Apocalypse 12-21-12

Well, here we are.
What may or may not be the last day.

Lets hope we are still here tomorrow.

If not, it was fun while it lasted.

R.I.P. Planet Earth/ The Human Race

Review! Star Wars, Purge:The Tyrant's Fist #1 (Dark Horse)

COVER: Dan Scott. Very nice painted cover.
STORY: Alexander Freed. Set right after "Revenge of the Sith", Darth Vader is out to destroy all the
                remaining Jedi. For some reason this story feels like it is a common place in the Star Wars
                universe. A rouge Jedi that is leading a group of "rebels" against the growing Empire. Sound
                familiar?
ART: Marco Castiello, Andrea Chella. It seems to me like Dark Horse likes to put rather mediocre
           artists on all its Star Wars books. This artwork is no exception. The painted cover is nice, but not
           enough. Star Wars deserves better.
FINAL FILE: #1 and DONE!...just did not care enough to see how this one ends.

Review! The New Avengers #34 (Marvel)

COVER: Mike Deodato. Nice.
STORY: Brian Michael Bendis. FINAL ISSUE! A "magic" story that re-establishes Dr. Strange as the
               Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe.We also get a hint that "Hero-for-Hire" may be
               coming back.
ART: Mike Deodato. I think I have said it before but this guy is one of the best,awesome art. With that
           said, we get a few pages of crap. They call it a "jam artist" section. It is done by Chuck BB, Farel
           Dalrymple, Ming Doyle, Lucy Knisley, Becky Cloonan, and Yves Bigerel, one page each...one
           crappy page each. I don't know why the editors chose to do this because not one of these artists
           fits the Avengers "style" or superhero books in general. A $4.99 book should not be the place for
           editors to experiment.
FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!...its a final issue...for now.

Sometimes, I wish life was like a comic book...

20 kids died in a Connecticut elementary today.

Their little lives never to become big wonderful lives.

Superman did not save the day.
Spider-man did not swing in.
No iron armored avenger to shield them.
No caped crusaders of any kind to thwart the evil villain.

20 little boys and girls.

Sometimes, I wish life was like a comic book.

9/11: Evidence of Cover Up

9/11 was "government" made.
I believe we only know about 10% of the truth.

Here is another reason to doubt the "truth".

Two days ago a small plane carrying singer Jenni Rivera and six others crashed in the Mexican desert.
Sadly, there were no survivors. There were, however, remains and belongings recovered. The drivers license
of Jenni Rivera and one of her shoes among the items. Why were none of these things recovered at the flight
93 crash sight ? The Rivera plane was small, it had seven people on board, and it crashed in the middle of
rough desert terrain...yet evidence was still found. Flight 93 had a large plane,with 43 people , and it crashed
in the middle of a populated area...but nothing was recovered. Does this sound wrong to anybody else?

You don't have to be a genius to see it.

Drivers license of Jenni Rivera recovered at crash site...looks like it was badly damaged.

Drivers license of CeeCee Lyles "allegedly" found at flight 93 site...its not even dirty.

Out of 43 only 2 drivers licenses were found at flight 93 site where people responded in minutes...1 out of 7 in Mexican  desert where no one reached the site for hours. 

R.I.P. Jenni Rivera

1969-2012

Review! Avengers #34 (Marvel)

COVER: Brandon Peterson. Nice shot of Thor.
STORY: Brian Michael Bendis. Final 'Avengers' issue! The Avengers in the micro-verse, taking down
                a dictator, liberating a race, and rescuing The Wasp...nice way to go.
ART: Brandon Peterson, Mike Mayhew, Terry Dodson. Good collaboration by a bunch of artists. A
           few pinup style shots for the fans.
FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!...its the last issue for Gods sake!...until next month of course.

