a more public figure and the kind of guy that Gotham really needed to lead them. It was done really well.
Batman in live-action doesn't work. At least, not the Batman I love. Sure, the late Golden Age/early Silver Age silly Batman, who was more campy, that was captured well in the Batman series with Adam West. However, once "The Dark Knight Returns" came out and Miller took Batman back to his roots of being a dark, brooding vigilante, nothing can make him work. Let's start with his costume. In the comics, he wears an outfit that is fairly bulletproof, but is also made of a fabric, so it acts more like he is wearing a second skin. Sure, not realistic, but nobody really cares in the comics. In the movies, he has to be wearing light body armor, because otherwise, people aren't going to believe that his outfit is bulletproof (to an extent). So he wears an outfit that doesn't feel right. Plus, the rubber mask doesn't look right either. I prefer the all cloth stuff, like is in the comics. Alex Ross draws Batman well, although, as I stated, it wouldn't work for people, I don't think. Second, his gadgets. Okay, so yeah, in the comics, he has all this crazy stuff, and it works somewhat in the comics. In the movie, they have this sonar cellphone thing that collects sound and turns it into a 3-d representation of the room. It just felt silly in real-life. In the comics, I might believe it more, but in the movie, it didn't feel real. Plus, I like that Batman came up with all his stuff (for the most part), as opposed to Lucius Fox in the movies. Still, I guess I understand that they would require some tech-guy to make all that stuff, I feel it is still just wrong. Oh, and I hate that Batmobile that looks like an oversized Hummer. So stupid... Also, something that bugged me is that as Batman, Bruce has to lower his voice, and speak like he always has a sore throat. Sure, I understand why, because otherwise people would recognize his voice, but still, it sounds stupid. I just don't feel that the dark, brooding Batman works in live-action. I just don't.
The movie was good, with some corny stuff, and most of the surprises being not all that surprising, but still I enjoyed it.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
DCU Preview
Well, here you go:
Okay, this is me we are talking about, so we have to give backstory:
A long time ago, DC Comics had a multiverse, where there were an infinite amount of Earths. One of those Earths was called Earth Prime. On Earth Prime, many things were similar to how they are here. There aren't any superpowered individuals and DC exists, and people sometimes had to go to DC in order to get back to their universe. Well, there were two superpeople. One of them was Superboy. Sent to Earth, the Kents decided to name the baby Clark Kent, initially refused because it was of course Superman's name, the father eventually gave in. Well, surprise, surprise, it was actually Kal-El. Dressed like Superboy at a party, he gained his Kryptonian powers, helped Superman, then went on with his life.
Eventually, the Crisis happened, and Earth Prime was one of the Earths destroyed. Superboy survived though and wound up with the Earth-1 superheroes (and others) fighting against the Anti-Monitor. In the end, it came down to Superman (Earth 2) and Superboy (Earth Prime), along with Alexander Luthor, against the Anti-Monitor. Together, they were able to defeat the Anti-Monitor, but couldn't return to Earth. Alex was able to rescue Earth 2 Lois and the four of them went off to their paradise dimension.
Eventually, though, they noticed that the Earth's superheroes were growing much darker, and doing worse things. Not being able to stand this, they decided to fix everything. After some smashing of reality (resulting in some retcons including Jason Todd's return), Alex and Superboy worked together, somewhat against Superman and Lois, and they brought about a new Multiverse, while searching for the prefect Earth. Superboy Prime battled Superboy (Connor) and when the Titans showed up to help Connor, he semi-accidentally killed some of the Titans, never having really learned to hold back. Then the Flashes, minus Jay, who was no longer fast enough, trapped Prime in the Speed Force.
4 years later for him, Bart returned, warning that he had escaped, and Superboy Prime returned to help Luthor, eventually planning to fly through Oa to cause another Big Bang. Instead, tons of superheroes and Green Lanterns join forces to stop him, and with Earth 1 and Earth 2 Supermen flying him through Rao, Krypton's red sun, they take off his yellow sun armor, which had been empowering him, and are able to defeat him. He then is locked in a willpower cell guarded by a young, red Sun-Eater and 50 Green Lanterns.
During the Sinestro Corps War, he is freed during an attack on Oa, and he joins the Anti-Monitor as Superman Prime, becoming one of the Anti-Monitor's heralds.
