elnino14

I don't watch Raw anymore but Smackdown is awesome every week with at least one great match, and pretty awesome storytelling. CM Punk vs. Hardy has been pretty freaking fun thus far. And they've been building up John Morrison as a contender. Plus you know Jericho is on the show. I hope Raw doesn't steal him away after he loses the tag titles.

This weekend I finished X-men The 90's Animated Series...really took me a while to finally finish because most of the eps after Beyond Good And Evil at the beginning of season 4 is pretty boring. I also watched rewatched Batman Begins for the first time since I've seen the Dark Knight in theaters with my uncle who generally despises superhero films. He liked it, which was good, I liked it more than ever before which is good. I never really liked Batman Begins, I always thought it was just okay. Now after watching The Dark Knight last year, I really see Nolan's vision in Batman Begins. It really connects rather well, and it's a rather monstrous movie. I really appreciate that realism in the films, the worldliness, the crime aspects, the psychological aspects, and of course the origin aspects that really lead into the next film rather well. I've even begun to appreciate the action sequences a bit more, especially the first one on the docks, the quick cuts really resembles how the thiefs see Batman, in that they never really see him, it's all with a flash and then he disappears. Although the action still is hindered very much by the quick cuts, especially the fights in the third act of the film, I understand and appreciate the action a bit more from earlier parts of the film. Really the third act overall, isn't quite that good. But I still like this film more than when I watched it in theater and DVD the first time. Watched Milk over the weekend, it was fine. Didn't think it was all that great. But the acting was definitely top notch from the entire cast and the era was quite believably represented. Also the movie was supposed to be powerful, it does have emotional resonance, but in a lot of ways it feels forced. The best parts are actually the small quiet parts, the scene repeated in the opening and ending was excellent. I liked the film overall, but I didn't love it. Even better I watched The Hunting Party, a little film starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard, I'd definitely suggest renting this film. It's certainly not the best film ever, it's very strange, but also very fun. It's kind of like Three Kings in the tone of the film. It does tend to drag in the middle as it feels like it's running around in circles but overall I found it a good diversion.

So I've officially finished the series all 5 seasons, all 76 episodes and honestly, while it was a very enjoyable nostalgic trip and many of the early episodes have some great storytelling. It really dropped off in season 4 and 5. After the epic Beyond Good and Evil 4-parter that was fun comic goodness, the quality of the storytelling takes a huge drop. While there are some shining lights such as Deal with the Devil (the return of Omega Red), Bloodlines (dealing with Mystique's complicated family history), Descent (a Mr. Sinister Origin story), and Graduation Day (the final episode), the rest is pretty terrible and many episodes are just an absolute chore to get through because of how boring they are. They definitely ran out of ideas as they started reusing themes that were successful before, but the rehashes are hardly comparable to the original, and the quality is often sub-par. The spotlight with Wolverine sees him going back to Japan but we've already seen his Japan history, and it's very dejavu of the superior Alaska episode, Rogue's boyfriend returns, but it's just crappy. A two-parter focusing on Storm...the most boring character in the series. I may be just a bit harsh, as many of the episodes are decidedly average, the problem is that the average episodes are just too frequent and the awesomeness is just too far apart. Can't reccommend the final episode enough though, Xavier's speech just really wraps up the series quite well, hitting on all the main characters and the story in the final episode really gets back to the heart of the series. If you haven't checked it yet, there's some great stuff in this series, especially the first 3 seasons, after Beyond Good and Evil though, there's a tremendous drop in quality.

In all honesty it was an amazing card and I'm glad I picked it up. Akiyama was not an upset as the biased announcers would have you believe, it really could have gone either way. I felt Akiyama was up on points just from the takedowns alone. Henderson did the right thing, as someone said earlier, fighters are trained not to stop until the ref pushes them off. Henderson might, maybe, have noticed that Bisping was already out, but Bisping is a dick anyway, and an overrated hack. I love GSP, watching him is like watching magic. Brock Lesnar vs. Mir was pretty cool. Lesnar owned Mir as he should have. Also Lesnar being a heel is awesome, and I agree it really does help make the sport a little bit more entertaining. Too bad he apologized at the post fight press conference.

I agree that is wasn't great, but I'd really like to see the Edward Norton cut of the film. The final version cut huge chunks out of Norton's version and you can really tell. I think the extended version would be well worth checking out if only they'd release it ala Daredevils Directors cut. I actually watched all the deleted scenes (all 45 minutes or so) and while some are really good and would have helped, I didn't think they would have impacted the movie as much as everybody thinks they would. Although it's hard to tell without the actual splicing into the film. That Daredevil Director's cut is a million times better than the theatrical and actually a pretty decent popcorn film. I actually really liked it. Over the past month I've watched: Four Brothers - really didn't like it, L.A. Confidential - really liked it, I love crime thrillers stories, plus it's a period piece, with awesome actors, amazing. Cinderella Man - really liked it, another winner, great period piece and human emotion story, with awesome acting ECW's first PPV - uhmm...I guess you had to be there in terms of getting the matches, but it's a nice look at the movement and it's a fun watch, Taz vs. Sabu is crazy, The Rise and Fall of ECW - much better in explaining the mystique behind the movement, and the stories The Mist - in black and white, I've heard so many mixed reviews about this, but honestly it's severely underrated and actually it was pretty awesome outside of Thomas Jane's terrible acting near the end and the horrible soundtrack on the ending, it's one of the best horror movies I've seen in a long time. some X-men the animated series - after Beyond Good and Evil 4-parter it's been all down hill from there, and most of Season 7 of 24 - Goodness, I hated Season 6 so much that this just blew my socks off, the middle of the season with the White House raid is one of the most tense segments ever, should finish off the season this weekend. That's my watching habits. YAY.

