Channel Surfing: Wonder Women!

There was so much potential for this episode of Blade. A cross-over with Wolverine set in Madripoor, the crime capitol of the Marvel Universe? On paper, that sounds like gold. Sadly, this isn't paper.

Reviewed: Blade, Episode 7: Claws and Blades
Special: Wonder Women!





All of the setbacks that have pulled down every episode are still present here in full force. Lazy animation? Check. Repetitive battles with hordes of useless vamps that pose no threat to the main characters? Check. Design that borders on the ridiculous? Double check. And to add to all of that is the gem that is Anime Wolverine.

I'll get this out of the way right now. This is not Wolverine. He's too scrawny and pretty boy-ish, he barely does any fighting, and his voice actor is trying WAY too hard to sound gruff. Did I mention this guy got a solo series last year?

Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't the worst episode of the show. We learn a little more about the antagonists plans to start up a Vampire civil war; and that Lucious creep is taken care of in a satisfying way. Also, the little Malaysian vamps that grow when they drink blood were actually kind of cool. But all in all, the entire show has elicited one giant "meh" from me so far.

And speaking of Wolverine, he was in Madripoor to fight A.I.M.? I never watched the solo Wolverine anime, but that really seems more like Iron Man's turf. Go figure.






On a completely unrelated note, I found a new documentary that you might want to put on your radar. It's a look back on how women have been portrayed in comics and media. From the feminist origins of the WWII era, the "dark ages" of the 50's and 60's, and the rising empowerment from the women's rights movement on. It looks great and informative on a section of the comics world that doesn't get a lot of press. I'd keep an eye out for it when it releases soon.




And Riot Grrl. Because Riot Grrl is awesome.

Updates and Aliases

It's been another slow week in the comics world, so this time around instead of doing a Serial News post I decided to talk a bit about my blog and its future.

There will probably be a few changes around here. I'm obviously just starting out and everything is in a bit of a timey-wimey experimental stage. So if there is any feedback my loyal fans can give me I could put that into use for a potential re-design/restructure.

Also, if you viewed my first ever vlog (which you should, scroll down!) you will notice I went by my real name. Now, any self-respecting internet reviewer knows you can't get anywhere without some sort of bad-ass alias. I'm at a loss though...comic book guy is most likely taken. :P

So until I think of something significantly rad, I'll be using my real name. I hope that doesn't come back to haunt me later!


Well that's pretty much the only things I wanted to talk about. The crux of the situation is, I need suggestions on making this place the coolest little corner of the internet, so get to writing!


On a some-what unrelated note, I was going to post a little preview/my thoughts on the new video-game Gotham City Imposters, but alas...a demo is nowhere to be found! I find this a mite bit disturbing, and I simply don't buy things without trying them out first. So if anyone has the game, let me know what you think!

Since I can't review it myself, here's a link to some other reviews around the net. I try to be thorough. Even if I can't provide, you can still come to this blog to find what you are looking for!

IGN Review

Gametrailers Review


And I'll leave with that. Stay tuned to the continued efforts in bringing you the best in comic knowledge. Until next time comic fans, stay golden.

Good, Bad, and Poorly-Drawn: Rockabilly Vampire Hunters!

This week in comics, Bane makes his Nu52 debut to remind Batman why he's such a badass, Superman sets things in place for the Daemonite War, and the Rise of the Vampires cross-over gets under-way between I, Vampire and Justice League Dark, among other things.

On the Marvel side of things, the Hawkeye and Magneto solo books come to a conclusion and not a care was given to either, Mephisto makes his entrance in the Circle of Four event, Tanarus blows his cover as Thor defeats the Demogorge, Deadpool plays his hand at trying to commit suicide, and the Avengers continue to be told that what they are doing is morally wrong, no matter how many lives they save. Getting a bit repetitive there, Bendis. Anyway....

The Good: Top 5 Comics


#5 - Fantastic Four #603: Ever since the return of the Torch, this book has been burning hot, and I mean that with all puns intended. The battle comes to a head when Galactus throws it down with the Mad Celestials. Seriously, this story-line is event worthy, it's that epic.




#4 - The Flash #6: The layouts continue to be the driving force behind what makes this book so great. It's creative and innovative and taking Flash exactly where he needs to be. Add in a fast-paced non-linear storyline and a nice development on the Captain Cold character and you have one great book. Not to mention, Barry + Patty = Adorable!


