Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Hurray!

So this news hit the Magical Interwebs;

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/rick-remender-taking-a-break-from-marvel-comics-after-8-years

Here's hoping that the horrible damage he has done to some of my favorite characters can finally be reversed.

Seeya Rick! May you find success elsewhere and never return to Marvel Comics.

Go fuck up DC for a while. Maybe Batman. I never read Batman.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Comics I Bought 6/12/15

With Convergence wrapping up as Secret Wars starts to build up some steam I made a trek to the fabulous comic book palace known as Fanfare. My wife was happy to see GROOT #1 which I would have to agree is a great comic.
Let's see how the rest of my pile of comics fared




WEIRDWORLD #1
A Secret Wars tie in. I remember the original story that is nothing like this. Arkon the Barbarian  who has been a bad guy in the Marvel Universe for decades is trapped in a Weird World that he did not make and is trying to make it back to his home of Polemachus. That would be great except the queen of the realm is Morgana Le Fey and she wants Polemachus for herself. The artwork is awesome, the writing is spot on. I haven't seen anything these gentlemen have done before and I really like it. I did squeal a little when Morgana mentions the Man-Things and their Swamp Queen. Plural?? Really? I can't wait to see how this plays out and if it will survive the Secret Wars.




BAT MITE #1
Yeah, I know who Bat Mite is. That being said, I expected it to be funnier. Just kind of meh. Not good for a first book.



MRS DEADPOOL AND THE HOWLING COMMANDOS #1
Whne you get Man-Things, Werewolf by Night, Frankenstein's Monster, N'Kantu The Mummy and some centaur dude and their job is to keep an eye on Mrs. Deadpool who doesn't marry Deadpool in this tale which makes it odd that they call her Mrs. Deadpool. Anyway, this is what it should be; self referential material by Deadpool's ghosts, Monsters, Mayhem and a quest that Mrs. Deadpool should never be able to survive. While I never bought Deadpool, this book has me hooked.



KAIJUMAX #2
A cross between Destroy All Monsters and Orange IS The New Black? Hurt your head a little to read that, didn't it? Yeah, this is the second issue and creator Zander Cannon keeps making it work. I hope this book is around for years to come. Especially since Godzilla, Rulers of the Earth is done in one issue.



SWORDS OF SORROW #2
Is that Vampirella versus a T-Rex on the cover? Why it is. And the story keeps moving from there. The ladies that got their titular swords last issue are still kind of clue less as to what they are for. It was cool to see Red Sonja on Mars and it really isn't necessary to read the umpteen crossover books that go with this story. I am a little worried that there are only four issues left and that nothing has really started story wise to explain what they are going to do, but it still reads and looks great. Seeing Jane kick ass with her sword is worth the price of the book alone.



JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS #3
The Misfits in rare form are plotting to ruin a charity event where Jem and The Holograms will be playing. Jerrica and Rico have a date. Stormer and Kimber's romance is off to a rocky start. The best thing about this book that it is exactly what the show would be if it was made right now, but without losing any of the classic aspects that continue to make Jem a fan favorite from decades ago.



SENSATION COMICS STARRING WONDER WOMAN #10
If you had told me a year ago that one of my favorite new issues to see on the rack was a Wonder WLoman comic book I would have said 'NO Way! Give me my Captain America!' We all know that there isn't a Captain America book for me out at this time, well except for Planet Hulk and that's kind of a stretch. But this book is just so good. Wonder Woman as a security guard for a pop singer and she fights a dragon in the second story?!?!?! There are so many other characters out there that would benefit from a one and done comic on the market. I wonder why more of these aren't getting made and am glad that this one is still around.



JOHN CARTER WARLORD OF MARS # 6&7
NUmber six wraps up the story line of the madman from Earth who has teamed up with aliens to destroy John CArter. Yeah, that didn't go so well for him.Issue seven is like icing on a delicious cake. John and Dejah go on a little adventure out into the wilds of Mars and John Carter is taken out by the Warhoon. They then decide to have their way with Dejah Thoris now that they have knocked out her super man.
Yeah, she proves that the Warhoon are idiots and just plows through them like a warrior princess or something. Guess that Swords of Sorrow thing is leaking into other titles. Such a great story!



BIZARRO #1

Okay, this is the one. The best book I bought all week. Written by Heath Corson with art by Gustavo Duarte and Bill Sienkiewicz (Even though I couldn't tell) Bizarro tells the road trip tale of Bizarro and Jimmy Olsen. The cartoony art works for this really well and it doesn't take long until Jimmy and Bizarro find them face to face with KING TUT! I thought he was a Batman villain, but in this one he sells used cars and prays to Egyptian gods to give him powers. They do, sort of, and now he can fulfill his goal...
Selling cars!
I laughed so hard reading this book I had to stop more thna once and let me tell you who the new, break out star of the book is and who should get his own book;
Colin the Chupacabra.
Seriously, it is so good and the art matches with the story and, well Colin the Chupacabra. If DC stops this after six issues like it says on the cover they would be doing a grave disservice to the comic reading public.
So good.
Colin the Chupacabra.

Well, that's it for this time. I was amazed at how well I liked the Secret Wars comics I got this time around. Once again DC dominated with Bizarro and Wonder Woman and the independents continue to get some of my cash.
Seeya in two weeks!

