Pi's Comic/Vs/Whatever Blog

The Best Hour Ever

2008-07-25T02:30:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I am in San Diego, at Comic-Con. I decided to check out the new Wolverine vs Hulk animated movie. You know what was in it?

Deadpool.

I am not joking. Deadpool was in it.

For about 5 minutes after they revealed Deadpool was in it, I was in shock. It quickly faded though, when Deadpool spoke (which he did a lot [which is how it should be {why am I going in more?}]) and he was hilarious and he was Deadpool. The movie had no flaws to me. Honestly. None. The one thing I think people could say is that it is too short (45 minutes), but it isn't supposed to be a deep story with lots of thinking. It is Wolverine attacking the Hulk, as both are attacked by Weapon X, with a team of Sabretooth (no surprise), Omega Red (okay, interesting), Lady Deathstrike (cool, cool), and then it pans over to Deadpool (OMG!!!). When it first panned to him, people were just awed and really impressed. If it was only a movie with fighting, I might be sad, but Deadpool's moments of comic relief made you forget, then remember, meaning it isn't non-stop violence. Still, it is about 3/4+ violence, which I can live with. Oh, and you know what Marvel is working on? Hulk v Thor (cool) and Planet Hulk (yeah, ye...wait, Planet Hulk?). Yes, they are making a Planet Hulk animated movie. If they follow in the path of Hulk vs Wolverine, we are in for some good times.

Deadpool was awesome!

TDK

2008-07-19T15:06:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I saw The Dark Knight, and I feel I have to talk about it. This has spoilers, I think, but either way, read it if you have seen the movie, as I feel it doesn't work as well otherwise.

You people know I don't like DC, right? So I was planning on seeing this much later, and not on opening day. How it turned out, however, was that one of my friends called and asked if I wanted to see it. Man, apparently the Imax version at the theater I go to is sold out until Monday. And this was yesterday, just before noon. I digress...

The movie! Okay, so Heath Ledger was brilliant. The Joker, in this movie, was a deranged, psychopathic serial killer in clown makeup. Which is the Joker. Sure, he didn't have his joke gadgets, or his Joker gas (which I think would have been really creepy, considering how creepy it is on people in the comics. And, you know what, this is trying to be more realistic about Batman and everybody, so sure, I can see some deranged pyscho not having high-tech gadgets, relying upon other things to go around killing people and causing chaos and anarchy. And Ledger nails the Joker. The Joker that I love is crazy, no doubt about it, but not bouncing off the walls all the time, just a guy who goes around killing people, usually people he wants to kill, who you can tell is crazy, but is relatively calm and in control. It's not some trigger-happy crazy that just goes around shooting, it's a calm, collected, serial killer, who also happens to be completely out of his mind. And he looks really good in this, I feel.

Aaron Eckhart was a really good Harvey Dent. Now, I don't know much about Dent in the comics, but I know enough to get by. The movie does a pretty good job of capturing Harvey Dent, although it is fire and not acid that scars him. It really captures the differences between someone like Batman, in the shadows and taking out criminals while hiding, and someone like Dent, who goes after criminals in broad daylight. Often, throughout the movie, Dent is referred to as "The White Knight", which is fairly obviously a lead-up to calling Batman "The Dark Knight", but it really fits. Dent is a more public figure and the kind of guy that Gotham really needed to lead them. It was done really well.

Batman in live-action doesn't work. At least, not the Batman I love. Sure, the late Golden Age/early Silver Age silly Batman, who was more campy, that was captured well in the Batman series with Adam West. However, once "The Dark Knight Returns" came out and Miller took Batman back to his roots of being a dark, brooding vigilante, nothing can make him work. Let's start with his costume. In the comics, he wears an outfit that is fairly bulletproof, but is also made of a fabric, so it acts more like he is wearing a second skin. Sure, not realistic, but nobody really cares in the comics. In the movies, he has to be wearing light body armor, because otherwise, people aren't going to believe that his outfit is bulletproof (to an extent). So he wears an outfit that doesn't feel right. Plus, the rubber mask doesn't look right either. I prefer the all cloth stuff, like is in the comics. Alex Ross draws Batman well, although, as I stated, it wouldn't work for people, I don't think. Second, his gadgets. Okay, so yeah, in the comics, he has all this crazy stuff, and it works somewhat in the comics. In the movie, they have this sonar cellphone thing that collects sound and turns it into a 3-d representation of the room. It just felt silly in real-life. In the comics, I might believe it more, but in the movie, it didn't feel real. Plus, I like that Batman came up with all his stuff (for the most part), as opposed to Lucius Fox in the movies. Still, I guess I understand that they would require some tech-guy to make all that stuff, I feel it is still just wrong. Oh, and I hate that Batmobile that looks like an oversized Hummer. So stupid... Also, something that bugged me is that as Batman, Bruce has to lower his voice, and speak like he always has a sore throat. Sure, I understand why, because otherwise people would recognize his voice, but still, it sounds stupid. I just don't feel that the dark, brooding Batman works in live-action. I just don't.

The movie was good, with some corny stuff, and most of the surprises being not all that surprising, but still I enjoyed it.

DCU Preview

2008-07-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

Well, here you go:

Okay, this is me we are talking about, so we have to give backstory:

A long time ago, DC Comics had a multiverse, where there were an infinite amount of Earths. One of those Earths was called Earth Prime. On Earth Prime, many things were similar to how they are here. There aren't any superpowered individuals and DC exists, and people sometimes had to go to DC in order to get back to their universe. Well, there were two superpeople. One of them was Superboy. Sent to Earth, the Kents decided to name the baby Clark Kent, initially refused because it was of course Superman's name, the father eventually gave in. Well, surprise, surprise, it was actually Kal-El. Dressed like Superboy at a party, he gained his Kryptonian powers, helped Superman, then went on with his life.
Eventually, the Crisis happened, and Earth Prime was one of the Earths destroyed. Superboy survived though and wound up with the Earth-1 superheroes (and others) fighting against the Anti-Monitor. In the end, it came down to Superman (Earth 2) and Superboy (Earth Prime), along with Alexander Luthor, against the Anti-Monitor. Together, they were able to defeat the Anti-Monitor, but couldn't return to Earth. Alex was able to rescue Earth 2 Lois and the four of them went off to their paradise dimension.
Eventually, though, they noticed that the Earth's superheroes were growing much darker, and doing worse things. Not being able to stand this, they decided to fix everything. After some smashing of reality (resulting in some retcons including Jason Todd's return), Alex and Superboy worked together, somewhat against Superman and Lois, and they brought about a new Multiverse, while searching for the prefect Earth. Superboy Prime battled Superboy (Connor) and when the Titans showed up to help Connor, he semi-accidentally killed some of the Titans, never having really learned to hold back. Then the Flashes, minus Jay, who was no longer fast enough, trapped Prime in the Speed Force.
4 years later for him, Bart returned, warning that he had escaped, and Superboy Prime returned to help Luthor, eventually planning to fly through Oa to cause another Big Bang. Instead, tons of superheroes and Green Lanterns join forces to stop him, and with Earth 1 and Earth 2 Supermen flying him through Rao, Krypton's red sun, they take off his yellow sun armor, which had been empowering him, and are able to defeat him. He then is locked in a willpower cell guarded by a young, red Sun-Eater and 50 Green Lanterns.
During the Sinestro Corps War, he is freed during an attack on Oa, and he joins the Anti-Monitor as Superman Prime, becoming one of the Anti-Monitor's heralds.

The Anti-Matter team, in this set, has a theme of removing cards from the game, so Superman Prime fits the bill. He gets rid of one of your guys to grow to almost 6-drop proportions. Just in terms of what we already have in the game, you could always throw some guys at your opponent. If you have two stunned guys, remove one of them and smack them in the face. While average by himself, he is still good, and with stats of 9/9 and flight and range, he isn't necessarily the best without his power, but with it, he is amazingly powerful, growing in size and smacking down those ornery big-bottomed 5-drops or those weak 6-drops. The cost seems high, but we shall see if it is worth it through other cards in the set.

