Category Archives: Comics
UN-Forgotten Characters: Excavator
Hey guys, Excavator’s back!
About two years ago now, I started up a special feature on my blog called Forgotten Characters. Basically, I tend to fall in love with some of the most obscure, small time comic book characters you’ve ever seen. Maybe they only show up for a single issue or a single storyline, but for whatever reason, they tickle my fancy. In the hopes that maybe other people like them as well, I give them a little write up to let the world know I haven’t forgotten.
The first Forgotten Character on my list was Excavator, the teenage, shovel-wielding member of the Wrecking Crew. He was created as a one-off joke character in the pages of Runaways way back in 2005. Excavator served his purpose and we never heard from him again, no matter how much I really liked him.
Until now.
Turns out, Excavator has been brought back in all his shovelly glory in the pages of Avengers Undercover! How cool is that?!
Pretty darn cool
Join me after the jump for all the details!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/19/14
I have a feeling that the closer we get to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, the more prevalent the GotG cameos will be in Marvel comics. We’ve got at least two this week – that I read – and both are painfully obvious. It’s like Marvel is working overtime to erase all of the goodwill built up by all those amazing movie trailers.
I am going to be seeing Guardians of the Galaxy on opening night. But you better believe I’m not about to pay for one of their comics.
Fortunately, we’ve got a pretty good pile of books this week. New issues of Uncanny X-Men and She-Hulk were pretty darn great. If you’re a supporter of Cyclops, like me, things are going to get pretty awesome pretty fast. We also kick off the return of Robin at DC Comics, but for some reason, I’m pretty much subdued as far as that goes. And we’ve still got comics like Original Sin and Batwoman to stink up the joint. But we rebound with another (inter)stellar issue of Silver Surfer, which wins Comic Book of the Week for an adorable trip to Cape Cod.
But if I’m being completely honest, and more than a little shocked, Batman Eternal wins moment of the week for this hilarious bit. Batwing and the Spectre have just entered the haunted, overrun Arkham Asylum.
That is the smartest thing Batman Eternal has written so far.
Comic Reviews: Batman Eternal #15, Batwoman #33, Original Sin #6, Robin Rises: Omega #1, She-Hulk #6, Silver Surfer #4, and Uncanny X-Men #23.
You can also eventually check out my larger review of Ms. Marvel #6 over at Word of the Nerd.
Change. Change Never Changes. The Next Marvel NOW!
Guess what! Marvel Comics has a bunch of awesome plans in store for all of their most popular characters! And for a few of their upcoming movie stars! They’re setting up their third Marvel NOW! wave, and personally, I think it all looks pretty neat. Check out this lineup!
The Amazing Avengers? Invincible Avengers? Irredeemable Avengers?
If you haven’t heard yet, we’ve got female Thor and the fact that Sam Wilson, the Falcon, is taking over at Captain America. I’m a big fan of that idea. Cap with wings? Bring it on! The Winter Soldier is getting a new series, where he becomes the protector of Earth. Deathlok is getting a reboot to bring him closer to his TV counterpart. And Marvel is still trying desperately to make Inhuman happen. See that flaming guy in the picture there? That’s Inferno, the new Inhuman. He and Medusa are the stars of the comic Inhuman, which has published all of 2 issues so far. If Marvel is really serious about making the Inhumans a force to be reckoned with, they are failing terribly.
Seriously, Inhuman is terrible. Inferno should be ashamed to be in that group picture.
Also in that picture, you can see Ant-Man and Doctor Strange, both of whom have upcoming movies on the Marvel slate. I’m excited for both, and if Marvel can get both heroes their own comics, that would be a blast. Marvel is doing great things with comics these days. I’m dying for a quality Ant-Man comic.
Entertainment Weekly has some of the details.
Iron Man is getting a big change too. See his fancy new white/silver armor? That’s the Superior Iron Man!
Iron Man is suddenly big into testing
Tony Stark will be moving to San Francisco, where he plans to implement some darker, tougher technology upgrades. Tony’s going a little dark. Good for him.
I don’t know about you, but all of this looks great to me. Maybe I’m just really into Marvel these days. I know that’s the truth. They can do little wrong in my book. I have always been a Marvel man, and the various Marvel NOW! campaigns have been comic book gold. So you better believe I’m excited to get my hands on some of these new books.
This is going to be the year of the Ant-Man!
