My favorite comic growing up was X-Men. A close second to that was The New Mutants. To this day, my favorite comic character is Cannonball, and just his presence on a comic cover makes me want to pick it up.
As such, the relaunch of New Mutants, starring all my old favorite characters, was pretty much a lock on my pull list.
I read the first issue yesterday over my lunch hour, and I will say, straight away, that I enjoyed it. This book looks to take the place that Jim Shooter's departure on Legion of Super-Heroes left in my pull list, and has a similar feel to it.
Illyana, 'Berto, Xian, Amara and Sam all make the team, and set up the book against an old X-Foe in Legion, and I'm excited to see where it goes from here. I also like the present, but not overly heavy-handed placement of this book firmly grounded in the current continuity of the X-Books.
The art was nice, but not great. I'm hoping they can get Bret Blevins, even if only for an alternate cover. The story was okay, too, if not fantastic. But the nostalgia was fantastic.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I went to see it last night.
I wish I had something awesome and insightful to offer that wasn't completely covered by the rest of the blogosphere already. The first 5 minutes of the movie really are the best five minutes of the movie, and the rest of the film really just lets you down from the high expectations it set.
The rest of the movie was a convoluted mess. It at times adhered to the continuity of the X-Trilogy, and other times it just chucked it out the window. It had a cool cast, but it watered everyone down so much, that no one got enough screen time to really be cool. This movie needed 4 characters to work: Wolverine, Stryker, Sabretooth and Silverfox. That's it. If this movie was recut, and done to really flush out the characters, then the drama of the action would have been fantastic.
Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson was cool, but "Deadpool" was 9 kinds of lame. Have him in one or two scenes, let him mouth off a little, and then leave the rest alone. He ended up being to this movie what Angel was to X3, just in the way of the real story.
Same goes for Gambit and Blob, who were both there for no good story telling reason. They just ate up screen time that should have been reserved for exposition.
Wolverine says, in the movie, he was the best there is at what he does, but at no point in the film before he says that is there any reason to believe it. He mostly has just moped around and got in his team's way. It would have been nice to see him actually do something that would make Stryker's gamble with the adamantium make sense.
All in all, it had a few bright spots, but I think Wolverine was an exercise in wasted potential, choosing to try and fill the movie with as much "cool stuff" as possible rather than trying to tell a simple story of love lost and revenge.
As far as hero movies go, this one ranks around Blade III, Spider-Man III, and Elektra.
I wish I had something awesome and insightful to offer that wasn't completely covered by the rest of the blogosphere already. The first 5 minutes of the movie really are the best five minutes of the movie, and the rest of the film really just lets you down from the high expectations it set.
The rest of the movie was a convoluted mess. It at times adhered to the continuity of the X-Trilogy, and other times it just chucked it out the window. It had a cool cast, but it watered everyone down so much, that no one got enough screen time to really be cool. This movie needed 4 characters to work: Wolverine, Stryker, Sabretooth and Silverfox. That's it. If this movie was recut, and done to really flush out the characters, then the drama of the action would have been fantastic.
Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson was cool, but "Deadpool" was 9 kinds of lame. Have him in one or two scenes, let him mouth off a little, and then leave the rest alone. He ended up being to this movie what Angel was to X3, just in the way of the real story.
Same goes for Gambit and Blob, who were both there for no good story telling reason. They just ate up screen time that should have been reserved for exposition.
Wolverine says, in the movie, he was the best there is at what he does, but at no point in the film before he says that is there any reason to believe it. He mostly has just moped around and got in his team's way. It would have been nice to see him actually do something that would make Stryker's gamble with the adamantium make sense.
All in all, it had a few bright spots, but I think Wolverine was an exercise in wasted potential, choosing to try and fill the movie with as much "cool stuff" as possible rather than trying to tell a simple story of love lost and revenge.
As far as hero movies go, this one ranks around Blade III, Spider-Man III, and Elektra.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Who watches what?
I totally missed the Watchmen wave, but I did go see it opening night. Everyone else has said everything there is to be said about it, but I will still add that it amused me to no end that it was rated 13+ here in Quebec.
Keith went to see it at Cavendish Mall (read: Old Jewish people-mall) and said by the time you saw Doc Manhattan in all his...splendor, half the audience had walked out. Glorious.
Keith went to see it at Cavendish Mall (read: Old Jewish people-mall) and said by the time you saw Doc Manhattan in all his...splendor, half the audience had walked out. Glorious.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Mished-Mash
Just a couple of quick hits this time around.
IDW has relaunched a ton of G.I.Joe books this year, and the first issues were all pretty good. I 've always been a Joe fan, and I quite liked the Devil's Due stuff from 7-8 years ago, but it got a little tangled up there at the end. It was really time for a fresh start.
The three books are all different, and so far the "Cobra" book, staring Chuckles has been the best of the bunch, but they're all good reading and worth checking out.
I also picked up the Oni Press' "True Tales of Roller Derby: Doppelganger at the Hangar", which was wacky fun, but as an announcer for the 'Derby, I'm a little biased to all things involving Roller Skates. Plenty of derby goodness in this book, as it even takes up much of the ad space in the book. Good times.
IDW has relaunched a ton of G.I.Joe books this year, and the first issues were all pretty good. I 've always been a Joe fan, and I quite liked the Devil's Due stuff from 7-8 years ago, but it got a little tangled up there at the end. It was really time for a fresh start.
