Category Archives: Comics
Review: Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #5
Curse you, transition issues, you are the bane of my comic book reviewing existence! Writer Brian Michael Bendis delivers another stellar chapter in Miles Morales’ current superhero woes, but it’s the sort of chapter that takes us from Point A to Point B instead of delivering any really great story moments of its own! And those it does deliver are obvious cliffhangers! It’s so frustrating, but only because the comic is still oh so good!
Ultimate Spider-Man #5
Ultimate Spider-Man #5 is a perfect example of why some comics should be read in the trade! I don’t know if I can wait for the next issue! Exclamation!
Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
But I’m going to have to wait. I’m a big boy, I can suck it up and deal. Bendis and superstar artist David Marquez are at the top of their game here, telling a tightly packed, vivid story. I would probably even go out on a limb and say their Spider-Man comic is better than the regular Spider-Man comic. Ultimate Spider-Man is just so much more involved, so much more epic. Dan Slott might be dealing with classic Peter Parker and his big supporting cast, but Bendis is telling such a grounded, long-lasting saga here. These characters all have history, they have agency, and that just makes for a stronger story.
I only wish I wasn’t reading it one issue at a time, but that’s no one’s fault or choice but my own.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/20/14
I don’t know what happened this week, henchies, but I’ve got a pretty light pile. It helps that I’m not reading Futures End, but more on that later. I had a pretty busy week. I’ve got some projects in the pipeline that I’ll tell you guys and gals about someday. But nothing stops me from reading comics! Nothing!
This week was…alright. Solid week. No real complaints from me. Actually, this seemed to be the week for alternate versions of characters. Both Multiversity and Edge of Spider-Verse told alternate reality stories, and the new Avengers event is set 8 months into a possible future. So neat! Way to create an unintentional theme, comic books!
Comic Book of the Week goes to…um…tough call. I think I’ll give it to Multiversity #2 for a pretty darn fun alternate reality comic. Though, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, Batman Eternal was close to winning!
Not always, I don’t
If Batman Eternal transitioned into Spoiler: The Comic, I would be so happy.
Over at Word of the Nerd, I took a gander at another Deadpool comic. Regular readers might know how much I dislike Deadpool’s sense of humor these days, but the cameo revival of no less than Brute Force brought me back!
Never heard of Brute Force? You should pay a visit to Linkara.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #35, Batman Eternal #24, Edge of Spider-Verse #2, Multiversity #2 and Uncanny X-Men #26.
Robin Watch: Robin of the Future!
Late last year, there was a bit of a kerfuffle on the Internet about the possibility of a black Robin, based on preview art drawn by Sean Murphy for Batman #27. I didn’t write about it at the time because the drawing was a single image for an ‘imaginary future’, and didn’t hold any importance to canon.
Or so I thought at the time! Looks like I’m eating crow now!
Check out Robin from the Futures End issue of Batman and Robin, which came out this week.
He’s definitely got the ‘Robin is a badass’ part down
Set five years in the future, the issue is about Batman battling Heretic to see if he is indeed a clone of Damian Wayne. Batman has Alfred send the new Robin out on various crime-fighting errands to keep him from interfering (and possibly dying at Heretic’s hands), but Alfred eventually disobeys orders and sends Robin to rescue Batman when the Dark Knight gets his butt whooped. It’s a pretty cool Robin story.
But is it just pretend?
Even though these Futures End comics are also just ‘imaginary futures’, there’s still the possibility that a kernel of truth exists in what we’re reading. The writer of the issue, Ray Fawkes, gave an interview to Newsarama where they asked him if this new Robin is part of the current Batman plans, considering Fawkes is also part of the creative team on Batman Eternal.
His answer?
Obviously he can’t go into more detail than that, but clearly this future Robin might be more of a reality than any of us yet realize.
Fists of sidekick justice!
The Robin in question is Duke Thomas, the kid that helped Batman during the Zero Year. Remember him? Duke made a very brief appearance, having sheltered Batman while he recovered from his injuries. Then he spent the rest of his time trying to come up with a riddle to defeat the Riddler.
I do not, sorry. My crossword skills have never been strong
It was such a small role, and I was actually a little surprised that nothing more was done with the kid. He gives Batman a hand, wishes him good luck, and then we don’t see him again for the rest of Zero Year.
