The Mast Meets: Fred Van Lente (Pt. 2).

Greetings to you all.

I come bearing one of TWO upcoming new interviews. Isn't that just the way? You wait ages for your next bus and then two come along at once.

None other than Fred Van Lente, the man I interviewed first, has come back to talk our faces off with some exciting comics talk, as well as the next big event he is working on.



First I'd like to thank him a great deal for coming back, and secondly, you, for reading.

Let us get right into it!

The Mast Meets: Fred Van Lente (Pt. 2).

The Mast: Before we get onto the big issue, I want ton say congrats on the Taskmaster mini-series! I'm glad someone with a sense of lethality and humour took him under their wing. You write a pretty humourous Deadpool and I am thrilled you're doing Tasky's mini. Is that something that came out of the blue, or did you want to handle the character for some time?

F.V.L: Thanks so much! I haven't, it's something editrix Lauren Sankovitch brought to me, just to do something with Taskmaster. At first I didn't quite see the appeal but the idea lodged in my brain in the idea of doing a story about a guy with a super-memory that erases his recollections of his own past seemed really cool to me, and Jefte Palo's art is just killing on it.

The Mast: For the uninitatied people who sadly don't keep up with comic books, specifically the Marvel Universe (Squares, as they're called), how would you describe Chaos War?

F.V.L: Chaos War is a big-budget disaster movie on a super hero scale. While super heroes aren't much impressed by towering infernos or Armaggeddon-size asteroids, in Chaos War they face a threat on the scale of which they've never seen before. The Chaos King is all that existed in the multiverse before there was a multiverse, and he seeks to destroy all of reality to make himself the only thing in existence once more. The last stand is -- where else? -- Earth and his heroes, which Chaos King has attacked with his army of slave gods. He's not just knocking over buildings, he's destroyed reality piecemeal -- the Land of Dreams and the Underworld are among his targets. So our heroes have to contend not just with collateral damage on Earth but in the psychic and metaphysical realms as well. Like I said: A disaster movie beyond all imagining!

The Mast: With all that's going on in the M.U. right now, what would you say is its (Chaos War's) relation to the current Marvel status quo and why it's something people should be reading?

F.V.L: Not only is it crucial to the direction of the current Marvel Universe (With serious ramifications for one hero team in particular), it may actually be physically painful for you not to read it, not solely because I will send guys to your house.

The Mast: You seem to have a bit of a knack for writing these godly characters! The Incredible Hercules, as I'm sure I've said, was really good and I love your work on Amadeus Cho. Is there anyone specifically you had/have a blast writing in this book that you hadn't written for before, or one you loved returning to?

F.V.L: I have always been a huge Sersi fan from when she was an Avengers mainstay, and it was great to bring her back to a kick-ass heroic role as the resident wise-ass on the God Squad, the ultra-powerful team Hercules assembles to stop the Chaos King.

The Mast: Something I'm quite excited for is the Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1 one-shot. I always liked them and kind of thought it was a bit of a throwaway death when they got wiped out by The Collective. DID they get wiped out by The Collective, or did something more complicated happen? Is it a "Read and find out" scenario?

F.V.L: If you'll look on the beautiful Salva Espin cover, the floating heads were killed by The Collective (Well, except Marinna, who bought it during Dark Reign), but they have a second chance at life thanks to the, er, chaos of the Chaos War! Whether or not that becomes permanent is a true "Wait and see" scenario.

The Mast: Without revealing too much, obviously, are there any installments or parts of Chaos War that you got abnormally excited about, or are particularly excited to see reactions to?

F.V.L: It's had for me to say and sound sincere, but I keep reading the lettering proofs and keep getting surprised myself just how far Greg and Khoi and I are going with bringing the "shock and awe" of super hero event comics to this book. This is bigger than you think. It redefines big. It makes Blackest Night look like Slightly Cloudy. It makes Civil War look like Friendly Disagreement. Be prepared to scrape your brains off the walls at the end of #1, because your mind will be blown.

The Mast: Thanks for your time once more Fred. I really appreciate it!

F.V.L: My pleasure. Thanks for asking.

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So, there you have it! If you needed any more reason to pick up issue #1 of Chaos War, there are plenty there! Deaths, fighting, excitement and a sincere threat from Van Lente that he will send guys to your house. You know what to do!

If you still haven't bought Fred Van Lente's Action Philosophers in trade paperback, you're a bad human.