Murdock is very proud you're trying to help dispel those nasty libelous about him being Daredevil but would like to say that it's a few years too late. He's already served his damn jail time. As for Hal Jordan, if he's supposed to be in his 20's, Nathan Fillion won't work. But that fan-made trailer is still awesome, and Nathan Fillion would be awesome in a grown up Lantern. I don't know anything about Green Lantern outside of what I've seen in A New Frontier animated film, but GL was the best part of that terrible film, and if it's anything like the origin story they came up with in there...it'll be at least decent.

Read some Batman-y stuff. Batman and Son by Grant Morrison - I've always been curious about Morrison's run on Batman. So I wanted to a Borders and just sat and read this. Initially I thought, awesome, Morrison is totally doing what he did with X-men just reinventing the characters and doing some great things. Batman shooting Joker in the face, Awesome! Batman forgetting how to be Bruce Wayne, just some really intriguing character developments. Unfortunately they don't last, it wasn't batman shooting Joker it was someone dressed like Batman (one of the three ghosts), Batman forgetting how to be Bruce is dropped the moment his son is introduced. While these interesting things are gone, they are not so much as dropped but more replaced with the main plot, Batman's son, and as foreshadowing aspects to the larger picture (the three ghosts). Speaking of that petulant little child, Damian provides an interesting dichotomy between not only Batman's teachings and the league of assassins' but Robin and Damian as sons of Bruce, and Batman as a child compared to Damian's antics. Maybe if Batman's parents stayed alive, maybe Bruce would have grown up to be a spoiled little brat like Damian (with less killing). Damian is a very awesome introduction into the series and because of his presence some classic conversations are to be had and he provides some great antics. Although the conclusion to that story sucks as Talia returns. The interlude is...creepy. The prose style only adds to the creepiness as it's not something that's expected and his descriptions are insane. No other way to put it. Morrison's take on Joker transforms the Joker into the Dark Knights Joker. It's a very heavy issue and honestly I wasn't prepared for it...so I attempted to get through it as quickly as I could. I'm thinking about picking up these trades for myself to go back and get Morrison's nuances. The second arc focuses on the second ghost of Batman's three ghosts, a very Bane-like Batman. The second arc is less interesting than the first. It's not as exciting and it makes me realize how much I wanted to see Damian again. Batman is pushed to his limit, Bruce reconnects with love (or more likely lust), and Talia makes her return...again. The final issue in the trade deals with the apocalypse, the second coming, and Damian as the new, more brutal Batman preventing the destruction of Gotham City with his soul on the line. Morrison has never been afraid of taking risks, some are great twists on the Batman mythos...having Batman deal with all his history attacking him at once, including a child, some are not so great, like ninja man-bats, some of the apocalyptic nature in issue #666, and the most of the second arc is forgettable. I understand that this is just a piece of Morrison's large puzzle but I right no I really don't appreciate the super-natural elements. We'll see how it all pans out. Justice League International from Keith Giffen and J. M. Demateiss - Unfortunately it wasn't nearly as good, clever, or funny as the critical acclaim would have me expect...at least it isn't yet. Rarely did I ever laugh out loud during this book and frankly it's still stuck in a fairly typical superhero story genre and it rarely ever breaks out of that. The few times it does, you can see some great machinations at work. The constant bickering between Green Lantern Guy Gardner and Batman is one of the highlights of this book and actually comes to a head in a chuckle-inducing climax. Unfortunately I thought the aftermath of that rivalry was very wearisome. Guy Gardner is a highlight character of this book and he's a constant thorn in the rest of the Justice League's side due to his less than thrilling personality. In other words, he's a dick and his antics provide the most fun in this book. 7.5/10 full review--- http://thegeekdive.blogspot.com/2009/07/tp...ernational.html Total: Comic books: 9 Trade paperbacks: 54 Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volumes 1, 2, and 3; The Authority by Ellis/Hitch/Millar/Quietly Volumes 1 (Relentless) and 2 (Under New Management) and 3 (Transfer of Power); Batman: Year One; Batman: The Long Halloween; Planetary vol 1 (All Over the World and Other Stories), vol. 2 (The Fourth Man), and vol. 3 (Leaving the 20th Century), Planetary Crossing Worlds (The Crossover specials); Planetary 19-26; Batman: The Man Who Laughs; Frank Miller's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; RONIN; JOKER; Deadpool #1; Punisher Max vol. 1-4; Penance: Relentless; Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis vol 1-2; Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion, Astonishing X-men Hardcovers volume 1 and 2, Daredevil: Born Again, Y: The Last Man vol. 1-10, The incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit, Marvels, Daredevil: Redemption, Daredevil: Yellow, Hard-boiled, Hulk: Dogs of War, Spider-man: India, R.I.P.D., Daredevil: Love Labors Lost, District X vol. 1, Walking Dead vol. 1-5, Deadpool vol. 1: Secret Invasion, Superman: Red Son, Batman and Son, Justice League International vol. 1

I've always wanted those but they are pretty pricey. I may have to investigate bargin deals. I liked Earth X quite a bit so we'll have to see. I've heard good things about Earth X but not so great things about Universe and Paradise, Stavros what did you think of them? Also I've been scouring E-bay for a while to find the entire trilogy in one shot...but gave up.