Perhaps because that appearance was only supposed to introduce him. His story wasn’t going to be told in Zero Year, because Duke Thomas’ story will be told elsewhere.
Duke was about 10 or so in Zero Year, wouldn’t you say? And Zero Year took place 5-6 years prior to present-day Batman comics, which would make Duke a teenager today, the perfect age to become Robin. Except in Futures End, set 5 years into the future, Duke says he only became Robin “two years ago”, which wouldn’t link up to Bruce picking Duke in the present day. Not that that timeframe matters all that much.
I don’t know if any of this is true, or if any of it will go anywhere. But clearly there’s a new, awesome candidate for the new Robin in 2015!
If it’s not clear yet, I would love a Duke Thomas Robin!
Though I’m not a big fan of the Iron Robin armor, personally.
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Review: Teen Titans – Futures End #1
If this is what the Teen Titans comic looks like five years from now, then everything I have ever done with my life has been for naught. Every dream I have ever had about writing comics, every review I’ve typed up about this series, every fiber of my very being, will have been for nothing! If this year’s DC September Gimmick were a true crystal ball into the future, then I would know that I accomplish nothing with my life, and that everything is terrible. Teen Titans – Futures End #1 is the blandest, dumbest and most tone-deaf comic I have yet to read in this series. And it’s a beautiful reminder why I’m not spending very much money at all on this stupid gimmick.
Teen Titans – Futures End #1
If this is indeed the future of the Teen Titans, then I should have abandoned ship a long time ago. This was the last thing writer Will Pfeifer needed two issues into his relaunch.
Comic Rating: 3/10 – Bad.
I have been more than willing to give Pfeifer a chance with his relaunch. I’ve even been somewhat positive in my reviews of his first two issues. But forcing him to take an immediate detour into crapsville only two issues in? That’s harsh, DC, really harsh. I can only hope my review reaches Teen Titans fans in time: don’t buy this comic! Unless you’re super in love with all this Futures End stuff, don’t waste your time, money, energy or any flecks of your soul that might be sacrificed by reading this pile of cream-colored aluminum siding.
This Futures End issue has nothing to do with the regular Teen Titans comic. Unless it’s hidden somewhere in the background. Or an Algorithm cameo counts. Instead, this issue is far more concerned with whatever weird plots DC is doing with Futures End, mostly involving Earth 2. I don’t know and I don’t care. This issue has about as much to do with the Teen Titans as last year’s gimmick, which was basically one long ode to the power of rape. I almost think Pfeifer might have whipped this script out in an afternoon to fulfill his contract or something. At least I hope that’s the case. I really hope this isn’t an indication of where he’s taking the series.
The issue is about six random characters coming together as lazily as possible to stop a bad guy, and then calling themselves the ‘Teen Titans’ at the end. That’s it. I just saved you all the embarrassment of reading it.
But seeing as how I’m a glutton for punishment, I might as well continue on with my usual synopsis/review. Join me after the jump!
6 of My Fictional Mary Sues
I make no bones about my life as a young fan fiction writer. I am actually quite proud of the work that Young Sean churned out at such a young age – even if I can rarely bring myself to go back and read the stories I wrote. You can check them out at FanFiction.net. Those stories laid the groundwork for the Sean you know today.
And one of the things I loved more than anything else was creating my own Mary Sue characters in popular fiction. Though back then, I had no idea what a ‘Mary Sue’ even was.
Nope, that’s Mary Jane
According to TVtropes.com, Mary Sue is the derogative term for an original fan fiction character inserted by the author into an already popular series, usually to serve as some kind of wish fulfillment. Mary Sues typically have dramatic backstories, awesome names, unique looks, and more often than not, upstage the main characters. For example, say you wrote a Harry Potter fan fic and inserted your own original Hufflepuff wizard, and the story was all about how your wizard fell in love with Draco Malfoy and turned him into a good guy with the power of love. It’s that sort of idealized character inserted into pre-existing stories.
I don’t think I was ever that bad, but I loved creating my own original characters for all my favorite cartoons and movies. Join me after the jump to take a look at just a few of them, and feel free to share some of your own in the comments! No judgement.
Also, as Google has revealed, I was not the only person in the world to come up with these exact same ideas. But I was young, and the Internet wasn’t a thing yet, so forgive me if some of these ideas aren’t 100% unique or original. They were to me at the time.
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