Category: Marvel

Did The Uncanny Avengers Live Up to the Hype?

I just got done reading The Uncanny Avengers #1, one of the most hyped comics books in quite some time. Marvel has even reported over 300,000 issues already sold. So was it as amazing as everyone hoped? I think so. Now granted this is issue #1 only, but in the aftermath of AVX which I will admit I didn’t read it all ( hey comic books are expensive and to be honest I can’t afford to read all the tiles I’d like to every week for 4 bucks a pop) this issue is a fantastic start to something that could be really awesome. It’s first off beautifully drawn by John Cassaday, while reading it, it brought back great memories of Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-men run second Remender does a great job with grabbing you in with some heartfelt story telling in the wake of Professor X’s death.

What we have here in issue one is basically Captain America asking Havok to lead a special Avengers team, Wolverine telling the world they failed Chuck Xavier and his dream, an attack by Avalanche on the city in the name of mutant revenge on humans and lastly Rogue confronting The Scarlet Witch at Xavier’s grave. I thought it was a great scene in where we get to really understand where both of these characters are coming from dealing with the recent “death”.

Lastly we get a new(?) gang of villains who attack. We have ‘The Goat Faced Girl” who’s creepy enough along with, an insect man, a water controlling octopus woman, a winged demon woman and a snapping turtle man guy. So yeah not sure what I think about these dudes yet…we’ll see. Finally we get a look at the “major villain” which is really not much of a surprise but steals something for him self which will be important I’d imagine to the X-men. A really impressive first issue overall, with wonderful artwork and an exciting story coming together it will be interesting to see how long The Avengers remain Uncanny…..

Comic Book Cover of the Week! Mignola & The Hulk!

This awesome cover for The Incredible Hulk # 302 which debuted in December of 1984 and is beautifully illustrated by Mike Mignola. It’s from a great Hulk story arc where he is banished to “The Crossroads”, a strange dream-like world in another dimension, which Doctor Strange exiles him to for quite a few issues. You see right around this time The Hulk was causing the world a lot of trouble. Shortly before this however The Hulk inherited Banners brain and was “free” of the monster. Hell he was even asked to join The Avengers again! However it didn’t take long before the monster took full control again and The Hulk became a near mindless monster entirely.

During his time in The Crossroads The Hulk traveled to many strange places, this particular issue he arrived in a bizarre midieval kingdom where there was race of brutal red skinned knights rule the land and as The Hulk learns early on he is no match for their strength. This is a great story as The savage Hulk learns what it feels like to no longer be the strongest one there is. The Hulk gets his ass kicked bad multiple times here like never before.

It also features a green skinned maiden who’s tears turn to flowers who I think may remind Hulk of his old flame Jarella.Oh yeah and no one speaks english so it’s pretty neat as it’s based on the art and some minor narration. Check out these great Crossroad Hulk adventures they’re actually pretty awesome and heartfelt. Also you get some amazing covers by Hellboy’s own Mike Mignola-which is quite special if you’re a Hulk fanatic!

The Wolverine: First Official Movie Pic Proves Nothing!

Today this new first official picture from “The Wolverine”, Marvel’s second attempt at a solo Wolverine movie after the god awful X-men Origins: Wolverine has finally arrived. Many are saying that from this pic alone that the franchise is finally headed in the right direction. I say this new picture don’t prove JACK SHIT! To me all this picture proves is that Jackman has been lifting weights, something required um if you’re gonna play Wolverine in a god damn movie!! It also shows that he’s got a lot of veins on his arms and that he maybe just walked out of a barber shop! This picture could have been from the last movie for cryin’ out loud! I bet this movie ends up a slick rubbery cg schlock fest. I don’t think Hollywood is capable anymore of making a “real” Wolverine movie. I think Jackman’s day is done as the character. I was personally hoping for a reboot! Can you believe that? Me hoping for a reboot?

Oh yeah one last thing Hollywood would you please give Wolverine his crazy fucked up hair? This pic looks like Hugh Jackman in a GQ photo shoot with claws rather than Wolverine with his claws unsheathed…until I see a trailer I’m gonna be a dick about this one..ok done ranting…

The Avengers 2 gets Thanos…yawn…The Avengers 3: Top 5 Villains Wishlist!