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Review: Teen Titans #1
After only a few short months, Teen Titans is back with a new #1 issue and a new…not much else. Scott Lobdell’s reign of terror is over. Bring on Will Pfeifer’s reign of terror! I say that with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, but after reading and digesting Pfeifer’s first issue in this new, relaunched Teen Titans, it doesn’t look like much has changed. I’m willing to go easy on Pfeifer, and artist Kenneth Rocafort, and give them the benefit of the doubt, but the problems with Lobdell’s Teen Titans were very clear and very easy to fix. So why Pfeifer and DC didn’t do a complete 180 and try something totally new is beyond me.
Teen Titans #1
Teen Titans #1 could just as easily have been Teen Titans #31. It picks up exactly where Lobdell left off and brings absolutely nothing new or interesting to the table.
Comic Rating: 5/10 – Alright.
I was ready to forgive and forget, and embrace a new approach to the Teen Titans comic. I stuck with Lobdell’s stink pile for the entire run, watching and wincing as DC let him have 30 whole issues and some annuals. Whereas nearly ever other comic in DC’s New 52 was given a new creative team at some point, or cancelled outright, DC stuck with Lobdell despite the fact that everyone pretty much hated and abandoned the comic. Lobdell’s Teen Titans was a frantic mess, unwilling to sit still for even a second to focus on the characters, the team or anything other than hectic superhero action. I could go on and on about all of the problems with the first run of Teen Titans, but I don’t have the time or energy. We’re here to talk about the new relaunch.
And you better believe I’m disappointed.
Pfeifer’s Teen Titans #1 is wall-to-wall action, starring pretty much the exact same Titans team that Lobdell left off with – only now Beast Boy is green for some reason. No explanation given on that change. It’s Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy and Bunker stopping a group of terrorists on a speeding bus (yep!), while Pfeifer hints at some kind of future plot with S.T.A.R. Labs. There’s plenty of chatter among the team members as they go about their business, but there’s little in the way of actual, meaningful interactions. No effort is made to explain why they’re still a team or why they spend any time together beyond being the selected roster for the book. No background is given, no establishing information is put out; nothing beyond a bunch of superheroes responding to a sudden emergency on the streets of New York.
In that regard, Peifer and Rocafort make a fine comic. The action is well-paced and well-drawn. I suppose it’s as exciting as any generic action scene in a comic might be. There’s a good use of everyone’s powers and abilities. Everybody is generally likable. I don’t necessarily think Rocafort’s hyper-detailed, sketchy style is the right fit for Teen Titans, but it works fine. No real complaints from my end on art. It’s also definitely a colorful comic.
But Teen Titans #1 doesn’t do anything new to warrant the relaunch. It looks like business as usual, even after I got my hopes up that something would be different this time around.
Oh wait, there is one change. After 30+ issues of Bunker’s sexuality not being an issue for anybody, Pfeifer is apparently totally going to make it an awkward, clumsy issue. Great.
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review!
Thor Becomes a Lady, the World Loses Its Mind
I love it when comic book storylines somehow become mainstream news. I love watching reporters or celebrities or whoever try to interpret something that probably doesn’t make any sense to them, but they’re being paid to promote it nonetheless. Like when Fox News freaked out about the death of Ultimate Spider-Man. Or when Fox News freaked out about the introduction of a half black, half Latino Spider-Man.
Today’s comic book news is that Marvel is going to tell a story about a female Thor. This was announced on The View, of all places, and it’s all over the Internet. Lady Thor is even trending on Facebook!
Still blonde
First of all, why the heck is Marvel using The View to announce anything? Is there really a big crossover audience? I think they’ve done it before, and while it may be a female-centric show, is that the only place they could think of to announce news about a female character? Why not package the announcement during Sex and the City reruns? There has to be a better way to reach women.
Second of all, who cares?! It’s a comic book storyline! It may be getting a new #1 issue, but it’s still just a single storyline that Marvel feels like doing. Why does this warrant mainstream news coverage?
Why the metal face mask?
I’ve felt pretty cynical about the world for a few years now. This sort of thing falls squarely in the whole ‘the mainstream news is distraction’ sort of conspiracy theory. Why bother reporting on important things when the news can talk about a comic book storyline? Or the search for a crashed airplane? Does any of this coverage talk about how awesome Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder has been? Did Whoopi Goldberg on The View tell people where, how and why they should start reading this Lady Thor comic? Or is this just an announcement for announcement’s sake?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely going to read the comic, because Jason Aaron’s Thor has been pretty amazing. But how weird is it that it’s getting this much attention? I wish the universe cared this much about comic books for real. But why not have reporters who actually understand comics talk about real comic book news instead of paying Whoopi Goldberg to read a press release?
Maybe then they could make jokes about Frog Thor or Horse Thor.
Or Valkyrie, who already is a blonde, female Thor.
Henchman-4-Hire