....ok-ish. First off, I HATE HATE HATE year end review shit. Seriously. Why? Because I have the patented Hayes memory. I can't remember anything. Yes, I know my wedding date. Yes, I know dates of important events in my life. I remember stuff that's important to me and a lot of stuff that isn't. But, when pressed, I always come up WAY short on lists. So, this isn't so much a list, as much as it is a "I DO remember that this happened this year" type of thing. And I'm gonna TRY and come up with 12, but, well, we'll see what happens.
Skyfall: OH MY GOD SKYFALL!!!! I am a huge Bond fan, but I never thought that a James Bond movie would be as perfect as this. Never. It's got everything. All the classic hallmarks of a Bond film cranked up to 11. What surprised me most, was that this was an ENDING to the origin of James Bond. And I didn't even know I was watching it until the very last few minutes. Easily, my favorite movie of 2012.
REVIVAL: OK, I'll admit it. I'm the guy that hates Image Comics. SUPER hates them. I hate them so much, I'm totally indifferent to them. Except for one other comic that will come up later. So, what in the hell would make me even look at this book? First, it was the creators, Mike Norton and Tim Seeley. Then, I found out that it takes place in a town about 45 minutes north from where I grew up. You know what I found out? NOT ALL IMAGE COMICS SUCK!!! I absolutely LOVE this comic!! I'm not gonna go into a long diatribe about why here, but trust me when I tell you-it's fucking AWESOME!!! If you get the chance, seriously, read it-you're going to love it. Art is great, story is great, just an all around solid, comic. THE best ongoing title released this year, hands down.
THE AVENGERS: What can I say about this movie? Everyone, includiing me, LOVED IT! And, with good reason. I'm not a Joss Whedon fan, but this was GREAT!! Perfect amount of action, dead-on, true to the character dialogue, what more could you ask for? Nick Fury was a LITTLE too much of an asshole for my taste, but that was really the only complain that I had. And, it's a VERY minor one. Best summer movie, by far!
FRIENDS: In 2012 I found out who my TRUE friends were....and it was a giant kick in the ass. People that I THOUGHT were my friends, turned out not to be. Sad, but true. And, they made me appreciate my REAL friends even more. And for that, I am very grateful and blessed.
ERNIE CHAN: Sadly, we lost Ernie Chan this year. From Batman to Conan to Captain Carrot, he was one of my favorites. Both him and his work will be missed.
SCARLET SPIDER: Chris Yost and that A-Hole Ryan Stegman brought an all new Scarlet Spider to life!! And he's AWESOME!!!! The book is still going strong, but sadly, with out artist Stegman who has moved on to a great gig on the upcoming Superior Spider-Man!
GI JOE RETALIATION: Earlier this year, I and other GI Joe fans had the rug pulled out from under us when Paramount and Hasbro announced just WEEKS before it's release date that GI Joe: Retaliation was being pulled for 3-D conversion and that we'd have to wait almost an entire YEAR to see it. Well, that year is about 90 days from being up and I'm still excited about seeing it, but that was the day that all of us GI Joe fans collectively flipped out shit for 1 day.
CALL ME MAYBE: No comment.
DISNEY BUYS LUCASFILM: In what came as a HUGE shock to most people, The Walt Disney Company aquired Lucasfilm AND announced that Star Wars: Episode 7 would be out in theaters in less than 3 years. A great day for all Star Wars fans, true. With Disney owning Marvel, Lucasfilm as well as it's OWN treasure trove of characters, this is the year that Disney pretty much took over as the top studio in Hollywood.
MACGYVER: THE COMIC BOOK: In October, Image Comics released MacGyver: The Fugitive Gauntlet #1. Written by series creator Lee David Zlotoff & Tony Lee and illustrated by Will Sliney, this book is AWESOME!!!!
SIX MILLION DOLLAR EVERYTHING!!!!: This year, Entertainment Earth released a TON of Six Million Dollar Man merchandise!!! Figures, coffee mugs, t-shirts, all this and more on the way. That, combined with Dynamite Entertainment's excellent comic book series made this year pretty damn Bionic!!! Still, part of me wishes for a 3&3/4 inch scale set of action figures. But, I'm not complaining. :)
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!! This year on March 2nd, after 2 long years spent on the Legally Prohibited from Selling Comics in a Store Tour, I was honored to join the team at Challengers Comics + Conversation in Chicago, IL. Run by two long time friends, it has been nothing but a pleasure spending the past 9 months as a Challenger. Thanks to them for the opportunity.
Bonus: I can't believe I came up with 12, let alone a 13th, item. Wow. I guess my memory isn't nearly as bad as I thought! Also, huge thanks to google. This one may be the most important one. This was the year, that I decided to go back to school to get a degree in Personal Fitness Training. It's something that I've been passionate about for awhile, and I decided that this was something that I could do to HELP people become better. As of today, it's not looking good for me to make the January classes for a number of reasons, but here's hoping I will. If not, then I will FINALLY start school in April. Here's hoping!!!
The new year starts and it's back to a normal size week of books! It just happens that this week is FULL of stuff that I love to read, so let's get right to it:
All-New X-Men #5: OK, let's get this straight. With the exception of "The Wolverine", I really hate the X-Men. Nope, don't like them at all. But THIS book BLOWS MY MIND!!! It's SO GOOD!!!! Bendis breathes new life into this played out franchise. It's AWESOME!!!
