Yearly Archives: 2013
Review: X-Factor #256
This is it! The big finale! The Hell on Earth War comes to a crashing conclusion this issue, and it’s…pretty good. It’s not great, but then I don’t think X-Factor has been mind-numbingly great for some time now. I would definitely say this was one of the best issues of the Hell on Earth War, that’s for sure, giving the story a resounding climax. And that twist ending is definitely something special. I did not see that coming. But then the comic just ends. Right on the verge of giving us a proper denouement, the comic just stops, and that was just as jarring as the twist ending, but in a bad way.
X-Factor #256
I know there are going to be plenty of comics following up on this ending, but I don’t want to have to wait another month to read them. This issue should have been double-sized or expanded so that Peter David could have given his story a proper epilogue in the proper place.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good!
In terms of a fitting conclusion to the Hell on Earth War, this issue more than succeeds. This is as action-packed and seismically epic as X-Factor has ever been. The action and art are great, but as I’ve been saying all along, the characters themselves don’t get much to do. Most of the emotional weight of the story still rests on Tier’s young shoulders, and while he does an admirable job as the star, I just can’t bring myself to care all that much about him. I care far more about the actual members of X-Factor.
After I finished this issue, I thought back to where the comic began, with Jamie, Guido and Rahne setting up their own detective agency in the pages of MadroX. How the heck did we get from that to this, where those characters battle the forces of Hell for the fate of the entire world? X-Factor has definitely been one long, strange trip, and maybe the time has come to let the comic end. PAD has told a lot of amazing stories, and breathed new and wonderful life into all of these characters. Letting him end the series on his own terms is the perfect way to end X-Factor.
Besides, we all know what would have happened had PAD left the series. X-Factor doesn’t have the best sales, and a lot of them have to be boosted by PAD himself. So if Marvel had decided to put some new writer on the title, X-Factor probably would have languished for half a dozen issues before they’d put it out of its misery. So this is for the best. PAD gets to say goodbye the way he wants.
Though I’m still going to hold out hope that his new project will be some kind of new Madrox solo series for Marvel NOW! Wave 2. Fingers crossed.
Hopefully There is More Than Just One Line of Idris Elba Dialogue in Pacific Rim
OK, so the ‘cancelling the Apocalypse’ line is pretty damn amazing, but every single Pacific Rim trailer has used it as the hook! By the time the movie comes out, it’s going to lose all meaning!
Not that it’s going to deter me from seeing this awesome movie. But knowing there are some other cool lines of dialogue in the film would make it more exciting. I’m just saying.
First Batman: Arkham Origins Teaser Trailer
Just a tease for now, but a nicely animated one.
It doesn’t reveal anything new about the game, or anything at all, really. Someone very talented just animated a brief fight between Batman and Deathstroke. Kudos to them. But it’s a thing that I felt like sharing.
Plus this felt like a good opportunity to warn you people that you’re now in for several long, grueling months of me hoping Robin will be in this game. No, I kid. I kid ’cause I love…Robin. Dang, I need to get a new hobby.
Scribblenauts is Going Superheroic Because Awesome
I’m a huge Scribblenauts fan, and a huge comic book fan, so yesterday’s news about Scribblenauts Unmasked pretty much fulfilled every desire I could possibly have. Ever.
For realsies, that looks amazing. For those of you who don’t know, Scribblenauts is a puzzle game where you have access to your entire imagination in order to try and solve puzzles. The game developers opened up a dictionary and basically programmed every single word into the game. So all you have to do is type something – like, say, ‘purple monkey dishwasher’ – and it will appear in the game. The current puzzle might not require a purple monkey dishwasher, but you could create an army of angry, flaming zombies. Or maybe a blue cat. Or a time machine. Or a flying car. Whatever you can imagine, you can put into the game.
And now it’s going to star superheroes. Because awesome. That’s just awesome.
Word has it the game includes upwards of 2,000 DC superheroes, including alternate takes on classic superheroes. You’ll be able to create Pirate Batman and maybe Red Son Superman. Or maybe just regular Ambush Bug. Maybe the entire Blue Lantern Corps. I don’t know what you’ll need the entire Corps for, but that’s not the point. Scribblenauts is just awesome like that.
And it’s another reason why I need to get a Nintendo 3DS.
Speaking of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Check out this new, three-minute long preview for Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.
That just looks fantastic. It’s witty, Agent Coulson is awesome, and it sounds a lot like what my List of Six was about earlier today. It seems these agents are going to investigate superheroes, and my boy J. August Richards is playing one of them. Internet speculation puts Richards as playing Rage, from the New Warriors. If you look at the Marvel logo at the start of the clip, with all the comic book panels flashing by in the background, you can see Rage in the panels. Why would they put someone like Rage in that logo buzzer if he didn’t matter?
And having Rage show up in the show is exactly like what I based my list on: random Marvel characters getting a cameo or guest spot on the show! Perfect! It’s like I can see the future, or something.
So attention, Joss Whedon, if you read today’s List of Six, feel free to use any of my ideas free of charge (and then hire me to write for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
I could make this look good
Henchman-4-Hire 