Life

2008-07-04T21:57:00.001-04:00

Oh, life. Why are you such a pain in the ass? I'm taking a hiatus until I get my life back on track a little better. Reviews might happen, but probably very little else.

Uggghhh

2008-07-03T03:04:00.001-04:00

Awkward day yesterday. I won't go into details. Sorry I didn't do reviews, but I didn't get my comics for a reason I wish not to go into. Hopefully, I'll get them today, and have them up by tonight or at worst, Independence Day.

Comics for 7/2

2008-07-02T03:14:00.003-04:00

Let's get right to it:

Punisher War Journal 21

Basic Plot: Catfight.

Yeah, pretty much that. Um, okay? I thought it was weird, and didn't really like it. Especially since I have not liked this arc in general, and think that Chaykin doesn't have good art. When I can't tell the difference between Punisher and the guy in a Punisher outfit (can't remember his name), I consider that bad. Sure, maybe he is supposed to look similar, but they really don't have the same face, at least they didn't in the issue of Punisher War Journal where Tony visits GW, Winter Soldier visits Frank and Jigsaw and Lady Jigsaw take in the kid and talk with him. Chaykin just makes everybody look similar, as you can't tell things in the art. Poses look awkward, and aside from that, it's scratchy and misshapen. Should I stop? Bottom line, unless they get a new artist and writer, I won't read after the arc is over. Man, I just keep quitting comics left and right, it seems.

Ultimate Origins 2

Don't know, didn't get it.

Squadron Supreme 2 #1

Basic Plot: Set 5 years after Supreme Power, stuff happens.

Um, really bizarre. Like, really bizarre. I don't really get it. I was hoping they would at least explain the Hyperion/Nighthawk/Blur v Redstone battle, but...no. All they say is in the beginning, with "Months after forming, the team fought a superhuman serial killer named Michael Redstone. The results of that battle are spoken in hushed whispers, if they are spoken at all..." Um, okay? This isn't the book I liked. This is different, and while not bad, not good. I think I know the problem, though. Howard Chaykin is the writer. I didn't know he wrote. The story is weird. All I can really say. I'll try and see where they take it, but without the main people, this isn't Squadron Supreme, it's just some weird story.

Blue Beetle 28

Basic Plot: A beast from Blue Beetle's past comes to El Paso.

Oh, and by Blue Beetle, I mean the original Blue Beetle. Not Ted, but Dan Garrett. The story is fun more than anything. It is a stand-alone, not meant to have much impact, I believe. He fights this giant dog-beast, who you can tell is just acting like a dog would. Chewed all the tires at a tire store, took and ate a lot of tripe, destroyed lots of flowers, etc. Kind of crazy. Anyway, a fun story, where nothing happens. I still enjoyed it, but it didn't really do anything. I guess, the best you can do is say that people punish themselves often a whole lot more than other people can.

Amazing Spider-Man 564

Basic Plot: Spidey goes after Overdrive, and it is told from three perspectives.

Um, Rashomon/Vantage Point in comic form? Kind of interesting, but all in all, I just want classic Spidey. If they are ruining Spidey's backstory and going back to a more classic feel, I want more classic villains. Not these weird new ones. It just gets on my nerves. The story is meh, with some humorous stuff by Slott in his part, where Overdrive tells his side, but all in all, meh.

Astonishing X-Men 25

Basic Plot: The X-Men set up shop in SF.

I like the San Francisco background. Having been raised in SF, I do enjoy it a lot, seeing it here. The story itself hasn't gone anywhere, and like FF with Millar, or some other stories, I really don't mind. It's taking its time and hopefully will do something good when it gets there. I do like Hisako, and she is done well here. I do miss Colossus and Kitty (though I understand why Kitty is gone), and think Storm is weird to be there. Not that I dislike Storm, but think it is weird that the Queen of Wakanda is spending her time running about with the X-Men like old times (even though, like Cyclops said, this isn't like old times (they go to the cops, who called them over, in civilian clothes, to make them more comfortable).

Avengers/Invaders 3

Secret Invasion: Front Line 1

Thunderbolts

2008-07-01T15:15:00.002-04:00

Okay, so you know I have a Negative Zone deck, and that works well, but I also have a Thunderbolts deck, one that could use improvement, but whatever. It works on a theme I have loved for a long time: +1/+1 counters. Through stuff like Erik Josten with a Force Field Belt, I have realized the power of +1/+1 counters. I once built a deck designed to make Captain Boomerang humongous before burning my opponent for 2 per +1/+1 counter. Sure, Bevatron did that also, but a turn later, and I could use some of the better +1/+1 stuff that Secret Society had. I digress.
Through playing some sealed, I realized how powerful Beetle was. He starts out as a weak 2-drop, a 3/1 with Flight and Range isn't that good. Still, on turn 3, he becomes a 4/2, again, not great, and in fact still weak. On turn 4 though, he becomes a 5/3 and can't be stunned while attacking. Which means he can attack up the curve with no problem at all and not be stunned. So, in the spirit of my old +1/+1 counter decks, I built a Thunderbolts deck, with Speed Demon, Beetle, Joystick and Radioactive Man, along with guys like the Green Goblins and a whole bunch of +1/+1 counter giving abilities. It is lots of fun. Yay for lots of counters everywhere!

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

2008-06-30T14:40:00.002-04:00

Well, this game is awesome, but my being a super comic nerd and semi-perfectionist means that everything gets me annoyed. For example: The entire universe is just weird. I believe it is the same as the X-Men Legends universe, which also annoys me while making me happy. One of my biggest complaints about X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends II, which wasn't really fixed in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, is that you never know what you can destroy. Oh, I'm facing a guy with unbreakable armor? Heh, I can defeat him. Oh, I'm facing a glass wall? Well, Thor can't break that down, obviously. Oh, there is a small gap, well Thor obviously can't fly over that. There is a small glass wall? Deadpool can't teleport through that! Through a whole bunch of cement and metal walls, right next to the door? Well, obviously I can do that. I don't know what I can or cannot do. Sometimes, I can kick a guy's ass, sometimes I need a specific move to damage him. Sometimes I can destroy statues, other times I cannot. Sigh... In X-Men Legends and its sequel, I had the same problem with Colossus and then Juggernaut. Why can't my unstoppable force go through this glass wall? He can go through some walls, but otherwise, he is, how to put this, stopped. Oy.

Another thing that irks me are characters. Okay, so you have Winter Soldier pretty early on. I like Bucky and Winter Soldier and think it is cool to have him. I believe that by '06, it was revealed that Winter Soldier was Bucky. I don't know how long, I'm sure Zonos could tell me, but I don't think it was too much time, between when they revealed Winter Soldier and then who he really was. Still, in this game, he isn't Bucky. Well, he is, but nobody knows that, so while Cap and he may talk to each other a little, it is just as one of Cap's enemies and not as Bucky, the sidekick that he still thinks had died. Radioactive Man, his partner, also bugs me. So, Chen Lu is a nuclear physicist and an intelligent individual. Why, then, in his dialogus with the Invisible Woman, does he sound like an idiot? It makes little sense to me. Oh, and I believe the people who created this read Secret Wars (the original, not the sequels or Secret War), because there are a lot of things that make little sense aside from that they were in Secret Wars. Ultron is following Doom. Hmmm, really? Ultron? Only because he was snuffed out like a candle by Galactus, reprogrammed, then given back his energies did Ultron obey Doom. I don't think that happened here. Enchantress follows Doom. Um, sure, I guess. Okay, so why does Doom form a Masters of Evil? He doesn't consider himself evil. He is the self-appointed ruler of Latveria, who wants to rule the world and be the most powerful man ever, all while trying to kill that blasted Richards, but I mean, come on! He doesn't think of himself as evil. Why is his group the Masters of Evil, then? Oh, and Winter Soldier on the Masters of Evil? When he went by Winter Soldier, he would never be on that group unless his masters made him which they wouldn't. Being free of their control, he wouldn't be evil. So, why is he there in the first place? Same with Bullseye. He is an assassin, not a super-villain. He doesn't work well with teams. The closest I can think of is on the Thunderbolts as their guy in the shadows who takes the guy out after the rest of the team fails. And that isn't by choice. He just doesn't seem like he should be there. And Loki is following Doom? What? That doesn't make much sense to me either.

