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Torn between two worlds

Digital comics are coming. Now granted I know that they're already here since I'm going to talk about that as well. What I mean by my original statement is that soon they're will be no print comics. And due to that I am torn on which side to choose. Printed media which I think is still valid and should continue on, or digital.

I find printed media so important because as I've been reading digital comics or watching movies on my computer or streamed through my Xbox I find I have less concern with the outcome of whatever it is I'm doing. If I'm reading a comic a truly wonderful splash page is lost on me and the entire comic even if it is wonderful is forgettable by the time I'm done reading. I think newspaper comics and newspapers are the same. I can read the comic or story online but theres something joyous about picking up a newspaper and pulling the comics out and then taking your time to pick at the one or two stories you may read. (I know not a strong case for the newspaper but I believe theres to much pointless news in the world and too many people reporting it.) The Sunday comics online are not nearly as enjoyable as the Sunday comics read in the living room or found and finished several weeks later. There's a lot to say about touch, and digital anything takes that away from us. The act of renting a movie is significantly different when you touch the disc you're going to watch. I think the reason VHS was so popular was because of the sound it made as you were touching it. Think about it, if some one rattled a VHS behind you right now you would know what it is and how it felt. There no of that with digital media.

So we come to the core of my dilemma... I love comics. I have far more than I should and I have never parted with one that I have purchased unlike a lot of comic readers. I don't like how much space they take up but I love having them to go back to or increase in valve depending on the issue. I love the rare gems that I've tracked down and found that no one knows about. I love the feel of the pages and the joy of going to get new comics every Wednesday. But I found myself really liking the digital comics. I have bought or downloaded for free at least 30 books on my PSP since the digital comic service launched in December/January. And I wait eagerly to download new issues every week and grow tired of only being able to download comics I already own. Granted they are great issues being released but I know that because I bought them 2 years ago when they were released. I have used my PSP more than ever since digital comics arrived on it. Since I bought it on its release day I have never had to charge the battery more than once in any given week. Now I'm constantly killing the battery from reading. I like that I can take it to work and read an issue on my lunch. I like that I can read the issue before after finishing the current issue. There are several things I like and don't like about both formats. The biggest thing I don't like about digital comics is that there is no set format. MP3's work because no mater where I buy the MP3 and no mater what device I listen to it on... it works. With my PSP comic or any of the several ipod comics they only work on the device that it was made for/ purchased on. So I don't actually own All Hail Megatron #1, I own the PSP version of it. If they come out with a PC version I will not own that version and will have to purchase it again. I know a lot of it has to due with formating and device capabilities but I'm having a hard time investing in digital comics when they're so many formats out there. What happens when the ipad (not buying it I hate apple products) and digital readers start coming out? Ebooks work because again, one format doesn't matter which device it works. So why are comics dropping the ball on this?

You vote with your wallet and frankly I've been voting for both. I think as long as the price for a digital comic is right I'll keep buying it so I can read on the go. (Trade marked!) But anything I've purchased on the PSP I will not buy in print or buy another version of it. Hopefully comic book companies stop focusing on how much money they're making for dumping things on the iphone or PSP and start thinking about how to avoid getting themselves in a format war that will have a lot of people throwing up there hands and heading back to the comic book store.

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No One Likes Comics Anymore

It seems to me that no one is interested in liking comics anymore, just hating them. I've gone to countless web sites ranging from big to small and all of them had one thing in common. If I were unfamiliar with comics and with the reviews in general I would not guess that the people reviewing comics were in fact fans of them. In fact I wonder if comics have stopped being fun for them. This is a discussion that my friend and I have almost with every new issue of Previews. (The monthly magazine released by Diamond listing all the comics available for purchase the next month) We literally ask each other if comics are fun anymore. The answer is yes, but we're in too deep. We're to close to the subject matter. It's like coaching your own kid, or being the boss of a friend at work; their always better to you than they may actually be. It may just be that the readers are all in fact tired of reading comics but that they can't stop themselves. It may be the nerd in them, or that conversation that arises when they meet someone knew for the first time and they say, "You read comics?" It's almost as if it's a nerd trophy. For some it might be the collector in them, wanting to finish a run of books no matter the storyline or art. Is that why I can't stop buying the ever sagging Ultimate Spider-Man? Or why I read DC books just for the fact that Batman and Superman are so commonly known? One thing all these reviews sites have in common is that they don't know how to score a book to save their life. On the larger sites that are getting paid by the publisher to write the review, they are overly peppy about the book and then give it inflated score. On smaller sites they destroy the book ripping into to every detail but then still give it a high score. But then it all depends on the reviewer.

It was eight years ago that I got into comics Hardcore, that is to say that I started going weekly. At first I didn't know the schedule they were released on I just bought everything I could afford to buy. In retrospect maybe that's why I enjoyed them more, I had to be selective with what I choose because I didn't have much money. Once I figured out the schedule of Wednesday releases I stopped wasting time and gas going in twice a week to see if anything new had come out. Before the trips to the comic shop I use to get all my comics from the grocery store Safeway, even as a teenager I would accompany my Mom to the store to get comics. Now on a weekly bases I buy on average 30 comics a week and my collection will be right around 10,000 issues by the end of the year. But why? In the last month there's probably only a couple of books that I've been excited for. Even my joy for Secret Invasion has been short lived. It seems that first issue wow me and third issues bore me.

The more I read peoples sites, the more I talk to people in comic shops it really just seems that people are tired with comics but to scared to quit. They don't want to give up that one nerd treasure and would rather complain about how bad it's gotten then to stop. Maybe that's why I still read X-Men and Superman. I tell myself I like the books but really I'm not reading anything that I haven't read before and done better. Occasionally theirs a book that comes along and changes everyones minds about comics, the Kingdom Comes, the Earth X's, the Planetary's, the Watchmen's and Sin City's. The books that every comic fan reads because someone else told them to, and when they finally did they fell in love with comics again. My problem is, where's the next one? Planetary is over and really shouldn't there be more than one in the last eight years? It seems to me I was late showing up to the party and all the good books have checked out.