#3 - Secret Avengers #23: If you have little to no respect about the current Ant-Man, look no further than this book. It's a touching story of redemption, and I would be ok if this supremely well written issue was the end of his journey. The drawback is that I don't find the adaptoids to be too interesting. Nevertheless, this book is looking to be on Top 5 for a long time methinks.




#2 - Wolverine & the X-Men #6: The art is literally the only thing keeping this from the #1 spot, I'm just completely not feeling it. Seriously, why couldn't Bacchalo have stayed on? That gripe aside, the misadventures of the X-Men fighting Brood inside Kitty Pryde's intestines while Wolverine and Quire gamble in space! How can you not love it? This book managed to make me laugh out loud on several occasions, it's that fun.

#1 - American Vampire #24: Skinner Sweet fighting a rockabilly vampire hunter on the hood of a speeding muscle car, THAT'S ON FIRE. That right there is enough to make you go out and buy this issue. It's merely a plus that the issue includes a well-written origin story that makes you really feel for Travis Kidd, a flashy and frenetic art style that superbly fits the tone of the book, and a creative use of layouts that make you want to just pore over the art for hours on end. Scott Snyder is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers between this and Batman, and this book couldn't come more highly recommended by me. Go buy it now.



The Bad: Books to Avoid

X-Men Legacy #262: I do like the idea of an X-book focusing on Rogue and the other teachers at Jean Grey's school, but the potential seems wasted here. The art is sub-par, especially in the facial features, and the story revolves around random big bads of the week trying to destroy the school. The other X-books do the exact same thing, except much better. I would prefer if this book focused on character relationships. They've hinted at a Rogue/Magneto/Gambit love triangle and I'm itching to see that plot-line come to the forefront. Leave the fighting to the zillion other X-books thank you.


Deadpool MAX II #5: Good god do I hate this comic. Every week that it comes out you will be sure to find it on my books to avoid list. It's just atrocious. It gives a bad name to the crazy antics of Deadpool, and it gives a bad name to the MAX imprint in general. It's filled to the brim with unnecessary violence and nudity just because they can. People will pick up this book and think that that's all the MAX imprint is, and the truly amazing, mature stories (like Punisher MAX) will be lost in the wayside. I'm not even going to talk about the horrendous art, my 10 year old nephews could do better than this. Avoid at all costs!


The Ugly: Books that Make You Cringe

I've already talked about Wolverine and the X-Men (a great book with sadly poor art) and Deadpool MAX (a horrible book with art that's just as bad) but here's another one to keep a look out for:

Aquaman #6: Where are you Ivan Reis? The book has been so phenomenal so far, its a shame to see what's become of this issue. Not only is it not that great of an issue, but apparently the fill in artist they got to replace the great Reis doesn't know how to draw a face that doesn't look like a horse. For shame, DC. Thankfully Ivan Reis will be back soon, but some consistency would be nice. I'd rather see the book delayed than this trash be released.



And those are my thoughts on this week. Let me know what you think by posting comments, and as always comic fans, stay golden!

Channel Surfing: The Dead Walk!

As we come to another week of Channel Surfing, I look at the latest episode of Blade, and talk a little about that "other" comic book show currently airing on tv. Let's get started!

Reviewed: Blade, Episode 6: Bad Blood
Special: The Walking Dead


Blade takes a dip in quality this week, becoming more ridiculous than I ever thought possible. Heading to Sumatra, the team meet a shaman who can magically turn water into vampire curing juice, and belittles him into convincing his work is worthless (even though it seemed to be working fine to me.)

After spending the first bit of the episode brooding over his dead mother, Blade and co. go to a vampire silver mine that they never explain the purpose for and fight a horde of Stretch Armstrong vamps. What? And the big bad of the episode is a guy that looks like a walrus that transforms into a herd of rats. What??

The battle over, the shaman leads the stretchy vamps into a lake where he cures them all with his never explained shaman powers, and then promptly bursts into flames and dies for no reason...and that's the episode in a nutshell.

I just found the whole episode to be way too over the top to take seriously, and that is a very bad thing when they are trying to make Blade a believable bad-ass. Not to mention the quest for Deacon Frost is quickly devolving into a "your vampire is in another castle" type of situation.

All in all, quite a disappointment compared to the last couple of episodes. I do have hopes for the next episode though, a journey to Madripoor. Yippee.