Continued my quest through Walking Dead with the next two volumes 4, 5. I really felt that the first two volumes were good but didn't live up to the hype, somewhere around the middle of volume 3 and definitely in Volume's 4 and 5, the story starts to kick into high gear and ultimately I'm glad I stuck with it. It feels like the point where a movie really would have stopped already and we're going beyond it now. Volume 4 especially, is my favorite volume as Rick really really snaps. I wrote a ton about the book in my blog: here's what it all boils down to... "More than creating characters, Kirkman's greatest achievement is an analysis of human nature, the human psyche, and the human beings as the real monster. Throughout all the volumes, it takes a front-seat to all the themes and Kirkman is able to explore it in all its forms with all it's characters. It's his master achievement in this book." 8.5 Also read Super-man: Red Son. It's the only Superman book I've ever read all the way through, and that's because it's the only Superman book that I found interesting and challenging on an intellectual level. Like a lot of things Mark Millar has done, it comes with a lot of hype, but it's well deserved as this book is fantastically political satire, and a study of the Superman character and in essence the Batman, and Wonder Woman characters. Superman very well may be in the wrong here...and that's so intriguing. 8.5/10 Deadpool vol. 1: I'll be reviewing this in more depth in my blog but ultimately I liked it. Total: Comic books: 9 Trade paperbacks: 52 Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volumes 1, 2, and 3; The Authority by Ellis/Hitch/Millar/Quietly Volumes 1 (Relentless) and 2 (Under New Management) and 3 (Transfer of Power); Batman: Year One; Batman: The Long Halloween; Planetary vol 1 (All Over the World and Other Stories), vol. 2 (The Fourth Man), and vol. 3 (Leaving the 20th Century), Planetary Crossing Worlds (The Crossover specials); Planetary 19-26; Batman: The Man Who Laughs; Frank Miller's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; RONIN; JOKER; Deadpool #1; Punisher Max vol. 1-4; Penance: Relentless; Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis vol 1-2; Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion, Astonishing X-men Hardcovers volume 1 and 2, Daredevil: Born Again, Y: The Last Man vol. 1-10, The incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit, Marvels, Daredevil: Redemption, Daredevil: Yellow, Hard-boiled, Hulk: Dogs of War, Spider-man: India, R.I.P.D., Daredevil: Love Labors Lost, District X vol. 1, Walking Dead vol. 1-5, Deadpool vol. 1: Secret Invasion, Superman: Red Son

Does Bruno count as a summer blockbuster?

Did anybody else watch THE BASH...man Jericho/Mysterio feud right now is easily the feud of the year, and the match they had at the Bash was amazing, a MOTYC. I watched it and while the show wasn't awesome, Jericho vs. Mysterio blew my socks off and Punk vs. Hardy was very fun. The booking for Punk is miles better than last years booking as it seems like they have a lot more faith in him this time around. Anyways, I posted a review on my blog...*Cheap shill* Geek Dive But really go get three Jericho Mysterio PPV matches and watch them in chronological order.

