Category Archives: Marvel
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/1/13
Are there any comic book readers who get legitimately excited when a main character is suddenly killed? After all of the deaths and resurrections in comics over the past few years, is there anybody who doesn’t just roll their eyes when a writer suddenly decides to kill a major character? A big one bites the dust at the end of Justice League of America #4 this week, and I can’t help but throw up my hands in exasperation. Even if it turns out next issue that it was all just a ruse, I still think it’s a weak storytelling crutch that comic book writers need to lay off for awhile. That Geoff Johns is responsible makes it even worse. I spoke of you so highly this week, Geoff! C’mon!
At any rate, I’ve pretty much given up on Justice League of America anyway, so a stunt like this might just be the final nail in its coffin for me. Thankfully, Marvel Comics is at the top of their game, with fun issues of New Avengers, Indestructible Hulk and the brand new X-Men. I’ve been looking forward to this series since it was first announced, both because of the all-girl experiment and for Olivier Copiel’s art. Neither one disappoints in the Comic Book of the Week.
Doop loves babies, but the feeling is clearly not mutual
Comic Reviews: Indestructible Hulk #8, Justice League of America #4, New Avengers #6, Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1, Wolverine and the X-Men #30 and X-Men #1.
How Iron Man 3 Should Have Ended
They’re at it again! And this one is legitimately funny.
The How It Should Have Ended people are getting better and better. They’re finally back to showing us a legitimate alternate ending, which one would think was the whole point. These are always good for a chuckle.
Glenn Close as Nova!?!
In what has to be the weirdest casting news out of Marvel ever, frequent Academy Award-nominee Glenn Close has been cast as the leader of the Nova Corps in next year’s Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s nice to know that someone is reading my blog, but they definitely took things to a whole new level.
Seriously, Glenn Close…
Will be playing one of these guys…
The news comes from Bleedingcool.com, who said actors like Hugh Laurie, Ken Watanabe and Alan Rickman were in the running for the role. So clearly Marvel and director James Gunn had a certain type in mind. Does Close fit that type? Most definitely. Will she be great in the role? I really, really think so. This could be the brilliant sort of casting that really makes the movie.
For those who don’t know, the Nova Corps are a big, intergalactic police force in the Marvel Universe. Two human members of the Nova Corps, Ritchie Ryder and Sam Alexander, have been the stars of their own comic books. But neither one has so far been cast, that we know of. In the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, I’m going to assume that the Nova Corps represent the big, stuffy police department while the Guardians are the scrappy, devil-may-care A-Team operating outside the law. Sounds like a good dynamic to me.
Oh, also, John C. Reilly is in talks to play another member of the Nova Corps. Neat!
Review: Scarlet Spider #17
Aracely is just adorable. I bet writer Chris Yost has a blast writing her alongside Kaine. The two of them – the straight man and the silly girl – are definitely the heart of this series, and Scarlet Spider #17 is the two of them on an adorable field trip to New York. Granted, Kaine is going there to kill Wolverine, but the trip is still a blast. No one says they can’t enjoy the trip while they’re there.
Scarlet Spider #17
This is one of the most fun issues of Scarlet Spider yet. Free of any other concerns, Yost dives into a free-standing crossover with the X-Men that’s mostly about Kaine and Aracely being awesome.
Comic Rating: 4.5/5 – Very Good.
I’ll share some of the best moments in the full synopsis. I suppose your enjoyment of this issue depends entirely on how much you can stand Aracely. I love her. Yost is clearly having a lot of fun writing her dialogue, and Kaine makes for the perfect companion. He’s willing to put up with her because he clearly cares for her, but everything she does seems to drive him bonkers. It’s a great buddy comedy set up. I think Yost could stand to start answering some questions about Aracely, or maybe explore a bit deeper her relationship with Kaine, but for now, I’m not complaining.
This is just a fun issue, and it works very well as a crossover too. Yost handles the X-Men just as well as he handles his own characters, and it’s great to see the Scarlet Spider interact with the larger Marvel Universe. I doubt he’ll be headlining any Big Events anytime soon, but any acknowledgement that Kaine is indeed part of the Marvel Universe is a welcome one.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Mega Iron Man
I say this with complete sincerity: If it were possible to make a living on videos like these, I would quit my job, learn how to do it and then just make fun animated superhero videos all the live long day. Unfortunately, my dreams rarely satisfy life’s basic necessities. This 8-bit gem was made by CineFix.
Henchman-4-Hire 