On another semi-related note, based on recommendations from friends I've decided to start watching The Walking Dead. I've never read any of the Walking Dead comics so I won't be able to do a comparison, but nevertheless I'll let you know what I think of the show once I get caught up.


And that's all I have to say about this week, just a little while longer until the launch of DC Nation, and the return of Young Justice! I'm looking forward to that, as should you.

Until next time comic fans, stay golden.

Centaur Comics: A Lesson in Public Domain

Those who have been reading my blog know quite a bit about one of my favorite early heroes, Dr. Occult. He was a suave private detective with every bit the charm of a Dick Tracy type, added with the mysterious fog of the supernatural.

While most detectives were dealing with drug pushers and kidnappers, Dr. Occult was off battling demons and vampires. In fact some would say he's a major inspiration for the current Vertigo hero John Constantine. Except not British.

What I haven't mentioned though, is the strange and interesting tale of how Dr. Occult is both a DC character and a Marvel character. Let me explain:

Back in 1936, comic creators John Mahon and Bill Cook left DC comics in a dispute over not being paid for their work (god forbid that!). However, they did not go off into the quiet goodnight, no sir. Instead they acquired financial backing of their own and decided to beat DC at their own game. National Allied Comics had its first major rival: The Comics Magazine Company.

In those days, there was no "writer loyalty" or exclusive contracts as their is now. So many of the talent that the Comics Magazine Company ended up hiring were also working for National Allied, including the legendary team of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. This is how the whole mess started.

Siegel and Shuster created the character of Dr. Occult within the pages of More Fun Comics. This new company wanted some of those same stories, so the name was changed to Dr. Mystic and he appeared in their eponymous "Comics Magazine".

The strange thing is, Siegel and Shuster treated these two characters as one and the same. A story would start in one comic, and finish in the next comic, no matter what company released said comic or what name the Dr. was using at the time. You could say that this was one of the first examples of an inter-company cross-over!

Of course, even though these comics managed to create some very memorable characters (such as the very first masked hero "The Clock") they never achieved the financial success of their rivals. So eventually, companies were merged or sold, and the copyrights of characters changed hands quite a few times.


Comics Magazine Company was merged with Ultem Publications, minus a few of the characters like The Clock, which were sold to Quality Comics. By 1938, Ultem went under and was sold to what would eventually become Centuar Publications. Taking the greats like Dr. Mystic, and creating new characters like Amazing Man, they managed to publish stories up until finally dying out in 1944. After that, for all intents and purposes, these characters were gone forever.

Until 1992 that is. Enter Malibu Comics! By this time all the characters from Centaur Comics had passed into the public domain so a few comics companies tried to revive them. The most notable one was Malibu, who took several Centaur characters and put them on a team called The Protectors. It lasted 20 issues and then died, but the practice of reviving classic public domain characters lives on to this day.

And so we come to the end of this story. Comic lovers know that the comics industry crashed in the mid-90's from collector speculation, and with it fell Malibu Comics. They were chopped up and sold to Marvel, who have continued to ignore the characters that they now hold the rights to. It will never happen, but a "Dr. Mystic" character could exist in the world of Marvel, and his past creates a link to the world of DC in a way that is rarely seen.

Well, that's all I have to say on that matter. I hope you enjoyed my rants on comic industry copyright craziness, but if not, don't fret. Next time I'll be back to the formula of reading those "classic" comics, and separating the "gold" from the merely "old".

Until next time comics fans, stay golden.

Movie Reviews: Ghost Rider - Spirit of Vengeance

So if you've been reading my posts, you know I've been on vacation all last week. But even while slacking off, I managed to grab a viewing on the new movie Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. And here are my immediate thoughts on the matter.

However, I didn't get to talk about everything such as the awesome Christopher Lambert cameo or my opinion on the 3D (not worth it this time around imo).

It's very quickly and roughly done on purpose, so keep that in mind before you blast me and tear it down. In the future I'll try to keep these videos scripted so there will be less pauses and "uhms"

So, as always, I love me some feedback, so let me know what you think!

Until next time comic fans, stay golden.

Good, Bad, and Poorly-Drawn: Wondie vs. The Gods!

Better late than never I always say, so here's my top picks of books to grab and ones to avoid for last week. Just in time to snag them up when you head to your LCS tomorrow!

