The Week Begins - May 18th 2009

May or may not be able to get my comics this week ,fingers crossed.

Wolverine: Weapon X #2

Written: Jason Aaron

Art: Ron Garney

After an impressive first issue I’m excited to see what more Aaron can do. I was worried this arc would be all flash and no substance but clearly from the preview there is more going on than just Wolverine having to kill somebody which is a nice change of pace for a story. I am really excited to read this, but as excited as I am, one comic has me more excited this week…

Invincible #62 *Most Anticipated*

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

Not too hard a decision here, Invincible has been a roll as of #60, just as it seemed to be dragging it picked up and I’ve been loving it. Conquest is an awesome new villain who will no doubt take Invincible down several hundred pegs. Really looking forward to seeing what may come of it. Hoping for some cool twists.

Witchblade #127

Written: Ron Marz

Art: Stjepan Sejic

Another good looking read, hopefully things finally get cracking as far as this whole War event. Really want to see Marz cut loose with the action in this issue as he’s done some really cool stuff as far as action in the past and I bet he’ll do great again.

Week's End - May 17th 2009

The week ends like always, I’m feeling very under the weather so there may be lack of posts.

Comic of the Week: Dark Reign Young Avengers #1

Pretty easy decision here, while this week had all good reads, this shined above the rest for me. Cornell got over the dreaded first issue syndrome and has introduced the team, told their opening stories and has hooked me and has me curious and eager for more. Brooks’ art was also incredible as I mentioned. This issue was a rather sick but fun read and it felt like an odd crossover of Young Avengers meets Thunderbolts really.

Moment of the Week: Melting is as easy as Breathing

I really dig the new Melter, he’s so messed up about all of this. While this issue was crammed with all kinds of great moments for every character I had to narrow it down to this, Melter’s discussion with Coat of Arms, or the Young Avengers showing up. While all 3 where great moments nothing tops melting an old lady who you where just trying to help. Better luck next time Melter.

Cover of the Week: Wolverine #73 Anniversary Cover by Marko Djurdjevic

Marvel’s whole Decades Anniversary variants have been interesting. Their timing is a bit off, for instance the Captain America cover won’t be until #601 rather than #600 which makes more sense. Also I’m surprised at the lack of a Spider-man variant by now. But still these covers have all had something cool and unique about them, Djurdjevic really does a great job at portraying iconic poses with these great characters and this is just so far the best of them.

Artists of the Week: Adam Kubert and Tommy Lee Edwards

Giving both these incredible artist the spotlight as they both did an incredible job on Wolverine #73. Though I admit Kubert did have some weak moments, mostly Wolverine’s face at times looked a little scrunched up but it was a minor complaint. Edwards was at the top of his game like usual and his amazing art really helped bring the tale of Horror Show to life which was cool. Both artists did a great job this week and both deserve plenty of credit.

Comic I Wish I Got: Secret Warriors #4

Here is a series I wish I hadn’t dropped, but at the same time I know why I dropped it and I stick to that decision. Much as I was enjoying it the pace was fairly weak and the lack of actually spotlighting the Secret Warriors was annoying me to no end. So I’m trade waiting it, and you can bet that as soon as the first volume is up for pre-order I will do so as this is looking to be an awesome series, still for the sake of price and ease it’s been dropped.

Character of the Week: Melter

The new incarnation of the classic Iron Man villain has made for an interesting character in his debut issue. It’s rather sad how this guy really wants to be a hero badly but his team rather gets in the way of that. It’s funny seeing him make compromises to Enchantress and Executioner and trying his best to keep up the image of a super hero team. It’s also hard not to feel bad for him in what a bad situation he’s stuck with. Still a very appealing new character that hopefully will be able to reach his dreams by the end of this awesome new story.

Collection of the Week: World War Hulk HC

Despite the awful choice of cover for the HC, I am looking forward to this. Been waiting for the World War Hulk HC for a while now as I really enjoyed this awesome event from 2007. Some people say it wasn’t an event, and to an extent maybe it wasn’t, but I still dug it.

