Category Archives: Comics
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #6
Following up on last issue’s epic cliffhanger, Avengers vs. X-Men #6 does not disappoint when it comes to scale. Gone is the petty back and forth between the Avengers and the X-Men, replaced by much bigger and better things. Unfortunately, this also looks to be the issue where the story starts to get regrettably predictable. I still have faith that this series will be able to surprise me down the line. But I think it’s obvious to everyone where the story is headed from here on out. Marvel has definitely taken sides over who is right and who is wrong in this battle.
Avengers vs. X-Men #6
Of course, I’m still going to side with the X-Men! Down with the murderous traitor Wolverine and the bull-headed warmonger Captain America!
Comic rating: 5/5: Great.
I have always loved the work of artist Olivier Coipel, and to see him take over the series is a delight. His characters are fantastic, the details are stellar, and the man can draw epic scale like none other. You really get a feel for just how huge this story has become. If only Marvel had been able to organize their entire comic universe to match this story, it would feel stronger. There’d be a lot of other problems to contend with, but at least this story would have the proper weight behind it. Instead, we’re just going to have to deal with Avengers vs. X-Men on its own, and that’s good enough.
But like I said, unless Marvel has some insane sort of awesomeness planned, there’s only one way this story is going to end. And that way sucks.
How do I think it’s going to end? Find out after the jump!
My Top 6 Favorite Pop Culture Cars
So my car – a gray 2005 Chrysler Sebring I’ve nicknamed ‘Donkey’ – is in the shop this week for a blown thermostat thingamajig. Depending on when this List gets published, the thingamawhatsis was fixed and my car is back on the road, or I’ve totally had to junk the thing and will soon be buying a new car. Fingers crossed for the first thing.
In honor of my car, which is the first car I’ve ever owned, I’ve decided to throw together a list of my favorite motor vehicles in pop culture. Because all the best characters have badass wheels. As Robin once said in a movie that should never, ever be quoted, “Chicks dig the car.”
Did you know Robin had a car? It was named ‘Redbird’
This list is only going to include motor vehicles like cars, trucks and vans. So no spaceships, no boats and no TARDIS. Perhaps they’ll get their own list some day. And I hope you guys share with me some of your favorite cars from pop culture! I’m sure I’ve missed a few really awesome ones.
Oh, So That’s the Ant-Man Who is Going to Join the Defenders…
Turns out that Ant-Man is going to join the Defenders after all! And based on solicitations for September’s comics, it’s going to be the newly resurrected Scott Lang Ant-Man! And he’s going to be wearing one of my favorite Ant-Man costumes ever!
That’s him in the Ant-Man costume
This isn’t really important comic book news or anything, just something that’s important to me. Writer Matt Fraction recently relaunched The Defenders, and I picked up the first few issues because I saw an ad for the series that included an appearance by Ant-Man. But since he was so tiny in the ad, there was no way of knowing which Ant-Man. There have been three of them.
I assumed it would be the current Ant-Man, Eric O’Grady. I thought he was going to transfer from the Secret Avengers to The Defenders. And O’Grady is a character for whom I’ll buy any book that he’s appearing – which includes Secret Avengers, but did not include his run on the Thunderbolts. But whatever.
Then after several issues without Ant-Man, I stopped buying The Defenders.
Only now we can see that Ant-Man will be joining the team! And it will be the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang. He recently came back to life in a different comic, and it’s good to know that Marvel will be doing something cool with him. Scott is probably my favorite of the three Ant-Men. So I’ll definitely be picking up The Defenders again.
I just thought you’d like to know.
Review: Scarlet Spider #6
Unfortunately, a discombobulated story and an odd sketchiness to the art finally bring a halt to the so-far fantastic Scarlet Spider series. Not that they make for a bad issue, mind you. But the stellar quality has definitely taken a dip. The villain comes out of nowhere, the supporting characters are a little off and the ending is rather abrupt.
Scarlet Spider #6
Plus this comic has nearly as many epilogues as Return of the King.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
Sadly, this is also artist Ryan Stegman’s last issue of Scarlet Spider! The guy has been fantastic, infusing a lot of energy and style into the book. Sometimes it looked a little cartoonish for the grittier tales that writer Christopher Yost was trying to tell, but the art was clean, detailed and very cool. Stegman had a flair for highly energetic and dynamic action sequences. His fight scenes were awesome.
But for some reason, the art in this issue is a little grainy. The fight is still cool, but there’s just something off about the art…not sure if it’s intentional or not. The same thing could be said for the writing – it’s a little grainy. I’d say this issue feels a little rushed all around. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely a bump in the road.
Batman Finally Comes to Smallville
But only in comic book form.
Tiny picture
The popular TV show Smallville was about the early years of Clark Kent, and how he eventually embraces his super-powers and becomes Superman. It started as a high school drama, but after running for 10 seasons, he eventually grew up, became a reporter for the Daily Planet and married Lois Lane. They told pretty much his entire life story!
I was a fan for a lot of years, and periodically checked back in to watch some of the good episodes. Before too long, DC started guest-starring a ton of other superheroes in the show. The Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Zatanna, Hawkman, the Wonder Twins and many more all made cameo and guest appearances.
But in all 10 years of Smallville, never once did Batman appear. (Or Wonder Woman, for that matter).
I’m pretty sure it was a legal issue. The rights to Batman, either on TV or in movies, were tied up in another creative arm of Warner Bros., and they just couldn’t bring him into the show. It was a travesty of epic proportions. Not to mention stupid. What moron was holding the red tape to keep Batman and Wonder Woman from appearing on Smallville? I hope he sleeps poorly at night.
Anyway, after Smallville went off the air, DC decided to continue the story in comic book form, considering Superman is a comic book hero and all. I don’t read it, but I guess it’s doing alright. And now that Smallville is no longer on TV, there is no longer any red tape to keep Batman from finally appearing in Smallville continuity! I think that’s a pretty awesome idea! The story is going to be written by writer Brian Q. Miller, and it’s going to be called ‘Detective”. It’s about Batman and his sidekick tracking a suspect in the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, and they bump into Superman. So that’s pretty neat.
All of you Smallville fans waiting for your chance to see Batman, here it is!
Batman’s sidekick in Smallville continuity isn’t going to be Robin though. Miller is picking and choosing from the Robin mythos to make a new Nightwing, alias Stephanie Brown. She’s a little too complicated to explain, but let’s just say she was once Robin in the normal Batman comics. And Miller once wrote her comic book series. So now he’s decided to bring her back because he likes the character. Miller told TVGuide:
“Bruce can be somewhat of an angry man. Stephanie’s personality is so can-do and unsinkable and bright, so it’s very much on purpose on Bruce’s part that he has a good cop going out on patrol with him every night.”
So basically I just think this is all pretty cool. I’d actually like to see the Smallville version of Batman. Here’s a better look at the comic book cover, albeit in black and white:
Big picture, but black and white. I don’t know why the Internet won’t give me a big, color picture
Henchman-4-Hire 