Tag Archive: marvel


The Pullbox Issue #5 – 9/14/11

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September 22, 2011

DC’s re-launch continues while Marvel’s event based barrage tries to win over the hearts and minds of comic purchasers everywhere. Meanwhile, the Indies are putting a strong fight themselves with a barrage of both new titles starting this week and old stand-bys continuing on. So with all these new comics coming out, what should you pick up? Scroll down to find out!

1) Marvel – New Avengers #16 (Fear Itself Tie-In) – It seems like nowadays almost anyone can be an Avenger as a revolving door of characters have been coming through the Mansion over the past couple of years. So when you see Daredevil on the cover, you can just imagine that this is the moment when The Man Without Fear gets his chance at Avengers membership as Marvel continues his recent re-imagining. But what was interesting was how Brian Michael Bendis bookends this issue with more well-established Avengers talking about what it means to be an Avenger and basically sets up a chance for Daredevil to show off his moves so that even if you’re not as familiar with the character or just haven’t paid attention to him in a long time, you realize just what makes this guy so special and why he keeps coming back any chance Marvel gets. As Fear Itself begins to wind down, this is a great pick-up as we can almost start looking ahead to the Marvel universe after this major event.

2) Marvel – Fear Itself #6 (of 7) – I normally don’t like doing a pair of issues from the same event like this, but Marvel had a weak week in my opinion, even though I picked up several comics from them. Fear Itself though finally seems to really be hitting its stride in terms of impact on the Marvel universe. Unfortunately, it almost feels like its going to be rushed now and that things are going to come to a head much too quickly in next month’s final issue as some crossover arcs are starting to come to a close. Still, this was a pretty awesome comic as we saw Thor get his second wind, Captain America reach his breaking point, and Iron Man prepare for the ultimate leap of faith. Meanwhile, the Serpent is nearly back to one-hundred percent in terms of strength and if he reaches his full potential, it all might be too little, too late. This issue is the set up for what should be a very epic final issue in yet another Marvel event and it I can’t wait to see how this shakes up Asgard in the future.

3) DC – Batman and Robin #1 – Continuing with DC’s universal re-launch we go back to Gotham as another Batman series looks to introduce another new villain, one who isn’t very fond of Batman, Inc. and wants to send a very brutal message to Gotham’s Guardian. What’s great about this book though is that is solidifies Bruce Wayne’s return to the cowl as he now tries to not only be a crime-fighter, but a father to young Damian, his illegitimate son with Talia al Guhl, who has now almost by birthright inherited the mantle of Robin. It gives the dynamic between Batman and Robin a unique twist as Damian doesn’t have just the rebellious nature of Jason Todd or the athletics or Dick Grayson or the intelligence of Tim Drake, he has a bit of all of them and his rebelliousness is specifically tailored to being in his late adolescence and looking to rebel against a father who was never there for him, even arguing that when Dick wore the cowl he got more respect with Bruce responding that he still hasn’t earned it from him yet. Brilliant writing by Peter Tomasi makes the decision easy to keep this as a pick up for me every month.

4) DC – Green Lantern #1 – There were a lot of very good comics out there from DC this week so I decided to go with an old standby in Green Lantern. I was curious to see where they would go with Hal Jordan now being powerless and with Sinestro being a Green Lantern again. Although it was somewhat comical how Hal got around without his ring, almost as if it was more influenced by the movie version of Hal than the comic version we’ve seen for decades, but it actually worked and I liked that they moved away from it quickly as, even though it could be a deal with the devil, Sinestro came to Earth to offer Hal a chance at getting his ring back. The long term plans for Green Lantern have me curious, especially since we haven’t seen much of the rest of the honor guard in Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner, but at least it looks Hal won’t be powerless for long, which pleases me tremendously because I still think he is the first Green Lantern people think of when you think of ring slinging and it would only hurt the character in the long room to keep him de-powered. Also, the comic continued to portray the Guardians in a pretty unsavory light and it should be interesting if and when that aspect of their budding personalities comes to a head.

5) Image – PIGS #1 – As a bit of a history buff, I was curious when I heard about PIGS. It is the story about a fictional sleeper cell of Russians who were left in Cuba after The Bay of Pigs in the early 1960s. Now in the modern day, the family of that sleeper cell has been awakened and kidnapped the president of the United States. Now, the FBI and CIA must get to the root of all this. All I can is that for as much exposition as there was to set everything up, this was a brilliantly written first issue for this new series and I’m excited to see how further issues will develop this very realistic based story. The first thing I thought after reading this was that people who fans of Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Warriors from Marvel or the story behind Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops will more than likely enjoy taking a look at this comic from Nate Cosby and Ben McCool.