Comic reviews for May 13th 2009

3 comics awaited me and 3 comics are now mine to review. A correction from my mistake in The Week Begins this week, Weapon X#2 doesn’t come out this week, but Wolverine #73 did and I decided to give to check it out.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #1

Written: Paul Cornell

Art: Mark Brooks

Opening Comments: As I’ve mentioned, I was really hyped for this. But even with that I kept a reasonable amount of thought to know it could be disappointing. It is a first issue after all and this series really came out of nowhere. Well it’s not the trip to Disneyland I’d hoped for, it’s still an awesome debut issue to a series that looks to be impressive later on as well.

Story Comments: We open with a simple robbery that is immediately thwarted by the Young Avengers. At least…I think that’s what happens, it doesn’t go the simple super hero way where they beat the bad guys and the cops take them away.

When we see these are villains they truly are that as they get pretty brutal. Most of the robbers end up dead except for one who just gets turned into a dog thanks to our new Enchantress. This was a pretty brutal way to open the book and show that these new Young Avengers aren’t doing a very good job of honoring the title, though that is half the point of what they do.

After this the Young Avengers retreat to a bar where Enchantress fakes their ID, in a sense, and they cool off. We get to see more of Melter and through the issue the key point was to show that Melter is a good guy leading a team of fairly bad guys. Big Zero is a racist towards…every race! I don’t even know how that works, Executioner is similar to Punisher but even more violent. Enchantress honestly isn’t anywhere near as brutal as the others but she’s certainly a thief who deserved to get kicked out of Asgard. Coat of Arms is…again, someone I’m not sure about, I think she may be similar to Melter but at the same time she is very cryptic. Egghead is kind of funny, his relationship with Big Zero is even funnier.

These characters are all very nicely introduced and often have great moments here and there. Cornell makes sure to fit in a good moment here and there to show off their unique and interesting personalities.

We see the Melter and Enchantress are lovers in a pretty funny scene. Though we also see through all of Melter’s reactions to his team that he’s a really good guy, a hero as well as the team leader but is forced to make compromises with his villainous teammates. Especially since his power is….well, melting things.

My favorite moment was near the end, Melter accidentally trips an old woman and he tries to help her up. She thinks she’s being robbed so she pepper sprays him in the eyes, he freaks out and accidentally melts her. His freaking out was a really nice moment and it was kind of, in a twisted way, funny that he’s trying to be a good guy, do the right thing, and someone got killed. Though unfortunately the cliff-hanger following was an obvious one where the real Young Avengers show up.

Overall Cornell did an impressive job, he came over the hurdle of First-Issue syndrome that most comics suffer from. He packed in a great introduction with interesting characters that are all debuted nicely and all vary nicely as well. He hooked my attention and has me excited for more.

Art Comments: Mark Brooks is a great artist, but often his cover work overshadows his actual interiors when in comparison. While his art still doesn’t reach that smooth greatness he brings to cover art he achieves a new level of greatness for him as an artist as it seems he’s really pushing his art to be the best it can be. He still suffers from some edgy faces once in a while but it’s a rare complaint as his artwork is solid and great.

Final Comments: I’m excited and ready for more next time when the real Young Avengers show up but for their debut issue these Dark Young Avengers have done a great job winning me over. It’s not everything I hoped it would be but for both a first issue and for brand new characters I was very, very impressed.

Writing: 5 out of 5

Art: 5 out of 5

Overall: 5 out of 5

Must Have

Wolverine #73

Written: Jason Aaron and Daniel Way

Art: Adam Kubert and Tommy Lee Edwards

Opening Comments: I was considering just shelving this and saving myself 3 bucks for next week. But I decided to get it as it’s got some serious talent behind it and I liked the solicits for the two stories. While my hopes where not high they where mild and even then they where not fully met.

Story Comments: The first story is about the life of Wolverine, how he’s always such a busy guy and how does he do it. We get, day by day, what he does. Wee see him each day doing something new and this is either done panel by panel or page by page, since there are only so many pages allotted we don’t get a lot of room.

Some panels where great, we saw a team up of wolverine, Punisher and Ghost Rider, Mystique’s return which I would love to see as an actual story some day, a team up with Spider-man and even Deadpool which was hilarious. Logan searching for Romulus for the billionth time, fighting the Red Hulk (much to my shock) teaming up with Thor, his reaction to the Dark Avengers and finally it all ends with Logan meeting up with his latest girlfriend Yukio and them going to bed and later that night he leaves.

