Hulu's amazing

Hulu is one of the biggest time wasters I can find on the internet. Sure, there are all the shows that I want to watch that are going on right now, like Heroes, The Office, Bones, House, etc, that I can watch there. But, there are also shows that I haven't watched before, that I am interested in watching. I had watched a lot of Arrested Development, but I watched the entire series on Hulu. Firefly, I hadn't watched, but had heard about, and I watched all 13 episodes there. Then, there's Naruto, which I am more amused by, but they have over 50 episodes. Dresden Files, I haven't gotten to it yet, but I look forward to it, since it is a great show, and what introduced me to the (what I think are better) Dresden books. If you ask me about the 7th Harry Potter, I just mention how much I loved the 7th Harry, who is a wizard book. I mean, Dead Beat was an awesome book. Still, I have to say how happy I am that they have The Pretender. Maybe my favorite TV show of all time, The Pretender was one of the first series I watched that wasn't a kid's cartoon (or other cartoon), and it is an amazing series. I highly recommend that you go to Hulu right now, and watch the first 2 seasons. They are what introduced me to Jefferey Donovan (the star of Burn Notice) and I watched Touching Evil (a good show that was cancelled too early) and Burn Notice because of him. The Pretender is about a genius who can "pretend" he is someone else, allowing him to feel what they felt, and do what they did, so he can learn more. He was taken when he was a child by this group known as The Centre and is trying to find his past, all while helping the "weak and abused". I can't explain it very well in one sentence. I recommend you just watch the pilot, and if you don't want to watch it, then please leave me alone.

10/22 Comics

Here's the covers. Hope my test went well.

Secret Invasion: Spider-Man 3


Basic Plot: Jackpot fights the Super Skrull.

Well, not great, but whatever. I guess the one thing I dislike the most is that Spidey shows up at the end. I mean, sure, he obviously shouldn't have died during Secret Invasion, and he should be around afterwards, but I just didn't like knowing he was alive at the end. I mean, seeing a Civil War tie-in with Cap doing something other than being in jail after the big fight would be confusing, right? Whatever. It happened, it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible.

Blue Beetle 32


Basic Plot: The new Dr. Polaris goes over his origin.

Well, I barely realized there was a new Dr. Polaris. At least his identity isn't a mystery. They just say who he is. Some random guy who attended Neal Emerson's lectures (I didn't know he wore the suit before he became a supervillain) learned of the power of magnetism, and as a power-hungry maniac, became a new Dr. Polaris. Still, not that interesting. I think the best part was with Traci and how anything she tried to conjure kept becoming carrots because of some weirdness with magic (probably due to Final Crisis, although I honestly have no idea). At least he has some strange master plan. I just want Jaime to stop being stupid and listen to his father (who kicked ass).

Amazing Spider-Man 574


Basic Plot: The story of Flash Thompson.

Um, what? Freaking OMD. Ruining everything. Okay, so yeah, he served in 'Nam, and I can understand he'd serve in Iraq, but this just doesn't make sense. When did he leave? He was part of Back in Black, when he had little memory, but now, after OMD, he has his memories back, was at Harry's party, but also went to Iraq and lost his legs. I mean, it's a good story, but it just doesn't fit. It is a great story, but has nothing to do with Spider-Man, and doesn't fit into a continuity that makes sense.

Ultimate Spider-Man 127


Basic Plot: Eddie makes his move, as Gwen makes hers.

Well, Gwen is amusing. I never liked Carnage, although Ultimate Carnage is better. As opposed to just a deranged psychopath with a way to kill people, it is more a suit that tries to wreak havoc and carnage, and is merely attached to a clone of Gwen Stacy. Ah, well, hopefully this arc will end soon. This isn't Bendis' best work, but he's been busy, so I can understand. I mostly liked the last page, where Gwen is at Peter's house, saying she can't control it, and has Carnage's face.

Runaways 3


Basic Plot: The Runaways start to dissolve as a team.

