Comic Review Round Up 1/25/15

I have a few entries for The Quarter Bin, but let's take a look at the new stuff first, shall we?

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS #3 IDW $3.99

What I am considering a true extension of the film. Megs, he grand daughter of Kim from the film has finally met up with Edward. He admits to let something...dangerous loose in the town. Now Kim has to help Edward before it is too late and Eli does something that can't be undone.
I love the cartoony artwork in this book. It gives it that Burton flavor without just aping the look of the movie. I like that it looks like a funny book, but some dreadful things are simmering below the surface.
A great book.

TRINITY OF SIN #4 DC Comics $2.99

DeMatteis always does right by the supernatural aspects of the DC Universe. It is sad knowing there are only two more issues of the book, but knowing this it makes me wonder how he's going to pull it off. Will The Question, Pandora and The Phantom Stranger be able to stop Nimraa from destroying the DC Universe. And since Convergence happens shortly the worst question is...does it matter? I really am not a fan of company events in comics. We shall have to wait and see how this plays out. By the way, the artwork by Guichet and Gorder is exquisite.

SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN #6 DC Comics $3.99

If you told me that I would be buying a Wonder Woman book on a regular basis, I would not have believed you. In the land of epic crossovers and storylines that can take years to finish I love this little book filled with one and done stories. It makes me remember why I read comic books in the first place. The first story, Generations written by Michael Jelenic and artwork by Drew Johnson and Ray Snyder tells us a story of Diana hunting down a Phoenix Egg. Her nemesis, Cheetah believes the egg can grant immortality and a bloody battle begins. This is some great work with a simple, sweet story, great artwork that takes a tone that makes you feel as if you are in a blast furnace the entire time. Good stuff.
The second story, Not Included starts as a simple team up of Wonder Woman and Big Barda against Msieu Mallah and Brain that seems like a simple heist and ends up being something a little sadder.
If you haven't been reading this book you could do worse in picking it up.

AMAZING X-MEN #15 Marvel Comics $3.99

The first of a four parter called The Once and Future Juggernaut this deals with the crimson gem of Cyttorak and the god known as Cyttorak and his need to be in the place where people are. The gem calls to Cain Marko who most of us equate as Juggernaut. Colossus who apparently was also Juggernaut hears the gem's siren call and the X-Men, minus Colossus are on the way.
This sounds like a great idea for a story. I have bought every issue of this series except for #14 that was some AXIS tie in that did not interest me in the slightest.
I know I said that I was going to remain positive here, but...
The art is just terrible. It reminds me of the black and white glut where anyone could put out a comic book even if they were terrible artists. The heads don;t fit on necks. It seems rough and just...well, that's all I'm going to say. I have no idea if I'm going to finish this arc I will have to see if the story can overcome the art.
We shall see.

FROM THE QUARTER BIN.

I have three that I pulled from the bins this week that I want to discuss


AVENGERS INFINITY #1 Marvel Comics $2.99 2000

Apparently, this is some sort of interstellar version of The Avengers. We get Thor, Starfox, Captain Marvel when she was Monica Rambeau, Quasar, Moondragon, Tigra and well that's it. I did feel sorry that Starfox didn't rate being on the cover, but this is pretty okay stuff. They go to save the Rigellians and it has that cosmic feel to it. Art by Sean Chen and Scott Hanna with words by Roger Stern. I'd read more of these.

AVENGERS #7 $1.95 Marvel Comics 1997

This is the Liefeld and Loeb Avengers. Avengers from a pocket universe when people thought that was a good idea. I got it for the exquisitely bad artwork and stayed for the introduction of The Lethal Legion led by a long pair of legs passing themselves off as The Enchantress. Sheesh! I am so glad I didn't buy comics when this nonsense was going on. So bad it's good.