Extreme Rules 09 MVP vs. Matt Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. William Regal: I was really hesitant to like this match, I’m not a huge fan of any of the men, Hardy’s performances have been disappointing for a while, Kofi is relatively new and unproven, Regal is just there, and MVP is great but I’ve felt his work has faltered since he turned face. Also they seemed to be doing the two-man in two-man out formula in the beginning, but that quickly changed after a couple of minutes, and they hit a nice stride in a spotfest, everybody going after everybody formula. They hit a perfect chaotic and high-impact feel and it always stayed slick and smooth, like controlled anarchy. Fun match, but not a whole lot that we haven’t seen before. *** Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio: It made me sad that this match was going on so early. Nonetheless, this was a great match on-par with their Judgmet Day match just last month. The reversals that made last month’s match so exciting were here as well, Jericho plays an excellent villain blocking, dodging, and reversing Mysterio’s major moves as well as attempting to rip off the mask. Mysterio looked great and this feud has been the best I’ve seen out of him since Eddy died. Unfortunately, the impact wasn’t quite as high as it was last month, and it wasn’t quite as smooth. The ending, though, was incredibly impressive and could have been a complete bummer if their timing was just even a tiny bit off. A great match into a very fun series. *** ½ Umaga vs. CM Punk: Umaga never really had any motivation to attack Punk so many weeks ago, and I don’t think it ever was really explained. Really these two were held back by the strap match gimmick, everything in-between the touching of the turnbuckles got no reaction and that really hurt the match. It seemed like they were going through the motions until the finish. I’m happy that Punk got a definitive finish, it shows some faith on WWE’s part in terms of his push. ** Christian vs. Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer: This was the sentimental Tommy Dreamer retirement match, more or less. The crowd didn’t get into it, except for a small contingent for Tommy Dreamer. The match tried to use a bunch of a weapons to hide the limitations of the wrestlers. It wasn’t that good, it kind of felt just put together. The gesture is nice for Tommy, but I didn’t grow up with ECW, and from what I understand about ECW and Tommy Dreamer, is that his whole gimmick was a lovable loser, wouldn’t it have made more sense to play that up more. Whatever. * ½ Santina vs. Vickie: This is basically Vince’s idea of funny, which is usually unfunny to me. This was no excepting, filler, it boring, and it’s a waste of my time. Couldn’t we have used this time for another match even a five minute match with Kofi vs. Shelton vs. John Morrison would have been better than this, really. There’s an hour and a half left on this show and three matches, that averages to about 25 minutes per match, shit. I got a long hour ahead of me. Randy Orton vs. Batista: One thing bugged me before the match even started, they showed the same 3-minute promo that they showed earlier during the Batista promo, WHY? It was a short 10 minute match, and it was absolutely within realm of what these two could accomplish. It was fine, you can only do so much, and Orton has been putting on sub-par performances all year, the chemistry between these two isn’t very strong, and yet this match was pretty ok. It was fine for what it was, a short, quick, match to get over Batista’s revenge and Orton’s chicken-shit-ness. I think if anything this match showed once again, how stale Batista is as a face. ** ½ John Cena vs. Big Show: Goodness…I’m so done with this feud. I thought their match last month was serviceable, this was the exact same match except Cena was FORCED to finish the match by submission. Cena is still basically the next Hogan, that’s not an insult, he plays the role well, it’s just not what I’m into. * ½ Jeff Hardy vs. Edge: At least the show finished strong, this was an excellent match, up there with the top ones of the year from WWE. They recalled previous spots from their previous matches like Jeff Hanging from the title, the Edge spear spot, amongst others. They also spiced it up with new spots that were very brutal and never before seen. The first few minutes were a waste as really, they should have bounced out quick and went right on to the ladders. We already knew what these two could do, we knew how much history they have, they knew it too, so why waste. The match was strong and probably one of the better matches I’ve seen out of these two, who to me haven’t been delivering all that much with each other. Also the ending was great, as well. **** Final Thoughts: A good solid hour and 15 minutes is slow as molasses and dreadful, it’s got a good first hour and had a good final 40 minutes or so, Mysterio, Jericho, Edge, and Jeff put on solid performance and continue to prove that Smackdown is the show to watch along with the Punk, Morrison, and Shelton. Raw sucks, Smackdown rocks…and it continues to show on these PPVs. Top WWE PPV Matches of 09: 1. HBK vs. Undertaker (Mania 25) - **** ¾ 2. Raw Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - **** ¼ 3. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge - **** 4. Edge vs. Cena (Backlash 09) - *** ¾ 5. Mysterio vs. Jericho (Judgment Day 09) - *** ¾ 6. Mysterio vs. Jericho (Extreme Rules) - *** ½ 7. Smackdown Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - *** ½ 8. MITB (Mania 25) - *** ½ 9. Christian vs. Jack Swagger (Backlash) - *** ¼ 10. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (Royal Rumble 09) - *** 11. CM Punk vs. Kane (Backlash) - *** 12. Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble 09) - *** 13. Edge vs. Big Show vs. John Cena (Mania 25) -*** 14. Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton (No Way Out 09) - ***

