Review! Legend of the ShadowClan #1 (Aspen)

COVER: Cory Smith. Cover B. Cute cover, nothing spectacular. A girl character with a short appearance
                 in the book.

STORY: David Wohl and Brad Foxhaven. Nothing new. Maybe the lead characters are special, but it is
                not clear how or why. Descendants of ninja? Mostly a set up book...no real development.

ART: Cory Smith. Very below average. If the cover is any indication of this guys talent then he should
           NOT ink his own art. Interiors remind me of a bad Image comic from the 90's.

FINAL FILE: Skip it! Buy it only for the $1 price...you might like it...don't expect much.

This girl is barely in the book...hate that

Is it overkill to have variant covers for INDIVIDUAL COMIC SHOPS!?

Review! Star Wars #1 (Dark Horse)

COVER: Alex Ross! Its Alex "Freaken" Ross, what do you think?

STORY: Brian Wood. I love to see familiar characters in new and unknown stories. Love Star Wars, great
                to see new comics with this franchise. Set right after the end of Episode IV (the original Star
                Wars) this story fills in what happened before Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back). I look
                forward to monthly fixes of new Star Wars stories with familiar faces.

ART: Carlos D'Anda. A bit too cartoony. I think Star Wars looks better in a more realistic style or at least
           a moodier feel. It should not be bright and colorful...and I am afraid this artwork is.

FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!...first issue of Star Wars! cant miss...the art could be better but 
                        lets hope the strong story holds up.

Nice...but...that is not Han Solo

Nice details on the ships!

Too cartoony...Vaders helmet "frowns" when he is angry??

Review! Batman and Robin Annual #1 (DC)

COVER: Andy Kubert. Its a Kubert.

STORY: Peter J. Tomasi. Kid Batman! Damion gets his first taste of wearing the cowl...by trying to
               outsmart Bruce...you don't outsmart Bruce Wayne. A couple of nice bits about the Wayne's past
               are revealed. We get to see that Damian is gonna be a kick-ass Batman.

ART: Ardian Syaf. I have said it before, I will say it again...I hate artists that copy! Syaf is a clone of
          Andy Kubert. Is it mandatory to draw like the Kuberts if you go to their school? Some panels are
          almost right out of the "Kubert Playbook", ridiculous. Artists, ALL artists, do not copy another guys
          stuff...get some self respect. You will always be a weaker version of the original. Plus in this case
          the original is not one of my favorites to begin with.

FINAL FILE: Skip it!...the story is mediocre, the art is cloned, and the $4.99 price is way too high.

Andy Kubert (look at panels 4 and 6) or Syaf?

Damian will rock the bat-life!

Comic-Con 2013 ticket sale: Disaster...again!

I am upset.
No, I am angry.
No, I am PISSED OFF!

Between 1997 and 2004 I was a loyal Comic-Con International attendee, and they were great times. Then
in 2005 I noticed a change. Comic-Con had gotten too big. Hollywood was pushing comics down to the
minority attraction at the show. All of a sudden there were too many people in the isles. The lines grew too long. Too many transvestites ( honest, and I'm still not sure why). Too many people going just for the hype of it all and not even caring about comics. I felt a big change coming, and it was not a good one.

I spent the next four years in art school getting my degree. This left me with very little extra money (art school is crazy expensive kids). So I was not able to afford  going to Comic-Con. Then in 2011 I tried to get tickets again...no luck...sold out. Then in 2012...no luck....sold out. So I decided to increase my chances this year as best I could. So I got up early, logged on to the ticket sales page, pressed the button right at 9:00 am...and waited...and waited...and I got an error page! What? I jumped right back in again...and waited...and waited...and the page told me it had a full waiting room and that there was probably no more tickets anyway...WTF!!?? It took 9 minutes.9 F***EN MINUTES!  My 9 years of loyalty were crapped on in 9 minutes.

The sad thing about this story is I know I'm not alone.

So I'm bitching about it,but not without offering a solution. A very simple solution.