Perhaps the next time you go to pick up a copy of Grant Morrison's Batman you'll ask yourself, "Am I getting this because I think it's good?" or are you getting it because of the name of the writer? or for the short lived death of Bruce Wayne? or because you've been buying it for years and remember liking it at one time? For me I've decided that since I can afford to buy everything, why not? Well because it isn't fun anymore.

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Nova # 12 - Nova's self is great!

When I started collecting comics, one of the first issue I read was Uncanny X-Men 312 and 313 which dealt with the Phalanx. Frankly the concept freaked me out. So when the Phalanx merged with Ultron, the idea made me metaphorically pee myself. I thought it was quite possibly the coolest thing I had heard. Now Annihilation Conquest has wrapped up and although I don't think it was as good as Annihilation itself was, I did like several things that it did and the characters that it effected.

Nova was one of those characters. When he caught the virus, I thought, "Well shit, he's dead!" Then after the annual which gave a look at his future and that he was going to have to fight the virus everyday for the rest of his life and he wouldn't always be able to be the bad ass that he currently is, bummed me the fuck out. I love to hate the Phalanx because they destroy everything in their path with no cure. It also made me realize just how much I liked this character and what's being done with him. I honestly don't think I could find five characters in comics that I care about right now, but I think Nova would be at the top or at least second on the list.

Thankfully issue Twelve came out (And yeah I stole the picture I already put my issue away and it gives Midtown some free press, so what!) With number Twelve, Nova was cured of the virus by the sacrifice of Warlock. Then Tylo (Warlock's protégé) kicks the crap out of his Dad or something and has a bunch of life spark to share. I gave out a rewarding sigh as Drax and Gamora (it's either Gamora or Gomora I can't remember and I'm lazy) are cured of their virus as well. Gamora didn't take it too well and that made me really, really love the book. Each week I buy about 30 comics and each week their might be one or two that I've got to read first. Thankfully Nova always comes out on time, because I've got to read it first. Guardians of the Galaxy is coming out soon and frankly I just can't wait.

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Marvel Knights - Logan, By: Brian K. Vaughan

Issue two you say? Well yes that's correct this is issue two that I'm reviewing because more than likely you didn't get to read issue one because it was under ordered and quite popular, or hey screw you I didn't feel like writing anything for issue one because I for one felt like nothing happened in the issue to warrant a review.

As for issue two though? Let's say the story takes a mighty leap forward from the first issue which was fine because the first issue was just laying the foundation that the next two issues would take place in. Vaughn also adds history to Logan's character (Even if Marvel can't make up their mind about whether or not Wolvie was in Germany, Russia or Japan during WWII) that adds a great deal of depth to the story. Even though the third issue is sure to be mostly fighting a seemingly unstoppable character, the issue should tie up the mini nicely and add yet another successful check mark on Marvel's Knight Line which has become mini series telling the stories in-between the events that made them the people they are. The art is also very fitting and the colorist does a great job of bringing the book to life. My comic shop guy said it best when he called the artist Frank Miller junior. I would definitely say that he's doing his best to homage Miller and Claremont's six issue series from the 80's. All in all it's a very good book but it would probably be easier to read and find in trade paper back form.

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Young X-Men - How the mutant population seems to grow when you start a new book!

Young X-Men... where to begin? I'd definitely say it's the best thing written by Guggenheim that I've read... is that saying much? Probably not. Also it was better than the last few issues of New X-Men (Before Messiah Complex) which were really crappy. The art is very good and if sales sink or the book gets enough support just because of the X-Men in the title, Marvel will probably pull him off the book and put some "up and comer" on it and pretty much make it unreadable.

I don't like Guggenheim writing "core" X-Character's like Cyclops and Wolverine. His Wolverine run sucked and was frankly just ridiculous, you should never have to rip-off your rip-off and no I'm not going to explain. Why after Messiah Complex does Cyclops have to be a shady mother fucker? Their making him worse then Professor X was and it wasn't until recently that they made PX a piece of shit. Even though I like what Brubaker is doing on Uncanny I still think that his PX is completly out of character. My original point is that Cyclops has not one, but two secret teams. There's X-Force (Not very good either, but again great art!) and now Young X's.

The first story line is already very lazy since it flashes between the past and the present narriated by Blindfold (Shitty name, shitty power!) and one of the youngin's is going to die... I hope it's Wolf Boy or whatever his dumb name is. Aside from fighting old X-Men villains which means that were once again going to be reading recycled story lines from a better writer, there's the fact that two of the members were in the process of killing someone when Cyclops showed up in the middle of the room offering, "Another way," but hey there's only 203 mutants to choose from, and with their rate of causality it'll be like 190 by the end of the year... wait how many died in Messiah? Like twelve? Well pretty soon Jubilee will have her own book again... huh? She's on the New Warriors team? Sigh... Marvel what are you doing some times...

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Secret Invasion - Because I Just Had To!

The Invasion is upon us and finally we can stop seeing "Who do you trust in the corner of every Marvel book, and can move on to seeing large head shots of Iron Man instead. So what is Secret Invasion? Well do you read comic books? Yes? Okay then I'm not going to explain it to you because you should already know and if you don't read Marvel... then you don't care any ways. If you by chance answered "No" to the above questions then I'll say that this book isn't for you and that really you should start reading a book two to three years in the making unless you just want to read a good story that will again change the face of the Marvel U yet again.

Since no one that's going to read this is here to hear what the story is about and that pretty much everyone is doing exactly what I did and asked someone who already read it if it was any good, I'll just get on with it and tell you!