The Anti-Matter team, in this set, has a theme of removing cards from the game, so Superman Prime fits the bill. He gets rid of one of your guys to grow to almost 6-drop proportions. Just in terms of what we already have in the game, you could always throw some guys at your opponent. If you have two stunned guys, remove one of them and smack them in the face. While average by himself, he is still good, and with stats of 9/9 and flight and range, he isn't necessarily the best without his power, but with it, he is amazingly powerful, growing in size and smacking down those ornery big-bottomed 5-drops or those weak 6-drops. The cost seems high, but we shall see if it is worth it through other cards in the set.
Okay, this is me we are talking about, so we have to give backstory:
A long time ago, DC Comics had a multiverse, where there were an infinite amount of Earths. One of those Earths was called Earth Prime. On Earth Prime, many things were similar to how they are here. There aren't any superpowered individuals and DC exists, and people sometimes had to go to DC in order to get back to their universe. Well, there were two superpeople. One of them was Superboy. Sent to Earth, the Kents decided to name the baby Clark Kent, initially refused because it was of course Superman's name, the father eventually gave in. Well, surprise, surprise, it was actually Kal-El. Dressed like Superboy at a party, he gained his Kryptonian powers, helped Superman, then went on with his life.
Eventually, the Crisis happened, and Earth Prime was one of the Earths destroyed. Superboy survived though and wound up with the Earth-1 superheroes (and others) fighting against the Anti-Monitor. In the end, it came down to Superman (Earth 2) and Superboy (Earth Prime), along with Alexander Luthor, against the Anti-Monitor. Together, they were able to defeat the Anti-Monitor, but couldn't return to Earth. Alex was able to rescue Earth 2 Lois and the four of them went off to their paradise dimension.
Eventually, though, they noticed that the Earth's superheroes were growing much darker, and doing worse things. Not being able to stand this, they decided to fix everything. After some smashing of reality (resulting in some retcons including Jason Todd's return), Alex and Superboy worked together, somewhat against Superman and Lois, and they brought about a new Multiverse, while searching for the prefect Earth. Superboy Prime battled Superboy (Connor) and when the Titans showed up to help Connor, he semi-accidentally killed some of the Titans, never having really learned to hold back. Then the Flashes, minus Jay, who was no longer fast enough, trapped Prime in the Speed Force.
4 years later for him, Bart returned, warning that he had escaped, and Superboy Prime returned to help Luthor, eventually planning to fly through Oa to cause another Big Bang. Instead, tons of superheroes and Green Lanterns join forces to stop him, and with Earth 1 and Earth 2 Supermen flying him through Rao, Krypton's red sun, they take off his yellow sun armor, which had been empowering him, and are able to defeat him. He then is locked in a willpower cell guarded by a young, red Sun-Eater and 50 Green Lanterns.
During the Sinestro Corps War, he is freed during an attack on Oa, and he joins the Anti-Monitor as Superman Prime, becoming one of the Anti-Monitor's heralds.
The Anti-Matter team, in this set, has a theme of removing cards from the game, so Superman Prime fits the bill. He gets rid of one of your guys to grow to almost 6-drop proportions. Just in terms of what we already have in the game, you could always throw some guys at your opponent. If you have two stunned guys, remove one of them and smack them in the face. While average by himself, he is still good, and with stats of 9/9 and flight and range, he isn't necessarily the best without his power, but with it, he is amazingly powerful, growing in size and smacking down those ornery big-bottomed 5-drops or those weak 6-drops. The cost seems high, but we shall see if it is worth it through other cards in the set.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Life
Oh, life. Why are you such a pain in the ass? I'm taking a hiatus until I get my life back on track a little better. Reviews might happen, but probably very little else.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Uggghhh
Awkward day yesterday. I won't go into details. Sorry I didn't do reviews, but I didn't get my comics for a reason I wish not to go into. Hopefully, I'll get them today, and have them up by tonight or at worst, Independence Day.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Comics for 7/2
Let's get right to it:
Punisher War Journal 21
Basic Plot: Catfight.
