Uncanny X-Men #500, Secret Invasion, Justice Society of America Annual #1, and Other Face-Rocking Comics
Before we get into the reviews, here’s a short message from Dr. Doom:
DOOM: Behold! The new Emperor of Twitter: VICTOR VON DOOM! Follow DOOM on Twitter lest you feel his wrath! DOOM COMMANDS IT!
Thank you, Mr. Emperor of Twitter. Now, on to the reviews!
Uncanny X-Men #500 – I had great expectations for this issue, and that probably explains why I’m disappointed. Maybe there was just too much going on and it felt like an extra-sized preview book. Maybe it’s the distracting art. I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong, I love Terry Dodson’s art and I don’t hate Greg Land’s “lightbox style”, but they just don’t mix, is all I’m saying.
10 Things from SDCC that Rocked My Face
I didn’t go to the recently concluded San Diego Comic-Con, but thanks to the magic of the Internets, I got all the news and ridiculous photos of ridiculous people in ridiculous costumes from the event that I needed. And then some. It took me a couple of days to rummage through my bookmarks and feeds, but I eventually singled out 10 news items that made my balls sweaty with geeky anticipation. Here be the list:
1. Agents of Atlas Ongoing Series! My mancrush on Jeff Parker began when I was awesomed deeply by the Agents of Atlas mini-series back in 2006. My love for AoA has been well documented (Love & War, 2006 Awesome List, Lantern of Doom!, Agents of Atlas, Top 5 Lists #9 of 10: Graphic Fiction, and Giant-Size Rockery), so it goes without saying that I am extremely happy to learn that I’ll be getting my dose of AoA monthly starting early 2009.
Covers Carnival #1: Batman
Because nobody demanded it, a new blog series! In this new series, I shall cover (hyuk! hyuk!) awesome comic book covers just because. This is exactly the same kind of dickery I pulled in Face Rockery with the blog series Face-Rocking Covers. So yeah, this is basically me making fun of comic book covers. High five?
For this inaugural Cover Carnival entry, we’ll be looking at a few covers of Batman. Unless you were living under a stupid rock (I mean, who does that? Really.) for the last year, you’ll understand why I find Batman covers to be appropriate for this initial offering. The Dark Knight spelunked (New word!) into theaters last week and Batman is understandably in everybody’s consciousness right now. This is how I’m celebrating this most awesome of awesome movies.
The Bat-Signal. ON THE MOON. And it’s daylight where the signal is coming from. Think about that for a moment, will you?
A Plurker’s Manifesto
I’ve noticed that Plurk is slowly pulling some of my non-Internet friends and acquaintances. A sign of increasing popularity in the Philippines, perhaps? If so, I guess it’s time for me to shove a blog post about Plurk down your throats. I’ve been a plurker for more than a month now, and by Blogosphere Law, that means I can already act like a Plurk expert! So here, ladies and gentlemen, is a list of requests demands for all veteran, newbie, and future plurkers. Read it and live your Plurk life by it for the common good.
1. Make your user name short and sweet. For those of you who still don’t have a Plurk account but are seriously considering getting one, make your user name as short as possible. During discussions, people may link to your Plurk profile by typing your user name preceded by the at symbol (e.g. @baddie = baddie). Don’t make it a hassle for them to type a really long user name. Also, avoid using alternating letters and numbers (e.g. b0p01s). It’s annoying.
2. Go easy on your display name. When you reach 40 karma, you’d be able to change your display name. This is fun for you, and if you manage to change your display name into something funny or entertaining, it could be fun for your Plurk friends as well. But, don’t overdo it. Changing your display name regularly can be annoying. Also, don’t use special characters. It may look cool for you, but it will probably look like garbage in other people’s eyes.
Guardians of the Galaxy #3, Astonishing X-Men #25, Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #4, and Other Face-Rocking Comics
I’ve been wanting to try out a couple of ongoing series these past few weeks, but looking at my pull list, I think I’ll wait for a few months before I add new titles to it. And with that inconsequential introduction out of the way, it’s time for some reviews!
Guardians of the Galaxy #3 – Continuing the energy and unadulterated awesomeness of the first two issues, this issue is full to the brim with action, suspense, mystery, and fun. I’m getting used to the “debrief log” framing device, and I’m getting used to the idea that this group of characters is an actual team. Sure, most of the awesomeness comes from a talking raccoon with huge ass guns, but the other Guardians contribute to the fun too. Add the mystery of Starhawk and Vance Astrovik, an attack force running on prayer power, and a fascinating cliffhanger to the developing group dynamics, and you have yourself a solid read.
Watch The Middleman and Be ROCKED
The Middleman is a new TV series based on a comic book by Javier Grillo-Marxuach. It’s about a secret agency that deals with “exotic problems” like talking gorillas, evil terracotta warriors, and vengeful luchadores. It sounds silly, but it’s a smart amalgamation of comedy and science fiction. I totally loved the first two episodes, and after I saw the third one, it dawned on me: This is quite possibly the most awesome TV show in the history of all that you know. I suggest you all watch the show and be ROCKED. If you need to be convinced, let me spoil the aforementioned third episode for you:
The Middleman (Matt Keeslar) is one swell guy, but he does need a helping hand once in a while. That’s where his trusty hot sidekick, Wendy (Natalie Morales), comes in.
Thor: Reign of Blood, Ended Runs, and Other Face-Rocking Comics
Yes, I’m bringing the noise back into this blog. And when I say “noise”, I mean “comic books and other geeky stuff”. I bought a lot of comics last week so I thought now’s the best time to force some comics goodness down your unsuspecting throats. Also, I just closed Face Rockery, so, yeah. There’s that. And here we go:
Thor: Reign of Blood – The second Thor one-shot from my current man-crush, Matt Fraction, has everything I loved about the first one. Violence! Trickery! Cruel gods! Sexy goddesses! All-around awesomeness! Seriously, Thor piloting the Blood Colossus to smite the vast army of the undead while it’s raining blood? That’s so bad ass it should be illegal.
Motivational Monday with Baddie #8: A 7-Dirty-Word Salute to George Carlin
I know. It’s already Tuesday and the title clearly says Motivational Monday with Baddie. But I’m willing to break the rules of Time and Consistency to pay tribute to one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, George Carlin. Let his Seven Dirty Words motivate you:
The Spectacular Spider-Man Season 1
After Justice League Unlimited, I didn’t think I’d enjoy another comic book animated series again. Come to think of it, the only comic book animated TV series I really enjoyed were the 90’s X-Men series, Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men: Evolution, and Justice League Unlimited. So it came as a surprise when I watched the first season of The Spectacular Spider-Man and loved it.
The first couple of episodes felt like The Batman all over again. I hated that show. It was too anime-ish for me, and I have no love for anime. Call me a hater, but that’s the way it is. But the animation style grew on me as the series progressed.
By the middle of the season, I realized that it’s not the usual comic book animated TV series starring Spider-Man. Actually, it’s not the usual comic book animated TV series, period. Most of the characters, whether they’re Spider-friend or Spider-foe, are recurring characters. That means you get to see several developments in each of the characters and in the complex relationships between several of the main cast.
This series is probably the most faithful reincarnation of Spider-lore in TV and in movies. It also has the most faithful Peter Parker iteration I’ve seen. I don’t understand why he has to have a mole under his left eye, but other than that, I’d say he’s the Peter Parkeriest Peter Parker ever.
