Category Archives: Marvel

Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #5

Talk about a game-changing cliffhanger! I’ve said it before about Avengers vs. X-Men, and I’ll say it again: I have no idea where this story is going, and that’s awesome! While most of these big Event Comics end with a giant fight (and somebody shouting “Avengers Assemble!”) we’ve already had half a dozen giant fights in this series. And while those fights haven’t been all that great, the story continues to move along at a fantastic and exciting pace. Which is why I’m going to give Avengers vs. X-Men #5 my highest rating for the series for far.

Avengers vs. X-Men #5

After that cliffhanger, Avengers vs. X-Men is definitely keeping us on our toes! I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Comic rating: 5/5: Great.

Now that’s not to say this is a perfect issue. That’s not how my rating system works. And granted, my rating system really only works in my head. The previous issues of Avengers vs. X-Men have only been “good” because they were solid stories that were told well with decent art, so worth a read, but not all that amazing. This issue continues that trend, but then delivers a fantastic, action-packed climax, and then that cliffhanger I can’t stop gushing over. I’ll spoil it in the synopsis after the jump. Just trust me that it definitely changes the series from here on out.

Though arguably not in a good way. I can’t help but feel that Marvel has definitely picked a side by the end of this issue, and it’s the side I’m against. I’ve definitely been on the side of Cyclops and the X-Men throughout the series, but Marvel may have tipped their hand.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!

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6 Popular Superheroes That Do Nothing For Me

If I ever become a professional comic book writer, my dream project would be Robin, the Boy Wonder. Not Batman, not Teen Titans, but simply Robin. I am probably the biggest Robin fan you’re ever likely to meet, which might seem weird to some, considering Robin is one of the most maligned and disliked comic book characters of all time! But that’s simply the way I role. When it comes to comic book characters, I tend to like the more obscure, secondary characters. You can even check out my list of my 6 favorite comic book characters and see what I mean.

Though I actively hate dogs in stupid clothes

But I got to thinking and realized that there aren’t many comic book characters that I actively hate. Not even Damian Wayne. However, there are a lot of comic book characters, especially some classic, all-time greats, who I simply don’t care about. Weird, right? I love obscure, secondary characters, but don’t care for hugely popular iconic characters. I can’t tell if that makes me more or less of a total geek. But I look at some of these amazing characters and the most I can muster is a shrug and a “meh”. No thanks, not for me. Here are 6 popular comic book characters that I just don’t care about, one way or another.

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Perry Bible Fellowship Does Galactus

Marvel Comics teaming up with The Perry Bible Fellowship may be one of my favorite pop culture team-ups of the modern age.

For those of you who don’t know, The Perry Bible Fellowship is this amazing, hilarious comic strip by a guy named Nicholas Gurewitch. There’s no single plot to the strip, simply joke after joke after joke. And for those of you who are already fans, I have some added, personal trivia for you! The Perry Bible Fellowship got its start in the comic section of The Daily Orange, the student-run newspaper at Syracuse University.

And what other comic strip ran in The Daily Orange right alongside The Perry Bible Fellowship? Why, my very own Falmouth University, of course! Granted, Gurewitch’s comic was much better, and he’s had a ton more success than me. But I still like being able to say that my meager little comic ran alongside one of the greats in its original run!

And then Gurewitch went on to actually draw comic strips for Marvel Comics! Brilliant stuff.

I like to tell myself that if I ever met him again, he’d totally remember my comic and tell me he was a fan. I can dream, can’t I?

Review: Mimic and the X-Men #4

What the hell is this supposed to be? Where’s my Mimic? If I’m going to buy a comic starring the Mimic, one of the greatest and coolest X-Men of all time, I expect him to be in more than 5 panels, and I expect him to get more than one line. But nooooOOOoooo! Apparently someone else has a better idea. Someone named Christos Gage seems to want to focus on Rogue for some reason. As if anybody cares about Rogue when they could be reading about the spectacular and handsome Mimic!

Mimic and the X-Men #4

Instead, Mimic seems to have something of a glass jaw when it comes to Avengers vs. X-Men.

Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.

For those of you coming in late, the Mimic is one of my favorite comic book characters of all time. And recently in the pages of X-Men Legacy, writer Christos Gage has plucked Mimic out of the mothballs, dusted him off and put him in the regular cast of the comic. For the first time in 40 years, he’s a member of the X-Men again. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I’ve added X-Men: Legacy to my review list – only I prefer to refer to it as Mimic and the X-Men. Because I really only care about Mimic’s role in the comic.

And based on this issue, he doesn’t have much of a roll at all. It’s a tragedy.

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Iron Patriot in Iron Man 3!

Check out a surprise villain who is going to appear in the upcoming Iron Man 3.

He seems to have War Machine’s shoulder-mounted canon

That red, white and blue ensemble is the Iron Patriot armor, which was worn in the comics by Norman Osborn when he temporarily took over from Nick Fury as head of SHIELD. Yeah, weird story, but basically Osborn had everybody convinced he was a good guy and Iron Man was a bad guy, and so they let him have access to Iron Man’s armor. He took one suit and painted it red, white and blue, because Norman Osborn is a bastard.

Just not as flashy as gold and hot rod red

But there is no way in the 49 moons of Jupiter that Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) is going to appear in an Iron Man movie. Nope, according to the website What Would Tyler Durden Do, who took the set pictures, that is actor James Badge Dale in the armor. Dale is playing the super-villain Coldblood, who was another armored or at least cybernetic Iron Man villain from the comics. Coldblood is hardly iconic or even memorable, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers simply give him a new origin and a new modus operandi. Would wearing the Iron Patriot armor be that new Coldblood style?

Personally, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the armor is actually going to be Detroit Steel, a newer character who also wears red, white and blue armor. Steel is a product of Justin Hammer’s company, an attempt to build a replacement for Iron Man who is beholden to the government. Though Detroit Steel is kind of a big, bulky metal monster.

After the success of The Avengers, Disney should just write Marvel a blank check

Still, Hollywood isn’t exactly going to make that monstrosity to get Detroit Steel accurate. So maybe they’ll streamline Steel into these set photos. It’s probably not going to happen, but I want to at least be the first one to suggest it!

Detroit Steel for Iron Man 3! You heard it here first!