It was a good start... it had some interesting reveals, but since all the cards were on the table I can't say I'm really going to be shocked or pissed off like some people may end up being. If anything the last few pages are what got my attention the most but I see Bendis following in Loeb's foot step's and ending the book with a cliffhanger that makes you want to read the very next page and then instantly stop caring about the nine that follow. I hope this isn't the case and the Loeb isn't ruining the few good writers that Marvel has. We'll have to see how this book plays out, it should be interesting to see if there are anymore Skrull reveals and if the Skrull Kill Krew will show up (I hope, I hope!) If anything after this book I'll be a little sad if we no longer have characters around that were once there. Like I said though, the books off to a good start but it's too early to tell if it's really that good. I'll say Four out of Five :)

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Bounce Lint and Freshness Roller

Quite simply this is the best lint roller made. Why? Because of the Freshness it adds to your clothes. No other Lint Roller has that going for it and since my girlfriend owns two cats and I own a lot of black shirts... well I use a lint roller a lot... probably a lot more than most people. Originally I was only able to find them at Target but recently I ran out and guess what Target didn't carry them anymore. After doing an online search I discovered that just about everyone else in the world was carrying them which made me happy since it's a great product. And screw those "pet" owner linter rollers they suck... I would know.

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Be Kind, Rewind... The Joy of Movies

By now most people probably understand the simpler concept behind Be Kind, Rewind and some have probably seen the controversy behind it too. But frankly I don't think that people get what the movie is really trying to say and obviously the trailer isn't going to give that to you otherwise you wouldn't see the movie.

For starters this movie doesn't take place during the VHS' hay days it takes place now in the DVD age. You should know the premise of the picture already so I'm not going to regurgitate the marketing for you that's the studio's job. I will say that this movie is more about making movies and taking chances making movies then anything else. The Hollywood that I and most people fell in love with no longer exists. There will never be another George Lucas who owns all his characters and the license for those character's because the studio's now know how much money that can make off of it. Be Kind, Rewind to me is more about making good movies, rather than expensive movies. Quality rather than quantity, which is severely lacking in movies today. People for some reason feel ripped off it there not sitting down for two hours eating candy and nachos.

In the movie the video store has all their movies they've made destroyed by studio lawyer's played by Sigourney Weaver and Paul Dinello (Jellyneck from Strangers with Candy). This inspires our video bootleggers to make their own movie. After all isn't that something a lot of people do as kids? First you want to make your favorite movie, then when it's not good enough you make your own. Really that's what I took from this film, yes it was funny as hell to watch them remake movies like Robocop and Ghostbusters and Rush Hour 2, but more importantly I took away a greater joy from this movie then I have in a long time. I didn't leave the theater feeling like they just wanted my money, I left feeling like they just wanted me to enjoy myself and it felt like when I would watch movies as a kid.

That's all I'll ruin of the movie for you since really I'm not even touching the surface of the subtext or other things like sense of community that's also going on in the film. When it opens nation wide I would recommend seeing it and making an opinion for yourself, you may hate it, you may feel like it just wanted your money, or you may leave the theater wondering when's the next time you'll leave the movies feeling so good about the money you spent?

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Questions and Ideas

So I'm creating this posting so that people with random questions have a place to post or if you're visiting my page and not finding the answer's you came here for perhaps my nerd brain can help. So feel free to post in the comment's and I'll try to get back to you in a timely manor. Also if you have anything you want to see reviewed then feel free to let me know. If I've already used the product or have read it, watched it, etc, etc, then I can post a review right away!

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Jenna Jameson's Shadow Hunter

Ah a comic review... how original right? Well it's not often anymore that I read a book and just have to write a review although Vinyl Underground is a very good book and probably worthy of a review.

So what's Shadow Hunter about? Nothing to original in fact it seems like it would fit perfectly with the rest of Top Cow's Universe and since that's where Christina Z cut her teeth it shouldn't be surprising. Basically our main character the hot blonde has always had these visions of Demon's and Angel's fighting, see goes and gets them checked out and earns money in the process. The doctor who looks like a guy in the book but is referred to as a woman (Perhaps an over site when sending the book to India to be drawn?) any way she/he gives... let's just call her Jenna she actually has some other "J" name but it doesn't really matter does it? The Doc gives her a trinket and now her visions are materializing... and trying to kill her. Christina Z is very good with the strong female lead and unlike in other Virgin Comics I didn't find my self just looking at the art because the story was so... grade school. I still was blown away by the story itself but it did interest me enough to want issue two.

The art on the other hand was fantastic! Mukesh Singh is extremely talented and I hope he gets put on other projects after this series is over. Not only were his penciling very detailed and sharp but his coloring was beautiful. Frankly I don't know how to describe how good the art was, just that I was blown away by it. The art makes the book worth picking up and the fact that the story doesn't suck is just a bonus. I'm sure that comic shops over ordered this book due to Jenna Jameson's name being on the cover so it should be hard to find an issue, and like I said it's worth it for the art alone.

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Juno - Yeah I Saw It!

To bad I'm not talking about the movie! So I recently bought a Zune... actually not recently but around the time I took a long break from posting is when I bought it and it has pretty much consumed every aspect of my life. Regardless I got the soundtrack off of the Zune Marketplace which I had to pay for even though I had a Zune pass, but to my delight it was a very good soundtrack. By good I mean the songs were actually in the movie rather than a soundtrack filled with new music from the latest bands or just the musical score *cough* I Am Legend *cough* what the hell were they thinking *cough* *cough* sorry that last one was real. But I did enjoy the movie and the soundtrack is just enjoyable as well. I do wish I that there were more people in my age group in attendance to the flix since it was mostly old people that didn't understand what Thundercats GO! meant. Ah it's so wonderful when a movie can sell tickets based on critic's opinions and by comparison to the last indie comedy that came before it... ah Hollywood, will your writers ever be invited back? Hurry up I've got a script to sell!

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Spider-Man: One More Day or Why I stopped reading Spider-Man

I was really hoping that my first post of the new year would not be comic related... but it is. Let me start by saying enjoy that scanned cover because I WAS going to be lazy and just use someone else's cover but all anyone is using is the stupid Marvel promo art, so I actually took the time and scanned it and such. I'm sure it will be stolen countless times and put on other websites and desktops since that's what my (poor man's) site has become, a grabbing ground for cool pics. Any ways... Spider-Man... One More Day.

