When it comes to comics, i have to have to FULL picture. Take DC Comics for example. With their New 52 format, they've re-started their entire universe. (If you don't know about the New 52, you could always check out my earlier posts... please? I've had like 3 views in the past week.) As it stands now, i read over half of DC's monthly releases. The titles i don't read monthly I buy in collected volumes. Basically I've read about 85% of DC's collective universe.
Marvel is a different story. I've always had mixed feelings for the title that the company publishes. the X-Men are great but there's like a million of them and there's always like 20 ongoing X-Men titles at any given time.
The series is so bogged down by continuity it's almost impossible to just pick up the series. Did you know there are two mutant schools now? Yeah. One ran by Cyclops and the other by Wolverine. That's right. The immortal, claw welding psychopath is now teaching children. But wait. Wolverine isn't immortal anymore because terrorists from a miniature universe decided to sap Wolverine's healing factor. Well at least the other school is taught by Cyclops, Professor Xavier's star pupil. No way anything could go wrong the-
What was that? Cyclops is recently escaped from jail where he was imprisoned for allowing the Phoenix Force to inhabit the bodies of the X-Men and almost destroy the world a billionth time?
Great.
Spider-Man's okay too except no, not really. He's a 30 year old man who hops around New York City in bi-colored long-johns and who has more anxiety and depression then Hamlet. Don't get me wrong, Spider-Man is a great character and when he was younger (like high-school and college days) the costume choice and the forced witty humor made more sense.
There hasn't been any growth in Spider-Man since he realized that "with great power there must also come great responsibility". And even then he allowed Gwen Stacey to get thrown off a building to her death. Because THAT'S responsible. What Spider-Man needs is more character growth. More love and respect from those who write th-
What was that? Doctor Octopus switched his mind with Peter Parker's while Ock was on his death bed? So Parker's dead and the Good Doctor is now Spider-Man? The sad part is it's a great series. REALLY great. And it's all going to go down the drain. Everyone knows Peter Parker will come back. EVERYONE. So once he does we just go back to two years ago before any of this happened.
Then there are the classics: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, THE AVENGERS. The only problem with these characters is the movies that Marvel has been releasing. With the popularity of the movie franchises Marvel has been changing and upgrading their characters to better fit with the movies. I have two examples of this: Nick Fury and Phil Coulson.
In The Avengers Fury is played by the irreplaceable Sam Jackson. Well those of you who knew about Nick Fury before the movies probably know that he's an old Caucasian man in the comic books. (Except the Ultimate version, which is the one the movie based Fury off of.) Well now we have a white Fury and a Black Fury. Except no we don't, because that's confusing. Around the time that Marvel released Superior Spider-Man, Fury was rebooted as an African-American. I'm not the kind of guy to get upset over something like changing the race of a character (Miles Morales is a great Ultimate Spider-Man) but it is pretty confusing.
Then we have Coulson. Who died in the Avengers but not really. I guess he just got down-sized to a TV show or something? Now there's a Phil Coulson of the Ultimate Marvel universe and in the mainstream Marvel Universe. I don't even know what the guy is useful for at this point.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Arcade's Arena
I've yet to bring up Marvel's Avengers Arena during these posts and that's mostly because the series ended several months ago. In AA a long-time X-Men foe, Arcade, has grown weary of his multitude of losses against the active super-hero community of the Marvel Universe. So on one of his many "29th" birthdays (which also happens to end with Arcade's hospitalization) The villain reads some books. The books are never actually named but I'm 100% positive that the books were Hunger Games and a Japanese manga series titled: Battle Royal.
I'm sure everyone knows what the Hunger Games is by this point, but Battle Royal is a manga series featuring a world where classes of students are randomly selected to fight each other to the death. Highlander rules apply: There can be only one.
Back to AA. Arcade finds inspiration in the pages of his books. After his hospitalization Arcade spends countless hours and money to convert his private island into what is essentially a teenage death-trap.
The fruit of Arcade's labor is an all or nothing fight to the death between a number of Marvel's famous teen heroes as well as a few new-comers, and let me tell you, this thing gets brutal. That isn't to say this series was just mindless violence. While reading the series you begin to see that there is a reason for each death. That the deaths serve a purpose to the greater story. (Well maybe except for Red Raven, but who needs her anyway?)
