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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/21/14
Now this was a good week. I love comics. I’m pretty sure that’s kind of obvious, what with this blog. And it’s weeks like this that remind me why I love them so much. So many good issues, so many fun characters, such good writing and art. Comics are so brilliant these days. And I’m sure I’m barely scratching the surface as I stick to mostly Marvel and DC. There’s probably a world of indie titles that are even better.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the week where I dive headfirst into indie comics. Instead, this is the week where Marvel and DC put out some great books! Not only to we get a couple of big finales in Uncanny X-Men and Thor: God of Thunder, but Wonder Woman has a pretty amazing pre-battle sequence. Quality comics, the lot of them. Over at DC, I was delighted with the new issue of Harley Quinn. And even Batman Eternal managed a few surprises. Can you believe it? Of course, the issue was still pretty crummy, but who doesn’t like surprises? The latest issue of Original Sin was also pretty crummy, but it had a neat surprise too.
Comic Book of the Week would have to be Silver Surfer #3 by Dan Slott and the Family Allred. It’s the most Doctor Whoish issue yet, and that’s just wonderful.
Comic Reviews: Batman Eternal #11, Batwoman #32, Harley Quinn #7, Original Sin #4, Silver Surfer #3, Thor: God of Thunder #23, Uncanny X-Men #22, and Wonder Woman #32.
DC’s Leaked Movie Plans are Impressive, but Doubtful
The geek blogosphere was on fire yesterday with a leaked list of DC Comics’ planned superhero movies stretching into 2018. The list comes courtesy of journalist Nikki Finke, who based on everything I’ve read, is pretty infamous when it comes to Hollywood news. Apparently she’s equal parts known for getting great scoops as she is being full of baloney. I don’t know her, I don’t know her integrity; all I know is that everybody whose anybody is talking about this list, so I thought I’d take a crack at it.
May 2016 – Batman v Superman
July 2016 – Shazam
Xmas 2016 – Sandman
May 2017 – Justice League
July 2017 – Wonder Woman
Xmas 2017 – Flash and Green Lantern team-up
May 2018 – Man Of Steel 2
The only official film we know of so far is Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. That movie is already in production, with a solid release date confirmed. We also kind of know that Joseph Gordon-Levitt wants to make a Sandman movie, but I’m pretty sure that’s still in ‘when pigs fly’ status. The rest of those are all brand new revelations that speak to a pretty intense schedule for DC.
Three movies a year?! That definitely trumps Marvel’s plan of two movies a year.
DC is also doubling up on superheroes
So yeah, that’s definitely an impressive list. We’re all anxiously awaiting a Wonder Woman movie. And Shazam is always cool. Man of Steel was a big success, so getting a direct sequel seems about right.
I’m surprised about that Flash/Green Lantern team-up film. That sort of thing has never been tried before, unless you count Black Widow’s huge role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but that was still a Captain America film for all intents and purposes. Will a straight-up team-up film be easy to pull off? I don’t see why not.
I’m also surprised that Batman doesn’t have a solo film in that slate. Considering Batman is their hottest commodity, I would think Warner Bros. would be chomping at the bit to get Ben Affleck up on the big screen in a new solo trilogy.
I’m fully prepared for Affleck to be the most popular Batman of all time
And I guess that’s why I’m taking this list with a grain of salt. Again, I don’t know this Finke lady, and I don’t know her sources, but everybody on the webs seemed to think this list was solid enough to talk about. I just don’t see Warner Bros. or DC getting their stuff together quickly enough or successfully enough to pull this off. Batman v. Superman is already in production, but we haven’t heard a lick about Shazam. Are we expected to believe DC is going to rush a Shazam movie out the door to make a 2016 release? I suppose they have two years to make the film, but usually there’s some talk of pre-production by this point.
For example, Marvel’s second 1016 feature, Ant-Man, has been all over the news for the past few months about their pre-production (woes and all). Are we to believe Warner Bros. have been a bunch of movie ninjas when it comes to Shazam?
Or maybe this list is just something DC and Warner Bros. hope they can pull off.