CAPTAIN AMERICA KING SIZE ANNUAL #5 75 cents 1981

Captain America with art by Gene Colan?? Sold! Also David Michelinie can't hurt the proceedings. I thought the weird part is that the story starts with Captain America sneaking onto a boat where The Constrictor is holding New York City ransom by aiming a missile at The World Trade Center threatening to blow it to kingdom come.
But that's not the real threat here. The real threat is a man by the name of Samson Scythe. Rich beyond rich, but after being in the war he discovered that the only thing that can get rid of his boredom is the sight of others dying. He prefers to have criminals killed, but then after Captain America stops one of his attempts he is excited to see if he will feel the same after killing a hero.
This is old school Marvel at it's finest. Colan brings a different look to what we expect from our adventures of Captain America. Makes it a little creepier than another artist might have. This was a great stand alone story with a bizarre protagonist. Great stuff.

This week had some great stuff. I am worried about Amazing X-Men, but, as I said before, we shall have to wait and see.
Have a good two weeks, folks. I'll be back then.

SECRET WARS/CONVERGENCE

A villain is grouping past incarnations of super heroes all in one place for a universe redefining event that will change the way we see comic books forever!
Sound familiar? It should because this is a description of both Marvel and DCs giant crossovers. Dc is calling theirs Convergence and Marvel decided not to try anything new and went with Secret Wars.
With DC I do not care. See, it has always been a fictional place to me. Metropolis,  Gotham, not real places. Besides, doesn't DC reboot about every two or three years?
But, Marvel?
See, Marvel takes place here. Heroes hang out in actual places; New York, Chicago, The Great Lakes. And being a Michigander I loved having a team, no matter who ridiculous, called The Great Lake Avengers.
Now they are talking about mashing a bunch of stuff together into something called a Battleworld and that is where the Marvel Universe will exist for the rest of time ad infinitum.
Until they decide to change things back because they aren't selling enough comic books.
And here's another problem; I think this might be an attempt to just phase out comics altogether. Marvel doesn't need them. They make big bank with all the movies they have and being tied into the triumvirate of Disney, Star Wars and Marvel does mean they don't really have to do anything. Disney never loses money.
Who knows? I might like it. I heard they are bringing Doctor Zero back. I liked Doctor Zero. But lately Marvel has been doing things I just don't like. I haven't bought a Captain America or Avengers book in over a year. That can't be a good sign. I find myself going more and more to DC and independents and as long as Marvel thinks its a good idea to distance themselves by taking away the Marvel we know and love then I don't see it getting any better.
Kind of a shame. 
Goodbye childhood.
Goodbye Marvel.

CONVERGENCE

Yeah, yeah I know I already posted today, but there's this layout for the first two weeks of DC's Convergence. Some titles look great others, could care less. We're gonna stay positive and go from there and discuss the ones I might buy.

WEEK ONE

SPEED FORCE #1 - Wally West is back so what is not to love?

BATGIRL #1 Old school Batgirl and is that Doctor Midnight I see on the cover? SOLD!
(NOTE: Apparently I mistook some character named Red Robin for Doctor Midnight. Bummer. Not as interested.)

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 Shows a bunch of ladies of the DCU and makes me wonder if it's going to be an all woman Justice League. I might peek to see if I want this.

WEEK TWO

 JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1 - I worry that it's not Giffen/DeMatteis, but Marz ain't bad. I'll get it anyway, but I'll bet it's not as funny.

SUICIDE SQUAD #1 - Is that Evil Cyborg Superman I see on the cover? Hmmmmm...

WEEK THREE

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #1 - Oh yeah! And OMAC to boot? Sign me up.

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #1 - You mean Justice League Detroit? Nostalgia tells me to get it. Nostalgia also reminds me how much I disliked this book.

THE FLASH #1 - Old School Barry Allen? Yes please.

SWAMP THING #1 - Worth a peek

WEEK FOUR

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #1 - If you know me you know I already bought this...in my mind's eye or whatever.

WORLD'S FINEST #1 - The Seven Soldiers of Victory? I'm in.

BLUE BEETLE #1 - Charlton Comics version of Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and The Question? I'm gonna cry.