Aaron certainly does a great job of establishing how busy and hectic Logan’s life is. Really this seemed more familiar to what Erik Larsen did in Savage Dragon #144, not saying it’s a rip off or anything just saying it’s in the same vein. It works well and it’s a fairly simple story that ends nicely. Though really not much to say on it, it was a quick and good read though I have no idea where it will lead to in #74

The second story will supposedly lead in to Dark Wolverine but I can’t see how. It’s basically Logan catching up with an old biker buddy named Horror show. They catch up, Horror show details his life up to this point and then after some bikers get killed a war between 2 biker gangs starts brewing and Logan is in the middle.

I admit I’m not a huge fan of Daniel Way’s work, he’s failed to impress me on Ghost Rider and Wolverine: Origins but I will give him credit here. He sets up this character Horror show nicely and details his history to where he feels like an important and nice interesting guy. Though where this is all going I have no idea.

Overall both stories where okay reads and since this was only 3 dollars opposed to 4 I certainly didn’t mind it.

Art Comments: 2 very talented writers threw their hats in for these 2 stories. I’m very pleased to see Kubert (Adam) back at Marvel and he does some really cool stuff with these panels. Sure he has a few weird panels I admit but his art is really strong and cool work and he did a great job here. Edwards did the same and his art really worked well and bring the cool story that Way to life more.

Final Comments: It’s a good entertaining read with incredible artistic talent onboard. Not really much to say though, if you saw the Wolverine Movie and are looking for an interesting read this is it for you, a good read with incredible art. But not much else.

Writing: 3 out of 5

Art: 5 out of 5

Overall: 3 out of 5

Check It

Ultimate Spider-man #132

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: Stuart Immonen

Opening Comments: Ultimatum is taking it’s toll on one of my favorite comics. With things such as delays and other problems Ultimate Spider-man has finally been dragged down into the muck, even though this issue wasn’t terrible ,it had it’s bright spots, it’s just not looking good for Spidey…though not like it ever was.

Story Comments: The storyline is fairly simple really, we get an introduction to the whole portal where Dr. Strange’s big bag of evil magic stuff is and as we see later on, it’s open, all the monsters and crazy evil magic is out of the bag. There was a brief “fight” between MJ and Kitty like on the cover, but it was more MJ smacking Kitty 2 times and crying so it’s hardly worth mentioning.

Put simply from there Nightmare escapes, he is using Dr. Strange as a vessel and he fights and torments Spider-man and Hulk. We got some really interesting moments of inner monologue from Spider-man, how it is all seeming really futile for him and he’s slowly losing hope more and more of being a hero.

Though really the plot is fairly thin, like last issue. It ends with Hulk smashing the hell out of Nightmare causing a giant explosion near Spider-man. I have a theory that Spider-man doesn’t die from the explosion, but rather it sends him to some evil dimension or something like that. Though I’d really hope we not do a cheap death/ending like that.

Really there isn’t too much to say here, Bendis did an all right job with what he could but it seems Ultimatum has limited him a bit and no writer works very well with limits. The characters are done well enough and it has it’s moments but it never really does anything overly interesting or great.

Art Comments: Immonen is a talented artist who does a good job with what he can here. His talents are shown off when Nightmare pulls up some of Spidey’s villains and when Hulk gets to go all rampaging but that’s about it. Still his usual great work.

Final Comments: Ultimate Spider-man is having some trouble on it’s last leg of life before it bows out for the next volume. Still an all right read but not much else.

Writing: 3 out of 5

Art: 4 out of 5

Overall: 3 out of 5

Check It

New Age Ideas

One thing you should know about me is just about every other day something new pops into my head, for that we have New Age Ideas returning so I can write those ideas down.

Image, the Series!

