Category Archives: Avengers
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/25/14
Whatever happened to holiday theme comics? Next week is Halloween, but I don’t know if there are any Halloween comics coming out! Whatever happened to those great comics about fighting giant pumpkin monsters? Or meeting demonic hell spirits? Or what about the greatest Halloween superhero adventure of all time? You henchies remember that one, right? Whatever the case may be, there isn’t nary a Halloween reference in any of this week’s haul!
But we’ve still got a pretty good haul. I picked up new issues of Aquaman and Harley Quinn, while also checking in with the ongoing craziness happening in Axis and Multiversity. One is a little more crazy than the other. I also picked up the first issue of the new Arkham Manor series…but I doubt I’ll be picking up any more. Fortunately, the latest issue in Jonathan Hickman’s ongoing Avengers saga is amazing! Avengers #37 easily scoops of Comic Book of the Week for the high quality, character-based drama!
Some day they’ll laugh about this
You can also check out my coverage of the soon-to-be cancelled She-Hulk over at Word of the Nerd. That title should have survived for the Matt Rocks cameo alone!
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #35, Arkham Manor #1, Avengers #37, Axis #3, Batman Eternal #29, Harley Quinn #11, and Multiversity #3.
The First Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer is Chilling and Oh So Good!
I don’t even know where to begin with how awesome that trailer was! It leaked online last night, and then Marvel just went ahead and released the whole thing in HD for all of us to devour! It’s so good! The action, the character beats, the glimpses of our favorite heroes, all great. But then everything to do with Ultron himself is just beyond insane! This is one super-villain who is legitimately chilling! That first moment, when he stumbles into view, a hodgepodge of old Iron Man pieces, is gorgeous. Then that creepy rendition of the Pinocchio song is absolutely perfect!
And then that final glimpse of Ultron at the very end, when he finishes the song himself…oh man, oh man. He looks more gnarly and amazing than I could have ever predicted!
Come May, Avengers: Age of Ultron is going to be everything we could have ever hoped for.
Marvel is Going to Kick Things Up a Notch with a Cinematic Civil War!
Who can say if this is what will actually come to pass, but Variety is reporting that Robert Downey Jr. has signed on for a significant guest starring role in Captain America 3 in order to kick off the infamous Civil War storyline that pits superhero against superhero! The third Cap film will be titled Captain America: Civil War and will have long-reaching ramifications for future Avengers sequels and the Marvel Movieverse as a whole!
And they look like such bros in Age of Ultron!
Sounds good to me!
For those who don’t know, Civil War is a rather infamous story from the mid-00s that pitted hero against hero. The government imposed a Superhero Registration Act that sought to put an end to vigilantes by making superheroes register their secret identities with the government, turning all superheroes into government agents.
Tony Stark supports the law, Steve Rogers opposes it, leading to a civil war between two of Marvel’s biggest heroes (and probably the two biggest in the Movieverse).
This sounds like an excellent storyline for the movies considering how juicy the banter and potential rivalry could be between Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. They were already not seeing eye-to-eye in The Avengers. And considering Stark’s role in creating Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron, I bet he’d definitely be looking to make up for his mistakes by supporting such a law in the Movieverse.
So many mistakes
This would also be the perfect opportunity to debut Spider-Man into the Marvel movies. Marvel and Sony are reportedly in talks about sharing Spidey, if reports can be believed. I doubt Marvel would launch their own Spider-Man franchise, so why not make him a minor star in a Civil War-based Avengers sequel? Spidey was the face of Civil War in the comics. He was convinced by Tony Stark to reveal his secret identity to the world, only for his family to get hurt, so Spidey switched sides and joined Cap’s rebellion.
A Civil War movie would be the perfect place to debut Spidey. And personally, I think the Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man movies line-up perfectly with the style and tone of the Marvel movies.
Make it happen!
So I am definitely in favor of Civil War hitting the movies. It has the potential to be huge!
One thing that bugs me about Variety’s report, though, is Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter. According to the article, Perlmutter was so angry that Downey wanted a larger role in Cap 3 (including a larger paycheck) that he ordered the part cut out entirely, only for Marvel Studios Head Honcho Kevin Feige to prevail. Perlmutter is reportedly the same guy who is so angry at FOX Studios that he cancelled the Fantastic Four comic.
I realize that we all know to hate CEOs on principle alone, but did the CEO of Marvel Comics really have to be such a douchenozzle? Couldn’t Marvel, of all companies, have an awesome CEO?
Anyway, what do you henchies think about these Civil War plans for the Movieverse? I think it’s only going to help make bigger, more exciting films. Plus it would work nicely with the various actors’ contracts coming to an end. It would shake up the Avengers franchise as a whole and really provide some new and interesting stories.
And while we’re on the topic, Marvel put out a new teaser for Civil War comics coming in 2015.
You’re going to break him!
No one seems to have any idea what this teaser means. Cap, Spidey and Iron Man are all wearing their costumes from the original Civil War, but what does that mean? Is Marvel doing a new Civil War? Or are they just putting out some kind of collected edition of the original series?
One thing is for sure: there’s no way it’s a coincidence that Marvel would post that image and Variety would break their story on the same day. How much you want to bet Marvel heard about Variety’s story in advance and rushed something out themselves about Civil War?
Whatever the case may be, all of this sounds like good news for upcoming Marvel movies!
What do you henchies think? Do you think Civil War is a terrible idea for movies? A great idea? What about Robert Downey Jr. guest-starring in more flicks? Sound off in the comments!
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/11/14
What a week to be a fan of comics! Not only is the New York Comic-Con going on this weekend, but the long-awaited debut of the new Batgirl hit the stands, and it easily slides into Comic Book of the Week. The comic is as good as I’d hoped it would be and more. If the creative team keeps this up, Ms. Marvel might have a little competition for my favorite comic!
It doesn’t help that poor Kamala Khan is rushed off to guest-star in this week’s Amazing Spider-Man. Crossovers and team-ups like this are so painfully forced, especially in this day and age, but writer Christos Gage gives it the old college try. He also manages to slip in a little fan ‘shipping for the fun of it!
But seriously, Batgirl definitely kicks butt!
She’s also an expert at threats!
Over at Word of the Nerd, you can check out my review of Axis #1. The big new crossover kicked off this week with an issue that felt more like the end than the beginning, at least in terms of spectacle – and that wasn’t a good thing.
Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #7, Avengers #36, Batman #35, Batman Eternal #27, Batgirl #35 and Captain Marvel #8.
Internet Like This Makes Me Giddy!
Behold the glory of the Avengers/Nintendo mash-up!
That Hulk reveal? Totally worth it! James Farr and company make these parodies all the time, and they’re all glorious. The animation is slick, the video game references are off the chain; this is just a great way to start a Monday!
