Couple of Fun New Comics This Fall: Avengers Inc. and Birds of Prey
Every so often, I remember that I’m not just a movie trailer guy, I’m also a comic book guy! And two new comics were the talk of the town last week, so I felt like sharing them here as well. I will definitely check out both of these new series when they debut later this year.
First up is a new Birds of Prey at DC Comics, from writer Kelly Thompson and artist Leonardo Romero.
Thompson spent all last week teasing her team lineup, and it’s pretty solid. Pretty much who you would expect. The only wildcard choice, in my opinion, is Zealot, but only because I don’t know anything about the character. I probably couldn’t even name which comic she’s from. There are also some other characters who have yet to be revealed.
Birds of Prey will come out on Sept. 5, which is the day before my birthday. Make note of that.
Then from Marvel we’ve got Avengers Inc., which is going to be a private eye series about the Wasp, from writer Al Ewing and artist Leonard Kirk.
Al Ewing was the one who wrote the recent Ant-Man and Wasp anniversary mini-series, both of which were great. He set up a lot with Janet Van Dyne in that series, enough that she demanded more attention. So this is the chance! They’re teaming her up with Victor Shade, some former version of the Vision? I dunno. Before my time. But I’m definitely on board for Ewing doing something fun with the Wasp.
Avengers Inc. hits the stands on Sept. 13.
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/10/23
Oh man, what a week. It’s not been particularly busy or crazy. There was that whole orange sky over my home in Central New York. But other than that, it’s just been me sitting here reading comics like Batman and Fantastic Four.
Comic Book of the Week goes to X-Men: Before the Fall – Mutant First Strike #1 because of its awesome use of some really neat obscure mutants.
Meanwhile, I’m still playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and hope to be playing for a long time to come. Just heading out into Hyrule, exploring, doing this and that. It’s fun as heck! I watched the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and it was fun. Nothing revolutionary, but fine and enjoyable. And the Ted Lasso series finale was as disappointing as the rest of season 3.
Comic Reviews: Batman #136, Fantastic Four #8, Shazam! #2 and X-Men: Before the Fall – Mutant First Strike #1.
Read the rest of this entryThis Witcher Season 3 Trailer Tells Me Nothing
A lot of fuss is being made about the Witcher TV show on Netflix, mostly that the lead actor, Henry Cavill, is stepping away from the role. The dude is allowed to make whatever choices he wants. I enjoyed the first season, I think I liked the second season, and I liked the various spin-off cartoons and seasons we’ve had. It’s all good. But this full trailer for season 3 doesn’t tell me a whole lot.
Honestly, I can’t even remember the plot of season 2. I don’t remember what happened and I don’t remember how it ended. Did it end with a cliffhanger? I have no idea, and this trailer gives me nothing to go on.
Maybe Cavill was right to leave…
The Witcher season 3 is coming to Netflix on June 29, which is surprisingly soon.
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The Krakoa Era is Great for Obscure Mutants
You’ll never guess who’s back now! I love obscure mutants. I probably like obscure mutants more than I care for the main X-Men lineup. That’s one of the reasons why I love the Krakoa era so much, because any mutant who ever existed, no matter how obscure, might get a moment to shine. We’ve already seen the likes of Mimic, Rhapsody and Ugly John reappear, just to name some of my favorites.
Now we’ve got friggin’ Eye-Scream, the first ice cream mutant!
Eye-Scream was a one-off joke character who appeared in an issue of Obnoxio the Clown in 1983. So that tells you everything you need to know about this mutant, who has the power to turn his body into any flavor of ice cream. He’s the sort of character who has spent the past 40 years appearing on The Strangest Mutants in X-Men History lists across the internet.
Well now he’s back! Alive and well on Krakoa! And he’s assisting in disaster relief efforts. This week saw the release of a Before the Fall one-shot called Mutants’ First Strike. When a town is hit by some bad guys, creating a humanitarian disaster, Krakoa sends a rescue squad of both heavy-hitters and obscure mutants who can help. They all get those spiffy red and white jackets. The issue is a literal who’s who of obscure mutants lending a hand with their unique powers.
And that includes Eye-Scream, who is helping kids cope with the tragedy by giving them free ice cream. Friggin’ genius.
I love the X-Men.
It’s a shame this issue wasn’t used to solidify Soft Serve in the canon. But there’s probably a good reason for that…
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6 Thoughts on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
I had plenty of doubts about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse when it was first announced. Sony usually makes the worst possible decisions when it comes to their ownership of the Spider-Man franchise, so an animated film? No thank you. But I was wrong, so very wrong, and Into the Spider-Verse was amazing. I had zero doubts about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. I knew it was going to be great, and it was! Simple as that. Best, most exciting movie experience of the year so far.
Movie Rating: 10/10 – Fantastic
Across the Spider-Verse surprised me in a lot of ways, with a lot of choices they made. It had all the Easter Eggs and callbacks and twists one could hope for. There’s a metric ton of Spider-People, and they clearly had fun with the cameos and the choices. I couldn’t be happier with all of that zaniness. The people making these movies know exactly what they’re doing, and now I can’t wait for next year’s Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Join me after the jump for my thoughts/full review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Expect FULL SPOILERS for the movie. And feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments below!
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