Comic reviews for March 20th 2009

Ladies and gentlemen we have Gods! Well in my comic shop at least, this week they finally got Jersey Gods and are now to get it on a regular schedule. So with that I throw in Jersey Gods #2 into this mix of reviews, though Dark Avengers is left waiting in my pullbox for another day.

Invincible #60

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

Opening Comments: On a first read through I was rather disappointed with this issue. It was jarring and at times clumsy and really didn’t meet it’s goal of giving any of it’s guest stars a meaningful moment, outside of a few characters here and there. But where this issue shined, after a second reading, was in that it has great character moments for the Invincible universe and overall does a far better job of telling an event in one issue, then either Marvel or DC did last year with their events.

Story Comments: This issue opens with an explanation as to Angstrom’s survival when he got his head beaten to a bloody pulp. Then things soon kick off and war breaks out in a matter of seconds.

We get a quick Invincible/Atom Eve talk before the shit hits the fan for them. But soon everyone is being attacked from Spawn to Firebreather all over the world heroes are getting smacked around by Invincible. Though here in lies my biggest problem with this issue: It feels nothing like a crossover event. These characters might all as well be a bunch of cardboard cut outs that say “Spawn” or “Savage Dragon” on them. They get hardly to no lines and all their good for here is punching, they don’t have one single worthwhile moment…well minus a moment for Pitt but that was it. I love a lot of these characters so for me to see them as so hollow and unimportant bugged the hell out of me and really hurt my enjoyment of this issue.

Invincible soon joins the fray, everything is going to hell and Cecil calls in every hero he can to take down the Invinci-army. It was a nice little moment at least and kind of funny even.

We see one Invincible taking out the Guardians of the Globe. This worries me. The only 2 of them I liked seem to be dead, Immortal gets his head thrown through Dupli-Kate’s body. Now I’m also pretty sure it’s the first original one seeing as she’s got the 1 on her suit. If they are dead, then color me disappointed.

The best moment of this issue came in Rex Plode’s sacrifice so that his friends could escape the evil Invincible trying to kill them. He uses his skeleton as a bomb to kill him. It was a great touching moment that hit the right emotional strings and left my mouth wide open in a gasp.

On another note, I’m happy to say I was wrong about Eve’s death…so far at least. She’s badly hurt and hospitalized. I was glad to see Kirkman not take the obvious route with this event and kill her off.

With only 8 Invincibles left, Angstrom betrays them and stands them in another dimension which was kind of funny, but he’s too late, Invincible comes back to kill him and from here is the best moment of the issue. When Invincible has Angstrom in his grip, Kid-Omni-Man pushes him to kill Angstrom and just before he can, Angstrom escapes, one arm less villainous and is left to being slaves of the super surgeons who fixed him.

The issue ends with the world in ruin, a huge landscape destroyed is all we see and it’s a very powerful way to end the issue.

While the writing is a tad jarring, it makes more sense for the fact that this is war, it’s crazy, it’s chaotic and for that it fits perfectly. Overall I really did love this issue, but it had it’s faults, it didn’t deliver all it promised and for what we got I was both disappointed and satisfied. Odd, I know. Still for what it was, another great issue of Invincible and things are looking up for us readers, even if down for Invincible.

Art Comments: I was worried if Ottley would deliver as far as making all the Image crew appealing. How dumb of me to worry as while most of these characters have zero lines, they still look badass as all hell. Despite how erratic the layout gets the art still conveys a story well enough and some shots, such as the final page, are incredibly well done.

Final Comments: Invincible War was a great issue despite it’s flaws, the art was the best it’s ever been and really for anyone who likes big epic events this is the comic for you. An Incredible issue even with it’s problems.

Writing: 4 out of 5

Art: 5 out of 5

Overall: 4 out of 5

Must Read

Witchblade #125

Written: Ron Marz

Art: Stjepan Sejic

Opening Comments: After months of waiting…war is here! Sort of…I’m sad to say that despite the title, there is no warring of the Witchblades within these pages. Still, despite it’s lack of action the first chapter in War of the Witchblades continues the trend of Witchblade being an excellent must read comic.

Story Comments: A quick opening has Sara going Witchblade in the moonlight as Hope stares at her mother. A weird opening as it leads quickly to the next day with the two at the prison visiting Sara’s younger sister. This was a great scene that doesn’t last too long as it’s a simple discussion and catches up nicely on everything between Sara and Dani. Though overall this was the slowest moment of the comic.

When we pick up with Dani and Finch settling in, this moment was far more interesting. Finch clearly wants to be intimate with Dani but she’s just not sure. Marz really handles the discussion nicely and has built a nice relationship with these two. Where it goes though is up in the air.

Then we get to the best moment in this issue, Sara chasing down a wannabe fake vampire. She knocks the fake fangs off him fast and he admits he was…oh hell who cares he was just spying on his girlfriend or something. It was funny as all hell and had me in stitches. Perhaps a poke at a certain young series about vampires?