The Good: Top 5 Books

#5 - Blue Beetle #6: Paco becomes a member of the Reach, and the final straw is broken; forcing Jaime to leave his family behind and head to New York. Fans of the old Jaime series may still be up in arms about this radically different take, but I for one am glad they aren't just re-treading old stories.






#4 - Daredevil #9: It's actually not as great as some of the previous issues, but it's still one of the best things coming out of Marvel right now. Waid and Rivera are killing it month after month, and Mole Man creepily slow dancing with a corpse is an image that will take a while to get out of my mind!






#3 - X-Factor #232: The "They Keep Killing Madrox" arc comes to close with a bang involving a great twist on the normal Dr. Strange. The writing is as top-notch as ever and the idea of bringing a couple of new alternate universe characters to the 616 universe is very intriguing. I loved this arc but I can't wait to rejoin the main team, especially now that Havok and Polaris are back.






#2 - Batman #6: I know everyone else seems to put this at #1 for just about every week, but I liked another book even more. Nevertheless, this issue was packed to the brim with everything that was great about issue #5, but with a great pay-off where the Bat finally gives Talon what he deserves. And the cliffhanger....oh man.






#1 - Wonder Woman #6: This book has jumped back in forth in quality in my opinion. The loss of Cliff Chiang was a crushing blow, but the fill-in artist is finally starting to grow on me a bit. The real reason I placed this book up at the top of my list this week is simple: Wonder Woman in a room full of actual Gods, and managing to hold her own in the badassery department. She literally manages to use a piece of Hades' head to put a crimp in Hera's plans. That made my week, and this is a very under-rated book that I highly recommend.




The Bad: Books to Avoid

DC Universe Presents #6: The start of a new arc based on the Challengers of the Unknown. Except instead of characters we know they are all extremely unlikeable d-bags from a reality tv show. Oh and the book doesn't really care about things like explaining what the hell is going on. I say just skip this arc entirely and come back at issue #9 when Vandal Savage takes over.




Legion of Super-Heroes #6: Most of the cool things about the Legion are pretty missing in this issue. Instead you get a confusing mess about Dragonwing going back to China to visit her sister. Seems like uninteresting filler, and combined with last issue (which was also filler, but unlike this, was interesting) I'm beginning to think that the writers are just messing around until the Dominator story-line gets going.




Ultimate Comics: X-Men #7: A non-plot advancing issue that revolves around Quicksilver. It seems "confusing mess" is the order of the week for several of these books. Lots of references to things that are being set up for later, but taken at face value are pretty meaningless. And a twist that, after last month, just seems like they are trolling us.






The Poorly-Drawn: Books To Cringe At

Wolverine #301: Now I can't say the ENTIRE book is poorly drawn, because it's split up into chapters and each one is tackled by different artists, but the middle parts drawn by Steve Sanders are just way too cartoony for Wolverine. It's just distracting and ugly, and I hate when artist changes mid-book are so noticeable like that.





Avenging Spider-Man #4: Both this and Uncanny X-Men are drawn by Greg Land this month, but the Spider-Man title seems to win my loathing the most. First of all, to go from Joe Mad to this is cringe-worthy in itself. I would've much preferred Humberto Ramos because his style is similar to that of Joe Mad and he's already doing Spidey so why not. Greg Land's art is too clean and pasted on, not to mention he has no idea how to draw a facial expression that doesn't look like it's mid-orgasm. It's confusing enough on female characters...but on Hawkeye it's just creepy.



And those are my thoughts on the books released on 2/15. As always, let me know what you think by leaving comments and stay tuned all this week for updates galore!

Until next time comic fans, stay golden.

Serial News: Marvel's May Madness

Well, I've been on vacation for the past week so that's why the updates have been sparse. I do have a bit of a backlog to run through so expect quite a few posts coming up soon, including my first ever vlog!

Getting to actual comics news, it's been kind of a sparse week. DC has stayed relatively silent since last week, but their has been confirmation that Detective Comics will now participate in the Court of Owls cross-over starting with issue #9. That leaves Batwoman as the only Bat-family book staying out of the loop. Interesting.

Also on the news feeds is the announcement of a new video-game called Young Justice: Legacy being made for all major consoles. Set in the continuity of the popular tv show, it seems to be an action RPG featuring 12 heroes and 12 villains. There is very little info available at this point, but I for one am very excited.

