Ultimate X-Men #94

Hi Readers,

This issue of Ultimate X-Men definitely was interesting. The introduction of Alpha Flight and the mutant power-enhancing drug "Banshee" show promise of a great story arc. This is the first time where Colossus is really explored as a character, and the reader can see him as more than just the gay character... now he's gay and a drug addict LOL. This drug also explains why he is super-strong as a mutant. When you think about it, just because his flesh can turn into unbreakable metal, doesn't mean that he should be able to bench-press a buick. There has NEVER been an explanation to this specific aspect of his powers.

One thing I was a bit sketchy about, was the line up of members in Alpha Flight. I love mainstays like Vindicator, Snowbird, Shaman and Sasquatch but where the hell did Jubilee and Sunfire come from? I know Sunfire had a brief run with the team in the reality 616(normal Earth), but why would such a huge patriot of Japan be a member of Canada's premiere super-group? For the most part, the character designs are TERRIBLE, but I have faith that their looks will get better in the future.

As far as the end of this issue is concerned, I am very perplexed! Cyclops decides to aid Colossus in saving Northstar from Alpha Flight and possibly take mutant drugs, but not because it is the right thing to do, but because "she [Jean/Phoenix] scares me". What the hell is that? On the last page, we see that Angel, Nightcrawler, Dazzler and Rogue have taken "Banshee" and now want to aid Colossus, but why these specific X-Men? I guess we have to wait 30 days and find out!


@~~~~~~~}~~~~~~~~~~ Devin Peacock

TEEN TITANS! GO! (Review of Titans #2)

Wait. They’re not teens anymore. So we are just calling them Titans? Weren’t the NY Jets called that before they were the Jets? Isn’t that already taken by a football team in Tennessee now? Is Vince Young in this too? Titles aside, the former Teen Titans, some former Outsiders, have been brought back together by some dark force that is trying to kill off anyone who once was a Teen Titan. After several current Titans are not so fortunate and attacks are coordinated elsewhere around the world on other former and current Titans, Nightwing (formerly the original Robin) of course realizes the pattern and the Titans are off to find Raven, who is suspected of being next on the hit list after Flash (formerly Kid Flash), Red Arrow (formerly Arsenal, even more formerly Speedy), Starfire, Beast Boy, Donna Troy (formerly Wonder Girl), and Cyborg all escape supernatural related, near death experiences. Upon encountering Raven, she reveals that the only being with enough power to pull off such an attack is her dear old dad, Trigon. Raven then confronts her giant red demon daddy on an astral plain where he reveals that she is not his only child and we are left on the cliffhanger that Raven has a brother who is orchestrating all these attacks in the name of Trigon.

Ok folks, now that I caught you up on the first two issues, what I thought would be an interesting series with lots of nostalgia thrown in considering the cast of characters is what I would call too much of a good thing. I look at these first two issues and the theme song from the Cartoon Network show screams in my head because that is how it seems to be playing out. Although the characters are drawn much better than the anime style from the show, everything else just screams that some people at DC got bored and decided to just take scripts from the cartoon and draw them the way they should have been drawn in the first place instead of the anime style they were done in which caused the cartoon to never be taken as seriously as it should have been.

This is a series that has potential, but if DC is not careful with these characters, it will end up the way of the cartoon series and in much less time. We want new adventures with these characters, not the same ones told in a different way. The only saving grace they have right now is that in my mind they are just using this first story arc to reintroduce and re-establish a lot of these characters in the minds of readers. If the second story arc doesn’t start mixing it up though, this title is coming off my list of monthlies. Simple as that. They spent a good amount of time building this up, it would be a shame to see it come crashing down faster than Paula Abdul after a night of binge drinking. Ooooh. Off-beat pop culture reference. Score one for the angry geek.

-Ray Carsillo

HEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRREEEEEEE’S NORMAN! (Review of Thunderbolts #120)

After coming back from the dead for the umpteenth time; after being brainwashed, beaten, belittled, and battered; after having his character basically being made a joke of; finally, the Green Goblin is back. That’s right, after many months of teasing you that he would return as more than just the political head of the Thunderbolts, Norman Osbourn has finally donned the infamous green scales and purple imp outfit that he made famous.

