Category: marvel

Why I fell out of favor as a Marvel fan.

snowflake_safespace  While Marvel reigns supreme at the box office, may have had it with there latest comic debacle in there attempt to prove how inclusive they are. Enter Snowflake and Safespace, two of Marvel’s latest new heroes as part of a new team of teen heroes and while none of the other heroes sound much better, these two are supposed to be non-binary twins. While I believe everyone deserves a hero and their are should be more varied, original heroes to break the barriers, I couldn’t take any of this seriously. The names alone are mockeries of the people they are trying to represent. I finally felt my last bubble of hope in Marvel comics deflate after the past few years. Before I begin, I just want to say there maybe a hot button topic or two here and while I applaud Marvel’s push for inclusion, I can’t say I approve how they go about it which is part of the few reasons they fell out of my favor.

Years ago, around the time Marvel’s popularity was skyrocketing because of the first phase of the MCU, they started transplanting many of there iconic characters like making Falcon the new Captain America, making Jane Foster Lady Thor, or Kamela Khan becoming the new Ms. Marvel after Carol Danvers assumed the persona of Captain Marvell. While a lot of these changes didn’t bother me, things like 2 factions of X men existing in the same universe and Kitty Pryde, Agent Venom, and the Thing joining Guardians of the Galaxy was a bit hard to swallow; Kitty becoming Starlord makes no sense to me. Some complained about the change of beloved characters but for the most part I was was able to see it making sense.

Around the same time, reading multiple series, I couldn’t help getting irked at the lack of solo stories, meaning there was a overabundance of Events going on. I recall them dropping one after another and it becoming too much of a hassle to follow. Something I give DC, there recent comics still include a huge catalog of solo stories for it’s characters. What also didn’t help was how Marvel’s multiverses ended up colliding in two many versions of the same character existing on the same plane; good luck being a casual and trying to talk about Spider-man and not knowing which Spidey you are following. now I know what you may be thinking, ‘ Torsten, why not wait til you can get the graphic novel and read it all at once’. Well, that would be a good point if not for the price tags. Since the MCU took off, the size of most solo Marvel graphic novels have shrunk as the prizes rise, especially for the Event books which declined in quality. Civil War II was not well received; Secret Empire angered many at it’s plot twist of Captain America being a Hydra agent all along. By the time Snowflake and Safespace came into play, my enthusiasm was far from healthy and I just shook my head, remembering the once amazing work from Marvel, which inspired myself as well as countless others. Someday I hope to call myself a current Marvel fan and call myself a true believer once more, but for now the present is bleak as the $ overrides creative wealth. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Black Widow final trailer

While my hype has admittedly simmered as many have on the MCU, I am pretty interested to see how this movie plays out. I do like Task Master is using skill sets related to Cap, Black Panther, and Hawkeye in this trailer. It looks like a fair superhero movie I’d be glad to see. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ultimate X-men/ Ultimate Fantastic 4

Ult x f4

What would bring a huge misunderstanding between the mutant peacekeepers and the first family of Marvel? Cerebro, Professor X’s device that amplifies his telepathic abilities across the globe, has been stolen while the most of the team deals with a crisis far away. Wolverine tracks Cerebro down to the home of the Fantastic Four; accompanied by Ice Man and Kitty Pryde they attempt to infiltrate the Four’s new HQ, being registered as intruders by the Four. Wolverine battles Mr Fantastic and the Thing while Ice Man battles the Human Torch as the ladies of the group bump into each other and the fighting seizes, but the question is who is responsible?

While not a bad quick read, there were some serious missed opportunities. While seeing The Thing and Wolverine was cool as hell and Ice Man vs Torch was sweet, the fights could’ve been longer and I wish there were more X Men. The end of the book is a bit anticlimactic but it’s a nice little crossover with some nice interactions between characters that’s meh overall. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ultimate Fantastic 4: Inhuman (vol.4)

ult f4 v4

After the events of Ultimate Fantastic 4: N- Zone , the Fantastic 4 are out in the open and unveiled to the public after thwarting Annihilus and they are in trouble. Sent back to the the think tank at the Baxter building by there handlers, they discover a disgruntled genius calling herself the Thinker is out to prove herself the superior mind, any way possible. After dealing with her, Sue and Johnny’s distant mother comes into there lives to uncover Namor, while Johnny meets a cute girl that proves to be not so human, introducing Namor the Submariner and the Inhumans in the Marvel Ultimate universe.

What I like about this particular book is you get 3 mini stories for the price of one. The first story is a good epilogue to the last book and it is cool seeing the Four face there own home as a enemy. While I don’t like Namor’s Ultimate backstory, I can’t lie the fight between him and Torch is pretty cool and the story is a nice look into Sue Storm’s character. As a fan of the Inhumans, I don’t like the designs in Ultimate but Karnak vs Invisible Woman was one of my favorite Ultimate moments. While the stakes aren’t overly high in the book, it’s nice to get some bite sized chunks with Marvel’s first family and it’s not a bad book to pick up if you read the others. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

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.

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.

New Mutants trailer 2

I know this movie has had a hell of a lot of problems behind the scenes, but I must admit the second trailer looks pretty decent. I like the horror aspects of the movie so far but I have to admit, I think the superhero parts look kinda shotty and low budget. I appreciate this movie follows mutants most of us aren’t familiar with. I want to see it, mainly as an end of an era before Disney takes over X-men but there’s a chance it’ll blow. 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.