This issue ends with the mystery man at the end of #123 meeting with one of the high ranking Angelus soldiers and it was an okay scene. Though overall it was just more set up and feels like it should have been at the end of last issue really.

Overall the content here was a little lacking. Discussions continue to excel as Marz always has been able to do with these characters but the lack of anything deeply important happening really hurt it for me and knocked it down a grade.

There’s also a backups story but it’s just more guess work which I’m getting tired of from this series.

Art Comments: Stjepan Sejic is always able to make even the more quiet personal moments done extremely well and look good. Though he has one problem and that seems to be this weird shading with Sara when she was in the prison talking to her sister. Sara looked almost…3D. It had to have been the shading as she looked normal again when chasing Vampire Wannabe. Still despite one flaw, the art is amazing as always.

Final Comments: Despite little really happening it was still another great read. Marz could have given us a little more War but for an opening chapter it was still really good and if you’re interested in the series, I highly suggest it.

Writing: 4 out of 5

Art: 5 out of 5

Overall: 4 out of 5

Must Read

Wolverine #71

Written: Mark Millar

Art: Steve McNiven

Opening Comments: Despite delays Old Man Logan continues to be a great read. Though from this chapter I’m getting a feeling that perhaps Millar wanted this to be a Graphic Novel but he decided to release it as a comic, as it’s certainly reading like a graphic novel instead of a comic.

Story Comments: Picking up where last issue left off, Venom took over a T-rex and is after our heroes. Why? I have no clue. But he is and it’s awesome. I think Hawkeye said something about Venom’s alien mother though and it got cut out of the prologue in last issue. Anyway it is resolved pretty fast when an old Blackbolt is sent down by Emma Frost to take care of it.

From there Emma helps the two and we get a rather odd back and forth conversation. I hate it when all characters do is hint at something important, but don’t directly say what it was and that really filled this conversation. Still the ending with Emma congratulating Logan on finding happiness with his family was a nice way to end it at least.

After a few epic shots we find our heroes at the destination, New Babylon, giving some rogue heroes Super Soldier Formula. Hawkeye wants to help them use it to take back the world, it goes to hell as their really government agents.

Things go to hell real fast and it was a great twist…though left me with a “so that was all for nothing?” feeling as Logan’s family is either dead meat or going to have to be on the run.

Then there is the cliff-hanger, Hawkeye getting his brains blown out. Can’t see how he’d survive that so he’s either dead or got himself a wicked healing factor.

Overall this felt really rushed from one point to the other just to get things all in a row for the final 2 chapters and Logan’s revenge. So for what it was, it was another absolutely incredible read….but at the same time it felt a little unbalanced.

Art Comments: Steve McNiven gets plenty of shots to shine. Most notably a shot of Giant-Man’s giant skeleton across the land (new desktop background!) and it all looks amazing. He’s one of the few artist where every delays is well worth it as this comic looks absolutely incredible in every way.

Final Comments: Old Man Logan swiveled a little here and told a somewhat erratic, but cool as all hell and still incredibly well done, story. If you’re not reading then it’s a little too late but it’s still a Must Have!

Writing: 5 out of 5

Art: 5 out of 5

Overall: 5 out of 5

Jersey Gods #2

Writer: Glen Brunswick

Art: Dan McDaid

Opening Comments: After a cool opener Jersey Gods continues to impress and is now on the pull list to stay. Though while this issue impressed me, I must admit I am a tad disappointed at the lack of what was promised, funny and wick cool romantic comedy along with intense action.

Story Comments: Picking up where last issue left off Barock and Zoe are seconds away from Minog dishing out the death. Barock reflects on his regrets before death, a nice touch by Brunswick. We see “the Great War” and it’s affects on Barock and just before he is ready to die, Zoe gives him a kiss and he soon kicks ass. It’s a tad cliché but exactly what I’m reading the series for, these two’s dynamic, and it’s incredibly well done.

From there they have a funny moment before Barock and Helius have to head home. It was a great moment and again, proves that Brunswick loves writing these characters and has an important tale to tell with them.

The worst and only real weak moment in this issue was when Zoe is with her ass-kissing boss at a fashion show. It’s kind of funny and it’s light hearted fun, but really Zoe and Barock are best when they interact from what I’ve seen and on their own they are just okay. Also, I fail to see the relevance of it all in the end.

When we get back to Neborn (a whole planet of gods) we find out a civil war is about to break out. It’s all good and kind of interesting but really this isn’t want I signed up for. It’s nowhere near as entertaining as what we’ve been promised and even feels a little cliché in some aspects. Though we get a nice moment with Barock wanting to call Zoe after it’s been 3 days, but Helius says he can’t. It’s stuff like that I’m more enjoying rather then some civil war.

It all goes to hell real easy and the cliff-hanger has our heroes at the clutches of Lurella, daughter of the person their going in to capture. It was an all right cliff-hanger but still I hope that by issue #3 we get things going more with Barock and Zoe’s relationship as the God War should be more of an important sub-plot seeing as how this series has been marketed as more about Barock and Zoe in Jersey.

