Category Archives: Marvel

How I Would Write the Scream Comic

Scream is my favorite of the Marvel symbiotes. By the time I started reading Spider-Man comics in the mid-90s, Venom and Carnage were already established. They were cool, but I had missed Maximum Carnage. The Clone Saga was my jam instead, and during that series, a new, female symbiote showed up with an awesome yellow, red and black color scheme and a head of magnificent symbiote hair.

Scream Comic Me 01

She’s gorgeous!

Here was a symbiote I could get behind! And considering she appeared so rarely in comics, it became a bit of a game to track her random appearances across random comics as Marvel kept her alive and in the background. Did you know Scream once teamed up with Venom and Wolverine to fight an evil alien called “Dirtnap”? Good times.

Marvel recently brought Scream back from the dead as part of the Absolute Carnage story. She got her own tie-in mini-series, and is currently starring in her very own ongoing comic: Scream: Curse of Carnage. Being one of the only people on the planet who would say that Scream is their favorite of the symbiotes, I was really excited about this comic…but it hasn’t been very good. The main character doesn’t have focus, the storyline is annoyingly weird and the art is subpar. It mostly feels like Marvel is just banking on the “Carnage” name while they wait for the next big Venom story, where Scream will theoretically play a part.

Scream Greg Land 01

Possibly Greg Land’s best work

Me being a creative guy, and this being my blog, and me not having any editorial oversight, I randomly started daydreaming how I would write a Scream comic in the wake of Absolute Carnage. The symbiote is back from the dead, she’s got a new host in Andi Benton and symbiotes are a big deal these days. How would I turn that into a fan-pleasing comic?

Join me after the jump to find out! Be warned, I think this got kind of long in my rambling/brainstorming. Just putting this out there!

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At Least Somebody on Krakoa is Getting New Uniforms!

In a recent interview at Marvel.com, we learned a bit more about the upcoming X-Factor comic, including the fact that the whole team is getting new costumes! Check out these bad boys, as designed by series artist David Baldeón!

XFactor Costumes 01

Rachel, Daken, Northstar, Aurora, Polaris, Prodigy and Eye-Boy

I like the look!

I also like that at least somebody is getting a new uniform for Dawn of X. I love it when the X-Men wear matching uniforms, or at least uniforms with a unifying theme. It really makes the X-Men stand out. And I would have hoped that Dawn of X would prompt a new uniform across the line, as a way to really re-enforce the new status quo. I loved the Grant Morrison uniforms, at least in hindsight.

I will admit to being rather disappointed that Dawn of X features a random mish mash of old and new uniforms. Something more solid for everybody would be fun. And it looks great on X-Factor!

I only wish the Blob got a fancy new X-Factor costume…

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/15/20

I have an addiction to ordering graphic novels on Amazon. Admitting I have a problem is the first step. But in better news, I finally have my hands on Spider-Man: Life Story! I’ll let you know what I think!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Thor #3, because nothing tickles my pinks quite like an awesome guest appearance from Beta Ray Bill!

Thor v Bill 01

Everybody in new outfits!

Meanwhile, I didn’t like the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. I suppose one argument could be made that I should cut an obvious kids’ movie some slack, but we’ve all seen good kids movies. This is just a dumb film filled with cliches and tropes. And they don’t really get Sonic right. He’s all about attitude, but movie Sonic is a hopeful, lonely kid who just wants a friend. And as the tropes dictate, he gets at least one.

Comic Reviews: Go Go Power Rangers #29, The Green Lantern #1, Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #1, Iron Man 2020 #2, Thor #3 and X-Men #6. 

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Stingray is Alive and Kicking!

Good news, everybody! Stingray is alive and well! He’s one of my favorite comic book characters, and one of the characters that is so rare that I like to catalog his appearances when he does show up. And Stingray shows up for a quick bit in the new issue of Iron Man 2020!

Stingray Lives Again 01

What’s even better is that he’s still alive by the end of the scene! That sort of thing isn’t guaranteed these days.

Stingray was last scene in Jason Aaron’s Avengers comic, where he barely survived an attack by Namor’s sharks! So I’m very happy to report that he recovered from the attack and went right back to being a nautical superhero!

Today’s a good day.

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6 Thoughts on Birds of Prey

Sadly, it seems that Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is not doing very well at the box office. Which is a damn shame, because I really enjoyed this movie! It’s a rock n’rolling good time of color, energy, bone-crunches and girl power!

Bird Prey Review List 01

Movie Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

Birds of Prey is in a really weird place. DC has long since abandoned their dreams of a DC Cinematic Universe, but Margot Robbie was so good as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad that they’re not ready to give her up. So what do you do? You forge ahead with Birds of Prey and hope for the best! And for me, they did  a great job! Birds of Prey is a wildly entertaining film that makes great use of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. It also makes great use of the R-rating, delivering an action movie that specializes in being as hard-hitting as possible. It adds an extra level of fun to an already entertaining film.

Join me after the jump for my full set of thoughts and reviews of Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.

Oh no, wait, Warner Bros. has since changed the name to just Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey in the hopes of having a better second weekend. So let’s go with that!

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