Still, an awesome game. I really did enjoy it. It is one of those X-Men Legends type games that I enjoy, although I do have a few complaints other than stupid things with the characters. They auto-spend points unless you turn that off. I really dislike that. Same with equipment, they auto-equip equipment unless you turn that off. Still, I love these games. They are a lot of fun, and while there are annoying things that bug me about the game and how they characterize the people, just seeing them is cool. My dream team?
Deadpool (obviously)
Ghost Rider
Beta Ray Bill
Silver Surfer

It's not just the pretty pictures!

2008-06-27T13:20:00.002-04:00

So, comics are a lot more than just the pictures. Sure, Marvel did something a few years ago where there was no dialog or other words (except for on newspapers or something), but they had actual stories nonetheless. I love comics partly because they are a visual medium that you can read and see all of the good art (and occasionally bad, curse you Steve Dillon!). However, comics are not all about being art. They are actual stories as well. Comics are unique because they are such a great amalgamation of two separate things. They are novels or short stories, where they also have a whole bunch of pictures that tell all the words as opposed to actual words. Now, one can make up for the other. I remember in a Calvin and Hobbes volume where Watterson gave some background on some of his favorite strips, he talked about how more often than the other way around, good writing saves bad art. He can have them all just talking for four panels, but if the dialog is good, he has a great strip. He can have no dialog and just a funny picture of Calvin blowing up a piece of gum and having it explode all over his head, and it is okay. Art is important to the medium, but the storytelling is still the most important thing. It doesn't matter if Alex Ross is painting beautifully, if the story is crap. Now it also doesn't matter, to a lesser extent, if Alan Moore is writing and Steve Dillon or Howard Chaykin is drawing. When I look at a comic, I mainly focus on the story, because honestly, that is why they have the comics. Sometimes, I can just look at the art. For example, there is an issue of Mighty Avengers, where for 6 pages, there is just fighting on 3 two page spreads between the Mighty Avengers and Doom's forces. It was a way to see some more of Bagley's great art before he left and worked at DC. it was pointless, but worked because it looked really good and didn't hurt anything. For the art to be the only thing I look at, ignoring the story, the art has to not hurt anything, or the story has to not hurt anything. Hulk 4 failed. I have been arguing at read/RANT about Hulk 4, so if you want to see that, go ahead.

Negative Zone

2008-06-26T15:55:00.002-04:00

So, I have my Negative Zone deck, and it is a lot of fun to play, to be perfectly honest. I really enjoy it. There are a few things that bug me though. I'll just list them as questions here:
1) Should I run Currs as a 1-drop? They do have 2 ATK and can come back 5 or later, but have 0 DEF and aren't anything really spectacular.
2) Is Thanos better than Seekers at 3? In most of my games, I play a Seekers instead of Thanos, if I have the choice. I mean, Thanos is cool, but I don't really have all that many locations in my KO'd pile. Should I discard NZs for NZs, then retrieve them with Thanos? Is that how I should play in general?
3) What cards should I have other than NZs in terms of resources? I can have a maximum of 16, and I am not going to put 4 of the one that KO's as long as you have a ready character. I need a maximum of one of those out, so I have two in my deck. Swarm of Annihilus is awesome, as is Wave of Destruction (strictly modern here), although I have fewer Wave of Destruction in my deck.
4) Is there anything else you recommend for getting cards into my hand? NZs require discards and are annoying like that. One NZ gets me cards, and with 4 of those up, I can draw like crazy, if I do things right. Otherwise, though, I haven't found it hard, but should I be worried?

Well, if you answer, thanks for your help. Oh, and the comic review is being finished and will probably be done by the time you read this statement.

6/25 Comics

2008-06-25T13:46:00.004-04:00

Well, a long list today:

New Warriors 13

Don't know, wasn't at my comic shop. It will be my last issue as I just don't like the series.

Ultimates 3 #4

Basic Plot: Some of the Ultimates semi-storm the Savage Land.

Crap. Pure crap. I was starting to like Ultimates 3 a little with issue 3. This reminded me of why Ultimates 3 was crap. The characters act stupid and nothing like they had been previously defined. I like Madureira as an artist most of the time, but I don't like how he draws the Ultimates, I don't know why. Anyway, this is crap. You know what's great? Keeping things within the pre-established boundaries. I'll bet that as a kid, Jeph Loeb liked to color outside the book. Not just the lines, but the book itself. Whatever. One more issue and it's over. Thank Deadpool.

Hulk 4

Basic Plot: Red Hulk fights Hulk as Iron Man tries to figure out what's going on.

Wow, Loeb just sucked with 4th issues today. Hulk was also crap. I liked the other issues, to an extent. This is just stupid though. The first 4 pages were what ruined it for me. Okay, so the Watchers are really powerful. They only observe because they once upset a society, and have stopped interfering as much as possible (to mostly being just observing, although observation changes the situation, whatever). Still, they are really powerful. There was a whole arc in FF a long time ago where Aron, a rogue Watcher, was doing crazy things. He shrugged off nova flame, Thing-punches, shots from a Doom-built gun very easily. They aren't the most powerful beings ever, but are still really powerful. Red Hulk kicks the crap out of one of them. He also ruined Hulk. Hulk shouldn't have been taken down as easily as he was. I swear, I will stop reading this if Thor is taken down. Has Loeb read Thor? Like in issue 3, where Thor tells Iron Man that the difference between the past, where he was really powerful, and now, when he is much more powerful is that he is not holding back. Thor and Hulk went toe-to-toe when Thor was still holding back. Come on, Loeb! Don't disappoint me. The best thing about this issue? The last page, a mini-Marvel comic by Giarrusso. Shows how stupid the color thing is.

Runaways 30

Basic Plot: The Runaways try to get back to the future.

I always wanted to say that. Heh. Anyway, the first arc in Runaways, a 6-issue arc, after Civil War, finally finished. Yeah...oops? Less than every other month? Oy. Still, I love Whedon and Ryan, and this was pretty cool in all honesty. I still don't quite know what exactly happened, but it was fun. I think my favorite stuff is Klara, to be perfectly honest. She is so crazy to our perspective. Heh. Well, next is Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers, then a new series in August. I'll have to get the volumes. Sigh...

Captain America 39

Basic Plot: Grand Director makes his grand appearance (heh) and Bucky gets annoyed.

Well, Cap is still very meh for me. I know people really like Cap, but the whole story and stuff just doesn't work for me. I'll probably read til the end of the arc. Again, not that Cap is bad, just not for me. It isn't super enough or fun enough. It is too dark and depressing.

Ultimate Spider-Man 123

Basic Plot: Eddie tells people his story.

Well, Venom is creepy. There are no two ways around that. I thought he was creepy enough in regular comics, wanting to eat people's brains. Here, he just eats people. Lots of people. Creepy. I thought it was interesting, but very bizarre, and more than anything, just recap. Whatever. Nothing special.

Wolverine: First Class 4

Basic Plot: Kitty (literally) and Wolverine must beat Man-Beast to protect the New Men.

This is one of my favorite series. It is pure and simple fun. Not the greatest stories, but amusing and enjoyable. I love Kitty (as you know from Saturday and Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men) and she gets to shine in a story where there is only her and Wolverine. Really just enjoyable. Nothing too deep or annoying and it is just fun. Nuff said.

Fantastic Four 558

Basic Plot: Doom wants protection from the New Defenders.

Yeah, buh wha? Last page. Next cover. What? Oh, Millar and Hitch. You crazy, crazy people. What the heck is going on? I don't know, but I so want to know. And Valeria? So, when does Secret Invasion: FF take place? Oy. Craziness! I love Doom, and I think Millar respects him enough to make these guys ridic powerful. Considering that S.H.I.E.L.D. (yeah, I know, whatever) is really impressed that these guys can take out Doom, they give Doom respect. Plus, he has good dialog as Doom.