PLASTIC MAN AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #1 - !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Let's run down the numbers.  DC in four weeks will be release forty-four comic books. Of that number I am only really interested in lucky number 13. Plus the four issues of Convergence itself that I will probably get as long as it's not Age of Ultron or Future's End kind of stupid.
This will either rock or just make me sad when they cancel something I really like after two issues. I hope the Justice Society survive and they are smart enough to bring them back.

Check out all the cool covers and breakdowns for every issue...

HERE!!!

UPDATE: I wrote this pretty fast and missed a few things reading the brief descriptions of each issue. That being said, I did find two that I will need to have;

INFINITY INC. #1 - I read this off and on when it first came out, but now that I know they are facing off against the post apocalyptic version of Jonah Hex I am so buying this one!

HAWKMAN #1 - I do loves me some Hawkman. Hawkman in the world of Kamandi??? Um, SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And finally, there is a Supergirl issue that promises Ambush Bug. I might leaf through it at the store and see if it's going home with me. I think it was the Supergirl who used to kock boots with Lex Luthor when he had hair and she was a proto blobby thing. Man, that was dumb as Hell.

Sorry, one last thing. I hope these have a 2.99 cover price or I might have to rethink about half of these things. I'll pay that for the actual issues of Convergence, but the forty some odd mini series??? No Way!

UPDATE PART TWO

Apparently the regular books are 3.99 apiece. That cuts my list in about half then. Sorry DC, too rich for my blood.
 



 

Um...Hello?

So, there is a new costume for Spider-Woman. I get that they want her to be like the new Batgirl, but something seems different.

Check these pics for a comparison.







You want a new costume that's fine, but where did her boobs go? Is the new costume some sort of weird binding thingie that shrinks them to...well, nothing? I did a whole minute of research on the Magical Interwebs and fond nothing that mentioned this so, felt it was my duty to bring it up. The new one seems like a blatant rip off of Batgirl's new costume.



My opinion, take it or leave it. It reminds me of the time when everyone in the Avengers had beard stubble and wore puffy vests of some kind.






Hmmm, after closer viewing it appears it's more like jackets as opposed to vests. I remembered vests for some reason. Oh well, still not a good costume change.

ANT-MAN...DAMMIT!

So, even when Edgar Wright was going to be a part of this movie I was far from happy with it. Making Michael Douglas Hank Pym effectively removes Janet Pym a.k.a. The Wasp from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I have always been a fan of The Wasp. For decades she was the heart of The Avengers and Marvel was screwing this whole thing up!
When Wright left the picture I was less excited to see it. Just did not care. The movie poster, in my opinion, was awful. And now Yellowjacket is a bad guy with extra limbs ?!?!?! Man, this was getting worse by the minute.
Then, last night, I watched the damn trailer.
There was Ant-Man astride his flying ant. The suit looked a little better when it was moving around. Michael Douglas never bothered me so him being in it doesn't affect me. Him being Hank Pym does, but that's a different matter.
The trailer looked good.
I might have to go see this damned thing.
And they are going to screw it up. I just know it.
I do like Paul Rudd so, that's a thing and Scott Lang was always okay in my book.
We'll see.
I could be wrong.
I doubt it, but we shall see.
DAMMIT!

Comic Review Round Up 1/12/15

THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #1

I have been a Squirrel Girl fan since day one. I even have her in my Facebook Avengers game. She is the highest level of any of my characters. Now she has her own book with scripting by Ryan North and cool art that reminds me of Adventure Time by Erica Anderson. Squirrel Girl has decided to go back to school and adopt a secret identity. As Doreen Green she is just a normal girl.
Well, sort of. She's still working on the normal part of her behavior. When Kraven The Hunter shows up on campus the fight is on!
I hope we get to keep this book for a long time. I don't care why Marvel decided to do this and I do not care. It is awesome.
Go buy it. Go buy three of them. Just do it. Thank me later.