Original cover

Variant cover

Review! Clone #1 (Image/Skybound)

COVER: Juan Jose Ryp. I feel tired just looking at this cover. Ryp has to have OCD to do this kind of
                detail and not go insane.
STORY: David Schulner. I don't feel like Schulner gave us anything new in this book. The "clone" story
                has been done and overdone so much that unless you have something awesome and ground
                breaking to say, don't bother. We don't know enough about the main character to care why this
                is all happening to him, and nothing is explained to us. Im not even sure if the lead guy is the chaser
                or the chased. Maybe a couple more issues will tell us more but I just dont care enough to buy the
                next issue.
ART: Juan Jose Ryp. Let me just start by saying that Ryp draws amazingly detailed backgrounds, too
           detailed, way too detailed! He seems to to have a need to fill every single micro-inch of space in
           every panel with art. This hurts his storytelling a lot. Its not bad panel to panel work but the art hurts
           it by being so distracting. Ryp also needs to take some figure drawing classes. His figures all suffer
           from "rubber man" syndrome. There was also one thing that really bothered me. Ryp uses a very
           obvious custom Photoshop brush, a series of dots and lines, that he puts on his figures to show
           "shading" and it feels very overused. He also relies too much on the colorist for the light and shadow.
           All his artwork is lit the same, no blacks at all. If Ryp tones it down a few notches he might actually
           be good.
FINAL FILE: #1 and Done...overdone art and "deja vu" story.

Cover...

Total cover

     

I be sad now...

'The Walking Dead' is off for a couple of months. One of the best shows on TV. You better be watching!

Film Review! Skyfall

I have never been a huge James Bond fan. I have seen a few of the older films that covered all the actors
who actually played 007. These last few films with Daniel Craig have by far been the best with 'Casino
Royal' being my favorite so far. 'Skyfall' starts oddly with Bond being "shot" by Eve ( who is later revealed
to be the famous Miss Moneypenny!) and is thought dead but is actually living on some island with an
unknown woman (who remains a mystery). He returns only because someone is attacking M and the rest
of MI6. The attacker turns out to be an ex-agent ( haven't they done this before?) named Silva, very
well played by Javier Bardem. For the first time we see a male villain actually "hit" on James Bond in a
strange sexually implicated scene. Silva also gives us the best shocker in the film when he reveals a very
disturbing physical disfigurement that he is hiding very well. This scene gives Silva a very "Joker-like"
feel (next Batman film anyone?) reminiscent of Cesar Romero in the old Batman tv show, but darker. The
film goes on to give us a glimpse of James Bonds childhood and family (Skyfall is the name of his childhood
estate) as he tries to keep M alive. Good film, not the best, it has a couple of slow drag out scenes that
seem to find their way into all Bond films,but worth a look.
FINAL FILE: See It!

Review! Shadowman #1 (Valiant)

COVER: Patrick Zircher. Super cool black cover! (the reason I bought the book actually)...but it is a bit
                too dark to see the figure.
STORY: Justin Jordan and Patrick Zircher. Jordan has a limited writing background, and Patrick has
                less. It shows in this book. The initial story set up is good but then it goes into the longest, most
                boring sequence of the book. With only a bloody appearance by some future villain to break up
                the yawning. The dialogue feels odd and unnatural, and the way the main character,Jack, dresses
                feels lazy in design. Not much is explained as to what is happening but there seems to be a very
                important amulet that changes you into 'Shadowman'. Well, I hate it when an issue #1 of a series
                tries to get away with only showing you the hero for one page...the last page. Just because it is
                an issue #1 you don't have to tell us the origin of the hero. You have to make is care about them
                or we will not come back the next issue. Use a flashback story to fill us in, or through the very
                characters memories, hell just do it any place but the first issue. I don't even know what powers
                'Shadowman' has!
ART: Patrick Zircher. Aside from weak character designs ( a bald african-american with a goatee? seen
           that anywhere? a wanna be red "Venom"? the hero in a black t-shirt and jeans? really? ) Patrick
           has good artwork. Why cant anyone draw a believable "little person", not just someone who looks
           like a badly proportioned adult?
FINAL FILE: #1 and Done...nothing in this issue entices me to pay $3.99 to continue the story.

