Yearly Archives: 2013
Batman: Arkham Origins Looks Even Better Than Before
There’s a new trailer out for Batman: Arkham Origins, and somehow it looks even better than anything we’ve seen so far. How are they doing that!?
Look at those awesome character designs! Listen to that beautiful dialogue! Though I still don’t think this game is going to have anything to do with the origin of either Batman or Arkham Asylum…unless Batman defeats all of those assassins and at the end of the game, somebody turns to him and says, “Oh hey, we just built this new asylum outside of town, we could take them all there.”
The game comes out at the end of October, and I’m seriously considering taking a week off from work just to play it. Don’t look at me like that. I’m allowed two weeks of vacation a year. So what if I spend one of those weeks playing Batman: Arkham Origins? You’d do the same!
The Potentially Sad Fate of Miles Morales
I love Miles Morales. I was as skeptical as the next guy when Marvel announced they were going to kill Ultimate Peter Parker and replace him with someone completely new, but Brian MIchael Bendis has done a fantastic job in building Miles from the ground up and creating a new, modern take on the classic Spider-Man mythos. The man beneath the mask may have changed, but Bendis seized upon the very essence of being Spider-Man and infused it into young Miles Morales. This is the timeless story of a young man forced to contend with power, responsibility and web fluid, and all of the drama that brings into his life.
So what the heck is going to happen to Miles when the Ultimate Universe gets eaten by Galactus!?
He’d make a good appetizer, for one thing
Marvel revealed in their November solicitations that the Ultimate Universe will be undergoing a Cataclysm, in which Galactus from the normal Marvel Universe crosses the interdimensional boundary and just starts wrecking stuff up. All of the heroes of the Ultimate Universe will band together to stop the World-Devourer, but it’s not looking good. Many on the web are speculating that this will be the end of the Ultimate Universe. It has long outlived its usefulness, and its best days are definitely behind it.
If this is indeed the case, that means the fates of Miles Morales and the very excellent Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man are in doubt. Except for this little blurb in Cataclysm: The Ultimates Last Stand #2:
“Miles Morales is headed to the Marvel Universe”
A lot of people online are already speculating that this single line is definitive proof that Miles is going to permanently transition from the Ultimate Universe to the regular Marvel Universe. They seem convinced. But I am not.
I don’t think Miles will be going on a one-way trip. And I definitely don’t want him to permanently move to the regular Marvel Universe. It would destroy everything Bendis has built so far around the character. It would take away what I love most about Miles Morales and his heroic journey.
Join me after the jump for the full discussion.
Everything Wrong With the First Kick-Ass
In honor of Kick-Ass 2, the good folks at Cinema Sins have worked up their take on the first Kick-Ass, and I do so love the fine folks at Cinema Sins. Good times, good times.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 8/17/13
This was a big week for comics. Positively huge! And I’m not just talking about my pull list, which was equally as massive. I mean we’ve got the first issue of Infinity, Marvel’s next Big Event comic. We all know that Age of Ultron stank like rotting socks. So might Jonathan Hickman save the day with a big space and Thanos-themed event? Maybe! But what about the Superior Spider-Man side of things? There’s a two-part Superior Team-Up/Scarlet Spider crossover that’s a real treat. That’s big news.
Not only that, but we’ve got the end of the first big storyline in Thor: God of Thunder, as well as the start of a new storyline in Fearless Defenders. Yep, I decided to pick up Fearless Defenders again! And all of these are just the comics I decided to review this week. There were a ton of good issues I had to leave off due to time and space.
There were a lot of good comics this week, though mostly average to good, I’m afraid. I still think I’m suffering from some kind of comic book burnout. Nothing has really captured my attention in a long while. Everything just seems generally good. Oh well. Maybe it’s just something I ate.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Infinity #1. It wasn’t the best comic I read this week, but it pulls off a successful first issue for a Big Event. Of course, that’s what I said about the first part of Trinity War, and we all know how that’s turning out…
I love the cat Skrull
Comic Reviews: Astro City #3, Fearless Defenders #8, Infinity #1, Justice League of American #7, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #2, Scarlet Spider #20, Thor: God of Thunder #11 and Wolverine and the X-Men #34.
Review: Kick-Ass 2
This movie really kicks ass! No, seriously, I’m not trying to be cute. I don’t see how you could think — oh wait, yeah, I see it now. Funny. No, no, I get it. Because the movie is called Kick-Ass 2. Yeah, I totally get it. But seriously though, Kick-Ass 2 rocks! I had high hopes going into this film because the trailers have been amazing and I loved the first Kick-Ass. But this has been a summer of disappointment (*cough, Man of Steel, cough*) so maybe I was a little worried. But no need to fear. Kick-Ass 2 is just as exciting, badass, raunchy and emotionally fulfilling as the first film. Clearly there’s a lot of swearing, violence and bodily fluids, but Kick-Ass 2 is that kind of movie, and that makes for a very fun film.
Kick-Ass 2 easily lives up to the excitement of the first film, building a bigger world of superheroes and pushing the heroes’ journeys to all the right levels of awesomeness. But you probably shouldn’t try any of this at home.
Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great!
Kick-Ass 2 succeeds in taking the first film and expanding on everything. There world of superheroes gets bigger, with more regular folks putting on masks and costumes. Evil gets bigger, with the first real life super-villains. Even Kick-Ass himself gets bigger when he actually focuses on working out and learning how to fight. And the stakes are bigger than ever. People die. People we care about get hurt. People question why the hell they’re even doing this in the first place. The film does include several huge action scenes, ones that go beyond the simplicity ordinary people dressing up like superheroes, but that can be forgiven. This is still a movie, after all, not a documentary.
If you liked the first Kick-Ass, then I think you’ll love it’s sequel. Original director Matthew Vaughn is gone, replaced by Jeff Wadlow, but you won’t be able to tell the difference. These are the same characters inhabiting the same world. This is the next chapter in the lives of Dave Lizewski, Mindy Macready and the rest of these lovable goofballs. And lovable is indeed correct. Donald Faison from Scrubs plays Dr. Gravity, and he is amazing! As is Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars-and-Stripes. Really, all the new characters are a lot of fun, even the bad guys.
Join me after the jump for the full review. There will be some SPOILERS for the movie. And a tip to those who haven’t seen it: there is a scene after the credits, but it’s not that great.
Henchman-4-Hire 