Mighty Avengers 15

Basic Plot: The secret life of Hank Pym from Avengers: Disassembled through Mighty Avengers' first arc.

Okay, so some confusion. They messed up here. According to this, some time after the New Avengers formed, the Skrull that became Hank Pym became Hank Pym. In New Avengers, he was a Skrull, as was Spider-Woman, before New Avengers. Hmmm... Or, I could go for the crazy explanation. She was talking to the Skrull who was practicing to become Hank. It seems less suspicious if Spider-Woman and Hank are talking together than Spider-Woman and some random woman. Still awesome though. She totally owns him. It is awesome. Did I forget to mention that the Skrull impersonating Hank is a female Skrull naturally? Heh. Romita Jr. always does fun art and it was good. This, New Avengers and Avengers: The Initiative have convinced me how important Hank Pym is to the Marvel Universe. And something I just realized. It is really amusing that Hulkling took Hank's place for a short while to help unlock the 42 during Civil War. Man, a Skrull imitated a Skrull imitating Hank Pym. Fun stuff.

Avengers: The Initiative 14

Basic Plot: 3-D Man arrives in Hawaii, while Crusader realizes he isn't the only Skrull at Camp Hammond.

Strawberries and pickles? Seriously? And that is apparently close to how a fruit tastes in the Skrull system that Skrulls love to eat. I love Crusader's paranoia. He's had it for a while, and it really amuses me. I love the stuff where the Skrull Hank Pym explains what is going on and how "Hank Pym" survived the stuff he shouldn't have. He's never been able to go subatomic before, but now he suddenly can? Why didn't I realize that he was an impostor earlier? Anyway, he goes over how he used his other Super Skrully powers to escape death twice (Vision's diamond-hard form, and intangibility, and then Black Panther's reflexes and Quicksilver's speed), and takes strawberries and pickles together, proving to Crusader that Hank is a Skrull. Fun times. Oh, and 3-D Man can totally see Skrulls through his new goggles (old-school, but new to him), even through nobody else can tell. The last two page spread is awesome, and I am glad we have the original artist on Avengers: The Initiative, as opposed to the guy who makes everyone fat and unattractive.

Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways 1

Basic Plot: Both teams have a Skrull on them, so yeah...

Okay, if you read Runaways 30, you're good. Otherwise, you're somewhat confused. Basically, this takes place immediately after. So, you have the Runaways (Nico, Chase, Molly, Karolina, Victor, Xavin and Klara), Klara literally having joined them in Runaways 30, and not used to the future. Oh, and I love Xavin. In terms of Skrulls, I love Kl'rt, then Xavin, as my favorite two Skrulls. Xavin is just so funny. She/he is just not used to Earth culture and society, and not used to all these things that just are annoying or stupid, but make Earth Earth. Anyway, Xavin is awesome. I loved this story. Oh, Xavin, if you weren't interested in Karolina, I would be all over you (since Kl'rt is away and Deadpool keeps getting restraining orders).

New Avengers 42

Basic Plot: Spider-Woman and being a Skrull.

Yeah, awesome. Okay, so remember in those issues of New Avengers where Spider-Woman told her recent past, how she got her powers back from HYDRA and what-not. Well, it wasn't HYDRA, but the Skrulls, and as soon as she was passed out, they took her and made their leader, the queen into the new Spider-Woman. That is when the change was made. In a way that was awesome. Then, she causes all sorts of havoc, eventually, in this issue, ending up with the House of M style reality change whiteness stuff. You know what I mean, right? Yeah, House of M has stuff to do with Secret Invasion. Fun, but as I said, annoying because it contradicts. Oh, and it is more annoying it contradicts, because it is the same writer in comics that came out the same day. Oy.

What if...? New Fantastic Four and a tribute to Mike Wieringo

Basic Plot: What if the New Fantastic Four (the ones pictured above) stayed together?

Well, as you may know, in August, Mike Wieringo passed away. Wieringo was best known for his work on The Flash and Fantastic Four, as well as Sensational Spider-Man. He also did all the alternate covers for The Other, with all of the different incarnations of Spider-Man (regular, black suit, armored suit, masked wrestler, cosmic, Spider-Ham, etc). He was a great artist. He was working on the What if? story mentioned above before he passed. He had completed seven pages, and they are in there, and other artists contributed the rest of the story, for much reduced rates, mostly as a tribute to Wieringo. The story is fun, but not the main thing about this issue. I just enjoyed seeing some of Wieringo's last work, and it was nice hearing all the things they said about him.

Kon

2008-06-24T14:14:00.002-04:00

Kon is awesome. And he is going to be on my shoulder. I haven't quite gotten it to look right (at present, he is kind of falling to the side), but he is staying on, and it is pretty cool.

For those of you who don't know who Kon is, let me tell you:
In the anime Bleach (although also in the manga, I have not read that), there are these beings called modified souls (Kaizo Konpaku), which basically are souls that do not have actual bodies, but can inhabit bodies, and once in a body, they have some type of superpower to help them defeat Hollows, the main bad guys in Bleach. They were ordered destroyed, but one survived, and lived as a piece of gikongan candy (soul candy) that can eject a person's soul from their body and leave a fresh soul inside to take care of things (go to school, hang out with friends, etc) while the original soul does whatever else. Kurosaki Ichigo, the main character, tried out a gikongan and got the one with a modified soul in it. The mod soul could run really fast and had powerful legs. Eventually, they (ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia, the actual shinigami that has been helping Ichigo) got the mod soul out of Ichigo's body, and took the gikongan with them. Ichigo was still pissed at the soul, and when Rukia told him that he had to find a dead body or uninhabited body, he realized that he could put the gikongan in a plush, picked up a lion plush off the street, put the gikongan inside and then worked out some anger issues on the plush. Eventually, he took the mod soul in the lion-plush body back home, where he named it Kon (after Kaizo Konpaku), and Kon has been a part of the series ever since.
Anyway, using the miracle of pins, I am able to get Kon to hang on to my shoulder, and I can walk around with him on it.

Captain America v Iron Man

2008-06-23T12:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, so here is my rare distribution (including non-rare foils, which are now rare), which does not include cards in the 60 card decks:

Steve:
Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty
Life Model Decoy (Foil)
Silver Samurai, Kenuichio Harada<>HYDRA
Mastermind Excello, Amadeus Cho
The End of the World
Negative Zone, Non-Unique<>Prison Alpha
Black Bolt, Protector of the Space Gem (Foil)
Punisher, Captain America
James Barnes<>Winter Soldier, Out in the Cold
Tenebrous, Of the Darkness
Trouble With Dinosaurs

Tony:
Cable, Secret Avenger
Punisher, Secret Avenger
Unregistered Combatants (Foil)
Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Cut Off One Head...
Hulk Smash!
Annihilus, The Living Death That Walks
Gift for Death
Beta Ray Bill, Simon Walters<>Omega Flight
The Infinity Gauntlet
Abomination, Emil Blonsky (Foil)
I Got 'Em All!
Now I'm Fighting Dirty (Foil)

Now, for the decks: I focused on a Crime Lords/Thunderbolts build (because those were the most awesome characters) for Cap and Avengers/SHIELD rush for IM.