In Thunderbolts #120, Thunderbolts Mountain is a mess. Psychics are being held captive inside and wreaking havoc upon the Thunderbolts from their jail cells, having the Thunderbolts turn on one another to the point that the team is a bloody mess, literally. After seeing hallucinations of the his Goblin gear scattered about the office, Norman has been driven to taking it out of storage and donning it in hopes of bringing his team under control…by any means necessary. Swordsman was crucified to a wall with shards of his own sword after being beaten to a pulp. Before that, Swordsman had to subdue Venom after he went cannibal…again. Radioactive Man is trying to give everyone cancer. It is a joke. The comic is spiraling out of control in terms of randomness, much like the Marvel Universe as a whole, and although this is actually somewhat entertaining to read, if they do not rein it back in soon, I will no longer read it because it is just too outlandish, just like Spider-Man with Brand New Day. I understand that saying a comic is outlandish is a little bit of an oxymoron, but I mean even by comic book terms the book is getting out of control. Although I am thrilled to see Green Goblin back as a sadistic madman, the way he should be, it also reminds me how much of a joke he was to begin with and why he was billed as Spider-Man’s greatest enemy still baffles me.

If you have been following the series, it is finally reaching the boiling point that we have been waiting a year and a half for, but after this cools back down, I would reconsider this as an every issue comic. They have taken some of the Marvel Universe’s best villains and made them soft and nothing more than punch lines in the other comics. Bringing back the Green Goblin is a good move, but depending on how it plays out will be the deciding factor on if I continue to read the Thunderbolts. If you have been reading Thunderbolts, continue to do so for a little while longer. If you haven’t, now is not the time to get into it and there might not be a time to get into after this story arc. More as it develops.

-Ray Carsillo

P.S.: Following up on one of my previous articles, Marvel has announced a new solo Deadpool series starting in September. Personally, I can’t wait to see the Merc with a Mouth get his own series going again, especially if it was just half as good as his cameos in the past Wolverine Origin comics or the Cable and Deadpool series. If it gets anywhere near there, I will have a new favorite comic again.

WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? GREEN OR BLACK? (Review of Green Lantern Corps #24)

As you might be able to tell from the cover, this issue continues to follow the Green Lanterns as they attempt to eliminate all of the Sinestro Corps rings. Several had been traced to a deep, dark corner of the galaxy where two Lanterns went missing. Guy Gardner, Kyle Rainer, and a few others show up for the heroic rescue like the cowboys they pretend to be. Upon tracing the last of the energy signatures to an uncharted part of the galaxy, Kyle and Guy recognize an entire field of Black Mercy flowers, which tie in of course that Mongul has been collecting Sinestro rings himself for his own diabolical purposes.

So here it is, one of those things that never really needed to be explained, but is anyways, the origins of the Black Mercy flowers. The issue did a decent job of retelling the back story of the Black Mercy flowers and how Mongul had used them in the past and even referenced Warworld, but only so much can be done in a two page spread. So to catch you up more, here I am. Oh you lucky people you. The Black Mercy flowers were used by Mongul on Superman to keep him out of his plans. The Black Mercy attaches itself to the host where it makes the person hallucinate their greatest dreams come to fruition. The person feels they are living it, while remaining completely motionless. Only one of great willpower can break the Black Mercy’s hallucinations, like Superman, who saw through the façade of him ruling over an ever-present Krypton. Of course, the plant can also be killed by an outsider, but you risk hurting the person who it has attached itself to. Mongul is the only known person to know how and where to harvest the Black Mercy flower, until now.

Now back to our story, which ends on the cliffhanger than Mongul has left the planet with a large harvest of Black Mercies and that the Green Lanterns have pried their fellow Lanterns from the clutches of Mother Mercy, a sentient, gigantic, Black Mercy flower that protects the harvest from outsiders like the Green Lanterns. Next issue has the Green Lanterns against Mother Mercy in what should be an interesting battle, especially if any of the Mercies should attach themselves to the Lanterns, and to see exactly how Mother Mercy defends herself. I am guessing something along the lines of a Poison Ivy plant monster, but it should be an interesting battle and to see what the next step is in Mongul’s plans. After all, who exactly are these Black Mercies intended for? If you have not been following the Green Lanterns, get on now because something big is coming folks. I’m talking total spectrum war. If this is any indication, it should be good.

