Marvel Universe Ends with a Whimper...

Marvel has lost sight of their readers. More than ever. they have become an event driven market, eschewing all else to bring the next big thing down the pipeline, as often as they can, with no more interest in telling a coherent or interesting story than an Expendables film (if you enjoy films like that, you're in luck!).

I've been on the fence about the event setup. On one hand, some of them are actually interesting, and have lasting changes. On the other, there are really terrible stories that arbitrarily change favorite characters to fit some new demographic (usually to fit in with the Cinematic Universe).

Being a Spider-Man guy, the most recent event I read was Spider-Verse. It was The Expendables: Spider-Man edition. It had some good moments, some good characters, some shittily arbitrary character killings, and a fading promise to change things forever for our friendly neighborhood arachnid.

But it didn't. The only "lasting" change was the death of characters outside the 616 universe. And that lasted all of three issues after, because the Marvel Universe has come to an abrupt... And strangely arbitrary, halt.

Marvel is getting it's first official "reboot" to it's continuity. In honor of that, all the current series are going out on a high note -- wait, that's not right. What is this shit? Amazing Spider-Man ended with a completely mis-written Black Cat becoming the BBEG, and everything else just grinding to an unfulfilling halt. The last villain Spidey fights is an abortive story featuring ex-Thunderbolt Ghost.

Ok, maybe that's a fluke -- damn it! Spider-Man 2099, what is this shit? You finally have a semi-interesting arc and some relationship development... And your story just freaking ends? Did... Did no one tell the writers that the universe was ending? Was it a surprise? How can you not even attempt to give serious character resolutions? Beating the bad guy of that particular issue doesn't count!

I don't even see Spidey 2099 here...

... Apparently, if you don't read two specific Avengers series, Secret Wars just kind of happens. These stories you wanted to see fulfilled, the characters you wanted to follow further, well, tough shit. Marvel doesn't care about that, it's time for the NEXT BIG EVENT!

I'm more disgusted than that time Doc Ock was making moves on MJ while in Peter's body. Or that time Peter walked in on Aunt May and Marvel decided to give us a splash page of old people humping. Or that time...

... You know what? As much as I tote myself as a Marvel fan, I'm not impressed with Marvel at all lately. One or two good titles doesn't cut it. Constant events aren't enough. Cut that shit out and go back to writing compelling, character-driven stories that are both super heroic and relateable. Stop... Stop everything else. Just stop.

Marvel, stahp.

Going forward, Secret Wars is marginally interesting because the new status quo; whatever emerges from this ugly, mismanaged DC-knockoff of an event, might give me some things I want, and have wanted for years as a reader.

Here are some of the things I'd like to see follow this tepid fading of my favorite characters, and if I don't see some of them, the things that may cause me to lose interest in another goddamn reboot:

1. Peter and MJ back together.

The "breakup" was an all-time low for Spidey comics. The return of single Spidey has not benefited story telling in any way, and instead devalued marriage as an institution in Marvel comics -- something they've done as often as possible.

Bonus if they take the storyline where Spidey is a dad. One of the greater sins of the Clone Saga is the fate of their child, who is stolen and then... Completely forgotten? Wait, what? Seriously?

It would be especially poignant for me, who will be raising a little girl. The possibility of watching a little May Parker (assuming name isn't changed) grow up alongside my daughter would be especially touching.

... 'Course, that would require Marvel to let their characters age. Because storytelling is hard outside of a vacuum.

2. Bring back Ben Reilly.

Ok, I have said this at every turn, and at pretty much every event. My wish was granted for all of three issues in Spider-Verse, sort of. And then they freaking killed him again.

... Uhg. Go to hell, whoever planned that one out. Null points for originality, do not pass go, do not collect your paycheck for ruining this fanboy's dream.

3. Let the MU age.

Tied to one, but letting real time pass in the MU, even at a slower rate, would be something I'd love to see. I have decades worth of Spidey comics, where the hero is 20-something. He used to be in high school, and some of the best stories were about Peter dealing with the things that come with age.

4. Stop with the constant events.

This isn't going to happen, but Marvel is going to find out that their constant money-grubbing strategy of inter-connected titles that criss-cross through events isn't going to work. It failed miserably in the '90s and, while they've definitely learned from it by keeping most events behind a unique, solo-running title book, they have been circling that whole of repeated mistakes for awhile.

5. Don't try to cram the old MU's timeline into 8 months.

DC's NU52 reboot tried to shuffle DC's timeline to fit a very truncated schedule. It was one of the weakest parts of the reboot, and every time they referenced something from "before," it served only to confuse (and annoy) readers.

Marvel has announced the new universe will start eight months after the events of Secret War. Why? Because storytelling is hard, and Marvel has become lazy. Seriously.

I'm worried they are going to try an keep the things they don't want to retell in those eight months. Things to refer to that really happened in the old MU, but the writers don't want to bother with in the new MU.

6. Don't retell old storylines.

If you're going to make us suffer through a half-assed reboot, after a half-assed event, don't offer us half-assed copies of classic stories! They've already been written, you gorram hacks, and we don't need your slight "surprise" twist.

If only...

Do I expect this wish to be met? No. No I do not. We are going to get recycled garbage for years, because why else give us such a lackluster reboot? I'd have more respect for what they were doing if they DID hit a reset button, at this point. Start from square one. New origins, new everything, but keep it new! It worked for the Ultimate Universe... Right up until it became over-inundated with events (which, honestly, had many more interesting ramifications than any of the 616's events).

7. Don't change a damn thing with Spider-Gwen.

Seriously. Just let this infant series pick up where it left off, and ignore all the rest.

... Of course, that won't happen. Which is another slap in the face from Marvel: "Hey, True Beleiver! Here are a bunch of new series! And some of them are good! Bahaha just kidding, they're only around for an arc or two, way to waste more of your money on our connected universe model, jackass. Excelsior, nerd."