District X vol. 1: This was kind of like a Gotham Central for the Marvel Mutants (X) universe. There's only one X-man in this series and it's Bishop and he works quite well as he plays a detective of Mutant Town along with a beat cop, who is actually not that likable. It's like The Wire where everybody on both sides of the law has good and bad in them, everybody tip-toes on the shades of grey. It portrays some of the scarier mutants and the scary goings-ons of mutant town and the ugly underbelly of mutants, and mainly their destruction in their separitist neighborhood. The second half of the book goes into more superheroic cliche affairs, but overall it's written very well and it's rather good under-the-radar book. I'll definitely be picking up vol. 2 of this shortlived series. 8/10 Walking Dead vol. 1-3: I heard a shit load of hype for this series from not only this forum but across the internet. This series didn't live up to the hype, at least not for me. It's good, but not great as I was expecting it to be. It's possible that it may be affected by my just watching Jericho Season 1 and 2 rather recently (less than a year ago) and it harbors a similar concept and theme, and actually takes place in a similar setting and I just finished reading Y: the Last Man which is just an excellent comic book that lived up to all the hype. The concept is a good one and it seems that the book gets better as it move on with the characters in the book becoming the real monsters of the story and not the zombies. The dialogue was and continues to be an issue for me, Kirkman tends to write the characters giving long speeches, also the book's flow is rather awkward as sometimes it shows us things happening in one day, and sometimes it jumps weeks from panel to panel. These only occur in transition to big arcs or plot points. I was also getting really upset with the plot at one point in the Prison storyline as it seems like it was going to be a repeat of the previous storyline. Kirkman relieves my fears quite well. The characters are fine, but really it's all hard to connect to for me. Kirkman does do a ton of great things with this series, making great observations on survival, society, morals, and the evolution of family structure and authority. Also Kirkman isn't afraid of killing off characters, I never know who is going to survive through the page. It's great and it would be great to have some Vegas odds on who survives the next conflict. The art bothered me at first, I still can't tell some of women apart, and its really hindering my enjoyment of the book, also there are too many characters that I can never keep straight (Hershel certainly was busy with his wife) but I've gotten over the black and white, and actually approve of that decision, it adds to the horrifying and bleak nature of the book. It's a good book, a very solid series but it hasn't reached great status for me yet and I doubt it ever will. 8/10 Total: Comic books: 9 Trade paperbacks: 48 Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volumes 1, 2, and 3; The Authority by Ellis/Hitch/Millar/Quietly Volumes 1 (Relentless) and 2 (Under New Management) and 3 (Transfer of Power); Batman: Year One; Batman: The Long Halloween; Planetary vol 1 (All Over the World and Other Stories), vol. 2 (The Fourth Man), and vol. 3 (Leaving the 20th Century), Planetary Crossing Worlds (The Crossover specials); Planetary 19-26; Batman: The Man Who Laughs; Frank Miller's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; RONIN; JOKER; Deadpool #1; Punisher Max vol. 1-4; Penance: Relentless; Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis vol 1-2; Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion, Astonishing X-men Hardcovers volume 1 and 2, Daredevil: Born Again, Y: The Last Man vol. 1-10, The incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit, Marvels, Daredevil: Redemption, Daredevil: Yellow, Hard-boiled, Hulk: Dogs of War, Spider-man: India, R.I.P.D., Daredevil: Love Labors Lost, District X vol. 1, Walking Dead vol. 1-3

I finished Season 3 and started season 4. There was a ton of really good episodes in Season 3, I've already talked about the Dark Phoenix Saga which I thoroughly enjoyed and a couple of one-shots involving Archangel and Ice Man, but the latter half of Season 3 is just as good. That volume 3-4 box sets should be awesome as they'll include some more awesome one-shots with Nightcrawler, an excellent episode dealing with faith, and Morph, in an excellent episode dealing with facing your fears, along with the awesome two-parter Sanctuary that is quite possibly the best showcase for Magneto. Also Beyond Good and Evil is an epic crossover of the whole X-universe. It feels like a huge event. Honestly, it gets some of the flaws of huge events as well and isn't the strongest episodes of the series but its still a lot of fun. Also the Morlock Christmas episode is another stinker in what is an absolutely great series.

R.I.P.D. - I picked this up because I heard it was being turned into a movie. The Rest in peace department, basic idea is Men in Black with demons and the afterlife, actually it takes the basic idea of MIB, the major plot points (rookie trained by a soon-to-be retired vet), and the tone (goofy fun with some serious elements) but it's not executed nearly as well. The first issue is done pretty well at we are introduced to the premise through the rookie's eyes, but everything else moves too quickly for it's own good not really taking the time to build the world around them and have the emotional momments resonate with the audience, juggles too many plots, and coming to a head too easily. It's all done before it ever really gets time to get off the ground. The art fits, surprisingly, with it's cartoony look that shows the book isn't serious and is fun. It's a quick-style read, but it's not great, and only worth a quick look. 6/10 Daredevil: Love Labors Lost - I LOVE DAREDEVIL. Just Need to get that out of the way. This collects some of the issues between Frank Miller's character defining first run and is right before his perennial Born Again run. Just because of that, the stories in this book get overshadowed. They are not even close to as good but there are some excellent stories, and some minor bumps along the way. These stories really show Murdock dealing with the downfall and eventual loss of another girlfriend (this time Heather Glenn). It mixes the mature content and themes (grieving, suicide, revenge) with old-school dialogue and really lame villains. There's good and bad with in this book, the major subplot arc that traveling through most of the book (Murdock dealing with Heather Glenn) is quite exceptional. The stand-alone, villain of the month plots, are quite lame...overall. The book rests on the Murdock character and his excellent supporting cast. While they're no the best stories around, and the momment ends up being a footnote in DD history, it helps bridge the gap nicely between Miller's two runs and provides some strong entertainment along the way. 7.5/10 Pride of Baghdad - I read this through in one sitting. It's quite amazing and takes a somewhat childish concept (talking animals) with archetype, stereotypical characters and breathes life into it through humanistic motivations, thought, and mature themes. It's a spectacle to see and a rather simple story of a pride of lions. Whatever metaphors that are there never get too heavy handed (except for the turtle one) and it's not speech tastic espewing Vaughn's views on social issues and politics, it's very much a character drama, with the character's discussing and presenting their own arguments and none of them really ever coming on top in that realm. It's a really good book. 8.5/10 Total: Comic books: 9 Trade paperbacks: 44 Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volumes 1, 2, and 3; The Authority by Ellis/Hitch/Millar/Quietly Volumes 1 (Relentless) and 2 (Under New Management) and 3 (Transfer of Power); Batman: Year One; Batman: The Long Halloween; Planetary vol 1 (All Over the World and Other Stories), vol. 2 (The Fourth Man), and vol. 3 (Leaving the 20th Century), Planetary Crossing Worlds (The Crossover specials); Planetary 19-26; Batman: The Man Who Laughs; Frank Miller's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; RONIN; JOKER; Deadpool #1; Punisher Max vol. 1-4; Penance: Relentless; Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis vol 1-2; Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion, Astonishing X-men Hardcovers volume 1 and 2, Daredevil: Born Again, Y: The Last Man vol. 1-10, The incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit, Marvels, Daredevil: Redemption, Daredevil: Yellow, Hard-boiled, Hulk: Dogs of War, Spider-man: India, R.I.P.D., Daredevil: Love Labors Lost,

