Tag Archive: comics


The Pullbox – 8/31/11

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September 13, 2011

Originally Published: August 31, 2011 on EGMNOW.com

August is coming to a close and with it is an incredible run by Greg Pak on The Incredible Hulk that will lead into an all new monthly for “he who likes to smash” over at Marvel and of course the universe altering Flashpoint for DC. With all these changes going on, let’s jump right into this week’s comics and get our hands on my five must haves for the week.

1) DC – Flashpoint #5 (of 5): As mentioned in the open, this is where the entire DCU will be reset from. Although not following Flashpoint as closely as many other events over the past few years, partially due to my disappointment in the ending of Brightest Day by Geoff Johns, who is one of the main guys behind this re-launch, this issue actually left me feeling rather satisfied with how everything has drawn to a close with some tremendously heart-felt moments for many of the DCU’s powerhouses. Even if you haven’t been reading Flashpoint, if you have any interest in the DCU, you should pick this up just to have a solid idea of where things will go from here and so you can have a solid gauge of just what changes are taking place. If for some reason you’ve been staying off the DC bandwagon, then this is the perfect time to get on board with a fresh start and not as much of the weight that comes with some of publisher’s main characters’ 70-plus year histories.

2) DC – Justice League #1: The only other DC comic to be released this week, which not only made it very easy to pick my pair of DC must haves, but also is the starting off point for the new vision of the DC Universe. A part of me really wanted to hate this issue, I admit. The whole idea of a universal re-launch kind of turned my stomach when I first heard about it, and I’m still unsure of how things will turn out, but if everything ends up like this comic, then DC will be just fine and this could mark the beginning of a newly celebrated age in comics. Starting off in a flashback to five years ago before the Justice League had formed (in comics time of course), the issue has a lot of classic crowd pleasing elements like the heroes fighting each other at first until a new threat they can’t handle alone rears its head (which I won’t spoil, but DC fans will be thrilled about what it is). My only problem from this comic comes in the Superman redesign. The all blue-suit and more toned musculature really makes me think I’m looking at Superboy and not Superman. Overall though, aside from possibly being worth something as a new #1, I can see this easily becoming one of my monthly pick up depending on where this opening arc goes.

3) Marvel – The Incredible Hulks #635 – Again, as mentioned above, Greg Pak’s run with Hulk is coming to an end. With it, Marvel will hand over the reigns to a new creative team, with a brand new Hulk monthly, in writer Jason Aaron and legendary artist Marc Silvestri as Marvel will make sure what would otherwise be a monumental gap in their lineup stays occupied. Not surprising to see a new team come in after seeing Hulk’s main comic go through more changes in the past few years than Banner does purple pants, but the idea of ANOTHER re-launch has me shaking my head. Pak’s run was spectacular though and he added as much depth to the character than most any other writer in the Hulk’s history. So if you’re a fan of the big green gamma-irradiated monster known as The Hulk, you should pick this up to see where the character may just be going and who he’ll take with him when his new landmark monthly in October hits as this run draws to a fitting close.

4) Marvel – Herc #6.1 – Mind you, it’s not like Greg Pak will be out of work as he will continue now with the monthly he started a short while ago since he is probably the sole reason as to why this character has seen a renaissance in recent years. Hercules, one time Avenger, now stripped of his powers, must try to find his way in the world and figures what better place than…Brooklyn? Not quite Mount Olympus, Herc decides that this New York borough is in need of a hero and so after raiding Ares’ armory, he uses some godly weapons and his god-sized heart to try to dish out a little justice. Continuing the “.1” series for Marvel, which is really just an excuse to dish out more one-shots and make some more cash, this adventure may not be as epic as the main monthly for Herc, but it does a fine job of catching you up incase you missed the first six issues and are looking for something new and fun as the Herc series has done a great job of mixing humor and action to be one of the more overall entertaining reads to launch this year.

5) IDW – Locke and Key: Clockworks #2 – Continuing Joe Hill’s twisted story of how the Locke family are using mystical keys to keep the demon world at bay, Clockworks #2 mixes humor with some very dark and disturbing imagery that could only come from the mind of Stephen King’s son (Joe Hill is a pen name). The evil demon Dodge, who is trying to unleash his demon brethren into our realm, has possessed the youngest of the Locke children and is using his body to get close to his ultimate prize. Unwittingly, he also releases Kinsey’s tears and fears, emotions that using the Head Key she had locked away in order to do what was necessary in order to protect her family and our world. Mayhem runs abound in this issue as the countdown to the amazing conclusion to the Locke and Key series is in full swing now. If you haven’t been reading Locke and Key, go find collections of the previous story arcs and get on board while you still can with this phenomenally dark series.