Split the show in two. Four days of Comic-Con International with a focus on comic books and four days of Hollywood-Con International with a focus on film and television. Two separate shows back to back in the same week. Most people will not be able to go to both shows and they can pick the one they would rather attend.This will split the amount of attendees and double the amount of tickets available. Plus some companies can get eight days of show access, by doing both shows, instead of four.

Changes need to be made. When they happen I look forward to going back to Comic-Con...but until then, I will not waste my time.

You see me but its become impossible to see you

Review! Masters of the Universe: Origin of He-Man #1 (DC)

COVER: Ben Oliver.  Very cool cover.

STORY: Joshua Hale Fialkov. So Skeletor and He-Man are related? For an origin issue this sure doesn't
               answer any questions about He-Man's origin. Even when the Sorceress is giving her speech she
               suddenly stops when she mentions He-Man has an uncle... Skeletor? I was hoping that this
               book would answer some questions I have had since my childhood. What is the power of the
              power sword? What exactly is Castle Grayskull? How does Adam turn into He-Man and why?
              Alas, my questions remain unanswered.

ART: Ben Oliver. Great artwork! (even if it was lacking in backgrounds)

FINAL FILE: Buy, look at the pretty pictures, Bag it!...buy it only if you want to see some nice
                        comic art...the story is rather empty.

Cool cover!

Ben Oliver has got skills

NEPHEW!? Really?

             

Its Back baby!

I so happy!

zombies...yaaay!

You all better be watching!

Review! Indestructible Hulk #1 (Marvel)

COVER: Leinil Francis Yu. Kind of a strange cover. Hulk has a metal belt and shorts? Plus it looks like
                he is walking through a robot dump site, not like he just finished kicking ass.( is that one of those
                "warrior" robots from the Star Wars prequels in the bottom right corner?) The colors suck too.

STORY: Mark Waid. Nice first issue set up. I like how Waid makes Banner a super genius and shows us
                that he is jealous of Tony Stark and Reed Richards. Look forward to a new way of "using" the
                Hulk for good...Hulk: Agent of S.H.I.L.D.!

ART: Leinil Francis Yu. Always top notch!

FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!...great talent on this book.

Strange cover

Maria Hill finds a creative way to bring out the Hulk in Banner

"Hulk like new series about Hulk"

Film Review! Warm Bodies

Zombies.

Zombies are everywhere today.

Some are cool, some not so cool.

This one falls somewhere in the middle.

I told my wife that I expected it to be a "zombie Twilight" but it was not quite as teen lovey-dovey. The film has some cool concepts about the undead that where new to me. The way the lead zombie 'R', played by
Nicholas Hoult, was a normal thinking brain inside his walking corpse. It made for some unique and funny inner dialogue. I also liked the idea of when they eat a brain they absorb and relive that persons memories and feelings giving them a taste of normalcy for just that while. A great motivation to keep eating brains. In the end it did get a bit too cheesy with the focus on the "love" that R had for his normal girl. It took it too far into 'WB' TV show land.

On a new note, I saw an interview with the lead actor, Nicholas Hoult. He said that a pol had been taken with teen girls about who they thought was hotter, the zombie version of Hoult or the real guy...they chose the zombie version.
Our future looms bright....siiiiggh.

Riding the 'Twilight' train?

Teen girls idea of sexy today

Review! The Superior Spider-Man #1 (Marvel)

COVER: Ryan Stegman. Its okay. I got the blank cover.

STORY: Dan Slott. I cant believe that in today's day and age people would actually threaten a writers life
                for a comic book story. Idiots. If you have read more than one comic book in the last ten years
                you know that nothing is permanent, and Peter Parker's death is no different. It is just a story to
                sell books. Peter Parker is untouchable. He is an icon. We read these stories to see the hero go
                through hell and still come out on top. So cut the threatening shit and enjoy! I cant wait to see
                "spider tentacles"!
     
ART: Ryan Stegman. Is this really Greg Capullo using an alias? Not that big a fan of Greg so Ryan falls
           into the same category.

FINAL FILE: #1 and DONE!...knowing that Peter Parker will come back, this just feels like a fill 
                         in series. The artwork is not good enough to save it.

engh

Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne?

Its Wolvie-Spider!