So I'm working through some of the books I bought in my second order at TFAW's spring sale, so all of these I got 80% off. Hulk: Dogs of War. Actually bought this book for a friend who loves Hulk, but I figured I'd read it before passing it on to him. It's really really long winded and I felt like it doesn't need to be. Paul Jenkins writes this and I liked his writing in Inhumans, and while it was wordy it never felt overly wordy. This did, it felt overly wordy, long winded and at times boring. Any good coming out of the ideas in this book (the struggle inside Banner's mind with thousands and thousands of Hulk, the mysterious villain with crazy connections) was bogged down by longwinded dialogue. Ultimately by the end I didn't care too much, I liked some things (the female heroine of the piece, the psychology aspects, the death of Bruce's body, and the analogus villain character) but I cared less and less because it was such a struggle to get through. Jenkins felt the need to get very technical at times, and lose me. Similar to why I didn't like Ellis' run on Authority as much as most. 5/10 Spider-man: India. It only cost me a dollar okay and honestly I wouldn't have bought it otherwise. Which is sad, because it's actually pretty good and at times excellent. The writing has some struggles, but the art is beautiful. It looks like a lot of effort was put into this book. The book effectively took the Spider-man hero and transported him across cultures and it works. The changes made absolutely work. The villains are more mystical, more mythical, the struggles of the Pavtir are not only social but class struggles, and ultimately the battles are the same as they ever were but still seemed fresh due to a new location and a new myth. Spider-man is a character who transcends culture, and they showed that here taking essentially the same characters, the same struggles, and tweaking it. It's not anything new, it's essentially the same hat as always, but it's a system that works, and the changes make it fresh and fun again. 8/10 Hard-boiled. I read this last night and I'm not sure if it's one of the stupidest things I've ever read or if it was one of the coolest. The art is definitely insane and crazy, the writing is good, but the story overall is just... I don't know. It's crazy. It's probably worth the read at least to look at the pictures. 8/10 While my first order (which included Marvels, X-factor visionaries 3-4, Daredevil Yellow, Daredevil Redemption, Hulk: Tempest Fugit and Mutant Genesis) was pretty awesome, the second order (which included the 3 books above along with RIPD, District X vol. 1, Daredevil Loves Labors Lost and Dark Phoenix Saga) seems much lower on the awesome scale. Next up is Daredevil Loves Labors Lost and RIPD. Total: Comic books: 9 Trade paperbacks: 42 Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volumes 1, 2, and 3; The Authority by Ellis/Hitch/Millar/Quietly Volumes 1 (Relentless) and 2 (Under New Management) and 3 (Transfer of Power); Batman: Year One; Batman: The Long Halloween; Planetary vol 1 (All Over the World and Other Stories), vol. 2 (The Fourth Man), and vol. 3 (Leaving the 20th Century), Planetary Crossing Worlds (The Crossover specials); Planetary 19-26; Batman: The Man Who Laughs; Frank Miller's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; RONIN; JOKER; Deadpool #1; Punisher Max vol. 1-4; Penance: Relentless; Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis vol 1-2; Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion, Astonishing X-men Hardcovers volume 1 and 2, Daredevil: Born Again, Y: The Last Man vol. 1-10, The incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit, Marvels, Daredevil: Redemption, Daredevil: Yellow, Hard-boiled, Hulk: Dogs of War, Spider-man: India

Stavros, I know this is a little late, but how'd you like Road to Perdition?