Rant done. I'm going to go start Secret Wars and sigh at my stupid addiction and inevitable hypocrisy. See you on the other side, Marvel.

Avengers AND Free Comic Book Day? Nerd Weekend Achieved

In case you live in a cave (sans box of scraps), this is your friendly reminder that Avengers: Age of Ultron drops May 1st. And, on a lesser known front, Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is on May 2nd!

Think you're ready for this nerd-ified weekend? Just to make sure, here are some pointers to get the best use out of your time (time travelers need not continue reading).

1. Check movie theaters for early releases.

It seems midnight releases are growing less popular. Apparently, folks are realizing that older audiences, the most likely to be paying for a midnight release, don't actually like going to work on Friday feeling like their hungover, even if they didn't drink anything.

The new fad, if you would, is to have "Midnight Releases" start as early as 7:00pm in some places. That's right, you can see Avengers: Age of Ultron, in its entirety, on April 30th. And still make it home for a reasonable bedtime.

I'll personally being seeing a 10:00pm showing in Randolph, MA, and am pretty damn excited about it!

2. Catch up on Agents of SHIELD.

I've been avoiding Avengers spoilers as much as humanly possible, but some of the brief comments that have made it past my defenses mention that the movie starts rather abruptly.

It is my belief that tomorrow night's (4/28) Agents of SHIELD will have a minimal tie-in to the Avenger's opening. It won't be much, but even a bit of a setup will make the universe feel connected, which is nice. Already, there are some names bouncing back and forth on SHIELD that should be seen in Avengers.

In general, Agents of SHIELD has been fairly interesting this season, with some greater Marvel Tie-Ins that I'm looking forward to in future films.

3. For FCBD, know your local shop's rules.

Last year, I wrote a post explaining FCBD. One important take away is that not all shops treat the day the same. Some have restrictions to how many comics you can get. Others have additional events or sales. Figure out your local shop's deal by asking an owner/associate, and then determine if you should be making a longer trip for a more ideal setup.

I'll be at my local show, Rubber Chicken Comics, because they don't restrict free comics AND have decent sales.

4. Know what issues are free!

This one isn't a major issue, because most shops will keep all the free issues in a centralized location, but that doesn't mean you can't get a sneak peak at what you can grab the day of. Here is the link to freecomicbookday.com's list of all the free comics that will be available. I'm definitely looking forward to Fight Club, Secret Wars, and 2000 AD.

Daredevil, Marvel TV Done Right

The casting for this show was perfect, especially Charlie Cox in the titular role.

This post is going to devolve into spoilers really quick, because I want to talk about elements of the show I liked, the few I did not, and my thoughts on the future.

For the spoiler free stuff:

The Good: I loved the show. Not a single episode left me feeling unhappy, though there were certainly some notable highlights.

The Bad: I didn't feel that Wilson Fisk was ever, truly, the Kingpin of Crime, as his comic counterpart is hailed. This is partially because the series felt like an origin story for Fisk, almost more so than for Daredevil. Even so, I struggled with the Fisk character for some moments, though the actor is a damn imposing man and there were some definitely stellar moments for the character.

The Ugly: I don't care for Netflix's publishing schedule -- everything available at once. For one, it caused me to really, really want to binge, simply because it was so good. I know this doesn't sound like a bad thing, but I wanted time to do other things, but couldn't with the rest of the amazing first season right there, waiting for me. Also, the all-at-once schedule means that the conversations about the show won't last -- there won't be a week-to-week discussion, as everyone anticipates what's coming next. They can just watch the next episode. And, post binge, we now have a MUCH longer wait for what comes next!

Well, I labeled that ugly because it's hard to deny how awesome the show is, so being able to watch it at my own pace wasn't awful. But there's something to be said for anticipation and the enjoyment of something over a longer period of time. As an American, I can't do that when you put everything on the plate in front of me.

With the announcment of Daredevil getting a season 2 in 2016 (YES!), I'm very excited for the future of Marvel's Netflix enterprises. The format allows them to quickly judge what works well and what doesn't, and promises to give us more of what we love. Out of the listed shows, I was previously only interested in Iron Fist. Now that Daredevil surprisingly wowed me, I'm hopeful for AKA Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

Alright, that's you're spoiler free bit. Go away, those who could control their urges/don't have Netflix/don't realize Daredevil is one of the absolute best things on Netflix right now. You've been warned.

------------SPOILERS, YO---------------

Easter Eggs - Daredevil was full of hints and nods to the greater Marvel universe. Much of this was specific to Daredevil comics, but I LOVED the early nod to Iron Fist, in arguably the most visible "egg," the drug packets feature a nod to Iron Fist (though this will be more of a plot point than an actual egg, but I'm allowing it because not many people seem to have realized and Iron Fist isn't out yet).

Darker Tone - Marvel has been dying for a darker tone. This has been apparent since The Winter Soldier, the darkest-in-tone film to date. Daredevil picks it up a notch and really gives me hope for the future of the Marvel Netflix shows -- they really are willing to do things that they can't do on the big screen (because, in the US of A, and R rating would be a death sentence for them).

Possibly an Iron Fist enemy? And the imposing Kingpin of Crime.

The Kingpin of Crime - Wilson Fisk does not feel like the Kingpin in this season. He was a badass villain, and some of his scenes remain my favorite in the series (that Daredevil beat down in 9! Damn!), but he wasn't the smooth, controlled criminal the comics paint him out to be. It feels almost like part of an origin story, because his relationship with Vanessa (who I thought was perfectly cast) is clearly changing him. And SHE is the more level-headed one. I'm glad Kingpin feels unique in this series, I was honestly expecting a carbon copy from most Kingpin portrayals.