Yeah, pretty much that. Um, okay? I thought it was weird, and didn't really like it. Especially since I have not liked this arc in general, and think that Chaykin doesn't have good art. When I can't tell the difference between Punisher and the guy in a Punisher outfit (can't remember his name), I consider that bad. Sure, maybe he is supposed to look similar, but they really don't have the same face, at least they didn't in the issue of Punisher War Journal where Tony visits GW, Winter Soldier visits Frank and Jigsaw and Lady Jigsaw take in the kid and talk with him. Chaykin just makes everybody look similar, as you can't tell things in the art. Poses look awkward, and aside from that, it's scratchy and misshapen. Should I stop? Bottom line, unless they get a new artist and writer, I won't read after the arc is over. Man, I just keep quitting comics left and right, it seems.
Ultimate Origins 2
Don't know, didn't get it.
Squadron Supreme 2 #1
Basic Plot: Set 5 years after Supreme Power, stuff happens.
Um, really bizarre. Like, really bizarre. I don't really get it. I was hoping they would at least explain the Hyperion/Nighthawk/Blur v Redstone battle, but...no. All they say is in the beginning, with "Months after forming, the team fought a superhuman serial killer named Michael Redstone. The results of that battle are spoken in hushed whispers, if they are spoken at all..." Um, okay? This isn't the book I liked. This is different, and while not bad, not good. I think I know the problem, though. Howard Chaykin is the writer. I didn't know he wrote. The story is weird. All I can really say. I'll try and see where they take it, but without the main people, this isn't Squadron Supreme, it's just some weird story.
Blue Beetle 28
Basic Plot: A beast from Blue Beetle's past comes to El Paso.
Oh, and by Blue Beetle, I mean the original Blue Beetle. Not Ted, but Dan Garrett. The story is fun more than anything. It is a stand-alone, not meant to have much impact, I believe. He fights this giant dog-beast, who you can tell is just acting like a dog would. Chewed all the tires at a tire store, took and ate a lot of tripe, destroyed lots of flowers, etc. Kind of crazy. Anyway, a fun story, where nothing happens. I still enjoyed it, but it didn't really do anything. I guess, the best you can do is say that people punish themselves often a whole lot more than other people can.
Amazing Spider-Man 564
Basic Plot: Spidey goes after Overdrive, and it is told from three perspectives.
Um, Rashomon/Vantage Point in comic form? Kind of interesting, but all in all, I just want classic Spidey. If they are ruining Spidey's backstory and going back to a more classic feel, I want more classic villains. Not these weird new ones. It just gets on my nerves. The story is meh, with some humorous stuff by Slott in his part, where Overdrive tells his side, but all in all, meh.
Astonishing X-Men 25
Basic Plot: The X-Men set up shop in SF.
I like the San Francisco background. Having been raised in SF, I do enjoy it a lot, seeing it here. The story itself hasn't gone anywhere, and like FF with Millar, or some other stories, I really don't mind. It's taking its time and hopefully will do something good when it gets there. I do like Hisako, and she is done well here. I do miss Colossus and Kitty (though I understand why Kitty is gone), and think Storm is weird to be there. Not that I dislike Storm, but think it is weird that the Queen of Wakanda is spending her time running about with the X-Men like old times (even though, like Cyclops said, this isn't like old times (they go to the cops, who called them over, in civilian clothes, to make them more comfortable).
Avengers/Invaders 3
Secret Invasion: Front Line 1
Punisher War Journal 21
Basic Plot: Catfight.
Yeah, pretty much that. Um, okay? I thought it was weird, and didn't really like it. Especially since I have not liked this arc in general, and think that Chaykin doesn't have good art. When I can't tell the difference between Punisher and the guy in a Punisher outfit (can't remember his name), I consider that bad. Sure, maybe he is supposed to look similar, but they really don't have the same face, at least they didn't in the issue of Punisher War Journal where Tony visits GW, Winter Soldier visits Frank and Jigsaw and Lady Jigsaw take in the kid and talk with him. Chaykin just makes everybody look similar, as you can't tell things in the art. Poses look awkward, and aside from that, it's scratchy and misshapen. Should I stop? Bottom line, unless they get a new artist and writer, I won't read after the arc is over. Man, I just keep quitting comics left and right, it seems.
Ultimate Origins 2
Don't know, didn't get it.
Squadron Supreme 2 #1
Basic Plot: Set 5 years after Supreme Power, stuff happens.