Sure, they really aren't a team, they are more like a family, but still. Pretty amusing, especially since they explain it pretty well. I love how Molly and Klara go build a fort off to the side, Xavin socializes with neighbors and everybody does their own thing. It is amusing. Nico said scatter, so they scattered, not just the Majesdanians, but the Runaways scattered as well, just not as magically. It was okay, but nothing special.

New Avengers 46


Basic Plot: The villains try to determine the Skrull situation.

This was awesome. First, some nice action aboard the Helicarrier as the Skrulls tried to become Madame Masque to infiltrate Hood's criminal organization. Then, some great "Oh, no, who can we trust? Oh wait, we can trust pretty much everybody." And the Skrull had to infiltrate as the Slug? I mean, come on, that had to suck. "Who do I get to pretend to be?" "This crime boss known as 'The Slug'" Still great. Oh, and the ending? Totally did not see that coming. I never expected that the demon would be, well, let's just say it's stranger than it appears.

Thunderbolts 125


Basic Plot: Norman leads the charge to protect DC, then heads to NY to do battle with the rest of Earth's defenders.

Aw, yeah! The Thunderbolts are so ridiculously awesome. Norman is so great at manipulation. He is so cool. All in all, this is a great series. Every character is written perfectly, and everything works exactly as it should. Plus, I love how the dialogue synchs up with Secret Invasions 6 and 7 (well, for the most part, they switched some lines between Norman and Fury, but whatever). It makes it feel official. Plus, damn. Bullseye is so bad-ass. In his hands, a mundane object becomes a weapon. What happens if you put a weapon in his hands? He can snipe people with a rocket launcher. I mean, come on! Sniping with a rocket launcher? What is this, a video game? Still awesome.

Secret Invasion 7


Basic Plot: FIGHTING!

That's pretty much it. Lots of fighting. I loved it, as I've loved the previous issues, and I love the fighting taking place. All the Terrans fighting together. New Avengers with Mighty Avengers. Heroes with villains. Gods with Mortals. Thunderbolts with Spider-Man. Interactions between them are great. My favorite part is probably the end, but I do love Spidey talking about the Watcher, because it is so true. Oh, this isn't important, because Uatu isn't here. See, in Beyond!, they mentioned that, by having Uatu talk about how just the act of observing something changes it. Now, sure, it usually isn't as dramatic as Uatu, but, well. In Beyond!, the characters have teamed-up to fight the Stranger who gathered them together for an experiment, like in Secret Wars, but then Uatu shows up, and the Stranger gets nervous, wondering why he is there. Deathlok suggests he is there to witness a bunch of Terrans taking down the Stranger, which makes the Stranger panic, and eventually just leaves the conflict. By just being there, he changed the course of a battle. See, when Uatu shows up, you realize that it is a big event. Now, this is a big event. Sigh... Still awesome though.

Late

Kind of late, I know, but basically, this week is kind of tough, with a big homework and a test, and I also have some other stuff I want to get done.
Okay, I never thought I would, but I have watched some Naruto. Hulu has it, and I have watched the first 50 episodes or so. Basically, it is amusing. It isn't a great show, and I hate how their version of ninja is a martial artist with superhuman powers, but it is amusing. Certain parts are just kind of stupid, and it has a lot of moments where I feel nothing really happens. By nothing, I mean nothing important. When Sakura cuts her hair to get out of the grip some Sound Ninja has her in, it is about 5 minutes of "OMG! SAKURA CUT HER HAIR! IT IS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER! LOOK AT THE HAIR FALL SLOWLY TO THE GROUND AND EVERYBODY'S EXPRESSIONS!" If I was directing it, it would be maybe 1/2 of a second, just quickly cutting it, having her make her move (which was biting someone) and then later, reminiscing about it for a couple seconds. It just seems silly more than anything. Some of the power levels are just ridiculous. I mean, come on! Sigh... Still, it is amusing. Pretty much the best adjective I can think of. I don't really recommend it, but it is nice so that I can understand what people are talking about when they reference it.