Let me start by directing you to another site... here! Now depending on when you read this and what's on their front page at the time you might notice something in the articles/blurbs they have... they're all pretty negative. And that's what's wrong with comic fans writing about comics. I'm guilty of it myself. I start off positive and end up negative every time no matter how much I enjoyed the book it never seems good enough. So I'm going to try and not just be negative for the shake of being negative, I'm going to try and be positive for a change... also if any of the people from the other site read this know that I'm not attacking you I'm just giving you an outside perspective on what it's like to visit you're site, in hopes that my opinion will help you make your site better.

Spider-Man has become the most recognizable character on the planet. When I go into a Walmart and they have 50 Spider-Man pinata's it's safe to say that Spider-Man is over-saturated. You can argue that Superman or Batman is, and they are, but guess what? Little kids want to be Spider-Man because he's not an alien or a millionaire and neither are they. That's why people like him, they can 100% relate to him. They understand what it's like to loose a family member and feel responsible, or struggle to make ends meet. That's Spider-Man, he's the closest thing to real life in comic books.

One More Day was interesting. First it wasn't delayed by Joe Q who's last series took over a year to finish, and it was the last Spidey story JMS will be writing for now. When JMC (JMC = look it up I'm not going to explain it to you!) started writing Spidey I started reading Spidey again, and frankly the man could do no wrong in my eyes. In fact if he didn't have such a shitty artist paired with him most of the time people would probably have paid more attention to the book (You might know the artist he recently drew World War Hulk into Cross-over meritocracy with his 20 year old art style) I always say it doesn't matter how good the story is if the art sucks it will take away from the story, just like in movies when a character is casted wrong and but the rest of the movie is great but that one character ruins every scene their in. In short JMC's Spider-Man is what I think of when I think of the character. And he made him deal with a lot, and frankly he made Peter and MJ's marriage valid. And then it was all pissed away in typically comic fashion just to sell some more issues.

Was Peter revealing his identity hard to write? Yes, but it was an amazing twist that no one had ever done. Was Aunt May dying something unheard of and taboo? Yes, but that's what happens in life. Rather than deal with either of these issues that would have been real that wouldn't have been the happy go lucky ah shucks Spider-Man everyone knows for the most part, Marvel did what they and DC always do and found a loop hole. Mephisto to me is perhaps the worst character in comics... so when he showed up I had to check the cover again and see who the hell was actually writing the book because it couldn't be JMS, no, no it just couldn't be... but it was. I think everyone knew how the book was going to end, but I hoped, that just maybe, maybe their was a small chance that they would stick to their guns and actually show the characters true character.

It was the most depressing issue I've ever read in comics. As much as Fan-Boys hate comics they keep reading them and that's why Marvel and DC can do whatever to the characters. But really they should do what people do in Television and stop reading the book. If people had done that after the Clone Saga who knows what would have become of Spider-Man, frankly I think the clone saga was cool and wish that Marvel had again stuck to their guns. If you stand by your product, if you say this is how it is get use to it and then show them why it's good... then people will continue to read the book and enjoy it rather than waiting to see it wreck into a tree. By Marvel taking away Peter's secret identity being reveal they ruined some of the best press they have ever received... but more importantly by taking away Peter and MJ's marriage they have ruined two of the best characters in all of comics.

I am not interested in reading a Spider-Man who's history I do not know. The issue after Spider-Man starts and instantly I have no idea who this character is... is he a good guy? Is he cocky? Does he care about anyone other than himself? I don't know. I understand that for a new reader (Which is not what makes money in comics is consistent readers) it's great because now you get to figure everything out right along side of everyone else reading the book... because Spider-Man was so hard to read before. I mean it was so annoying when they would refer to character's like Uncle Ben and Harry Osborn or Gwen Stacy, shit like that gets old quick! Of course I read Spider-Man and never knew anything about his previous history, I was not their from the beginning and knew every intimate detail of his world but through good writing and good story-telling I was able to learn about the character and his history. After all the journey is the best part, in life when you get to the finish line you reflect upon what got you there not your foot crossing the line.

I will read the next issue, because I made the mistake of buying 545 and 546 together. In fact I have already started reading 546 and that's why I had to write something, because Marvel lost a Spider-Man reader. I did not stop reading Captain America when Steve Roger's was killed, because they journey (there's that word again) getting their made the death for lack of a better word... Good. I didn't feel cheated or as if it was just another comic Publicity Stunt. I'm sure if you've reader any of my comic articles you've figured out that I read just about every comic out there that I can get my hands on, so when I stop reading a book... that should say something. I will never forget the last issue of Spider-Man I read for it damn near made me cry as I saw something beautiful destroyed so that the writing would be easier. Writing isn't easy nothing worth while is otherwise everyone would do it.

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Quick Hits - Worth the read... For the most part

Let's get right into it shall we?
Potter's Field #2 - So it's only a mini-series huh? That sucks because this is one of the best books I've ever read! Issue two was no let down as John is inadvertently set up by one of his operatives over a woman... kinda of. Really I don't want to say to much other than Paul Azaceta is just really good at drawing action and having it make sense! If you've ever read a comic that wasn't superhero action you know that sometimes you have to really study the page to figure out what the hell the characters are talking about because the Artists' skills where inadequate in expressing the Writer's story. I'm really hoping that there's either more mini-series or they just turn it into an on-going series because I really can't wait till issue three and I'll be sad once I read it since that will be it for the mini. Seriously can't stop thinking about how good the book is, I really think Azaceta has a spell over me or he just works story book magic with this and Talent. I can't wait to see what he does next.

Black Panther #31 - Dear Mr. Hudlin, please get Black Panther and Storm away from the FF because you're story lines with them are very boring and it is not what I like about this book. Thank you. Seriously I couldn't even remember what issue 30 was about and I didn't read it that long ago. This book needs to get Panther back to earth and doing things other than fighting B list FF villains. Issue 32 seems like it's going to suck even more than this issue and I hope the Thing does kill the frogs... or something cool happens I don't care at this point I just want to like the book again.