Going over to Marvel news, they've finally released their May solicitations. It seems pretty par for the course, with most of the books releasing that month tying in to the "Avengers Vs. X-Men" event in some form.

A couple of things to note: A new weekly mini-series seems to be exploring the history of Hulk fighting with the Avengers over the years (Hulk Smash Avengers, 5 issues) and Spider-Man not only gets an Annual but also a special One-Shot tying into the "Ends of the Earth" event.

In addition to that, the Marvel Zombies launch a new attack, and a cross-over between Journey Into Mystery and New Mutants gets under-way, simply titled "Exiled". And finally, a new MAX imprint title starts up, Fury MAX with Ennis at the helm, this is something to look out for!

There is more to find, but I'll let you read the solicits yourself if you want, it seems to be a very big month with quite a few double-shipped titles; you can find the details here.

And that's pretty much it. Like I said, a sparse week. Keep an eye locked on this blog for a bunch of cool stuff coming down the pipe, including a review of the new Ghost Rider movie, a sneak peak at the new game Gotham City Imposters, and the continuation of my History of Comics editorial focusing on Centaur Comics!

Until next time comics fans, stay golden!

Channel Surfing: Vampires vs. Indians?

Welcome back to another episode of "Channel Surfing", my weekly blog post about the current gamut of comic-book based television shows. I'll once again be reviewing the new episode of Blade, as well as talk a little bit about the new AMC documentary/reality show: "Comic Book Men". So let's get the show on the road!

Reviewed:

1) Blade, Episode 5: Island Lights

2) Special: Comic Book Men

In this episode of the Blade anime, the team explores an island in the Philippines where Deacon Frost was reported to be seen. The bulk of this episode is definitely exposition. The first half consists of new revelations involving Frost's company and motives, as well as talking of a mysterious Vampire high council.

The second half goes from introducing more useless and uninteresting characters of a dubious native stereotype; which are promptly killed off by the way, and then ending with an admittedly cool fight scene. I said last time that Ep. 4 was the best episode so far, and yet this one manages to trump it. Its still bogged down by cheesy writing and lazy animation however. Multiple times all movement comes to a stop and action lines are drawn over still images. The animators were shameless in their cost cutting endeavors.

I still don't think the show will ever live up the glory of the live-action movies, or even be on the level of some of the recent Marvel shows like Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Spectacular Spider-Man; but at the very least it is noticeably improving with each episode.

Moving along, I want to talk a little about the new show that premiered this week after The Walking Dead on AMC. Comic Book Men is a documentary/reality show based on the people who run Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, a famous comic store in New Jersey. While I think the idea is sound, much of the episode involved people trying to sell merchandise to the store. This is obviously a play at trying to grab onto the popularity of Pawn Stars, and it's not what I believe the focus of the show should be.

Misgivings aside, I did find it to be really enjoyable and I urge other people to watch it if they want to learn more about the dying industry of comic shops. I really wish they would focus more on what it takes to actually run the store, but either way I'll be watching this show, and you should too.

Serial News: Watchmen or AvX?

Another new section of my blog opens its doors! Welcome to Serial News, the place to head if you want to stay 'in the know' in the comics world. Because funny papers are serious business.

I'll start with DC. The biggest news story to come out of the comics world in a very long time just hit recently. I'm of course talking about the new slew of mini-series' known as Before Watchmen.

Starting this summer, the epic 12-issue opus from the 80's is finally getting a continuation in the form of a prequel, told within seven different mini-series of various issues and a one-shot epilogue. It's something that has epic potential but many people (including Watchmen's original creator, Alan Moore) have labeled it 'unnecessary and shameless'.

I'm personally in the optimistic category on this issue. The slew of creative talent they've gathered to write and pencil these issues are enough to get me excited; and honestly, it's the world of comics. There are always new stories to tell.

Another announcement from DC is their next wave of changes in creative teams. It's an aptly named 'musical chairs' of writers and artists. Jeff Lemire moves from Frankenstein to Justice League Dark. JLD's original writer Peter Milligan moves over to the writer-less Stormwatch (much to the chagrin of Shade fans) and Matt Kindt (last seen writing the now-cancelled Men of War) picks up Frankenstein. In addition, Greg Hurwitz, hot off the critically applauded Penguin mini-series, will take over on Batman: The Dark Knight.

