Thunderbolts #11

Thunderbolts #11 continues the story with the Leader getting his mind back.  For some reason the team has gone to London to meet Electra’s brother who is using the Gamma Powered remote controlled robots.   The brother is trying to get himself killed to become a martyr at the hands of super powered people.  Fights happen and things go boom, the leader is being comforted by Mercy foreshadowing his return as a super genius smart person perhaps.

Superman Unchained #1

This review my be a repost enjoy!:

Superman Unchained #1 was a very entertaining comic book.  The action, the story telling the artwork flowed across the pages of this comic.  There is no boring origin story and almost no mention of Superman’s human parents and hometown.  The story simply starts out with the destruction of Nagasaki Japan by the American’s dropping a bomb that looks a lot like a human during World War 2.  We then flash to the present where Superman is saving the day as someone has managed to fire satellites from Earth orbit at the planet like giant bombs.  Superman mentions that he has destroyed or diverted all the satellites heading for populated areas and we get to watch him work to literally defuse the most dangerous satellite shooting out of orbit.  The satellite has a reactor core that would be like a bomb if it were to hit the Earth.  Superman fixes the bomb problem by slowing the descent by disabling the Satellites decent.   Using his X-ray vision did not work to short out the engine controls so Superman changes the wavelength of his vision to Gamma vision and that turns off the engine.  In the end Superman manages to save the astronauts and the military base that was being targeted.  Back in Metropolis Superman interrupts an escape attempt or helicopter crash. During which he has an interesting conversation with Lex Luthor that was as I said interesting and full of potential – Lex actually sounded smart and composed compared to how he had been acting in other New52 Superman stories.   The next scene is with Jimmy Olson and Clark Kent, Jimmy looks a lot like Seth Green for some reason, it might be the new hipster look or I am just getting old.  While the two are making chit chat Lois Lane calls to point out errors in Clarks latest Superman Saves the Day blog post.  While they are talking the Daily Planet Chief Perry White comes in to complain to Lois about advertisement placement.   Lois drops at least one clue about how the plot of the comic will develop and then tells Clark that the reason his article was wrong was because Superman had stopped all eight Satellites heading for Earth.  Superman takes off to see who or what had deflected the Satellite and finds a big handprint on the Satellite debris that he does not recognize.  Superman is then attacked by torpedoes.  We then flash to a secret military base full of cool looking high tech weapon systems. All the while Lois’s dad (apparently) monologues about how being discovered by Superman is not really a problem because they have their own Superman already – the end.  Then there is a short story of Perry White’s past and a pair of binoculars his Great Uncle gave him, binoculars that appear to be the very pair used in the first pages of this comic book.  While Perry is talking there is another story also in the current day of a fishing trawler pulling a man from the ocean whom wants to talk to Lois Lane badly – even though his eyes appear to have been melted.  There is also an interview with Scott Snyder and Jim Lee that was just somewhat interesting.  At this point I just want to know how the American Government managed to keep a being as powerful as Superman a secret for seventy years?  They kept this super being a secret mind you while he / she has been used in operations during the seventy years since the creature was dropped on Nagasaki Japan.  If this comic book turns into an American Military against Superman comic I will not continue to read or buy the comic.  If I wanted a teen angst story I would just read one of the million X-Men comic books that Marvel Comics produces.  I do have a hope that having Jim Lee on the creative team means that the stories will be good and in which case I will continue to buy this comic because issue number one of Superman Unchained was well done and entertaining.

Deadpool #11

Deadpool #11 – another excellent issue of Deadpool, where Deadpool  goes and cook dinner for Agent Preston’s family and gets some help from an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.  Deadpool then goes hunting another soul for Vetis.  This new victim is a shape shifter.  This lets him meet Luke Cage’s girlfriend, chase Black Widow and fight Daredevil.  The Daredevil fight was cool.  Deadpool gets his man (err man disguised as a cheerleader) and Vetis shows up. Deadpool brags how he tricked Vetis by killing the Necromancer.  Vetis is not amused and fire erupts and everything.