Judgment Day 09 CM Punk vs. Umaga: A pretty decent opener, it got the crowd fired up, especially since it had a hometown boy in Punk. Ultimately, the match wasn’t that great but I couldn’t see how else it could have gone, Umaga dominated most of the match like he should have, CM Punk spent most of the match fighting from behind like he should have, and trying multiple times and never succeeding to hit the Go to Sleep. I thought the match was decently worked, and the ending was great, as I felt maybe this time he’ll hit it. But the ending I was rooting for never came. I’m not really too surprised by the outcome, WWE worked themselves into a corner, Umaga was returning and they were setting up CM Punk as a challenger, ultimately they both needed the win, although I think Umaga would have suffered less from the loss. ** ½ ECW TITLE: Jack Swagger vs. Christian II: These two had a good match at Backlash and I was hoping they could work their magic again here. It wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped, they performed to relative crowd silence and tried to do the same exact story they did last time. It’s not a bad formula and as we saw it Backlash, it can work, but the crowd wasn’t buying it, and neither was I, not because I didn’t enjoy the match, I thought it was fine and I thought both men looked really good, it’s just that I have no real investment in this feud, and the WWE isn’t doing anything to try to make me care. ** ½ Shelton Benjamin (w/ Charlie Haas) vs. John Morrison: You can tell these two are natural athletes, they are both quick and have innovative maneuvers. This is a simple rivalry based on just that idea, who is the better athlete. And it’s a great idea. It’s unfortunate the execution is off, Shelton slows the match way down and starts the heat segment way too early. But there are little flashes of greatness throughout the match, the MOVES for one thing, the finish for another, and the sometimes very slick execution. They work out the kinks of their pacing, develop as characters instead of just movesets, and they could potentially steal a televised show. ** ½ The Miz does stuff: I’ve never been a fan of making fun of sports teams or even sports member in the audience, it’s one of the lowest forms of cheap heat (which I usually don’t have a problem with) and more for the live crowd than it is for the audience at home. As I am not really a sports follower, I was bored through Miz’s whole speech. Santino was pretty funny though although the hilarity of his speech and his shine has wore off a lot. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio: What a match, set up very well by the promo by Jericho beforehand. Chris Jericho has been a very intriguing character since Mania 24, and honestly, it’s been a pleasure to see him perform every time since then. Here was no different, the basic story of the match surrounded the Mysterio’s 619 and Jericho complete avoidance of it. Jericho had Mysterio very well scouted throughout the match, especially the 619 (which plays off quite well considering they have a bit of history with each other). During the match, they had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand, the ending was logical and played well into the story, Jericho did well, showing frustration as every time he scouted Mysterio and dominated, Mysterio showed resilience. It was a great, simple match and the best on the card. *** ½ Randy Orton vs. Batista: What a bore! Really! I fell asleep during this match before it picked up to the actual point. The whole time the announcers said we’re going to see a different side of Batista and really, honestly, I saw the same side I always do. Orton is still having problems pacing matches that he had years ago, there’s methodical, and then there’s just meandering. This match around, Orton was meandering. In all honesty, the match wasn’t all bad, it really picked up once Batista “snapped” (and I use that word gingerly) when Orton attempted the KICK TO THE FACE (in caps well…because it’s a kick to the face). Then Orton ran around playing chickenshit champion. That was fun. The first 10 minutes before that put me to sleep…literally. And really, it’s the same match he had with Cena way back at No Way Out, except a lot worse. * ½ John Cena vs. Big Show: I finally understand, John Cena is basically a more versatile and less selfish Hulk Hogan for the new generation. He’s the face of the company and can be used in any position at any time. Sometimes he can adapt and have great matches (like with Edge at Backlash for a very recent example) because he’s willing to get better, willing to learn and when need be, he can do what he did tonight, which is basically sell his ass off, look like he was getting his ass kicked, and make small short comebacks. It’s not a good match by any means, it’s competent for what it was, Cena was injured (God only knows what part of him), Show kicked Cena’s injured ass, Cena kept trying to use his strength to force Show into the STFU and when he couldn’t used Show’s own momentum for the FU. * Edge vs. Jeff Hardy: I expected these two guys to put on an excellent match, and they didn’t. It was good, but good just doesn’t cut it for the main event. I know Edge likes to start slow and build the match to a great finish, but he lost me about halfway into it. I just don’t have the patience for a mandatory wrestling sequence from Jeff Hardy in a match that has nothing to do with any of that. It was about Jeff Hardy taking risks, and Edge making opportunities. It was good, but it wasn’t anything special. There were some cool spots, there always is, but the overall story, pacing, slickness, and execution is what makes the match and this just didn’t have that firing on all cylinders. *** Final Thoughts: A really bland show. Really. Jericho vs. Mysterio is worth going out of your way to see, but nothing else is worth much more than a quick read through of the results. It feels like they’re spinning they’re wheels until Extreme Rules PPV where 90% of these matches will be repeated with stipulations. Also Smackdown is the only good part of this company. Top WWE PPV Matches of 09: 1. HBK vs. Undertaker (Mania 25) - **** ¾ 2. Raw Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - **** ¼ 3. Edge vs. Cena (Backlash 09) - *** ¾ 4. Mysterio vs. Jericho (Judgment Day 09) - *** ½ 5. Smackdown Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - *** ½ 6. MITB (Mania 25) - *** ½ 7. Christian vs. Jack Swagger (Backlash) - *** ¼ 8. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (Royal Rumble 09) - *** 9. CM Punk vs. Kane (Backlash) - *** 10. Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble 09) - *** 11. Edge vs. Big Show vs. John Cena (Mania 25) -*** 12. Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton (No Way Out 09) - ***

