The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 22): What Is Your Favourite Universe?

We'll show them...Chinese BOXING!

I am so rushed for time lately, I don't normally arrive home until later from whatever I'm doing and these posts always seem to get up late!

A thousand apologies!

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 22): What Is Your Favourite Universe?

This question is often asked to me by many people, more of a WHY than a WHAT, but it should be fun to answer I think.

My favourite comic universe is...


The Marvel Universe.

Now, you probably thought this was just too obvious. It is, I suppose.

I love many comics and many characters across MANY different companies, but Marvel was the first company to introduce real world locations in any sense of community. Stan Lee humanised his characters, unlike Superman, and placed them in a real world setting with unreal inhabitants.

Most of the Marvel Universe dwell in the States, so why wouldn't they run into each other? Stan Lee addressed all these issues. If Reed Richards needed a lawyer? Well, he'd go to Matt Murdock. If anyone needed scientific advice, they'd go to Reed Richards. There was someone everywhere, and it felt very believable.

For example, in Civil War we see the heroes split down the middle by their respective beliefs, with neither side truly right nor wrong. In other companies, I feel as if there is right and wrong, and maybe some in between, but nowhere near the sense that Marvel has.

It really does feel like you're watching the lives of these people unfold.

Superman has emotions, lots of them. I never got why someone who is as powerful as him would ever be upset by his issues with Lois, or things that humans are bothered by. He's Superman. Obviously, love can affect us all, but Superman doesn't have to be careful in battle. If he is distracted by emotions or things in his personal life, say, during his attempt to stop a robbery? It doesn't matter if he slips attention and gets shot.

If that happened to Spidey, he could get killed.

They're just very realistically unrealistic, I love it and I love what they do with it (Most of the time).

I guess I love the fact that they seem to match up, too. Luke Cage didn't marry some civilian damsel-in-distress. He married Jessica Jones, a superhero bodyguard. It's not a case of Superman falling for a woman he has to keep saving every five minutes.

What do YOU like in your comics? Why do YOU prefer one universe or another? Let me know!

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I've been considering actually doing a post on my comic collection! Taking pics and actually showing you all why this blog exists. Good idea? Bad idea? Self-indulgent for better or worse?

Anyway, all of you scumbags take care. I'm off to watch The Simpsons.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 21): What Is the Most Memorable Death?

The frogurt comes with a curse.

A shocking and unprecedented event has occured. There are NO COMICS TO REVIEW THIS WEEK! Let me rephrase that, actually. There are lots of comics out every week, but none came out this week that I review on here.

Deadpool #27, which was kinda funny, but ultimately what you'd expect; pointless. Then there were a couple of Shadowland tie-ins with varying degrees of necessity, but I don't review those anyway.

Saying this, I've been scouring my collection to find a suitable comic that could serve as a good edition of The Mast Looks Back, since I haven't done those in a while, or I may even do another 101/Where to Start with So and So post. We'll see!

That's for then, not now. Why? Because tonight WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DEATH.

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 21): What Is the Most Memorable Death?

I'm gonna go ahead right now and give this as little an introduction as possible. Why? Because there can honestly be only one, for me. Sure, Superman's death rocked the world, but for me personally? There is just this and only this in contention.


The Death of Elektra.

Elektra has become somewhat of a cult character. She has a fanbase that isn't comparable to the likes of Spider-Man, even Daredevil, but among Daredevil fans she is a total favourite, usually.

As I stated in the other installment of this list, the romance one, I have a deep affinity for Elektra and her relationship, not just with Matt Murdock/Daredevil, but his existence. I had read most of the stories up until Daredevil #181 (The death issue), including her debut in #168 (Not the actual comic at this point, just a reprinted story), even before I had actively started searching out Daredevil's back issues. I couldn't get to a comic store with regularity as a child, so I got a few single issues frequently, but mostly kept up with the stories through collected editions or what not.

I didn't have the appreciation for Elektra I do now, but she was a refreshingly useful character even then, and I knew that. She was throwing Daredevil through a loop in a manner I hadn't seen a female character do before.

By the time I eventually got around to reading Daredevil #181 in an actual single issue form, I was very much caught up on things. I received this comic as a gift when I was...I don't even know how young, and opened the wrapping paper to see this:



What a striking cover that is. Even for today, it's a truly attention-grabbing piece.

To appreciate what kind of stir it caused to advertise a death on the front cover, you have to remember that this issue came out in April of 1982. There was no internet, no rumour mill, no discussion board. If you wanted to voice an opinion on a comic you had to write a letter to the Marvel Bullpen and hope it got published.