On Wednesday I guest on Direct Edition, after that comes Thursday's Comics (It does look like a fairly awesome week), then on the Saturday I will be posting an interview with someone I've wanted to chat to for a LONG time now. That someone is Mr. Dan Abnett, Marvel's supreme cosmic scribe! Be sure to check back as we talk about lots of things past, present and spacey.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast Reviews/Blogs: Thursday's Comics (22 and 30/9/2010) & MORE Exciting News.

I'll give YOU what fer!

As stated, I came back to give you the catch-up on the grand number of TWO comics I consider to be worthwhile reading over the past two weeks.

By the way, someone said to me recently, "You don't seem to buy a lot of comics." I get how it seems that way, but what you have to consider is that I buy sometimes as many as 10 comics a week. Not all of those are ones I'm madly into, some are just for Deadpool appearances. Other series' I read are series I read in trade paperback. I can't review monthly issues of Captain America, Scalped, Invincible or The Walking Dead because I don't read those individually.

ANYWAY, onward.

Thursday's Comics.


Avengers Academy #4.

Once again, Christos Gage and Mike McKone have churned out another wonderful issue of Marvel's best Avengers-Centric title right now.

Understandably, these issues are a mixture of current story, origin story of a certain character in the academy AND how the two relate. You can't entirely expect a free flowing story arc quite yet because we need to get to know the characters. This time, we get the origin of fan favourite, Ken Mack. Known to us readers as Mettle.

His story is definitely one of the more tragic. A typically laid back guy who enjoys surfing and never really had any worries in life, Ken Mack discovered his condition during an accident on the waves. After a fellow boarder crashed into his face, the arriving paramedics and bystanders noticed that as his broken and tattered flesh was left in ribbons, he was entirely fine. The reason for this is because the red, hard and skeletal armour you see covering him was under his skin the whole time.

Norman Osborn, as he has done with ALL these unfortunate students, gets a hold of him and experiments on him, stripping him of his skin and leaving him as he is seen today.

Fast forward to the present and Mettle, Hazmat (My favourite of this series) and Veil have broken into Osborn's cell aboard The Raft. Hazmat wants to kill him before the blackout is over, but due to some deft manipulation by Osborn, none of them do. He manages to get inside their heads, Mettle's especially, by convincing them that he can cure them. Personally, I think it just paints the characters as frustratingly naive, not in a good way either. I'll overlook it for now.

There's a really great sense of desperation and uncertainty amongst all these students and you never really know who will end up where. I'm fairly certain that Striker (His origin issue, and the final one I believe, besides maybe Reptil, comes next) will end up as the main villain to stray from the group first, along with Finesse. Besides that, there's a lot of ambiguity in their attitudes. Mettle seems like he is too painfully desperate to NOT follow Osborn, Hazmat seems like a complete bitch, but one that would stay on the side of responsibility etc. There's a lot of great things to be done with these entirely fresh slates.

After the 5th or 6th issue, I expect things to really start picking up speed. The most curious aspect of the story is how Gage is going to work with Robbie Baldwin's secret, that he's still having trouble letting go of Penance.

The first trade paperback release of this series shouldn't be, again, more than two or one issue away. Be sure to pick it up if you're interested!


The Avengers: Prime #3 of 5.

Despite being criminally late and throwing people through a complete fucking loop as to where in God's name this all fits into continuity (An issue Bendis has said will be resolved in or by #5), this is shaping to be a nice little series.

If you don't recall, it's set IMMEDIATELY after Siege, and The Trinity (Iron Man, Steve Rogers/formerly Cap, Thor) have been split through the Nine Realms. The goal, of course, to re-affirm their brotherhood and meet up to figure a way home. Sort of like a super-powered Dungeons and Dragons.

I have to say, I'm really not a fan of how differently Iron Man is being written across the board. I've said this before, and I'll say it again to get it refreshed. In Fraction's Iron Man he is written as I'd say you'd expect, but the flaw is that there's very little in the way of superheroism at the moment. In anything Bendis writes, he comes across as the douche to end douches. He's always been kind of a dick, but this is just a bit too abrasive. Everything out of his mouth is a snarky joke or something you can tell he thinks is just hilarious.

It cleared up a bit by this issue, but it's still there.

