As many may know, Tuesday night, Avengers vs. X-Men, or AvX, hit many store shelves in an early release event. I attended one of these events, and found it was well worth the money I paid. First, probably as a part of the promotion, the comic was 25% off of its $3.99 price, and with tax, it was just $3.25. Granted, this is slightly more than other of Marvel's comics not in the Avengers line (excluding Avengers Academy), but it included a large amount of additional content that made it quite worth it. In an effort to encourage the purchase of print comics, Marvel included a code in the back of the book that could be redeemed on Marvel.com to get AvX #1 for free digitally. In addition, it included the first of Marvel's Unlimited comics, comics made to be viewed exclusively in digital form. This purchased separately from AvX #1 is an additional 99 cents. Essentially, I paid just $3.25 for content and other materials that have a value upwards of $5. To top all of that off, the comic itself is good! I'll review the content itself tomorrow when I finally am able to read this week's comics, but needless to say, it is a quite good one.
I created this image myself using Microsoft Paint and two other images I got online. It was inspired by a scene from The Empire Strikes Back.
I walked into this movie expecting it to be horrible. I'd read the reviews, which were, putting it nicely, negative. On top of that, I had seen Ghost Rider, a film that is perhaps the last entry of Marvel's early 2000s period when, after the success of Spider-Man, the company commissioned new films to be made chronicling their darker heroes. It worked with movies like Blade-not so much Ghost Rider.
In terms of what I was expecting, this film surprised me greatly. Don't get me wrong-it was a truly terrible film. However, it was only terrible in the sense that it was supposed to be a dark, serious film. Instead, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance accepts how horrible it is and uses that. This film does not take itself seriousley in the least. It is almost parodying itself, and I found it's type of humor to be akin to what is found in Saints Row: The Third. It is completely over the top, though it plays this for laughs rather than any wow-factor. The writers of the film realize that Nicholas Cage cannot possibly appear serious, so they go out of their way to portray him that way. When Johnny Blaze (Ghost Rider's alter ego and Cage's role) interrogated a man brutally and threateningly, my brother and I burst out laughing at how ridiculous he seemed. It seems that Cage even plays this to his advantage. If it was a comedy, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance would be almost a little bit good.
However, a large part of what makes this film so bad is that it was not at all portrayed this way. It was portrayed as a serious superhero film close to the tier of Iron Man or Thor. Every fan within the comic book community knew it wouldn't be that, but they at least expected the film to appear like its creators had taken time to craft the story or at least provided good action. The one point in the movie where I actually predicted what would happen (though not exactly how), right before the climactic battle, could have been a scene that met either of those films, but fell short.
The action does not make for an especially good break from the "humor," as most of the interesting and cool tricks feel done and bland. The CGI is nominal at best. The comic book backstory, other than the names of three characters, is totally ignored. The story itself took a step back to the midpoint of the first Ghost Rider, as Blaze now believes he is a Hulk-like monster that cannot be controlled.
The key to appreciating this film is to turn the brain off and enjoy the lunacy of it as much as possible. Even then, however, it is still a relatively bad film. If both the director and the writers had spent more time balancing the hillarious lunacy of the film and its potential for great action or how scenes progress, the film would have been a mediocre one, and a step up from Ghost Rider. Taken seriously, the film is worse than the original. Embracing the over the top nature of the film, however, will make it much more, but still just barely, palatable.
Welcome to my first post of 2012, ever faithful readers! There were some pretty great comics this week; check them out!
Annihilators: Earthfall #4
It's the final issue of this series, and I have to say...thank goodness. I loved all of Abnett and Lanning's work up until Annihilators. At that point, it became lackluster, boring, and repetitive. The art is horrendous. In the last Annihilators series, Tan Eng Huat's art was sub-par in this series. In this series, however, everything looks wrong. In a previous issue Captain America looked like he had the bone structure of a stereotypical African American character. In this one, Huat pulled a Liefield and gave Iron Man square breasts. Ms. Marvel has gigantic hips. Quasar's quantum bands are gigantic. Also, why does Valkyrie looked scared when she's about to kill a kid version of the Magus. Like Annihilators, the whole series feels like it has no significance, even though it takes place on Earth. That seems to be what happens when you get six super powerhouses on one team. Furthermore, what kind of roster is this for the Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Valkyrie, Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Thing, Ms. Marvel, and Red Hulk. What the hell? This is another thing that annoyed me about this series--how they just threw eight random Avengers together, only four of whom are even on the same team! I mean, seriously DnA! If you're going to use the Avengers, choose regular, New, or Secret. ONE TEAM, please!
Defenders #2
This book, on the other hand, is what I'm talking about! While it feels a little shorter than last issue, Defenders #2, like the previous issue, is fantastic. The art is good, even though I'm not a huge Dodson fan. I can already see events from Point One starting to play out. These new Avalonians (?) are characterized well, and have a good reason for wanting to mess up the universe. Iron Fist and Namor, though they don't interact with each other much, are hilarious in their own way.
Avengers Annual #1
Where New Avengers Annual #1 had almost entirely action, Avengers Annual #1 has meaning. There's not a ton of action, but Bendis and Dell'Otto certainly make up for it with a fantastic story and art. We really get into Simon Williams' head. This isn't just a phase-Wonder Man really is insane, in that scary kind of way that almost makes sense. Dell'Otto's art, as I said, is just phenominal. One of my favorite moments was Beast's horror upon seeing what Wonder Man had become.