Too tired

I am too tired to put up a post. Yesterday was exhausting. 8+ hours of travel, especially since I hadn't expected it until Friday. Especially since the 8+ hours took me back to the same place. I took two different cars, a bus, two trains and a taxi. Oh, and what the heck? See, I always have felt some animosity towards people. I don't like people, in general. One of those reasons is that I think people, as a whole, aren't all that intelligent. Sure, the smart ones make it seem like humanity is intelligent, with our technology, but really, most people aren't all that smart. Still, I felt that most people must be fairly intelligent. I listened to a conservative radio show in my taxi and had to bite my lip to keep from yelling at the radio. I also had to put a lot of effort into not calling the station (they were taking callers) and just complaining to them. It was one of the longest taxi rides of my life (not helped by the fact that he was taking people to lots of different locations and mine was second to last).

October 15 comics

I know, I know, it didn't go up yesterday. Yesterday had the preview and I didn't want either to try to overshadow the other, so it is just right here today.

Ultimate Origins 5



Basic Plot: Uatu talks through Sue and you see the past.

For some reason, I kept reading this. Maybe because it was a mini-series and I thought I could tough it out. Maybe because other people were praising it, both story and artwise. Personally, I disliked it. Some parts were okay, but overall, I just straight up didn't like it. I don't like the art. It is too scratchy, stiff and awkward for me. Oh, and I hate retconning. Hate it. One of the reasons I read Marvel over DC. This was, well, just bad. Retconning into Nick Fury being from WWII and a supersoldier? Retconning into mutants having been created by man? Retconning into Magneto being the son of people involved with the mutant conspiracy? Retconning Ultimate Magneto (a darker, more murderous version of 616 Magneto) into a nicer person? All stupid ideas to me. Sigh... Oh, and the ending? Well, as much as I loved seeing Rick Jones flash on the screen in Hulk for a second (at most), I think that he wasn't that great a character. I guess I never read Avengers during the Kree-Skrull war, when he saved everybody, and stuff like that, but I never particularly liked Rick Jones. It is amusing to see him in the Ultimate Universe, but honestly, it seems kind of stupid as the big finale.

Astonishing X-Men 27


Basic Plot: The X-Men try to figure out what the box is and what it has to do with Tian.

I don't know about other people, but I love this series. Sure, not as much as when it was Whedon and Cassaday (along with Kitty and Colossus, as opposed to Storm and Armor), but it is still good. Ellis is making this really fun to read. There is a fair amount of humor and Bianchi's art is still really amazing and I love it. I mean, it has Cyclops saying stuff like,"Logan, this is us. The 'bad old days' could be as recent as three weeks ago." and "I swear to you, I will cut your head off and hide the ****ing body if that's what it takes to keep S.W.O.R.D., business out of mutant affairs, because I am done with this--" to Agent Brand, being interrupted by Beast and Abigail wondering why Scott just said "****ing" to his "xenophiliac experimentation partner/girlfriend." It is just a fun and amusing comic. Cyclops is more awesome here than anywhere else (aside form the Whedon Astonishing X-Men) and everything is so awesome.

Secret Invasion: Front Line 4


Basic Plot: All of the survivors gather and wait.

I guess I am missing the point. What is so great about SI: Front Line? I liked the other two Front Lines, for Civil War and WWH, and the Decimation mini-series with Sally Floyd. This just isn't as interesting to me. Is it because the others showed how superhero fights mess up people's lives and this shows that sometimes people fuck each other up more. I mean, sure Skrulls attacked people, but not that many, mostly because they want people to embrace change, whereas the gang in the subway just attacked people. Maybe I don't like it as much because it doesn't as much show the indomitable strength of people and their reactions, but that people are fucked and that the Skrulls aren't doing anything to them that is worse than they do to themselves. This just wasn't as interesting a series to me as to others. Oh, and look! They are at Central Park for the final showdown. Huh...
Amazing Spider-Man 573




Basic Plot: Spidey goes after the Green Goblin as Anti-Venom goes after the Thunderbolts.