Iron Man is caught by all this trolls and the troll dragon, Fafnir. Steve Rogers, in oh-so-epic fashion, appears and saves him by throwing an old shield in between the jaws of Fafnir. They escape and head for the lightning, where they believe Thor is.

Thor, meanwhile, is getting resoundly whooped by Hela, loses Mjolnir and ends up outside her castle. The three of them gather and retreat to safety where Thor, rather fearfully, tells them that he thinks they are dead.

I'm really tired of how delayed this series is, but I'm definitely curious to see where it goes and how/where it all fits into continuity. Of course, if it doesn't, that's entire bullshit...

The best thing about this issue and series, which has a lot going for it I suppose, is Alan Davis' art. It is just absolutely delicious. A tantalising blend of Alex Ross-esque classic feel with an almost Deodato-esque robustness and solidity. It feels like an olden days comic in the now. Quite an appropriate art style for a story about time and realm displacement!

I can't really recommend this to anyone who isn't up on the whole Siege thing/Thor current story (Which I won't be reviewing until Fraction impresses me more. Yes, his run HAS started). You can always try though! I'd wait for trades.

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That's about all I have for you today, except SOME NEWS.

Not only will Mr. Dan "Co-Cosmic Saviour" Abnett (Because Lanning does co-write with him) be answering my questions, but none other than Mr. Fred Van Lente will be returning to give us the low-down on his upcoming Chaos War arc! Despite the massive wave of events Marvel churn out, I am stoked for Chaos War and a Van Lente-helmed event is gravy to me.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow to catch that!

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

The Mast Blogs: Time Away, What Happened to Thursday's Comics/The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom & Some Exciting News.

Well look what the wind dragged in!

I have been gone for a week! No updates, no anything! I apologise for this and I plan to make amends after I have finished writing this line, any minute now...yep...here we go...spacial relationships...

Time Away.

When I push myself to post things on as tight as schedule as I do, I sometimes find everything thrown entirely out of whack when that little thing called life decides to mess with me. Due to one reason or another, I have been absent for what feels like forever, even though it's not that long.

Just bear that in mind when I appear to vanish.

Thursday's Comics.

Thursday's Comics has been remarkably bare lately, you see. Last week there were three comics and this week there's just one. I don't feel it's warranted to do an entire post for that. So, what I'll do is just combine the two I would've reviewed last week, and the one that came out this week, all in a little catch-up post. In all fairness, you didn't miss much. Secret Avengers #5 wasn't brilliant, The Avengers #5 was good, but not good enough to warrant me dropping life's calling to come review it, and Avengers Academy #4 was fucking great, but not hugely revelatory.

Now, regarding The Mast's 30 Days of Comicdom. The remaining questions were getting kind of poor and I decided to ditch it, simply because I'd rather abandon it than force myself to churn out half-assed updates every day. I'm very glad you all seemed to enjoy the stuff that WAS posted, though.

Some Exciting News.

If you recall, I've had some teasers suggesting I'd have some very exciting news soon. I now have it!

Firstly, Mr. Ryan K. Lindsay of Weekly Crisis had personally requested I do a guest post on the rather huge comic book news/review website he partakes in. Of course, I accepted!

It's currently being processed/reviewed/edited I guess, so the final product may or may not be an exact replica of what I wrote, but I doubt they'd warp it. As soon as it's up, IF they post it, I will let you all know. It's a rather weighty post about Daredevil and his current state of flux, which I have called The State of Hell's Kitchen Address.

MEANWHILE, IN THE NEXT PART OF THIS POST, I will give you the next bit of news.

Dan Abnett, Marvel's premier cosmic penman himself, has agreed to do an interview with me for this blog! It was going to be on Skype, but due to the time constraints of such a busy schedule, he requested that I email him questions instead. As soon as I've mailed those off to him, I will await his reply and post it here for y'all to see. I said y'all, deal with it.

---

I just wanted to come and let you all know I'm not dead and neither is the blog. It's just that a multitude of things crashed together and Welcome to the Mast took a spot on the backburner for a bit. It will almost definitely happen again, but whatever.

For those of you who've forgotten, you can still check out Direct Edition on YouTube. I will be returning next week alongside the ever-dashing Mr. Chris Starks and the Luke Cage lookalike/host, Iyare.

I'll do my level best to either catch up on the past two weeks/three comics worth of my reading list, but if not, TRUST me when I say NEXT week's will be worth reading.

Until next time, peace.

-The Mast

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!

---

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.