Category Archives: Marvel
Strong Guy Watch: He’s Dead
Welp, Strong Guy is dead. Remember last summer, when I was worried that he would be sacrificed in that New Mutants mini-series? Only for him to survive? Welp, that didn’t last long. The moment he returns following that mini-series, he’s needlessly killed.
Strong Guy takes the brunt of a bomb in this week’s Uncanny X-Men issue.
The issue, of course, ignores any response from Wolfsbane or Havok to the death of Strong Guy
There didn’t need to be a bomb. And he didn’t need to sacrifice himself. Neither is intrinsically important to the story at hand. It just happens. Maybe to raise the stakes of the story? Maybe to underline how dark and gritty it is?
I don’t know and I’m starting to not care. Just kill everybody I love. Why not? What have you got to lose? Just kill’em all and bask in the awesome writing skill of killing characters!
That’s how you know it’s a good comic. If a lot of characters are killed, then it’s a good comic. That’s a rule of making comics. Right? Surely that’s right.
This isn’t the end of Strong Guy Watch. It’ll come back in a year or two when he’s resurrected. Because that’s the other god damned rule: characters don’t stay dead. Unless they’re Multiple Man, my all-time favorite comic book character. When he’s killed…no wait, hold off for a second. He’s actually been killed several times now. When he was killed the last time, he’s stayed dead, and Marvel has instead put a puppet in his place.
So no, my favorite comic book characters don’t get resurrected. They get replaced by a mocking simulacrum.
There is no joy in Mudville.
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6 Thoughts on the Second Season of Runaways
We are overloaded with comic book TV shows these days and I love it! Not only did I just finish watching the first season of Titans and now the second season of Runaways, but I just started the first season of Umbrella Academy! What a wild and wonderful superhero world we live in. It’s even better when the show is actually good, like the new season of Runaways!
TV Show Rating: 9/10 – Great.
I enjoyed the first season of the show well enough. I was disappointed that the kids didn’t actually run away until the very end of the last episode of the season. I think a lot of people were bothered by that. Well, whoever is running the show took that message to heart and delivered a far more involved, far faster second season that doesn’t drag everything out for the sake of dragging it out. That was very much appreciated! And now this show is a much different beast than the original comic, while still maintaining that comic book/Runaways appeal!
Also, the current Runaways comic by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka is absolutely fabulous! It was my favorite comic last year and everyone should be reading if they enjoy this squad.
Expect FULL SPOILERS for season 2!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/16/19
These are the best comic book weeks! Sometimes I’ll get a couple of comics on my Buy Pile to pick through, see what I like or don’t like. But weeks like this one was stuffed with my favorite comics! We’ve got Runaways, we’ve got Mr. & Mrs. X, we’ve got Go Go Power Rangers! It’s like I’m being spoiled!
We’ve also got G. Willow Wilson’s final issue of Ms. Marvel, a bittersweet but otherwise wonderful moment! I wanted to give it Comic Book of the Week to mark the occasion, but it had to go up against the first issue of Mark Russell’s Wonder Twins comic. I can now die a happy man for having read Wonder Twins #1.
Four decades in the making
That’s not to say Wilson’s final Ms. Marvel isn’t fun! Read that too!
Comic Book Reviews: Captain Marvel #2, Go Go Power Rangers #17, Mr. & Mrs. X #8, Ms. Marvel #38, Runaways #18, Wonder Twins #1 and Wonder Woman #64.
Strong Guy Watch: Age of X-Man
Good news, everybody! Strong Guy has been spotted in Age of X-Man! He’s not one of the main characters, and he’s not even an active character, but I kept my eyes peeled and there he was!
In a picture. One of those classic past-class pictures of the X-Men on the walls of the X-Mansion. Madrox is there, too!
That is from The Marvelous X-Men #1. I doubt we’ll see much more of Strong Guy.
The original purpose of Strong Guy Watch has passed, but seeing Guido show up in the background was too good to pass up. Currently, he’s one of several X-Men trapped by the Phalanx. Hopefully somebody saves him eventually.
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Dazzler, M.O.D.O.K., Howard the Duck and More Are Coming to Marvel Animation
I don’t even know how to respond to this news other than shock and amusement. After cancelling a couple of their live action Netflix shows, Marvel has now announced a slate of five animated shows coming to Hulu.
M.O.D.O.K., Howard the Duck, Hit Monkey, a random Tigra and Dazzler team-up, and then a combination show called The Offenders.
This doesn’t look hastily thrown together at all
This feels like an April Fool’s Day prank.
How do any of these shows make sense? Why are they going to Hulu? Has Marvel already forgotten their Disney+ streaming service coming down the line? And with a name like The Offenders, are they purposefully trying to annoy Netflix, the biggest name in streaming?
There is no logic in this place.
More information is available at Marvel.com. And here’s a rundown of each series:
- M.O.D.O.K.: An egomaniacal Super Villain with a really big head and a really little body, struggles to maintain control of his evil organization and his demanding family. Comes from writers Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt, with Blum, Oswalt and Jeph Loeb serving as Executive Producers
- Hit Monkey: Tells the tale of a wronged Japanese snow monkey, mentored by the ghost of an American assassin, as he cuts a wide swath through the Tokyo underworld in this darkly cinematic and brutally funny revenge saga. Comes from writers Josh Gordon and Will Speck, with Gordon, Speck and Jeph Loeb serving as Executive Producers.
- Tigra & Dazzler Show: Two woke Super Heroes and best friends, Tigra and Dazzler, fight for recognition among powered people who make up the eight million stories in Los Angeles. Comes from writers Erica Rivinoja and Chelsea Handler, with Rivinoja, Handler, and Jeph Loeb serving as Executive Producers.
- Howard the Duck: Trapped in a world he never made, America’s favorite fighting fowl Howard the Duck hopes to return home with the help of his unstoppable gal pal Beverly before the evil Dr. Bong can turn him the crispiest dish on the menu. Comes from writersKevin Smith and Dave Willis, with Smith, Willis, and Jeph Loeb serving as Executive Producers.
- The Offenders: Nobody asked them to, and we’d be better off if they didn’t, but M.O.D.O.K., Dazzler, Tigra, Hit Monkey and Howard the Duck are all forced to team up in order to save the world and certain parts of the Universe.
Honestly, this all sounds like Jeph Loeb is off on some crazy side project without anybody else at Marvel or Disney having any idea what he’s doing.
I am mildly curious to see just what the heck all of this is about. What are your thoughts?
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