Captain America's "This is a horrible idea!"
2 Green Goblin, Insanity Unleashed (1 Foil)
2 Speedball<>Penance, Painmonger
2 A.I.M. Agents, Army<>A.I.M.
1 Speed Demon, Whizzer
1 The Hand, Army<>HYDRA
1 Beetle<>Mach, Discharged
1 Sin, Synthia Schmidt<>RAID
1 Viper, Madame HYDRA<>HYDRA
1 Joystick, Fun and Games
1 Echo<>Ronin, Secret Avenger
2 Red Skull, Aleksander Lukin<>RAID
2 Phyla-Vell<>Quasar, Protector of the Universe
2 Patriot, Elijah Bradley<>Young Avenger
1 Karla Sofen<>Moonstone, Uncertain Loyalty
1 Bullseye, Closer to God
1 Kingpin, War Profiteer<>HYDRA
2 Genis-Vell<>Photon, Cosmic Threat
1 Red Skull, Johann Shmidt<>HYDRA
1 Elektra, Pawn of the Gorgon<>HYDRA
1 Green Goblin, Director of the Thunderbolts
1 Melissa Gold<>Songbird, Caged Angel
1 Karla Sofen<>Moonstone, Field Commander
1 Red Skull, Master of Creation

2 Now I'm Fighting Dirty
2 Collateral Damage
2 What if?, Team-Up
1 Slobberknocker
1 Acts of Vengeance
1 Collect Them All!
1 Faith in Monsters
1 I Am Doom
1 Messiah Complex
1 The Wrong Stuff, Team-Up
1 Enemies of the State
1 House of M
1 Outmatched
1 Public Outcry
1 Speedball is Dead
1 Ruthless Agression
1 Uncertain Legacy
1 Grudge Match
1 No Retreat, No Surrender
2 Hunt for Nitro
1 Lay Down With Dogs

1 Asgard
1 Negative Zone, Non-Unique<>Harvester of Sorrows
1 Negative Zone, Non-Unique<>Seat of Annihilation

1 The T-Wagon

Iron Man's "Everybody Registers Because I Said So!"
1 Life Model Decoy, More Human than Human
2 Iron Fist, Secret Avenger
2 Dum-Dum Dugan, Howling Commando
2 Dagger, Secret Invasion
1 Green Goblin, Insanity Unleashed
1 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, Army<>Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
1 Black Bolt, Enemy Unseen
1 Hank Pym<>Yellowjacket, Initiative Instructor
1 Speed, Thomas Shepherd<>Young Avenger
2 Deadpool, Independent Contractor
2 Skreet, Chaos Mite
1 Captain America, The Patriot<>Secret Avenger
1 Echo<>Ronin, Secret Avenger
1 Beetle<>Mach, Discharged
1 Iron Fist<>Daredevil, Impostor<>Secret Avenger
1 Aaron Stack, Hater of Fleshy Ones
1 Natasha Romanoff<>Black Widow, Mighty Avenger
1 Wolverine, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA
2 Taskmaster, Super Hero Trainer
1 Red Skull, Aleksander Lukin<>RAID
1 Spider-Girl, Daughter of Spider-Man
2 Daisy Johnson, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
2 Mr. Fantastic, Haunted Genius
1 Storm, Secret Avenger
2 Hulkling, Teddy Altman<>Young Avenger
2 She-Hulk, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
1 Invisible Woman, Secret Avenger
1 Mar-Vell<>Captain Marvel, Warden of Prison Alpha
1 Kang<>Iron Lad, Non-Unique, Young Avenger
1 Hercules, Secret Avenger

2 Out for Justice
2 Young Avengers
2 Omega Flight, Team-Up
1 Invasion Plans
1 Shield Slash
1 Liberating Number 42
1 Messiah Complex
1 The Big Three
1 Avengers Forever
1 Slobberknocker
1 Switching Sides
1 House of M
1 No Retreat, No Surrender
1 She-Hulk Smash!
1 Agents of H.A.T.E.
1 Collateral Damage
1 Alias Investigations
1 S.H.I.E.L.D. Flying Car

Just from what you have seen, I would have actually put Silver Samurai in the Cap deck and Punisher in the Iron Man deck. After Iron Man won the first game, Cap came back and rallied (not as much as Caps' deck, but you know what I mean) and was able to triumph both of the rest of the games. Highlights include Red Skull, Moonstone and Bullseye as my only remaining characters and cards, as Hulkling tried to not become stunned from attacking Red Skull. It ended in failure, but then there were no cards left. I have to say that Bullseye is really cool. After IM missed 7 (got a 6 and something) and Cap got a Red Skull 7, IM had to team attack with 2 6-drops and a 5-drop in order to stun Red Skull as Bullseye would take out any individual. He is cool. Also, after a poor start, Iron Man's side steals Speed Demon away and he joins the Avengers (Switching Sides) and he had been around since turn 1 and had just gotten stunned to Speedball is Dead, so the next turn, Cap had to face down a 7/7 1-drop that is reinforced automatically. All in all, a lot of fun, and Cap was able to take down Iron Man. WOOT!

Oops

2008-06-21T16:17:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the lack of updates over the past week. It wasn't a great week and there were some bad parts. Still, I'm pretty much okay now.

In other news, I now have both the Kl'rt and Kitty Pryde Marvel Figurines that are lead-cast, and awesome (from Britain). They have these really awesome backstories and stuff about the characters. They are especially great because they are not serious, and they are very light, like if someone were just telling you the information.

Still looking for a Deadpool one (I know they exist, but I want to actually find one).

Okay, so knowing what you know about Deadpool and the Punisher, what age group would you say they fit into? I tend to think that high school and up, although there are probably younger kids who would be fins as well. Still, I never thought they would be as young as 3.

That is not your eyes deceiving you. That is cute versions of Deadpool and the Punisher (in Captain America garb, no less) marketed to kids. Okay, so ages 3+ means that because of the parts, below 3 would be problematic. Still, though, these are for kids. Deadpool has swords, and okay, fine. Punisher has some futuristic gun. Oh, and a machine gun. Not a futuristic one, but a freakin' machine gun. For kids. Who OK'ed this at Hasbro? Who thought that it was a good idea in the first place? Hey, I know, let's take a deranged mercenary who is always badmouthing and acting like a complete idiot, all while going around killing people, and take a vigilante who goes around killing criminals, dressed in an outfit that is distasteful and disrespectful to the man who was the original, and market them to 5 year olds! Brilliant! Sigh...

Oh, you know those Cap/Iron Man thing that Carlos the Dwarf has been doing? I did a similar thing, although I like playing, so I built 60 card decks out of the 12 packs. I'll talk more about it Monday.

2008-06-19T13:44:00.003-04:00

Sorry I was late on this, there may be something else going up later, probably to explain why it was so late.

Ultimate Fantastic Four 55

Basic Plot: The Ultimate Salem's Seven become NY's newest heroes, as the FF fight amongst themselves due to the puppet strings of Agatha Harkness.

So, the one thing I found cool was the ending. And by ending, I mean the last page, and second to last panel. Especially given what Sue said earlier in the issue. She is totally going to bang Namor. Awesome! He isn't even royalty in the Ultimate Universe, but a criminal. Awesome! She wants to see other guys at the moment and just have fast relationships just for the fun, and Namor shows up and saves her life. I mean, come on. Given the relationship between the two, you know they are going to get freaky. The Salem's Seven stuff is not all that interesting to me, not knowing them all that well. Still,I do know Agatha Harkness, to an extent, and finding her as a hot woman, as opposed to an old bag, is rather amusing to me. Oh, so many new "superhero" teams in the Ultimate Universe. Such as Alpha Flight below.
Ultimate X-Men 95

Basic Plot: Colossus and the gang go after Northstar, using Banshee. Wolverine discovers a secret from his past. Cyclops stops being a tard (kind of).

So, was anyone else confused by Cyclops agreeing to go with Colossus? Sure, Jean, power, out of control, fiery death, Phoenix, etc., but he loves her and he is also a wuss most of the time. Sure, Ultimate Cyclops is cooler than non-Joss Whedon 616 Cyclops, but still not great. In this, he seems worse, then gets better. I still hate the idea of Colossus taking Banshee, but have to say this was a good issue, but I have one problem. The same problem that happened with Freedom Ring, Moondragon and 616 Northstar (kind of). Kind of annoying, but fine. At least Nightcrawler is more tolerant and Colossus is...oh wait, Colossus is bad for another reason. Crap.

Amazing Spider-Man 563

Basic Plot: Spidey goes after the Bookie and the Enforcers.

Well, I loved this issue. Bob Gale did a really good job writing and I love McKone. So, this was one of the good arcs of ASM post-OMD in the BND universe. The Enforcers have always been great for me because of my reading the early Spidey issues. I love how much trouble he had with Fancy Dan, Montana and Ox, three guys without powers, just a small, fast, fighter, a guy with a whip and a strongman. I mean, come on! To early Spider-Man, they were a challenge, but now? Still, the stuff in it was just really fun and amusing. Oh, why do Gale and McKone have to stop? Why do they have to keep switching guys around in the ASM shuffle?