Stick's Agenda - What is Stick trying to get Daredevil ready for? The only Daredevil arc I've ever read was the "Shadowland" event a few years back. Daredevil took control of The Hand (Japanese ninjas -- Nobu was almost definitely a member of The Hand), erected a massive, Japanese-style fortress in Hell's Kitchen, and took the law into his own hands (and, of course, had to be stopped by all the other street-level heroes.). Is the show jumping to as recent a storyline as that? If so, I doubt they'd go the full dark side route, but I'd still like to see something like Shadowland come to fruition.

Nobu, a member of The Hand? The costume fits!

Spider-Man Vs Ayn Rand... and Why the Greatest Spidey Movie Will Never Get Made

The Color of Money isn't just a Tom Cruise and Newman salad dressing film about the secret origin of Mark Millar and Grant Morrison's bromance breakup, but also a permanent shade in the wardrobe of Spider-Man's rogues. The Sinister Six could change their names to 6 Shades of blah if NuMarvel ever wanted to experiment with topical humor...

Odd man out Kraven missed dress rehearsal

Sweet Mountain Dew green was the choice for Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, Green Goblin, Scorpion, Vulture, Electro, Sandman, Mysterio, and those are just the ones created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee.

Persona 5, the Return of Spider-Man, and Underwhelming Comics

Almost back to back, I got two bits of wonderful news that has me very excited for things coming up. Which is good, because I've needed something to look forward to!

Persona 5

First, a gameplay trailer for Persona 5 launched. IT WAS AMAZING. This is already my GOTY (game of the year), and I won't be playing until at least 2016 (Japanese release date is sometime 2015, so I'm HOPING we're sometime 2016). I love the red colors, the cat burgler-esque themes, the grittier characters, the more dynamic dungeons, persona enemies instead of shadows, etc etc... The only thing I'm not seeing in the trailer is a cast that exceeds for playable characters. It's not determined by the trailer, obviously, but I wouldn't even be mad if that was the case.

Oh, and it's coming to PS4 (and PS3), which 100% justifies my purchase of the system. Perfection. Watch it below, the Elder Gods know I have...

Spidey's Return

Next up, we have the "return" of Spider-Man to Marvel, in regards to film rights. Marvel has brokered a deal that allows them to use a new (not Andrew Garfield/ASM series) Spider-Man in their films (which is already impacting upcoming releases -- like May's Captain America: Civil War!). Sony will choose the actor and have final say in regards to character development, but I'm hoping they see reason and more or less follow Marvel's lead.

Doubt they'll go this route, but an important Civil War moment...

Then Sony will continue to produce solo Spider-Man films, which may now see inclusion of MCU characters. While I no longer trust Sony with anything related to my favorite super hero, I'm hoping the cross-pollination with Marvel will produce quality results. And having two studios pumping out related MCU films sounds like a perfect setup to me (though I would prefer Marvel having ownership of all rights back, just to allay the shakes and mental anguish ASM2 still causes).

Apparently the agreement was reached without Marvel actually paying anything, either -- they won't be getting any money from Sony Spidey-films, and Sony won't be getting any money from MCU group films. Honestly, it sounds like Sony got the lesser half of this deal, unless they're expecting the MCU marketing to be worthwhile... Or maybe there's something else there going on.


Now, on to actual comics...

Guardians of the Galaxy

Because... Venom.

I was excited that Guardians of the Galaxy was finally going to the home planet of the symbiotes. We've seen a "Planet of the Symbiotes" in a 90's crossover, featuring Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, and Venom titles, but never the actual point of origin for the species.

Guardians promised to take us there, and they did... but they didn't exactly deliver anything worthwhile. The arc is mostly taken up by the Venom symbiote jumping from Guardian to Guardian (as if we EVER expected anything else), eventually taking over the ship and directing the group to its home. Upon arrival... well, there's a very short, very anti-climactic stay. I won't even bother spoiling things for you, but the reveal of the species as a whole is unfortunate, white-washes a potentially interesting story, and retcons information offered in the "Planet of the Symbiotes" arc (Planet of the Big Fat Liars is more like it).

All in all, after reading decades of Venom, Carnage, and their extended family, it comes as a real let down that this is the direction Marvel went. I wanted a potential inter-galactic threat, or something menacing in some way that explains all the bullshit abilities and costs the symbiotes seem to offer or impose. Instead... blah. Going back to NOT reading GotG.

Spider-verse

As a whole, Spider-verse hasn't been as inclusive or as interesting as I hoped. "Every Spider-Man ever" isn't actually pulled off, and it's a giant chase scene between an arbitrarily super-powered family hunting Spiders, with limited-to-no logic applied. The Spiders could just as easily get help from the other super powers in their multitude of dimensions, but instead they wait and allow some of my favorite Spiders to get killed off.

GUESS WHO'S AT THE END?!

On that note, I won't even start on how annoyed I am with the "Scarlet Spiders" run ended. The bastards did it again. They. Did. It. Again.



For now... Well, wish me luck in netting a Majora's Mask Edition New 3DS XL. I, like anyone who wasn't a filthy scalper, missed the tiny pre-order window (less than 20 minutes, I believe), and have had to resort to sending The Wife out to flirt with associates of certain stores, in an effort to secure us a copy come Friday. The Wife seems confidant of her success... You'll be seeing a review of the system next week, if she's correct!

Marvel's Star Wars: Off to a Bad Start?

Props for the Skottie Young variant!

A post in which I am over critical of a universe, medium, and company I love:

Star Wars #1 by Marvel Comics.

This comic embodies everything I hate in a movie based comic series, and something that is especially glaring, coming from a universe we've had expansive experience with in the medium.

1. The setting. This series takes place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Uhg. This has been Donne to death. Yes, all of the previous material has been branded "Legends," aka non-canon, but the first comic from Marvel's newly acquired license should NOT be such an overdone time frame that the most recent Dark Horse run ALSO used! Especially if the writing is going to be WORSE!