Flash #15: OK, I'm not really that impressed by the Gorilla Warfare story, but other than that, this is one of my favorite super-hero comics out there right now.
Nova Classics Volume 1: One of the benefits of this Cosmic Phase that Marvel's going through? We get books like THIS!!! Nova's always been one of my favorites since I bought a team-up with him and Spider-Man in the late 70's/Early 80's, and these stories are his first adventures.
Savage Hawkman #15: Versus Deathstroke!!!!
Firestorm #15: Hey, it's Firestorm.
Mars Attacks Popeye: Just read that title again and tell me you aren't excited. Seriously. I just hope the Martians don't eat Spinach.
Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #8: Look at that HUGE head on Professor Zarkhoff. He looks like the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz. But, as awesome as this book has been, I'll forgive floating giant heads. And ridiculous eyebrows.
GI Joe: Cobra #20: GI Joe hotties and Flint. They got my letters!
-There you have it, just a FEW choice selections of books that are coming out this week that I'm looking forward to. There's plenty of comics coming out this week, just take a look at your local comic shop's website for what they're getting in this week. If your in Chicago, come visit me at Challengers on Wednesday. Happy New Year everybody!!
OK, I almost feel silly doing this, because by the end of the day tomorrow. there will be a MILLION Amazing Spider-Man #700 reviews. But, since I was able to sneak this one in today, I thought, why the hell not? And, Spidey's always been my favorite super-hero.
Now, I won't give away any spoilers(until Thursday)as not to get Dan Slott upset on twitter, BUT, I'll do my best to get the point of the issue across to you. So, leading up to this we had(MINOR spoiler warnings)Doc Ock and Peter Parker switching bodies. And Doc Ock's body is in BAD shape. And I mean BAD. So, this issue is a great race against the clock issue(typical of some of the greatest Spider-Man stories)to make things right before things go past the point of no return.
-Now, my biggest problem with issue is the villain. It's painfully obvious that Dan Slott's favorite Spider-Man bad guy is Doctor Octopus. And that's fine. But let's be honest. Spider-Man's great villain is Norman Osborn. The Green Goblin. Always has been, always will be. BUT, there's a problem with Norman Osborn right now. He's a good guy. Kinda. Let's just say he's busy. Busy being a Dark Avenger or Thunderbolt or something else. Anyway, I'm pretty sure Slott couldn't use him(I could be wrong), but he did do the next big thing. All I WILL tell you about this issue is that it would have been an out and out right instant classic if Norman would've been the villain in this issue. I mean TRULY world changing. As it is, this is a pretty fantastic issue. One that's a worthy ending to 50 years of story telling. It's bitter sweet, charming, heart warming, action-packed and has more cliffhangers than an Indiana Jones movie. If you only read one comic this week(and there's only like 9 coming out)make it THIS ONE!!!! Overall, this comic gets an A+, a 10 out of 10, 5 stars, ect. What I'm trying to say is that it's AWESOME!!!!!!!
OK, after a couple of HUGE weeks, we get a tiny, tiny week. But, the good news is, 90% of the books are pretty awesome. Here's what I recommend that you pick up:
Amazing Spider-Man #700-Yes, you might have read spoilers online about what happens, but DO NOT let that disway you from getting this book. It's intense!! This final issue of Amazing Spider-Man is SO GOOD!!! It's got ALL the classic Spidey elements in it, and a shock ending that you're not gonna believe.
Aquaman #15-The Throne of Atlantis officially begins!!!! And, I've always loved new-to-Aquaman artist Paul Pelletier. And now he's drawing one of my favorite books!!! WIN WIN!!
Justice League #15-The Throne of Atlantic continues!!!! AWESOME!!!
-So, there you have it, a measly 3 books, but they're all GREAT!!!! This is the week that I say-TRY SOMETHING YOU HAVEN'T READ BEFORE!!!! Pick up that book you've wanted to check out and never had the extra money for. As your retailer to recommend something! There's a LOT of good stuff out there, that unfortunately goes under most people's radar. If your in Chicago, I'll see you Wednesday at Challengers!!
When I think of "Playboy Bunny" I immediately think of Jennifer Vaughn. She's been in Playboy numerous times, as well as Maxim Magazine, she's a total sweetheart and she's beyond gorgeous!! You don't have to believe me, just look at the evidence!!
You can find out more about this stunning beauty on her website, or follow her on twitter. And here's a look at one of her shoots. ENJOY!!!
What a HUGE week for comics!!!! It's almost like 2 weeks combined into one, because almost NOTHING is shipping next week on the 26th(except the all ready spoiled Amazing Spider-Man #700). Anyway, here's just a FEW of the comics that I recommend picking up this week:
All New X-Men #4-I never imagined in a million years that this book would be as good as it has been.
Bionic Woman #6-THIS BOOK IS WAY BETTER THAN IT SHOULD BE!!!!
Avengers #2-A whole shit ton of people show up!!!! And it's awesome!!!
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #5-He-Man VERSUS Battle Cat!!!!!
Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow #20-THINGS ARE HEATING UP as the series is winding down!!
MacGyver: The Fugitive Gauntlet #3-I love this series so much!!!Buy it. Read it. Repeat.
-There you have it!! Again, LOTS of great stuff to buy this week and isn't it a perfect time to buy a pile of comics and read them? A lot of you will be traveling, and that's the perfect time to read and not have to make awkward conversation with the weird person next to you! If you're in Chicago, I'll see you tomorrow at Challengers!!!