Guardians of the Galaxy #3!

Guardians of the Galaxy #3 was good.  We get to see the good guys locked up and then miraculously escape from the ships brig.  While this was going on there was another conference of Empires and the other leaders are starting to dislike the King of Spartax.  The Guardians of the Galaxy manage to take control of the Spatax battleship they were held upon.  Then Peter Quill sent a message to all Spartax ships questioning his father’s motives and reminding his people that he was arrested for protecting the Earth from invasion for trying to do good.  This was a very interesting if somewhat talkative issue.  I especially enjoyed the Spatax soldiers inspecting the Guardians ship.

Thor God of Thunder #9!

Thor God of Thunder #9 – this was a grand comic book, the kind of comic book you always imagined comic books were like when you were a kid.  This comic book held three Thors, the young Thor of the Viking age, the middle Thor the Thor of our comic books and movies and then Thor the Elder Thor the King of the Gods of Asgard.  The three gods joined up to fight and slay Gorr the God Killer.  It was truly an epic fight that shattered worlds.  Gods died and actually that is my only real problem with this story. There is a planet full of gods and while they were slaves to Gorr they just died.  He killed them all just to gain more power to fight the three Thors.  He killed Thor’s granddaughters (apparently) and no one lifted a hand to defend themselves – yet Thor did save an entire planet (moon he called it) to save the people there – this is where the story really breaks down.  The creative team also needs to decide how long this story will be – three issues or five and what was the start of the “God Bomb” storyline - and as I said before a bomb? Seriously?  Sigh – Besides that this was actually a really good comic I was very entertained as this was a really good issue!

Batman #21 (Zero Year)!

Batman #21 (Zero Year) – Ok that was interesting.  I am really not thrilled with the whole going back to a simpler time in Batman’s life.  Going to see when Batman was just Bruce Wayne in a bat suit.  But at least this one started out with promise – I say promise because the story starts out “Six Years Ago” with what looks like a post-apocalyptic look.  The kid fishing in the subway was a good touch.  But then we flash back again to when it is just Batman and Pennyworth doing stuff.  Bruce is still legally dead and yet some of his relatives have figured out Bruce is still alive.  There is lots of talking, lots of building up stuff that might mean nothing.  But I would rather see what happens with the Red Hood gang and why Gotham City is even more messed up than normal – so it is time for the writers to move things along now please.  Good stuff!

Legends of the Dark Knight #9

Legends of the Dark Knight #9 was not up to the high standards of the previous issues.  Scarecrow creates another fear powder and we see another drug induced fantasy.  Batman breaks out of another mental prison, the end.  The backup story was cute with some cool Catwoman action but otherwise it was more of the same.  Maybe I am being a little harsh but the first couple of issues of this comic were really good.

Batman Li'l Gotham #3!

Batman Li’l Gotham #3 was the Valentine’s Day issue.  The first story was cute and if not for the watercolor style artwork it would have been much better.  The story highlight was seeing how many DC heroes could make guest appearances – both good guys and bad.  The joker was the star being chased by Harley Quinn.  The second story was a Robin (Bruce Wayne’s son Robin, the dead one who is currently still dead) and Katana but not the new52 Katana this was the teenage kid version.  This story was also entertaining.

All Star Superman #1 SE!

All Star Superman #1 Special Edition was an advertisement for a graphic novel.  The story was typical Superman and very entertaining.  It appears that Lex Luthor has figured out a way to kill Superman after all.  The cliffhanger was entertaining.

Worlds' Finest Huntress and Power Girl #13

Worlds’ Finest Huntress and Power Girl #13 where what was once an interesting and entertaining comic book degrades into just another cheesecake and hitting things comic.  Having Desaad suddenly show up and be able to totally ruin the ladies lives and business, killing their friends in the process is just horrible sloppy writing.  Not to mention there is no way that our worlds Justice League or Justice League America would not notice these fights and show up.  Taking out islands, taking out buildings and part of cities you just don’t ignore those things.  I am so very disappointed.