Personally, i grabbed the series because of the appearance of Mettle, Hazmat, Reptil, and X-23 from the Avengers Academy series as well as Niko and Chase from The Runaways. (Sorry, they don't have super-hero names to identify them.) Cammie the teenage space-girl and Dark Hawk are also featured in the series for older fans.
So why even bring up Avengers Arena if the series is over? Aside from the title being a great read for any Marvel fan or even Hunger Games or Battle Royal fans, a sequel title has been released titled: Avengers Undercover. The series takes place three months after AA and the survivors are doing their bests to deal with life after AA. The events of which Arcade has posted to the internet. The series teases that these kids will be going undercover in the Masters of Evil for some reason or another. Who knows how the series will pan out, but i can say AU had a stellar first issue.
I'm sure everyone knows what the Hunger Games is by this point, but Battle Royal is a manga series featuring a world where classes of students are randomly selected to fight each other to the death. Highlander rules apply: There can be only one.
Back to AA. Arcade finds inspiration in the pages of his books. After his hospitalization Arcade spends countless hours and money to convert his private island into what is essentially a teenage death-trap.
The fruit of Arcade's labor is an all or nothing fight to the death between a number of Marvel's famous teen heroes as well as a few new-comers, and let me tell you, this thing gets brutal. That isn't to say this series was just mindless violence. While reading the series you begin to see that there is a reason for each death. That the deaths serve a purpose to the greater story. (Well maybe except for Red Raven, but who needs her anyway?)
Personally, i grabbed the series because of the appearance of Mettle, Hazmat, Reptil, and X-23 from the Avengers Academy series as well as Niko and Chase from The Runaways. (Sorry, they don't have super-hero names to identify them.) Cammie the teenage space-girl and Dark Hawk are also featured in the series for older fans.
So why even bring up Avengers Arena if the series is over? Aside from the title being a great read for any Marvel fan or even Hunger Games or Battle Royal fans, a sequel title has been released titled: Avengers Undercover. The series takes place three months after AA and the survivors are doing their bests to deal with life after AA. The events of which Arcade has posted to the internet. The series teases that these kids will be going undercover in the Masters of Evil for some reason or another. Who knows how the series will pan out, but i can say AU had a stellar first issue.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Forever...
Forever Evil is the first company-wide cross over event DC Comics has released since The New 52 reboot. The cross over occurs in the aftermath of Trinity War, itself a three title cross over occurring in the Justice League, Justice League Dark, and Justice League of America titles. With all these Leagues involved it is little surprise that the end of Trinity War resulted in the introduction of The Crime Syndicate.
The Crime Syndicate is the other-world counterpart to the Justice League. It's members, Ultraman, Super Woman, Owl-Man, Johnny Quick, Death-Storm, Atomica, and Power Ring, act as twisted reflections of the Justice League and act as those reflections as well. The Syndicate appear in the final pages of Trinity War and proceed to cripple the world by shutting off all power, moving the moon the block the sun, and eliminating the Justice League.
Forever Evil is a 7 issue event with three 6 issue limited series showing what else is happening in the world. These titles include Arkham War, where Batman's rouges gallery faces off against the forces of Bane for control of Gotham City; Rouges Rebelion, where the Flash's Rouges... rebel against the Syndicate; and A.R.G.U.S, which focuses on the last stand of the forces of good.
Along with these titles, regular series like Suicide Squad, Justice League, Constantine, Justice League, Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger, Justice League of America, Trinity of Sin: Pandora, and Justice League Dark have been used to tell additional stories in the Forever Evil story-arc. The most notable would be Forever Evil: Blight which has been taking place in the combined titles of Phantom Stranger, Constantine, Pandora, and Justice League Dark.
Something else I'd like to point out is how Forever Evil has been handled. The month before the release of Forever Evil #1, DC Comics held "Villains Month' Where every title under the New 52 was put on hold and replaced by 52 Villains issues. I bring this up because this month helped to distance me from the heroes. By the time Forever Evil rolled around, it felt like the heroes have been gone for a good while.
Well done.
The Crime Syndicate is the other-world counterpart to the Justice League. It's members, Ultraman, Super Woman, Owl-Man, Johnny Quick, Death-Storm, Atomica, and Power Ring, act as twisted reflections of the Justice League and act as those reflections as well. The Syndicate appear in the final pages of Trinity War and proceed to cripple the world by shutting off all power, moving the moon the block the sun, and eliminating the Justice League.