Can you imagine just how amazing and more suspenseful comics were back then? No endlessly spoilerific solicits, no spoilers in general. Everything was so easy to keep secret.

Naturally, by the time I read this, Elektra had died and come back long ago. Still, it was by first time reading it. One of Daredevil's most fierce and hated foes is fighting his first and arguably most intense love interest, and one of them dies? For real? I couldn't read the book fast enough. Bullseye and Elektra fight and in his inimitable and sadistic tone, Bullseye says, after getting the better of her:

"You put up a pretty good fight, toots. You're pretty good, but me? I'm magic."

Click that to see the page in large, beautiful glory.

After doing what he does on that page, he then grabs one of her own sais and, in an intentional moment of rather aggressive sexual and violent symbolism (Remember, this was in the '80s and in a comic book, when censoring shit was big), thrusts it right through her body and out the other side.

He doesn't do it fast, it's not drawn as a quick or fast action. He PUSHES it through her, as if intending to make a hole from which her life can drain out of her, with a grin on his face.

She crawls to Matt's doorstep and dies in his arms. It's a shocking, violent and in many ways, disturbing scene. Miller referred to it as a rape-murder in a superhero comic, simply because of how he penetrates her with her own weapon. That symbolism wasn't lost on anyone, at all. Now, consider in the 2000s where they won't even let Wolverine smoke anymore (Not that I care, but it just seems odd), what uproar such inter-gender violence caused back then.

This was 13 issues after her debut and she had been killed off. Frank Miller never intended her to return. I'm partially glad she did, because I think her later involvement and development is what makes her earlier involvement that much more epic, but I do respect Miller too much to disagree with him here. If he says she should've stayed dead, she should've.

It was just...a perfectly done scene. It had to be Elektra, and it had to be Bullseye. It all worked so, so well. In many ways, that's why everyone was so hyped for Shadowland and why the Bullseye death, in the same manner, got such acclaim. It was seen as the first real exploding point after Matt had bottled all this up.

Matt carried this particular loss with him for his whole life, right up until now. He probably always will. She's back, and has been for ages, but you don't forget something like that. That is why, to me, this is the most memorable death.

Daredevil #181 is honestly one of the best comics I've ever read on its own, and you can probably get one for a very reasonable price on eBay, really. I do heartily recommend reading from Daredevil #168 to #181, seriously. I'm pretty certain it's out in a trade too.

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I really enjoyed this post. I guess, due to how fucking ruined Daredevil is getting, I am appreciating how good we've always had it. More on THAT later, though.

Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting and thanks for supporting Welcome to the Mast.

*Plays Simply the Best by Tina Turner in the background*

I've been The Mast, YOU'VE been the best!

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 20): What Is Your Best Casting of a Character (If You Were Casting)?

"Do you even know which one of our kids I'm talking about?", "G...Gordon?"

As I type out today's post on this chilly London night, I am provided with a soundtrack by Rocket from the Crypt, a seemingly little known popish punk band that have split, but were AWESOME. I'm just keeping the memory alive by telling you to go check them out.

I'm pretty excited for this installment, simply because this is one that I'm curious about other peoples' opinions on. So, let's get to it!

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 20): What Is Your Best Casting of a Character (If You Were Casting)?

It's something every comic book fan wonders, isn't it? "Who would play THAT role? Who could play that role BETTER? Who should've played her/him?"

I'm here to tell you who I think would be the best casting of a single character that hasn't been done yet. If you think I'm wrong, I honestly believe you're a bit retarded in the mind. You've got mental problems, man.


Hugh Laurie as Dr. Strange.

Come onnn. Don't even act like it isn't the best possible casting out of all the "known" actors".

He plays an arrogant doctor already, so let's get him to play an arrogant surgeon as Dr. Stephen Strange. Granted, he's quite different after he has undergone his training and the accident that leads to the end of his medical career, but I feel Laurie definitely has the acting chops to pull it off.

I'm full of faith that he could extend his hands in that familiar pattern, utter the words, "By the omnipotent Vishanti!" and cast a spell in such grand and epic fashion. I really do.

On top of all that, he does kind of look like him. If his hair was darker, he would look really, scarily like Dr. Strange.

I dunno, I've just always wanted him in that role. There was a part of me that was screaming for Angelina Jolie as Maria Hill, but if I had to pick one, it'd be the one I picked.

Who would you pick?

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You know the drill.

Thanks so much for reading, take care of yourselves and I'll be back tomorrow! I didn't get Thursday's Comics today due to having things to attend to, but tomorrow I shall!

