No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to read.....

Let's face it, nobody really pays attention to Canada. Hell, even Canadians don't pay that much attention to Canada. BUT, over the weekend at Fan Expo in Toronto, Marvel Comics held a "Next Big Thing" panel and announced several things, but only 1 was downright AWESOME. The return of former Crossgen comic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang!!!

-As a huge fan of that series, that ended on one of the BEST cliffhangers ever, I was needless to say, ecstatic! Then, I read the article on CBR with writer Peter Milligan....and became even MORE excited!!! The basic premise is sort-of the same. Up and coming spy gets chosen to replace veteran spy in his role as the "Ultimate Spy". BUT, while the first series took place in the 1960's/Sean Connery/James Bond era this one takes place in modern day and puts some twists into the formula. What it looks like it DOES deliver is something that's sorely lacking in the comic market right now-A. SPY. COMIC. How does one of THE most popular genres in pop culture not have an on-going monthly comic? Talk about built in audience!!! And not just for the every-Wednesday guys. Dads bringing their kids into the comic store would snatch this up in a heartbeat!!! Wanna buy a comic for a non-comic reading friend? BOOM!!!! Anyone who likes action movies, thrillers, ect would totally dig a well written spy comic. OK, enough about that. Back to KKBB. I'll be honest, I haven't read much Peter Milligan, but what I have read, I've liked a lot(Human Target, X-Statix, Batman). And from reading his interview, I couldn't be more excited about his plans for this comic. As for the art, I barely remember Roman Rosanas' work on Spider-Man:1602, but the pages shown in the article look FANTASTIC!!!! This guy knows how to lay out a page. Intense action that's NOT super hero battles can be tricky sometimes, but this guy pulls it off in the preview pages.....and he draws some nice ass cleavage. Can't wait til December!!! Merry Christmas Jimmy Hayes!!

Snake Eyes #4 Review

After a slightly disappointing issue #3, Chuck Dixon and Robert Atkins decided to kick my ass with issue 4 of Snake Eyes. THIS is why I read GI Joe comics. Scratch that, this is why I read COMICS!!! Holy crap, this was awesome!!! First off, you have Snake Eyes vs Slice & Dice. That should be enough to sell you on the book right there. You have GOT to see(read)this fight to believe it. I will go to my grave saying that Atkins draws THE best fights in comics. It's like reading an action movie. Then, you've got the Alpine/Iceberg story line which actually has a decent amount of action and resolves very nicely.

-The part I'm most impressed about is that while the COBRA Civil War story is present, it never feels like it overtakes the issue or story at any point. It's in the background, keeping you up to date and giving you just what you need to know, but never too much or taking the focus off the ass-kicking ninjas. This is, without a doubt, my favorite issue of the series so far. Yo Joe!!

Snake Eyes #3 Review

First off, my apologies to everyone that this is a month behind. That said, Snake Eyes #3 was my least favorite issue of the series so far. Don't get me wrong, it's still a Snake Eyes comic, which makes it GREAT. But, I'm afraid this issue left me feeling like I was reading "Snake Eyes & His Amazing Friends". Chuck Dixon does a fine job with the story, I can't imagine how hard it is to write a character that doesn't speak. He does a good job of not falling into the "Lassie trap" of another character saying "What's that Snake Eyes? Cobra's put together a new weather dominater and we need to go Cobra Island?" but, because everyone ELSE has to do the talking to move the store forward, we're left with less Snake Eyes that we should have. The art, as always, is fantastic. At this point if Robert Atkins put out a book of blank pages, I'd probably buy it. Don't get me wrong, this WAS a good comic with a sold story that's heating up. It's just not a great SNAKE EYES comic.

Pathetic Earthlings..........

Who will save you now?


Yesterday Dynamite Entertainment released their November solicitations and low and behold, after months of waiting, they officially announced their Flash Gordon comic series, Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist! Written by Vampirella & Red Sonja scribe Eric Trautmann with art by Sherlock Holmes: Year One artist Daniel Lindro. People who know me know that I am the world's biggest Flash Gordon fan. People who don't know me, will soon find that out. Here's what Dynamite says about the book:

"The year is 1934, a time of two-fisted swashbuckling, of fearsome threats and wild adventure -- and of ever-growing threats on the horizon. Three valiant humans -- Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov -- are plucked from the Earth, traveling to the distant planet Mongo. Their exploits are legendary, battling the machinations and terror schemes of the dreaded emperor Ming, the All-Seeing Ruler of Mongo. But they did not fight alone..."

