All-New Wolverine #9 - A Review

Laura Kinney doesn't work for SHIELD but she is willing to lend a hand when Maria Hill asks nicely and pays for her take-out. It seems they lost an agent investigating some new bio-weapon, which turned out to be pheromones meant to attract Fin Fang Foom. And the missing agent turns out to be an alternate universe version of the original Wolverine, from the future. And those facts are the least strange thing about the day the all-new Wolverine is about to have.


The cover may say this is a Civil War II tie-in but Tom Taylor keeps the script mercifully free of any reference to that event, save for gratuitous (and hilarious) cameos by Iron Man and Captain Marvel. This issue is high on laughs and short on drama, which is as it should be.

Marcio Takara's artwork is most enjoyable. The lack of backgrounds and pixelated skies in some panels threw me off a little bit but his character designs are good and the action of the issue flows well. And Matheus Lopes continues to impress with his color work.

Captain America: Civil War - A Spoiler-Free Review

I know I'm going to upset a lot of people with these comments, so let's get it over with.

On the whole, I'd place Civil War on-par with Batman V. Superman.

Now, I see you Marvel Zombies are readying your pitchforks and torches, so let me explain why.

Basically, Civil War has the exact same over-riding problems Batman V. Superman did.

It's primarily concerned with offering fan-service and making references to the comics at the expense of a cohesive story. It requires some characters to act in a blatantly illogical fashion in order for the plot to work. The villain's evil plan is entirely dependent upon coincidences that should be entirely beyond their control that are never adequately explained. And - much like Age of Ultron before it - Civil War seemed like it was more concerned with setting up upcoming movies than it was in telling its own stories. As Batman V. Superman left us more excited about Wonder Woman, so too does Civil War leave us more excited about Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Now with that being said, did I like the movie?

Yes!


Technically, the film is far from perfect.. The first hour drags a bit. There's some incredibly cheap CGI. And a lot of the fight scenes are filmed WAY too close and the jump-cuts went by so fast I thought for a moment the projector was running at a too-fast frame-rate.

But THE fight scene - you know the one I mean - THAT fight scene is perfect.

The acting is great across the board. Tom Holland in particular is impressive and not just because he is easily the most comics-accurate Spider-Man we've ever seen in a live-action work.

Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Good. Not great. Better than Age of Ultron. Not as good as Winter Soldier.

Oh, and one more thing - stick around through ALL the credits. There's two sequences to look out for.

Superior Iron Man #9 - A Review

This is it! The final battle between the Superior Iron Man and Pepper Potts over the soul of Tony Stark.  Even with a back-up of Tony's mind, a new Rescue suit and an army of Tony's old designs at her disposal it will be a close thing...


There is little I can say about this issue beyond it being a perfect conclusion to Tom Taylor's run on this series. All the plot threads are sewn up and the ending is a satisfying one. It remains to be seen what Tony's life will be like post-Secret Wars but if there was never another Iron Man comic ever, this would be a good ending for Tony Stark's story.


The artwork is excellent, despite some of the fight scenes being a little cluttered at points. Still, one can't accuse Yildiray Cinar of giving anything less than 110%. As always this book's artwork is the equal of its scripts in quality.

Superior Iron Man #8 - A Review

Round One between Tony Stark and the "clean back-up" of his mind from several years earlier is over.  Now they are preparing for Round Two, with the back-up Tony heading to the lab to build and plan while the flesh and blood Tony throws an epic party with enough booze to get The Hulk smashed. Who will prove to be the superior Iron Man?


I'd say words cannot express how much I love Tom Taylor's writing on this series, but then I'd have nothing to say here! There's a lot of Taylor's famed comedy in this issue and the Superior Iron Man is the kind of anti-hero/quasi-villain that we all love to hate. Yet Taylor still finds time for some softer scenes, like the subplot involving Teen Abomination.


The art team matches the quality of Taylor's scripts. Felipe Watanabe's pencils look great as do the colors by Guru-FX. And I would never have known that there were three different inkers working on this book had I not checked the credits page!

Avengers: Age of Ultron - A Spoiler-Free Review

When the first Avengers movie came out three years ago, I was in the midst of a boycott of all things Marvel following Spider-Man: One More Day. I relented only because of my love of Joss Whedon's writing.  Afterward, I agreed to limit my boycott to Spider-Man related materials, since it wasn't fair for me to punish myself by avoiding the works of creators I liked in the name of proving a point against a single publisher.