Crime Bible #1 - I'd say my only grip with this book are the ridiculously long titles and the fact that DC can't seem to pick a cover and stick with it. Otherwise I'd say that Rucka does a great job with the new Question in making her a character and not an annoying character. The Crime Bible itself is an interesting concept and the fact that the Question knows so much about it is interesting. It's almost helping her know the future or something, or I'm reading to far into it. The art was fitting and unlike other DC mini's it was actually good! Not one of there random assholes who draws everyone the same and has shitty inker that can't cover up their rough penciling. There were some art issues on the sub-characters but overall much better than other mini's by DC. But the Question didn't ask any questions? Kinda the point of the character no?


Fantastic Four #550 - I love the fact the McDuffie loves the character Gravity, because so do I! Finally Black Panther and Storm depart the book. What a cool concept ruined by the fact that Reed and Sue were still in the book the entire time. If it hadn't been for that fact it would have been a pretty cool run of the book. I remember when the FF would have different team members like all the time it seems but now... well they could barely go an issue without the old team which is sad really since the book has a lot of potential. But the family is back together and now we can stop having really shitty Black Panther and Thing dialog which was never funny and really it seemed like the Thing hated Black Panther. Also Johnny hasn't said shit in the book for like four issues. Where's the wise cracks?

Lord Havok and the Extremists - So I haven't read the Countdown issue that ties into this book, and I know nothing about Lord Havok but I guess it was kind of a big deal that he was back. To me he seems like a DC's Red Skull and that dude with the shield seems like a poor man's version of Awesome Comic's poor man version of Captain America, and if you check out DC's original cover posted on their site you'll probably see the same thing I did. Otherwise it was just another Super-Villain organizing more villains. Seems to be a trend in Comics right now. I guess the publishers realized that if the Villains just show up and get their asses beat that it's not a very interesting story. Frankly this issue was a snooze fest and it took the whole book to finally get to... well something! Any thing! I'll probably get issue two just to figure out what the hell the book is about before I give it the axe.


Black Summer #3 - Does this book get any cooler? Yes it does. I just wish everyone would stop talking about how the book is going to change the future of comics and how it blows this book or that book out of the water. Frankly let the book be what it is and the readers will decide what it does to the future of comics not the media and news zines. Surprise, surprise, Tom's powers still work and man he has some bad ass powers. He suits up and goes out to prove to the other's that surrendering is not an option and gets blown up by a tank... yeah right! I'm sure he'll show up in the next issue alive and well but that's how the issue leaves you. Fantastic story and the art is just getting better and better some how. No flashbacks in this issue though, I missed that.

What If?... Planet Hulk - There's two stories in this book and only one of them is worth reading. The first story is the cover, they recap everything for the 50th time about Planet Hulk and this time his Queen lives and wants revenge. They don't show the Hulk's son because I'm sure it's going to come into play one day in the future and I'm also sure it will suck. As for the other story it's about what would have happened if the Hulk had landed on the right planet. It's a fun story as the Hulk and Banner take turns screwing the other over, leaving themselves in a more and more secluded area and having to find a way out of it. But while there the Hulk and Banner end up protecting a species from purple snake creatures. In the end Banner and Hulk merge into one perfect being. Only part that bothered me was the fact that Banner killed one of the things to and was eating it but hey whatever.

Action Comics #858 - Does it seem like Action Comics comes out a lot to you too? I mean I just bought 3 issue of this book and I had only stopped buying comics for a month! Gary Frank is far to good and be working at DC but for some reason everyone and their mother wants to work on Superman, not that theres anything really groundbreaking or interesting to happen to Superman since his death, but everyone still has this dream of working on the book. Finally DC starts answering some questions about all the Legions running around and the Lightning Saga questions get answered as well. Supes goes to the future and is powerless! Why? Red Sun! But wait a red sun doesn't instantly drain him of powers but slowly right? Not true I guess because Supes gets shot through the hand! But its okay because he doesn't respond with a painful cry or anything just a lot of talking from the Legionaries... Hopefully he'll find Supergirl and bring her out of Legions book that way DC can cancel the book yet again. The art was amazing even if once again I feel I've missed what the hell happened with General Zod? Can someone tell me what book to read that explains it?

New Avengers #35 - Once again a Super-villain is organizing other villains, but I actually really like it. I liked it so much I'd rather read a book about the Hood and the villains than another Superhero book since the whole initiative thing is getting a little old. I didn't like the fact that Tigra had to be beaten down and made an example of. She was already in character dumps-ville thanks to shitty writing. Also I thought Jigsaw was in Punisher? I could be wrong but I think Marvel messed up again and maybe I read to many books! Yu's art is amazing and anyone that thinks otherwise can stop reading one of the best comics out there. No other book has been as consistently good as New Avengers and it actually comes out on time! As for the story... well read it yourself! It's really cool and finally gives you some insight as to what Bendis has been sitting on for over a year.


Doktor Sleepless #3 Bastard of Tomorrow - And now the book makes sense! The Nurse's past is partially revealed and one heck of a real world concept is dropped on our lap. Digging through the website I found the Warren Ellis has some really dedicated fans that already have tattoo's from this book even though it's not even finished! Basically John tells his captors that he's created a phantom of himself and that the phantom is carrying on his work for him. Or is the phantom the one locked away? We also meet the man who raised John... and he's probably going to try and kill him.

Thunderbolts #117 - Another Ellis book that's also Really good! Yeah I guess that's not saying much. What is saying much is the fact that Ellis gave Doc Samson a haircut and made him less of an annoying jackass that constantly betrays other heroes for the Government. Oh and Penance is really fucked up! I had my doubts about how Ellis was handling the character but wow he really knocked it out of the park with this issue! Green Goblin finds his mask in his desk freaking him out which should be really cool with how crazy the team's getting. I think that's Ellis' ultimate goal to tear the team apart and rebuild it differently and new, you just have to wait for this one to erupt which should also be cool to watch.

Ah! It feels good to pump out some Quick Hits, yeah I know I complained some but I needed to get it out of my system. Pick up the books that sound interesting for you and feel free to share some opinions on the same books or others! Thanks!

