It's crazy to me that it's July 29th already, man. Where did the time go? Last I checked it was New Year's Eve 2009! We're half way through a year already. Insanity!
My blog is being used more and more like a blog nowadays. In a way, I'm glad for Comic Con because it gives me a chance to flesh my posts out with more than just my opinions about the comics I buy. I'm not a blogger who reviews whatever comes out, I review what I read.
With that said, here's some more Comic Con goodness. There's a Thor movie coming out, not too sure if you heard about that. Well, here's an amazing image of a certain Asgardian armour that will be showing up in the movie:
That is the aptly titled Asgardian Destroyer. Also known as The Destroyer. It's a mystical, sentient armour that can be worn or operate on its own. How will it fit into the movie? I know not. Am I excited to see? Yes. Very excited.
It looks so simplistic and brutal. Unf, I love it.
There was something else, too. An announcement that caused all kinds of, for lack of a more eloquent term, nerd-gasms. Marvel revealed this:
That is The Infinity Gauntlet. If you don't know what it is, go to THIS LINK for a heads-up.
Now, upon reading that, you'll know precisely why I'm wilding out over it. How will they incorporate it? When? Why?! Also, this is made all the more interesting by knowing that, in the Captain America teaser they showed, the Red Skull is seen discovering what seems to be the Cosmic Cube, referred to as one of Odin's treasures. For every bit of continuity Marvel lose with an actor change, they regain it by pulling something like this.
Could The Avengers be a cosmic affair of epic proportions? I don't know if Marvel's ambition should worry me or excite me. At the very least I am indeed curious. Speaking of The Avengers, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner? A capable actor, but not Edward Norton. Marvel dropped the ball there. I think Marvel should go the Mortal Kombat route of putting Ruffalo in a short film so we can get used to him and feel him as the character.
More exciting is that Jeremy Renner will be playing none other than Clint Barton, Hawkeye. I think this could be as perfect a casting choice as R.D.J. was for Iron Man and I BELIEVE Tom Hiddleston was for Loki. We shall see. All of this considered, I maintain that if this movie is no longer than two and a half hours, it's going to be a clusterfuck. It's exciting to see how it'll all unfold.
One last piece of news, but by no means least exciting, is that Frank fucking Castle, The Punisher, is back under the legal rights of Marvel Studios! Does this mean we can finally get an R-rated Punisher movie, or would it be overkill having produced two attempts at a reboot (Three Punisher movies if you count the Dolph Lundgren one)? What do you think?
I think The Punisher needs an R-rated movie and anything else is stupid. He's not Spider-Man, he's not meant to be someone younger people can relate to. If anything, he's one of the very few solely adult properties Marvel has and deserves to be represented as such.
Look at that! I almost forgot about the most important thing!
The comics!
Uncanny X-Men #526,
Shining brightly out of dark recesses of The X-Men's history comes The Five Lights. As always, it's penned by Matt Fraction, but features pencils by Whilce Portacio.
Hope embarks on her trip to Alaska as promised, accompanied by Dr. Nemesis, Rogue and Cypher. The conversations she has with Cypher on the ride over there are quite funny. Cypher, detached as always, non-chalantly informs her of all the relatives he's discovered that have passed on, even offering to search for dead pets when Dr. Nemesis sarcastically suggests he do so.
Turns out her birth name is Spalding, quite shit really. Hope Spalding. She meets with her grandmother, without her grandmother knowing who she is, and asks questions about her mother. Never revealing who she truly is. Her mother has passed away, and we get to see her visit her grave before all this, which is where she meets her grandmother, ironically.
It's kind of nice, I suppose, but it feels like it was all for nothing. It's well written, but kind of unnecessary. It all culminates in Hope noticing how her mother was a firefighter, choosing to be in harm's way to save lives, and this settles her decision to be an X-chick. Surely she could've picked up the whole, "Sometimes putting yourself in harm's way to protect others." from...I dunno, CABLE DOING IT FOR HER ALL THIS TIME. Ehh.
Anyway, the issue consists of various groupings of X-Men looking for these newly manifested mutants. One of them is intercepted by Hope and the like on their way home. About to commit suicide, Hope dives off the building and saves her.
Instantly, this girl, revealed to be called Laurie, fully transforms into what looks like Nocturne. Clearly she's not Nocturne, I'm just noting the resemblance. I think it's implied that Hope is capable of bringing forth these mutations in a painless way. Laurie flies Hope back to the rooftop, no longer distraught, and requests to go with them. The issue ends with Hope optimistically asking Rogue who's next.
It's a fairly decent jumping on point, but it felt a little disjointed to me. Also, there was a little side part that I loved, but didn't love. Emma Frost informs Cyclops that she's going off to have dinner with a rich, handsome man. That would be Tony Stark. Now, Cyclops is her man...and Emma Frost is a chick who turns heads without trying to, but does so anyway. If you're Cyclops and you know your woman used to be fuck buddies with the guy she's having dinner with...do you not protest the fucking meeting?!
Seriously, Cyke. SERIOUSLY. Maybe I'm just an untrusting guy, but I'd have at least made a comment. She doesn't even dress conservatively, either. When she meets him, for whatever reason (I assume there is one), she looks NICE. I mean, ravishing. I assume there's a plot thread there, but I just wanted to add my thoughts on that.
I loved it because I really miss the corrosive, snobbish, "Yeah, Jean. I'm having a psychic affair with your man, bitch." style of Emma Frost. Oppositely, I would feel bad for Cyke if she started messing around behind his back.
I'll keep buying this series until it convinces me otherwise. Considering my history with X-Men on-goings, this won't be long. I dropped out of it for two issues, because that whole Nation X thing made me sick, and then Second Coming dragged me back in.