I mention this because the thing that astonished me most about The Avengers was how accessible it was. Despite my not having seen Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger or anything after the first Iron Man movie, I was still able to follow the plot without any issues.  Whedon took care to introduce all the players and relate all the information we needed quickly and subtly.



Age of Ultron doesn't manage the same feat. How can it?! At this point, The Marvel Cinematic Universe is fast becoming as complex as the comic books that inspired it and to miss one movie is to lose a piece of the puzzle. In this respect, it is a weaker film than its predecessor because it cannot stand on its own merits.

That being said, it does have a lot of merits and the good far outweighs the bad.  In fact, I'd say it does improve upon the first film in one respect by giving Hawkeye and Black Widow some much needed definition. Ironically, the newer heroes don't get that much development in comparison but that may be rectified by the longer director's-cut that has already been promised for the Blu-Ray release.

This is a Joss Whedon movie, so you should all know what to expect: witty dialogue and lots of humor amidst the action. Unfortunately, a lot of the best moments have already been spoiled by the trailers but there are some good moments that aren't. One of these involves the greatest Stan Lee cameo yet and I shan't say a word beyond that.

Well, I will say one thing.  There is a mid-credits scene to wait around for.  There isn't anything at the end of the credits, apart from a note that The Avengers Will Return.

In the end, the best thing I can say about Age of Ultron is this. I had a royally bad day before I went into the movie theater.  Two hours later, I had forgotten my troubles. And once I remembered them on the drive home they didn't seem quite so worrisome.

This movie lightened my heart at a time when I needed a pick me up. And when you get right down to it, isn't that the mark of all good escapist fiction? I think it is.  And Age of Ultron is very good escapist fiction.

Superior Iron Man #7 - A Review

The Superior Iron Man is growing out of control and Pepper Potts was just barely able to thwart his efforts to buy his own media empire.  Now the new Tony Stark must face Pepper's ally - the old Tony Stark!  Well, an old Iron Man suit containing an A.I. based on Tony's memories from eight years ago, created for just such an emergency... but close enough!


It should be no surprise that this series continues to be a wonderful read.  The action of the issue, featuring a battle between one of Tony's earliest suits and his latest digital symbiote suit, is a thrilling one. And the dialogue is filled with Taylor's trademarked witty banter.


The artwork was finished by two separate teams but you'd never know it from how well the images fit together. Both Yildiray Cinar and Felipe Watanabe are to be commended for their pencils on this issue.  The inks by Ruy Jose and Cinar are also excellent as are the colors by Guru-FX.

Superior Iron Man #6 - A Review

If there weren't already evidence that Tony Stark was no longer the man he was, his selling weapons plans to the highest bidder would be a big neon sign that something is wrong. And as Pepper Potts and her mysterious ally investigate just what is going on, the Superior Iron Man is eyeing another target. His new goal?  A multimedia news network of his very own.


This issue lacks the action of previous issues, but that fact proves to be a welcome change. Tom Taylor is at his best when he is letting the characters play off of one another and twisting expectations. He's also a master of dark comedy and we get a fair bit of that in this issue as Tony gets to play the asshole in a most delightful way. The end of the issue, however, promises that next month will more than make up for it should there be anyone lamenting this issue's relative lack of violence.


Laura Braga continues to impress. Braga is a wonderful visual storyteller and there is a smooth easiness to the panels of this issue. And I think she may have captured the famous Stark smirk better than any artist in recent memory.

Superior Iron Man #5 - A Review

Superior Iron Man #5 proves to be a relatively sedate issue, compared to what has come before in this series. The focus this month is on Tony's new ward - Kid Abomination. We find out how he came to be what he is (long story short - faulty radiation shielding continues to be the number one cause of workplace accidents in the Marvel Universe) and Tony discovers a connection to the boy that makes him a lot more serious about helping the poor irradiated teen.


Tom Taylor continues to surprise on this series. One might think they see where this issue is going the minute we're presented with a teen boy, an attractive scientist mother and Tony Stark having apparently been "very close" to her in the past.  Thankfully, Taylor is above such obvious tricks but the revelation is enough to show that there is still something of a heart in Tony Stark's superior self.


Laura Braga proves a most able replacement for regular artist Yildiray Cinar.  Indeed, I didn't even notice this issue had a guest artist at first! There are differences in their styles, of course. Braga's inks are a little heavier, to give one example. Regardless, the artwork in this issue is good.

