Star Wars: Darth Vader #2: To put it mildly, Darth Vader is NOT The Emperors favorite guy right now. He blames Vader for the destruction of the Death Star, he blames him for the Rebels getting away, and he's pretty much downgraded him to heading up a neighborhood watch program of Stormtroopers. It's not a good day to be a Sith Lord. The Good:Just like last issue, this issue features LOTS of great stuff. There's some great scenes with Vader and his Emperor appointed "handler", a fun mention of the running sub-plot in the book, but the best thing about this issue is the feel of the book. This best way I can describe this is that it feels like a Star Wars comic unaffected by the Prequels (and, once you read the book, there's a HUGE problem with that statement, but I digress). It's gives the reader the feeling that you truly don't know what's going to come next (even though you know what the future holds for Vader), and you don't know anything that happened before the 1977 Star Wars movie (even though you do). And, I'd be making a HUGE mistake if I didn't mention how great Sal LaRroca's art is. As awesome as ever!! The Bad: I don't know just what it was, but I found myself getting uncomfortable with the way Vader is treated in this book. In the films, he's the ultimate bad-ass, but here, he acts almost like a scolded dog. He tolerates a lot of crap this issue, and I mean a LOT. But, give the circumstances, he really doesn't have any choice. The Verdict: OF COURSE you should buy this! Marvel has been knocking it out of the park with their Star Wars books. As of this writing, they're batting a thousand, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
You always knew it'd come back when you needed it most, and it didn't disappoint. WELCOME BACK to Hot Girl Wednesdays!!
-This week, the spotlight falls on one of my favorites (yeah, I have a lot of them), SIRI!!! Let's get one thing straight right away. She's not the girl that talks to you through your phone, her last name is NOT "pornstar". She's just Siri. And boy, after looking at her, you're never gonna forget that name....
You can follow her on Twitter here, and you can check out her official site here. She's a livin' doll! YOU'RE WELCOME GUYS!!!!
GI Joe: Snake Eyes Agent of Cobra #2: Is the next awesome issue in this series by writer Mike Costa and artist Paolo Villanelli. Snake Eyes has turned on the Joes, and he's now working for Cobra and out for blood!! Could Snake Eyes REALLY be a traitor?
The Good: This book avoids a lot of comic book traps. When you have a character that doesn't talk, there's risk of running into the "lassie situation". You know what I'm talking about even if you've never seen an episode of Lassie. Lassie is a dog, and can't talk, so during the course of the show, you get lines like "What's that Lassie? There's a gang of rowdy kids causing trouble down the road?". And, in past issues of some GI Joe series, there's been lines like "What's that Snake Eyes? Cobra's staked out up ahead?" or "Snake Eyes wants us to follow him!", but not here. Costa does a great job of making it natural and logical for Snake Eyes to sit back and observe and let the other characters do the talking. Add to this, Villanelli's crisp, clean artwork and you've got a book that's pretty awesome.
The Bad: As much as I loved this issue, honestly...there could've been a little more Snake Eyes in it for my tastes. Yes, he's a big part, but he almost plays second banana this issue.
The Verdict: BUY IT!!! The good FAR outweighs the bad, and I didn't even mention the ending! And, in case you don't remember just how awesome Snake Eyes, here's a little reminder......
Director Zack Snyder superrised everyone today by giving us our first look at actor Jason Momoa as King of the Seven Seas-AQUAMAN!!!! Long time readers of this blog and anyone who knows me knows I'm a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge Aquaman "mark". OK, first off, this is about as far removed from this:
as you can get, but I'm excited for this for a couple of reasons. I like the "Pacific Islander" slant on the character. Second, I'm a fan of Jason Momoa, even though I've never seen an episode of Game of Thrones. I thought his Conan the Barbarian was a HIGHLY underrated movie, and that he was terrific in it, and hey, Baywatch!!!! I can't wait to see him in Batman VS. Superman (maybe?), Justice League and his OWN movie in 2018!! To hold you over until then, here's a little something to tide you over:
-For the last couple of days, I've kind of been walking around in a haze. No pun intended. I went in for a visit with my Diabetic Educator, and was put on a THIRD, yes THIRD injectable insulin. That's about 3 more than I'd care to be on. Frustrated, with both the diabetic educator AND my primary care doctor in the room, I asked, what I thought was a simple question.
"OK, don't bullshit me, I'm asking you straight out, IS this ever going to get any better?" The answer I got was one that I wasn't quite prepared for.
"No. Due to genetics and the fact that you've had the disease so long, it's never going to get any better, in fact it will probably get worse and you'll have to have higher doses of the medication that you're on, and probably additional medication as you get older."