Age of Ultron Book Nine!

Age of Ultron Book Nine was kind of boring.  I am not really sure where to start.  The epic battle that started in the last issue with the 2^nd timeline the writers are calling Age of Morgana Le Fey did not happen.  There was an explosion that ended the fight apparently.  Wolverine finds Tony Stark from the Le Fey timeline babbling about how they had to stop trying to fix the timeline.  So Wolverine goes back in time and stops himself from killing Hank Pym.  They pull this off just by talking and Sue Storm shows up to add to the confusion.  The three of them Sue Storm, Wolverine and Wolverine seem to convince Pym to add a kill switch to Ultron.  Then they head back to the savage land to return home.  It appears that one Wolverine Kills the other (I did not think that it was possible to kill Wolverine with his regenerative healing factor).  Sue Storm and the surviving Wolverine head to the time platform.  This was so very disappointing the issue that promised an epic fight turns out to be just nothing but talking.  The idea of a Wolverine vs. Wolverine fight was nothing more than them moping and a one panel kill shot.  I am starting to lose my enthusiasm for this epic cross-over adventure.

Really Great Piece of Cyberpunk Art

I found this over on G+ and felt the need to share!

 

 

I tried to share this with friends on FB but FB said this image violated community decency standards.  I would have understood if the artists did not want it posted and I could not post it due to copyright issues but I just do not understand how this could possibly violate decency standards.







Cable and X-Force #9

Cable and X-force #9 – This was an all Hope all the time story, it did co-star Captain America, Rogue and Havok.  These heroes from the Uncanny Avengers are trying to keep Hope from joining her father (stepfather?) on whatever dam fool crusade or something like that.  But Hope has them tricked as she is Cables daughter and she had a plan.  While most of this issue was just talking it was interesting seeing the plot move along and the different heroes interacting.  Good Issue.

Fearless Defenders #5!

The Fearless Defenders #5 – Where we continue the Doom Maiden story line.  We first see Moonstar Hippolyta and Valkyrie awaiting the arrival of the Doom Maidens in a remote and far away part of our world.  The Doom Maidens arrive riding dragons, one of which Hippolyta kills.  The fight is interrupted by the arrival of a large number of female super heroes – it is a rather dramatic splash page.  We now add to the battle Spider-Woman, Black Cat, Tigra, Hellcat, Elektra, She-Hulk, Storm, Thundra, Tarantula, Colleen Wing, Black Widow, Captain Marvel and Misty Knight.  While the Valkyrie traveled to the out of the way place, Misty Knight had gone recruiting supers to help in the fight.  Some are destined to be Shield Maidens (only nine actually) but apparently having a few extra heroes is not a bad thing.  We learn a number of things about Annabelle Riggs and Moonstar.  The story here remains very interesting and I cannot wait for the next issue.

Iron Man #11

Iron Man #11 – the Secret Origin of Tony Stark Part 2.  In this issue we get more flash back to Howard Stark and his wife deciding to let Recorder 451 fix their child so it will not die.  But more than that Recorder 451 wants to improve their child in order to make a savior for mankind.  Recorder fears that the other races / empires in the galaxy will soon begin to fear humanity and in a few short years attack and destroy all life on Earth.  In order to prevent this extermination Recorder 451 wants the Stark child to be that super genius we have come to know and love – Tony Stark.  This is another well written and paced story giving us the Secret Origin of Tony Stark.  I am entertained.