Forever Evil is a 7 issue event with three 6 issue limited series showing what else is happening in the world. These titles include Arkham War, where Batman's rouges gallery faces off against the forces of Bane for control of Gotham City; Rouges Rebelion, where the Flash's Rouges... rebel against the Syndicate; and A.R.G.U.S, which focuses on the last stand of the forces of good.
Along with these titles, regular series like Suicide Squad, Justice League, Constantine, Justice League, Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger, Justice League of America, Trinity of Sin: Pandora, and Justice League Dark have been used to tell additional stories in the Forever Evil story-arc. The most notable would be Forever Evil: Blight which has been taking place in the combined titles of Phantom Stranger, Constantine, Pandora, and Justice League Dark.
Something else I'd like to point out is how Forever Evil has been handled. The month before the release of Forever Evil #1, DC Comics held "Villains Month' Where every title under the New 52 was put on hold and replaced by 52 Villains issues. I bring this up because this month helped to distance me from the heroes. By the time Forever Evil rolled around, it felt like the heroes have been gone for a good while.
Well done.
The Superior Comic Book
I talk a lot about DC Comics' New 52, however they aren't the only big name company to forge a new path for themselves. Marvel NOW! focuses on revitalizing old titles by putting the characters in wild, off the wall scenarios. Case in point: Superior Spider-Man.
In issue 700 of The Amazing Spider-Man, Doctor Octavius has somehow switched minds with Peter Park right before the Doctor's death. This means he was free to enjoy Parker's body while Peter was free to... die along with The aging Doc Ock's fragile body. This brings me to today's point: Superior Spider-Man is an amazing title.
I've read through issue 7 and so far Octavius has irrevocably ruined any chance of a future with Mary-Jane Watson (shame on you if you don't recognize the name), began to hook up with a... little person, got kicked out of the Avengers, and brutally "taken care of" a plethora of Spider-Man villains. This man means business.
The most appealing aspect of this title is that it can't exist for too long. Not with Peter Parker dead, not with Doctor Otto Octavius, Dr. Octopus, inhabiting Peter Parker's body. Eventually, it will become known that Doc Ock has switched minds with his greatest foe and there will be real and immediate consequences.
What interests me the most is what will eventually be left for Peter Parker. Whereas he's as dead as a door nail right now, we know that in comic books dead rarely means dead. My guess is Peter Parker will be coming back, and he'll have to pick up the pieces left behind by the Doctor's madness.
Speaking of Spider-man... only one more issue Ultimate Cataclysm draws to a close and the Ultimate Universe restarts once again! This time the list of ongoing titles will be Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Ultimate FF, and Young Ultimates. As a person who generally prefers DC to Marvel, I have to say: Marvel sure has become rather exciting.
In issue 700 of The Amazing Spider-Man, Doctor Octavius has somehow switched minds with Peter Park right before the Doctor's death. This means he was free to enjoy Parker's body while Peter was free to... die along with The aging Doc Ock's fragile body. This brings me to today's point: Superior Spider-Man is an amazing title.
I've read through issue 7 and so far Octavius has irrevocably ruined any chance of a future with Mary-Jane Watson (shame on you if you don't recognize the name), began to hook up with a... little person, got kicked out of the Avengers, and brutally "taken care of" a plethora of Spider-Man villains. This man means business.
The most appealing aspect of this title is that it can't exist for too long. Not with Peter Parker dead, not with Doctor Otto Octavius, Dr. Octopus, inhabiting Peter Parker's body. Eventually, it will become known that Doc Ock has switched minds with his greatest foe and there will be real and immediate consequences.
What interests me the most is what will eventually be left for Peter Parker. Whereas he's as dead as a door nail right now, we know that in comic books dead rarely means dead. My guess is Peter Parker will be coming back, and he'll have to pick up the pieces left behind by the Doctor's madness.
Speaking of Spider-man... only one more issue Ultimate Cataclysm draws to a close and the Ultimate Universe restarts once again! This time the list of ongoing titles will be Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Ultimate FF, and Young Ultimates. As a person who generally prefers DC to Marvel, I have to say: Marvel sure has become rather exciting.
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