Category Archives: Comics
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #12
Cyclops was right. About everything. With the final issue of this mega crossover now upon us, I can say with clarity and confidence that Cyclops is the true hero of Avengers vs. X-Men. Oh sure, they want you to believe that Captain America is the real hero. And that Cyclops’ supposed ‘crimes’ are beyond redemption. But I’ve been saying it for a long time now: Marvel was unwilling to just make Cyclops a mustache-twirling bad guy. And this issue finally reveals why. Everything Cyclops set out to do in Avengers vs. X-Men was for good reason, and everything he fought for and people died for, will have been worth it thanks to the surprise ending of this series.
Avengers vs. X-Men #12
Avengers vs. X-Men #12 was a fantastic and exciting finale! It’s a little muddied with an over reliance on flashbacks, but the story is straightforward and the victory well deserved.
Comic rating: 5/5: Great!
In hindsight, I haven’t really liked most of the big crossovers at Marvel. I didn’t particularly care for Fear Itself last year. Secret Invasion was a dud. Civil War was alright, but Seige was quite dull. Avengers vs. X-Men, however, is one damn fine comic. Hero vs. hero, the fate of the world at stake! And even though the writers never really explored the deeper questions of faith and hope prevalent in the series, it’s still an exciting superhero comic. There were times I was annoyed with the series, and very frustrated at what Marvel was seemingly trying to say. But this issue alleviated all of my worries and frustrations with some solid follow through on Cyclops’ story arc.
Forget Hope, forget the Scarlet Witch, forget Captain America or Wolverine. Cyclops is the true star of this comic. He’s the only character who really grew or changed, who learned something from all of this. He’s the only character man enough to accept responsibility, while Captain America sticks with his petty bravado and arrogance.
This was a marvelous comic, settling all of my disputes in a big, bombastic climax. Although I’m not sure why Iron Man is featured so prominently on the cover. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Review: Teen Titans #0
Well, that was disappointing. Tim Drake, my all-time favorite DC superhero, has a completely new origin. I thought writer Scott Lobdell was only changing his name, but it turns out Lobdell decided to change almost everything. Tim Drake is not even Tim ‘Drake’ anymore. All of his clever origin quirks from the original continuity have been altered for no good reason. Seriously, there was no reason to change Tim’s origin. His old origin fit in just fine with what’s been happening in the New 52 so far. These changes are completely superfluous, and because of that, they’re more disappointing than actually anger-inducing. It’s not like he did anything drastic that would warrant or justify the changes.
Teen Titans #0
DC has made me care less about my favorite character. I don’t think that’s what they want to accomplish in selling their comics.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
If I’m being fair, this issue of Teen Titans is alright. It’s not a bad issue. If I’m being extremely generous and unbiased, it’s mediocre. The origin and its changes aren’t all that exciting, but it doesn’t defy logic – for the most part – or take a crap on the English language. There are a lot of stupid changes, which I’ll mention in the full synopsis. Overall, the issue is OK. But I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody. I wouldn’t tell a person that they’ve got to read about this really cool guy named Red Robin. None of these changes alter Tim Drake as a person or a character. He’s still pretty much the same guy. So that just means these changes are pointless. I can’t imagine anyone being excited by the new changes.
But I can definitely picture a lot of disappointed and even angry Tim Drake fans. I realize that comic book companies just want to get a rise out of their fans. But couldn’t they have been a little more creative this time? Couldn’t they have tried to do something original?
Just look at what they did to Jason Todd’s origin. Same writer even, with Scott Lobdell penning Jason’s altered origin. So why did he drop the ball in rewriting Tim’s origin? Join me after the jump for more.
6 Fan-Made Characters That Were Embraced by the Real Creators
Do you remember Gary the Gray Power Ranger, the one who drove Titanus? Or what about Dustin the Animorph-Controller, who was both one of the good guys and one of the bad guys? Or Jedi Padawan Tasher Jaken? No? You don’t? Well don’t worry, you shouldn’t remember them. They never existed, not in the real shows, books or movies anyway. They are all my own fan fiction creations. All 100% my own ideas.
Creating my own original characters to fit into existing franchises has always been one of my favorite writing hobbies. I was even naive enough once upon a time to think I had a chance of making them a reality, if only I could speak with the writers or creators.
Now I know better. I was fooling myself.
But seriously, who’s driving this thing?
Yet even though it never worked out for me, the dream isn’t so far-fetched. Sometimes the creators and professionals really do listen to their fans. Sometimes that silly bit of fan fiction can take on a life of its own. Or maybe the fans will embrace a seemingly unimportant background character and adopt him or her like a mascot. It can happen. It has happened. I found six characters from TV, video games and movies that were – for the most part – created and embellished by the fans, only for the real creators to take notice and embrace these fan creations, bringing them into the real canon.
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #15
The classic Bendis ‘talking heads’ issue is back, and it is glorious! Though I kind of wish there were more characters and their relationships were a little better defined so that the issue could be even better…but this is still good comics. Writer Brian Michael Bendis is renowned for his skill with dialogue. It’s what made the early issues of the original Ultimate Spider-Man so good. His characters were so rich, their scenes together so much fun, that the book couldn’t help but be a hit. Well in this new issue. Bendis slows things down and gives new protagonist Miles Morales a chance to just hang out with his friends and family and be himself.
Ultimate Spider-Man #15
And if they had something a little more substantial to talk about, this issue would be perfect.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
Here is another example of me wishing I used decimals or fractions. The writing in this issue is top notch as Miles, his best friend Ganke, and his parents react and respond to the various big events that have occurred over the past few issues. His parents have to deal with the police investigation into Uncle Aaron’s death, and Ganke gets to geek out over Miles’ new web-shooters. This is top notch stuff and very entertaining. But there’s also a…shallowness to it. Several school officials appear, but we don’t know their names, so they don’t really matter. We finally learn Miles’ father’s name, which goes to show you how deep a character he is. And we get to meet Ultimate Maria Hill! But all of it remains kind of skin deep, I’m afraid.
At least the ending is pretty awesome. Though I still contend that this series would be much better without the need to squeeze the ‘Divided We Fall/United We Stand’ nonsense into the book. Did you guys here that Ultimate Captain America is going to become President? I love when the mainstream media reports on these events from the Ultimate Universe, because I have a hard time imagining a non-comics fan trying to distinguish between the Ultimate characters and the ‘real’ characters.
Either way, join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
What Do I Think About the Tim Drake/Red Robin Controversy?
When Teen Titans #0 comes out next week, we’re going to learn that Tim Drake never took on the mantle of Robin. Instead, from the moment he became Batman’s sidekick, he called himself ‘Red Robin’, a name that he still uses today as leader of the Teen Titans. We’ve known this retcon since San Diego Comic-Con, where Teen Titans writer Scott Lobdell let the cat out of the bag. This is a big change to Tim Drake’s continuity in the wake of the New 52 reboot, and considering I’m both a huge Robin fan and a huge Tim Drake fan, my reaction might surprise you.
The change actually doesn’t bother me in the least. It’s so incredibly minor and stupid that it’s rolled off my back like water on a duck.
Tim Drake will always be the best Robin, whether DC wants to retroactively add a silly adjective in front of his name or not.
The real problem is whether or not the Joker is going to kill Tim in the upcoming “Death of the Family” storyline. But more on that later.
Join me after the jump as I explain the change and tell you why I think it’s so stupid that it should just be ignored. Then we can all move on with our lives.
Henchman-4-Hire 