I'd recommend Second Coming before this, but if you've read my reviews then jump on with me. Let's see where this heads.
Secret Avengers #3.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Brubaker is an amazing writer and so I'm not gonna spend time harping on that point. The same goes for Deodato's art, which is SO suited to these characters.
So, where do we stand? Nova's donned one of three Serpent Crowns and has gone quite mental, with the Secret Avengers there to retrieve their teammate and Ant-Man got blasted by some kind of energy and has ended up in the base of The Shadow Empire.
It sounds like not a lot happens and, to be fair, not much really does. What does happen is fairly interesting and does well to lure you into what seems like a story with plenty of revelations.
Brubaker kicks the issue off with a tale of Western travellers who encounter something known as The Abyss, when looking for someone they were pursuing. One of these men, Aloysius Thorndrake, is revealed to be the present day leader of The Shadow Empire, already possessing one of the crowns and Nick Fury as his second-in-command. He wants the crown and gives Fury orders to send their men on a one-way trip to Mars in order to retrieve it or something of that sot. Deodato draws him very well, he strikes you as an ageless leader who knows way more than he's letting on.
Indeed, as with all Brubaker series' I've read, this does have a heavy crime and espionage feel about it. Through the character dialogue and the story that's been revealed so far, the spy and mental combat element that's common in so many espionage tales is very much a presense.
After confronting the guardian of the temple in the last issue, Archon, Steve Rogers and co. explain that they are not a threat, that they share a common goal. It was very subtle, but Archon's immediate agreement to pursue Nova and the crown really did give the whole ordeal a sense of urgency. It felt like, as a true guardian would, he had no time to be messing around and if they were going to help him find what he needs, he'd be up for it.
Eventually War Machine brings Valkyrie back to Steve, where as Black Widow and Moon Knight are unconscious from the fight. I'm not entirely sure if they get brought back, though.
The big exposition comes from Archon, revealing that Nova seaks to break the seal that will release The Darkest Child and The Nameless Father, an evil so dense that it's almost unimaginable. Archon fights Nova, they find him naturally, and is swiftly defeated, citing something usually strong about his power as the reason, leaving everyone to wonder just what comes next as Nova breaks the seal.
Oh, I should mention that Nova dropped his helmet, which contains the Xandarian Worldmind. Steve picks it up earlier in the issue and I assume this will have some relevance.
In all, it's a well-written story with some gorgeous, delicious artwork. I must admit, I thought that the cool black-ops team would be doing a lot more than fleshing out a story like this. It feels like we've got stories similar to it going on in The Avengers AND The Thanos Imperative. That is my only criticism, really.
This doesn't read like a story that is necessary for Moon Knight, Valkyrie and War Machine to be involved in. Still, what can you do but wait and see?
You should be able to get the first two issues, but I'm not sure I entirely recommend this series for the uninitiated. Give it a shot if you feel inclined, though!
Haunt #8.
This is one of those titles that gets delayed SO often, in between everything else I read, that I end up losing where the story left off.
Boy, does this pick up! Oh, be sure to read my Haunt reviews or look it up online if you don't know what the story is, because I'm not explainng it again!
Daniel Kilgore is now a full member of The Agency, working with his deceased brother's ghost to form Haunt. Think Spawn mixed with Spider-Man and The X-Files. They've got Daniel working up a major sweat to get him ready for the missions he'll be undertaking, and everyone is aware, if not comfortable, with Kurt's ghost being there at all times.
It does lead to some funny dialogue, though. There's a part where this massively over-eager assistant is hassling Daniel, who politely accepts his help. Kurt is all the while dissing him in his other ear. As the assistant says he and Kurt were buds, Kurt says they weren't. It's darkly funny to me.
I'm not sold on Greg Capullo doing the art yet. It's nice, but after Ryan Ottley...it'll take a bit of getting used to.
Elsewhere in the world, Cobra tells Mr. Hurg he's leaving to go trash Haunt. Haunt, of course, being the guy that caved Cobra's face in earlier on in the series. Hurg says he'll leave when he says he can, and walks off. Cobra Vs Haunt 2 is surely coming...and I'm excited. The art IS amazing on this part, I will say. The way the window cracks and smears with Cobra's blood as Hurg jams his face into it...ugh. Brilliant.
Daniel decides to go for a little exercise as Haunt (Who I refer to as "They", not "Him") and Kurt warns him not to push too far. Obviously, Daniel wants to know what it feels like to approach the limit so that he can stop when he does. Inevitably, he drains them both and falls ever so painfully to the ground below, smashing his head on a wall in the process. Nevertheless, he recovers.
The issue wraps up with immense promise, which pleased me. The last thing I wanted was for this ever-delayed series to feel like it wasn't going anywhere. Back at The Agency, Director Tosh (She's hot) receives a distress call from one of her soldiers in the field, telling of their entire team being slaughtered by something.
She ends the issue with the hair-raising line:
"Get me Agent Kilgore. We're sending in Haunt."
There is a trade out of the first...six or seven issues, so BUY IT. I guarantee you won't regret it. It's not entirely original, but it's violent, sexy and very nasty. All accompanied by a rather intriguing plot that keeps getting better. Robert Kirkman, my hat is off.
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That's about it for now!
As always, thanks so much for reading and be sure to keep your eyes open for this week's episode of Direct Edition! I'm not on it, but I am on last week's episode AND last Monday's news episode, which I don't think I stated. I will in all likelihood be guesting next week, so keep your eyes open!
We both upload new comic delicacies every Thursday, so if you're reading this...be sure to also be watching the show! Vice versa.
Until next time, peace.
-The Mast