Variant Black cover...my copy looks even darker.

regular cover

Review! A+X #1 (Marvel)

COVER: Dale Keown. Great Hulk...sucky Wolverine.
STORY:  Dan Slott and Jeph Leob. Cap and Cable, okay. Hulk and Wolverine vs. Future Hulk and
                Wolverine, horrible dialogue, and strange ending.
ART:  Ron Garney and Dale Keown. Garney is a solid artist who just cant seem to take it up to that
            superstar status. Good work here. Keown is awesome at drawing the Hulks but his Wolverines just
            suck.
FINAL FILE: #1 and Done! The stories just seem rushed. Its just a weak 'Marvel Team-Up'.

Worth the cover price?

I remember when comic books where a couple of dollars. Now the regular price for a 22 page book is between $3 to $5. Yes we have better paper, printing quality, coloring and art but are they still over priced?
I'm going to pick on issue #13 of 'Justice League'. I have the variant cover version. It is a digital painting by Alex Garner.It is a very well done cover and I feel it does add to the value of this issue. The main story is 20 pages which cheats us out of two pages, a minus. Then we get a six page backup story that feels a bit out of place and just thrown in as a filler, a minus. When I pay for a title I like a full story of the characters I am paying for. Then we get the cheapest trick in the book. We get five pages of a totally different book ( in this case Superman #13) which we may or may not buy, but should be our choice. I am in a sense paying for five pages of advertising for another title without having a choice, huge minus. So I end up paying $3.99 for a thirty-one page book of which I am only interested in twenty of those pages. This is just one example of books that do this. Publishers seem to be taking advantage of the reader, especially one like me that buys his books online and is not able to peek through them to see what I am paying for. I don't like feeling cheated.

Big Boy Advice: The Tux

After all these years I have learned a few things that I wish I had been told when I was young. One of those
things is the Tuxedo. Unless you are an international spy or a billionaire crime fighter, you will probably have very few chances to wear a Tuxedo in your life. I whore my first at age 3 for a wedding, my second at my own wedding, and my third was this past weekend at another family wedding. My advice to you is to enjoy it, wear it with pride. It is the best you will ever dress as a man, and you will do it very few time in your life. Oh, and don't forget to do the "Bond,James Bond" thing.

Daniel Craig

James Cagney and  Paul Newman

Sean Connery 

Film Review! Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 2

   So my wife drags me to the final installment of the 'Twilight' series. Well, she had dragged me to the other
four so I kinda didn't mind seeing how it all ended. Now I'm not sure if this film was shot in conjunction with
part one of 'Breaking Dawn' but it felt very rushed. The effects where really bad, especially the daughter,
Renesmee. They used CG instead of a live child for her first few "years" of growth. It was so bad that even
my wife was distracted by the effect, and she loves these films. Lazy job . The entire film was a setup for the
big brawl with the 'Volturi'. It was a good fight actually, until it is revealed to us that it was NOT REAL!..
...WHAT? Alice just shows Aro, the leader of the 'Volturi', his future and just how the battle plays out...with
them losing and him getting his head torn off and burned. So Aro decides its better to not fight...you think?
So the fight never happened...boooooo,hiissssss! Cheap trick mister film makers. Then to top it all off the
film ends with one of the most cheese filled attempts to add sentimental value by showing a flashback of
how Bella and Edward met and their courtship.
Final File: See it if you saw the other films.Beware of the creepy CG baby. Enjoy the "fake" fight scene. Pray they don't make another one.

Thanks for reading...have a great Thanksgiving!...I have a wedding Friday so ill be back next week!

Whats up with variant covers?

        This is the variant cover to Action Comics #14. The artist is Steve Skroce. I know that Steve is a good
artist, I have seen his past work. Now I know he has not done much comic art for a while but that is no
excuse. This cover just sucks. What is Superman doing? If he is landing with a "super-slam", his body is
way too stiff  and unnatural. If he is jumping up and out of something then what is up with the cape?
Speaking of the cape...why is it like three times too long and big? The "angels" and all the rocks also appear
to be floating in mid air, not traveling at all. My thought was that variant covers where supposed to be an
incentive or a plus, not something that seems unnecessary. When I ordered this book online I did not get to
see what the cover was going to look like. I ordered it on the fact that it was a variant and I did not like the
original cover. Boy was I surprised...I don't like these kinds of surprises. To all publishers out there, If you
want to give us a variant, make sure it is good or don't bother. Mr. Steve Skroce, I know you don't suck
as much as this cover does. If your too lazy to do a good job, let someone else do it.