For the artists, classic Animal Man artist Steve Pugh

comes back to the role, pushing current Animal Man artist Travel Foreman over to Birds of Prey. BoP's Jesus Saiz goes to Resurrection Man and that book's artist Fernando Dagnino comes aboard the Suicide Squad team.

Confused yet? Because DC isn't quite done. They've also released the full solicits for the month of May, which include quite a few revelations.

In addition to the previously announced 'Wave 2', six new ongoing titles to replace the six cancelled titles, two more ongoings will also start up in May, both featuring Superman. Smallville: Season 11 is a story in the tradition of Buffy, continuing the tale of the television show in comic book form. Also, the creative team behind the children's Tiny Titans goes right off the finishing of that book to create Superman Family Adventures, another take on the DC Universe aimed at a younger audience.

The month of May also includes the introduction of Annuals to the world of the New 52, starting with Batman, Animal Man, and Teen Titans, to bring focus to those books continuing epic crossovers and story arcs. Also of note is the much waited for graphic novel Batman: Earth One, finally continuing that line of books from last year.

The news from Marvel is decidedly less dense to parse through. New trailers for their summer blockbusters The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man were both released...and they were both amazing. Continuing sneak peaks of their 2012 events are slipped out, with covers for Avengers vs. X-Men giving us clues as well as a look at Spidey's new costume in his Ends of the Earth mini-event.

And finally something a little more mysterious. One image was released with the tag-line 'Spider-Men'. Who knows what this could mean, but sources say it could be the return of the recently killed off Ultimate Peter Parker. Why would they bring him back so soon after tragically killing him off last year? We'll have to wait and see.

But Marvel is not without there share of bad press. A recent law-suit wrapped up in Marvel's favor, awarding them $17,000 dollars from the now penniless co-creator of Ghost Rider. The law-suit originally came out of funds that he thought he deserved from the Ghost Rider movies, but a hard lesson was learned when it comes to suing corporations that are backed by Disney.

He is also no longer allowed to sell Ghost Rider related autographs and merchandise, or claim that he is the creator of the character (even though he is.) Ouch.

Well, that's it for this week. Another informative post to help you keep up conversations with all those nerds at the comic shops. Your welcome.

Good, Bad, and Poorly-Drawn: Perfect Endings

Every Wednesday, the good folks over at Marvel and DC release hordes of new comics into the world. So many, in fact, that it's nigh on impossible to keep track of all the stories. That's what I'm for!

Every week, I'll be letting you know the good, the bad, and the poorly-drawn in the comics world so you can make wise purchasing decisions when you head to your LCS!

Obviously these are my personal opinions, so if you disagree feel free to let me know! So let's get started.


The world of DC enters into its sixth month of The New 52, and things are really starting to heat up; more hints of the Green Lantern "3rd Army" event are trickled down to us, the Deamonite War is boiling to a head with the introduction of the Black Curate over in Grifter, and Amy Reeder takes over art duties on Batwoman. It's a valiant effort, but J.H. Williams III has a mighty pair of boots to fill.

Both 'Penguin: Pride and Prejudice' and 'Batman: Brave and the Bold' release their final issues. One is a wonderfully written and drawn, tragic end that brings a new take on an old character; and the other is a lackluster end to a comic that could never live up to its TV version.

Over on the Marvel side, Powers FINALLY returns to print, PunisherMAX and Black Panther both end their respective titles with a bang, with PunisherMAX now dead and Black Panther leaving Hell's Kitchen. Meanwhile, Venom's "Circle of Four" event continues with a merely average fight-centric issue, and the "Season One" initiative starts off with a modern re-telling of the Fantastic Four origin (more on that later).


The Good: My Top 5 Books of the Week

#5 - Demon Knights #6: There is nothing else like this in comics right now. You like super-heroes? Check. You like swords and sorcery? Check. You like great art and a gripping character-driven tale? Check. Plus...this issue has an Amazoness head-butting a Rhino. Sold.

#4 - PunisherMAX #22: This issue (especially when combined with the previous issue) personifies everything you'd ever need to know about Punisher. He slaved through thirty years of hell only to seemingly die for nothing, but left a legacy that echoes not only in the issue itself, but in me as well as I read it. A perfect ending.

#3 - The Unwritten #34: The ending to the "War of Words" arc. The story is original and fantastical and pulls out all the stops in this issue to bring you in and really cheer for the protagonist. With a growing mythology and a new arc starting soon, I urge everyone to pick this book up.