-Ray Carsillo

WHY IRON MAN IS THE GREATEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE EVER!!!

Ok, first off I apologize for not writing about this sooner, but I’ve been very busy and I wanted to see it several times with several different groups of people before I made my official analysis of it and it is the same as after the first time. It is easily the best comic book movie of all time.

The reason for this stems of course from Marvel financing the entire thing after making their own movie production company, Marvel Studios, and not allowing any outside interference from other studios they previously sold their licenses to. This movie followed the stories perfectly, from Iron Man’s origin story, to the Armor Wars tone, all the way to Iron Monger. They connected everything in a way that made sense and did not sell out the comics, something that had not been done this well since the first Spider-Man movie. They even hint at War Machine and Mandarin (Clan of the 10 Rings was the terrorist group, come on folks!). The only noticeable difference that I could think of off the top of my head was that the terrorists were from Afghanistan and not Vietnam, but of course that is only because they updated it with current world events to make it a little more believable so it is a very forgivable move and that they went from Mark I Iron Man Armor to about Mark VIII in 3 suits, but this is due to it only being a two hour movie and not several years of comic book issues so again, a very forgivable move on their part.

This movie had everything perfect though. The tension between the strict, tow the line Jim Rhodes, played amazingly by Terrance Howard, and the flamboyant, care-free Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr. who gave an Oscar worthy performance; the other kind of tension between Tony and Pepper Potts, actually played surprisingly well by Gwyneth Paltrow; and the sinister, back-stabbing Obadiah Stane played perfectly by Jeff Bridges. Jon Favreau even played Happy Hogan and gave it his all, losing 70 pounds for the bit part, while directing the whole thing! The only thing a friend of mine mentioned was how cheesy the fake chest looked when Pepper had to replace his chest battery, but if he did not mention it, I would never have noticed it so to me it worked. Maybe I did not notice it though because the movie had me fully engrossed the entire time and at only 2 hours and 6 minutes long, not a single second dragged. It had comedy, it had drama, it had sex appeal, it was PERFECT. The performances were spectacular from all involved and the plot was well executed and it was believable. I cannot praise this movie enough. Of course the special effects were up to par, but we would not expect anything less nowadays. The sticklers were would these actors be able to pull off these characters and make you believe it and they did it. You could see a comic book movie win its first major Oscar for this; it was that good.

Only two things could go wrong now. They either let the actors go, which I don’t think they will because they all have been given three movie deals, or they do not do Mandarin and War Machine in the next movie after blatantly hinting at them throughout the movie. I will be gravely disappointed if Iron Man 2 fails to incorporate those two CRUCIAL characters and it will probably erase the success of this movie in the eyes of many comic book fans.

Also, I hope you all stayed through the end credits because I am sure you have all heard by now, it is official, THE AVENGERS will be a movie as showcased by Nick Fury (played by the king of all bad-asses and the hardest working man in Hollywood, Samuel L. Jackson) confronting Tony Stark after his blockbuster end press conference. More on that as it develops. For now, let Iron Man have his moment to shine.

-Ray Carsillo

Secret Invasion #2

Hi Readers,

I don't know about you guys, but I'm confused as hell. I have no idea who's really a hero or if they are secretly a Skrull. While reading this issue, with the turn of every other page, "WTF" spilled from my mouth. I am also curious to see the roles that Scarlet Witch, Mockingbird and Phoenix will play in the "Old School" group. Each of these characters have had tremendous impacts on "Marveldom" as of lately and to have these particular characters included in the story is probably not a coincidence. Also, is this the real Mockingbird? I will admit it, the story started off reading as if she was a Skrull, but now I'm 75%unsure/25%sure of her "skrullness". If this is the real Mockingbird, I'm dying to see how Marvel is able to write her back into life. Typically I hate when a character is resurrected, or brought back from the dead by another writer with a weak story. Hopefully, fans will not be disappointed by this small story arc.