2. The characters. This is a more serious offense. We have the characters as we left them in A New Hope and how they'll be in The Empire Strikes Back. They should not vary from those points, at least not much. This issue has the following discrepancies:

Han Solo: why does he talk like a country hick? Why are they making him a bumbling romantic, when he's usually shown as a bit aloof? Yes, there is some room to play with the romance, but stay in character, people!

Princess Leia: we witness her punch an Imperial Officer into unconsciousness, with one blow. Yes, she has every right to be mad at the Empire, but she probably didn't take up martial arts and then forget martial arts between the two movies -- she's not shown as having any physical strength in A New Hope, and she very ineffectively attempts to overcome Han Solo's embrace in The Empire Strikes Back (yes, there is obviously romantic attraction there, but she at no point shows any hint of strength or combat training). Leia is a badass, don't get me wrong, but she's not Chuck Norris. Giver her a blaster and she'll cut down folks in cold blood (he said STUN, damn it!), but she really shouldn't be handing out knuckle-sandwiches (that is unintentionally sexist, but I'm leaving it).

C-3PO: Threepio is and always shall be a pessimist. And yet, we have him being awkwardly hopeful for a high-tension mission that should normally have him telling the odds of invading a high-importance Imperial base, especially without the help of any trained professionals. And, might I add, completely reasonably.

[Millennium] Falcon PUNCH!

Vader: we have never before seen Vader using Stormtroopers as living shields. It seems to be an almost petty level of evil for a once-honorable man to do so (though it was pretty badass). Yes, he's murdered children. But that was after direct orders that served a practical purpose. Otherwise, he only seems to eliminate Imperials when they've been incompetent {again, practical). There's no reason why he couldn't use his saber to block those blasts.

And, honestly, we don't need to see Darth Vader in every freaking comic. Give him a break. And stop reducing the impact of when characters meet him in the films (if done well, this last complaint is nil).

The Empire: they've apparently removed any sense of being a functional, somewhat professional governing body. Now, they follow every given order with a threat of "obliteration." Because that's not excessive. None of the Imperials act like this in the films, but I guess they need to act like complete dicks in case we forgot they're the bad guys.

3. The plot. Why exactly are Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, Threepio, and R2 acting as a strike team? Without any Rebel support at all? If the mission is so important, they'd have backup, or be the backup of a commando group. But no, they'll do it all because they have plot armor, I guess. That's one of the worst things movie comics flail around. They throw our heroes at impossible odds because they cannot die. And, for some reason, they insist on mortally wounding them at one point (has t happened in the comic, yet), as if it will have any emotional impact for us at all.

There are a couple of good things to say, such as Chewie being a badass, Artoo using some of his prequel abilities, and the overall art, but, all in all, I really disliked this comic and will probably not be adding it to my pull list. Even if the new lightsaber motion scenes are pretty neat. Maybe I'll give it a another issue before I pass final judgement...

Some of this is partially coming from the fact that a lot of good Star Wars storylines were killed off due to the company switch. Dark Horse had a lot of good titles running, even if they'd now be considered "Legends." To trade them for this offends me (though it now makes my collection of the Legacy series 100% complete...).

And I thought there was a team to make sure ALL new Star Wars media, across all mediums, would create one coherent canon. It's already looking to me that the comics are going to suffer from "Super Hero Mag" syndrome.

And I was so hopeful, too.

The Nerd Reviews EVERYTHING!

Ok, that's a bit over dramatic. But there was a lot I wanted to talk about, and I don't ever seem to be able to set aside them time. Or, when I do, I fall asleep.

... 4 months of fatherhood will do that to you.

So I'm going to give a quick comment on things I've been meaning to touch base on, with the promise of a longer review for the super mysterious last item, that I won't reveal until... well, you've scrolled down the bottom of the page, I guess.

Saga #24

This issue was full of win. It's a story about making The Will better. We learn some things about him, his sister meets up with Lying Cat and Co., and the final panel, featuring Marko and Prince Robot IV, is freaking perfect.

Spider-Verse Event

The event has been going strong. I'm liking it, for the most part. I dislike the villains being stupid strong for no apparent reason, and there are a lot of deus ex machina moments, but the writing is decent and some of the alternate Spiders are really interesting. They have killed off some Spiders that I'd rather they didn't, the pacing in general is so-so, and the fights really inconsistent, but it's entertaining enough on the surface. All the artists have been solid as well, and I'm getting a Ben Reilly kicking around for awhile.

Until they invariably kill him, too :/

New Star Wars Trailer

I dislike the name of the movie, the new lightsaber is dumb, everything else looks pretty damn good. Really hoping Finn's story (the guy in stormtrooper armor in the opening shot) is awesome and actually stormtrooper related -- I'd like to see one of the movies follow characters on both sides of the fence.

TV

I don't have time to watch TV, what is this?

But I have rewatched Firefly... twice... in the past week. Dammit Fox.

Speaking of Firefly...

 

Firefly the Game

I picked this up and was able to play a solo game and a three player game. I've picked up a couple expansions and am looking forward to playing again. When I do, I'll do a full review on the game, with it's own post and everything. Shiny.

Review preview: I'm loving it!

The Nerd isn't Dead, Only Dreaming

I suspect I've used that title before. Oh well.

I'm not dead. Just super busy at work and pretty exhausted afterwards. And there's this little monster at home that is against things like sleep or sanity (I knew we should have named her Cthulhu).

I want to write review on the most recent issue of Saga and how the Spiderverse event is going. So keep an eye out for that.

I picked up the new Call of Duty. It's enjoyable, but I find the novelty fades fairly quickly, and the weapons aren't balanced enough to promote switching things up.