Until then, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 19): What Is Your Most Hated Comic-to-Screen Character Adaptation?

Bam!

Sup, yo?

This post has fallen at a delightfully fitting time. My beloved Arsenal F.C. are playing in the Champions' League (Wiki it) tonight and I wouldn't miss it. So, obviously, I have to get this post up as soon as possible.

Thankfully, this was SO easy.

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 19): What Is Your Most Hated Comic-to-Screen Character Adaptation?

My least favourite comic-to-screen adaptation? You wanna know what it is?

I'm gonna go ahead and quote Highlander and say, "There can be only one."


Juggernaut from X-Men: The Last Stand.

Let's begin with the obvious, shall we? The above is movie Juggernaut, not-so-affectionally known as Jonesernaut.

This is comic Juggernaut:



Do ya see the difference? Do you see how one is a hulking, imposing and rather awesome looking force? The other is just a man in a suit that makes him look bigger, despite there being actual men bigger than that anyway.

What else is there to say about Vinnie Jones's Juggernaut?

• He's English.
• He's a mutant. Meaning he WASN'T turned into the Juggernaut by reading the inscription on the crimson gem of Cytorrak.
• He has absolutely NOTHING to do with Charles Xavier and is not portrayed as his half-brother.

Need I go on, in all seriousness?

He serves as nothing more than a pathetic, stupid lackey for Magneto in this movie. There's literally no interest in his character or anything. They wanted to cram as many people into this movie as possible, and so many characters suffered. Juggernaut most of all.

I genuinely think this is the worst, or one of the worst comic-to-screen character adaptations of all time. I've never been more annoyed.

Daredevil's movie was Sin City compared to this.

Then consider the fact that, to cash in on the famous internet meme, they had him say, "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!"

Truly, utterly pathetic. That's why he is my most hated comic-to-screen adaptation ever.

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I have hardly any time for a lengthy sign off, so I'll simply say thanks and keep reading!

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast.

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 18): What Is Your Favourite Comic-to-Screen Character Adaptation?

Brought to you by Dettol!

I really need to stop doing these posts late.

This is how dedicated I am to Welcome to the Mast. Maybe I'm tired, maybe seeing a friend play Halo: Reach just put me to sleep (Such a dire series), but either way, sleep or a nap is required.

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 18): What Is Your Favourite Comic-to-Screen Character Adaptation?

An interesting topic, this one.

What character do I feel was best taken from the page to the screen? You would be utterly surprised! This isn't who I consider to be the BEST, maybe. It's definitely one of my favourites. Who? You'll never guess. My favourite comic to movie character adaptation is...


Knives Chau from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

Now, I know what those of you who have read the Scott Pilgrim books are thinking, because I agree. They DID leave SO much out of the movie that it was really frustrating.

However, reading the books, I always loved Knives Chau. She gave off such an adorable, protective, cute and territorial madness. There's such an innocently obsessive nature about her that it makes he so compelling.

This is where the movie benefited, I think. The books have some real cool art, but they're black and white, and very crudely drawn. The movie afforded life to the parts of the story and characters that it DID include, that the art alone could not.

Knives was my absolute favourite. I felt everything I felt reading the books, but MORE so. Ellen Wong plays the 17 year old Knives to perfection, I think. They cut a LOT of her role and dialogue down, but what IS there is so charmingly memorable. The scene where Scott breaks up with her made me want to punch him in the face, simply because she looks SO heartbroken. The voice, also, is what carries it.

Even little touches like her meekly coming to Wallace/Scott's place and asking, "Is Scott here...?" They all make her a character you want to wrap in cotton wool and protect.

The irony is, she's a total badass. You only get to see glimpses of it in the movie, but that's a testament to how good she was.



She just thinks everything Scott does is amazing and without fault, and he shits on her heart. It's really sad.

I LOVED the depiction of her temper tantrum when she finds out Scott is with Ramona. It's honestly so perfectly female, and I know so many females who have said they've done the same. The way she just starts calling her a fat-ass and making all these terrible insults and excuses as to why Scott must like her, as if it takes away the legitimacy of his crush.

Very adorable and, whether or not others agree, I found it to be exactly as I read her. Better, because Ellen Wong carried such an inherent disarming quality over to the character that it just made her all the more of a character worthy of sympathy.

I must admit, Todd Ingram as played by Brandon Routh was amazing, too. I tell you, compared to his part as Superman in Superman Returns...he was brilliant in this. He truly was. So many people were candidates for this; R.D.J.'s Tony Stark, Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker etc. I do think those were BETTER, but this was my favourite.