Review! Freelancers #1 (Boom!)

COVER: Felipe Smith (cover B). Sucks...His Manga style interior backup story is much better...stick to
                that style Felipe.
STORY: Ian Brill. The story of two orphans that train to be martial artists and bounty hunters has some
               potential...but this one just feels old. Nothing really new. Plus the two lead characters border on
               cliche stereotypes. The dialogue between the two girls is just awful.
ART: Joshua Covey. The artwork is not bad, a bit too animated feel, but not bad. He relies too much on
           coloring and has almost no blacks or shadows (and color doesn't replace backgrounds!).
FINAL FILE: #1 and Done! ( It was $1, I gave it a shot)

I was hoping to get this cover (by Noto)...

...I was sent this mess. (by Smith)

Review! Creator-Owned Heroes #5 (Image)

COVER: Dave Johnson. 'Killswitch' cover, love it.
STORY: Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Grey, Steve Niles.  The first part of 'Killswitch'. Not bad, very
                "James Bond". Not much new. Also first part of 'Black Sparrow'. A creepy ,dark, old west story.
                Looking forward to part two.
ART: Jerry Lando, Andrew Ritchie. Lando's art feels way too amateurish. Needs to take some art
           classes.Plus where is the character that we see on the cover? The design is much better than the one
           inside. Maybe a good inker can make those pencils better. Ritchie has a very dark style. it fits the
           story real well but something about the figures feels off to me. Like if his photo references make it
           all a bit stiff.
           * I'm a bit disappointed with the two new stories in this issue. For $3.99 it cant just be good articles,
              it has to be very good comics too. These two feel mediocre at best.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it...but...it did take a dive.

Cover with no logo.

Review! Cyber Force #1 (Top Cow/Image)

COVER: Marc Silvestri. One of the unique veterans out there with a fresh feeling style.One thing that
                bothers me about his art is that he is still doing that "random, criss-cross, unknown shapes" thing
                that he invented in the nineties.Its his "go to" move but he doesn't have to use it on everything.
STORY: Marc Silvestri, Matt Hawkins. I didn't get anything new from this book. It feels like we have
                been there, done that. One bad choice was not really showing us who the "Cyber Force" is. The
                action was also lacking.This feels more like a number zero issue, too much back story and not
                enough character development.
ART: Khoi Pham.  Nice artwork, simpler than Silvestri but clear and clean...except for one thing. Khoi
           tries to copy the "random,criss-cross, unknown shapes" that Silvestri does and it doesn't work. He
           just puts in lines that feel unnecessary. In some cases it looks like he even confuses the colorist,
           Sunny Gho,  because the coloring is off on the "cyber" parts of the characters.
FINAL FILE: Buy,oooops!, get for free, Read, Bag it!
                        * You cant go wrong with a free comic by these creators.The whole 'Kickstarter' thing was
                           groundbreaking. Thanks guys!

Review! Mesmo Delivery (Dark Horse)

COVER: Rafael Grampa. Too freaken cool!
STORY: Rafael Grampa. Its a simple story with a complicated twist. I did not see the end coming and I
               hope that Grampa changes where he is going with it because I would love to see a second book.
               These characters are just too good to not get future stories.
ART: you guessed it, Rafael Grampa. In an industry that is full of copy-cat artists it sure is refreshing to
          see someone with a new style. Grampas art has a mix of Japanese Manga, Jeff Smith, and a little bit
          of Ralph Bakshi thrown in. It works. His character designs are so memorable, they border on being
          pre-iconic. Again, I hope he brings them back. ( and where the hell are those action figures?)
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, wipe drool, Shelve it!