Incredible Hercules 118

Basic Plot: Herc and the God Squad go after Nightmare to see how to get to the Skrull Gods.

Oh, snap! Probably my favorite reveal is in this issue. Are you ready? Amadeus' coyote pup is a Skrull. I am not making this up. At the very end, you see the pup's eyes go glowy green as he watches Herc and Snowbird make out. Yes, Amadeus' pup, Kirby ("from the name Kerberos/Cerberus"), is a Skrull. How crazy is that? When did they even switch him out? When Athena was doing her stuff as a Skrull? Man, this series is a lot of fun. The story itself was fun, although kind of annoying. Still, I did enjoy it, but man! I did not see that coming at all.

Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four 4

Basic Plot: Lyja and Johnny fight/make out while Ben squashes Negative Zone bugs.

Okay, so I enjoyed this, but didn't think it was all that spectacular. Lyja and Johnny fight, then make up, then Johnny takes her back to the Baxter Building (in the NZ still). Thing squashes some bugs, then Franklin and Valeria squash some in their armored suit. Then, Franklin has the brilliant idea of getting a super-villain genius in the 42 to help them rebuild the NZ portal in the Baxter Building. As opposed to of course going to the NZ portal at 42 and leaving from there. That would be smart. Oy.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

Basic Plot: The Guardians find Vance Astro (Major Victory) in time-ice.

Yeah, time-ice. Drax is so cool. In this issue, he is semi-philosophical. Although actually, he is just telling the truth. So, there is a rift in space and a chunk of matter is frozen. Frozen in time. Literally. I don't mean that it is still and not moving and waiting for something, I mean that it is frozen in old, old frozen time. Drax could tell by licking it. It tasted like regret. The rest is also fun. Definitely one of my favorite current comics. Go Drax!

Hulk

2008-06-17T14:09:00.002-04:00

I saw The Incredible Hulk on Friday, and thought it was pretty darn good.

Some parts were kind of corny, and the dialog wasn't great. Also, Hulk didn't say as much as I wanted him to. He did however say the two things I would expect of him ("Leave me alone" and "Hulk smash!"), so I am okay with that. I also found his using items in his smashing kind of bizarre. It reminds me of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, where Thor could smack someone with Mjolnir, or he could pick up a hammer for testing your strength (those carnival things) and smack someone harder than if you hit them with Mjolnir. Hulk picks up pieces of tank or car and smacks people. It is weird. All I could think of when I saw the previews for, and in the movie, Hulk breaking the car, and putting the two parts on his hands, wearing them like gloves, was hearing about the Hulk video game where you could run almost anywhere and he could do that. It just seems like a weird thing to do.

I did think that the fight between Hulk and Abomination was the best superhero fight I have ever seen in a movie. It was just amazingly cool and awesome. Some really powerful stuff. Also, the small things were awesome. Tony showing up, recruiting, was pretty darn cool. Seems like a very connected universe. Some Starktech shows up also. The psychiatrist Betty is dating is never named in the movie (from what I remember), but is Leonard in the credits, and is fairly obviously Doc Samson. Mr. Blue and Mr. Green was pretty cool too and a fun thing from the comics. The running scenes were really awesome and done well. Seeing Jim Wilson (an obscure Hulk character) was also amusing. Why there is no Rick Jones is confusing, but I didn't really feel he had to be in it. Oh, and Samuel Stearns? Heh, oh, the Leader. How awesome. I just really liked this movie. Not quite as great as Iron Man, but the fight was better.

Comic-Con

2008-06-16T15:07:00.002-04:00

I really do want to go to Comic-Con this year, and I think it is within the realm of possibility and just inside the city of likely, although it is at the train station leading to unlikely. Wait, let me rephrase that. I probably can go to Comic-Con, in which case I probably will go. As of now, I have only gone to one convention, the Wonder-Con from last year, that takes place in San Francisco. This year, I was in Troy. The other years, I didn't know about it. This year, though, I do want to go to San Diego to go to Comic-Con, which is supposed to be the biggest comic convention.

MUN is pretty darn cool. I have opened two of my 4 boxes and got some cool stuff. Although, I think I still have gotten only 1 Ravenous. Kind of sad. I am probably going to play some sealed and draft with my remaining boxes.

Oh, and for Comic-Con, I am thinking of having Kon on my shoulder. You either know what that means or don't.

Missed Yesterday

2008-06-14T04:15:00.002-04:00

Sorry for missing yesterday. I helped some people move into their new apartment, then hung out downtown before seeing Hulk. I'll go over Hulk later.

I did get my boxes yesterday, so I'm going to see how I am going to open them (maybe a small draft for fun or a sealed).

Congrats

2008-06-12T14:24:00.002-04:00

So, today is my former high school's graduation, and I am going there to support some of my friends. Congratulations on graduating high school, Ruben Raskin and Evan Klein-Corman.

On another note, I finally won my first game of Dungeonquest, the game where everybody dying is commonplace. At Gamescape, we have been playing it on Wednesdays a fair amount recently, and while it is very aggravating, as much of the game is left to chance, it is a lot of fun. While never having died on turn 1 ever, I have been infinitely stuck on turn 2 (meaning I die at the very end). Still, it is a lot of fun, especially for a game that stopped being printed since before I was born.

I hate how hard it is to get uncommons in the new MUN set. Out of 1.5 boxes, I have pulled 0 Ravenous, although I have pulled 2 Captain America 4-drop, 2 Helmut Zemo, 2 Unregistered Combatants, 2 Hulkbuster Armor, 2 Head Case, 2 Loki, 2 Death and 2 Quicksilver. Some of those were traded, but come on! Hopefully my remaining 4 boxes will be better for Negative Zone (of which I have gotten 1 rare, Wave of Annihilation, although have traded for some others.

If you read this, and have not read Curtis' post on VsRealms, and actually care, please let him know how wrong it would be to cut his uncut sheet, and that if he wants to keep it, and can't for a little while, he should give it to someone he trusts to take care of it while he waits and sees (then he can sell it, if he wants to, but I think it is just way too cool).

6/11 Comics

2008-06-11T14:18:00.003-04:00

Okay, here is what I will get.

X-Force: Ain't No Dog

Basic Plot: Wolverine kills some people, and Warpath regrets killing people.

All in all, I disliked the art, and thought the stories were somewhat interesting, but not that great. Wolverine sounded very different from usual. I know he isn't the smartest guy in the world, but he sounded very stupid and not like himself. Basically, it is about how Wolverine kills bunches of people and feels very little. The other story is actually drawn somewhat well, although I am really tired of Warpath being upset about killing people. If he is going to be crying about it after every time, he shouldn't be on this team. Plain and simple. Many people could be on it and kill, but that doesn't mean they should, because some shouldn't kill (like Warpath, who is always haunted by the people he kills or Wolfsbane, who just isn't a killer). I don't know, maybe they could get Shatterstar (yes, I know, Liefeld creation, whatever, he kills and enjoys to an extent) or Hepzibah, probably. I just don't see why they should have someone who should be upset whenever he kills.

Skaar: Son of Hulk 1

Basic Plot: Skaar grows up in the vast wasteland that used to be Sakaar.

Okay, so what happened to Sakaar? After Planet Hulk, what happened? I thought the planet was fucked up so badly that nobody could do anything there, and that is why Hulk went to Earth. No? The planet's tectonic plates were fucked up and everything was destroyed, but Skaar was able to survive along with a lot of people and fight for himself. I mean, once I get beyond that Sakaar should be more ruined than it is (literally, planet falling apart as opposed to just no basic structures up), it is an okay story with interesting Ron Garney art that feels much more rough. Not great, but amusing. Hopefully, Skaar will get off the dying Sakaar, although I could see him uniting it like what happened with Hulk in Planet Hulk.

Amazing Spider-Man 562

Basic Plot: Spidey deals with being jobless as the Bookie makes deals with supervillains.