Dragon Age: Inquisition comes out tonight. Assuming I don't fall sleep beforehand, I'm planning on picking it up at midnight and playing for a bit. I'll be surprised if I make it past the character creation...

This weekend I'll be attending a gathering of friends celebrating the release of the new Smash Bros... but playing the crap out of it all day. I might write a few thoughts afterwards.

TableTop Season 3 started. Check that out, the first episode is a solid one and they made me really want to get Tokaido :/

And I hate the announced title for the Star Wars film. But whatever, I'll avoid the rant on that one.e

Back to work. Or sleep. See which one wins...

Nerds Rule TV: 5 Killer Incoming Shows

Woohoo! Nerds are taking over TV! Comicbook shows are finally taking off and Star Wars is coming back to TV!

And this isn't even including the long running shows, such as Supernatural! It's a good time to be a Nerd. And/or a couch potato. Possibly an awful time to be married to a nerd (sorry Wife).

Here are the dates for the upcoming releases:

GOTHAM

We'll see, Gotham, we'll see.

Airing on FOX, the premiere is on Monday, September 22nd at 8:00pm.

I'm not sure just how excited I am for this show. DC isn't creating a large, connected universe, so this will be to the Batman series kind of what Smallville was to Superman. Kind of. It looks much darker and grittier, and the cast looks fantastic, just not sure how interested I am in a Batman setting sans Batman.

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D (Season 2)

Airing on ABC, the premiere is on Tuesday, September 23rd at 9:00pm.

The first season of this was pretty decent. It will be interesting to see where the show plans on going from here, and who they'll be able to rope in from the comics. So far, there have been some interesting mentions of Mockingbird and the Absorbing Man, both of which could have an interesting impact on the great Marvel Cinematic Universe. Or not. Marvel plays it safe with their connected universe. Either way, it will be interesting to see how they tie into any upcoming feature films...

Well, nailed the look at least.

STAR WARS: REBELS

This one is a bit interesting. First, it will be airing a special, 1 hour film, "Spark of Rebllion" on Friday, October 3rd at 9:00pm. It will be on the Disney Channel.

Meh on adding Sith...

Then the show itself will air on Disney XD on Monday, October 13th at 9:00pm.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Clone Wars cartoon, and chose not to watch it. Partially the animation didn't interest me, but mostly I didn't care for what they were doing with the characters or any they introduced. Towards the end I got interested, but still haven't made the jump to watching it (though I do have a "watching order" list on hand for when I eventually do...). THIS show takes place during a time I'm more interested in, and is introducing new characters. I'm totally down.

THE FLASH

Airing on the CW, the premiere is on Tuesday, October 7th at 8:00pm.

I don't care for the Flash (I'm not a DC fan), but I'm looking forward to this show, especially if it is the same quality as Arrow. So far, it looks very interesting, and I'm excited that the show takes place in the same universe as Arrow!

ARROW (Season 3)

Airing on the CW, the premiere is on Wednesday, October 8th at 8:00pm.

I loved season one. I enjoyed season two. My body is ready for season three.

Yay for crossovers!

This is all great, but what am I supposed to watch on Thursday and Friday!? ... Coming from the guy who hasn't caught an on-air TV show in ages...

What TV show has you the most excited? Or is there something I didn't list that you can't wait for?

Game Time: Bravely Default, Mount and Blade: Warband, and more...

Howdy folks! It's your favorite sleepless nerd!

Unless your fans of Wil Wheaton, I hear he doesn't sleep much. And he's much better at the whole nerd thing.

But anyways! In between raising a baby, I've managed to sneak in a little bit of time playing some titles that are either new-ish or new to me, and I wanted to give a quick report. Later on I might try for a longer piece on Guardians of the Galaxy (or maybe not, that's kind of old news now), and I've also been reading a slew of comics that I haven't posted about yet.

Bravely Default

The Party

I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a huge fan of RPGs. I especially love turn-based ones, possibly because I like to take my time doing just about anything. Bravely Default's titular feature is the Brave/Default system, which is a relatively interesting twist on the turn based mechanic. Every action costs a certain amount of Brave Points. By using "Default," characters defend on their turn and earn an extra BP, which can be done up to three times (I'm uncertain if this ever changes, I'm not super far). Using the "Brave" option, you can spend extra BP on a single turn to take more or bigger actions. The interesting component here is that you can spend BP you don't have, allowing your character to go to -4 BP. The trick is that you only regenerate 1 BP per turn, and that character is useless until their back to 0. Enemies are also able to use the same system.

This makes random encounters generally pretty easy -- spam Brave on every character, they get four attacks in a row and can generally wipe anything out in one turn. For bosses, however, it becomes a gambit -- when you're low on health and not sure if you should try an all out attack and hopefully kill the big bad, or play it safe so you can defend and heal and keep whittling away... I believe there are more combos as you get later in the game, but up to chapter three, it has stayed fairly mundane.

Character classes are run on a job system, similar to a Final Fantasy Tactics -- any of your four characters can learn a different class on a whim, as long as you've unlocked it. There seems to be a decent amount of jobs, which is good. There are a couple of points where Bravely Default has twisted this system as well. Each character can use skills from their current job and the skills from one other job they've learned. And they can use support abilities from any jobs that they've learned them in. This helps to create diverse characters and promotes switching jobs often. There is a feature, called "Abilink," that allows you to pair up your character with one of your 3DS friends accounts, which gives them access to any skills that player has learned in the chosen job. At first I thought this was pretty interesting, but it almost makes developing classes pointless if you've got friends (as I do) that have all abilities unlocked for all jobs...

Speaking of friends helping you in game, you're also able to "summon" them if they've uploaded an attack to the internet. To upload an attack, you choose the "Send" option and then make an attack -- it's stored on your profile until you record another one, and players can use it as a one-off until they record another (and you download it again). This is another thing that can trivialize the game -- I tested it on an early boss and defeated them in the single attack...

