Category: Comic review

The Thanos Imperative

thanos imperative

Awhile back I made a list of 5 Marvel stories that hooked me and this book was in there. With the Infinity Saga of the MCU at a close, Thanos was the greatest threat we’ve seen our heroes come to our heroes, but if the mad Titan was our only hope?

Death, while frightening and painful, is an essential part of life but in the Cancer-verse, awaken by Adam Magnus and his followers death doesn’t exist and is running out of room. An entire universe united under a dark version of Marvell is ready to breach our universe. The cosmos greatest heroes unite to face the mass invasion lead by Nova, Quasar, Medusa, and Gladiator but even with the aid of the Silver Surfer and his master Galactus it seems. Of all people, hope rests with the misfit Guardians of the Galaxy who have a once dead Thanos in containment; Thanos is the personification of Death the Cancer-verse needs but the Titan is unstable and Drax is driven mad with the urge to slay him. Can Lord Marvell and a whole universe be stopped and at what cost?

So, first things first, my explanation of the story is the gist but honestly it’s easier to follow than most of the book. This book goes through a shit load of exposition and because of the huge amount of stuff going on, it becomes hard to follow at times and a lot of it feels more complex than it needs to. On top of that, I do not  recommend this to newer readers because of the insane roster of characters including: Nova, Quasar, Gladiator, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Silver Surfer, The Inhumans, Beta Rey Bill, Ronan the Accuser, Adam Magnus, Galactus, the original Captain Mar-vell, and of course Thanos, and no, movie knowledge won’t help you much. While those are huge drawbacks, the artwork and scope of the action is beautiful and epic. Watching Surfer and Galactus go into battle amongst all these cosmic heroes was truly badass.  The story takes some chances and some characters do die and the ending did a reasonable impact on Marvel as a whole. It is a real cool story with fantastic artwork but it’s more complex than it has to be. May the gamin g gods bring you glory.

The Flash: Move Forward (new 52 vol.1)

flash running

I know a long time ago, during the beginning days of the blog I did a post about 5 great stories from DC new 52 and mentioned the third volume of this series. Despite only seeing Flash, season 1 I always wanted to dive deeper into the Scarlet Speedster and I wanted a decent place to start.

Barry Allan better known as the fastest man alive, The Flash, can’t even have a normal date night it seems when a symposium him and his girl are visiting are attacked by a group of mercenaries out to steal the tech on display. Flash manages to stop one of the masked soldiers, discovering one of his best friends from college dead and a new mystery afoot as Barry discovers his friend is in fact alive and has new regenerative capabilities and has accidentally spawned a clone gang calling itself Mob Rule as it blacks out Central City, unleashing a vengeful, newly empowered Captain Cold to escape prison and hunt for Flash who discovers the true depth of his power and the dangers of the Speed Force when using too much power can destroy time itself…

I must admit you definitely get your money’s worth with this book unlike some graphic novels that are mostly fluff. Mob Rule is a interesting villain to follow but Captain Cold vs Flash was a badass fight and Cold with ice powers is epic as hell. I feel Flash’s plight and you are invested in his story but with everything going on as well as the speed of Barry’s thoughts do make it hard to follow in the middle. In the end, while a good Flash story, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a intro to the character but still well worth a read. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

birds of prey

Ok, warning right here and now: this review will have some harsh language in it. Since Savior saw IT Chapter Two (Review) with me, he’ll understand why I ask then as now WHAT THE FUCK did I just watch. To paraphrase a quote my friend Ben “This movie is like dropping acid and watching fireworks go off” The man is not wrong…

The day has come ms Harley Quinn thought never would; Joker dumped her and now she’s all alone against a pissed off Gotham underworld that has a bone to pick with her now that she isn’t under his protection anymore. Reinventing herself as a mercenary (among a shitload of other traits) she finds herself caught hunting a diamond for cruel gangster Roman Sionis aka Black Mask. Aligning herself with disgruntled cop Renee Montoya, hapless club singer with a killer voice Black Canary, crossbow wielding vigilante Huntress, and young pickpocket Cassie Cain as they must come together to kick Mask’s ass.

Well, if you hated Suicide Squad  you’re going to hate this movie and even more if you were a fan of the source material. The movie is definitely fun and the fights are pretty damn cool, using the hell out of the R rating. The characters are cool and the actors are definitely having fun, especially Mcgregor as Black Mask. What gets me is the utter batshit editing and narrative structure; Harley is our narrator and going through her mind is like going on a drug trip and can be hard to follow at times.  The music, while all not bad gets annoying and is overused a lot. Besides the pop music being overused, the gratuitous language and bird references get old quick too.  While not a huge issue, I just feel like I have to say the title is misleading as hell; there is hardly any Birds of Prey in Birds of Prey and should be seen as a Harley movie first and foremost. In the end, if you wondered what would happen if you threw Suicide Squad and the Deadpool  movie in a blender, added glitter and meth with some liquid girl power and hit frappe you’d get this movie, a fun, entertaining WTF mess. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

“The Batman” Bat-suit reveal

This is going to be a quick post, but a juicy one for the Bat fans out there: our first look at Rob Pattinson in the iconic Bat-suit. I love the Batman: Arkham Knight kinda vibe with the armor and I love the idea of the symbol being forged from the gun that killed his parents. I’m excited to see the coloring on the suit, but so far the look is brooding and realistic and a welcome sight so far. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Disney+ MCU series spot