-Pretty exciting stuff! I'm impressed that the story is set in 1934. I was a little scared that they were going to totally reinvent the property and make Flash an Extreme Sports star, Dale a wise-cracking TMZ reporter and Dr. Zarkov some kind of eco-conspiracy theory scientist. Nice to see that they're staying true to the property. And I bet the book will excell because of it.

-And yes, if you know me, you're assuming there will be some kind of celebration/promotion/event regarding the release of this book and you'd be 1000% right! More details to come soonish.

WOWabunga!!!

This week IDW Publishing released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. When I was younger, I loved the original series, and then I loved the Archie Comics series, but ever since then Turtle comics haven't really grabbed me. I think, honestly, there was too much sci-fi elements in later series. To me, the turtles should always be in the sewers of New York City, not flying around space with human dinosaurs.

-Back to the issue(literally)at hand. To put it bluntly, does anyone have Tom Waltz's address? I wanna buy that man a beer. When I first heard that IDW was bringing Kevin Eastman in to work on the book, I thought "hmm. Interesteing." OK, that's a total lie. The FIRST thing I thought about was "Kevin Eastman? Is he still married to Julie Strain? Man, she had awesome boobs." BACK to TMNT #1. THIS is what a Turtle comic SHOULD be. Everything is here that should be here. The Turtles, April, Casey, Baxter Stockman, pizza and Krang. YEAH. KRANG. This is a GREAT set-up for the series. Everyone is introduced in a manner that is not at all forced, and yet gives you plenty of back story, plot and set-up to get the series moving nicely. I have to be honest, I've never heard of Dan Duncan, but this guy was born to draw this book. He's got a great style that's gritty when it needs to be and smooth and clean when it's called for. IDW & the creative team have really outdone themselves. DO NOT wait for the trade on this one. Go buy it NOW!!!!....and Tom, seriously, you're gettin' that beer when I see you.

It's back....

Hot. Girl. Wednesdays. This week, one of my favorite girls in the whole wide world.....Miss Ivy Black.






make sure to visit her site right here!

Bionic Man #1 Review

The last time Colonel Steve Austin was published in comic book form was in June of 1978. 33 years later, Dynamite Entertainment brings him back in The Bionic Man #1. Ladies & Gentlemen-it was worth the wait. For those of you expecting Steve Austin to be full on bionic in this issue, you'll be a little disappointed. But, that's about the only thing that's lacking in this first issue. Dynamite made a spectacular desicion by putting their A-Team of Phil Hester & Jonathan Lau on this book. The team did a fantastic job adapting Kevin Smith's Green Hornet screenplay into a fun, action-packed and all around excellent comic, and to no one's surprise, they do the same thing here.

-In the first issue we're introduced to all the main characters & villians. One of the things that impressed me most about the book was that the villian is actually a SUPER villian. Not a guy in a suit or a bad guy with an eye patch and a grugde that is common in modern day comics. He's totally evil, and he's got what looks to be some sort of bionic powers of his own. There's some great set up for the villian's motivation,while not giving everything away yet. Your definately left wondering just what the villian's motivation is and where he came from.

-If I'd have to pick a favorite aspect of the book, it would be the characterization of Steve Austin himself. Smith & Hester do a fantastic job of giving Steve a real personality and not just making him a Hal Jordon or Maverick from Top Gun clone. He's got the right amount of cockiness, swagger and heart. In a surprising twist(tiny spoiler alert)Jamie Summers is also introduced in this first issue as Steve's fiancee. And don't worry, Oscar and Rudy are back, and as charming as ever.

-My hat's off to artist Jonathan Lau for making the action in this book SO kinetic. Flight scenese are really tough to pull off in comics, but Lau really makes the most of his panels without dragging it out for page after page.

-All in all, this was a GREAT first issue. Very excessable to any new reader that's not been exposed to the franchise and yet familiar enough to make long time fans of the property feel like they're taking a trip home to visit old friends. I honestly can't recommend this book highly enough. Put on your red track suit and RUN down to your local comic store and pick this up right away!!!!

One man can make a difference...