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A Fan’s Reluctant Return – First Thoughts on Spider-Island

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Originally Published: August 24, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

Ever want to do whatever a spider can?

Growing up there were always two superheroes I gravitated to the most, Batman from DC and Spider-Man from Marvel. The distinct advantage that these two heroes had was that when I was just getting into comics, they had some of the most epic storylines in comics history, which are still referenced to this day. Batman had Knightfall and Spidey had Maximum Carnage. Batman also had movies and Adam West TV reruns, and Spidey had video games where he fought the Sinister Six, teamed up with the X-Men, and did whatever else a spider can and they both later had awesome mid-90s cartoons. With that kind of media bombardment, it wasn’t hard for those two to rise above the rest in my young geeky life.

As the years progressed, these two remained my favorites, even after learning as much as I could about Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk and many others. That is until a fateful story arc called One More Day in 2007-2008 cast Spidey in a shadow from which I thought he could never return for me. Marvel had re-launched Spider-Man in one of the most ridiculous ways imaginable when Spidey sold his marriage to Mary Jane to Mephisto to save Aunt May. I understand comics are all about the unimaginable overcoming the unimaginable, but this felt like a slap in the face for someone who had devoted the better part of 20 years to this character. I hate that arc so much that I don’t even want to put a representative image of any of those four covers in this story because they all make me so sick to my stomach. Spidey had some mistakes before like The Clone Saga and what not, but this had felt like Marvel had painted themselves into a corner with the Civil War fallout and basically copped out of trying to fix it. I had tried to continue to read Amazing Spider-Man after this, but after only a couple of issues, I could not stand the new direction the comic had taken and so I imposed a boycott to never buy anything revolving around Spider-Man again. This meant I could still read Avengers related comics and crossovers, but Amazing Spider-Man was dead to me. The core character of who Spider-Man was had been drastically changed and I could never look at him the same way ever again.

Fast-forward to the present day. I had successfully maintained my boycott comic book-wise for over three years. I had played the video games (Web of Shadows was so-so, but I loved Shattered Dimensions), but much like the media bombardment from my childhood, I would have to have been living under a rock to have not noticed the Spider-Island push, especially as I still read a lot of Marvel comics. So here I was, with a jumping off point that could take me back into the Spider-Man universe and with a lot of distance from the arc that had pushed me away from Spidey to begin with. So I picked up Amazing Spider-Man #667, the first part of Spider-Island, as well as the Venom and Cloak and Dagger crossovers.

Honestly, I wasn’t impressed. Coming back into the character now, I still see a lot of the shortcomings from the direction he took back in 2008 and the character has become completely un-relatable to me. I think part of the lasting appeal of comic characters is how much one could imagine themselves in the shoes of the hero and I think that Spider-Man has stagnated, possibly even devolved in those regards. I will finish following at least the Spider-Island story arc though to give Spidey a chance to win me back, especially because the Venom and Cloak and Dagger crossovers started off brilliantly. And you might say that giving him only five or six issues to win me back may seem fickle, but it only took four issues to turn me away from him for three years. If this is supposed to be the ground-breaking “Spider-Event of the Decade” arc that it has been hyped to be, then there should be no problem in hooking me back in. But this arc seems more like “The Clone Saga Part 2″ than anything Spider-Man fans old or new should be excited about, and at this rate the boycott will start again in November when this event ends.

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Pullbox #2 – 8/24/11

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Originally Published: August 24, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

With the DC Universe re-launch right around the corner, we saw a lot of concluding storylines and one-shots from DC, but Marvel has some re-launches of their own going on and other relatively new storylines dominating their line-up. With that in mind, here are my top five comics released on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011.