It’s been confirmed today that Thanos will be the official villain for both The Avengers 2 and The Guardians of the Galaxy. Seriously both movies?! That’s a double dose of one of my least favorite Avengers villains ever! Uggh….I know everyone loves the Infinity Gauntlet but well to me I have always thought Thanos was a rather lackluster villain. He’s like DC’s Darseid only not as cool. I really was hoping that we’d get something different from the second Avengers movie, maybe even save this Thanos thing for the third movie as it seems inevitable that they’d have to make that storyline go somewhere.

I guess the whole cosmic Avengers and X-men stories for some reason have been my least favorite. But hey people fucking love shit when it’s in space, Jason, Hellraiser and god damn Leprechaun all made it into space right? Personally I always liked a more personal earthly threat, though I loved The Avengers I thought it’s villain/villains were a bit flawed and to be quite honest rather dull. The next installment I think needs an awesome cast of villains to deliver on levels and not only challenge the Avengers but really hurt them on more than just a physical level. I just don’t think Thanos is the man for the job. If it were up to me we’d see something like this for the third film:

1. Baron Zemo & The Masters of Evil:

To me having Zemo and The Masters of Evil would be the most perfect story for the next film. Not only do things get heated with these guys and The Avengers they downright dirty! If you don’t believe me just read The Avengers: Under Seige storyline, in my opinion the best Avengers story ever. With the Masters you also get a boatload of major villains that would be amazing to see on the big screen!

2. Doctor Doom:

This guy is easily one of the greatest villains ever!! Seriously everyone hates this guy, from Spidey, to Cap, to the Fantastic Four to yeah The Avengers! Seriously Marvel don’t waste your time saving him for yet another crappy ass Fantastic Four flick. Do him right-save him for the third film at least. Just let him be the ultimate Marvel villain he’s destined to be…Put him up against The Avengers!!

3. The Leader and his Gamma Crew:

So for The Avengers we got Thor’s ultimate villain Loki in the spotlight and personally he didn’t cut the cake for me! So why not bring a major Hulk villain to the table? We already got a glimpse of Samuel Sterns in the Norton Hulk film, so why not bring him into The Avengers 3? He could bring along a team of gamma freaks to take on the team also. The return of a further mutated Abomination (looking more like the comic book version), the evil gamma zombie Half-life, The Harpy, even the Bi-beast could be part of his crew….and of course his rubbery pink henchmen would have to be in it as well!

4. Modok:

He was rumored as a possible villain in one of the upcoming movies already, but this freak would be the perfect villain for an Avengers movie. Imagine how horrific this guy would look on the big screen! Plus he rules over A.I.M. and they’d be the perfect threat against Shield & the team. So let’s get this weirdo on the big screen because he’s sure to put some real fear into movie goers hearts!

5. Ultron:

Now this guy could be quite possibly the coolest most ruthless Avenger’s villain of them all! Leave it to Hank Pym to fuck shit up for the team because in the third movie (assuming he appears in the second film) he could introduces his greatest creation Ultron to the world! Yeah and then shortly after Ultron goes berserk and decides that the world must be rid of humans and become completely cybertronic! A simple concept that potentially threatens the entire planet. imagine all of awesome robotic creatures the Avengers could face off against! Plus they’d have to include Jocasta to The Avengers roster-the hottest robot of all time!!

Comic Book Cover of the Week! All Praise Charles Vess!

Charles Vess is one of my favorite cover artists hands down. He did some of the best Spidey covers on the 1980’s mainly with Web of Spider-man. This one from The Amazing Spider-man #261 features The Hobgoblin in all of his awesome glory! To me he’s one of Webhead’s best villains. Vess is best known probably for his fantasy illustrations and his collaboration with Neil Gaiman on books like Sandman and Stardust. For me though he’s one of my favorite Spider-man artists, giving him a darker tone when he took on the classic amazing “Black Costume”.

Comic Book Cover of the Week! Don’t Leave Your Kids With Wolverine!

Ahhhh the X-men of the 1980’s…..it just doesn’t get any better than that. Which brings me to my pick for comic book cover of the week X-men #195 drawn by Bill Seinkeiwicz. Just knowing Bill did this cover is a no brainer that’s it’s gonna totally rule. This issue features the X-men trying to save Power Pack the kiddie mutant team from the eighties from the Morlocks, the inner art of the issue is drawn by the fabulous John Romita Jr who was even more spectacular back in the 1985. Don’t worrry though folks, Katie Power wasn’t harmed by Wolvie but it did truly make for one stunning must have comic if not only for the cover alone! I miss those days of the X-men!

Jeph Loeb’s Wolverine: Makin’ Shit Up As He Goes!

Is it just me or does it kinda seem like Jeph Loeb’s kinda making shit up as he goes on the current Wolverine storyline? After reading issue number 312 I am almost certain of it! I have a theory on how he wrote this stuff and I think it took him about a total of five minutes, which I will explain, so read on!

Now first let me quickly clarify that I kinda enjoyed his absurd “Death of Sabretooth” story arc that he had crafted years ago. I’ve gotta say it, I think Loeb is a hack storyteller. He’s somehow become extremely popular while single handedly changed Logan’s entire history by introducing Romulus, who’s supposed to be his “ultimate” nemesis. Somehow though I just can’t take Romulus seriously, every time he makes an appearance I kinda wanna just burst out into laughter! It’s odd too because I actually am kind of intrigued with the character primarily because of how stupid he is.

Now we have another red head in Wolvie’s life, Remus, Romulus’ twin sister. She happens to have a big crush on Logan and wants him to kill her brother. Uggh…this is truly Loeb working his “storytelling magic” again.

It been seeming to me that Loeb probably is making this shit up as he goes folks. He’s like “Let’s kill off Sabretooth! It will be super bad ass, we’ll have this bad ass sword that Wolvie needs to kill him, then we’ll have this guy Romulus who doesn’t have anything better to do with his time except orchestrate all the events of Wolverine’s life, I mean it too, he has been like secretly involved for like…ever! Yeah, yeah then we’ll have this feral mutant race, evolved from wolves, yeah, Wolverine, Sabretooth, Wild Child, Romulus hell even Sasquatch is gonna be like having this feral gene in his system, and then, then um…Wolverine kills Sabretooth!!It’s gonna be soooo epic! Oh shit Marvel wants Sabretooth now to not be dead? Shit, hmmm well let’s just say Wolverine actually killed a Sabretooth clone! Yeah that’s it…then we’ll backtrack and say Wolverine suspected that the Sabretooth he beheaded back then smelled like a fake! Then Wolverine will find out that Sabretooth is really alive and that there’s like a hundred Sabretooth clones! Shit yeah!

Yeah then Romulus comes back….and um…hmm…shit he’s got a twin sister!! Yeah!! She’s called..um Remus! She’s a red head too cuz Logan loves red heads! She’s like in love with Wolverine too! Then let’s make Romulus dress up like Wolverine from the Weapon X days and put himself in a glass chamber! Yeaaaah! Yeah and then um…now he’s got real claws, made from like new school adamantium, it’s like stronger than the previously strongest unbreakable metal, it’s like even MORE unbreakable! Yes!!! Then let’s say, um Wolverine was actually the mastermind behind the Weapon X program?! Yes!! Yes!! What’s next? Hmmm…I’ll figure that out next month a few minutes before the issue’s deadline!!” I am pretty sure that’s how this all goes down for Loeb.

Seems like he’s having fun putting an ridiculous spin on Wolverine’s previously rad back story…So you know what? I guess I’ll just roll with his laughable story lines an try to have some fun too. At least it’s humorous, something that Wolverines past should never be. What do you think?

Comic Book Cover of the Week! Iron Man Battles BOOZE!