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More DC for me please! and some Quick Hits!

So I'll try not to blotch this one up as I proceed to review Green Arrow: Year One, Black Canary, Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood and Green Lantern Corps, and some quick hits!

Green Arrow: Year One - This is how Green Arrow should be! Diggle and Jock are one of the best teams in comics and I can't wait to see what project they take on next. I would love to see an ongoing of GA: YO but I doubt DC has the grapes to do it. If for some reason you think I'm blowing smoke up your ass I have evidence from DC, on just how good this book is. Issue's 1 and 2 both have blank of four on the cover, but issue 3 became blank of six. Meaning the extended it for two more issues. Yeah it was probably just to help tell a better story and not actually due to popularity, but it still got me excited about reading two more issues of it. If you don't know the history of Greeny then pick up the book because I'm not going to sum any of it up for you, the book is just too good to ruin for anyone.

Black Canary - The first issue is titled, "Living With Sin." Referring to the little girl that Gail Simone (Ex-writer of Birds of Prey) stuck Black Canary with. That's really all this mini-series was there to do, get rid of the little girl so that DC could write Green Arrow and Black Canary however they wanted. Within the book Black Canary seems like a sub-character and GA even narrates one of the issues. Once again they make GA just way to bad ass for who he is and what he does. I don't know why DC is trying to make him more Bad Ass then Batman but with a better love life, it's just lame and not very interesting for his character. If I had read all the wedding nonsense I wonder how many books I would have found that BC says yes to GA? Too many probably. Also the ending is ridiculous as any sane woman would never have excepted GA's proposal after the shit he pulled, it just goes down as another example of how forced this wedding is and that no one reading comics should be happy about it.

Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood - This book was actually pretty good. It was typically Chuck Dixon, "I stick to action" but this time I could help but be sucked into the book... until the last 2 issues any ways. Whereas GA Year One needed two more issues, this book needed 2 less. It really felt like he didn't know how to fill that many pages and started adding filler to the story. The ending was horrible and pretty much ruined the character for me. Also I have no idea what time frame the book took place in but assume it had to be the past since it didn't mention anything happening in the GA world today. The art was awesome though and saved the book which wouldn't have been as good without it. The soft-cover is for sale now so if you're just a huge fan of the character or something then check it out.

Green Lantern Corps - Gosh I read a lot of issues of this series... starting from issue 3 all the way up to 13... I've got the whole series thus far... and really don't like the book one bit. The art sucks, the coves suck, there's too much pointless dialog. I wish they stick to just three characters at a time rather than trying to cover the entire corps. There was an interesting story, plagued by bad dialog, where there was a Corpse. Basically the anti-hero version of the Corps and they can kill and their powers are contained within themselves. It was pretty cool... too bad it doesn't fit into the War that's going on and will probably be forgotten until some years pass, but it was still pretty cool.

QUICK HITS!!!

Batman & Robing The Boy Wonder #7 - I don't care what people say this book can come out whenever it wants and do whatever it wants because it's the fucking good. This is how Black Canary should be and I think the idea of her hooking up with Batman rather than a wannabe Batman is cool. I would love to write that story since this book gave me a bunch of ideas for it. Great book as always!

Robin #166 - Didn't read 165... don't really care. How do you get rid of a character that's sheer presence means he'll have to become a starring character in the book? Kill him off of course. Dodge was a bad character and I don't know why the writer handled him the way he did. But to fix his own mess he opted to kill Dodge off rather than make him a character that didn't suck. I don't see myself reading 167. Sadly I'm still kinda interested in the book but there's just not enough to bring me back to it. I still think it's just a DC cash in book like Nightwing and Green Lantern Corps.

Simon Dark - I just realized that this book was written by Steve Niles, and I guess that's why it didn't suck and I'm actually looking forward to the next issue. The art was very detailed and had a familiar style to it, that I really enjoy. I thought it was just a mini-series since DC rarely takes chances on on-going titles anymore. It's almost their company policy to have a 6 to 8 issue mini then launch an ongoing with a different team and watch it fail. I really like Simon Dark though and I look forward to seeing how he fits in with Gotham.

Gotham Underground - Calafiore is a decent artist... on Exiles... but nothing more. Underground was pretty boring, Penguin is running an Underground Railroad for super-villains that are getting pick up by the Suicide Squad *Cough* Thunderbolts ala Civil War *Cough* and Batman is investigating. Two-Face and Scarecrow and Mad Hatter all make appearances and are completly out of character. Scarecrow was left scary and new at the end of Detective Comics, Two Face hasn't made his bad ass return after One Year Later but I expected him to be less of a sissy, and Mad Hatter was a lunatic after his run in Secret Six which also but a scary new twist on him. In this book they're all cowards and it doesn't even make sense that someone with their resources would need the Penguin. The Squad shows up and busts all of them including the Penguin. Lame!

Superman #667-668 - Sigh... Does Busiek really need two story lines happening at the same time? Were still wrapping up Camelot Falls and then it switches over to The Third Kryptonian which is equally cool but by having both running at the same time, you take away from both! The Third Kryptonian is more than likely going to die so that Superman can live and we can't have that many Super people running around or it'll get boring. Still like the book I just wish DC wasn't so deadline happy and forcing 2 stories at once.

Well I've said to much but at least you only have to read one post rather than a bunch which is what I would have typically done. Feel free to send in disagreements and opinions.

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Superman, Action Comics, Green Arrow and why Judd Winick should probably retire from comics

So if you've been reading... hopefully someone has since I haven't been posting much, I've been catching up on the comics and I've pumped out quite a few including Batman and everything that could be considered a Bat-book, Superman and everything under that category and now I've started on Green Arrow. All in all I've read almost an entire box of comics which if you're a comic nerd/collector you know that those boxes can store a lot of comics!