Superior Iron Man #4 - A Review

With crime on the rise as The Have-Nots of San Francisco turn to crime against The Haves to pay for their Extermis 3.0 treatments, a new crime-fighting solution is required. Tony Stark has the answer - drones watching everyone who signed his service agreements to make sure that they're safe at all times. Naturally Matt Murdock is less than thrilled about this new development. But what can The Man Without Fear hope to do against The Superior Iron Man?


Tom Taylor does a masterful job of manipulating the reader's expectations with this issue. We don't know quite what to make of this Tony Stark. For every moment he seems to have returned to the wicked ways of the Civil War Tony, we see some signs of the man of compassion he once was. Nowhere is this more clear than in Tony's treatment of a young super-being known as The Teen Abomination, whom Tony defends from SHIELD.


Despite being handled by two inkers this month, the artwork for this series remains undiminished in quality.  Quite often when a book employs more than one inker, it shows. And any disparity in style and skill-level between those two inkers is immediately obvious.  That isn't the case here, thankfully.  Both Cory Hamsher and Tom Palmer do a fine job of enhancing Yildiray Cinar's original pencils.

Superior Iron Man #3 - A Review

In order to win Daredevil to his side regarding the use of his new Extremis 3.0 body-modification app, Tony Stark has done the unthinkable and restored Matt Murdock's sight!  Now, as Tony Stark leaves to deal with a newbie villain with a grudge, Pepper Potts and a mysterious figure in an old Iron Man suit work to figure out just what has happened to change Tony Stark...


Tom Taylor continues to impress with his scripts on this series. It's always a tricky proposal to write a heroic character in a way that suggests they are giving in to their darker impulses while still keeping them true to form.  This is doubly difficult with a character like Tony Stark, who is already defined by his dark side.  Yet Taylor manages to successfully portray a Tony Stark who is heroic and unethical at the same time.


Yildiray Cinar's artwork is excellent as usual, but I must note one particularly nice artistic touch. In the scenes between Tony and Daredevil, we see all of the action from Matt Murdock's point of view as opposed to the usual comic art which views the action from the viewpoint of a hidden camera or unseen audience. This subtly helps to increase the power of the scenes, as Tony seems to be addressing the reader directly and we get to experience the thrill of once again being able to see from Daredevil's new perspective.

Superior Iron Man #2 - A Review

Tony Stark's latest invention has revolutionized the world but Matt Murdock isn't sure that's such a great thing.  Murdock knows better than most how appearances can be deceiving and Tony Stark is bound to be hiding something behind his efforts to make everyone beautiful using his new Extremis App.  The devil, as always, is in the details and The Daredevil is about to get into Iron Man's business!


Tom Taylor delivers an amazing issue that is as easily accessible as the first.  Indeed, the only disappointing aspect of this second issue of Superior Iron Man is that it stands on its own a little too well.  The cliff-hanger at the end of the first issue is completely forgotten and the focus here is firmly upon the conflict between Iron Man and Daredevil, without any thought as to who was the mysterious figure we saw speaking with Pepper Potts in the last issue!


Once again, Yildiray Cinar does an excellent job on the artwork for this series. Of particular note is the sequence in which Cinar shows us the world from Matt Murdock's perspective.  It seems nearly every artist who tackles Daredevil has a unique method for conveying Murdock's radar-vison and Cinar is no exception.

Dallas Fan Days 2013 - Sunday, Part One

Sundays at Fan Days are usually slower and more leisurely than Saturdays. I didn't get as many pictures but there weren't as many people in costume to take pictures of. I spent most of the day wandering around with my pal Jeremy. I was once again Green Arrow. He was dressed as Buddy Christ.



I spent my time in the line waiting with my friend Daniel and his son, here portraying Cable and Deadpool.   

The Fifth Doctor.



This photo is a bit blurry but considering I was taking a picture of The Flash, it's amazing I got him at all!   

Tony Stark with a TARDIS. What a frightening thought!   

A little Luke Skywalker, giving Yoda a ride.  

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!  It is The Tick!  

 Barnacle Boy and Mermaid Man from SpongeBob SquarePants.
Yes, I'm as ashamed as you are for getting the reference.  

I chased after this Gryffindor girl for a minute, thinking she was my friend Anna.  It was only after I caught up with her that I realized the goof and remembered that Luna (who Anna was dressed as) was a Ravenclaw.  Still a good costume and well worth the running for.  I think that's the same Scarlet Witch from yesterday.