Review! Creator-Owned Heroes #4 (Image)

COVER: Kevin Mellon. Cool cover.
STORY: Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Grey, Steve Niles.' Trigger Girl 6 'started great and had tons of
               potential...and then we get this issue. They pulled this ending out of their butts. It went from a
               great spy/action story to an environmentalists wet dream...WTF?! Plus they write themselves into
               a corner with no place to go. Disappointing. Then we have 'American Muscle'. They kill off the
               villain and it ends with no clear direction. Strike two. Well next issue has two new stories, lets
               hope they don't strike out.
ART: Phil Noto, Kevin Mellon. Noto rocks! I cant decide if it is Mellon's art or the coloring that I just
          don't like.
          * The rest of the issue is good. Love the creator interviews.
FINAL FILE: Buy it to complete the stories, Read it but get ready to be disappointed, Bag it if
                        your a collector.

Cover I have...

...other cover.

Review! Justice League #0 (DC)

COVER: Gary Frank. Love this shot of Shazam!
STORY: Geoff Johns. Great modern take on the origin of Shazam. Geoff really gets the "kid in a grown
                up body" thing.
ART: Gary Frank. One of the best artists doing comics right now!
           * There is a strange backup story by Johns and Ethan Van Sciver featuring the "mysterious" Pandora
              and what seems to be an appearance by The Question.
FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!

Review! Avengers vs. X-Men #12 (Marvel)

COVER: Jim Cheung. This guy has gotten really,really good. Great cover, wish he drew the interiors.
STORY: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman.
                It took five top writers to write twelve issues of nothing. Two things happened. Charles Xavier
                was killed (and we all know that wont last, no matter what happens to his brain). The famous
                ' no more mutants' said by the Scarlet Witch was reversed. Yea, there was cool fighting between
                mutants and Avengers but that happens in half the books Marvel puts out anyway.
ART: Adam Kubert. Adam is a competent artist, but he bores me. He is one of those artists stuck on
           the same poses and panels and never gives us anything new. With such a high profile book they
           should have chosen a better artist...like Jim Cheung!
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it...gotta complete the twelve issues right?

Review! Wolverine Max #1 (Marvel)

COVER: Jock. The only good thing about this book.
STORY: Jason Starr. A "Wolverine loses his memory" story, how original. How the hell are Wolverines
                legs cut off in the plane crash? Adamantium, remember?! Then they grow back? So his healing
                factor can regrow his adamantium laced bones now?!! WTF? This better not be a dream story.
ART: Roland Boschi and Conner Willumsen. I don't even know where to start. This is some crappy
           artwork. Some of the worst I have seen in a comic book. The main story (drawn by Boschi I think)
           has Wolverines face change from panel to panel. Look at his face on page 18...who is that guy? Then
           we have the flashback sequences ( drawn by Willumsen I would guess). What "genius" at Marvel
           decided that this should get paid for his art? I even hesitate to call it "art". It hurts my eyes. Is that
           "prospector" looking guy with the mustache supposed to be Sabertooth? I feel like he is trying to
           do an imitation of  Rafael Grampa's art...but fails badly! He makes me miss Rob Liefeld.
FINAL FILE: SKIP IT!...this is one of the single worst issues I have ever read. For a Wolverine
                        first issue it missed the mark by a mile. Bad job Marvel, this title will be canceled 
                        soon I predict, or it should be. On top of all the bad content we only get 20 pages of
                        story for $3.99...rip off. If you have not bought this book yet, DON'T! If you did 
                        then I feel for you...where can I get my money back?!

Do not let this cool cover fool you...

Review! Uncanny Avengers #1 (Marvel)

COVER: John Cassaday. Don't like this cover. The logo sucks and the characters look cramped.
SCRIPT: Rick Remender. There really is no team here. We can see the start of what will become the new
                 'Uncanny Avengers' but it looks to be a few issues away. So we learn two things this issue. One,
                  the Red Skull likes to mess with brains, especially Charles Xavier's. Two, the Red Skull hates
                  mutants.
ART: John Cassaday. I am a big fan of Johns work on 'Planetary'...not so much here. I just don't think his
           style fits the X-men or Avengers.
FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!...its a #1 issue after all.

