Category Archives: Marvel

Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/11/14

What a week to be a fan of comics! Not only is the New York Comic-Con going on this weekend, but the long-awaited debut of the new Batgirl hit the stands, and it easily slides into Comic Book of the Week. The comic is as good as I’d hoped it would be and more. If the creative team keeps this up, Ms. Marvel might have a little competition for my favorite comic!

It doesn’t help that poor Kamala Khan is rushed off to guest-star in this week’s Amazing Spider-Man. Crossovers and team-ups like this are so painfully forced, especially in this day and age, but writer Christos Gage gives it the old college try. He also manages to slip in a little fan ‘shipping for the fun of it!

But seriously, Batgirl definitely kicks butt!

She’s also an expert at threats!

Over at Word of the Nerd, you can check out my review of Axis #1. The big new crossover kicked off this week with an issue that felt more like the end than the beginning, at least in terms of spectacle – and that wasn’t a good thing.

Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #7, Avengers #36, Batman #35, Batman Eternal #27, Batgirl #35 and Captain Marvel #8. 

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Disney Trailer Double-Tap!

We’ve got a pair of trailers for a couple of upcoming Disney movies, so I thought I’d group them together and let you all know that I think they look pretty good. I’ve loved trailers since I was a wee little Sean, and we’re living in a golden age of movie trailers. So I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Big Hero 6

Tomorrowland

I hadn’t heard about that Tomorrowland film, but it’s apparently by Brad Bird, the guy who made The Iron Giant and The Incredibles. That counts for everything.

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Apparently There’s Talk in the World About an X-Factor TV Show

Like everyone else who reads the nerd blogsophere, I saw the rumors this week about a potential live action X-Men TV show. Great, I thought to myself, sounds like fun. But then it was brought to my attention that this show might be based on X-Factor, one of my all-time favorite comic books, starring my all-time favorite comic book character, Multiple Man. And all of a sudden, this becomes possibly the greatest news in the history of television.

These guys are definitely a show!

The news comes from Shawn Madden of EatGeekPlay, who I’ve never heard of before, and who could have about as much influence or knowledge about these issues as I do (which is none). This is why I don’t normally write about these sorts of reports. They’re too early in the process and too much speculation. Imagine if I’d tried to keep up with everything Robert Downey Jr. has been saying about Iron Man 4 this week!

But something like this is too much for me to ignore. A television show starring Multiple Man? That’s the universe itself reaching out to me and telling me it has my back! Multiple Man running a detective agency in the heart of Mutant Town was a brilliant series! And it helps bolster X-Factor to more than 100 issues! That number is insane in this day and age of comics! The current series, All-New X-Factor, is being cancelled at issue #20. Clearly there is success in Multiple Man.

Leading man material!

I want to see this show. I want to sit down every week and watch Multiple Man on my TV!

Though given all the rumors floating about Marvel cutting off the X-Men and Fantastic Four to spit Fox, this sort of show probably wouldn’t lead to very good things for Multiple Man in the comics. Maybe that’s the real reason why he retired to a farm in Kansas more than a year ago…

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New Squirrel Girl Comic Hits the Same Sweet Spot as Ms. Marvel and Batgirl

The writing is on the wall, people! The days of the grim male action hero are over! Say hello to the age of the bright, colorful, awesome female action hero! I’ve loved Ms. Marvel like my own child. Lumberjanes has been such a delight. And I can’t wait for the new Batgirl this week. I am definitely digging this new trend in comics.

Now coming soon from the Marvel, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl!

She and I have similar day dreams

Entertainment Weekly announced the new series today, and it looks fantastic! I’ve loved everything about this new wave of fun, girl-friendly comics, and I hope writer Ryan North and artist Erica Henderson can keep the new tradition alive.

EW said this in their article:

In Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, writer Ryan North and artist Erica Henderson take on the lighthearted superheroine whose mutant gene gives her an endearing cocktail of squirrel-related superpowers. When the comic book begins, she’s starting college—but in no time at all, Squirrel Girl is defending Earth from threats most cosmic. Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is another quietly bold move for Marvel—a female-centric comic that’s intended to appeal equally to canon-heads and newcomers.

These sorts of comics are right in my wheelhouse these days. I’m even surprised Marvel has waited this long to produce a Squirrel Girl comic. She’s been a pretty popular character in recent years. But they definitely picked the right time to strike!

Yep, I’ve been there

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/4/14

Welcome to a week of firsts! I don’t know if it’s divine intervention or some kind of back room deal, but both Marvel and DC delivered a huge number of new starts and #1 issues this week, which sounds to me like a solid foundation for this week’s reviews. There were so many firsts I couldn’t even get to them all, but I think I picked a nice smattering of titles.

We’ve got #1 issues for the new Thor, Gotham Academy, Guardians 3000, Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier and Lobo, some of which are really good, some of which are mediocre, and at least one of which is the worst comic I’ve ever reviewed in this column! I also included the new Captain America issue, which debuted Sam Wilson as the new Cap!

Thank Stephen Colbert

Comic Book of the Week goes to Gotham Academy for being both adorable and mysterious in pretty much equal measure. That’s a good start for any comic.

I’m going to warn you fine folks in advance though…be careful of my reviews this week. You know I’ve been sticking it out with Batman Eternal since the beginning, but this week…man…I get a little ranty. Keep reading if you dare…

Comic Reviews: Batman Eternal #26, Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #1, Captain America #25, Gotham Academy #1, Guardians 3000 #1, Lobo #1 and Thor #1.

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