Blog Archives
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/3/2015
Holy New Year, comic book fans! Not only were there five Wednesdays in December, but the last one fell on New Year’s Eve, which apparently means that both DC and Marvel decided that nobody was going to bother buying comics. Both companies released less than a handful of comics this week, knocking my review pile down to a total of two comics!
The first is the latest issue of Batman Eternal, because DC decided to keep to that weekly schedule of theirs. It’s not as bad as previous issues, but it’s still not the breakthrough we’re all hoping for here at the end. Marvel released the first issue of their new SHIELD series, introducing characters from the TV show into the comic book Marvel Universe. It’s actually very good, and wins Comic Book of the Week with ease!
Since it’s such a slow week, I also decided to finally read and review The Valiant #1 from a few weeks ago. Some of you have no doubt heard of Valiant Comics. It’s always been in the back of my mind, and someone recently recommended to me that I start picking up some of their comics. I’m always trying to stretch beyond Marvel and DC, so why not?
But was it worth the cost? Read on!
Comic Reviews: Batman Eternal #39, SHIELD #1 and The Valiant #1.
Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
You can’t see it right now, what with the computers in the way, but I am saluting the flag. I feel an overwhelming swell of patriotism growing inside me, having taken in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This is a damn fine country and it produces some damn fine movies about damn fine superheroes. How many does this make for Marvel? How many amazing action movies have they produced so far? The Avengers was one of the biggest movies of all time, and all three superhero follow-ups have been dynamite, with Captain America 2 probably the best of the bunch. This movie has everything. This movie is everything.
It makes me proud to be an American.
Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great.
Not that American patriotism is the driving factor of The Winter Soldier, I just needed a good opening. This movie is actually about SHIELD and the secrets it keeps, and how Steve Rogers may be the only honest man left who can get to the bottom of the mysteries that lie at the heart of the organization. SHIELD has been the glue that binds all of the Marvel movies so far. Heck, Marvel went ahead and based a whole TV show around them. But something inside SHIELD is starting to crack, and Captain America is just the sort of hero we need to save the day. He’s not flashy like Iron Man or Thor. He’s not at war with himself like the Hulk. Steve Rogers is just a man, for the most part. He’s determined and honest, and a lot tougher than most. But he’s a man who wants to do the right thing, and has the strength to stick with it when the odds seem overwhelming.
Plus he’s brought along a bunch of neat friends. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is almost as much of an ensemble film as The Avengers, and it works just as good.
In terms of sheer spectacle and excitement, The Avengers is still the best. But The Winter Soldier is of the same caliber and quality. The action and danger are very real, with ties to both The Avengers and Captain America’s first film. The characters are true to themselves, and grow beyond what we’ve seen before. And, as always, that signature Marvel wit just saturates the film. The dialogue is delightful, the banter is beautiful, and the film knows exactly when to sprinkle in the humor.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is everything we’ve come to expect from the Marvel Movie Machine. Once again, Marvel raises the bar for action movies and superhero movies everywhere.
Join me after the jump for the full review. I’m going to try to keep SPOILERS to a minimum.
The Greatest S.H.I.E.L.D. Job Application Ever
Want to get a job working on Joss Whedon’s upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. television show? Well you’re going to have to get in line behind Adam Levermore, because he has gone above and beyond the call of job hunting duty.
What the heck was Grant Imahara doing there?
Anyway, Levermore and his C-List Hollywood buddies made that as an audition, of sorts, to be a graphic designer on Whedon’s new show. That is amazing. That is truly geektacular. I hope he gets the job now. Granted, I don’t know if he’s any good as a graphic designer. But that’s impressive nonetheless.
Correct Me If I’m Wrong, But Joss Whedon Has Made Some Awesome TV Shows, Right?
So the news is all over the Internet that The Avengers director Joss Whedon is going to helm a TV show based around SHIELD, the super spy organization under the command of Samuel L. Jackson. I think this is awesome news. We all know Whedon as a geek god, and I’ve fairly consistently loved everything he’s ever done; from his Astonishing X-Men comic book series to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog to pretty much all of his TV shows.
Just because Fox completely botched Firefly and audience didn’t pick up on Dollhouse does not lessen their awesomeness. I haven’t had any faith in American TV audiences since Dancing with the Stars became a hit. But that’s being generous – I lost my faith in American TV audiences long before that.
Fortunately, my faith in worldwide movie audiences returned tenfold this summer!
To the the tune of $1.5 billion
Alright, so I don’t have any new details of the show, but in case you get your nerd news from me, here’s a run down: Joss and his frequent collaborator/brother Jed Whedon are going to do the writing, alongside friend Maurissa Tanchareon. Joss may even direct the pilot, though I think he’s going to be more of an overseer than an actual in-charge guy. There’s also the usual smattering of producers and executive producers. But typically I only care about the creative types, and this SHIELD show has some of the best creative types in the business!
And there are so many different ways they could make a SHIELD show.
Including a crossover with ‘How I Met Your Mother’
First off, just make one in the vein of the other Whedon shows – action comedy with some really great drama and ongoing storylines. Or maybe they’ll go total drama…or total comedy. I don’t know, because those fools have yet to call me to consult. I would recommend following their action comedy/great drama route. It’s worked perfectly in the past, and Whedon’s work simply has that voice. Heck, The Avengers itself is a perfect example of his style. Perhaps that’s why I liked the movie so much.
But personally, I think we’ve already seen more than a taste of what a SHIELD TV show will be like. And there’s even more coming on The Avengers DVD when it comes out at the end of September. You all may have missed this over the course of the various Marvel heroes movies…but they’ve kind of been making a ton of mini-SHIELD episodes for fun.
For example, here is A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer starring Agent Phil Coulson:
That was particularly awesome.
Or what about The Consultant, set near the end of The Incredible Hulk. Coulson and Agent Jasper Sitwell having a chat in a diner.
Now we all know that Coulson probably won’t be available for a SHIELD TV show. But that Jasper Sitwell guy is popping up more and more. He’s also a main character in the new SHIELD mini-sode set to debut on The Avengers DVD. It’s called ‘Item 47’ and is about a young couple who recover one of the alien ray-guns from the end of the film. Sitwell is sent in to deal with them. The full clip isn’t online yet – it was, but they took it down – but here’s a quick clip.
I’ve seen Item 47 in its fullest, and let me tell you, it is awesome! It’s funny, it’s action-packed and Sitwell is amazing. And there’s more than just him on SHIELD. We get a little look at the inner workings of the agency.
So my theory is that Marvel has been preparing their SHIELD television show all along. And now they’re ready to make it a full-time thing.
The Avengers Item 47 Now Online
Along with all the spectacular deleted scenes from The Avengers (which you can see by scrolling down my homepage), the Item 47 short film has also hit the Internets in glorious fashion. This is just a silly, in-canon tale about a young couple who discover one of the Chitauri weapons that was leftover after the Avengers defeated the alien invasion. And like any young couple struggling in today’s economy, they put the alien ray gun to good use.
Even the short films from the Marvel Movieverse are delightful! Someone out there in movie land should just be making this stuff all the time. I wanted to post all of these videos up as early as possible in case some suit at Marvel/Disney comes through and shuts them all down. Here’s hoping they stay up. But you can check out the deleted scenes here as well as the Hulk deleted scene here.
Henchman-4-Hire 