This weeks cover is not a Spider-man battling the Green Goblin high above the city or Superman battling Brainiac to save the world. Nope it’s Iron Man battling a demon in a damn bottle!! BOOZE! I love this cover and this era of Iron Man. Tony Stark was a complete fuck up for a while and I love that they gave him some real life problems to deal with in the eighties. You can see from this cover alone why Robert Downey Jr. was chosen for the role, he goes down in history as the Iron Man much like Christopher Reeves will always be the most perfect Superman of the silver screen. Bob Layton did an amazing job of portraying Tony Stark at his worst!

Walt Simonson What Happened?!

I have done several posts here about how the “old dog” comic artists need to come back and show the young’ins how it’s done. I have ranted about John Byrne, Mike Zeck, Barry Windsor Smith and Walt Simonson. Well I guess I am going to eat my words here as I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. Walt Simonson’s latest artwork well kinda….SUCKS. There I said it. It’s out there on the table. I was initially thrilled to find out that him and Bendis were teaming up for the latest running arc of The Avengers but upon initially seeing the artwork I was stunned at just how terrible his skills have gotten over the years. So what gives? Did he just forget how to draw? Was he rushed and didn’t give a shit? Or am I crazy and maybe he always sucked? Lets take a closer look…

New Simonson 2012 (these are random images I found online, perhaps I can scan some soon that may really get my point across, however if you are reading Avengers currently you know what I mean) :

Walt Simonson 1980’s:

Well Walt all I ask is that you put a little more effort into it dude! It’s clear you got the skills still, maybe you don’t think you need to prove anything? Well I’ll be watching closely for a return to form

The Amazing Spider-man & Punisher’s Dirty Laundry….

Well I did it! I finally went out and saw The Amazing Spider-man. I guess that shows you exactly how excited I was for the movie huh? So I thought it was a decent Spider-man movie about on par with the Raimi franchise. It wasn’t leaps and bounds better but I am glad to say I got seeing the movie out of the way or crossed off my “to do” list. It was pretty much exactly what I was expecting sadly with no real surprises. Garfield did a decent job as the new, more hip, high school Parker. No longer do we have the geeky nerd, now we have the skateboarding hipster Parker with his skinny jeans, hoodie, assorted leather jackets and fingerless black gloves. Parker is not the nerd we remember anymore, he’s a dark mysterious loner. He walked straight off the set of Twilight. Not really my ideal version of the character but Garfield put some good emotion into it and therefore it sorta worked especially for this generation of tween movie goers.

The movie kinda lost me however with the Lizard. Everything felt pretty real for the most part until he appeared. Often times the movie’s flaws unfortunately were it’s action scenes jam packed with cartoony CG pulled straight out of an Xbox game intro. It’s shiny and slick but often times a little too slick for my liking. Emma Stone did a fine job as Gwen Stacy and it was pleasure to see Martin Sheen and Sally “Gidget” Field back on the big screen. I honestly wish I had more to say about this one, but it just wasn’t memorable enough for me to rant on and on about. I am however happy I got the origin of Spider-man out of the way here, it felt like yesterday that I was watching Raimi’s version so this new installment really could have skipped the whole introduction again and gotten into some new uncharted territory. The one good thing is that it seems that we’ll get another shot at The Green Goblin as this film got The Dark Night treatment, they obviously will be putting him in the sequel, as they put the Joker in The Dark Night. Let’s hope this time he at least looks like the Green Goblin. Please though Hollywood The Green Goblin DOESN’T need to be a CG character. Don’t I repeat DON’T screw it up the second time around!

Hey Marvel this is the Green Goblin remember? He should look like THIS.

Also I am sure you’ve all seen the Thomas Jane short film “Dirty Laundry” he recently unveiled. This seems to be his attempt to woo Marvel back into letting him play The Punisher again. It was a neat little film for what it was and it was pretty violent as well, that is if you consider a lot of CG blood splatter really “violent”. I personally was never really to keen on that 2004 Punisher film. As much as I love Jane as an actor I just don’t think he really screams Frank Castle to me. So Should Marvel bring back Jane as Frank Castle? I am sure the fans reaction will have a lot to do with it. What do you all think? For me I’d like to see two more short “fan” made films, one by Dolph Lungren and one by Ray Stevenson before I make any endorsements!!