Category Archives: Comics
Marvel Universe To..Do Something, Possibly End
Marvel revealed the details of their upcoming Secret Wars event today, simultaneously kind of announcing the end of the Marvel Universe. I guess it all depends on what you want to read into Marvel’s marketing dialogue. Personally, I’m in a wait and see kind of mood, but the rest of the comic book Internet media is pretty convinced this is a reboot and will mark the end of the Marvel Universe as we know it. Those are definitely some major headlines.
What we know is that Secret Wars will see a clash between the regular 616 Marvel Universe, the Ultimate Universe and a bunch of other alternate realities. They will combine into Battleworld, and will mostly likely get into a bunch of fights with each other, this being Secret Wars, after all.
Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso said, “Once we hit Secret Wars #1, there is no Marvel Universe, Ultimate Universe, or any other. It’s all Battleworld.”
Beta Ray Bill had better survive
Alonso and company went on to say that at the end of Secret Wars, we’ll have a new, re-shaped Marvel Universe. I guess the idea is that the 616 Universe, the Ultimate Universe, and bits and pieces of the other alternate universes will all combine into a new, singular universe that will be christened All-New Marvel.
Is it a reboot? We don’t know yet. Marvel were quick to point out that all of the characters’ histories remain in tact. Secret Wars is a story moving forward, so everything we already know happened, then Secret Wars happened, then things changed into All-New Marvel. Secret Wars isn’t going to wipe out or rewrite the past, just the future. That sounds like a weak Band-Aid to me, but it’s the sort of Band-Aid a company like Marvel is going to try and use to appease fans. Personally, I’ve grown past the point of getting freaked out over every little change. I’m more interested in the basic idea that Marvel keeps putting out quality comics.
Which means I’m just going to wait and see what Marvel produces in the Fall. Will it be a blank slate reboot? Maybe. Or will it be business as usual, but with a few random characters crammed in, like Miles Morales in 616? Maybe that too.
Something has to happen to him…
I’m more excited than anything else. Marvel is putting out great comics these days, and there’s no reason why my favorite books, like Ms. Marvel or Silver Surfer, can’t just continue in this All-New Marvel. So until the company announces a weak-ass New 52-style destruction of all my favorite comics, I’m just going to coast along and hope for the best. There’s probably very little that will ever get me to stop reading comics.
But I will take it personally if they put the New 52 whammy on Kamala Khan!
What do you henchies think? Are we going to get a full reboot? Is this Marvel’s secret way of making their comic universe more like the movie universe? Are you going to stop reading Marvel forever? Let us know in the comments!
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/17/15
Something is definitely wrong with me these days, henchies. I am definitely not living up to the ‘hench-sized’ decree in the title of this column! From last week to this one, it seems like I have a whole heck of a lot to talk about with comic books! I try to keep these reviews short and easily digestible, but sometimes when I get going, I really get going!
It helps that this week sees the debut of Star Wars #1. There’s definitely a lot to talk about with that comic! I was a little hesitant about diving in, but Marvel does not let me down. This is quality comics! Star Wars #1 captures Comic Book of the Week because it could be a pretty historic book.
If it was up to me, though, Captain Marvel would win because the newest issue is just that damn good! Captain Marvel #11 gets the first perfect score of the new year! Check the review to find out why! We’ve also got new issues of Batgirl and SHIELD, both of which deserve a lot of attention. And Batman Eternal finally brings us an issue focused on Red Robin and Harper Row, the only thing I still like about that comic.
Over at Word of the Nerd, you can check out my take on Amazing X-Men #15. Why does a comic like that still get published in the very crowded X-franchise? Find out in my review!
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #38, Batman Eternal #41, Captain Marvel #11, SHIELD #2, Silver Surfer #8 and Star Wars #1.
The Greatest Justice League Parody of All Time
Behold, the combination of Dilbert and the Justice League! Try not to be drinking any milk when you read it.
This bit of brilliance comes courtesy of Rob Peters and The Line is Drawn column at Comic Book Resources. They ran a contest for artists to combine comic book characters and comic strip characters, and there are a few gems. You can check out the whole gallery by clicking here. They’re worth a read!
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Gamer Girl & Vixen – The Feels, You Guys, The Feels!
As I mentioned last week, the first issue/chapter of my comic, Gamer Girl & Vixen, is in full production. That means my artist, the lovely and talented Gemma Moody, is hard and work cranking out actual drawn pages of a script I co-wrote. I don’t know how often I’ve talked about this on my blog, but I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I can still remember writing fan fiction on my family’s archaic laptop back in the day, cranking out stories that I never knew if anybody would read. But that was years ago, and I haven’t written very much in the intervening years.
So this week, I want to tell you all something: get out there and write! If it’s your dream to be a writer, whether it’s comic books or movie screenplays or young adult novels, stop putting it off and just write it! I put it off for the longest time. More than a decade of my life has been spent not-writing. Last year, my friend Kristi McDowell helped me get off my butt and get writing, and we’re weeks away from launching out Kickstarter to actually publish my own graphic novel. It’s really happening and it feels great!
Seriously, I never knew how amazing it would feel to see pages of my comic come in from my artist. It’s a giddy excitement that more than makes all the work worth it. Check out this collage I put together of some of the great panels she’s sketched so far.
None of these are in order, by the way.
Just seeing my ideas come to life like that is mind-blowing. It’s such an exciting feeling. It helps, of course, that Moody is awesome, but I would imagine seeing any artist whip up my ideas would be great.
So consider this my PSA: Get out there and write. I know a lot of my readers are also comic book fans, and I’m sure plenty of you want to write your own comics. I’m here to tell you that it’s easy, it feels great, and you shouldn’t be putting it off anymore. And if you want any advice, I’m here. I’ll be retelling some more stories about my project in the weeks to come. I’m thinking next week I might be able to share some penciled pages, maybe even some script. We’ll see. Stay tuned.
And as always, please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or tumble us on Tumblr. We gotta get the word out!
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A Free Twist for the Teen Titans in the New 52
Teen Titans just isn’t a very good comic book. Not even a relaunch with a new #1 issue and a new creative team could pull this book out of the doldrums. But I remain hopeful that the troubles can be turned around. There’s a great comic hidden down deep in Teen Titans. It still has potential. I even have a few ideas how to fix it.
But even with my upcoming attempts to break into the comic book industry, I doubt DC is going to hand me the reigns of Teen Titans anytime soon.
Although they totally should
Since it’ll be awhile before DC likes me enough to write their comics, I’ve decided to drop the best idea I have right here on the Internet for all of you. I have plenty of ideas how to fix Teen Titans — and you can read a few here — but my biggest idea is a twist that would not only solve a few problems, but could give the book the kick in the butt it needs! I’m talking the sort of twist that would totally break the series and supercharge it in an exciting new direction!
Want to hear what it is? Then join me after the jump!
Henchman-4-Hire