I think that's the same Hawkeye from yesterday, too. 
That's definitely a new Poison Ivy and Bane though and much better than in Batman and Robin.


Trinity from The Matrix.


 Once again I failed to recognize CAJ Cosplay.  She's a chameleon, I swear!
In fairness, I've only seen a few episodes of Angel, so I didn't recognize her as Illyria anyway.  

Spawn was a lot nicer than you'd think about having his picture taken.

Random Thoughts On Iron Man 3 As Reviewed By Someone Who Never Saw Iron Man 2

*  I never saw Iron Man 2 as it came out during the middle of my One More Day inspired boycott of all things Marvel, before I decided it was more effective if I limited it to all things Spider-Man.  And then I just never got around to it. 

* I had heard that Iron Man 2 wasn't a good movie on its' own terms and that it seemed to exist only as a starting point for setting up other Marvel films.  Iron Man 3 suffers no such problems.  You can come into this one having never seen any of the other Iron Man movies and still follow the plot.  There are some things that don't get explained (i.e. Why the US Government has an Iron Man suit in the form of Iron Patriot when Tony is so otherwise protective of his technology) but the relationships are laid bare early on.

* There was a trailer for a Vince Vaugh/Owen Wilson comedy that came one word away from referencing a famous Kitty Pryde line.  I can't help but wonder if that trailer was intentionally designed to air before this movie.  Probably.

* Stick around until the end of the credits.  There's a little more to see.  This should go without saying with all the Marvel movies at this point but there it is.  Stay until the very end!

* Did I like the movie?  Yes.  I recommend it highly.  Everything after this - while technically spoiler free - does talk about some details of the movie, so stop reading my review here if you want to go in totally virgin pure.

* The storyline is basically taken from Warren Ellis' Extremis arc - techno babble being used to justify hacking the human body to enhance it.  Shocked they didn't use the word "mutation" since basically that's what they do, save that there's no variation in what the altered can do..  Maybe Fox still owns the rights to the word along with the X-Men characters?

* There's been some concern with the various previews being released on-line that there will be nothing left in this movie to surprise us.  That's far from true, though I do think the best action sequence in the whole movie did get spoiled by the first preview even if we don't get to see the end of it.

* Pepper  Potts does play a role in the action.  It may not be the role you'd expect or indeed the one that's been teased.  Suffice it to say, she's far from a damsel in distress and does facilitate more than one rescue.

* Another concern - the possible racism of a British actor of Indian heritage playing a Chinese super-villain run through a filter to be vaguely Middle-Eastern.  Trust me: all is explained and Ben Kingsley is brilliant.

* Nice use of AIM as the background minions for the main plot. 

* While Don Cheadle isn't a bad actor, I still find Terrence Howard to be the better Rhodey.

* One minor plot hole - where the hell is SHIELD in all of this?  There's a token mention of Tony hacking their databases at one point for information on The Mandarin but shouldn't we have seen some blue uniforms on the ground in the middle of all this?  Is Fury still stretched thin after the Hellicarrier crashed?

Dallas Fan Days - Day Two

Sadly, I had to work this Saturday, so I wasn't able to make it out to the Con until 5 pm.  But that didn't stop me from getting a few pictures and a few autographs as things were dying down.


  X-23

 Wonder Woman

 Psylocke, Domino & Wolverine

 

Mad Moxxi &Axton from the Borderlands games.

 Tony Stark, on break between drinks and groupies.

 Codex  from The Guild.

The Riddler

Black Cat, Ms. Marvel & Black Widow

Cowgirl Wonder Woman, Black Widow & Cowgirl Supergirl

Me as Homeless Green Arrow.  Oh, and FELICIA DAY! (singing angels)

Ten Thoughts Of Varying Depth On Iron Man

THE SHORT AND SWEET REVIEW: It is good. Robert Downey Jr. is perfection. He really makes Tony Stark a sympathetic figure and that's coming from someone who usually can't stand Iron Man as a concept or character. Well worth seeing on the big screen. In fact, I imagine it won't look half as impressive at home. Also, be sure to stick around through all of the credits.



1. Yes, they do use the Ozzy music.

2. The final words of the movie are "I am Iron Man"

3. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect as Tony Stark. Not a bad thing to say about him.