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Pullbox – Issue #4

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Summer may be almost over, but things are still hot in the comics world as DC’s New 52 is really coming out in full swing starting this week and so we’ll see a lot of “Number One’s” from them for the foreseeable future. Not to be outdone though, Marvel has some big issues of their own that came out and even the Indies are not standing idly by as there were a handful of really solid issues from Image, Dynamite, and IDW to be released as well, so there were some hard decisions that went into this week’s Top 5, which you can see below!

1) Marvel – New Avengers Annual #1: Some time ago, after the conclusion of the Civil War, former Avengers powerhouse Simon Williams, a.k.a. Wonder Man, warned the current Avengers roster that they needed to stop banding together as their actions were just as threatening to the universe as the threats they quelled. Feeling Simon was simply having an episode of sorts, they went about their business as usual as Simon fled to parts unknown to see if his warning would be heeded. It was not. Now in a story arc across annuals that is kicking off here, Simon has formed his own team of super-heroes and reformed villains and looks to bring it to the Avengers like never before. Honestly, the first thing that really gripped me about this comic was the art, especially the five double-spreads that start everything off since you just don’t see that in comics anymore. Very powerful stuff. And then when you hear Simon’s arguments, he sounds mad and delusion, much like a super-villain would, but at the same time makes awesome points, like the rational, prominent Marvel universe hero that he once was. Throw in amazing action sequences and this story arc is going to be something to look forward to in the coming weeks.

2) Marvel – Wolverine #15: We begin to see the aftermath of the Red Right Hand story arc that just concluded as Wolverine, unbeknownst to him, has just slaughtered several bastard children he never knew he sired after they were sent to kill him in the delicious irony that all of Wolverine’s children are out to kill him and he had to kill them instead. And he never even knew until it was too late so it was all in cold blood. Now, Wolverine is punishing himself by constantly climbing up a mountain, throwing himself off of it, healing, and repeating. A tremendous comic as you see Wolverine’s psyche truly break down at several moments and leaves us on this awesome cliffhanger that we just don’t know what Wolverine will do next or if he’ll be able to recover from this anytime soon as this series has amazingly continued to mentally dissect one of Marvel’s most popular heroes for the first time really all the way since issue one. A must pick up for all Wolverine fans.

3) DC – Swamp Thing #1: So far the DC New 52 has surprised me because a lot of comics I was expecting to disappoint me, wowed me, and others I thought that would impress me have been bleh at best. Swamp Thing #1 falls into the former as cameos by some of DC’s biggest superheroes highlight the internal struggle between the newly reborn Dr. Alec Holland and how he must try to cope with the actions he did while he was in the form of the Swamp Thing, all the while trying to avoid becoming a creature of the green once more. Much like the sprouting of a seed, the comic is defined by a lot of brown, bland tones in its first few pages, but as the comic progresses and more plantlife begins to be prominently featured, brilliants shades of green, purple, blue, and other bright colors pepper the pages telling a story as much through the subtly of the art as the word bubbles in each panel. With some interesting super-natural threats looming on the horizon, it should be interesting to see how nature’s greatest defender will evolve in future issues.

4) DC – Batman: Detective Comics #1: A comic book powerhouse for over 70 years, seeing Detective Comics reset to number one may have been the hardest for me to take as it typically featured many of my favorite Batman stories. Needing to pick it up, I was not surprised to see Bruce Wayne don the cowl once more as it was alluded to in the closing issues of what will likely be known as the first volume of Batman related comics. Batman is back to his old tricks of skipping dates, having Commissioner Gordon as his only friend in the police force, and chasing down the Joker, Detective Comics #1 does a great job of both giving you everything that makes a Batman comic great, which in and of itself is almost like paying homage to what came before it, and setting up a new villain to work with Joker (at least in this particular arc), continuing a theme started in the last run of expanding Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Dark, twisted, and seemingly going back to its roots, Detective Comics #1 is a solid way for Batman to kick-off the new 52.

5) Dynamite – Kato #12: If you’ve been following the new string of Green Hornet comics then you know that basically this is a new generation of Green Hornet with the original Kato’s daughter taking over and helping out the original Green Hornet’s son live up to the mantle of their crime fighting dads. This title though centers more around Kato and the enemies that she and the Green Hornet have quickly acquired. Although this is the middle issue of an arc, I chose it as my Indie pick of the week because a lot of the comic has Kato fighting for her life in a video game. Meant to tax her brain to the point where she becomes brain dead in the classic, the villain taunts way too much kind of way, Kato is able to overcome the machine’s programming and break out of the spell. Kato even admits to being an avid gamer and when you throw that in with the very provocative cover (those are buttons by the way) and well, what can I say? Hot Asian girl that likes to play video games. Me likey. And you’ll probably be surprised by how solidly written this comic is, too, so it’s definitely worth a look if you’ve got a few extra bucks.