McKone is an awesome artist. I have liked his style ever since I saw it in Exiles and FF. With that, the story was pretty fun. So, spoiler, but the other Spider-Man is Screwball, the "villain" from the past arc that was streaming live. What doesn't make sense is why she would dress up as Spider-Man for someone when she is so freaked out by Spider-Man (the stupid Spider Tracer killer stuff) and gave herself willingly to the cops to escape from Spidey. Ah, BND, you make little sense. Well, it was okay, so whatever. Nothing spectacular.

Captain Britain and MI13 2

Basic Plot: Skrulls try and take over magic.

Yeah, okay, so the Skrulls are using their tech to conquer magic in Avalon. I know little about Avalon in the comics (not the space station also known as Asteroid M at times), but apparently a lot of magic is there. Oh, and when did that nurse get powers? Oh, and why is this called Captain Britain and MI13, when Captain Britain is no longer in it. Killing off the title character in the first issue? Even worse than Cable and Deadpool (over the course, Cable died a lot, but always came back except that last arc, where he came back with his own series) or Captain America (where he died in 25, but the series is on 40 almost). First issue? Yeah, he;ll be back, but come on! Just confusing and not great. Okay, but not great like I think other people see it.

Secret Invasion: Who do you Trust?

Basic Plot: Many stories detailing events with Skrulls during Secret Invasion.

Captain Marvel wrapped that story up pretty well, I thought. The art was okay. For Agent Brand, I have liked the character since Astonishing X-Men, but this was crap in terms of both art and story. The Beast/Wonder Man one had okay writing and story. Marvel Boy was amusing, but not great, both art and story. Agents of Atlas was fun in both art and story. Not the greatest story ever, but fun. So, all in all, it explained some stuff, and was somewhat fun, but not the greatest thing ever.

Missed Comics

2008-06-10T12:00:00.000-04:00

So, after hearing such great things about Captain Britain and MI: 13, I picked it up yesterday before my VS tournament.

Captain Britain and MI: 13 1

Basic Plot: In Britain, Skrulls are attacking.

Honestly? Meh. I mean, some cool parts, like Black Knight kicking ass. Mostly, though, I was pretty meh about it. Maybe not knowing Spitfire very well put me at a disadvantage, but I have read classic Excalibur, as well as New Excalibur. I got most of the references, I just didn't think it was that great. The art was pretty good. The story was okay. Maybe I am such a Skrull fan that I hate any comic that shows Skrulls dying left and right. Oh, and you'd think the Skrull empire would give invulnerability to all their Super Skrulls. Plus, some of the stuff is stupid. Like, Captain Britain takes the Hyperion and Doc Spectrum Skrull's head clean off. Hyperion has invulnerability and the Power Prism should stop Cap. As powerful as some of these guys are, I don't think they should be doing as well as they did against the Skrulls.

Invincible Vol 9

Basic Plot: Oh, who am I kidding.

Okay, so you either know Invincible or you don't. This is the first time I have really discussed Invincible. I really do like this series. It is one of my favorite series. I just happen to get them in volumes and there have been no volumes since last summer. For those who don't know, Invincible is the story of a kid who grows up with his father as the world's greatest superhero from outer space with flight, super strength, super speed and invulnerability named Omniman (Superman who?). Being of the same origin, Mark Grayson starts to develop those powers and grows into them. If you haven't read Invincible, stop right now and read through volume 8 at the very least (maybe this one as well). Okay, so Invincible, in this volume, has to deal with Allen, the Viltrumites and Multi-Paul, along with Magmaniac and Tether Tyrant and other random baddies. The parts with the Viltrumites are easily the best parts as that is the way the comic is heading. Stuff at home is fun, but to be perfectly honest, Kirkman is great at developing the whole Viltrumite mindset and all that Viltrum does. Lots of fun stuff and a great volume again. One annoying thing (to me anyway) is that Cecil's scar isn't very visible, like is used to be. You kind of see it at times, but there are moments when I don't realize it is him because the scar is gone. I mean, what, did he get something for the scar and it is healing, now? Stuff with Allen is always fun and I do enjoy Magmaniac and Tether Tyrant. Both fun villains (especially Tether Tyrant) who are kind of lame, but still interesting. Is it just me or does Magmaniac always fall through the floor? Anyway, pick up the volume if you read it in volumes (the extra art at the back is my main reason) or continue reading the stories in comic form if you do that. Invincible is awesome!

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC

2008-06-09T13:09:00.000-04:00

So, for those of you who haven't ever seen this guy's work, he basically takes action figures and parodies the Mac/PC ads with the two guys. At least originally. Eventually, he started actually making stories and whatnot, but he still does the parodies. Here, this is the first one:

Recently, he has been doing more actual movies with the guys fighting evil or something, mostly while at the superhero bar (where few actually drink). Still, just before Iron Man came out, he released one about the upcoming Marvel and DC summer movies, with Iron Man and Batman discussing their similarities and differences. There have been three with them and all are great.

Man, I love this guy!

Secret Invasion 3

2008-06-06T14:55:00.002-04:00

I still like Secret Invasion a lot. Let's see. In this issue, we see Skrull Jarvis confront Maria Hill about her surrender, being completely amusing, as he is still in the form of Jarvis. We see Norman completely calm and talking to the Captain Marvel Skrull about his breaking into Norman's office. We see the Initiative to prepare to fight the Skrull invaders, the Young Avengers confronting the Skrulls, joined by the Initiative, who do well initially, then get their asses kicked. We see Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), known to be the Skrull queen at this point, defeating Echo and making Tony believe he is a Skrull. Vision dies (again) and Nick Fury's Howling Commandos make their appearance.

So, one thing I have seen is the debate on whether or not Tony is a Skrull. Personally, I do not think he is. Here are some reasons: In the Marvel Universe, Tony was always kind of there, but not nearly as important. Sure, he was a founding member of the Avengers, founded the West Coast Avengers and became Secretary of State, but he wasn't really all that big in the MU to readers. Recently, around the time of New Avengers, he started doing more. He has been working with the government, representing superhumans (despite barely qualifying at the best, or not qualifying as superhuman at the worst, depends on the writer's mood and how he or she feels about AI). Because of this, he worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. a lot more and eventually fought against Captain America in the Civil War, representing the Pro-Registration side, becoming one of the most prominent Marvel characters. In the Marvel Universe, he is now big in both the comic universe and ours. All of these things are weird and made Tony look like an ass, which makes him one of the most disliked members of the superhuman community. Because of that and because he is really powerful in the world, it would seem that he would be a likely candidate for a Skrull. Unfortunately, I give writers credit in the Marvel Universe. Especially Bendis. That would be the most obvious thing in the world, so I don't think it's true. I've failed with this logic a few times (the new Cap being Bucky), but I feel that writers try and make you guess a lot. For example, with Bendis, everybody assumed that because Magneto ruled the world in House of M, he must have wanted that and Scarlet Witch made it happen, but really, Quicksilver did it. That is the kind of thing I am talking about.
Plus, Tony has been a dick. I never really cared about the character all that much, although did like him for the most part if I had to think about him. Two of my friends really liked him though. With that, and reading New Avengers, I started to like him more. He was friendly and he helped people like Spidey (the character that introduced me to comics that I like a lot) out and seemed like a cool guy. Then Civil War happened. Everything that he did made sense in terms of his character and in terms of the storyline, and then I realized that he is a dick. He tried to not be a dick, and was better than Cap at certain points (such as the point mentioned by the Watcher in the second story in What if...? Civil War), but all in all, he forced too much upon the superhuman community and expected too much out of people. Plus, he made the current incarnation of the Thunderbolts with Venom and Bullseye, along with Taskmaster and Lady Deathstrike at certain points. I mean, he had good intentions, I'll give him that. He also knew what was coming, to an extent, but he failed miserably in trying to be the good guy. Sending Hulk into space was a mistake as well. To make him a Skrull is to take away all of that and say "Hey, it wasn't Tony! It was a Skrull! Tony's not a dick!" To me, that would feel like the end of World War Hulk, when Miek reveals that the Illuminati members that sent Hulk to space (Mr. Fantastic, Black Bolt, Dr. Strange and Iron Man) didn't cause the ship to explode. I read Planet Hulk, and when that happened in Planet Hulk, I wanted to personally kill all of those guys along with the Hulk. At that point, I felt the Hulk was completely justified. After all, those guys killed a freakin' planet! I was totally supporting Hulk, but then, Miek revealed and suddenly, I felt sorry for Iron Man. Read above, and you'll know I dislike Iron Man. I felt like apologizing to Tony for that. That was infuriating. I loved everything else, and even that at the time, but I am furious that they just absolved him by saying, "No, it wasn't him. It was that guy over there! Tony didn't do that!" Doing that here would be the same thing on a larger scale, as it covers much more stuff (not more horrifying than a whole planet, but more important on a personal level).
Plus, the Skrulls are all about deception. They always have been. Taking out Tony is a really important task, given how much power he wields (along with taking out the Sentry) and a brilliant way to do it is to make him even more paranoid than he already was. He was paranoid because he realized there was a Skrullektra that came to him and started suspecting everybody. With this, the queen is able to make him doubt himself at the same time. As opposed to simply taking him out, which she could do as well, she is able to turn him against people. I found that part to be hilarious, as I don't think Tony is a Skrull, so her trying to convince him of being one is awesome to me.