Review! Aquaman #0 (DC)

COVER: Ivan Reis. Nice.
STORY: Geoff Johns. Nice look back into Arthur's younger years. Cool fist fight with a great white shark!
ART: Ivan Reis. Ivan is the reason for this books success. Aquaman has never looked better. I am gonna
          miss him when he leaves but I cant wait to see his 'Justice League'!
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it!

Review! Action Comics #13 (DC)

COVER: Bryan Hitch, Rags Morales (variant). My understanding of comic book variant covers is that
                 they are supposed to be better than the original. Well, Bryan did a good cover that fits the story,
                 Rags did a weak cover that can be confusing.
STORY: Grant Morrison. Ugh! This guy has ruined Superman. His over writes everything. he also tends
                to throw in strange dialogue that is often hard to follow and he seems to write as if he is the only
                one who knows the punchline to a joke. Now he has made the Phantom Zone into a weapon that
                essentially makes you a ghost? This Superman is boring.
ART: Travel Foreman. What is wrong with this guy? He jumps from a sleek, sharp art style into dark and
           messy inks from one page to another. This might have been okay for 'Animal Man' ( it wasn't) but
           it wont fit Superman.
          * There is a backup story that stole this issue. It is written by Sholly Fisch with art by Brad Walker.
             Sholly has written a story (now pay attention Grant) that is smart, has feeling, and adds to the myth
             of Superman in a positive way. No need to write down to us, simple and straight forward, a gem.

Original

Variant

Review! Guarding the Globe #1 (Image)

COVER: Todd Nauck. I love these big group shots of team books. This one is cool but they dropped the
                 ball on the coloring. I guess they were trying for atmospheric perspective but it did not work.
                 When I first saw it I thought it was a printing error...but it was more of a brain error by the
                  colorist, John Rauch.
STORY: Phil Hester. My only taste of 'Guardians of The Globe' has been in the 'Invincible' title, and that
                was a while back. This first issue felt fresh with mostly new characters. I like that they just throw
                the reader into the action and not spend the whole book introducing the team. I like getting to
                know the characters through their actions. Likable cast.
ART: Todd Nauck. I remember Todd from the 90's Image days and he just sucked. My brother and I
           used to make so much fun of his art...well, he has gotten better. A lot better. Time is an artists best
           friend...you can only improve. I like Todd on this title. I have to go tell my brother.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it!

Review! Batman #0 (DC)

COVER: Greg Capullo. #0...hero jumping through cover...boring...nothing left to say...thank God for the
                 'We Can Be Heroes' blank cover
STORY: Scott Snyder. So this is all happening six years ago? I thought it was five. Anyway, Bruce seems
                to be playing vigilante without the Batman disguise. He runs into the Red Hood Gang during a
                bank robbery. It then seems to become the story of the Batarang origin and a bit with
                Commissioner Gordon...then...the story continues in 2013...what? You don't finish the story but
                you put in a backup? WTF?! So the backup is the origin of the Batsignal, kinda, and we see Tim,
                Jason, Dick and Barbara. Tim is some genius who is getting rid of his middle school principal.
                Jason is a small time crook who gets mistaken for stopping the crime. Dick is stopping some purse
                thief as he performs in a circus as a Flying Grayson. Barbara is with her dad on the roof as he
                turns on the Batsignal. The big finish is that they all look up, and appear to get inspired by the
                signal, to follow the path we all know they will one day take. Problem, they all look to be the
                same age. Tim Drake is about to finish middle school so that makes him thirteen at the time and
                eighteen now, good. Jason Todd looks the same age but in the old DC he is much younger than
                Dick, and in the New 52 he seems about the same age? Dick is supposed to be much older
                 than the other two but he feels one or two years older...what? Then we have Barbara. She is
                 supposed to be Dicks age but Batgirl looks much younger...what? Thank you James Tynion IV
                 for that headache. Andy Clarke did a good job on the art though for this backup story.
ART: Greg Capullo. Greg is Greg. He is a veteran artist and he is solid. His Bruce was much better here
           than in the regular book but his Commissioner Gordon (Lieutenant in this case) is goofy looking.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it!...but be ready to be confused.