Winter Soldier #19

Winter Soldier #19 Final Issue!  For a final issue it did very little to wrap up the story line very well.   The Electric Ghost on the other hand was unable to follow up on the badass she seemed to be in previous issues.  She Saved Bucky’s life and tried to fix her life and save her father.  But given the chance she did not alter the timeline (wait are you sure this is a Marvel Comic it did not chose to muck up the timeline again) and escaped an exploding Satellite with the Winter Soldier only to drown in the ocean – maybe.  I’m not really sure the point of the old man giving Bucky the pep talk.  The lighting in those panels looked weird.  Then the Winter Soldier is back with the Black Widow and everything was fine, but then it turns out he was just using the Cosmic Cube or whatever it was to do some time traveling (messing with the universe?).  I am disappointed that this comic was canceled as it was often an excellent comic with good stories.  But with the upcoming Captain America movie being subtitled “The Winter Soldier” I guess the powers that be were afraid of confusing people with a good comic.  This story even felt chopped short which was disappointing considering how long some story arks were stretched to the point of being filler.  But in the end this is just another comic book I liked, that I thought was good that was canceled. 

All New X-Men #12

All New X-Men #12 was really lame.  I am not sure how many more issues of this comic I grabbed before realizing the All New X-Men comic had totally jumped the shark.  Well beyond the whole time travel thing.  While it was cool and all to have Thor, Captain America, Havok, Rogue and the Scarlet Witch show up.  All we really had was the brothers Summers reunite out of time.  We had a reminder that for some reason the Scarlet Witch has not been properly punished for her crimes and she wants to be punished.  We also come to the time where only in an X-Man comic book would people still believe the whole good guys are criminals but really bad guys in disguise plot line.  It is a story line so old Stan Lee stopped using it because even he decided it was lame.  Especially since in Cable and X-Force comic Captain America, Rogue and Havok do not fall for the exact same plot device (This same week even!).  This comic had so much great potential with the old original X-Men meet their current lame assed selves.  But instead we just get yet another whiny X-Man comic.

Batman Detective Comics #21

Batman Detective Comics #21 – I enjoyed this issue.  It was interesting that the creative team decided to bring back the woman from the issue zero story.  Once again a super hero is menaced by someone from their past who they thought was dead and now has super mystical ninja powers and they are an assassin.  Mio now calls herself Penumbra and she has shadow ninja powers.  Unfortunately for her those powers can apparently be counteracting by bright lights.  A light provided by Harper whom appears to be another potential Robin.  The backup story was another Man-Bat story and it was a good story and with luck this backup story will lead to something but if not at least it is a good backup story.

Dial H #13!!

Dial H #13 or the narrative of Open Window Man.  The group of Dial heroes from last issue has travelled to a world where all the people all the happening occurs as chalk drawings on a wall.  While the others train or try to figure out their next plan of action Open Window Man finds and talks to a child on the wall.  The child is never named but it turns out to be a re-telling of the Batman story or in this case the Open Window Man origin story.  Essentially this issue through almost no action catches us the readers up with what is actually going on in the comic.  The story makes a bit more sense now at least to me.  Now to see what happens next!

Earth 2 #13

Earth 2 number 13 continues the interesting storyline started in recent issues.  Captain Steel enters the giant fire pit in Rio de Janeiro – there is a long backstory told by Commander Khan of the Earth Army to some world government paper pusher it is interesting but it is just backstory and does nothing to actually advance the plot.  We just learn that yes Captain Steel is very powerful.   We then go to Hawkgirl who is still investigating the death of the Green Lantern’s boyfriend, where she fights some evil mutants with some help of the new Batman of Earth 2.  The comic ends on a cliff hanger with Captain Steel exiting the pit in bad shape and with a warning that the Red Lantern is here and they must save the world from her.  Overall this was a good comic information is good and the story still advanced.

Indestructible Hulk #8!!

Indestructible Hulk #8 continued the expedition into Jotunheim the realm of the Frost Giants.  There is a bit of story development and talk about how Thor’s Hammer was able to keep the unworthy from picking it up.  Then the portal home reopens and the Frost Giants attack.  Agent Coulson and Director Hill hold the portal while Hulk and Thor fight to thin the crowd of Frost Giants.  Being a comic book eventually everyone makes it home safe and sound.  It was a fun comic to read.  I like how even the Hulk shows some of his animal smarts when saving Thor. 