...with an awesome toy car. Ever since September 26th, 1982 I've wanted an awesome Knight Rider toy. Now, courtesy of Diamond Select Toys, it looks like I'm getting a COUPLE. First, here's their offering from their ever popular Minimates line.
Now that's one funky-bad ass toy. I BELIEVE that DST is also going to release KARR with Garthe Knight figure. And he better damn well come with a cane, too! BUT, I'm most excited about this:
A decent 3&3/4 inch Michael Knight with KITT figure!!! Just look at that giant pie-pan belt buckle!!!! I'm guessing these toys will be out either the end of this year, or the beginningh of next year. I'm shooting for the holiday season, myself. Stay tuned right here as we'll be sure to pass along any release dates/developments that come out way. And, just because I love you guys, here's a little something to sing along with:

Pardon me....

but, I've been a little behind. Everything's back on track now, so drop a bookmark here and make sure you come back. There's some pretty AWESOME stuff on the horizon. Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect in the coming months.............
"After doing so many different roles, if you don't stretch yourself, there's no excitement left. "

GI Joe vol 2 #2 Review

I know it's only 2 issues in, but GI Joe keeps getting better with each issue!!! This one is a straight-out, hit the ground running action/mystery that totally delivers. We've got the Joe's under siege in the PITT looking for.........we're not exactly sure. We've got Gen. Hawk & Dial Tone on the run in Washington, DC. And we've got Storm Shadow in the PITT, waiting to unleash ninja badassery on the GI Joe team. Chuck Dixon must've read my review of GI Joe #1, because there's a TON more GI Joes in this issue then there was in the last. At first I really thought I wasn't going to like the fact that Cobra soldiers aren't often seen as they were portrayed in previous comics-in full on Cobra gear, like a standard army. But, it's really working . They're now seen as a modern day terrorist organization-everywhere. Doing really bad things. There's not much going on in this issue that moves the Cobra Civil War storyline forward, but that's OK. Leave that for the Cobra book.
Verdict: Even better than the last issue! Buy it!!

Book Report: COBRA #1

Let's be honest, the GI Joe team always beats Cobra. In the comic book world, however, Cobra may have just won the battle. Released this week, Cobra #1 is, from start to finish, everything you could want in a comic book featuring almost exclusively-bad guys. It's very easy, and pretty much now the norm, for comics starring villains to portray the villains as misunderstood heroes and make the audience sympathize with them. That is not the case here. The Cobra agents are EVIL people and pull out all the stops to claim the ultimate prize-becoming the new Cobra Commander. Writer Mike Costa handles the story very well, while throwing in a ton of nice-OK, not really NICE-character moments. And I have to be honest, while I've never been a fan of Antonio Fuso's art in the past, he really hits it with this book. The only drawback? You really need to be reading GI Joe to get the full story of what's going on in this issue.

Flash Gordon: Invasion of the Red Sword #2 Review

-It's getting hard to keep writing good stuff about this comic. In this second chapter of Arddens's second Flash Gordon mini series, the story gets moving. Not to say that it didn't hit the ground running in the first issue, but this issue really picks up the pace. Tremendously. I hear a lot of complaints about the price of comics, but story-wise, writer Brenden Deneen packs about six months worth of a Marvel comic into this one issue of Flash Gordon. There's massive amounts of cliffhangers, a great many mysteries are set up, and the team of Brenden Deneen and artist Eduardo Garcia have really hit a home run with this series. Remember how comics used to have you holding your breath when you were a kid? Yeah, it's like that.
10 out of 10!!!!

Snake Eyes #1 Review

Who's the most bad-ass character in comic book history? Right. Wolverine. Who would somebody send to kill Wolverine? Snake Eyes. Yes, that's how formidalbe Snake Eyes is. So, why is it we're just getting a solo Snake Eyes series now, in 2011, almost 30 years after his action figure debut? I can't answer that. BUT, when I can tell you is that it's worth the wait.
-You get exactly what you'd expect and what you'd want from a Snake Eyes comic-ninja moves & awesomeness. I'm not sure time-line wise where this book fits in. It flashes back to Cobra Civil War #0, but I'm guessing it takes place before last week's GI Joe #1, due to spoilerish reasons that I won't get into. We join Snake Eyes, Helix, Alpine and Iceberg on a mission to find an enemy that is holed up in a really remote arctic area. And best of all? You get to see Snake Eyes being Snake Eyes. I really don't know if it was writer Chuck Dixon or artist Robert Atkins that choreographed the action, but whoever did, deserves a salute. It's never confusing, and always entertaining. The only thing I didn't really care for in this issue was the art in the flashback sequences. Yikes.
-I give this issue 4 out of 4 (ninja throwing)stars!