#2 - Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #5: The art is superb and perfectly suited for the tone of the book. It's insightful, it's tragic, and it makes you think about the Penguin in ways I never thought I would. A great ending to a great book. The lack of dialogue through some of the issue can be seen as a pacing problem, but to me it just makes you appreciate the art all the more.







#1 - Secret Avengers #22: The beginning of Rick Remender's run on Secret Avengers was technically an issue ago, but this is all you need to know how the book is going to feel in the months to come. It's epic, it's hilarious, and I love the potential for the team dynamic, especially the inevitable power-play between Hawkeye and Captain Britain. Everything Rick Remender touches seems to turn to gold recently, and this is no exception.







The Bad: Books to Avoid this Week

Fantastic Four: Season One - Not bad, per se...just generic and extremely unnecessary. It's a straight re-telling of the origin story of the Fantastic Four. That's it. Nothing new to see here. I have more to say about it, but I'm planning something special since its the beginning of the "Season One" initiative. Check back soon.

Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega #2 - This comic is pretty much the epitome of disappointment. For Brian Wood's 'triumphant return to the X-Men' it garnered a lot of hype for very little pay-off. The plot is paper-thin, and the art is all over the place due to having over five artists. I realize the "construct" setting is supposed to be reminiscent of video-games, but its the most bland, uninteresting, cliched environment I've seen drawn recently. When put up next to its sister comic 'Wolverine and the X-Men' it pales in comparison.

Mister Terrific #6 - You already know this book has recently been cancelled and will end at issue #8. Reading it will let you know why. The writing is horrid and filled with over-explanations and heavy inner monologue to make the hero seem smart. The art is serviceable, but nothing special. And the villain is the same, generic and badly scripted. At this point I'm only still reading it so I can see the reveal of Power Girl in the final issue.






The Poorly-Drawn: Books That Make You Cringe

X-Men #24:I actually thought this story was pretty good. I like the idea behind it and the potential it has for evolving Jubilee's character. It would be all peachy, if not for the art from Al Barrionuevo, who's new to the book this month. The facial expressions are blown out of proportion and everything seems to be drawn from a weird angle. It doesn't help that most of the stars of the book are MIA as well.

Green Lantern #6: Mike Choi is the guest artist on this issue, and boy is it a noticeable change. The art isn't horrible, it just doesn't fit in with the style of a Green Lantern book, and it definitely doesn't fit in with the normal art from Doug Mahnke. I cringe when thinking about people picking up the trade, they'll think a printing error occurred because the characters are so unrecognizable it might as well be a different book. I've got nothing against Choi's style, but I'm glad it's not sticking around for long.









And there you have it. My thoughts on the new releases for this week. Post a comment if you don't find your favorite book on here, or if you want to flame me with dissenting opinions. I welcome it all.

Tune in next week: same bat-time, same bat-channel!

Earth-C: The Ultimate Retcon

Last time on "Digging for Gold", I explained to you the intricacies of the DC Multiverse, and explored the world of Earth-2 as seen through New Fun Comics.

Now, of course, you must understand that all this information was created far after the fact so that DC could put together a cohesive world. Back in 1935 they were just making comics for kids and had little intention to populate an entire universe with multitudes of interacting characters.

And that created the first problem in dealing with the multiverse. Many of the stories they wrote in the old days were too outlandish to fit into their idea of "Earth-2". Stories that defied physics, that were too senseless to be included with the main titles. And most of all, those various children's comics that included talking animals. If beings like Superman and Batman were to be taken seriously, they had to be separated.

So came the creation of the first alternate universe in the world of DC, known as Earth-C. A world where anything goes, anthropomorphic animals lived alongside humans, and the laws of physics were taken with a grain of salt for comedic effect. This world was filled up with stories like Pelion and Ossa, the tale of a penguin and a bear that live together and get into all kinds of crazy antics. Many other silly stories were created to fill up the pages of New Fun Comics and New Comics in between the longer, more serious stories.

And with those childish stories set off to the side, all was well, and comic nerds were free to take their tales of men in "underoos that shoot lasers" far too seriously in the future. Well...at least they try.



As an aside, there was one Earth-C comic that had a bit of a crazier story behind the scenes. I'm referring to a little character you might know called Oswald the Rabbit.