I just got such a fun kick out of watching her on screen, and I think you would too. Hence why she is my favourite comic-to-screen character adaptation.

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Once again and as always, thanks to whoever reads this. I really appreciate it.

I often wonder who, if anyone, is actually getting into comics through this blog/me. If you haven't, you should.

That's me done for today. Tomorrow comes the OPPOSITE of this post, as we take a look at what my LEAST favourite comic-to-screen character adaptation is!

Be there or you're an idiot.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 17): Who Is Your Favourite God?

It's milk and eggs, bitch.

Honestly, I'm almost bursting at the seams with excitement regarding the aforementioned pieces of news I may or may not have to deliver. I wish I could tell you, but I've learned never to announce something until it's done or confirmed.

I hope to have them confirmed soon, though.

Now, as this blog post is being typed while listening to Marvin Gaye, a god of music, I think this topic is rather fitting!

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 17): Who Is Your Favourite God?

THOR...is what you're probably all thinking. YOU'RE WRONG.

Well, not really.

He's tied first, but he probably gets all the praise, so I'm gonna show some respect to someone who, over the more recent years, has become increasingly badass and has been further embraced by the comic reading community.

Of course, my favourite god is...


Ares.

The literal Greek god of war, you'd be TERRIBLY hard-pressed to find a more masculine figure in Marvel than Ares.

He was never a major player in Marvel, but when Norman Osborn came into power and decided to for the Dark Avengers, he needed a god. The Avengers have a god, so he needed one.

He's not on the level of Thor, but nevertheless, he is an utter beast in combat as you can imagine. This brings me to the story that solidified my adoration of Ares. Kieron Gillen wrote a mini-series in three parts entitled Dark Avengers: Ares. In it, Ares was requested, by Norman Osborn, to take a group of H.A.M.M.E.R.'s best soldiers and turn them into soldiers worthy of fighting with the god of war.

Ares testing the group's awareness and reflexes by swinging at them mid-speech was truly hilarious. His training methods were brutal and his speeches were rousing.

Ares does things like this:



The man is training his men by firing a chaingun at them...with one hand, without looking. Why isn't he looking? He's drinking beer.

No big deal, really.

It's all the sadder, then, that Ares found himself unknowingly dragged into the Siege of Asgard for the wrong reasons, even though he was suspicious. He told Osborn he would cut his head off if he had forced him to fight his deity brothers (Greek gods and Norse gods share a friendship I believe) for undue reasons.

He did. When Ares realised this, he charged as Osborn. What followed was a battle with The Void/The Sentry, ending in him being completely ripped in half. It was honestly a shocking moment, simply because he had been so liked and hyped in recent times.



Rest assured, Ares will be back because he is a god, but that was a testament to the death scene. We knew he'd be back as it happened and it was still a shock.

I'm not one who goes for the whole idea of what typically makes a man, but Ares is a real man where I DO agree with it. Ares has a son and his son is Phobos, the god of fear. Phobos was a member of Nick Fury's Secret Warriors and Ares did not agree with this at first. After confronting Fury, Ares decided he would trust his son's judgement. Not necessarily great parenting, but where he lacks parenting skills he has overwhelming desire to love and protect his son from anything.

Of course, the greatest Ares quote comes IN Dark Avengers: Ares #1. When speaking to his supposed troops, he says:

"The chain of command. Rules of engagement. This Geneva Convention thing. Medical evac. Supply lines. The white flag. The Red Cross. Worrying about evacuees and refugees. Taking prisoners. Losing the battle, but winning the war. Cursed diplomats. The proper standard of grooming. Sensible things like having enough bullets before you go into battle, that's the dung my sister cares about. I'm the OTHER God of War."

He embodies what war is at its heart. It's a fight. Ares simply believes you should be there to win at all and any cost or you should fuck off.

It's for these reasons that Ares, god of war, is my favourite god.

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Thank you for reading, I had a fun time doing this one. It's always nice to talk about the more unsung of your favourite characters, really.

As always, I'm back tomorrow with yet another installment.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 16): Who Is the Most Powerful Character?

You slimy git.

Today, I almost forgot to even post this!

Sometimes a day goes by so fast that before you know it, bam, it's almost 8:30pm and you've not got a blog post up yet!

Fohgivuhness, prease!

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 16): Who Is the Most Powerful Character?

This is a very tricky question to answer, so rather than focusing on a specific character, this post will be about the abstracts of various universes.