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Dissecting the New Marvel

Okay, after Secret Wars wraps up the entire line will reboot with first issues and Marvel has released this image to correspond with the event. Also, apparently it's important to note that the new rebooted line starts eight months after Secret Wars is over.
Whatever.



Alright, we start out good with Phil Coulson. It's always good to have Phil Coulson in anything so bravo. Gee, you want to have the new Captain America (BLEH!) But have to include Steve Rogers BECAUSE EVERY FRIGGIN MARVEL MOVIE HAS HIM IN IT!!! Just change him back already. It's okay, we promise not to tell. Maybe fire Rick Remender because I haven't said that in a while. Ant-Man, I got no problem with Ant-Man, he's cool.
What is going on with Black Panther's ears? Those are stupid, Fix it.
Lady Thor? Sure, why not?
MS. Marvel. Never read it, don't care. People seem to like it and it makes bank so why not?
That Iron Man outfit looks like a 90's throwback.
The Vision changes costumes more than The Wasp these days. As long as he's The Vision I don;t care. Insert plea to bring back Avengers A.I. anywhere in this column.
I see a lot of Spiders on this picture. They still haven't explained what happened to Spider-Woman's chest. Spider Gwen is cool even though it craps on the original death of Gwen Stacy. And the Spider Kid from the Ultimate Universe seems cool so, we can keep him.

Finally, when did Turok become part of the Marvel Universe? (Apparently, this is Red Wolf. I remember Red Wolf...cool!)
Weird!

Monday, June 1, 2015

Comics I Bought 6/1/2015

So, with Motor City Comic Con two weeks past I was able to get into the comic store again. It boggled my mind how many friggin comic books DC and Marvel had out. So many titles it made my head swim a bit. True to my word I have ignored Convergence all together, but I did dip my toe into Secret Wars. You'll see below



SWORDS OF SORROW #1
Writer Gail Simone
Artist Sergio Davila

A huge crossover of nothing but female characters from various forms of literature? This sounds amazing. Jana of the Jungle, Dejah Thoris, Vampirella, Red Sonja, Jane Greystoke all in a single series. What can I say? The art is great. The storyline that is really just the set up for the rest of the series works well and keeps things moving. I had no idea Kato was a woman now. When did that happen? Anyway, while I probably won't chase down all the miniseries that accompany this book, I will stick with the core book. This is a really novel idea and I can't wait to see how it plays out.
I wanted to add a comment on the cover; it seems there are like thirty variant covers. That's fine, but I got this one. While Vampirella and Dejah Thoris are passable at best, but Red Sonja looks so good! The expression on her face, the detail of the artwork. This is the best Red Sonja I have seen in a very long time. My favorite cover in a while.   



GODZILLA RULERS OF THE EARTH #24
Writer Chris Frank
Artist Matt Frank

One more double sized issue after this one and then it is over. A little over two years I haven't missed an issue and now it is over. The alien race trying to waste the Earth and all of our Kaiju has made a grievous error by releasing Gigan. Add the monsters that can duplicate Godzilla's powers and a hint at King Ghidorah and we know that the final issue is going to be the best of the series. I'm still sad it's over, but ti was a great run.




SHIELD 5
Writer Mark Waid
Artist Mike Choi



SHIELD #6
Writer Mark Waid
Artist Paul Renaud

After touching base with Dr. Strange last issue, Phil Coulson is confronted with a man who can shoot magic bullets. He is able to take out the likes of Damian Hellstrom, his sister Satana and pretty much any magic wielder on the planet. Scarlet Witch comes along fro the ride and they discover that there is a bigger plan and it's got Dormammu's name written all over it.
While I am always glad to see Man-Thing in any comic I felt that the first issue had passable art, bt it just didn't look good to me. The second issue had better art and idea of a curse that would turn humans into The Mindless Ones was genius. I laughed when it appears that the smarter you are the sooner you turn into one of the unthinking beasts. This was a good two parter, but I miss the funny one pager that had been running in the back of the comic since it started. They should definitely bring that back.




WHERE MONSTERS DWELL #1
Writer Garth Ennis
Artist Russ Braun

Having been a huge Phantom Eagle fan I was a little sad that they depict him here as some sort of low life. It comes across more as a sleazy Indiana Jones meets The Land That Time Forgot than anything else. It is a limited series and I am a big dinosaur fan, but I don't know if I'm going to finish this mini series. Not a good first foray into Battleworld.




PLANET HULK #1

Writer Sam Humphries
Artist Marc Laming

This is the book I have been waiting for. Since Rick Remender ruined Captain America for me years ago, it was nice to see Steve Rogers back in tip top fighting form. Having Devil Dinosaur as his sidekick made it even better. So, Doctor Doom runs the place and Dr. Strange is his second in command? That seems, I don't know...stupid? I know that Doom loves being in charge, but it seems cliche in this case.
Steve Rogers is sent from the gladiator pits to Greenland where all the Hulks live to save his partner, Bucky. Okay, so there was a World War 2 here on Battleworld? Is this the same Steve Rogers I know from decades of comic books? See, I really need someone to give me some answers pretty damned quick here.
Also, this book was 4.99??? Five bucks and it has a two page spread that is just big green letters giving us the title of the comic book again. You guys are making enough green off of this little Secret Wars endeavor and you gotta hack us for an additional buck. Bad form. I'm still going to buy it...for a while.

So, there you have it. Some winners, some losers and me wondering if my precious Marvel Comics will ever be the same. See ya next time kids!