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Review: Thor: The Dark World
Hit me with a giant hammer and call me ‘Sean Ian Nails’, Marvel has done it again with Thor: The Dark World! The new film is so good you’ll wish you knew a few great ‘Thor’ puns to use on your friends. I wish I had a few right now because this movie is worth every cringe-inducing accolade one could think up.
Thor: The Dark World is exactly what we’ve come to expect from Marvel Studios, combining exciting action with strong character work and just the right amount of humor. Your thides will be thore from laughing so hard.
Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great.
The new Thor film is bigger, badder and far more entertaining than the first, once again proving beyond all doubt that Marvel can turn Thor into an A-List action hero. I never thought it possible. I always figured Thor was too complex a character. But three times in a row now, he’s wielded that hammer like a true cinematic star. Children dress up as Thor for Halloween and play with his action figures. Loki is beloved by men and women alike. And with movies as good as The Dark World, I hope they’re doing it for a long time to come.
But some critics seem to think otherwise. Of the few negative reviews I’ve seen online, a lot of them complain about this being yet another superhero movie, yet another outing from Marvel’s Avengers franchise. I don’t know what their problem is, but I don’t particularly care. I can’t get enough of these superhero blockbusters, and Marvel has yet to disappoint me. Think about it: it’s safe to expect that we will get a certain number of action movies out of Hollywood each year. It’s just the way our system works. Well I would much rather watch a movie starring Thor that’s this damn good than watch one starring Tom Cruise in whatever generic action film Tom Cruise has signed on for this time.
Superheroes have replaced actors as the primary draw in Hollywood, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Join me after the jump for the full review.
So Many Thor Parodies
Thor: The Dark World is right around the corner, and as such, the Internet has seen fit to bless us with tons of Thor parodies! Behold!
You can always count on the Screen Junkies to have a lot of fun. Those are some funny people they’ve got working over there putting together Honest Trailers.
But what about an 8-bit version of Thor? The good people at CineFix have done just that!
And let’s not forget our good friends at Cinema Sins!
If you’re a fan of Thor – and who isn’t? – this is your week! Personally, I can’t wait to see The Dark World. I’m excited.
Marvel Has Got a Mega-Load of New Comics Coming!
I’ve only mentioned All-New X-Factor and New Warriors so far, because I’m a big X-Factor and Scarlet Spider fan. But at New York Comic-Con, Marvel has announced a whole pile of brand new comics they’ll be putting out in the next couple of months! If I was more on the ball – and not playing the new Pokemon X – I would have already posted about all of them. Instead, I decided to just bunch’em all up on our Monday. Sounds like a fun way to start the week to me. A lot of these sound pretty amazing. And of course they’re coming out just when I told myself I was going to lighten my weekly comic book budget.
Silver Surfer
By Dan Slott and Mike Allred
Dan Slott is apparently a huge Silver Surfer fan, and even though she’s been spear-heading Spider-Man for years, he’s now snatched up the Sentinel of the Spaceways. I can definitely identify with someone falling in love with Silver Surfer as a kid, so this might be the perfect time for me to jump back onto the Surfer bandwagon. Mike Allred will be freed up when FF comes to an end soon (dies a little inside), and I think he might be perfect for the Surfer. Apparently Slott’s plot involves Surfer getting a young, female companion and going on adventures. So basically it’s going to be Silver Surfer by way of Doctor Who, which sounds amazing.
Check out an interview with Slott here.
Iron Patriot
By Ales Kot and Garry Brown
In another example of comics following movies, it seems that War Machine is changing to Iron Patriot for reals. I guess he’s been Iron Patriot for a few months now in the pages of Secret Avengers, but now he’s going to get his own solo series. Marvel has tried to publish a War Machine comic several times in the past, so maybe they’ll have some luck with this new coat of paint. According to some interviews, it’s going to be a heavily political book – I think.
Check out an article about the series here.
All-New Ghost Rider
By Felipe Smith and Tradd Moore
Speaking of characters getting multiple comic attempts, there’s going to be a new Ghost Rider! I’m fairly certain the last new Ghost Rider was around only earlier this year, and it was a woman. But that didn’t sell. This time, Smith is creating a new young man named Robbie Reyes to be Ghost Rider. And apparently instead of a motorcycle, he’s going to have a car. That sounds good to me. I’ve always thought Ghost Rider could be expanded by turning any vehicle into a flaming chariot of awesomeness. Ghost Rider should be riding around on a flaming segway. Not that I think anything is really going to make a new Ghost Rider series work. But good luck to all involved.
Check out the interview here.
Loki: Agent of Asgard
By Al Ewing and Lee Garbett
Who could have guessed how huge Loki would become, huh? I thought he was alright in Thor, and I was shocked Marvel would use him again so soon as the chief villain in The Avengers, but casting Tom Hiddleston as Loki was apparently as big a stroke of genius as casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark! So it’s no wonder Marvel wants to capitalize on that sexiness as much as possible. So goodbye, Kid Loki! Say hello to Sexy Loki! Ewing and Marvel are going to turn the God of Mischief into a gorram secret agent. I actually kind of love this idea. It’s a neat use of Loki, and could have some real mileage behind it if people actually buy the book.