Um, really bizarre. Like, really bizarre. I don't really get it. I was hoping they would at least explain the Hyperion/Nighthawk/Blur v Redstone battle, but...no. All they say is in the beginning, with "Months after forming, the team fought a superhuman serial killer named Michael Redstone. The results of that battle are spoken in hushed whispers, if they are spoken at all..." Um, okay? This isn't the book I liked. This is different, and while not bad, not good. I think I know the problem, though. Howard Chaykin is the writer. I didn't know he wrote. The story is weird. All I can really say. I'll try and see where they take it, but without the main people, this isn't Squadron Supreme, it's just some weird story.
Blue Beetle 28
Basic Plot: A beast from Blue Beetle's past comes to El Paso.
Oh, and by Blue Beetle, I mean the original Blue Beetle. Not Ted, but Dan Garrett. The story is fun more than anything. It is a stand-alone, not meant to have much impact, I believe. He fights this giant dog-beast, who you can tell is just acting like a dog would. Chewed all the tires at a tire store, took and ate a lot of tripe, destroyed lots of flowers, etc. Kind of crazy. Anyway, a fun story, where nothing happens. I still enjoyed it, but it didn't really do anything. I guess, the best you can do is say that people punish themselves often a whole lot more than other people can.
Amazing Spider-Man 564
Basic Plot: Spidey goes after Overdrive, and it is told from three perspectives.
Um, Rashomon/Vantage Point in comic form? Kind of interesting, but all in all, I just want classic Spidey. If they are ruining Spidey's backstory and going back to a more classic feel, I want more classic villains. Not these weird new ones. It just gets on my nerves. The story is meh, with some humorous stuff by Slott in his part, where Overdrive tells his side, but all in all, meh.
Astonishing X-Men 25
Basic Plot: The X-Men set up shop in SF.
I like the San Francisco background. Having been raised in SF, I do enjoy it a lot, seeing it here. The story itself hasn't gone anywhere, and like FF with Millar, or some other stories, I really don't mind. It's taking its time and hopefully will do something good when it gets there. I do like Hisako, and she is done well here. I do miss Colossus and Kitty (though I understand why Kitty is gone), and think Storm is weird to be there. Not that I dislike Storm, but think it is weird that the Queen of Wakanda is spending her time running about with the X-Men like old times (even though, like Cyclops said, this isn't like old times (they go to the cops, who called them over, in civilian clothes, to make them more comfortable).
Avengers/Invaders 3
Secret Invasion: Front Line 1
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Thunderbolts
Okay, so you know I have a Negative Zone deck, and that works well, but I also have a Thunderbolts deck, one that could use improvement, but whatever. It works on a theme I have loved for a long time: +1/+1 counters. Through stuff like Erik Josten with a Force Field Belt, I have realized the power of +1/+1 counters. I once built a deck designed to make Captain Boomerang humongous before burning my opponent for 2 per +1/+1 counter. Sure, Bevatron did that also, but a turn later, and I could use some of the better +1/+1 stuff that Secret Society had. I digress.
Through playing some sealed, I realized how powerful Beetle was. He starts out as a weak 2-drop, a 3/1 with Flight and Range isn't that good. Still, on turn 3, he becomes a 4/2, again, not great, and in fact still weak. On turn 4 though, he becomes a 5/3 and can't be stunned while attacking. Which means he can attack up the curve with no problem at all and not be stunned. So, in the spirit of my old +1/+1 counter decks, I built a Thunderbolts deck, with Speed Demon, Beetle, Joystick and Radioactive Man, along with guys like the Green Goblins and a whole bunch of +1/+1 counter giving abilities. It is lots of fun. Yay for lots of counters everywhere!
Through playing some sealed, I realized how powerful Beetle was. He starts out as a weak 2-drop, a 3/1 with Flight and Range isn't that good. Still, on turn 3, he becomes a 4/2, again, not great, and in fact still weak. On turn 4 though, he becomes a 5/3 and can't be stunned while attacking. Which means he can attack up the curve with no problem at all and not be stunned. So, in the spirit of my old +1/+1 counter decks, I built a Thunderbolts deck, with Speed Demon, Beetle, Joystick and Radioactive Man, along with guys like the Green Goblins and a whole bunch of +1/+1 counter giving abilities. It is lots of fun. Yay for lots of counters everywhere!
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