Oh, fuck yeah! I have been wanting this since, well, since the beginning of Civil War. When Civil War started, Spidey got sucked into it, and everything he did related to it, and until OMD, he was sucked into the greater MU and trying to deal with it. As interesting as that can be (not saying it was all bad), but I love Spidey being by himself, having his fun solo adventures. And against classic Spidey villains. BND was okay all in all. There were some good stuff, some bad stuff, and mostly meh stuff. My three main complaints were that the stories were too quick (3 issues at max), that the creative teams changed too quickly (again, 3 issues) and that there were too many new, crappy villains. This was 6 issues (a good length) with the same creative team the entire time (a good creative team) and had the Green Goblin. Sure, Menace at the beginning, and it had the new people, but all in all, it boiled down at the end to Spidey vs the Green Goblin. Man... This was awesome. For those people who like Spider-Man, I highly recommend New Ways to Die. It is great.

Mighty Avengers 19


Basic Plot: Noh-Varr looks for a sign and Khn'nr tries to deal with thinking he is Mar-Vell.

Meh. I was looking forward to this to an extent. But it didn't really do anything for me in the end. Noh-Varr seems interesting, and Mar-Vell, I mean Khn'nr, seems interesting, but this wasn't. Mostly, it's Khn'nr frekaing out and flying about. There is way too much text in some parts (annoying to read that much for such a small amount of pictures) and none in others, leading me to believe it easily could have been spaced out more, and that would have been better. The art wasn't great (Pham is okay, but not especially good) either, so all in all, this was just kind of meh.

Guardians of the Galaxy 6


Basic Plot: The Skrulls revealed!

Oh, Drax, you silly, silly individual. How do you tell who's a Skrull? Kill everyone, at least, for 90 seconds, then bring everyone back to life. Ah, Cosmo. He has such a hard job. Adam Warlock attacks, and he uses his powers to make Adam realize these are Skrulls that are traitors to their own kind. Then Drax and Quasar attack, and he has to make them realize. Then the Luminals attack, and well, you get the point. All in all, not much happened that was interesting. Well, the team broke up when they realized Mantis had manipulated them, but who didn't see that coming? Oh well. I just want more Drax. If I have more Drax, I'll be fine.

MEV Preview: Blink, Earth-295<>Dimension Jumper

There's the card. Good for you.

For those still with me, let's go over the character, first of all.

Blink is a character, like most of the Exiles, from a different dimension. See, Marvel is actually a multiverse where universes don't often interact. Unlike DC, with Flash running back and forth, and Crisis on Multiple Earths causing people to go back and forth all the time, these universes are pretty stable. Most of them are created as What if? type scenarios where as opposed to "A" happening, "B" happens and things work out differently. Time travel makes new universes often, where there is one where they didn't go back and then the one where they did. Professor X's son, Legion, was crazy, and in a misguided attempt to stop Magneto, went back in time to when his father and Erik were still friends, and tried to assasinate Magneto. Charles, being Erik's friend, dove in front of Legion, causing Professor X to die instead, causing an alternate universe where Apocalypse took over America and the Age of Apocalypse was born.
Clarice Ferguson is a mutant with teleportation abilities. Simply put, with the training she received, she can teleport things, including over fairly long distances. She can teleport even to the moon with difficulty. A prisoner, she was freed by Sabretooth, who became a mentor to her, much like the 616 Wolverine to Kitty Pryde, Jubilee and recently Armor. Joining him in the X-Men, she helped Magneto's team, and they fought against Apocalypse. Eventually, Bishop from 616 came to Magneto, revealing that the Age of Apocalypse never should have been and that it only came about because of Legion. As Bishop went back in time and stopped Legion, the Age of Apocalypse was thought to have come to an end. Blink, however, was plucked out of Earth 295.
The Exiles are a group of heroes, usually related to the X-Men in some way, that dimension-hop, fixing things and making them right. The founding members of the Exiles were Blink, Mimic, Nocturne, Morph, Thunderbird and Magnus. Blink became their leader, more because nobody else really would or could, and led the team for a long time, eventually finding Sabretooth from Earth 295, who was part of the dimension traveling Weapon X, which went around killing people to try to solve problems. She has been a main member of the Exiles, although is currently off the team.

