The 6 Best and the 6 Worst Parts of DC’s New 52
The New 52 is over; long live DC Comics. After more than three years of sticking to their rigid, grim and gritty house style, the second biggest publisher in comics has decided to try something different — and I couldn’t be happier. I quickly soured to the New 52 and have barely hung on all these years later.
Get out of there Cyborg, you’re not Justice League
When DC rebooted their entire comics lineup in 2011 — including everyone from Superman and Batman to Green Lantern — they decided that the best way to reach fans was with dark, gritty comics aimed at teenage boys and young men. They published 52 comics a month and called the whole event the ‘New 52’. But comic book fans are prone to change, and nowadays we want a variety of different comics and styles, definitely not just grim and gritty. Marvel Comics, the biggest publisher, understands this and routinely beats DC in sales.
So starting in June, DC will abandon their New 52 way of thinking and will start offering new comics with new styles for new audiences. It’s a great plan! But before it’s gone, I wanted to take a look back at 6 things I liked and 6 things I loathed in the New 52. Hopefully DC can learn from this.
The Spider-Man/Marvel Movie Deal is Finally Happening!
Apparently this news hit super late last night, after I’d already gone to bed. So believe me when I say this is a good start to my day! Marvel Studios and SONY Entertainment have finally reached an official deal for Spider-Man to start appearing in Marvel movies, and for the Marvel production team to help SONY make their next Spidey flick.
A good day indeed
What this means is that Spider-Man is going to appear in Captain America: Civil War, and then possibly future Marvel movies. And when SONY releases their next solo Spider-Man film in 2017, Marvel’s producers are going to have a hand in it, and it will also tie into the larger cinematic universe. They’re going to find a new actor to play Spider-Man, and this pushes a few of Marvel’s other movies back to later release dates.
You can read the full press release here.
Personally, I think this is cool news, but hardly necessary. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was getting along just fine without Spider-Man, and has a lot of big, exciting movies planned. As much fun as a Spider-Man cameo in Civil War is going to be, I wouldn’t want him overshadowing their plans for Black Panther in that film. And I am far far more interested in the Ant-Man, Black Panther, Dr. Strange and Captain Marvel movies than I am about yet another solo Spidey movie (even though I loved both Amazing Spider-Man films).
Plus I’m perfectly happy with Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, I thought he was great in the role. I would prefer Marvel and SONY just conscript the two Amazing Spider-Man films into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and go from there. Those films definitely fit the Marvel aesthetic. And Garfield could hold his own against Robert Downey Jr. and the others. My only request is that Marvel convince SONY to drop that ‘secret dad’ subplot that the Amazing films were obsessed with.
Who wants a new origin story?
So what do you henchies think? Is this good, bad or are you indifferent? Sound off in the comments!
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Lord of the Rings Finally Explained!
The Internet can be so helpful sometimes!
Thanks, CGP Grey, that was a load of help. I’ve never read any of Tolkien’s books, but I love The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, and quite honestly, I suppose I don’t really know why the One Ring is the way it is. This video really helped clear everything up in the way that only the Internet can.
He’s also got a second video detailing the origins of the various races of Middle Earth!
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Review: Saga #25
The long wait is over, and our beloved Saga has returned, as good as ever. A lot has changed since the start of the last volume: Hazel, Alana and Klara are prisoners of Dengo the Crazy Janitor, Marko and Prince Robot IV have forged an uneasy alliance and are in pursuit, and Lying Cat and her homies are on a quest to save The Will! We’re spread across the galaxy in the new issue, but writer Brian K. Vaughn and artist Fiona Staples take the time to check in on everybody for updates. It’s a solid issue with a lot of forward momentum.
Saga #25
Saga #25 also has the requisite single line of narration that threatens to tear my heart to shreds.
Comic Review: 9/10 – Great.
Don’t worry, though, my heart is fine. It wasn’t that bad, but Vaughn really knows how to stab the knife. How can you tell if you’ve created beloved characters? When the simple promise that ‘they’re in a story, so drama has to happen to them’ is enough to make your readers wince in pain. I can’t be the only one who wants Marko, Alana and Hazel to live happily ever after from this second forward.
But the story must move forward, drama must happen, and hearts must be broken. That Vaughn and Staples are able to so expertly craft such a tale is a testament to their skill as storytellers. Every single character feels real and full, and I’m excited to catch up on all their storylines. Once again, we have no idea where Vaughn and Staples are taking us, and I’m as excited as ever to find out where we’re going. It will no doubt be an emotional roller coaster.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
The Honesty of The LEGO Movie is Hard to Admit
Fortunately, the good people at Screen Junkies are willing to look beyond the sheer awesomeness of The LEGO Movie and reveal what it’s really about.
Sigh, that was funny. That was a damn good video. But I won’t stop loving The LEGO Movie, I won’t! I want kids to get into LEGOs. By all means, buy your children LEGOs! Let them all in love with a quality movie like this and then buy them all the LEGOs they could ever dream of getting! The world will be a better place for it.
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Henchman-4-Hire 