The best part of this issue is the two page spread, showing the enhanced Skrulls. Blackbolt/Dr. Strange, Human Torch/Thing, Iceman/Angel, Thing/Dr. Octopus all looked great, but the Wolverine/Cyclops amalgamation takes the cake by far. I can't wait to read issue #3 just to see them kick the young Avengers asses(let's be serious, it's going to be a slaughter). My only reservation is hoping that I can tell who's power each Skrull is using. Speaking of which, is Superskrull apart of this line up??? Or is he still dealing with the Annihilation Wave?

I know the idea behind this entire story is to feel confused, but GEEZZZ! Marvel is taking this confusion to the absolute limit and I'm still trying to figure out who isn't a Skrull. I if I am completely confused, I guess Marvel is doing their job. Keep up the good work!


@~~~~~}~~~~~~~ Devin Peacock

El Escarabajo Azul Numero Veintiséis (BLUE BEETLE #26)

I know this is a comic that came out last week, but it had special significance to me and I felt it needed to be talked about. The plot is fine and the standard for the new Blue Beetle. Jamie Reyes attempts to introduce his new girlfriend to his family at a reunion when he gets word that the Parasite is attacking. Our young hero flies off to battle where he promptly kicks the crap out of the bad guy. A little too neat for my liking, especially since the Parasite has brought Superman to his knees and Jamie Reyes thumps him in a matter of four or five pages. The reason why it was wrapped all nice and neat though was it would have been very difficult to have a real epic battle drawn out over several comics in Spanish.

What? That’s right, Spanish. This is the first comic, based on Jamie’s Hispanic descent and location in El Paso, New Mexico, that had every printing done almost entirely in Spanish. Doing a comic in a foreign language like that is a strain on resources and that is why this was a one-shot. I have a problem though with the Spanish comic and not just because it forces them to waste a great villain like the Parasite. I appreciate the translations in the back, but it made reading this comic damn near impossible for someone who is not fluent in the language. Comics revolve around their drawings, but the script and dialogue is vital as well and for the first time maybe, I realized how much so. I breezed through this comic and did not give it my usual time and care because I couldn’t read it. Now the reason for this is a political issue, that with the ever growing number of Spanish speakers in this country, more and more things have to be translated or have dual writings on them. I understand and do not mind, but when English, the first language of this country, gets trumped, I have a problem. I have no problem with equality. You can print the comic in every language if you like, but when you provide Spanish as the only language for a comic in this nation, I have a problem. We are a diverse nation made up of all different people and this comic is a testament to this, but when you ostracize most of your population to cater to a small demographic, you are going to piss off a lot more people than make happy. I appreciate what DC tried to do with this comic, but please do not do it again. If you want to print comics in Spanish and English, all the better, because again, the more people reading comics the better, but when you only provide one option, you are making a statement that I do not think everyone in this country is ready for and since most of us grew up only having to know English in my generation, you alienate your foundation. Not a smart move and I had a problem with this comic DC.

The other political issue I had with this comic was that I noticed for the first time the difference on the barcode. Now, unless you are a computer, every barcode looks the same, right? True, but below the barcode is the price of the comic and always you see both the American and Canadian price. It usually looks something like this: $2.99 US $3.99 CAN. With this comic though, I noticed this. The price was the same in Canada and the US. The American dollar has plummeted so much in the world community that the American and Canadian dollar are equal in value. Now, I do not have a problem with our neighbors to the north, especially considering how much of a hockey fan I am, but my whole life I knew that we had a strong enough economy that our currency was stronger than theirs. If this is not a recession ladies and gentleman, then I do not know what it is. You hear the talk of this stuff all the time on CNN and MSNBC and all those other news channels, but until you see it in something you can relate to, it does not really hit you. Even with gas prices skyrocketing and the job market going to hell, it was comics that this really hit me on. All I know is that come November, someone better get elected that is going to fix this. That’s it for this week folks.

