Category Archives: Spider-Man
Some Marvel LEGO Goodness
Check out this gameplay trailer for the upcoming LEGO Marvel Superheroes game!
Looks pretty cool to me. I like the full voice acting, even if the jokes can be pretty lame at times. Still, everyone looks great, and that giant LEGO Sandman looks fantastic! They should turn him into a playset of some kind.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/6/13
This week we explore the dichotomy of Brian Michael Bendis. He is one of the most popular comic book writers of our time, and has helped shaped the modern Marvel Universe in ways we can’t grasp now. He is a living legend in the comic book world. But sometimes he can be a really bad writer. I think I know now why Age of Ultron wasn’t given the hype or push of Civil War or Avengers vs. X-Men. It’s a terrible Big Event comic. If Age of Ultron really does rewrite any part of the Marvel Universe beyond just adding a Spawn character to the comics, I will be very disappointed. This may be Bendis’ worst Big Event comic.
But at the same time, Bendis has turned the X-Men franchise into one of the best comics being published today! His work on All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men is some of the best he’s ever written. Almost all of the characters involved are more dynamic than they’ve been in years, and the story itself is one for the history books. It just keeps getting better and better! All-New X-Men #10 easily wins Comic Book of the Week, and I eagerly await the next chapter next week.
Ptui!
Maybe Bendis just drinks a different kind of coffee on the days he’s writing X-Men vs. the days he’s writing Ultron.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #4, All-New X-Men #10, Green Arrow #19, Green Lantern #19, Indestructible Hulk #6 and Superior Spider-Man #7.
Review: Scarlet Spider #15
I was perhaps a bit harsh on The Other last issue. I never read the original storyline, so I suppose I have no room to judge. And it helps when this follow-up issue uses The Other to turn Kaine into an ass-kicking, man-spider-fueled warrior of doom! He pushes his powers to the max in this issue as Kaine takes on the Wolves, and it’s a pretty great fight. Those Wolves have been cruisin’ for a bruisin’ for several issues now, and Kaine delivers.
Scarlet Spider #15
Otherwise, this is a pretty standard issue of Scarlet Spider. Kaine defeats the bad guys, we get a few answers about Aracely and there’s a series of epilogues pointing towards the next few stories. Solid, entertaining issue all around.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.
Even the art is better, I think. I haven’t been happy with Khoi Pham’s pencils since he took over, and I still don’t like them, but he does a pretty nice job with this issue. The fight scenes are good, though not as good as the former artist Ryan Stegman. That guy knew how to draw action scenes. Another artist shows up to help out with some of the epilogues, and I like his work a lot too. So the art is just as solid as the story.
I’m not sure how much this issue moves Scarlet Spider forward as both a character and a series. The Other might be here to stay…or it might be over with already. We won’t know until the series continues, the ending could go either way. I think I’d be cool if Kaine had the ability to randomly turn into a man-spider monster when the situation called for it. Definitely a power that Spider-Man doesn’t have.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
New Sinister Six Comic Based on Idea I Had Years Ago
Not that Marvel is actually using my idea, but I totally had an idea for a Sinister Six comic that explored the villains’ personal lives, you guys. I’m super serious here. If only I was a professional comic book writer, then maybe I’d get to write the series instead of Nick Spencer. Still, Marvel is going to publish the Superior Foes of Spider-Man as a series starring Boomerang, Shocker, Beetle, Speed Demon and Overdrive.
I love a good Shocker comic
I have always been a fan of Spider-Man’s street-level villains, especially the Shocker. I love exploring the idea that these villains are still real people who have real world problems. Not all super-villains are serial kills or mad scientists or want to take over the world. Some of them are working class men and women just trying to make some money through costumed villainy. That seems to be exactly what Nick Spencer has in mind.
“A big part of this book is definitely showing you the life behind the costume. A lot of the time we spend with them, the masks are off. That was actually my pitch here: that these guys, they’re actually a lot like Spider-Man, in the classic sense of the character,” said Spencer. “They don’t have the innate nobility or the desire to do the right thing, but they’re hard-luck stories, just like Peter Parker is/was. They’re not shooting for the stars so much as trying to survive. Every time they win in one part of their lives, they lose in another. So there’s something intrinsically cool and intriguing about that mirror aspect of the relationship.”
Of course, this means I have to cross this pitch off my list of ideas for when I finally get to sit down with Marvel’s editors. Curses!
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #21
Here comes one of those talking heads issues that I love so much! And it’s pretty good, though more than a little weird. Miles and Ganke spend some quality time with Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy talking about Venom. Personally, I would have liked a more sociable conversation, but we’re kind of in the middle of Venom War, so it makes sense that the big, black gooey guy is the focus of the conversation. Though Bendis makes the unfortunate misstep of bringing up that whole Gwen Stacy/Carnage fiasco. I thought we’d all silently agreed to put it behind us and never mention it again.
Ultimate Spider-Man #21
Oh well, it’s still an entertaining comic, even if it’s really just a refresher course in Ultimate Venom. We haven’t seen the character in years.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.
We don’t learn anything new about Venom or why he’s going after Spider-Man or his dad. It’s clear that Venom knows Peter Parker isn’t Spider-Man anymore, so what reason might Venom have for going after Miles? Gwen and MJ take a pretty huge leap in logic to suggest a reason, and I can’t say how well it flies. I think Bendis could have come up with something stronger. But at least I like the idea of MJ and Gwen becoming helpers for Miles. Plus I like the vibe between them and Ganke. It would be pretty cool if Ganke, MJ and Gwen became Miles’ support staff for his Spider-Man adventures. If only Miles and Ganke weren’t so young. I think a Gwen/Ganke romance would be pretty awesome/hilarious.
Still, just having MJ and Gwen show up really twists the knife of Peter Parker’s death a little bit more. Man, that guy died far too young. It’s horribly tragic. But it’s OK. Miles is still awesome.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