Morbius the Living Vampire #5!!

Morbius the Living Vampire #5 where I seem to have missed issue number four.  Really the Rose is the main villain behind everything going on here?  That is just so lame and disappointing.  The entire random hero thing was much more entertaining.  Not even going into details about the good stuff in this issue I’m so disappointed.

X-Men #1

X-Men #1 – This is another X-Men issue number one, I assume they get a number one because the title is just X-Men and none of the other prefixes.  This book was sold as the all women / hot girl version of X-Men.  I don’t know a counterpoint to the DC comic Ame-Comi Girls – in which case at least the X-Women have their regular costumes and are not sexed up.  The story starts with Jubilee and a child heading to America and Xavier’s School the X-Men base.  Rogue, Storm and Kitty Pride had off to escort Jubilee to the school safely.  There of course is a problem and the X-Men have to save the train and passengers from a crash.  It turns out the spooky guy who has been following Jubilee was John Sublime an adversary of the X-Men and if the prologue was correct one of the oldest being in the universe.  He shows up at the school and surrenders, he wants help defeating his sister Areka Prime who may be worse than he is (or he just wants protection).  The story was good for a first issue.  I am not sure if I kept collecting issues of this comic if not I may just grab the collected trade paperback.

Adventures of Superman #1

Adventures of Superman #1 was alright but really nothing special.  The comic was three short but complete stories.  The first story has Superman fighting a homeless guy who took some drugs that gave him superpowers that allow him to fight Superman toe to toe.  The homeless guy dies and of course it turns out to have been a plot by Lex Luthor.   The second story was one that has been retold many times, it is two kids player Superman and arguing about who gets to be Superman and who gets to be the villain (and which villain).  It was kind of a cute story with sloppy but alright art.  I am not sure if this was their desire but we see Superman eavesdropping on the kids playing Superman.  So either Superman is super narcissistic and likes the hero worship or he is creepy spying on little boys.  The third story has Bizzaro as the villain.  Somehow Superman convinces Bizzaro to leave the earth wearing some kind of harness – the harness is a NASA wearable probe and Bizzaro is off visiting another planet.  I don’t know the story was weird even for a Superman story with Bizzaro.

Batman the Dark Knight Annual #1

Batman the Dark Knight Annual #1 – I have seen that often annuals are afterthought comics with stories squeezed into the schedule of a regular comic production schedule.  Sometimes this results in really crappy and painful to read comic books.  Other times an annual is an epic story full of comic world shaking events that change the comic book universe as we know it.  Then there is this comic and it is neither as it is a good story.  The Mad Hatter, the Penguin and the Scarecrow are invited to a home with the promise of an intriguing business proposal.  The usual suspects show up at the location and find out that they were invited into a trap; it also turns out the location chosen was the Arkham youth facility now long closed down.  Oh and it is Halloween Night – the night of trick and treating.  We then get to watch the three villains minds go wild with fears of the Batman gone crazy again and out to get them.  This leads to all sorts of interesting actions.  But in the end it turns out that the Batman just wanted one night that did not require him to run around in costume.  I was amused and entertained.

Earth 2 Annual #1

Earth 2 Annual #1 was good it was entertaining and just plain fun.  While the cover of this issue has a strange looking Batman (Earth 2 Batman #2?) the real story follows the Atom.  We get an origin story for the Earth 2 Atom which is kind of interesting and makes him a more interesting and sympathetic character.  We follow him on a mission to catch a war criminal hiding in a less lawful part of the world.  The fight was interesting, but then we move on to following other heroes.  We see Steel, we see the new Batman and we meet two of the former soldiers of Steppenwolf.  It was all very cool and interesting it was nice to see some backfilling of the Earth 2 history up to current events, even with the silly cliffhanger it looks like a story jump is coming and the creative team used this annual as the bridge.  Things are about to get interesting and I am hoping the creative team does not mess it up.