So we’ve been hearing about the new MCU series included with the th phase of the MCU and during the Superbowl we got our first sneak peaks at Falcon and Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki. First, I have to say I’m extremely excited for WandaVision; Scarlet Witch is one of my favorite characters in the MCU and I was thrilled to see that she will be prominent in Dr Strange 2 and WandaVision seems to dig into her psyche. I’m kinda excited to see what Sam and Bucky are up to in Falcon and Winter Soldier. I’m disappointed by the offering from Loki. In the end, I’m surprisingly invested and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Stargirl trailer 1

It’s pretty impressive how large of a scope the CW’s DC universe but over the past few years I’ve wondered why who asked for shows devoted to Black Lightning and Batwoman and I have to wonder why Stargirl. The trailer looks alright as their answer to the MCU’s Captain Marvel but it also looks kinda meh. While I’m drastically out of sync with what’s going in there universe, it’ll be interesting to see how this new addition plays out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Birds of Prey trailer 2

Lately DC has been on fire with there last few movies and it seems the new directions they’ve been taking are going in the right direction. So I say that to say I’m curious if this movie is either going to be a more cringe- worthy counterpart to Suicide Squad or this maybe decent. I see some potential in this new trailer but I can’t help but feel like it may be a mess. It’s going to be a interesting birthday trip. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Deadpool: Secret Invasion

dp secret invasion

So I’m calling it now, we’re probably getting the Secret Invasion for Avengers 5 in the MCU, at least Captain Marvel opened the door for it by introducing the Skrull. Secret Invasion essentially is a hunt through the Marvel Universe, searching for the Skrull camouflaged as our favorite heroes. So how does Deadpool handle such a plight?

We follow the great Wade Wilson on a typical day at the office, in this case that means disguised as a baseball mascot to get close to a hit in broad daylight. Well, it just so happens a alien invasion breaks out and Wade gets captured and taken aboard a Skrull ship. The Skrull, obsessed with mastering the powers of supers to add to there Super Skrulls, they want to replicate regeneration capability. Pissed that the Skrull want to take his powers and identity, he tries to break free but can he face these powerful foes?

The ending of this story is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read in a comic book. There is a pretty good story after the Skrull story but the story of Wade vs the Skrull sold me on Deadpool after the terrible portrayal in X Men Origins: Wolverine . The only complaint I have is the amount of foul language bleeped out; it does offer a bit of charm but it gets annoying that you can’t get an unedited copy. If you are new to the merc with a mouth or new to Marvel comics in general, this a good place to start. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Venom: Lethal Protector

venom lethal

Venom hurt as a nerd, especially reading the book much of the movie was based on. Venom is one of Marvel’s greatest and complex anti-heroes and one of Spider-man’s greatest adversaries, but thankfully I said my peace on the movie and here I want to shed light on the awesome story that went into it.

Eddie Brock has been a villain and spent years fighting Spider-man but at times had to join the hero to beat Carnage; life is complicated. He made a truce with Spidey and retreated from the Big Apple to San Francisco for a new beginning and to be the hero he always they could be, they meaning him and the alien symbiote attached to him. Brock found himself avenging the weak as Venom, leading to a homeless village being attacked by a Corporation that had been kidnapping them. While an outcast, he seeks to find justice for them as the news of his rampage reaches Spider-man who fears Venom has lost control. The pair are once again confronted by a deadly secret, that are more symbiotes, and it’s up to them to stop them…

Everything I love about classic Venom is in this book. It was nice to get a look at Eddie Brock and how hard he was just trying to find a new beginning and be a hero. Venom is a badass with a lot of awesome fights against a good variety of enemies. Spider-man worked pretty well as a supporting character and I liked the contrast between the old enemies. The new symbiotes were pretty awesome and they definitely stood out. The story flows well and it’s pretty easy to follow. If, like me, weren’t satisfied by the movie and want a good Venom story, this is a damn good one to check out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy: Guardians Disassembled

gotg

Some time we have to go back to our roots and chill. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) is one of my favorite MCU films and years before the movie, they were a big reason why I started reading Marvel comics. So to start the new year, let’s start with some GOTG badassery…

The Guardians of the Galaxy have always been trouble-makers in the universe, and while the down trotted have seen them as heroes, there’s some powerful forces that call them enemies. Helping the time displaced X-Men retrieve Jean Grey in Guardians of the Galaxy/ All New X Men: The Trial of Jean Grey was a final straw for these forces. Tony Stark, fresh from his time with them, asks Flash Thompson, better known as Agent Venom, to hang with them as a representative of Earth. They accept this new misfit with open arms. While Quill sleeps, Drax takes Venom shopping for new weapons for his cosmic adventures, and Gamora is on her own leave, they are captured and divided. J-son of the Spartax captures Quill with his ultimatum; Gamora is sent to the Badoon who want to know where Thanos is; Drax is taken by the Shi’ar empire and faces off against Gladiator; the Skrull take Venom; The Brood take Groot while the Kree experiment on Rocket.  While things look grim, help comes in the form of Angela, the rogue Asgardian bounty hunter who aids Gamora and Captain Marvell who frees Quill and helps Star Lord bring down J-son once and for all. It’s hard to keep good Guardians down…

This is a damn quick book but it’s action packed. From page one until the end there is plenty of action that’s easy to follow. While it’s volume 3 of the line( Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers being the first) it’s really easy to pick up with a helpful summary and a fluid introduction to the characters. Besides a good story, the book includes a Captain Marvell solo, Venom solo, and future Guardians tale so you get a nice bang for you’re buck. I’d definitely check this book for a Marvel or Guardians new comer. May the gaming gods bring you glory and Happy New Year.