Despite this I really loved this issue, dialogue was top notch and there where some really cool moments. It just leaves me wanting a little more is all, but I still loved it.

Art Comments: McDaid is a first time artist and in some cases it shows painfully as he doesn’t always complete a page and it’s annoying. Still outside of that Brunswick made a bold move choosing him and while his style still doesn’t fully appeal to me, I like that he made it. For what it is the art does look good most of the time. McDaid does a great job of capturing big moments like a recap of the Great War and the final page looks great. It’s more small personal panels he needs to work on.

Final Comments: Jersey Gods still has a little bit to go until it reaches it’s high point but for now it’s still a great read with some rough, but good, artwork. If you’re looking for something fresh and interesting this is certainly it.

Writing: 4 out of 5

Art: 3 out of 5

Overall: 4 out of 5

Must Read

All great reads even if some better then others. I know there was only one Marvel comic and most of the readers here don’t read a lot of Image, so my apologies, but hey, maybe these reviews have convinced you to check some of the Image comics out. I recommend them, as you can see.

The Week Begins

After a comic-less week, we’ve got some really big comics coming this week! Exciting. Though I’m not sure if I can pick any of them up, here’s to hoping I can at least check out one or two.

Invincible #60 *Most Anticipated Comic of the Week*

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

After last issue my faith has declined a bit…though still I am excited as ever for “the crossover event of the decade” and how it’s all in one single issue. As a fan of Image I’ve got some hopeful characters that want to see. Mostly Shadowhawk and Spawn, Witchblade of course and Savage Dragon no doubt. Though outside of those 4 characters I’m not too worried about everyone else. Well, one other character…I’ve been saying it for months, guess I might as well say it one last time: Atom Eve is going to bite the dust. And knowing Kirkman in the most gruesome way possible. Perhaps even holding a baby and getting shot. Though unlike the Spawn baby incident or other moments in comic history, this is one of the few times I really hope I’m wrong. Though if I am right, at least I’ll not be too pissed. Still about this overall issue, really looking forward to it and have high hopes for it.

Wolverine #70

Written: Mark Millar

Art: Steve McNiven

Another must buy hitting the shelves, damn…after 2 painstaking months of waiting the next chapter is here and I’m clawing at my LCS windows to get it. While I doubt this issue will have too much progression, what with Venom on their tails, I’m still psyched to check it out.

Witchblade #125

Written: Ron Marz

Art: Stjepan Sejic

It finally begins, the epic story of the Witchblade Wars has graced us and I couldn’t be more excited. With such a stellar week this issue falls a bit seeing as it’s just the opener and storylines like this usually are at their best from their second chapter and up. Still, it’s being sold as a good jumping on point for anyone interested. I’ve been reviewing this series since the beginning of the blog back in July of 2008 and I continue to highly recommend it as the best book out there. If you’re even somewhat curious, then do yourself a favor, check it out.

Dark Avengers #3

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: Mike Deodato

After 2 great opening issues I am very excited to see where Bendis takes the Dark Avengers as the title progresses. It’s fairly obvious that most of the team will come through this arc with little to no scratches really. Still it’s only 4 issues which was a great idea on Bendis’ part not to drag it out forever, I look forward to more this month as well as the future of the series. If you’re interested, check it out.

Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight #1

Written: Fabian Nicezia

Art: Frazer Irving

All right, first off as a side note about that cover it’s a shame that Guillem March couldn’t be the artist for this (Though luckily he’ll be doing a new ongoing starting June ,which looks cool) and as to the series, I won’t be picking this up. I’ve been hearing good things about Nicezia, and it seems he’s moved to DC since Cable/Deadpool didn’t work out. It looks cool and I do like the character but I’m not sure, if I hear good things I will for sure check out the collection.

Some cool looking comics coming out this week. If I can’t get out any reviews then I’ll try and do some other posts. Already been cooking up a new “my thoughts on” type post like I used to do a lot. So check sometime in the week for that.

Double Reviews: Batman and Wolverine Cartoons

Cartoons have always had a special place in my heart. Even nowadays I still tune in for Batman the Animated Series and other great cartoons. Though this new age of cartoons has had it’s fair share of disappointments. CG has become a crutch to lean on and helps make easy cheap and often stupid shows that are as mindless as can be.

Though as luck would have it every so often a good cartoon still emerges here and there. For 2008 the best cartoon was easily The Spectacular Spider-man, a great mix of story and incredible animation helped it stand out and make a huge impression on me and reminded me why I loved Spider-man when growing up.

Though at the end of 2008 we got another cartoon from a long beloved hero, Batman. Though this series came out in the last couple of months of the year so I rather regard this as more of an early 2009 series then anything.

Another early 2009 cartoon is Wolverine and the X-men, another Marvel animated series that chronicles a new chapter in X-history. With comic writers at the helm of the series it was easy to figure this would at least accomplish some goals of being a good series.

So we’ve got 2 cartoons in 2009 both with long beloved heroes in new situations that are both familiar yet fresh. Both with a new direction for the series’ they continue on and both with a lot to accomplish in pleasing children of the new age and still giving a little something to fans of the older cartoons.

First we’ll review Batman and then Wolverine after. Similar to my Hulk vs. Review.

Batman the Brave and the Bold, or just Batman as we’ll call it to save some time, has a total shift for what people are used to for Batman. It’s almost anti-Batman in how campy fun and over the top it gets. Though the creators know this and they don’t try to hide it like The Batman (Series, not character) did.

Use of more obscure DC characters is the key to what makes this series so great. It’s so awesome to see Blue Beetle and Wildcat teaming up with Batman and doing all kinds of great things that they never got the animated spotlight so well before.

Though longtime Batman fans will no doubt feel a bit of loss over no dark atmosphere, Gotham being less important and so far no Boy Wonder or Alfred in sight. Also Bruce Wayne might as well not exist as we’ve yet to see his face, just the back of his head once in a flashback.

This is undeniably the shows biggest weakness, but already it’s being remedied. Alfred was mentioned in the Christmas themed episode and we also saw a brief retelling of Batman’s origin as far as the death of his parents. It was also redone where they took Bruce to see the movie since he was upset with his Christmas gift not being a swashbuckling action figure. I really loved that look into his past but the creators are really sorely missing out on a great opportunity to do more with it. We also saw Bruce’s parents as spirits visiting him when he could have gone to heaven when he was dying.

We finally see Gotham in a recent 2 part storyline as well as the Joker and the Batcave. With any luck more of Batman’s family will show up later.

Now the episodes are often one full story, plus an opener that has nothing to do wit the actual storyline. Something simple like Batman spending 3 minutes of knocking around a villain with another hero. Probably just to set the right tone for a fun light hearted action story.

animation is just okay, I like the stylish designs but I hate the use of CG. To me CG is a really lazy cop out, most of the time anyway, as often it looks cheap and poorly put together. The CG here is still pretty bad though luckily the animator doesn’t rely on it too much. Still it looks so out of place to see a giant machine here or there or a car that’s overly CG in an animated world.

Not all the stories are great. Mostly Aquaman’s are weak as he’s appeared a few times and it’s often been boring.

Though overall for what it is, Batman’s latest animated adventures have turned out to be cool fun and enjoyable. Check out the show on Cartoon Network if interested, though be warned, it may help to turn off your brain a little while watching.

7 out of 10

Watch It

To let you all know, yes, I am working out regular Movie/Show based review scores. So far you’ve only seen 3.

Now to review Wolverine and the X-men.

The concept of this show seems to mostly take the X-men back to what they where all about back at their height of popularity and that was a discriminated group of heroes struggling to keep the world sane and their people alive. Taking out Xavier and putting him in some weird psychic future thing we have a re-created X-men team with Wolverine in charge.

While Wolverine tries to become a leader as best he can he has to battle with his slowly returning past and from there is the main point of the series.

The plot recreates a lot of what was always cool with the X-men, things like Mutant registration and a growing hatred always mounting with every new episode. Though the plot does suffer a bit from the fact that it clearly has a larger story to tell but can’t really get to the meat of it right away. Though really the same can be said for any story that follows along these lines.

Character work is where the series shines as most characters, notably Wolverine and Rogue, shine. If you’re a fan of any of the X-men characters within the show you’ll probably find something to love about this show.

Overall the plot is good from episode to episode and just about every episode so far has been real fun to watch and an exciting joyride.

The place where this show is both weak and strong is animation. I know, confusing. While in a lot of cases the animation is cool and well done, the designs are great and every character has a cool look and attacks look awesome. Though with regular human work and more talkative moments the animation looks flat and even in some of the action it can look flat. This was most painfully obvious during the episode Wolverine vs. Hulk, where Hulk looked like a cheesy action figure come to life. Still the animation is a mix of good and bad, more or less depending on whatever episode you watch.

Overall I really dig this series and it’s something that can be more appreciated by longtime fans as well as new generations and for that it is a bit better.

8 out of 10

Must Watch It

Final Words: Both cartoons are accessible to fans of the series, no matter how old, and new generations of children looking for a good cartoon. Compared to most of the pathetic lazy crap on the TV nowadays their both 10 times better then the competition (not including the best of them, Spectacular Spider-man.)

If you’ve got any children, or nephews and nieces or if you baby-sit kids, their both good and really cool shows that I’m sure they would dig. Though if you yourself are interested, check them both out. No final grade really for either though, they both get their own solid score.

*Edit: The scores have been upped by one, after a while I decided to change them when I realized that Batman was not as low as 6 and Wolverine was better then a 7. Just a personal change when re-watching some episodes over the Weekend*

New Age News: A New Dynamic Duo!

Welcome to a sort of new post I’m trying out here called “New Age News” where I talk about an announcement or something that’s happened in the comics medium that is noteworthy of mentioning. Sometimes these may be long and extensive, other times they may be quick.

Batman and Robin was announced a while back, while there was a leak about it the official announcement didn’t come until New York Comic Con. Though while other titles like Detective Comics got some light shed this book had remained in the dark up until just a couple days back.

The book will be written by longtime DC popular writer Grant Morrison, the man who handled both Batman R.I.P. as well as Final Crisis. Art will be done by his former collaborator Frank Quietley.

Now I’m sure you probably know this by now as it’s already created a good amount of buzz. Morrison has already done an interview and has explained some of the vague details as to what we’ll see.

First I must mention about their prior work, All Star Superman. In my honest opinion, I know it’s not popular to say this but I really thought it was just okay and even a tad boring. I had the same problem with the first 2 Ultimates volumes, it’s good and has it’s moments but I wasn’t blown away like everyone else was. Maybe it’s because when I read through most of the first volume I had heard all the hype and my expectations where too high or it’s simply that I’ve never liked Superman as much as Batman or other heroes but something about All Star Superman just felt very underwhelming to me.

Also, while still on the subject of it I must admit that I didn’t find Quietley’s artwork as amazing as others did. He’s a great artist no doubt but from what I was hearing I would think that the pages where made of chocolate and filled with edible gold. It was good art, some moments where just plain incredible, but for the most part it was just good art.

I hate to take up so much space just to mention a series that is now over but I felt it necessary to let you all know that All Star Superman in no way affects how I think of this upcoming book. If you did like All Star Superman then I can see why others may very much so enjoy it and respect that.

Now much to my surprise this is actually in-continuity. I was certain it wouldn’t be after seeing the first image (cover perhaps?) and the look of the Batmobile. Some people where worried this would replace All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder. Thankfully that isn’t the case.

I like the premise, short 4 issue story arcs that build into an overall greater arc that involves the new Batman and Robin. We’ve been told that these are both 2 different people under the masks. Robin will be more darker as Batman used to be and Batman will be more light-hearted. It’s…a strange contrast, not one I’m sure will work.

I’m fairly certain that from the description and look, Robin will be Damian. Which leaves me worried as to Tim Drake’s fate seeing as Batman looks a bit too tall to be Tim. I figure if it isn’t Dick then perhaps a reformed Jason Todd (I won’t buy the series in that case)

While I won’t be as big on Batman as I was prior to him going back in time and making cave paintings, I will at least check this series out. It sounds cool and like a lot of twisted fun that Morrison is known for. While I have my worries for the Dark Knight’s future I must admit this still looks like a great new upcoming comic that has my full attention.

And so ends the first edition of New Age News. I’ve been trying to fill this week with new and different articles to try and shake things up, expect a double dose review of Batman the Brave and the Bold and Wolverine and the X-men.

Hulk Vs. Review

Hulk is undeniably the biggest and baddest Marvel Hero as far as strength is concerned, as he says just about every 5 minutes, he’s the strongest there is. Marvel Animation studios finally made a video more for it’s fans, and it involves the big green giant going against 2 of his best sparring partners ,Wolverine and Thor. Written by the current writers of X-force, Craig Kyle and Christ Yost, this is a movie made by fans for fans.

We’re going to dissect this review into 3 aspects to the post. One for Hulk Vs. Wolverine and the other to Hulk Vs. Thor and then finishing with an overall sum of both films.

Part 1: Hulk vs. Wolverine

The whole story plays out as a prequel to the new Wolverine and the X-men cartoon where this is before Wolverine met the X-men and was just a regular hero, no team or friends. After the Hulk tears through Canada he gets sent in to take him down, after some awesome back and forth fighting they both get knocked out and captured by Weapon X. From there it’s a crazy escape for the two fighting heroes as they try to escape and fight both Weapon X’ top mutants and each other.

The opening was all right, things don’t really pick up until Hulk and Wolverine get fighting. Though up until then it’s just all right. We get a nice synopsis of what’s going on, why Wolverine is there and what he’s going up against so that was nice. Though once Wolverine and Hulk go toe to toe is when it improved.

Though what really helps make this story so great is the excellent animation by Jeff Matsuda. This guy has done a lot of work for The Batman (ugh) and it’s nice to see a really talented artist like him working on this. His style is great as every character looks great and has a cool animation to them. Hulk looks great but best of all is Wolverine and Deadpool as far as animation.

My only complaint about how everyone looks is Sabertooth. His face is all flat and scrunched together, it looks weird as all hell compared to everyone. That an Omega Red has a really weird looking chin but that’s it really.

The fight at first was great. It was nice to see Wolverine just really cut loose and show some blood finally in a cartoon. Up until know his only victims have been renegade doors and robots. Seeing him actually cut flesh and limbs was just plain great seeing as he’s been doing it for so long in the comics.

It was a great twist to see them end up in Weapon X as opposed to just fighting for 30 minutes which is cool, but not cool enough to take up an entire storyline. With Weapon X in the mix we got some really cool characters, mostly Deadpool (more on him soon) and it was just great to see Wolverine back at this place, kicking ass.

Now Deadpool…oh god Deadpool just…wow…wow. He stole the show beyond what stealing the show can describe, he stole it, slit it’s throat and blew it’s brains out…in a good way. Nolan North does a great job as the Merc with a Mouth in that not only are all Deadpool’s lines great but North delivers them in such an energetic way that really brings them out and improves on greatness.

I could go on for days about Deadpool as every line was great. Don’t believe me? Check out some of his best lines from the film in this Youtube video. Warning, some spoilers for the film (though there are spoilers filling this review so you probably figured that)

Steve Blum is another phenomenal voice actor as Wolverine, this guy just totally gets tough guys as he’s also the voice of Jack in the new Must Have Wii game Madworld. He just understands perfectly what it is to be a tough badass in every way as he perfectly captures Wolverine.

Hulk was more like an element through the film, not an essential character as far as what he did. He still got in some really cool moments and lines (“talking man hurt hulk. Hulk rip off Talking Man’s Head!” Talking man is Deadpool) and Frank Tatasciore is another great voice actor. While the Hulk has had a lot of great voice actors, this guy just nails the rage while still keeping it very cohesive which was really cool. Perfect line delivery, a great Hulk.

Overall the plot was great but my only real complaint was the fairly weak ending. While it all played out nicely the ending is the Rocky inspired ending with Hulk and Wolverine flying at each other to finish their fight. Rather then just getting to see the end. While it doesn’t ruin the whole film I was definitely disappointed with it. Still if you’re a fan of Wolverine, Weapon X, Deadpool, Hulk, hell, anything really as far as the X-verse, you’ll dig this.

8 out of 10

Part 2: Hulk vs. Thor

While I’ve never really been big on Thor, Matt Fraction made me a believer with Ages of Thunder and since then I’ve read all of my Dad’s Thor comics that he gave me. One thing I noticed was a fight between Thor and the Hulk, I read through it and I must be honest, it was pure awesome. It was fairly simple, but cool still, and I was hoping that we’d get at least an homage to it in this movie. No such luck, still, despite not being at the same level as Hulk vs. Wolverine, Hulk vs. Thor is still a good flick.

The plot starts out well enough, doing a great job to inform us of the Odin sleep and introducing Thor’s torment over losing his friends to such trivial battles. Though the plot suffers mostly with how it twists around so much. We go from Asgard to Hell after Thor gets smacked around by a Loki controlled Hulk, Loki and Thor soon team up to try and convince Hela to help them, it doesn’t go well so they try and get Banner’s help in Hell after Loki killed Banner after separating him from the Hulk with Enchantress’ powers and he refuses so eventually Hulk comes down to Hell and…well as you can tell by now it’s a tad too twisting and after a while it just felt a little obnoxious.

While the fighting was great, of course Thor and Hulk going toe to toe is always great, the story just dragged on too long for it’s own good and that really killed some of the excitement.

The animation is also a step down, though I’m not sure who animated it. While most of Asgard, Hell and all the denizens of these areas look from good to Great, the 2 main characters Thor and Hulk look rather poor. Thor looks far too blocky for my liking as does Hulk. Though it’s strange, they both look fairly poor whereas most everyone else looks just fine and in the case of Enchantress and Volstag they look pretty good and well animated.

Hulk also suffers from not really getting any lines this time, except one line as he passes out at the end. With the great voice acting it was disappointing that he got zero lines here.

This film definitely had a better incorporation of the Hulk as a more important and main character though even more so Bruce Banner who only got a few minutes in Hulk vs. Wolverine and they where both fairly uninteresting. Here we see him in his own personal heaven upon death, with Betty and his son, and we see him torn from it and forced to make a choice to merge with the Hulk again.

What was so great about this was that at first he refused, like any sane man would, but when he saw how Hulk could even tear apart Hell he sacrificed his chance at happiness and peace to stop the monster. It was just a really great moment for the character and really tugs at the audiences heart strings and reminds me why Banner is such a great character in the first place.

The overall story was dragged out but had plenty of good moments and characters, Enchantress was very well done as we see her struggle with her wanting revenge on Thor for picking Siph (not sure exactly how to spell her name, my apologies) and still caring for him. Should there ever be an ongoing Thor cartoon it would be a great thing to pick up on for her character.

Though I guess the best part to Hulk vs. Thor was the ending as Odin gives this great speech about how great a hero Banner is for taking back the Hulk to save Asgard. It was just a brilliantly done speech both as the content and whomever wrote it and the amazing voice acting for Odin. It was a powerful great way to end the movie and brought it all together nicely.

Overall Hulk vs. Thor is undeniably a step back from how great Hulk vs. Wolverine is, but it has some great moments and despite weak animation still looks good for the most part. That along with an incredibly well done ending boosts it a bit as far as how good it is.

7 out of 10

Part 3: Final thoughts and overview.

Hulk vs. is one of those great animated films that, while it isn’t really perfect, has a lot of good qualities still. I could easily say buy this for Hulk vs. Wolverine alone but I must admit that Hulk vs. Thor is still a good watch as well. Though overall I must admit that not everyone will love it as much as I did, it’s not very open for new possible fans of the characters so if you’re not big on Marvel comics you may not enjoy it as much as a regular True Believer. Still, if you’re interested I highly suggest you at least rent it and check it out and if you like it, buy it.

Overall grade: 7 out of 10

Must Rent

Andrenn's Game Shelf: Top 10 favorite Video Games

It’s been a while but finally a new edition of Andrenn’s Game Shelf is here. After some mulling I decided to let you guys in on my top 10 favorite games of all time. Now before I go on I should warn all gramers and Xbox fans, Halo is nowhere to be seen here. That being said, if your favorite games aren’t on the list, sorry, but feel free to let me know what they are.

10. Spawn –Super Nintendo-

I love beat ‘em ups. The whole genre is built around going from one end to the other beating the hell out of every enemy in your way, often with cool combos and attacks that make it more then wild butting mashing. Add in the fact that Spawn is a pure beat ‘em up with a great look, cool story and is filled with all the great characters from the series at the time and you’ve got yourself a winner. The only thing that really holds this game off was how disappointing later boss fights became like Violator and Malebolgia, whereas Redeemer was crazy hard. Still a great game that desperately needs some love and a download on the Wii’s Virtual Console.

9. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

RPG’s aren’t really my thing, while they can be fun, rarely do I want to play through one again let alone much if at all. Often they lack the same fun I get out of most video games, but something about the Paper Mario has just been so crazy fun. After an awesome game on the N64 the series came full circle of awesome with this incredible sequel. The story, while a little silly at times, is still really entertaining and interesting and fun to see unravel. The game play is great as you get to really interact with the battles then just sitting there and clicking some buttons to tell Mario to jump on someone. With cool combos and all kinds of crazy tricks, this is one of the most replayable RPG’s ever for me.

8. Yoshi’s Island –Super Nintendo-

the Mario franchise has had tons of great games over the years. However, despite how much I love the franchise, the best game to ever come out of them had Mario in a diaper on Yoshi’s back. This game had all the great side scrolling action Mario has been known for with the great twist of playing as the lovable dinosaurs. Controls where spot on, the design was stylish and crazy, it was one of the best Nintendo games of all time. To me at least.

7. Splatterhouse 2 –Sega Genesis-

Hard as all hell, freaky as all hell and…well, hellish as all hell, Splatterhouse 2 was the total gory insane package. Not a lot of people know about this series as much as other beat ‘em ups at the time and it’s really sad to mention this game and not get a lot of people who recognize it. While the first game was a little too insane with it’s difficulty, 2 got it just right where I could still enjoy the challenge without tearing at my hair. This game really was insane, your weapons would very from chainsaw, to pieces of wood to bones to…well you get the point, it was crazy. While some people accuse Rick (the main hero) of being a Jason rip off, Jason never beat a monster to death with a giant hunk of bone.

6. Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition –Wii-

Where to put this game was a challenge indeed. On one side it’s an incredible game that I’ve played over and over and over and over. On the other side, I can say the same thing about the entire franchise so 4 isn’t quite exclusive to that description. Then their came which version to chose, really, all versions of the game are incredible but the Wii version wins for overall best controls despite how every version of the game controlled well. Overall this is easily the best of the franchise and that’s saying a lot as the entire series has often stood for quality top of the line stuff for every game. 4 has so much going for it, an awesome plot, great characters, incredible game play and some of the most memorable boss fights and moments in the entire series. If you’re a fan of the franchise, or even horror in general, this is a must have.

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time –Super Nintendo-

Beat ‘em ups will always have a special place in my heart, and this is the king of them all. While nowadays the TMNT aren’t really on top back in the 90’s they where king of beat ‘em ups and they dominated everything. To say that this game is the best of all the TMNT games is saying quite a lot. It’s like saying this giant gold bar is better then all these other giant gold bars. Solid game play cool character moves and moments and the best Shredder face off of all time, I love this game.

4. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle -Gamecube

While I’ve grown a bit more distant with the Sonic series I can’t deny that Sonic has had his greats. Though if I had to pick one great Sonic game, hard as it may be, this just barely steals the win from Sonic CD. This game has a weird, but cool story, awesome levels and a nice variety of different levels and how to play them and some of the best 3D running ever. It gets really crazy. But what keeps this game so great has nothing to do with the animals that you play as. Rather, it’s the animals they take care of. That’s right, the real aspect that keeps this game so great is the Chao. Long after beating the game and getting all the emblems my friends and me would spend hours attending to our virtual little pets, the Chao, in their garden. Even nowadays, despite using the Wii, I still pop in SA2 Battle to tend to them every so often. It’s a lot of fun and rewarding to see all the crazy fun things you can do with them. It’s what boosts this great game, to an awesome game.