The most powerful would depend on which universe we're discussing and such. Marvel, DC et al have their own respective characters. The one most powerful in Marvel, for all intents and purposed, would be The One Above All. Not the Celestial of that name, but the actual being The One Above All. It is Marvel's creator, basically.

So, those kind of characters are the most powerful, really.

Then, you have those beneath them. Those like The Living Tribunal, Eternity, The Spectre, Celestials. These characters aren't the pinnacle of their universes, but they are practically gods. They have varying degrees of omnipotence, omnipresense or omniscience.

Occassionally, you'll get someone like Dr. Manhattan who is a normal man that ends up with powers akin to these abstracts. That's usually the most intriguing kind, because you see the transformation of a character and their perception. Abstracts that are forces of nature, they more or less don't have much character.

Galactus is arguably the most characterful of the lot, and he's very stoic.

So, really, I could've answered this with a one word answer for each universe, but I wanted to add some depth.

In DC's entirely published history, I guess Dr. Manhattan would be their most powerful Earth born character, or one of. Marvel's...hmm. I'd have to think on that. I'd say Dr. Strange at the peak of his powers was pretty beastly. Molecule Man would also be a top contender, just based on his powers.

A bit of an odd topic, really. Sorry I couldn't deliver something less abstract, but that's the subject matter!

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I am going to go on a mission to procure Asian food with an associate or two, so I will catch up with you guys soon! Tomorrow's installment is going to be quite fun, so tune in!

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 15): What Is Your Favourite Rivalry?

You gotta call yourself the devil in his house?!

Another day, another box of stolen pens. Also, another blog post!

With this blog now up and rolling again, YOU can definitely expect The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom to be continuing with alarming regularity. That's right, not regular regularity. Alarming regularity.

I had a massive subject to tackle, but I'm saving that for something else. It also pertains to one of the two delicious pieces of news I claimed I had.

So treat your eyes like bananas and keep 'em peeled.

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 15): What Is Your Favourite Rivalry?

This was going to go one of three ways, but again, the more I analysed it, the more I realised that the closest tie-breakers often end with a massive winner.

Without further ado, my favourite comic book rivalry is...



Batman & The Joker.

Batman and The Joker have a rivalry so massive that it's known by folks who don't even read comic books.

I'm willing to bet that if you went outside and asked someone who Batman's most famous villain is, they'd tell you it's The Joker. Whether it comes down to the movies or the comics, everybody knows about these two, or at least that the rivalry exists.

The truth is, it deserves its fame.

Superman and Batman both share the same rule; no killing. However, Batman would scare the living shit out of me, day or night, if he approached me with the intention of intimidating me. Superman, to me, isn't scary. Batman is someone that even Superman, a man who is a god for all intents and purposes, is slightly brown-pants afraid of.

Take this into account when remembering that The Joker is not, in the very smallest way conceivable, scared of Batman.

The Joker wouldn't want Batman off his back if he could. Of course, over the years, he's had schemes to kill Batman, but he doesn't want that. As stated in the movie, he simply finds Batman to be too much fun. What balls do you have to have, or lack of mental faculties at least, to use Batman as some kind of experiment?

Even when The Joker murdered Jason Todd, then Robin, by battering him with a crowbar (This happened in the CLASSIC story, A Death in the Family. Read it now if you never have), Batman refused to kill him. It's this element of incorruptibility that The Joker finds fascinating, I think. He loves the idea that Batman would rather live with the torment of his existence than know he was the cause of him being dead.



The definitive take on The Joker was arguably given in The Killing Joke by Alan Moore. A story in which The Joker and Batman get down to having one of their most revealing conversations. Batman goes to see The Joker in Arkham Asylum and says, in so many words, "Look, pal. I don't wanna be at this with you forever, because one of us will end up dead. I really don't want that."

He reaches out and wants to end the feud (Best I can remember).

Somewhere in the comic, The Joker rather candidly details one of the reasons for doing what he's doing:

"All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once. Am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything changed. Why else would you dress up like a flying rat?"

The Joker makes an amazing argument toward the idea that Batman is honestly just as mental as the people he faces. It's an idea Alan Moore would introduce as far back as Watchmen, really. If Batman did exist, you wouldn't necessarily think he's cool, right? You'd think that he's a fucking lunatic for dressing up like a bat and administering street justice to the world's criminals, whether the results worked or not.

Granted, Batman's no murderer, but he clearly has issues to do that in the first place. Who wouldn't? The whole point is that The Joker nails it. In many ways, The Joker and Batman need each other. At the very least, Batman has needed The Joker to find out things about himself that he couldn't have known otherwise.