This is a weird idea that’s been going around in my brain for weeks, at first I imagined it as a TV show on HBO like Spawn was, then I imagined it as a movie or something live action, but now I think this would be an awesome comic. The idea is fairly simple, all the Image characters meeting each issue for either smaller or big story arcs. I know it would be a lot to ask of one creative team to handle an ongoing series with so many diverse characters. It would be the ultimate team-book the way I see it. Though really I’d just love to have an ongoing comic where characters like Shadowhawk and Spawn and Invincible can stand around drinking coffee and talking about what villains they hate the most. These characters are all so great and it would just be great to see them interact on a monthly basis, rather than one story arc once in a blue moon. As for who could write it? Robert Kirkman comes to mind but really I think Erik Larsen should be the one to handle it. As for the art? Eh, I’m not even sure…I’d say Ryan Ottley but he’s rather preoccupied with Haunt and Invincible (assuming Haunt ever gets published) so I guess it would have to be someone new. I know Mike Choi has a deal with Marvel but if that where to ever end, he could fit nicely. Eh though it’s just a random idea in my head for now…until I become the EIC of Image!

Deadpool Movie

Here’s a pretty simple idea for the new Deadpool movie…have Deadpool in it!

Making the Silver Age Cool

Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s reinvention of the long forgotten hero Destroyer is so awesome. Though what I love about this reinvention isn’t that we went with the simple “stuck in time” type thing. Destroyer has been alive all these years and is now an old man but is still kicking ass. That is so great and I wish more people whoa re bringing back Silver Age Heroes would do that.

Marvel Zombies, the end…please?

I’m actually enjoying the fourth installment of Marvel Zombies despite it’s drastic departure from what the previous series’ have been about. But…as much as I’m enjoying the zombie madness, I would really like it if we please just end it all. There was a cliff-hanger ending at the end of volume 2, if Marvel insists on a 5^th volume, how about it just be the end and resolve that plot and put the zombies to rest? It’s a simple idea that I really hope happens because I can’t take much more of these brain munching bastards.

Should The Ultimate Universe be boosted more?

We know the Ultimate U is getting a revamp and that’s awesome but will a reboot be enough to make it prominent again? I’m not so sure. We’ve got something really cool looking coming up with the new volume of Ultimate Spider-man as well as Ultimate Avengers and Frank Cho will be artist for Ultimates volume 4 but what about ongoing series’ that could build the universe more? Why do we still not have an Ultimate Ghost Rider or other fan favorites that could be really well done ultimized. I’d love to see a boost in many new ongoing series’ come the Ultimate Comics era of the Ultimate U.

The Week Begins - May 11th 2009

With only a few bucks in my wallet I may just get one comic this week…but I know which it is!

Dark Reign: Young Avengers#1 *Most Anticipated*

Written: Paul Cornell

Art: Mark Brooks

I’ve been like a kid these last few months, in the back of my mom’s car excited to get to Disney World saying “are we there yet?” a thousand times, but now she’s finally parking and I’m ready to meet Mickey! Okay, maybe I’m getting myself a little too hyped up for this comic, after all it could easily be a flop. The concept is out of nowhere and these are all brand new characters as I understand it…but so was the first Young Avengers book. It’s got great talent behind it as well so I’m still super excited for this.

Wolverine: Weapon X #2 doesn't come out this week, I was sure it did from a preview a few weeks back but I guess it got delayed a week or so

Ultimate Spider-man #132

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: Stuart Immonen

The only reason I’m even hopeful that Ultimatum will get to issue #4 this month is so that we can see the close on volume 1 of Ultimate Spider-man, hey, it’s been a hell of a ride but I’m ready to see what Bendis and Lafuente can do with the upcoming second volume. Still I am curious to see how this all plays out, that cover doesn’t seem very truthful when looking at the preview but, eh, I’ve learned not to trust Marvel Comics covers.

Star Trek Review

Let me start off this review by saying how I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this film seeing as I’ve been very negative about the Star Trek franchise. At first I simply did not like it but there was a time when I was very anti-Star Trek to where I did my best to make it known my dislike for the series. When I heard of this film I had no feelings of caring or excitement, only a bland disinterest.

But for whatever reason, maybe to indulge my friend who is a proud fan of the series, or maybe because I actually was interested this time around I gave this movie a shot and I must admit I was impressed.

First off I want to handle the overall story. Now I’ve never been one for science fiction, even when I have it’s been to a lesser degree. I’ve never really liked weird alien tales and one of the few exceptions was Star Wars. So right off the bat I had a strike against this film, but I must admit for a science fiction film it felt much more grounded in reality and made more sense than I had figured.