Orcs must die, amirite?

The game has gone a long way to be more accessible to new players and to promote connecting to others. And these features are completely optional. So I don't have any reason to complain, but I do wish there was a different method of player interaction that didn't feel game-breaking. But I appreciate what they've done with it.

As far as I am, the story has been typical JRPG fare, with four magical crystals you must save/restore and everything. The player cast, which you meet all four very early, are actually pretty interesting. And cutscenes are voiced... though I can't stand several of the characters' voices. I believe the story changes things up midway through the game, but I can't speak to that just yet. The art style is basic and a bit spartan in places (character models and faces, there are no anime-quality scenes, and you don't actually enter shops, just open the front door...), but it works and doesn't detract in any way from the overall game.

I'm definitely enjoying the game and very happy to see someone attempting to revitalize turn-based combat, instead of settling for the same old story. If I'm blown away by the story, I'll come back and post an update, but for now I'm confidant in giving this an 8/10 as is.



Well... That went on longer than I thought! I'll only just mention my other games, because I honestly haven't been playing them as much.

Mount and Blade: Warband

I've never played an M&B title, but I'm glad I picked this up during the Steam Summer Sale. You control a character in a medieval-style world. There's no plot, there's no real story, you're just in this world to do what you will. Generally, the idea is to recruit soldiers to help you fight battles. You can fight for yourself, you can hire yourself out to one of the several warring kingdoms, you can become a vassal to one of these Kings, or you can try and take over a piece of the world for yourself. You could also go for a low-combat route and become a merchant, taking supplies from one side of the continent to the other. But that's not why I play medieval style games...

Travel is done on a top-down world map, where you can travel from towns to villages to castles, passing other armies, groups, or even bandits. You can be a bandit yourself and attack villages, you can be the hero and crush bandits and uncover their secret bases, or you can be a soldier and fight in the many wars that will start up over time. Your character levels up and you can choose how to grow your stats and abilities. There are hero companions that do the same, and there are basic soldiers that "evolve" as they gain more experience, going from peasant to mounted knight (or other, there are many diverse units).

It's about to get real...

Combat can be first or third person, where your army meets another's on the battlefield. This portion of the game kind of reminds me of Chivalry, while the rest of the game is a bit more like a Crusader Kings or Total War title. It's fairly visceral, though standard gameplay definitely benefits from mods that allow for more strategic formations. You can also enter tournaments and the like for some different styled combat, which is a good way to earn money... Of which you'll need a lot.

I'm not super far in the game, but if any of the above in a truly open world setting appeal to you, I strongly suggest this game. Also, it has many wonderful mods (I myself am playing the Floris mod, which is a compilation of other, smaller mods), including one that turns it into a Game of Thrones setting...

Coop Deckbuilding!

My other gaming news brings me to the land of Legendary, Marvel's deckbuilding game. It just came in yesterday, so I haven't played with it too much, but the mechanics are fairly basic and the setting seems a bit more fleshed out than the DC version (that I've only played once). I'll have more on this when I actually get a group together to test it out.

Alright, that's all folks. Go away. Oh, and keep it nerdy.

Current Events with Spider-Man

The "Spider-verse" prelude began last Wednesday, in Superior Spider-Man 32.

Wait. Wasn't Superior Spider-Man finished, and Amazing Spider-Man (with the real Peter Parker returned) already started?

Yes, yes it was.

Superior Spider-Man takes place while Doc Ock (as Peter Parker and Spider-Man) was displaced in time at the Horizon Labs explosion (in Superior Spider-Man #19, I believe). Apparently it wasn't just a quick jaunt through time -- he wound up in the year 2099, and we're finally seeing what happened.

When he attempted to make his way back home, he kept encountering alternate universe... all of which featured recently murdered Spider-Men, all of which were killed by the same dual-forked weapon. It's not clear if these are all Spider-Men we've met in different dimensions (we see the Armored Spider-Man, which was an alternate costume to 616 Peter and ALSO an alternate dimension where Peter was wealthy instead of poor. It could have been another altogether, however...)

You know, this guy.

In this rather expansive issue, Doc Ock decides that the menace must be faced and that the best way to do so would be to recruit as big an army of Spider-Men as possible, from across all the dimensions. Not, you know, an army of Hulks or something. But whatever. The end of the issues shows him having already begun his army, which will prove to be interesting...

I'm excited for this event, though this one issues seems to have covered a ton of ground, and it's only a prelude! It was a good read, though, and I like the idea that Superior Spider-Man may meet the revived 616 Amazing Spider-Man due to this time/dimension hopping. It may even give more insight as to why Ock makes the sacrifice in the "last" issue of Superior.

Also, as a side note on why I love the issue, I've recently been getting into the Skottie Young Variant covers, which depict marvel characters as babies. I have a few already, though mostly by accident, but now that I have a little girl, it's a great way to bring nerd-dom into her room. I grabbed two copies of this variant, which is only half of the Skottie Young Spider-verse spread, the second of which will come with Amazing Spider-Man #9. I want one set for my daughter's wall and one for my basement!

Love this!

Now, back in the current Amazing Spider-Man issues, I'm not liking the story much at all. I dislike that Black Cat will be a villain (I've said this before), and I really don't enjoy the backstory they're giving Silk, the new female spider-character (this one having been bit at the same spider that bit Peter). It was a bit too easy and includes her actively being locked away for years and years, the secret of her location only being found due to a story element from the Original Sin event.

... Also, the... relationship between Silk and Spider-Man doesn't really have any background for where they immediately go with it, but I suppose this isn't the first time Spidey's run on instinct. The issue itself seemed poorly written, however, where elements were repeated so much that I pictured the writer speaking to a two year old when actually planning this issue. Meh. I've really not been impressed with the return of Amazing Spider-Man, yet managed to love the most recent issue of Superior. Wonder if they're purposefully trying to tank the main title and character.

Oh well.

Still looking forward to seeing "every Spider-Man ever" during the Spider-verse event! It's yet another opportunity where they could, possibly, bring back Ben Reilly! ...I've said this before, haven't I?

Bring Ben Back!

Must See Fall TV

Gotham's one honest cop, Robin Hood, Flash Fact, WWJConstantine smoke?

JC smokes silk cuts. NBCensorshit.

It’s a unique utopia we live in, when two pilots for new series can be viewed online months prior to their debut later this year. Of course what I’m writing about is DC Entertainment’s The Flash & Constantine. I’m not going to bother reviewing either as of now, but I want to comment on what I think is a step in the right direction for live action DC. While some fans fret over the fact that DC is running far behind  Marvel in developing a shared cinematic universe, it’s important to remember a clear difference in the development and strengths of both companies.

Spoiler-Free Diet: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Solid cast, all around.

The most recent entry into the sometimes decent, sometimes awful X-men movie franchise is, fortunately, from the former category. I went with a group and most everyone liked it. The Wife fell asleep, but she ended work late and starts early, so that's understandable. Oh, and the movie doesn't try to engage folks not interested in the series already, which is a bit of a weakness.

Oh, and no spoilers below, so feel free to glut yourself on some nerdy review goodness.

The Good

Acting - The cast for this movie was pretty stellar, an

Future Sunspot, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, and Colossus

d no one dropped the ball. Moreover, everyone was somewhat interesting and had a place/purpose, even the folks set in the future, which we only see for a few scenes. This is in direct contrast to X-Men: Last Stand, which wasted talent, characters, storylines, and was just generally unwieldy. This was a decent sized cast, but it was handled well.

Story - Many movies that try, fail to make sense of time travel, or leave large plot holes. This movie didn't have any issues with it -- technically it was time travel lite, with simple rules and simple, well-defined consequences, but it helped in that it didn't detract from the story. I've read reviews online that say it were confusing -- they either watched a different movie than I did, or simply weren't paying attention.

This is a story about characters. Yes, there's obviously a big-bad event that causes the future to go awry, but the solution doesn't lie in stopping the event, rather in changing the players involved. It's a different take on a super hero movie and not done completely well -- without a major focus, the movie does seem to drift a bit from time to time and, scaled against super hero movies, even runs a bit on the boring side. It's never bad, and it ends well and with interesting results, it just wasn't quite as focused as it could have been.

Action - Early on, there are two amazing action scenes. The rest of the movie moves away from them and there isn't too much fighting until the very end, and it doesn't really compare to the beginning sets. Either way, it was worth it (and still had more fighting than Godzilla... heh).

Correcting wrongs - The X-Men movies have been full of plot holes and errors, especially since X-Men: First Class, which tried to set itself apart from having to correct the wrongs of Last Stand. This movie, using a bit of time travel, does fix some of these issues, which is nice. It also more-or-less gives Last Stand the middle finger, which is very good. There are still some issues, which I could go into but won't, but they're not quite as glaring as they had been. Sort of. Hey, at least they're making an effort. And, really, it's consistent with the X-Men comics in the '90s -- overly convoluted with too many writers and no real cohesion.

The Bad

Mystique - This is definitely a personal issue, but I hate Mystique. I've never liked the comic or movie character, and I think the movie version looks stupid. Jennifer Lawrence was fine, but the fact that the movie focuses on her so much (figuratively and literally, those close-ups, man) annoyed me. I'm very much on the side of "there are so many MORE interesting X-Men characters....", and it does sometimes impact my ability to see past things such as "movie rights" and silly things like that. The plot device she's used for makes some sort of sense (kind of, and was worked in from First Class), but there are several other mutants that would have made more sense and been much more interesting. The focus on Charles' relationship with her always annoys me, though conceptually I understand a need to tie characters together on a deeper emotional level.

But still, Mystique. Ugh.

First Class - The "back in time" portion takes place ten years after the events in First Class, but the intervening ten years are only briefly mentioned and hardly seem to fit. I didn't see a reason for that particular time jump (heh), and it grated for me whenever they mentioned it in passing.

Comics - The "future" portion was a mash-up of the comic arcs "Days of Future Past," the issues that introduced Bishop/Apocalypse's dark future, and the "Age of Apocalypse" (thanks to Blink's presence) arcs. This, to me, was a waste. Bishop's future, in the comics, was so much more interesting than the briefly touched upon "Days of Future Past," timeline. It was nice seeing him in the film, but I'm a bit bummed that, should he appear in the next one, it will lesson the normal impact of his character on the X-Men universe.

Also, the future wasn't used nearly enough. A couple snapshots of an apocalyptic wasteland are really all we see, then it focuses very closely on the Future group, never straying far from their hideout. I wanted to see more of why the future was rubbish -- it's my favorite setting.

Sentinels - The future ones look too similar the The Destroyer from Thor. The past ones don't do much. These are iconic X-Men enemies in the comics, but they were under-utilized in the extreme here.

Future sentinel. It's face opens in a familiar manner...

Focus - The story, lacking a major, stand out villain, loses focus. Is Trask the target? Is Magneto the true enemy? Can the future even be changed? Etc... This wasn't assisted by an unnecessary scene or two in the future, which dragged our attention further away, without adding the intended suspense.

The focus on characters wasn't exactly what I wanted it to be either. The most interesting character in the entire film was introduced and cast aside fairly early. And the comic arc had followed Kitty Pryde back to the past, not Wolverine. True, I think Wolverine worked in this aspect, but super hero movies in general need stronger female leads, and the writers of this missed a great opportunity to use a wonderful actress (Ellen Page) to her fullest extent.