So Superman... where the hell to begin with this mess? Well I've already covered Superman the series but as for Action Comics... well good luck figuring out any kind of time line. In-between the actually interesting Johns, Donner, Kubert run is a bunch of fill in stories that do 1 of 2 things. 1) prove my theory about Busiek only being as good as his artist or 2) bore the crap out of you and make you wonder what the hell's happening with the series. I'm actually very confused as to what's happening with the Kryptonian Invasion and I'm wondering... what the hell did I miss? Now he's on Bizzaro planet? Seriously what's going on? Otherwise it's a damn good book, not the best Superman I've ever read and Kubert's art is... not very fitting. I don't know if it's the colorist or if it's just him but the art is just not there.

Probably the best Superman book I've read so far was Superman: Confidential #1-5. I was disappointed that the storyline ended with issue 5. It's just a classic Superman with a hint of a modern twist, but was one of the most rewarding books I've read and I hope they finish the storyline. Cooke and Sale are a perfect team and I hope they do more work in the future.

As for Green Arrow, geesh, where to begin? I read like 15 issues of this book and still really think you could have trimmed it down into like... 5! I will continue with an open letter to Judd.

Dear Judd Winick,
I know that you were upset that you were taken off of Batman and that you probably could've milked the same storyline for at least 2 years much like you've done with GA. In fact you pretty much continued the storyline from Batman into GA which was pathetic, lazy and spiteful on your part. GA is now the poor man's Batman only he's a sucky character thanks to you. You were probably one of the only writers that spent the year after One Year Later explaining what had happened in that year... Let me tell you... it was boring to read about the mystery year. Back to the Batman thing since it's bothering me. I just find it so ridiculous that you continued your really bad Red Hood storyline into GA it was so half ass and not even worth it at the end. You taught Speedy a lesson? Great... to bad she's a hollow character because you write her one dimensional for the most part or she's just GA's Robin since all you do is try and make her look better than Robin instead of making her, her own character. Also I know you're friends with Brad Meltzer who did a great job with Deathstroke in Identity Crisis but you are not Brad and you're Deathstroke is not cool. He talks to much, he's not that scary and frankly I think anyone could take him in a fight if you weren't writing him. Also I'm pretty sure you're gay and know someone with HIV, which I have no problem with other than the fact that you shove it down peoples throats every time you write a comic. Lesbians in the Outsiders, Homosexual's getting beat up in Green Lantern, HIV in GA when do you stop shoving? This goes for everything, no one wants to hear your view constantly, whether it be religion, sexual preference, or cookies. We get it stop the shoving you're not doing anything about the issue by putting it into a comic. Also the fight scene between GL and BC was pointless and pathetic and seem so out of character for the both of them that I couldn't help but laugh... a skip a few pages forward. Upon receiving this I hope that you'll just start writing you're own characters that way you can see how hugely successful you are..n't.

As a note I'm not reading the new GA series as I find it to be a complete joke and waste of time. If they had relaunched it with a different writer then I might have checked it out but after reading his last GA I really don't see the point and have to say that it was a bad move on DC's part to leave him on the book. Maybe when they wise up and replace him I'll give it a shot.

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Camelot Falls!!! - Why Superman is actually an interesting book

Have you noticed a trend to my blogs lately? Yes, you see I have all my comics organized by company and by book making it easier to read... sigh... I'm a nerd. Well any ways next on my DC read-athon is Big Blue. Originally I brushed this book off, saying to myself that it wasn't that good or interesting. I just remember everyone telling me that Busiek was the jam and that no one writes a better Supes than he. Well I'd have to say that they are partially right. Busiek is only as strong as his artist, and frankly he's only strong with Carlos Pacheco. When sticking to the main plot with the main artist the book is quite impressive, but when it trails off with fill in artist and fill in stories you have to wonder if it's the same writer from the issue before.

There are a couple of fill in stories that were actually very good, the first being the Prankster issue in which Superman makes more of a guest starring appearance. The second is the Origin of Jimmy Olsen which was just an interesting story and took us back to the hay days of the Bugle without it being horribly cheesey like it typically is. But like I said this doesn't always pan out... the issue guest starring Wonder Woman was simply horrible. Every other book that WW's been in instantly throws in a line from WW stating that she hasn't been gone from the world so long that she doesn't know what a computer is or reality games shows, you know something to that extent, but in this issue Wonder and Lois go into a cyber-cafe and the exact opposite happens I kid you not. WW acts dumb and Lois says, "My gosh, you have been disconnected from the world for to long."

I don't know if it's intentional or not, but the book only seems to struggle with certain artists, literally when the artist changes it's like reading a throw back issue from a team that has not right working on Superman. I haven't read the latest 2 issues but there's another issue from the horrid artist that worked on issue #666 which was another story that just screamed "throw back." Needless to say I'm not to sure about Superman's continued existence in my collection, for now though he's bought himself a free pass. I only wonder if Action Comics will fair as well...

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MADE the cut - Catwoman and The Outsiders

Surprise, surprise, there's actually a few books that made my chopping block! I won't go all rant crazy on them but yeah I was actually surprised by these two books. I still have my gripes with them on a few things but sometimes I have to take into account that they aren't meant to be read back to back like I'm doing but rather month to month. Catwoman's book was probably the second best book to tackle the One Year Later fiasco and actually make it work. Lopez's art on the book is consistent and very fitting, not only with the writing but also with the character. It just goes to show that sometimes a book just needs a constant team to produce a good book rather than a thousand different artist and writers taking a stab at it one month to the next. I strongly believe that that's what's wrong with comics today is that they companies don't lock down these creative teams but rather throw there up and comers on struggling books or use them as fill-ins and say, "Prove yourself!" they also do the same with the superstars only this time they say, "Make it sell!" Myself I have given up on reading a book just do to the writer and definitely due to the artist. Yes I will give them an issue or two to see if it's worth reading but I know longer cling to the theory of well they were good once they're good always. Back to Catwoman though, I haven't read the newest issue yet and the next issue has her stealing from Bruce Wayne for some reason and her life as Selina is completly gone and that frankly has me really interested. What interests me more is her role on the Outsiders which I just got done reading and was like wow, two books that I like tying into each other... alright, good going DC. Even if the creative team changes I'll still give this book a chance since it didn't make me feel like I had wasted my money collecting it for a year and never reading it.