If you don't know who Oswald the Rabbit is, let me enlighten you. Back in the 20's and 30's Universal had a cartoon character named Oswald they made silent shorts for. If he looks familiar, that's because he's the prototype for Mickey Mouse, as Walt Disney worked for Universal at the time.

He starred in a number of short films, and gained quite the following. His popularity grew and grew, and somehow on his little budget, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson managed to acquire a license to put his comics in New Fun Comics.

It only lasted for a few issues, and Oswald would disappear forever from the world of DC, but it was important as the first licensed DC character. DC would go on to license tons of characters in the future, most notably the Hanna Barbera characters in the 70's, leading to the infamous "Super Friends" cartoon. They even currently put out comics with characters from the Gears of War franchise.

Not long after, Disney left Universal and gave up all rights to Oswald due to contract issues. He started Disney and since he couldn't use Oswald, he created Mickey instead, and history was born. Oswald on the other hand, evolved. He appeared as a cameo in Paul Whiteman's film "The King of Jazz" and continued to show up in Universal cartoons for years, most notably teaming up with Woody Woodpecker for grand adventures.

By the 1950's, Oswald had lost all brand recognition and fell into obscurity, only to be bought back by Disney in 2006. Strangely, he has a cult following in Japan, being featured in floats at Tokyo Disneyland and has returned as the antagonist in the 2010 video-game "Epic Mickey".



So there you have it, the (condensed) story of DC's past with Disney. It was a brief relationship, but made all the more ironic by the fact that Disney now owns DC's main rival, Marvel. The inner-workings of the comic book industry continue to astound me, and I hope you found it interesting too.

Tune in next time, where I'll tell the story of DC's long and sordid love affair with Centaur Comics, a company you might not be too familiar with. And I'll reveal that company's relationship with the great Dr. Occult...or is it Dr. Mystic!?

Channel Surfing: Blade

Welcome to the first post in a new section of my blog! This is Channel Surfing, where I take a little time to talk about the current week's offerings in comic book tv shows!

In the coming months, this section will explode with information about the monumental "DC Nation" and "Marvel Universe" blocks that are starting up, but in the mean-time you'll have to quench your thirst with the current Blade show that airs every Friday on G4.

Reviewed: Blade, Ep. 4: That Was Then, This Is Now

I'll be honest, I've never read Blade. My first exposure to him was in the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon, where they would team up from time to time to fight Morbius. And then the movie came out, and basically Wesley Snipes IS Blade to me. There is no replacement. But that bias aside, I can still safely say that this show isn't exactly living up to expectations.

The forward plot of this episode is basically a rescue mission. Blade and Makoto arrive in the Phillipines to rescue Van Helsing. With that out of the way, Hellsing exits the show for some reason, and the other two are free to team up to go after Deacon Frost.

That's only half the story though. Most of the episode (thankfully) is taken up with a rather well done flashback to when Blade was a child. It shows him having to make the hardest decision of his life, killing his vampiric mother. It's very tragic and telling of what made Blade the character he is. It's also clearly the better part of the episode.

That's really the problem though. The main plot, in present day, is surprisingly uninteresting. I'm not one of the throngs of people that find Makoto grating, but she's not bringing much to the table either. And the enemies have mostly been piss-poor. One of the inherent problems with the show is that they made all normal vampires mere cannon fodder to up the badass level of Blade and Makoto. They come in with Uzi's loaded with silver bullets and down an entire room of vamps without batting an eye, it's ridiculous.

This, of course, means that the main character now has no challenge, and that's definitely a problem in story-telling. So they came up with all these "special breeds" of vampires, and most of them are not very well designed. It does bring an air of variety though, so that's something.

And now for the art. From a technical stand-point, it's great. Its slick and smooth. Madhouse has always been good at their jobs. But it just doesn't fit in with the style of Blade. It would have been far more fitting to go with a darker vibe for a character like Blade, a la Vampire Hunter D. As it stands now, it's just too clean.

And this is nitpicking here, but Blade isn't black enough. He's barely darker than the other characters, who are supposed to be Japanese.

All in all, it's probably the best episode of Blade yet. But that isn't saying much. If they can give the rest of the show the same amount of gravitas as the flashbacks, we may have something here. But I doubt it's going to happen.

Was it so bad I want my 19 minutes back? No. Should you be spending your time watching something else? Yeah, pretty much. Go watch Blade I & II again. Now there's a good time.