They're just locked in an eternal struggle with neither willing to give up.

I'm of the belief that Batman would be eternally justified in killing The Joker, but The Joker has psychologically convinced him that it'd prove him right. It wouldn't, really, but he's convinced him of that I think. If he did, we'd not have the legendary rivalry and feud that we have today (Well, not TODAY, because Dick Grayson is currently Batman, but you get the point).

For all these reasons, this is my favourite rivalry.

Coming close were Wolverine/Sabretooth, Daredevil/Bullseye, Spider-Man/Osborn and Spawn/Everyone he fights, Reed Richards/Dr. Doom, Superman/Luthor etc. I decided to go with this one, though.

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That's it for today. I'm off to the movies, so I will return tomorrow with yet another installment.

Thanks for reading, yo.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast Reviews: Thursday's Comics (9/9/2010).

Is he a martyr or a jalfresi?!

Welcome to the Mast! You know the purpose of this blog, why I'm here and what my name is. That makes it reasonably hard to do an introduction, so from this moment henceforth onward, I will be called Ruddiger.

Jokes aside, I have come back with this week's edition of Thursday's Comics!

Also, not only will The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom be rolling again (Starting below), but I may have two doses of pretty sweet news over the coming weeks!

For now, though, let's talk some story!

Thursday's Comics.


X-Force: Sex & Violence #3 of 3.

A rather decent end to what has been a surprising series.

I don't believe this series could've gone beyond three issues as it simply doesn't have enough to carry it. What IS there, however, is really excellent. I've been singing the praises of this mini since it came out, so I'll try to keep this short and not tread old ground.

Basically, it's like issues #1 and #2. There's lots of fighting, Domino and Wolverine are taken to The Assassins' Guild and Belladonna orders them dead. Lots of blood, lots of fighting and a final appearance by the traditional X-Force line-up, adding more blood and violence to the proceedings.

All works out in the end. Wolverine and Domino, thanks for X-Force, escape and the money stolen gets donated to an orphanage. Well, some of it, thanks to Domino, haha. She shows up at the end having bought Wolverine what looks like a Ford Mustang. Not too shabby!

They drive off together and Wolverine insists he's still mad while, and no I'm not lying, Domino gives him oral sex. You don't see it, naturally, but she tells him to keep his eyes on the road and then the last shot only shows Wolverine in the driving seat. Presumably because she's doing other things!

If you can, and you should be able to, get the trade of this series as soon as possible. It should read really well and it's a deliciously brutal, fun, sexy piece of drawn candy. Dell'Otto's art is, as always, very nice and Yost/Kyle prove why they are such a successful duo at writing these characters.

A hearty recommendation.


The Thanos Imperative #4 of 6.

This is a series that I am glad is picking up a glorious head of steam in the run up to its finale.

Thanos, having been killed in The Cancerverse by Drax in the last issue, almost immediately comes back to life. What's his first action? He kills Drax. Thanos is so fucking badass. You don't even get it, man.

The whole push is that Nova's assembled team (Gladiator, Surfer, Ronan, Quasar, Beta Ray Bill) have gone into the enemy starship in an attempt to hit them where it hurts and end the war for good. In doing so, Lord Mar-Vell reveals that he is now aware that they are but a distraction, and that the avatar of Death (Thanos) is in THEIR universe.

Let me just say that for someone I barely cared about, Lord Mar-Vell is becoming a really sinister, believably formidable antagonist. Abnett and Lanning have done a stellar job of making everyone nail their roles.

Something really awesome, for me, was just how brilliantly Abnett writes Surfer. There's a part during the attack where Nova shouts out that The Revengers are the big guns to look out for. Surfer obliterates them and says, "After this, we shall review how the weight behind that term differs between us." Basically saying, "Yeah, I just whooped the so-called big guns. I'm the fucking man. Polish my surfboard."

It's epic. If Surfer gets another on-going and Marvel don't intend to cancel it after 14 fucking issues, I want Abnett on it.

What I really love in comics, above most other aspects, is a really delicious ending. A lovely splash page that makes you salivate for the next issue.

After Lord Mar-Vell heads to The Cancerverse with The Revengers to get Thanos, he blows up the starship with the whole of Nova's team still inside. They survive, naturally, but only for Surfer to tell them that they have vastly underestimated the opposition. I agree, and that's what surprised me, again, about Lord Mar-Vell. He BEASTS Nova in this issue. Nova. It's epic.