One thing I have to mention is the comedy in this film. I was not expecting such a great amount of hilarity and humor…really that’s what made me enjoy the film was that it didn’t take itself too seriously. And really this film is just one epic struggle or problem after another so the comedy through out it helps relieve the tension and not make me feel anxious at all and still doesn’t kill the action. There was some truly brilliant comedic moments, most of them from Kirk and Scottie though “Bones” McCoy was also hilarious.

The plot itself is a little weird, it has to do with time travel which is never an easy thing but it makes it very digestible and it all comes together nicely. As I mentioned there’s always one problem after another in this film, unlike movies such as The Dark Knight there where absolutely no moments of rest where something wasn’t going on…well near the beginning, after the opening I suppose but not after we see them hit space.

Though overall I really enjoyed the plot as it was certainly well crafted and was full of tons of great moments and nothing I could really criticize about it.

The characters where also great, Kirk of course stole the show but Spock was also nicely done. “Bones” McCoy was great as well but he was at his best whenever speaking to Kirk as they have a great dynamic. I found the relationship between Spock and Uhura to be rather random and out of nowhere. One minute they are simple acquaintances the next their lovers without any real build up to it. I just found it to be really odd and as if this was thrown in to try and give the movie some romantic weight. The best character was Leonard Nemoy taking the roll as Spock Prime from the future. I’m not even a fan of the original series and this was just plain awesome to see him reprise his roll.

Secondary characters where all nicely done, really there was no actor that I felt did not do their job well.

Now the effects, the movie is one hell of a spectacle with the special effects. Really not much other to say on them other than their epic as all hell and very nicely done.

My biggest problem with this film was the camera and really it’s about as close as I can get to strongly faulting it. The camera moves around a lot and really that’s nice in some scenes, it works very nicely in the actions scenes and really shows off the great performances. But there where a few scenes that where more subtle and simple that didn’t need this touch of a somewhat shaking camera or an unbalanced camera and I couldn’t see the reason for it. It certainly bugged me to say the least, but only so much.

Overall I enjoyed this movie a lot. While it didn’t make me a fan of the series, I’m still probably not going to go out and watch the other movies or anything like that. Though despite that I really loved this movie and look forward to owning the Blu-Ray as soon as possible. It’s an incredible film really despite it’s shaky camera work at time. If you’re looking for a great exciting film that will grab your attention and never let go this movie is for you.

9 out of 10

Must See

Week's End - May 9th 2009

Week’s End is always a fun thing I get to do as I get to revisit the highlights of the week once more.

Comic of the Week: Jersey Gods #4

Not too hard of a decision here. Jersey Gods continues to impress me and leave me hooked and wanting more, but sadly not too much else to say that I haven’t’ covered in my last 2 posts.

Moment of the Week: Dormammu to the Rescue!

It really is a shame that Marvel’s solicits last month had to spoil this surprise. I would probably have been shocked to see this turn of events had I not known it was going to happen, and really this is a nice twist to try and give this series more weight in the Marvel Universe. I know I only gave this issue a Check It but I’m still really looking forward to more Zombie Madness next month and this was a nice cliff-hanger that sadly had to be spoiled.

Cover of the Week: Amazing Spider-man #593 by Joe Quesada

Despite my problems with what Quesada did to the Spider-man franchise I cannot deny he is an incredible artist. His covers often pack a unique power to them that just can’t be found anywhere else. He’s got great creative abilities in crafting a real masterpiece of a cover and this is just another example of that.

Artist of the Week: Dan McDaid

It’s taken a little while but McDaid’s art has really stuck in my head and is appealing. Now I simply can’t imagine anyone else ever drawing Jersey Gods as he really works well with the world he helped create and his art is really improving more and more and looking great.

Comic I wish I got: Atomic Robo volume 3

I had no idea that the third volume of this series was even out yet and man I was shocked to hear about it. This sounds right up my alley, and if my LCS was getting Robo maybe I would have given it a read (rather than wasted 4 bucks on the Witchblade Annual) as it sounds and looks great.

Character(s) of the Week: The Midnight Sons

I’m cheating here as the Midnight Sons all had one good moment at least and with them Van Lente got in some good comedy, the best of them continues to be Morbius but Son of Satan and Jennifer Kale are getting great development.