Avengers Academy #24
As usual, this series is great. The quality of the art has gradually gone down since June 2010, but it's still great. Mike McKone was easily the greatest artist, and my favorites go in order along with the order of the artists, though it certainly dosen't reduce the quality of this great comic. I'm happy to learn more about White Tiger, and I definitley found a little bit of myself in Butterball. I'm happy nobody's died so far (besides Jocasta, that is).
Warning! Spoilers follow!
Avengers #20
This issue feels like sudden buildup to something major that I feel like I'm missing. Of course, I haven't been reading the Avengers/H.A.M.M.E.R. War storyline is Osborn and New Avengers, so I just feel a little rushed into this story. Parts of this issue read like classic comics-and not in the best way. Oh well. At least there isn't any wonky Bendis dialogue or anything.
Green Lantern #4
This is the kind of comic that ends too soon. It's short and sweet-Johns writes a great story, like always, and Doug Mahnke's pencils are phenomenal. The cliffhanger is decent (though not as good as last issue), but the entire thing feels like it could've been done in the opening ten pages of the book. I'm not sure I understand how Hal was un-disintegrated.
Justice League #4
Johns is being Johns here, doing something few others can do: make Aquaman a badass. When Hal starts mocking Aquaman, you almost know what's going to happen. Now, we've got the entire team together. I'm just wondering how they'll come together as a real team and understand what the heck is going on in one issue-but I'm sure Johns'll manage it.
Avengers Academy #23
God, I love Avengers Academy. X-23 was a bit of a tease, as her presence is a bit of an add-on in this issue. There are great plot developments-Striker is--well, if you really want to know, look around in some older "Axle In Charge"s on CBR. I absolutely cannot wait to see more developments-both with the future Academy members and with the present day ones.
Hey guys!
Sorry for my huge abcense, It's just been really hard to find the time to update this blog. Anyway, I've announced a new post coming soon! This Thursday, there'll be a new Comic Book Store Trip post. Hopefully by the end of this week, I'll be playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. Unfortunatley for me, the day I unlocked Early Access for SWTOR, I learned that my computer didn't have an advanced enough graphics card to play it. But, when I DO upgrade my computer (hopefully by next week) I'll be sure to share my opinions with you. I may post some videos to YouTube as well. I was planning to play as a Jedi Knight first and then a Sith Warrior, but is there any class you guys'd like to see?
Let me know in the comments below.
Warning: Spoilers follow!
Avengers #19
Say what you will about Brian Micheal Bendis, but I just can't stop loving this book. Unfortunately, Spider-Man and Wolverine aren't on the team anymore, but the Vision...IS! I'm still wondering how it even happened, because isn't the Vision's body with the Young Avengers? Of course, I could be missing something that occurs in Avengers: The Children's Crusade...Also, not a huge fan of Acuna's art, but I guess it could be worse.
Justice League #3
Wonder Woman is a serious badass. She's like a female Thor who works for the US government. I like Cyborg's new origin-not so much blame on his Dad. Most of all, I love Jim Lee's art, which has remained phenomenal throughout this.
Green Lantern #3
This is why I love Green Lantern. Sinestro and Hal Jordan working together is perfect-the positive and the negative, the yin and the yang. Sinestro's chemistry with Hal is perfect. It's a bit like their team-up in Green Lantern: Secret Origin. Doug Mahnke, as usual, draws like the master he is.
Point One
This...wasn't what I expected. Sure, there were good stories-the Dr. Strange and Scarlet Spider stories were the standout-but it just wasn't the "Rosetta Stone of 2012" we were promised. The big hints at 2012's Phoinex storyline, mainly told as a Nova story. Yes, I said Nova. That Nova. Or maybe not That Nova. Actually, I have no idea who this Nova is, how/if he came back, or what the ending meant. If somebody wants to explain it to be, let me know. The Ultron/Avengers story, which I was looking forward to, was a bit hard to see and understand. All we have is Hawkeye and Spider-Man running from some suicide-bombing Ultrons. How they got there and who they're interacting with is never explained. The X-Men stories were decent, but it's not my favorite series.
Avengers Academy #22
This the reason why I love this book. Maybe it wasn't the best decision to divert from the huge cliffhanger and the murder storyline to a Quicksilver/Finesse/Magneto storyline, but it sure turned out great. Sean Chen's art is a bit like a replacement Mick McKone to me (I miss him so much), but it's not something I hate seeing every month. Well, every month before this. This was his last issue. Well, as long as Christos Gage is on this book, I'm sure it'll be great.
Fear Itself #7.2
This has me confused. Very, very confused. Alright. So, when Thor's body is being cerimonially burned in a Asgardian ceremony, Tanarus, Celtic thunder god, rises from his ashes. Suddenly, nobody but Loki remembers Thor...I actually had to read the recap page from the Mighty Thor #7 for that. Apparently, in every memory Thor used to be in, Tanarus is in his place. This makes me wonder...was Tanarus there first, and Thor took his place in everybody's memories?!?!
Fear Itself #7.3
This is why Iove Iron Man. A Fraction-Larroca special is delivered, that being an emotional yet action packed story. While you don't get right into Iron Man's head, you see him question the world around him, and if there is a God, why would he let horrible things like Fear Itself happen? He has a pretty good conversation with Odin, and has some great interactions with the Grey Gargoyle. I want to renew my subscription soooo badly.