In The Cancerverse, The Guardians of the Galaxy are met with The Revengers on the last page, complete with The Cancerverse's version of War Machine.

I would say that this probably reads better in trade format, same for Realm of Kings. Opposed to War of Kings, which reads awesome in any fucking format.

If cosmic Marvel is something that tickles your noodle, or you want it to, then Abnett is where the action is, and so is The Thanos Imperative.


The New Avengers #4.

Hmm.

The New Avengers...it's definitely not the worst of the newest Avenger-centric titles, but it's certainly not the best.

I have raised my issues with Bendis as of late, and I don't see any of those problems rearing their head in this title, but I would honestly like it if the line-ups were properly defined, without sharing three members with The Avengers.

So, the last issue ended with The Ancient One revealing himself to be behind all the magical chaos. What else was said between him and Danny Rand, Iron Fist, is unknown...until now.

This issue contains varying assortments of chaos, but I have one gripe. It seems to be that the characters, until the end, are simply telling us that loads of shit is happening. There never seems to be much HAPPENING, just lots of dialogue saying it is. Once again, Bendis shines with Luke and Jessica Jones-Cage. He writes them so brilliantly that any scene with them is just a joy to behold.

Spider-Man is another character he writes well, but I'm getting a little burn-out from him. Not EVERY line he says has to be funny. We get it, he's a wise-cracker and cracks wise in situations that aren't always best, but...ALL the time? I do think his dialogue between himself and The Thing, as well as Ms. Marvel, is something that can develop into one of the best character dynamics Marvel has, though.

With that said, it's only four issues in and it does feel like a lot has happened, but not...at the same time.

We're a little the wiser as to what's going on. Iron Fist falls out of the crack in the sky with a brand new white and gold suit, before punching Dr. Strange in the face. That's the culmination of this issue, really. Danny says that The Ancient One told him how this attack is minor compared to what will happen if The Eye of Agamotto isn't given back to its rightful place. Now, what that rightful place is, who it belongs to, and just what Dr. Strange is hiding? Nobody knows besides Bendis. I must admit, I am intrigued now.

I shall watch carefully.


Daredevil #510.

Let me quickly and briefly re-cap Shadowland #3.

Daredevil gets into a fight with his former friends, The Kingpin proposes he be stopped once and for all, with some heroes inclined to agree. Elektra enters the fray and appears to take his side. Master Izo reveals that he is being used as a vessel for The Beast, the demon that The Hand worship. Killing Bullseye weakened the barrier between the worlds and allowed him to get a total grip on Daredevil. The biggest revelation is that Daredevil reveals he needs a new champion, a fighter he can trust. He is then seen digging up Bullseye from his grave.

Enter Daredevil #510.

Daredevil falls further and further off the deep end as he almost kills Black Tarantula for daring to suggest this has gone far enough. With Elektra and Typhoid Mary at his side, he seems to be almost inapproachable and unstoppable at this point. Whatever magic or power is affecting him has started to affect Hell's Kitchen throughout.

Looters, rioters, muggers. It's all happening.

Dakota North and Foggy Nelson are soon accosted by ninja claiming to be from The Hand, but they're not. Almost meeting their end, Black Tarantula saves them and expresses his worry that Matt has gone beyond being stopped safely, wondering what it's going to take.

When he approaches the possessed White Tiger about this, accompanied by many ninja of The Hand, she says that all looters and rioters are to be executed by order of Lord Daredevil.

Now, I've not got many negative things to say about Andy Diggle. I do think this whole series is really well written and gives a dramatically overwhelming sense of dread toward Daredevil. However, I think that he's playing fast and loose with plot details a bit.

So, the issue ends, shockingly, with White Tiger murdering Black Tarantula with a katana and throwing him off a roof. Even though B.T. isn't someone I'm totally fond of, his death did shock me. One, because I didn't expect it. Two, because it can't seriously be the final death in the story. I'm wondering who's next!

The question is, as a Daredevil aficionado, what do I think?

I think Shadowland has suffered. It started brilliantly, but it has suffered. We have not seen enough Daredevil throughout, it's not clear how this is all affecting him or what he's thinking/feeling. Not in Shadowland, nor in his main title. It has also suffered due to Marvel's obsessive habit of spoiling stories months in advanced with explicit solicits. Now, I don't read them, but I know there's gonna be a new Man without Fear.

This is why Shadowland is suffering. People are way too concerned with what's gonna happen after that they're not totally invested in what's happening NOW anymore. I must sadly agree, I am one.