JOHN CARTER WARLORD OF MARS #3

Dejah Thoris is trying to get out of the prison she languishes in thanks to Captain Joshua Clark. An Earthman who knows John Carter and despises him. Captain Clark realizes that the only way to keep the upper hand is to have Dejah Thoris executed. Meanwhile, John Carter, Tars Tarkas and his ragtag band speed their way to Helium in an unfamiliar aircraft. It crashes and Woola is left dragging the body of John Carter out of the wreckage.
This series reminds me so much of the old Marvel series. Even the covers look like that old series and they are doing a magnificent job of continuing new adventures. Another comic that I look forward to each month it hits the racks.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #37

The epic tale of the group splintered throughout the timelines brings us to Deadman, Madame Xanadu and Black Orchid who arrive in a place where time does not move. People are not frozen, but they experience no change in their lives forever. To some, like Madame Xanadu it seems like Heaven. Deadman knows better. He has been to Heaven and refused it. When their curious host wishes to experience time something dreadful happens.
Next issue promises that the group will be reunited, but that doesn't surprise me. I know that all DC titles are taking two months off while Convergence happens throughout the DC Universe. I might like some of it, but I'm pretty sure I won't like a lot of it. In the meantime I'm two months with no Justice League Dark. A sad state of affairs at best.

ONE FROM THE QUARTER BIN

Actually, the quarter bin is fifty cents now, but it was the quarter bin for so long that it sounds wrong to say the fifty cents bin. So, my column, my rules and it stays the quarter bin.

DOOM FORCE #1

A one shot from the mind of Grant Morrison that effectively skewers so many X-Titles from Marvel that were out at the time. Published in 1992 it deals with a super team of misfits and, as the cover announces, one of them will die! No mystery to that as they actually point the arrow on the cover to the one who is up for the chopping block.
It's Grant Morrison at his self referential, super hero skewering best with a plethora of artists to help him realize his dream. Ketih Giffen and Mike Mignola give us a Liefeld inspired cover. Even the column at the end has a little fun when Morrison gives us a list of potential hero names for future issues that will never arrive. Each with the little TM next to them so no one steals them. It is sad that nothing came from this. I would have loved to see what a hero named Diaphragm would be like.

Charlie Hebdo; A Tragedy

Yesterday people I do not know who worked for a magazine I never read died for drawing cartoons mocking a religious figure. Three heavily armed men stormed the publication offices in France and committed the ultimate sin. Killing people for expressing their right to free speech.
I had a busy day yesterday. It was my lovely wife's birthday. We went out, saw the final Hobbit movie, did a little shopping and I made her a dinner of steak, asparagus and sweet potatoes. I also made a home made cake that, while fine, the frosting did not turn out like I wanted. Luckily Betty Crocker saved me there.
So, there I was in this sea of festivities and this happens.
Why?
Are terrorists so stupid that they don't realize that more people will be drawn to the publication that mocked them in the first place? I asked ten people if they had ever heard of the magazine or any of the cartoonists that were murdered. They said no. Give them a day and they will all know. This is a high profile news story because it has insane people murdering people who disagree with them.
In a perfect world these murderers would be caught and prosecuted to the full measure of the law.
In a perfect world.
Makes me wish I lived in such a place, but I know I don't.
People were murdered for drawing funny cartoons and having an opinion.
This has to stop.
Think about how much worse it could get if this isn't dealt with in a swift manner?
If you don't believe that you are a simpleton and a fool.
I considered putting a cartoon up here, but it felt like a hollow gesture at this point.
One last thing; you did notice I only used the word 'murder' here, right? I'm tired of people using the word killed when it involves two people. You can be killed in an auto accident. You can be killed by a Grizzly Bear. You can be killed by slipping and falling in the tub. When some asshole points a gun at another human being for an incredibly stupid reason and pulls the trigger...that's murder plain and simple.
My heart goes out to the friends and families of those murdered yesterday. All I can do is offer my condolences and pray for justice for those taken from us by narrow minded, murderous assholes.
That's it.
I'm done.    

UPDATE: The murderers have been killed by France. It doesn't bring back a single person. What a waste.