Let's look at the card:


First off, I have to say that I do like the issue that the card takes its art from. Exiles 84 was a good issue. I am not the biggest fan of the Exiles (I only have a couple volumes), but I do enjoy certain stories more than others, and this was the beginning of a story I liked.
Anyway, just average stats with range, but look at that text-box. First off, I should explain Shift. I'm sure you know about this new keyword, but Shift is a way for people to pay for their characters in advance.
* The keyword shift means:
Pay 1 or more resource points >>> Remove this card from the game shifted with that many shift counters. Use only if this card is in your hand.

* Cards have two additional powers while shifted:
Pay 1 resource point >>> Put a shift counter on this card.
Remove X shift counters >>> Put this card into play if you control X or more resources, where X is its cost. Use only during your recruit step.

Now, Shift is the main theme for the Exiles, and it is awesome. Generally, it means that you pay resources earlier, but Blink has a different concept in mind. One thing she can do is throw little javelins at people that she's imbued with the ability to teleport, meaning she can throw them at people to teleport them somewhere else. This can be used offensively, to throw the opponent into something dangerous, or a more common use, to allow people to rest before rejoining the fight. Whenever one of Blink's allies becomes injured during battle, she can move that person to a safer location, allowing him/her to come back later for a single measly resource point. Or, if you get the other Blink into play somehow (Shifting, like Substitute, does not get around uniqueness), you can get your other character back for free. And I'm sure there are other ways to manipulate those Shift counters.

The last way, and I'm sure one of the better ways, is to get rid of your opponent's characters. Now, sure, they can pay a resource point and get the character back next turn, but without a deck designed to do things like that, losing your 5-drop on 5, and having to pay a resource point the next turn to get it doesn't seem all that fun. You make them have to choose between getting their 6-drop out, or their 5-back, plus another 5. Sure, it seems like they got 10 resource points, but really, they lost one by having to replay one of their older characters.

Stategies? Well, with a card that can add a shift counter, like I said, on turn 5, shift your guys away, then get them back the next turn for free. Otherwise, you can always just use it as a way to pay 1 resource point and discard a card to recover a character. Now, if they go after Blink first, and I mean, who wouldn't, then you can use her ability on herself too. Also, you can keep getting your characters back the next turn and getting their "enter play" effects just like Bodyslide. With Blink, you are going to want to look for other cards to add counters, just so that you can make your guys come back for free. Otherwise, like your opponent, you are going to have to make decisions about what to do with your drops. If you would lose the character anyway, then if you have a useless card, you can always discard that and if you run into a situation where you have an extra resource point or don't have a character to play otherwise, you can always bring it back.

I got Blink, Earth 285<>Dimension, Jumper as part of Exiles week for the "Blink Legend" part of the week. Blink, as a legend, has a theme that relates to her powers. A lot of the Exiles (at the very least, all the ones this week) have the Shift keyword, as part of their dimension-hopping, but Blink gets both Shift, and abilities that make Shifting easier. Both of the characters this week (mine and the one that should have been at VsSystem.com, but was at Facebook) help with shifting, the 3-drop by adding to already-shifted characters and the 5-drop by getting a few of your guys Shifted out to save them for later, or even just to Shift some of your opponent's guys to another plane. Blink is all about teleporting her team places and teleporting enemies away when the fight gets too rough. Her cards all reference that and make her a powerful legend.

Anyway, this is an awesome card. It is versatile, in its helping your guys (if you can use shift counters) and hurting opponents (unless they have shift counters, in which it is then annoying).

Week of too many tests

Okay, with Indigenous People's Day/Columbus Day getting me Monday off, you'd think this would be an easier week, correct? Wrong!
With two tests today (one in 45 minutes or so, and the other an hour after, both in different types of Calculus), one test tomorrow (at 8 AM, why in the morning?) and one Friday (my last class of the week of course), I'm kind of swamped. To people worried, I still will get my preview card up on time. The article is completed and ready to go. To people worried about comics, I will still get around to it, as most of my tests will already have passed before comics. To me, stop panicking and just take your damn test already.