I said this to my good friend Andrew a while back, Daredevil has been blessed with such amazing stories and such a long succession of competent writers that it's only a matter of time before Marvel decides it's working too well and fuck it up.

Now it has been revealed that there's this new Daredevil: Reborn mini-series in January. Like, it's been on the rumour mill that Matt was gonna die, for a while now anyway. It would've had minimal impact as it is, unless done right, but now we know that he's gonna come back, and when?

I'm so fucking angry about all this, but my logic is key and I will wait to see what happens before I truly commit that anger.

Shadowland has fallen under what I consider to be horribly mismanaged marketing and timing. It's the fall of Matt Murdock, but not in the way we all were interested in.

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That's about all I've got time for today.

Stay tuned for the latest installment of The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom tomorrow, as well as some possibly delicious news to come!

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast.

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 14): What Is Your Favourite Romance?

Did I catch you fuckers at a bad time?

Yes! We are BACK, ladies and gentlemen! My computer is alive and kicking, punching and using every other available appendage to attack your face. Due to the covers for Thursday's Comics not being uploaded to Comic Vine yet, I am just gonna get the ball rolling by continuing The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom!

You've waited long enough, so lets get down to it!

The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom (Day 14): What Is Your Favourite Romance?

I know, I know. Romance? Bleugh! You have to accept, though, that romance and love are both a huge part of life and, as a result, almost all stories that are born out of that. Human and non-human alike, we've all felt love for whatever reason and that's why I thought this section would be interesting. Therefore, my favourite romance is...


Daredevil & Elektra.

Frank Miller once said, "Is there anything more insipid than seeing a superhero love scene, and then in the end it's just a guy who looks like us, in bed, naked?"

What Miller aimed to do with Elektra and Daredevil, in the space of time that he had her alive for anyway, was create a very tense, anti-relationship. These were two people who were only really in love according to some people, it was definitely more on Matt's end than the other. On top of that, they had the most tumultuous of times. Again, to quote Miller, "Why would there be a Lois Lane to Superman? Why wouldn't be running around with Wonder Woman? She could match him. Why aren't these people as grand and operatic in their love-making as they are in combat? These people need to be bringing down buildings with their passion."

Elektra was Matt's university sweetheart. Inevitably, she took off to pursue the life we know her to be living now, for various reasons, and Matt was understandably cut up. He DID move on, all until that fateful day when she was hired to kill Daredevil (Daredevil #168, I believe), unaware of who he was. Matt? Matt knew, Matt caught a whiff of her smell and might as well have been rendered catatonic. It was a tremendous piece of writing, dialogue and relatable material that shows how anyone can be brought to their knees by the whim of a heart.

To this day, he still dreams about her, as evidenced here:



So, why these two? Matt is deeply in love with Elektra, or at least he was, and she was definitely into him. We all know the story, though. Right? We've all been there, on either her end or his. You either love someone so much, but can't be with them because they want to pursue something you can't support, or you're the one pursuing that thing.

Elektra is sexy, she's an incredibly useful character and whenever she shows up in Daredevil, fans generally grin wider than the Cheshire Cat. However, she is, undeniably, a very bad person. Sure, she feels bad about being bad, but she IS bad. She has a Marvel Universe kill count second only to Wolverine, maybe. She commits murder with all the consideration or taking a piss in the morning, and Matt has never been able to handle that.

The torture of those two being inevitably drawn to one another is so painful, but it's a car crash you can't avoid watching.

Now, she's showing up in Shadowland with almost a quiet pride in seeing the fact that Matt has been possessed by The Beast (The Hand's ancient master, the whole purpose of Matt's corruption. See Shadowland #3, which came out during The Great Compufail of 2010, hence lack of review), and is now a dark, demonically motivated figure. What's her real intention? Who knows? That's another great element.

We've known the character, as Matt has, for SO long...and yet she's as unreadable as a book written by Christopher Reeve.

It's all these elements combining that make the connection between Daredevil and Elektra my favourite romance (If you can call it that).

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That's about all I've got today. I will TRY to get Thursday's Comics up as soon as the cover art images are uploaded. Nothing much happened last week, so I can recap this week.

Regarding the above post, it's something I'd love to get your opinions on too, so drop me a comment. Anyone is welcome to comment, so long as it's constructive. Constructively negative OR positive, just be constructive or you simply won't have the comment approved.

That includes any 40 year old, sad, pathetic men out there who may be stalking this page and my appearances on YouTube. All of this despite maintaining for many years that The Mast really isn't someone they care about. Regardless, I love my fans.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast