Category Archives: Marvel
Mimic to Return to Comics; All 6 Fans Rejoice!
So this is some comic news that will excite all half a dozen fans of The Mimic, myself included. The Mimic will appear in an upcoming storyline of X-Men: Legacy sometime in 2012.
Long thought lost and forgotten after his Dark X-Men appearance, the Mimic’s upcoming issues were announced by X-Men: Legacy writer Christos Gage in an Oct. 16 interview with iFanboy. X-Men: Legacy stars Rogue as a teacher to young mutants, and she has taken Wolverine’s side after X-Men: Schism. Here’s what Gage had to say:
In my second arc, we’ll see Mimic and Weapon Omega show up, and chances are good that at least one of them will be around for a while.
Exciting news! Mimic is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters. He has appeared in comics only a handful of times since his debut in the 1960s. So every little appearance is something to be celebrated. As I said, this news isn’t very interesting to anyone except Mimic fans. And this blog post is for them.
I’m not foolish enough to get my hopes up that Mimic will be the one of them sticking around for awhile.
Orange ad proud
Review: Fear Itself #7
This is how the world is saved: not with a whimper, but with huge, bombastic combat and superheroes defeating the bad guys and slaying dragons. The finale to Fear Itself has all the makings of an epic conclusion…except for the continued lack of connectivity with the reader. I said it back in my review of the last issue, but Fear Itself will most likely be better read all in one sitting. This final issue moreso than the last one. We’re looking at just one big, giant fight scene followed by a few seemingly random epilogues. It’s fun to read, but it feels paper thin.
Fear Itself #7
Overall, I’d say Fear Itself is a success as a big, bad superhero brawl. But it’s nothing deeper than that.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good.
I suppose I liked Fear Itself. It was certainly better than most Big Event comics. It had action, it had strong characters…but it lacked heart. Even the death of a major Marvel characters is muted. It was all excited energy, and rarely took time to slow down and smell the roses. And since superhero comics are all about actions and fight scenes, Fear Itself succeeds as the biggest fight scene of the year. We have Thor slaying a dragon, the Avengers rallying for the final fight and a small moment where the common man lends a hand. There are even a few neat catch phrases thrown around.
So it’s a good comic book. I just wasn’t feeling it. There will be spoilers in this review.
Who is the New Scarlet Spider?
One panel I missed at NYC Comic-Con was the Spider-Man panel by Marvel Comics, where they announced a new ongoing Scarlet Spider series for 2012. That was a shame. The Scarlet Spider is one of mine and my brother’s favorite characters ever. He’s actually a clone of Peter Parker, Spider-Man, who has all of the same powers. During the Clone Saga in the mid-90s, he used his powers for good alongside the real Spider-Man. He had a neat costume and had a lot of heroic adventures.
Until he died.
Happens to the best of us.
Well now he’s coming back…sort of! I’ve done a few posts so far about the various teases, well now I have the full scoop!The name ‘Scarlet Spider’ is coming back, at least, in a new ongoing series. Marvel debuted the first cover and a really clear picture of the character at Comic-Con.
I miss the torn blue hoodie
The question is…who is under the mask?
That’s a big mystery for now, though I have one really good guess that I’ll save to the end. I found an interview with writer Chris Yost talking about the upcoming series. It seems the new Scarlet will be something of a fugitive after the current Spider-Island storyline. He’ll be making his way down to Texas and Mexico, which could be pretty cool. New supporting characters, new villains, plus some old villains with the mothballs dusted off.
This is sort of a dangerous idea, frankly. A new series with all new characters banking only on a nostalgic name/concept. It’s going to have to be stellar to not get cancelled right away. Still, I expect to enjoy it for however long we have it.
As to my theory on the identity of the new Scarlet Spider…it’s Kaine!
Spider-Island is coming to an end in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, and in the last issue, Kaine recovered from being a monster. He was transformed back into a normal looking person – albeit one who looks exactly like Peter Parker. For Kaine is another clone. He’s just still around, as opposed to the original Scarlet Spider. The two were actually enemies/reluctant allies back in the 90s. So it would be fitting for Kaine to take on his fellow clone’s superhero identity.
And I would love if it was Kaine.
Kaine is OK!
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #3
The heroism of Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man, kicks off with this issue! But poor, young Miles just isn’t ready for it. He’s only like 13, I think. He’s not a hero! He just wants to be a kid! I can really feel for the boy. Just because his best friend Ganke thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world (and it is) doesn’t mean Miles is ready to be a superhero.
But sometimes fate kills Peter Parker.
Ultimate Spider-Man #3
Comic rating: 5/5: Great!
I really enjoyed this issue. The All-New Spider-Man is not yet blowing me away, but it’s a fantastic read. And writer Brian Michael Bendis finally kicks off some real spidery-heroics with this issue. Miles makes his first big play at being the new Spider-Man, even if he doesn’t have the costume yet. And even if it’s a scene straight out of both the first and second Spider-Man movies. (Wow, now that I think about it, Spider-Man really did save a kid from a burning building in both movies…) Anyway, the introduction to Miles Morales continues to be stellar in both story and art.
But what the hell is up with that cover? Who thought it would be a great idea to awkwardly shove Spider-Man’s huge ass in our faces?
Why Don’t They Make More Multiple Man Action Figures?
Superhero action figures are still a big industry. Just take a walk down the toy aisle at your local Wal-Mart. It’s lined with action figures from all the latest movies; everything from Iron Man and Green Lantern to Toy Story and Pirates of the Caribbean. There are also action figures for WWE wrestling, video games like Halo and, yes, comic books. Just because most action figures come from superhero movies doesn’t mean companies out there aren’t making action figures from superhero comic books.
But why aren’t they making more action figures of my favorite superhero, Multiple Man?
They made this piece of crap once upon a time, but it's crap. Crap I say!
I’m not just squawking like a needy fanboy who wants a toy of his favorite superhero. I ask from a marketing/sales point of view. Think about it. Multiple Man’s super power is to make duplicates of himself. As if he went through a Xerox machine. Therefore, if fans wanted to recreate Multiple Man’s power with his action figure…they’d BUY MORE ACTION FIGURES!
I know I did.
How is this not a no-brainer for toy makers? You usually only ever need one action figure of a character to be happy. But with Multiple Man, poeple would and should buy multiple versions of the same toy to recreate his super powers! More sales!
And it’s not like toy companies wouldn’t touch someone as unknown as Multiple Man. They’re constantly pumping out superhero action figures, not just popular characters like Spider-Man or Batman. They dig into annals of superhero comics to give really obscure characters their own figures. Blackheart, Ms. Marvel, the Metal Men, Captain Ahab, the Wrecker, USAgent, Morph, and many, many more all have had legitimate action figures in the past. And the companies try crappy little gimmicks to recreate their super powers. Cyclops’ eye visor will light up. Wolverine’s claws will pop in and out of his forearms. Spider-Man will come with a plastic web. Nightcrawler had suction cups on his hands so that he’d stick to windows.
Multiple Man needs nothing more than the simple act of BUYING MORE ACTION FIGURES!
Multiple Man has only had a small selection of action figures over the years. The picture above was the first ever Multiple Man action figure, and it was a comic book convention exclusive. It’s essentially a crappy Spider-Man action figure repainted to look like Multiple Man. You couldn’t buy it in stores. I ordered one on e-Bay. Only recently has he been getting any toy aisle recognition.
Multiple Man got a Heroclix token, a Mini-Mates figurine and only last year did he get a legitimate Marvel superheroes action figure. I bought three of them. But they’re his crappy, bad guy Ultimate version using the costume he wore back in the 1980s!
Yes, I own them all.
Compare this to characters like Batman, Spider-Man or Wolverine, who get dozens upon dozens of action figures each time a new line or wave comes out. And they give them crappy little gimmicks. Like Sky Dive Batman, Disaster Control Batman, Combat Belt Batman, Turbojet Batman, Web-Cannon Spider-Man, Night Shadow Spider-Man, Hyper-Tech Spider-Man, Vampire Spider-Man, Anti-Vampire Spider-Man, Werewolf Wolverine, Battle-Ravaged Wolverine, Spy Wolverine…
So basically, I just really really want a cool, legitimate, well-made Multiple Man action figure. Is that really too much to ask for?