And again, I found an interview about the series here.
Black Widow
By Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto
Speaking of The Avengers, also spinning out of that film is a new solo series for Black Widow. I really want this one to succeed. Marvel needs a strong female presence, and Black Widow is really their only major female character who isn’t a derivative of a male hero and who isn’t better known as a member of a team. So seeing Black Widow succeed would be nice. Edmondson says the series is going to be a hardcore spy comic, which definitely works for the character, but didn’t really work for Winter Soldier post-Brubaker. So who knows how this one will do.
Interview can be found here.
Elektra
By Zeb Wells and Mike Del Mundo
Elektra has had a few solo series in the past, and for good reason. She’s a badass ninja assassin, and sexy to boot. She’s as solid an idea for a female protagonist as any. According to the creators, she’s going to be on a mission to take out a league of assassins, while taking some ‘me’ time and not worrying about Daredevil. But I’m pretty sure Elektra hasn’t been linked to Daredevil in years, right?
Did somebody say interview? Check it out here.
Punisher
By Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads
Where did this Edmondson guy come from? He’s doing Black Widow and Punisher? Sounds like a dream job. But he’s not Garth Ennis, so already he’s at a disadvantage as far as I’m concerned. He’s also not a big name writer like Greg Rucka. So this seems like a basic, straight forward Punisher series written by a new up-and-coming writer. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere. The story will involve Punisher heading to LA to take out some big time criminal, while also dealing with a government group set on taking him down. Could be…something, I suppose.
More information can be found right about here.
Avengers World
By Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer and Stefano Caselli
This comic is just an expansion/continuation of Hickman’s Avengers, which I’m lukewarm about. I mostly just wanted to post that stunning picture.
Interview, they have one here!
I’m sure I’m missing one or two comics, but Marvel announced so many! I would have posted some new DC titles, but there weren’t too many notable announcements. I think they’re going to give us a weekly Batman series because DC doesn’t think they put out enough Batman. What do you guys and gals think of these new titles? Anything float your particular boats? I’ll definitely be picking up Silver Surfer, Avengers World and Black Widow, and maybe even Iron Patriot and Loki: Agent of Asgard, depending on my mood on those particular days.
Still, sounds like it was an awesome Comic-Con!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/21/13
I wish I knew the rules for Villains Month when DC started handing out the assignments. There doesn’t seem to be any real point to all these issues, other than just existing to fulfill the marketing gimmick. Some of them have been origin stories. Some of them have been direct tie-ins to Forever Evil #1. And some of them have just be short and sweet villain showcases. Some have been really good, and some have been outright garbage. There doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason. And I would have really liked to have known that going in.
Fortunately, this week is mostly good issues – if we don’t count Deathstroke #1. Double fortunately, Marvel Comics is still going very strong. There’s another solid chapter of Battle of the Atom, though I found the issue a little…disconcerting. You’ll see why. I also liked Infinity a bit more than usual. So that’s a plus. But Comic of the Week has to go to Thor: God of Thunder #13, for being its usual awesome self! It even finds a fun way to incorporate an obvious movie-tie-in villain without seeming too gratuitous.
Though if I’m being fair, Moment of the Week has to go to Black Hand #1, when Black Hand’s zombie army faces off against a squadron of police officers.
Comic Reviews: Black Hand #1, Cheetah #1, New Avengers #10, Infinity #3, Penguin #1, The Rogues #1, Thor: God of Thunder #13, and Uncanny X-Men #12.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 8/31/13
Such a good week! My pull list was absolutely overflowing this week, but I find I don’t mind at all when the comics are this good. This is the sort of week that reminds me why I love comics so much, when the stories are just so good, so entertaining and so fulfilling. Not to say there aren’t a few stinkers in the bunch, but even those stinkers had a few good bits – I even liked this week’s issue of Larfleeze, for once.
The real standouts this week are Aquaman, Thor: God of Thunder, FF and Uncanny X-Men, which are some of my usual favorites. Brian Michael Bendis has yet to let me down writing Cyclops, and Jason Aaron is a master of Asgard. The news that Matt Fraction is leaving FF makes this week’s issue bittersweet, but at least Geoff Johns is sticking with Aquaman for the foreseeable future. Winner of Comic Book of the Week is Thor: God of Thunder for an absolutely stunning Day in the LIfe type of story.
At the same time, this week’s Journey Into Mystery was almost as good, and it’s the final issue of the series. Sad thing there, because I could read Kathryn Immonen writing about Sif and Beta Ray Bill for the rest of my life. The Thor corner of the Marvel Universe was on fire this week.
Less impressive were the final issue of Trinity War and the New Avengers tie-in to Infinity. Both disappointing, but both mildly entertaining, with a few good scenes each. So at least there’s that.
Moment of the week, however, goes to Adolf the Impossible Boy in the pages of FF.
I love comic books.
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #23, FF #11, Journey Into Mystery #655, Justice League #23, Larfleeze #3, New Avengers #9, Thor: God of Thunder #12, Uncanny X-Men #11, Uncanny Avengers #10, and Wolverine and the X-Men #35.