Wasted opportunity, not having this shot somewhere in the film.

... Despite my constant gripes, I liked the movie. I also liked it a TON better than I expected. But I do have my gripes. Arbitrary rating of 7/10. I'm now fairly excited for the next movie (stay after the credits!).


... I hadn't bothered to post about it, but my rating for Godzilla is an 8/10 and am super excited to see what they do next with the series.

An Honest Stand; Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther Vol. 1

“HE IS NOT A SYMBOLIC CHRIST! FORGET ABOUT TURNING HIS FLESH AND BLOOD INTO SOME ESOTERIC ALLUSION TO THE PERSECUTION OF CONTEMPORARY MAN… THE FLAMES WHICH CONSUME THE CROSS AND HIS BODY PROVE HIS HUMANITY”—From “A Cross Burning Darkly Blackening the Night!” in Jungle Action #21, May 1976. 

The KKK Can't Take My Baby Away

If Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams helped pave the way for Frank Miller, then Don McGregor, Billy Graham and the rest of the talent behind “Panther’s Rage” and “The Panther Vs. The Klan” set the bar for the much admired literary writers of the Brit Invasion almost a decade later to pursue. There’s no reason why these 18 comics should not be mentioned in the same breath as Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, or Sandman.

Thoughts on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

After watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I decided to give Agents of SHIELD another shot. I didn't care for the first episode, due to the character roles being very generic and thinking that the sole reason for the show was MOAR COULSON.

I'm now 15 episodes in and, while not completely caught up, I am happy with my decision to give the show another shot.

Skye, Simmons, Fitz, Coulson, May, and Ward.

If you don't know what the show is about, Agent Coulson, who had apparently died in The Avengers, is back. On top of that, he was told to create a special team of SHIELD agents that would work mostly independently, under Coulson's supervision. He recruits some of the best SHIELD has to offer... and a nerdy, anti-establishment hacker named Skye who managed to hack SHIELD in the first episode...

True, most of the characters do have their stereotypical roles (Machine Wiz, Computer Hacker, Science Chick, Badass Secret Agent Man, Ice Queen, and, well, Coulson.), but the characters within the roles grow and change. Even Coulson, who I was sure would be 100% deadpan 100% of the time, has shown some pretty tremendous changes (and acting skills I wouldn't have guessed!). The rest of the cast shows some minor growth, though the most interesting changes come from Skye for the most part. Fitz, the Machine Wiz, actually has some truly subtle moments of a shifting personality that I'm not sure if they're accidental or actually building to something interesting.

Several characters have private agendas that we learn over time:

Coulson wants to learn about how he was saved from death. While the truth isn't exactly what I was hoping for, I'm coming to terms with it. I'll do a spoiler section below to talk more in-depth.

Skye wants to learn about her past and her parents, and her only link to that info is a redacted SHIELD document she recovered... She recruits Coulson to help her. Their relationship quickly becomes father-daughter like, but it's handled lightly enough to not get awkward.

Everyone else... Well, they get different motivations as the show goes on, but they're trained agents and that's enough for them. Fitz and Simmons (Science Chick) are getting first time field experience, Ward (Badass) is unwillingly being taught to work with a team, and May (Ice Queen) is being reintroduced into active roles after some emotionally damaging trauma.

The best part of the show, for me, is how it connects to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. At first, I thought it would be fairly weak in terms of actual references, so that anything important can be saved for feature films. Fortunately, Marvel has a rich history and enough of a roster to play around with things. For example, I just watched the episode where the Asgardian Lorelei came to Midgard and started recruiting men for her army. Most folks might not have any idea who the heck Lorelei is, but fans of the comics will recognize her as Amora the Enchantress' sister, one of Thor's major enemies. Lorelei's power to control men is similar to Amora's, while saving the better known character for a throw down in a future Thor film.

I'm really anticipating the episode where events from Captain America: The Winter Soldier come into play. I'm also mildly wondering how they're determining what to spoil and when to do so -- I imagine MAJOR spoilers for the Cap movie must be revealed in the TV show, and I don't really think that's ever been a problem for a movie before.

One step closer to Maximum Carnage!

Before I jump into spoiling about Coulson's death (as much as I know if it, anyway, still not current!), I want to say that the show is definitely worth watching. It brings fans of the movies in with references to the feature films, and it also keeps the comic fans interested by dropping fairly interesting hints/characters. I mean, we've already met the characters that will become Blizzard and (probably) Deathlok! And, what's more, they were done pretty damn well!

Oh, and I'm also offering a prediction that the Big Bad, the unknown "Clairvoyant," is from the future. To me, that's the only way to really tie in Deathlok...

SPOILERY discussion below. Go away if you haven't seen at least Episode 14. Everything below the image of dead Coulson are spoilers.

Coulson's death discussed below!

Alrighty. I was hoping that Coulson was going to be an LMD (Live Model Decoy, or, you know, robot). That's something SHIELD is famous for in the comics and it even seemed as if they were hinting at it in the earlier episodes. 

Instead, the answer was revealed to be... a lot of surgeries. Wait, what? And he was dead for days? Well... They got a little better when they introduced that the medicine used was extracted from the corpse of a Kree alien (I'm assuming it is Kree, they haven't officially stated what it was by episode 15). This made me a BIT more excited because they also used the "medicine" to cure Skye. I don't know how well folks recall Ms. Marvel's back story, but all of her powers came from the Kree. I'm not expecting Skye to step into that role, but it is a thought. I'd love to see some more on that end, despite being sick of "aliens" being the problem. I'd much rather have some of the awesome earthling baddies crop up to fight SHIELD and the Avengers. Kang, anyone?

Alright, that's all I got. Maybe I'll post a response to the entire season when it's all finished up (and I've actually caught up). Until then, watch the damn show!