3. Megaman 3 –NES-

Picking a favorite of all the classic Megaman games is incredibly tough and in the end it really comes down to 2 and 3. Both have awesome boss fights and memorable levels along with great music, both have classic Megaman action, but 3 wins for 2 simple reasons. It’s got Protoman, the most awesome brother character in video game history who is just a beast when it comes to his attacks on enemies. Then we have that the old Robot Masters from 2 returns in 3 as…weird possessed robots. I’m not sure how it works, but it’s awesome and thanks to these factors 3 is just barely a bit better then 2.

2. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 –Arcades-

I really do love fighting games, even if this is the only one on the list I still love all the classics like Street Fighter, King of Fighters and Mortal Kombat. But when picking an all time best fighter, there is no competition, let alone picking one of my favorite games of all time that’s a fighting game. Capcom pretty much re-invented fighting games with Street Fighter 2 but they took Fighting to it’s ultimate level with Marvel vs. Capcom 2. All kinds of awesome characters to chose from, cool fighting types you could customize and a 3 character team made this game absolutely incredible. Wanted all Marvels? You got it. Only want Capcom? You got it. You could have Megaman, Venom and Blackheart (my team always) taking on Hulk, Wolverine and Captain America. Nothing will ever top the level of greatness that is. Of course the controls where solid as always and the sprite designs for both sides where really cool.

1. Final Fantasy 4 –Several systems-

I’m sure that after saying that I’m not big on RPG’s it’s a bit surprising to see this on my list. Though one game has had a lasting effect on me ever since I first played it back on the Super Nintendo when it was Final Fantasy 2, here in America. FF4 has one of the most amazing stories, amazing characters and just overall level of greatness that I’ve never seen anywhere else in an RPG. While most people think of the seventh installment of Final Fantasy, this is the only one I really care about. FF4 also added a new battle system where you couldn’t just spend all day waiting on what to do, where even when you where deciding how to attack, your enemy was still attacking and could get multiple hits if you don’t think fast and on your feet. Another thing that sets this apart from most RPG’s is that you don’t really have to grind for levels, you can take on any boss really if you know what your doing and are at least strong enough to take him down without having to be at the exact level to kill him. It really does use strategy that really, a lot of RPG’s lack. Of course not everyone loves Final Fantasy and to be honest I’m not the biggest fan of the series as 4 is the only game from the main series I’ve ever owned, but man, of all the games I like to replay often, 4 is always a game I can play, anytime, anywhere, I love it.

So there was my top 10 favorite games of all time, sorry if games you liked didn’t’ make it. Feel free to let me know what you like though. Also a note as to later posts, check back later in the week for a review of the new Hulk Vs. animated film currently out on DVD.

The Week Begins

The week does NOT begin, at least not for me, no comics this week. Been a while for that. So to still give a Week’s Begins I will comment on comics I’m either not getting, or in one case, considering. Also you may have noticed the lack of Week’s End, it’s no particular reason other then I wanted to keep the Watchmen review up through the weekend. Also, not a big week for me anyway. Since I’ve got zero comics this week don’t expect a Week’s End this time anyway, but hey, I’m cooking up some posts.

Resident Evil #1

Written: Rick Sanchez

Art: Kevin Sharpe

This preludes Resident Evil 5, supposedly, but I figured that was the point of Degeneration (recent CG film) to lead into the events of 5, what with Tricell finding the corpse of the new G monster and buying Wilpharma, the company that had samples of the G-virus. So what purpose does this serve other then leading Chris to Africa? Also, do we really need a whole comic to explain that Chris is going to Africa? I figured the simple “there’s zombies, send him in” would suffice. Still I can’t deny this looks interesting, I’m a big time RE fan so if I hear good things I’ll either check out the comic or collection, but most adaptations have sucked, especially from Wildstorm. However I can’t deny it looks good, they got a good artist and at least a competent writer it would seem. Maybe it will be cool, probably not, but it doesn’t hurt to hope.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1

Written and Art: Tony Daniel

I’ve said my peace as to this event, it’s a stupid idea in my honest opinion and it probably will only achieve ****ing up the Bat-verse even more so then Batman being stuck in Caveman days. I know I’ve been nothing but cynical for this event but it’s hard not to be. Also Black Mask returning is a bad idea, I feel they just brought him back to try and give this event more importance and depth beyond “big hero fight” which is sad. Oh well, I still have more Paul Dini/Dustin Nguyen and Batwoman in the future. That’s something, right?

So that’s it, pretty uneventful week I guess, but next week is looking to be big so I can be patient.Now I also need to mention the reviews, while I will finish them up and edit them in, I've been rather swamped and it may not be for another day or so. My apologies. Check through the week though for some new posts.