-Ray Carsillo

WHO MADE WHO

If you understood the AC/DC reference, then kudos to you. On that note, this week we look at New Avengers #40. The Secret Invasion story arc continues as we look for the first time at the Skrull point of view. It explains how important Earth is to the Skrulls as well as explains that this massive invasion was foretold with a minuscule glimpse into the Skrull Civil War. We also see how the Skrulls were able to develop the technology to mask themselves from the superheroes in every way possible.

These are crucial points to the story arc, questions and loose ends that had been unresolved to this point, and NEEDED to be explained in my opinion. Also, finally Marvel had done it. They promised you that you would not be able to choose sides in Civil War. They failed. They promised you a surprise blockbuster ending for World War Hulk. They failed. They promised you to return Spider-Man to his great roots in Brand New Day. They failed. Are you noticing the pattern here? Finally, for me what would be their last chance would be Secret Invasion with the promise of reveals that would turn the Marvel Universe upside down. Well folks, this issue put Marvel on the right track. Marvel finally might have delivered the goods. The one person you felt you could trust, maybe, was Spider-Woman because she went to Tony Stark with the body of the Elektra-Skrull. She had been in communiqué with Nick Fury, who is maybe the only other person you could trust in the Marvel Universe and who was pretty much cemented as trustable in previous Secret Invasion issues as he found out a Skrull imposter and killed her outright in his hotel. The issue ends with the queen of the Skrulls asking whose identity on Earth she could assume to help lead the invasion and the last page shows a Skrull scientist showing a hologram of Spider-Woman to the queen.

Now we don’t know if the queen took her identity, but it sure does throw a lot of questions out there and finally, Marvel’s promises are coming true. There really is not anyone you can trust in this thing. Hawkeye mysteriously came back from the dead, Iron Man turned on his friends, Luke Cage abandoned his wife. WHO IS A SKRULL? And no, Captain America was not a Skrull because when he died he did not revert like Elektra and Spider-Man is not a Skrull because the devil a.k.a. Mephisto should be able to tell if he was a Skrull before selling his marriage. Maybe though “Captain America” was in his form for so long though that maybe he wouldn’t revert on death and since the Skrulls can fool Dr. Strange, why not fool the devil himself? All these questions and more keep popping in my head, so finally, Marvel has done it. You just don’t know what is going to happen. This could make DC’s entire Crisis series look like child’s play in terms of a possible Universe re-launch. Stay tuned true believers!

Also, for more in-depth coverage of my time at ComicCon, you can go to the following website, towards the bottom of the page, courtesy of Gordon Damer of 1050 ESPN Radio, NY, on from 2AM-6AM Monday-Friday;

http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/1050espnradio/show?showId=gordon_show1

Also, be sure to check out 1050espnradio.com and look up the Gordon Damer show for other entertaining tidbits about sports, video games, movies, and all that other stuff we love.

-Ray Carsillo

Iron Man The Movie!!!!!!

Let me start this blog by admitting that I was a little nervous about Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark/Iron Man. Let me tell you:
He.
Was.
Phenomenal!
His performance was not only true to the comic book but he did the unthinkable! He made Tony Stark, more interesting than Iron Man. Tony Stark, was not only a ladies man, super-intelligent, but incredibly cool. Every guy in the audience wanted to be him and every lady in the audience wanted to get with him. Even the friendship between Rhodey (played by Terrence Howard) and Tony was not only believable but hysterical.

The only weak point of the movie came during the climax of the film. Iron Man fought the "Iron Monger" character but unfortunately, he was loosing badly. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, had to step in to aid in the fight. It seemed as though there wasn't much thought put into how our hero should have been able to overcome the villain. in most superhero movies, the villain is eventually overcome by the hero. I just wished that Iron Man himself was the one to defeat the villain instead of relying on an explosion inside of the science lab.

The best part of the movie was the surprise, after the credits were done. Don't worry, I won't give away the ending, but you'll love it. The geek in me walked away from the theater smiling, looking forward to the other marvel movies and Iron Man 2!


@~~~~}~~~~~~~~~~Devin Peacock