As with most news of this variety, I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ll file this alongside the rumored Metal Men, Lobo and Justice League Dark movies.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/19/14
This week was another wallet-busting week of comics. I may have to hold back on my caviar sandwiches if I hope to afford all of them! Fortunately, that means there were a lot of good comics in my pile this week, and I love me some good comics.
Plus, there were a whole bunch of DC titles that I read this week! We’ve got reviews for Batman, Wonder Woman and Batwoman, as if they all combined somehow. There’s also the latest issues of Batman Eternal and Harley Quinn, as well as the first issue of the new Sinestro solo series! Now there is a character I’m excited about!
On the Marvel side of things, the final issue of Superior Spider-Man hit the stands and it is…a nice conclusion. It’s not as amazing as I was hoping it would be. Instead, it seems more like Dan Slott and Marvel are in a rush to get to the new status quo of the new Amazing Spider-Man. Can’t say I blame them. We’ve also got new issues of Uncanny X-Men and the utterly fantastic Ms. Marvel, which wins Comic Book of the Week for sheer greatness and adorability.
She also uses ‘Embiggen’, making her the coolest teenager ever
I wonder what a younger, superhero-loving Sean would think about the fact that one of my favorite comics right now is about the awkward youth of a teenage girl. Of course, Young Sean was a big fan of The Secret World of Alex Mack, so there is a precedence.
Comic Reviews: Batman #30, Batman Eternal #2, Batwoman #30, Harley Quinn #5, Ms. Marvel #3, Sinestro #1, Superior Spider-Man #31, Uncanny X-Men #20 and Wonder Woman #30.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/22/14
What a great week for comics! Seriously, this is one of the best week’s I’ve seen in months! Nearly every comic I read this week was a real gem…except for that one comic. The one that pains me to even mention. The comic that burns a hole into my heart like a red hot poker dipped in demon blood! Why have you forsaken me, Christos Gage?! WHY?!
I talk, of course, about Superior Spider-Man Annual #2, which takes a slight break from Goblin Nation to show what Phil Urich the Goblin Knight is up to on the side. As regular readers know, Phil Urich is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters, having collected his Green Goblin series when I was just getting into comics as a wee lad in the 90s. And for the briefest of possible moments, when I heard about this comic only a few days ago, I allowed myself to believe that writer Christos Gage, who’d been doing such a great job with the Mimic recently, was finally going to tell the story where the good guy Phil shines through in light of his most recent heel turn.
But no. There was no such thing. Instead, the comic reinforced the evil bastard that Phil has become, declaring him all but lost to madness and villainy. Oh the pain to my little comic loving heart…
Fortunately, the rest of the comics this week were great! Especially the second issue of the new Ms. Marvel, which was just as adorable and awesome as the first issue.
This new series is off to a great start. Just like Phil Urich was back in the day, before…before…I’m gonna need a moment here.
Comic Reviews: Batwoman #29, Harley Quinn #4, Ms. Marvel #2, Superior Foes of Spider-Man #10, Thor: God of Thunder #20, Uncanny X-Men #19 and Wonder Woman #29.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/15/14
Welcome to the Ides of March my friends! Why isn’t this holiday celebrated anymore? You never heard about any other Ides of any other months. I wonder why this one went out of style…oh wait…right. But let’s not dwell on history’s murderous past! Let’s celebrate the present, and all the great comic books its giving us!
First of all, Captain Marvel is back! It was one of my favorite comics from the past year, and I was very excited to see it return…until it started making some startling changes! We’ll see if they’re good changes or bad. Beyond that, we’ve got explosive issues of Batman, Superior Spider-Man and Superman/Wonder Woman, as well as the second issues of X-Force and Fantastic Four. One of those is doing better than the other. And now I’m starting feel like a broken record for declaring Hawkeye #17 the Comic Book of the Week. But with panels like this one, how could I choose anything else?
It only gets better from here
This is a story you’ve got to see to believe.
Comic Reviews: Batman #29, Captain Marvel #1, Fantastic Four #2, Hawkeye #17, Superior Spider-Man #29, Superman/Wonder Woman #6 and X-Force #2.
Henchman-4-Hire 