Blog Archives
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/25/14
It’s another week of trying to break my wallet, but somehow I managed to hold on, read a bunch of comics and have a generally good week over all. I’m not quite as sick as I was for the past few weeks. That’s a plus, right? But here in Central New York, we’re looking at several straight days of single-digit to sub-zero temperatures. Go winter!
At least there were enough good comics to keep me warm! We’ve got new issues of Black Widow, Harley Quinn and Origin II already, and most of them are pretty darn good! Solid comics like Hawkeye and Wonder Woman are back, and we get the over-sized, over-sad finale of FF! Why do we live in a world where FF comes to an end after only 16 issues!?
Despite all those great comics, Comic Book of the Week has to go to Wolverine and the X-Men #40 because we’re finally getting some forward movement on the Cyclops/Wolverine Schism, and it’s everything I could have asked for.
Bromance renewed? We can only hope.
Comic Reviews: Batman #27, Batwoman #27, Black Widow #2, FF #16, Hawkeye #16, Harley Quinn #2, Origin II #2, Wolverine and the X-Men #40 and Wonder Woman #27.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 12/28/13
Christmas has come and gone, and both major comic book publishers decided to go really light this week. What’s up with that? Do they think we comic book geeks aren’t going to buy our favorite books just because New Comic Book Day falls on a holiday? For shame! But hey, at least my wallet isn’t complaining.
Even though this week saw only a few books released, they are some big ones. Origin II continues the early years of Wolverine, and Forever Evil and Justice League continue the whole Forever Evil foofarah. I hope it’s going somewhere good. Comic Book of the Week goes to Avengers #24! Jonathan Hickman actually delivers a comic I really enjoyed. I only wish his entire run had been this good.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #24, Forever Evil #4, Justice League #26 and Origin II #1.
Wolverine Can’t Take a Hint
What’s the best way to kick off your new sketch show? Poke fun at superheroes and post it on the Internet, of course!
The Pete Holmes Show might have some legs. We’ll see. But that was particularly funny.
Review: The Wolverine
Wolverine could be the next James Bond. Think about it. James Bond comes out with a new movie every few years and everybody flocks to see it. Few of the movies have anything to do with one another, especially when they change the lead actor. They’re all usually just stand alone James Bond adventures. If The Wolverine is any indication, that could totally work for everyone’s favorite clawed Canadian. There are decades worth of Wolverine comics, and an endless number of original ideas just waiting to be put up on the silver screen. We could be watching Wolverine movies for decades to come. Just point Wolverine at the latest super-villain and let him SNIKT his way back into our hearts each and every time!
The Wolverine is an entertaining, solidly-made action hero movie that keeps the story focused on its hero, where it should be. The movie is solid proof that Wolverine can easily hold his own as a leading man and doesn’t need the rest of the X-Men or a wealth of comic book references to make a good flick. Though it’s hardly a perfect movie.
Movie Rating: 7/10 – Good.
The Wolverine isn’t anything special. There are no great, memorable moments or lines. My pulse and heart were never racing. I maybe chuckled a few times. It’s just a solid, well-made movie with a great leader actor. Hugh Jackman returns for his umpteenth time playing Wolverine, and he continues to own the character. For that I give him all the credit in the world. Here is a guy who absolutely knows that playing Wolverine made him a star, so he’s more than happy to stick with the character to keep the fans excited. And it’s probably a ton of fun to play Wolverine anyway. Jackman is the strongest part of the new film, which is mostly about the character’s journey from lost soul back to hero – or from ronin to samurai, if you will.
Joining Jackman is a pretty great cast of Asian actors, including two new actresses playing his sidekick, Yukio, who was a lot of fun, and his love interest, Mariko, who was fantastic. The rest of the cast is good, and while the plot could get a little confusing at times, it was altogether a quality story. I’m sure when we have time to look back in hindsight, the villain’s scheme probably has a few holes in it. But I was never really bothered while watching the movie. Nor was I ever very surprised. I saw the twist ending coming from a mile away. And the big battle in the finale seemed more gratuitous than reasonable, as if the director thought the film had to have a Final Boss Battle.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think a giant, evil, robot samurai really fit with the soul-searching, personal movie that came before it.
Join me after the jump for the full review. There will be some SPOILERS!
I’ll Pretty Much Post Anything in LEGO
The Wolverine comes out this weekend, and to prepare, how about you watch one of the trailers remade entirely in LEGO?
My hat is always off to the brave LEGO animators who put something like this together. It just looks like a ton of fun. If I had any skill whatsoever in anything other than poking my chubby fingers into a keyboard, I would make one myself.
Henchman-4-Hire 