1) DC – Batman: Gates of Gotham #5 (of 5): With Batman being the least affected character by the upcoming universe re-launch, DC needed an arc that would help push Dick Grayson out of the role of the Dark Knight and allow Bruce to re-claim the mantle full-time. Gates of Gotham is an arc that helps do that. While still continuing the recent new villain push with the story’s main antagonist, the Architect, the ending also reveals Bruce’s return to Gotham after sowing the seeds of Batman, Inc. around the world. To make the transition back to Bruce a smooth one, this arc pushed Dick to his limits as a person and as a crime-fighter. This makes it easy to write that his confidence has been marred after the carnage caused by Architect and that Bruce recognizes that by Dick returning to his role as Nightwing, where he’ll have less pressure on him to perform and fill Bruce’s all encompassing shadow, he can re-find his groove. The idea seems to be positively embraced by most, if not all, fans of the Dark Knight. Now it’s just a matter of the new #1s to start rolling out. If you haven’t been following this mini-series, then you might want to wait for it to be collected before jumping on this issue, but if you followed it to this point, this concluding chapter will not disappoint.

2) DC – Superman Beyond #0: A one-shot that follows a future Superman set in the Batman Beyond universe, this interesting comic still finds a way to encompass everything the Man of Steel represents while giving him new and creative threats, and even more new and creative allies. Hoping to ride on the coat tails of the Batman Beyond series’ popularity, which has been put on hold for the time being for the DCU re-launch, Superman Beyond #0 is written by legend Tom DeFalco and drawn by one of his favorite partners in crime, Ron Frenz, who are both hoping that the one-shot will be popular enough to ensure a monthly spin-off once “The New 52” expands into something more like the “The New 75” later this year. Much like what happened with the original 100+ issues of Spider-Girl that spawned off after another one-shot they had done for Marvel back in the day. If you are a fan of either the Batman Beyond comic or the late 90s cartoon, this one-shot is something you’ll want to take a look at, whether it spawns a monthly or not.

3) Marvel – Uncanny X-Force #13 – Rick Remender continues his brilliant run on this young series as we look at Part 3 of “The Dark Angel Saga”. Wolverine and the rest of X-Force have traveled to the Age of Apocalypse universe to try to acquire a life-seed in order to save their universe’s Archangel. Things go wrong though when they are un-surprisingly betrayed by Dark Beast and must confront the new AoA Apocalypse, who is really that universe’s Wolverine. Although successful in acquiring a life-seed, it comes at a great price as AoA’s Nightcrawler is killed and AoA’s Jean Grey is captured before Wolverine and X-Force are thrown back into their universe. Wolverine has little time to grieve over old wounds that have been ripped open though as Archangel has been busy without Psylocke to keep his Death persona in check. Now, even the life-seed may not be enough to save their universe as Archangel has awoken Onslaught and with the aid of Dark Beast, Ozymandias, and the new Four Horsemen, looks to rise up as the new Apocalypse. Brilliantly written and chock full of action, Uncanny X-Force has been a rare series that does not disappoint month in and month out. Try to gather the first two issues of this arc if you can, but if not, definitely jump on now as the X-Men universe is likely never to be the same when this is done.

4) Marvel – The Ultimates #1 – Although not re-launching all their titles, Marvel did decide to re-launch their “Ultimate” universe with the recent announcement of the new Spider-Man Miles Morales and now a new The Ultimates, which follows that universe’s Avengers. Clearly a ploy to help capitalize on their movie franchises, people who had followed the original Ultimates will see clear similarities between those characters and those that will be seen in next summer’s blockbuster movie and have been already introduced on the big screen. For those who never got into the series the first time around, this could be an interesting new jumping off point though. This could irritate some comics’ fans just as much as excite them so the biggest reason why I’m recommending this is it’s polybagged because Stan Lee signed a handful as they went out into the circulation so its like buying a ticket in the comic book lottery if you buy one.

5) IDW – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 – After a long absence from the comic book scene, the four turtles in the half-shell have come back to their comic book roots with this stellar return to form by original co-creator Kevin Eastman writing it. Although in color and not black and white like the original 1984 comics, the TMNT definitely reek of nostalgia with this opening issue as it both begins to explain an updated origin story featuring Baxter Stockman, Casey Jones, and April O’Neil, sow seeds of their personalities including Raph’s rebellious nature, and features them all wearing the same red colored bandanas, just like the originals. Including alternate covers all featuring a different turtle so you can pick your favorite (I got mine in Donatello), this issue looks to kick off a triumphant return for the lean, green, fighting machines and is a must have for anyone who has ever been a fan of TMNT at some point in their lives.

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Pullbox #1 – 8/17/11

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Originally Published: August 17, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

With so much going on in the comics world right now, it’s hard to limit myself to just the five best, but if you’re reading on a budget, then this is the best place to come to for your comic book recommendations. Here are my top five comics released on Wednesday, August 17th, 2011.

1) Marvel – Venom #6: Rick Remender continues to wow us and remind us why between Uncanny X-Force and Venom he is one of the hottest writers in the comics industry right now. Continuing the events of the just launched “Spider-Island” event, Remender forwards the trend started by Nick Spencer’s Spider-Island: Cloak and Dagger #1 (of 3) last week in that the ancillary titles of this event may actually be better than the main story arc itself. Venom, a.k.a. Flash Thompson, is in for the fight of his life as a budding super-hero and will have his hands full with The Jackal’s number one mutated henchman, Tarantula. A startling revelation at the end makes you question Marvel’s continuity once again with the “Fear Itself” event still going on as well, but this is a sure-fire can’t miss otherwise.

 

2) Marvel – Avengers Academy #18 (Fear Itself Tie-In): The possessed Titania and Absorbing Man continue their relentless assault against the infinite Avengers Mansion. With the members of the Academy cut off from the real world, they are trapped in every sense of the word with these two powerhouse villains and are outmatched in every way power wise. Even in the most action packed of sequences, Avengers Academy writer Christos Gage does a terrific job of continuing to evolve the depth of character of this first Academy class and all it does is leave you wanting more so you can see how these kids can get out of crazy situation after crazy situation. If you haven’t been reading Avengers Academy, what is wrong with you?

 

3) DC – Batman #713: This landmark series will see it’s first re-launch in its 70+ year history next month and so this final issue carries a lot of weight with it. The DC Universe will be scaled back to only 52 books a month, including some new and old DC titles, starting in September. Never fear Bat-fans as 11 of them will revolve around the Bat-family. Although this issue isn’t anything particularly special, it could be worth something to a collector being the last issue of what will be known now as “Batman Vol. 1” as well as it serves as a great point for new fans because it sums up a lot of the Batman history to this point through the eyes of Damian, the new Robin and also Batman’s illegitimate son with Talia al’ Guhl.

 

4) DC – Batman: 1990s Retroactive (One-Shot): Continuing the series of one-shots that look back on DC’s history and that were done to help build up to next month’s universal re-launch, Batman: 1990s Retroactive pits the Dark Knight against a villain who gained a lot of his notoriety in the 90s due to Batman: The Animated Series, the Ventriloquist. Drawn in a style to invokes the memories of those great early 90s cartoons, this one-shot sees the Caped Crusader lured into a trap at the Gotham Museum of Natural History, but things go awry when a very unnatural visitor interrupts and the Dark Knight is left to with more opponents than even he might be able to handle! Throw in a classic mobster tale from the 90s Batman where even Gotham’s Guardian isn’t fast enough to save the day and you have a great 2-for-1 here as we get ready to launch the new DCU.

5) Dark Horse – Star Wars: Knight Errant: Deluge #1 (of 5):Starting a new 5-issue arc for wandering Jedi Kerra Holt, this is technically the sixth comic in the Knight Errant series. Our young Jedi Knight who has made protecting the downtrodden her own personal cause, returns to what was once her home world deep in the space controlled by Sith Lord Damian. Unbeknownst to young Kerra though, a threat just as dangerous as the Sith have decided to reveal themselves in the form of the galaxy known crime lords, the Hutts. In particular one called Zodoh, who has a propensity to technology including a jet pack that helps him get around and a weather manipulator that looks to spell trouble for Kerra. If you enjoy adventures set in the time of the Old Republic, then this tale, which takes place a millennia before the movies should be a fine arc to add to your expanded universe library starting with this issue.

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EGM Captain America: Super Soldier Review

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July 25, 2011

Originally Published: July 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

Game Name: Captain America: Super Soldier

By: Ray Carsillo

Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Next Level Games
Platforms: 3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

The Good: Stellar shield mechanics makes you really feel like the Star-Spangled Avenger
The Bad: Uneven plot pacing leaves you feeling vaguely dissatisfied
The Ugly: Unnecessary acrobatic sequences too often break the flow of action

In an adventure worthy of the character’s long history, Captain America: Super Soldier takes some liberties in regards to the original comic story lines, but from the get go fans will know that Cap is in his classic element and I can’t imagine it feeling better than how this game portrays it. From working your way through WWII trenches and punching out HYDRA foot soldiers, to taking on some Arnim Zola inspired monstrosities in German warehouses, the action sequences are worthy of any comic book hero as Cap pursues his long time nemesis, the Red Skull, deep into Nazi controlled Europe.

The first thing anyone should want to try out is Cap’s iconic shield, which handles surprisingly well in both offensive and defensive situations and feels like a natural extension of Cap. Aside from deflecting punches or bullets, the shield’s offensive capabilities have it so you can get the drop on your enemies from afar or use it in its own combo as it bounces off three, four, or even five enemies at a time just like Cap does in the comics. And for more personal combat, the game takes a page out of the Batman: Arkham Asylum handbook. Cap will often find himself surrounded by various foes, but by stringing together punches, kicks, and properly using your shield to counterattack, you can pull off combos that will leave your enemies sprawled at your feet and you no worse for ware, even if it feels a bit more stiff than the inspiration from which the system seems to be taken.

Unfortunately, for as good as the fighting feels, there are also a lot of unnecessary points to the game play, specifically some acrobatic and platforming situations that seem more akin to Assassin’s Creed or Prince of Persia, but far too linear. Although meaning to show how Cap could use his superhuman abilities to get around, the sequences often came at the sacrifice of the flow of action and jarred you out of the world you found yourself in as you tried to needlessly time these forced maneuvers.

All things considered though, when you include cameos by some of Cap’s classic allies like Nick Fury, the Invaders, and Bucky Barnes while taking down iconic foes like Baron von Strucker, Madame Hydra, and the Red Skull himself in this comic worthy storyline and the positives clearly outweigh the negatives as any Cap fan will be thrilled by how well-portrayed the Star-Spangled Avenger is overall in this game.

Score: 7.5

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Valve Teams with Dark Horse to Collect Graphic Novels into One Volume

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Originally Published: July 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

THE BUZZ: Dark Horse Comics, the publisher of comics like Hellboy and several titles that follow the Star Wars universe, will be teaming up with Valve to provide a hardcover volume of the comic book tie-ins that Valve has produced over the years for some of their most popular games.

WHAT WE KNOW: Titled Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories, the volume will be priced at $29.99 and be 304 pages in length. Due to be released on November 16th, 2011, the three games featured in the volume will be Portal, Team Fortress, and Left 4 Dead. When released, it will mark the second video game related property that Dark Horse will publish in as many months as October 19th will also see the comics publisher launch a 4-issue mini-series dealing with the Mass Effect universe.

WHAT IT MEANS: This is nothing new to see video game developers teaming up with comic book publishers to promote games old and new. Prototype, inFamous, Halo, and Gears of War are just some of the first and third party developed games that have had printed comic book tie-ins before. Even iconic figures like Sonic and Mega Man have their own monthly comics, so it is no surprise that Valve would want to showcase Chell from Portal, the Survivors from Left 4 Dead, and the various crazy character classes from Team Fortress. An extra plus for this hardcover is that most comics cost $2.99 for 24 pages, so 304 for $29.99 is like 25% off the cover price if these issues were all sold separately.

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Gotham City Sirens #23 Review

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May 25, 2011

Originally Published: May 25, 2011, on Comicvine.com

After a brief respite for the Judgment of Gotham crossover, Gotham City Sirens comes back with a bang as Selina struggles with loyalty issues and Harley is seen helping the Joker turn Arkham into something similar to the Arkham Asylum video game, but gets resistance from an unusual suspect in the new Black Mask, Jeremiah Arkham!

The Good

This marks the beginning of a new story arc for Gotham City Sirens and as previous issues seemed to be spiraling into a valley, this issue looks to be pulling us back towards a peak again. Tons of action and chaos as Harley and Joker survey the carnage they’ve caused around them while torturing the Arkham guards unfortunate enough to cross their path. Throw in some cameos by Clayface and Mr. Zsasz and you’ll have flashback to the Arkham Asylum video game.

The key to this issue though is conflict. Catwoman versus herself as she weighs whether or not she should help Harley out over in Arkham. Ivy versus Harley as the two friends confront each other as Ivy has had it with her love sick puppy spells she goes into when she’s near the Joker. Joker versus Jeremiah Arkham as Arkham has been slowly buying or twisting many of the prison guards to his means and the Joker’s rampage is undoing the plans he put in motion months ago. And, of course, the set up for Batman (Bruce Wayne) versus them all as he lets Catwoman know that cases involving the Joker are his personal responsibility and are not to be handled by Dick. This is a great build up for a new story arc as we’ll see the effects of the previous ones finally play out here in one of Gotham’s grandest stages.

The Bad

The only real negative that seems to come from this comic is the lack of originality. Will every major arc that guides its way through Arkham Asylum and the Joker deal with a giant breakout that causes chaos and riots in the Asylum and force Batman to come inside the haunted padded walls to quell the threat? It just sounds a bit too much like this arc is already getting ready to help build up some more hype for Arkham City along with the five-issue mini-series that is being released as well.

The Verdict

What I thought of as a lack of originality aside, this comic features a lot of action between many different characters and sets the stage for what looks to be a mighty test for both Catwoman and Batman in the future issues. If you haven’t been reading this comic, you might be a little lost since even though it’s technically a new arc, you’re really jumping into a continuation of the last one, but you should be able to catch on quickly enough to still enjoy it.

4.5/5 Stars

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X-Men Legacy #249 Review

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Originally Published: May 25, 2011, on Comicvine.com

The X-Men continue to recuperate after the events of Age of X as Rogue and Magneto realize just how much they’ve been through together both in reality and fantasy. Meanwhile Legion continues to try to bring his thousands of personalities under control and Frenzy attempts to figure out how to let go of a dream that felt more natural than the reality she finds herself trying to sleepwalk through.

The Good

No matter how many times now we may revisit Magneto’s past in a concentration camp, it gives me chills each and every time. And when he shares those experiences with Rogue in order to teach her a lesson of how he was tainted by that universal evil, you appreciate the strength of the character more and more with every passing issue.

It was also very interesting to see how Frenzy is developing as a character and was a surprisingly compelling sub-plot to this issue. All the while Legion has an unexpected setback that can set up a plethora of future problems for the X-Men that has me holding my breath in anticipation.

The Bad

Although I think the two sub-plots of this issue were very well done, I think they took away from the power and impact of Magneto’s story. With the way this comic started out, I much would have preferred if the entire issue was dedicated to Rogue and Magneto and their relationship and could have waited on seeing Legion and Frenzy again until the next issue.

The Verdict

This looks to be the right time to start getting into X-Men Legacy if you haven’t been already as the aftermath of Age of X is starting to come to a close and you’ll have a good jumping off point to see just where Magneto, Rogue, Frenzy, and Legion are when the next big arc starts up.

Couple this with an always powerful Auschwitz story from Magento and great character development all around and I would highly recommend picking up this issue as we look forward to the future of the characters featured in these pages.

4.5/5 Stars

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Uncanny X-Men #537 Review

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Originally Published: May 25, 2011, on Comicvine.com

Kruun’s plans for revenge begin to come to light and he has made sure that most of the X-Men are powerless to stop him. Can Kitty Pryde find a way to warn the others in time or will Kruun’s suicide mission be the end of the X-Men and Utopia?

The Good

It looks like we might finally start to get some resolution to the entire Kitty Pryde intangibility issue and thank goodness because I can’t take it anymore. Along with this, Kruun’s plans are finally fully revealed to us and the action begins to amp as we being moving to a climax and resolution in this story arc that sees the Breakworlders visiting Utopia.

The Bad

I had some problems with a lot of the things that took place in the pages of this comic. The most notable had to be with Wolverine. There is a systematic telling of how Kruun planned for every mutant who could interfere with him…except he conveniently forgot about Wolverine. If there is one mutant on Utopia who you should try to plan for, I think it would be Wolverine.

Not to mention, there is this huge build-up for a fight between Kruun and Wolverine in the next issue, but honestly if that fight lasts more than two or three pages I’ll be disappointed. It’s Wolverine versus a one-armed humanoid alien that he’s already kicked the snot out of before, and that was when the alien had the home turf advantage and both his arms. This issue seemed more like an attempt at just showing how formidable Kruun still is, but in reality he shouldn’t be and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense except as page filler.

The Verdict

If you’ve been reading this Uncanny storyline, then you’re going to want to see where it ends up, but I’m tempted to tell you to pass on this comic due to blatant page filler moments and the unnecessary build up of a character that just doesn’t need all this attention. Not to mention I still can’t stand the intangible Kitty Pryde thing, even if it does look to be coming to a head soon.

Also, if you’re looking to get into Uncanny X-Men, this is definitely not the issue to do so and I would wait until this arc at least finishes up before adding this to my weekly pull box.

2.5/5 Stars

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X-Men: First Class Character Profile: Sebastian Shaw

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Originally Published: May 25, 2011, on Comicvine.com

We are all very aware that there are clearly going to be many differences between the X-Men: First Class movie and the comics it is based off of. Another story arc that we are sure to see some loose liberties taken with in the movie will be the Hellfire Club and its leader, Sebastian Shaw, played by Kevin Bacon.

Sebastian Shaw first appeared in January 1980 in X-Men #129 as the Black King of the now infamous Hellfire Club. A shrewd businessman and strategist, Shaw was a self-made billionaire by age 40. This rapid influx of wealth caught the attention of Ned Buckman, the head of the New York branch of the Hellfire Club, which at the time had a very anti-mutant agenda unbeknownst to Shaw.

Shaw was invited into the club’s Inner Circle as the Black Bishop. But when Shaw and his lover came under attack for being mutants, his lover being killed, Shaw used Emma Frost to coerce Buckman into killing himself and all other members of the club’s Inner Circle instead. This left a power vacuum that Shaw quickly plugged as he announced himself the new Black King and began his pro-mutant machinations for the club and his ultimate goal of world domination.

Shaw’s first appearance in the comics would help set up one of the most dramatic story arcs in X-Men history as it would start The Dark Phoenix Saga and also marked the first appearance of two other very popular characters, Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost. Emma was Shaw’s right hand lady with her psychic abilities and Shaw had sent Emma to distract the X-Men and test their limits when they went to investigate the manifestations of Kitty’s powers. This was all to allow original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants member, Jason Wyngarde, the original Mastermind, a clearer chance to manipulate Jean Grey’s mind while the X-Men were distracted and split up (Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, and Professor X went to see Kitty while Cyclops, Jean, and Nightcrawler went looking for Dazzler in New York) and begin preparing her to become Shaw’s Black Queen for his vision of the Hellfire Club. Of course, this would backfire, drive Jean mad, and unleash the Dark Phoenix, but that’s another story for another time.

Aside from being a brilliant tactician, Shaw also possesses a mutant power similar to that of Bishop’s in that he can absorb kinetic energy and re-metabolize it. Shaw cannot redirect the energy into blasts of his own like Bishop, but like Bishop he can use it to increase his strength, speed, stamina, and invulnerability and often takes a pummeling early in a fight from his foes in order to build up his reserves and dish out punishment on a more personal level with his fists later on.

Now we haven’t seen much of Shaw in trailers or whatnot except that members of his Hellfire Club usually accompany him or there is one shot where he is talking to Angel Salvadore. Since I highly doubt we’ll see anything in regards to Dark Phoenix, I think it would make sense for Shaw and his Hellfire Club to have their own agenda for the mutant race and this is what puts them in conflict with the X-Men and maybe even gives Magneto the inspiration to form the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants later on. And this would at least stay true to Shaw as a character who plans for world domination through force and his vast fortune.

Also, even though Kevin Bacon is not nearly as imposing a physical force as Shaw comes across as in the comics, I’d at least like to see him get his hands dirty and slug it out with some of First Class’s heavy hitters like Beast, Havok, and maybe even Darwin. You could very easily have him absorb one of Havok’s blasts and go to town on some of the X-Men who use more hand-to-hand techniques when fighting their foes. No matter what though, this classic X-Men villain is sure to give these First Class recruits a run for their money.

So what do you guys think? Just how far will Shaw and the Hellfire Club go in the movie? Will Shaw get his hands dirty when push comes to shove or will he remain more simply as the brilliant tactician behind this odd roster of the Inner Circle of Emma, Riptide, and Azazel? Let us know what you think with comments below!

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