Vision died again. Sigh... Well, he came back before, so he could easily come back again.

Nick Fury's team is pretty darn awesome, I have to say. We've got Nick Fury and a Rob Liefeld gun. Daisy Johnson (Quake) and her ability to kill people (okay, that isn't her power, but it seems to be all she uses it for). Phobos, son of Ares, God of Fear, and a small child. The grandkid of the Phantom Rider and his mystic chain. The daughter of Griffin, with her superspeed yo-yo-like ability. The son of Dr. Druid, with all the mystical powers and none of the know-how. Some random tough guy. All in all, they make a pretty awesome team. Hopefully, they won't be able to stop the Skrulls.

Tired...

2008-06-05T16:20:00.000-04:00

Tired for a different reason. Up until 4:30 AM last night (this morning, technically), playing games. Sorry about reviews. I'll get to it later.

Comics on 6/4

2008-06-04T15:01:00.003-04:00

Here is the incredibly long list of comics:

Punisher: War Journal 20

Basic Plot: Punisher runs around trying to find Jigsaw, while Jigsaw sends the Hand after Frank and Bridge's team starts doing things.

Well, it gets better and better, but starting at being horrible means it is now okay. So, this issue wasn't particularly bad, but wasn't all that great. Frank trying to fight those ninjas was just weird. I had no idea he was capable with a sword. Has Punisher ever used a sword before? It is just really weird. Kind of cool, but weird. Also, Chaykin's art makes certain people hard to distinguish from others. Plus, does Chaykin love ninjas or something? The last series I read with Chaykin was Wolverine, in which he fought ninjas and the Hand, along with the Scimitar organization that was trying to make a name for itself by offing Wolverine. Oh well. At least it gets better every week. Hopefully it will be good soon.

Spider-Man Family 9

Basic Plot: Spider-Man and Marvel Girl babysit Bruce Banner to keep him from transforming into the Hulk. A kid pretends to be Spider-Man to get free food.

Two fun stories. Not great, but lots of fun. The art in the first one is also good, and I like it. It is very amusing and is just fun. Favorite parts are how nobody recognizes Spidey as the actual Spidey (despite him clinging to walls and whatnot) and trying to rob places, forcing Spider-Man to go into battle, trying to make sure Bruce is calm all the way through. Also, when they realize Bruce is "the guy who turns into the Hulk," they just stop fighting. It is just lots of fun. The second story is interesting. It has a kid who lives on the streets who robbed a store, then returned in a Spidey outfit with the food, claiming he was Spidey and that he had caught the criminal. For that, and for "protecting" the store, he then gets free food whenever he wants, just by going in, and the owner giving him food. Peter stops it, and it ends well. At the end though, my friend noticed that it was 8:55 PM and Spidey was swinging towards the sun, which had not nearly set yet. Yes, at almost 9 PM, the sun was still up. Apparently, he lived in Northern Canada during this time, or somewhere else far north where there is sun a lot of the day. Who knows? Still, a fun story. The backup ones were weird as they were parts of a group of comics where the entire thing wasn't fully there, but the middle or end of the story was.

Amazing Spider-Man 561

Basic Plot: Paper Doll goes after Carr's new girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson!

MJ's back. -ish. Apparently, she has been in New York, although hiding, and is Carr's "mystery girlfriend." When Spidey realizes Paper Doll was going to attack Carr's fancy house where his girlfriend was, he goes to protect them. As he tries to fight Paper Doll, MJ is in a panic room, helping him out. Kind of amusing, as he never realizes it is her. She makes references to how it could have worked between them in some other time, but not then. Kind of interesting, but I really want classic villains, if we are doing more classic-ish stories. Where is my Doc Ock or Lizard or something?

Ultimate Origins 1

Basic Plot: How the Ultimate universe started-ish.

Okay, so spoiler, but mutants weren't born, they were created. They took Jim Howlett and ran tests on him and came up with a new DNA strand and called him a mutant. Weird. The rest is kind of weird as well. Stuff is just bizarre. Jim, Nick Fury and a Fisk (Wilson, possibly) were all together in WWII, where Nick was subjected to Project: Rebirth (aka the Ultimate Super-Soldier program) and apparently doesn't age much, since he is around in the present. All in all, really weird, and explains even less than it brings up.

Nova 14

Basic Plot: Nova tries to convince Silver Surfer to stop Galactus for a time.

Well, again, kind of meh. I found the stuff with Silver Surfer talking to Nova interesting and Galactus to be kind of dull. I mean, yeah, Galactus just kind of sat there. Plus, I found Galactus to not really look good. I'm not really into changing Galactus' appearance all that much. The artist adds space (it looks like outer space on his face and suit) and way too many small tech lines (microchip type stuff on something like Galactus, with weird doohickeys coming out of him). The rest doesn't feel like Surfer and Galactus as much. I don't know. Harrow is weird and not that interesting to me. I mean, my main problem still is how weak the frickin' Nova Corps is. One man with all the power of the Nova Corps, the whole Nova force cannot take on Silver Surfer. Okay, sure. The entire Nova force cannot come close to taking an adult Technarch? Come on, now! Basically, I feel Nova should be much more powerful than he is. He should be more like Ion than anything.

Avengers/Invaders 2

Basic Plot: The Mighty Avengers go after the Invaders.

Well, things are getting interesting. I liked the story. The fight was cool, but way too short. The best part is easily when Iron Man gets the crap kicked out of him by Cap. Iron Man uses a magnet to pull Cap's shield away, but Cap holds on, then punches Iron Man into the ground. Awesomeness. Namor is the only one they didn't capture, but it was pretty cool all in all. Plus, Bucky. Oh, yes. Bucky. Still a bad-ass as a kid. Plus, Winter Soldier/Cap saw Bucky, which causes all sorts of confusion. So, Bucky can meet Winter Soldier, Namor can meet Namor (god, how did he stay so young?), Cap can meet Winter Soldier/Cap and Vision could meet Torch (on which Vision was originally made from). Or Torch could meet Torch. Still, lots of interesting things to do.

Kick-Ass 3

Basic Plot: Kick-Ass starts becoming an internet celebrity and tries to help people.

Okay, read this. Done? Good. Holy shit! WTF? That is seriously twisted shit, man. That looks to me to be, like, a ten year old girl. I've seen people say it's a guy, but the hair and the eyes signify me to be a girl. Either way, holy shit! I am so glad that blood and guts don't freak me out. Otherwise this and Invincible (also picked up) would freak me out. I love how they just have people beat up and bleeding and having vital organs spilling out. It is amazing and ridiculous. Every person who finished reading it just said, "What the fuck? What?" I mean, come on! Ridiculous!

Secret Invasion 3

Basic Plot: As the Super Skrulls (not Kl'rt) attack NYC, everybody else deals with major crap.

You know I'm going to love it. I mean, it is the Skrulls. Review coming Friday. Until then, though, I don't think Tony is a Skrull. More later.