Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/17/18
Oh man, Black Panther was an awesome movie! I loved it! So good! If only I was reading Black Panther comics and could review them this week! Does anybody have any opinions on the current Black Panther run by Ta-Nehisi Coates? I gave up pretty early on it, but I’ve heard it gets better in the long run, so I’m considering picking up the TPBs.
Fortunately, we’ve got some good comics here, like DetectiveComics with major developments and a hilarious Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! Comic Book of the Week goes to the new issue of Ms. Marvel for an amazing issue that finally make sense of the current storyline.
Darnit, Mike!
Who knew the storyline that purposefully does not include Ms. Marvel would turn out so good? I had my doubts, but here we are!
Comic Review: Detective Comics #974, Marvel Two-in-One #3, Ms. Marvel #27, Sideways #1 and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #29.
Strong Guy Watch: Through the Looking Glass
Once upon a time, I noticed an odd trend in the pages of Inhumans vs. X-Men, wherein the superhero Strong Guy seemed randomly added to background scenes. As a fourth-tier, supporting X-Men character, Strong Guy has never really mattered much in the larger X-Men scheme of things. He was barely ever acknowledged outside of his home book of X-Factor.
Can’t resurrect your Jean Greys without Strong Guy
But ever since Death of X, Strong Guy has been popping up as a member of the larger X-Men cast. And I found this rather weird. Out of all mutant characters, why was Strong Guy all of a sudden getting background supporting character slots? He was never a member of the X-Men before this, but now he’s clearly involved? Even if only in the background?
At first, my theory was that some editor passed a decree to start adding Strong Guy to X-Men scenes. I don’t know why or how, it just seemed like it had to have been a legitimate plan. There’s no way it was random coincidence. I started the Strong Guy Watch to keep track. But I backed off once it became clear that Strong Guy was definitely a member of the larger X-Men cast, as shown from his recent appearances in Phoenix Resurrection. The dude clearly belonged.
But a new Strong Guy appearance this week has reopened my original theory! What the heck is going on with Strong Guy that he would appear in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl?!
Beardless!
We’re through the looking glass here people.
In the panel in question, Strong Guy is among a wide variety of colorful characters summoned by Loki to help Squirrel Girl fight the Silver Surfer (it’s complicated, I know, but read the issue, because it’s great). The collected characters are immediately dispatched and sent back where they came from. So it was, at most, a two-page gag where artist Erica Henderson got to draw a bunch of wacky Marvel characters. They included Sleepwalker, for crying out loud!
But why use Strong Guy?
Out of all the characters that could have been chosen, why Strong Guy? Yes, he looks weird, and would therefore be perfect for the comic and Henderson’s art style. But she could have picked anybody. Was it even her choice? Did writer Ryan North tell her to include Strong Guy?
Or does my original theory hold: Was there some sort of editorial decision recently that Strong Guy would be used a lot more in the background of comics?!
It’s a mystery I will stay with all night, if I have to! But I will also take no steps to legitimately solve it. Just letting it simmer in my brain is good enough for me!
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New Pacific Rim: Uprising Trailer Drops Like It’s Hot
Movie trailers keep arriving at a rapid pace this month, possibly to get ahead of Black Panther, debuting tonight. Am I going to have to sit through half an hour of movie trailers tonight? Jeez louise!
Anyway, here’s a new trailer for Pacific Rim: Uprising, which is basically just two straight minutes of giant monsters fighting giant robots.
The movie knows what it is and is not ashamed. I can respect that.
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First Incredibles 2 Trailer is Incredible!
I bet you didn’t realize you were going to get a new trailer for Incredibles 2 today, but here we are! And it’s pretty darn amazing!
The Incredibles is probably my favorite Pixar movie, so of course the hype is through the roof on this one. And this little snippet of trailer is more than enough proof that the film is going to probably be amazing! Here’s hoping!
Incredibles 2 comes out on June 15!
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My 6 Favorite Comic Book Romances (At the Moment)
Happy Valentine’s Day! And what better way to celebrate this holiday/List of Six timing coincidence than talking about romance in comic books! Romance has been at the heart of a lot of our favorite superheroes. Is anything more solid than the love of Superman and Lois Lane? It’s part of the lexicon!
Classic!
And while Clark and Lois are still going strong, there’s a wide variety of romances throughout all of comics these days. So in honor of this lovey dovey holiday, I thought I’d share with you my favorite romances in comics! Not my favorite romances of all time, but my favorites that exist now, at this point in time. Romance is always changing, but these are really good!
Please share your own favorite comic book romances — current or of all time — in the comments!
Henchman-4-Hire 