4. All the casting, in general, is great. They picked a great actor for Rhodey for the inevitable sequel when War Machine shows up. (They're already hinting at it.) And Jeff Daniels - as the big baddy - manages the impossible in playing a comic book villain who doesn't chew the scenery.

5. Gwyneth Paltrow is great as Pepper Potts. Yes, I know what you're thinking - why such a big, respected actress to play Tony Stark's secretary? Trust me: the movie will make it make sense. And here's to them sticking true to the comics and not forcing a romantic relationship between the boss and the loyal secretary but keeping the tension there.

6. Something they didn't stay true to? Jarvis - rather than being a sarcastic British butler - is Tony's electronic personal assistant. I don't know if they thought they were already too heavy on supporting cast (Pepper, Rhodey... even Happy Hogan for Pete's sake!) or if they thought people would say "Oh - he has a butler doing everything for him just like Batman!" Either way, it's a little thing that only the most die-hard of fan-boys will complain about given how much they got right.

7. Something else they didn't stay true to from the comics? The Mandarin, in this case, is a Genghis Khan admirer who runs a terrorist group called "The Ten Rings". Presumably they were afraid of offending people with the portrayal of a magic-ring wearing Chinese warlord.

8. That brings up the one flaw with the movie. Tony Stark is forever changed and decides to get his company out of weapons manufacturing after he sees the lives that are being ruined by the weapons he designed and sold all of his life. And the Iron Man suit is his way of trying to create a non-lethal solution to armed conflict - rays that knock people down but don't cause lethal damage.

Great. Super. Wonderful... except that what he does in an effort to make amends really does nothing to address the large number of people who wouldn't have turned to terrorism/freedom fighting had it not been for his warmongering in the first place. And all of The Ten Rings are killed off before any attempt at rehabilitation/reconciliation can be made, so it's a moot point.

Still, it seems odd for the movie to bring up the issue without trying to rectify it at all. Then again, how can it? It really can't. There's no easy solution to how you make something like that better. Which is actually the first honest step anyone has ever made to making Tony Stark a sympathetic character in any medium. He knows that he's screwed up and he knows that he can never make up for what he has done. All he can say is I'm sorry and move on.

9. The best Stan Lee cameo ever as Stan Lee stretches his acting chops and plays a non-speaking Hugh Hefner. Seriously.

10. So why should you stick around during the credits? Three Words: Samuel Motherloving Jackson.

Looking To The Stars - The Week In Reviews

I'm a bit spoiled for choice about one thing in particular to write about this week. Can't make up my mind, so we're going to cover everything I've read this past week. But just to make it interesting, I shall once again challenge myself with a self-imposed limit on words. One sentence; that's all.

ACTION COMICS #834

Nice to see the Queen of Stories back.


AQUAMAN #37

I think the only Aquaman villain we don't see here is The Fisherman.


AUTHORITY THE MAGNIFICENT KEVIN #5 (OF 5)

I miss Garth Ennis' Hitman... but this helps stave the want a bit.


FABLES #44

Still one of my favorite books, even if the ending this time was a bit of a cop out.


GREEN ARROW #57

No comment until next month.


HAWKMAN #47

I thought Rann/Thanagar was over?


JLA #123

Note to Judd Winick - HERE is how to write Oliver Queen!


NIGHTWING #115

Man, that Deathstroke does get around.


SUPERMAN TRUE BRIT SC

Brilliant!


TEEN TITANS #30

The Captain Carrot comic is the best bit of satire in a comic page in forever.


BOOKS OF DOOM #2 (OF 6)

Sadly, this is ten times better than anything being done with Fantastic Four elsewhere and the best treatment Doom had in a while.


GHOST RIDER #4 (OF 6)

For that matter, I miss Garth Ennis' Preacher too.


GLX-MAS SPECIAL

Worth getting even without the official Marvel Legends action figure promotion.


MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #21

Turns out he was only MOSTLY Dead!


PUNISHER SILENT NIGHT

For those of you offended by silly comics like GLX, try this!


SECRET WAR: BOOK FIVE (OF 5)

It's finally out, so we can all go back to forgetting it ever existed.


SON OF M #1 (OF 6)

Peter Parker Pimp-Slaps Pietro.


ULTIMATE IRON MAN #5 (OF 5)

See SECRET WAR #5


WHAT IF WOLVERINE

So basically, this is "What if Wolverine Were The Punisher?"


Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.