The three books are all different, and so far the "Cobra" book, staring Chuckles has been the best of the bunch, but they're all good reading and worth checking out.
I also picked up the Oni Press' "True Tales of Roller Derby: Doppelganger at the Hangar", which was wacky fun, but as an announcer for the 'Derby, I'm a little biased to all things involving Roller Skates. Plenty of derby goodness in this book, as it even takes up much of the ad space in the book. Good times.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Why I stopped reading Spider-Man
Without getting into "One More Day", which is a fun debate, but one I can have elsewhere, I know very clearly why I dropped Amazing Spider-Man.
The promise of impact.
I feel like Amazing Spider-Man has removed the promise to me, the reader, that the events that happen in the book will be important to the character, and through him, important to me.
This isn't the first time this has happened to me in reading comic books either. The death and rebirth of Jean Grey is probably the best example, though there are others. When the reality of "drama" is removed from a comic book, often shown through the death of a character, but not always, then I am no longer as invested in the story telling.
I understand that some people will say that they are able to just digest the new material for what it is, as fun entertainment, and that's great for them, but I don't feel the same way.
Take for example, a television series. Let's use "ER" for this example, as I think it's got a pretty good track record for maintaining it's continuity. If, this season, they had said "Doctor Greene didn't die of cancer, that was his twin brother!" then the reality of the "drama" would be challenged, and it would feel to me that the emotional investment I had made in the events surrounding the death of the character were cheated out of me, and I would feel bad about being a consumer of the television show.
So, as a reader of Spider-Man, or any comic book, for that matter, I feel that there is an unspoken deal between myself and the publisher that I will give them not only my dollars, but an emotional investment in their characters, and in return, I expect fine art and writing, and some care not to disregard the feelings that they've evoked from me previously.
That's not always the case, but I'd like to think it is.
And that is why I stopped buying Amazing Spider-Man.
Spider-Man, in challenging the reality and promised impact of the events that occur within it's pages, broke that unwritten contract with me. It suddenly said "Hey Scott, I know we told you earlier that this was important, but *sike!* it wasn't! We don't think that story we told you before was good enough, so it doesn't matter how much emotion you put into it, we're undoing it all. Hope you give us your money next month." I won't. I dropped the book, and I don't feel bad about it at all.
The promise of impact.
I feel like Amazing Spider-Man has removed the promise to me, the reader, that the events that happen in the book will be important to the character, and through him, important to me.
This isn't the first time this has happened to me in reading comic books either. The death and rebirth of Jean Grey is probably the best example, though there are others. When the reality of "drama" is removed from a comic book, often shown through the death of a character, but not always, then I am no longer as invested in the story telling.
I understand that some people will say that they are able to just digest the new material for what it is, as fun entertainment, and that's great for them, but I don't feel the same way.
Take for example, a television series. Let's use "ER" for this example, as I think it's got a pretty good track record for maintaining it's continuity. If, this season, they had said "Doctor Greene didn't die of cancer, that was his twin brother!" then the reality of the "drama" would be challenged, and it would feel to me that the emotional investment I had made in the events surrounding the death of the character were cheated out of me, and I would feel bad about being a consumer of the television show.
So, as a reader of Spider-Man, or any comic book, for that matter, I feel that there is an unspoken deal between myself and the publisher that I will give them not only my dollars, but an emotional investment in their characters, and in return, I expect fine art and writing, and some care not to disregard the feelings that they've evoked from me previously.
That's not always the case, but I'd like to think it is.
And that is why I stopped buying Amazing Spider-Man.
Spider-Man, in challenging the reality and promised impact of the events that occur within it's pages, broke that unwritten contract with me. It suddenly said "Hey Scott, I know we told you earlier that this was important, but *sike!* it wasn't! We don't think that story we told you before was good enough, so it doesn't matter how much emotion you put into it, we're undoing it all. Hope you give us your money next month." I won't. I dropped the book, and I don't feel bad about it at all.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
2009 - The Rise of Cobra
I was in Keith's car this past weekend and I decided that my life actually took a turn for the worse when I was a young teenager and gave up on my original life's goal of becoming a Dreadnok. I believe that had I continued my quest to join a fictional gang of swamp-dwelling, uneducated mercenaries that have a penchant for combining power tools with laser rifles, that I would be happier today. Keith and I agreed that it's not too late for me yet, and that the first steps in pursuit of this dream are to me the dreadlocking of my hair, and the choice to speak like Vinnie Jones 24-7.
Sadly, neither has happened in the week since. I'm sorry Zartan, I've failed you again.
In other G.I.Joe news, there is a new comic out, and I haven't had a chace to read it yet. I need to get my butt to ye olde comic shoppe. Also, the movie is due outin a few months. 2009 is truly the year of the Rise of Cobra.
"A gem of that size answers all my questions." - Zartan, G.I. Joe, the Movie
Sadly, neither has happened in the week since. I'm sorry Zartan, I've failed you again.
In other G.I.Joe news, there is a new comic out, and I haven't had a chace to read it yet. I need to get my butt to ye olde comic shoppe. Also, the movie is due outin a few months. 2009 is truly the year of the Rise of Cobra.
"A gem of that size answers all my questions." - Zartan, G.I. Joe, the Movie
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