-I caught the words in my throat (this IS my wife's boss, so I have to behave), but my initial response was "Go fuck yourself". The minute that you tell me I CAN'T do something, is the minute that I start doing whatever it is that you told me I can't do. To be honest, it's gotten me in a LOT of trouble in the past. Both personally and professionally, but I guess I'm the odd man out, because my brain automatically says "Why WOULDN'T you fight for something?" Is everyone but me content to just accept the way that things are. I did a lot of thinking, and thought specifically about a couple of dozen people that I know. I realized that ALL of them can do better at something in their lives. Now, the people I thought of ranged in age from their 20's to their 60's. And they were everything from almost homeless to highly paid professionals to business owners...I could go on and on, but I'm not going to. The point is, is that each and every one of us has something that we could improve on. Is there a better job that you want? FIGHT FOR IT! A girl or guy your interested in? FIGHT FOR IT! I don't understand why you wouldn't. I'm gonna fight like Hell to keep my numbers under control and to eat more of what I should and less of what I shouldn't. I won't win every time. Sometimes, it's gonna be REALLY hard to fight. But I'm going to. And I'm not going to stop until I get taken off this third insulin. So yeah, I love to fight. And I'm going to. And you should too. Don't accept things you don't like just because "that's the way it is". That's bullshit. Get off your ass and make things happen.
-Thanks for allowing me to vent a little. Now, in return, next week I promise I'll give you something good. Something a lot of you have been asking for. Until then, no article or blog post or anything that focuses on the word "fight" can be written without including one of these...................
Darth Vader #1: Having just gotten his butt handed to him by the Rebels (twice), Darth Vader returns to confront the Emperor and accept his punishment. Not only that, but events are sent into motion that not only humiliate Vader, but there are forces (No pun intended) very close to him plotting against him! What's the most evil villain in history to do? The Good: First off, the best thing about this issue? No! Thought! Balloons! Nope, you're not going to get the thought balloons of a whiny, young Anakin Skywalker here, in fact, you don't get ANY thought balloons, and that's a unique way to tell a comic story that I love and miss. Not a lot of writers do it today, but this is a character that it really works with. We didn't have any kind of inner monologue with Vader in the films, and we don't get any here. The result is, the character is that much more serious and scary. Secondly, the story absolutely blows me away. As usual, no spoilers, but MAN does Vader take it on the chin from his boss in this issue. Not a very pleasant situation, and it makes the reader almost sympathetic for the character. Until we remember that he's like the move evil bad guy in the history of bad guys. And, as usual, the art by Salvador LaRroca is beyond gorgeous! The Bad: Hmmmm. There was something that bothered me just a tad about this issue. There's a lot of call backs to movie scenes that we've seen and some that have not happened yet (in Star Wars continuity). I wasn't 100% in love with that, but it didn't bother me enough to take me out of the book. I just hope that it doesn't become a regular thing in this title. The Verdict: Are you nuts? Go get this!!!! Seriously!! It's really good! So far, the Star Wars books are two for two. Can Princess Leia make it a perfect trifecta? Stay tuned!
Star Wars #2: The Empire has the Rebels trapped on the largest weapons factory in the whole galaxy! While Luke battles it out with Darth Vader, Han and Leia fight to get to Luke, and then get the heck off this planet!! If you thought "the gang" was in trouble before, you haven't seen anything yet! The Good: Wow. This is a pretty monumental task. Trying to pack EVERYTHING good about this issue into this review. So, I'm going to take what I enjoyed the MOST and lay it out for you. First, Aarons descision to write the story of the MAIN Star Wars characters. A lot of times, authors who write Star Wars stories quickly abandon Luke, Han, Leia and the rest to make way for the characters that they created, and showing how the Star Wars movies where really about THEM, and the movie characters are just background noise. Not so, here. Jason Aaron keeps the story focused on the main characters, only adding additional characters when he absolutely has to. Second, the pacing of this comic is INSANE!!! I mean, we're talking wall to wall action!! It just never lets up, but along the way, a pretty great story is told. The Bad: Gun to my head? I'd say that this issue artist John Cassaday misses the mark by a SMALL margin on the likenesses of the actors in this issue. Not even remotely enough to actually bother me, just enough to make me notice that a couple of panels looked a bit off.. The Verdict: Don't even ask. Just go buy this comic!!!!
Superman #38: The big battle between Ulysses is here! The ultimate fight to save Earth and stop Ulysses from killing millions of people to keep his own planet alive!! The Good: Some REALLY good stuff this issue. Between the Clark Kent stuff and the superheroics, Geoff Johns does a fantastic job of making this Superman story fun, relevant, serious AND light-hearted. I have to admit, I was super (pun intended) behind on this series. In fact, I read from issue 32 to issue 38 just today, all in one sitting. What impressed me most about the story was the message that I got from it. It's one that Superman should always have, and that is "there's always hope". John and Romita (and let me tell you, Romita, Jr. knocks it out of the park in this series!) make this story, not only a great super hero comic, it's also a lesson in WHY Superman is the ultimate role model for any of us. No matter how bad things are, or how bad things get, or how bad we THINK they are, if we know that there's hope for a better tomorrow, and get our asses moving and do the work, things WILL get better. Situations WILL turn out OK. The Bad: If I have to name something, it's that the story seemed very familiar. And no, that's not a joke for those of you that have been reading the title. But, it seems like I've read a Superman story that's similar to this before. Sure, when a character is almost 77 years old, and has had multiple books published each month, you're bound to run across some similar stories, the thing that ticks me off is that I can't remember where or when I read it! Yes, I read WAY too many comics. Just kidding, there IS no such thing! The Verdict: You REALLY should buy this issue. And, if you haven't been buying the title, grab the other issues. It's one of the best, most uplifting Superman stories I've read in a long time.