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The Pullbox – 9/6/11

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September 13, 2011

Originally Published: September 6, 2011, on EGMNOW.Com

Summer may be almost over, but things are still hot in the comics world as DC’s New 52 is really coming out in full swing starting this week and so we’ll see a lot of “Number One’s” from them for the foreseeable future. Not to be outdone though, Marvel has some big issues of their own that came out and even the Indies are not standing idly by as there were a handful of really solid issues from Image, Dynamite, and IDW to be released as well, so there were some hard decisions that went into this week’s Top 5, which you can see below!

1) Marvel – New Avengers Annual #1: Some time ago, after the conclusion of the Civil War, former Avengers powerhouse Simon Williams, a.k.a. Wonder Man, warned the current Avengers roster that they needed to stop banding together as their actions were just as threatening to the universe as the threats they quelled. Feeling Simon was simply having an episode of sorts, they went about their business as usual as Simon fled to parts unknown to see if his warning would be heeded. It was not. Now in a story arc across annuals that is kicking off here, Simon has formed his own team of super-heroes and reformed villains and looks to bring it to the Avengers like never before. Honestly, the first thing that really gripped me about this comic was the art, especially the five double-spreads that start everything off since you just don’t see that in comics anymore. Very powerful stuff. And then when you hear Simon’s arguments, he sounds mad and delusion, much like a super-villain would, but at the same time makes awesome points, like the rational, prominent Marvel universe hero that he once was. Throw in amazing action sequences and this story arc is going to be something to look forward to in the coming weeks.

2) Marvel – Wolverine #15: We begin to see the aftermath of the Red Right Hand story arc that just concluded as Wolverine, unbeknownst to him, has just slaughtered several bastard children he never knew he sired after they were sent to kill him in the delicious irony that all of Wolverine’s children are out to kill him and he had to kill them instead. And he never even knew until it was too late so it was all in cold blood. Now, Wolverine is punishing himself by constantly climbing up a mountain, throwing himself off of it, healing, and repeating. A tremendous comic as you see Wolverine’s psyche truly break down at several moments and leaves us on this awesome cliffhanger that we just don’t know what Wolverine will do next or if he’ll be able to recover from this anytime soon as this series has amazingly continued to mentally dissect one of Marvel’s most popular heroes for the first time really all the way since issue one. A must pick up for all Wolverine fans.

3) DC – Swamp Thing #1: So far the DC New 52 has surprised me because a lot of comics I was expecting to disappoint me, wowed me, and others I thought that would impress me have been bleh at best. Swamp Thing #1 falls into the former as cameos by some of DC’s biggest superheroes highlight the internal struggle between the newly reborn Dr. Alec Holland and how he must try to cope with the actions he did while he was in the form of the Swamp Thing, all the while trying to avoid becoming a creature of the green once more. Much like the sprouting of a seed, the comic is defined by a lot of brown, bland tones in its first few pages, but as the comic progresses and more plantlife begins to be prominently featured, brilliants shades of green, purple, blue, and other bright colors pepper the pages telling a story as much through the subtly of the art as the word bubbles in each panel. With some interesting super-natural threats looming on the horizon, it should be interesting to see how nature’s greatest defender will evolve in future issues.

4) DC – Batman: Detective Comics #1: A comic book powerhouse for over 70 years, seeing Detective Comics reset to number one may have been the hardest for me to take as it typically featured many of my favorite Batman stories. Needing to pick it up, I was not surprised to see Bruce Wayne don the cowl once more as it was alluded to in the closing issues of what will likely be known as the first volume of Batman related comics. Batman is back to his old tricks of skipping dates, having Commissioner Gordon as his only friend in the police force, and chasing down the Joker, Detective Comics #1 does a great job of both giving you everything that makes a Batman comic great, which in and of itself is almost like paying homage to what came before it, and setting up a new villain to work with Joker (at least in this particular arc), continuing a theme started in the last run of expanding Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Dark, twisted, and seemingly going back to its roots, Detective Comics #1 is a solid way for Batman to kick-off the new 52.

5) Dynamite – Kato #12: If you’ve been following the new string of Green Hornet comics then you know that basically this is a new generation of Green Hornet with the original Kato’s daughter taking over and helping out the original Green Hornet’s son live up to the mantle of their crime fighting dads. This title though centers more around Kato and the enemies that she and the Green Hornet have quickly acquired. Although this is the middle issue of an arc, I chose it as my Indie pick of the week because a lot of the comic has Kato fighting for her life in a video game. Meant to tax her brain to the point where she becomes brain dead in the classic, the villain taunts way too much kind of way, Kato is able to overcome the machine’s programming and break out of the spell. Kato even admits to being an avid gamer and when you throw that in with the very provocative cover (those are buttons by the way) and well, what can I say? Hot Asian girl that likes to play video games. Me likey. And you’ll probably be surprised by how solidly written this comic is, too, so it’s definitely worth a look if you’ve got a few extra bucks.

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The Pullbox – 8/31/11

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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

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment
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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X-Men Legacy #249 Review

Filed under: Written — Leave a comment
May 25, 2011

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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