As for the Outsiders, they almost didn't make the cut. But then Judd (I have to make a least one character Gay in whatever book I'm writing) Winick got booted off the book and things really started to turn around. I like the concept of the Outsiders, I like the team and wish that some of the members were still on it. I like the fact that Batman's leading it. In fact I wish he weren't even on the Justice League and I don't like the fact that DC's going the way of Marvel and making all the heroes register and keeping tabs on them. The joy of DC has always been that it just seemed magical, all these made up cities with these characters that the people in the world loved and respected. DC isn't like the real world so don't make them like that. The Outsiders are going this way to, but at least its interesting and the team auditions were some of the best Outsider stories I had read in my year and a half of collecting and not reading any of the books.. spree I guess you could call it. I do hope that they add some other members that are more interesting, I liked the fact that it was always a couple of really well-known characters mixed with a bunch of B and C-listers.

Both books really caught my attention I just hope they keep it, but DC may have gotten me for another six months to a year and unlike Robin and Nightwing I feel these books have a point rather then just giving the fans of the character something to read and be disappointed with.

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Making the Cut - Robin

Let me just say this first, Can I get some character consistency with this guy? Please? Every book I read that has Robin is completly different than the next and frankly I only like him in Batman. We're he a Bruce actually try to act like Father and Son. In his own series he constantly wonders if he can trust Batman, over and over and it's just ridiculous. Teen Titans is just whatever, I haven't gotten caught all the way up on the book yet but I don't think anyone will argue that he's different in that book as well.

As I read this book I couldn't help but think that some DC editor was trying to capture the magic of Ultimate Spider-Man with all the teen dating and break ups and blah blah blah. The thing is, I'm pretty sure no read of this book would even think to compare the two because of how boring this book is. The Character Dodge (I use the word "Character" loosely) is a crappy character there's no getting around that. He was bullshit when they created him and if everyone else didn't figure out that he was going to become a villain because Robin didn't like him then well maybe this book really is for you... I stopped reading this book with the issue above, whereas Nightwing had made me interested to see just how bad the book could get and how inconsistent the villains could continue to be... Robin has done nothing but bore me and since the art really isn't that good and the dialog pretty much sucks the big one I've got no reason to come back to this book until DC forces me into picking it up during a killer cross-over or something.

That's pretty much always been my problem with Nightwing and Robin's books, they don't do anything. They don't hold any weight in the rest of the DCU, hell they don't even cross over with other books. That doesn't mean it has to be like Manhunter where she's guest starring in her own book, but even Firestorm had some decent guest stars or cross-overs with other titles. Robin's own book doesn't cross-over with Teen Titans the group he leads... I mean come on how easy would that be? From the very start of both of these books they have simply been a cash in, another book to add to the Batman line and nothing more. Hopefully the slumping sales will force DC to either cancel the books or finally make them interesting. After all Marv Wolfman couldn't save Nightwing after the One Year Later fiasco, and I couldn't even tell you one other thing the Robin writer has written... nor would I want to read something else he's written. Robin is another title that doesn't make the cut I'm afraid.

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Making the Cut - Nightwing - About a Year's Worth

I started reading Nightwing during Infinite Crisis and with One Year Later one of my favorite writers took over the book. A lot of people screamed bloody murder about everything Bruce Jones did on the book but I have to call "Bullshit" on that. First off, Jones did the best he could with the crap that was handed to him. Frankly I hate Nightwing in New York and think that it's a horrible mistake for DC to put real cities in there world of made up cities. Everyone already considered Metropolis to be New York so it's a waste to actually have a New York. The problem with Jones' run, was that he was just following suit with the book... nothing new to the character. He just made him "Bruce Wayne Lite" and called it good. When I see this I call foul on the Editors because regardless of what anyone thinks they are responsible for all character decisions and for what happens on the book. My point in case is that Marv Wolfman is now on the book and if he re-read the book Nightwing still isn't that different even though a man responsible for crafting the character is writing it, someone who knows the history of the character compared to someone who knew nothing.

The art for this book is horrible and since it's just a niche book appeasing the league of Nightwing fans out there, the art will never really improve. If by chance they do land some up and coming superstar artist they will be yanked from the book after they finish whatever storyline they're on and but on another title. I guess I need to read Infinite Crisis again because I don't remember Dick almost dying, and frankly since he didn't I don't really care and Wolfman needs to stop bringing it up in every issue. I don't know why DC would even toy with the idea of killing Nightwing, yeah it would have been ballsy but DC doesn't have the balls to do it. Also what would that really have done for the story of IC? Nothing, at least Conner's death had some substance to it. Overall this book is very safe, meaning it doesn't take any chances and just maintains the status quo. Most of each issue is spent showing how much Nightwing isn't like Batman, and frankly I don't care. If anything this should be a chance to get Batman right even if you have to use another character to do it.

The Villains are horribly inconsistent as well. During the Bride and Groom storyline, the Groom became more and more out of character after the first two issue that his character was established and the Bride did the same thing. They almost switched characters completely then in the last pages switched back. Also Nightwing teaming up with the villains to bring them down was the most forced storyline ever. Nightwing crashes a villains bar to see who knows about Bride and Groom, even though there unknown villains and he knows this and he's been keeping tabs on the place since he got to town but hasn't busted in yet. Also the amount of property damage he does is just bullshit and makes Nightwing look like an asshole. So obviously the Villain don't know anything about the Unknown villains and Nightwing books it leaving a petite threat towards the washed up villains. And wouldn't you know it, Bride and Groom find the place... sigh, by tracking Nightwing's aura which seems convenient since they never said Groom could do that, but since they didn't say he couldn't I guess it's okay.

Probably the best issue I read of this was the annual written and drawn by two people that have nothing to do with the ongoing series at all. It had heart, it understood the characters (even if Barbara felt a little out of character at times) and really it just nailed it. I wanted to read more of that Nightwing rather than the year's worth of Marv's run. Since I'm cutting back on comics I have to tell you Nightwing didn't make the Cut!

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