Just recently finished the last trade of Y: The Last Man. All I can say is that it's simply Phenomenal. I really liked it, sure there was a bit of a lull during volumes 8 and 9, but volume 10 is really a fantastic wrap up to the entire series. It really shows that while it was important to find out what caused the gendercide, it wasn't the story. It may have been the hook way back in volume 1, but it's not the story now. It's not the point now and looking back I don't think that ever was the point. There was a lot of emphasis on it throughout the series, but volume 10 kind of shows that no explanation really could do the series justice, only a connection to the characters can. He's 100% got me there. Also the last issue was perfect, and the last page of the last issue was fabulous. This has instantly shot up as one of my favorite series of all time. 10/10 Total: Comic books: 9 Trade paperbacks: 39 Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volumes 1, 2, and 3; The Authority by Ellis/Hitch/Millar/Quietly Volumes 1 (Relentless) and 2 (Under New Management) and 3 (Transfer of Power); Batman: Year One; Batman: The Long Halloween; Planetary vol 1 (All Over the World and Other Stories), vol. 2 (The Fourth Man), and vol. 3 (Leaving the 20th Century), Planetary Crossing Worlds (The Crossover specials); Planetary 19-26; Batman: The Man Who Laughs; Frank Miller's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; RONIN; JOKER; Deadpool #1; Punisher Max vol. 1-4; Penance: Relentless; Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis vol 1-2; Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion, Astonishing X-men Hardcovers volume 1 and 2, Daredevil: Born Again, Y: The Last Man vol. 1-10, The incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit, Marvels, Daredevil: Redemption, Daredevil: Yellow.

I don't follow DC superheroes that much but I do like Batman and I can recommend: Dark Knight Returns Year One The Man who Laughs and The Long Halloween As for other DC superheroes I've heard good things about: Geoff John's Green Lantern Morrison's Superman Morrison's Animal Man Morrison's JLA JLA vol. 7 Tower of Babel Robinson's Starman and Giffen's Justice League International (JLI)

Y the last man volume 7 (Paper Dolls) and 8 (Kimono Dragons): This book is sooo good that when it even falters just a little it feels like the end of the world. There are some tremendous one-shots across both these volumes that flesh out character histories and supporting characters' activities. These have been excellent in previous volumes and they do not falter here as they show the flaws, personalities, and life struggles of all the characters, making them less as characters and closer to real people. The bigger arcs still push the story along, Paper Dolls is an excellent arc dealing with media rumors and consequences. Kimono Dragons is more or less a rescue mission, it feels heavy on plot and less heavy on theme, although the goings on in the new gangs provides interesting insight on how leadership is incited, and followers are gathered. A more meh arc that is glittered with fun character things (Agent 355 really steals it here). 9/10 Also because I didn't have Y the Last man volume 8 yet when I finished volume 7, I read some other books. Daredevil: Yellow, Daredevil: Redemption Both books focus more on Matt Murdock than Daredevil. Yellow is a love-letter to Murdock's girlfriend that chronicles his father's death, his early years as Daredevil, and one of his most important relationships. I'm not sure how I feel about Yellow, sometimes I love it, there's a lot of good quotes in here especially "The measure of a man isn't how he gets knocked down to the mat, but how he gets back up" and it's a great look at Karen that I never really had before but it also retcons some of Miller's work, making Murdock a bit older when his father died, and it seems to falter in the later issues as it doesn't really know where to go. Reading this again, it's awesome to see some of the things hinted at in terms of Bendis run and how Murdock deals with grief, having such a hard time with Karens death. Redemption looks at a different side of Murdock, it focuses more on the lawyer side, and honestly, I didn't know anything going in, there's absolutely no buzz on this book, but it's one of the best DD books I've ever read. It's one of the well-paced, thematically relevant, and morally questioning books and stacks up to Daredevil's best books. It's a dark analysis of religious fanaticism, small-town politics, and prejudice. I say buy it right now. Really. It doesn't just work as a Daredevil book, but it works as a book. 10/10 Total: Comic books: 9 Trade paperbacks: 37 Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volumes 1, 2, and 3; The Authority by Ellis/Hitch/Millar/Quietly Volumes 1 (Relentless) and 2 (Under New Management) and 3 (Transfer of Power); Batman: Year One; Batman: The Long Halloween; Planetary vol 1 (All Over the World and Other Stories), vol. 2 (The Fourth Man), and vol. 3 (Leaving the 20th Century), Planetary Crossing Worlds (The Crossover specials); Planetary 19-26; Batman: The Man Who Laughs; Frank Miller's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; RONIN; JOKER; Deadpool #1; Punisher Max vol. 1-4; Penance: Relentless; Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis vol 1-2; Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion, Astonishing X-men Hardcovers volume 1 and 2, Daredevil: Born Again, Y: The Last Man vol. 1-8, The incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit, Marvels, Daredevil: Redemption, Daredevil: Yellow.

Y the Last Man vol. 5: Ring of Truth, There's no doubt this is one of the best series I've ever read. Vol. 5 had some excellent issues, the first three issues in this volume were come up as some of my personal favorites as they Vaughn takes a hard look at the institution of religion in a post-male world, it's also got great development on Yorick as he takes center stage with none of the usual supporting characters. Hero's journey is also an excellent issue, as we finally get some back-story of Yorick's sister, and fills in the gaps on her story. It's a really enlightening issue and works as a series of vignettes, it fulfills it's purpose showing us Hero's whole journey from a young rebellious teenager to a broken puppet to an older sister with reknewed purpose. The second arc is not one of my favorites, while it's got the huge plot developments exposing many of the secrets, it's doesn't have the usual thematic relevance that's usually present. Not a bad arc, it's moves the plot well and it has a hilarious punch-line to the explanation of Yorick as the last man, it feels like the epic end of one journey and the start of another, but thematically I felt it was missing something. Still, I love this book. 9/10 Y the Last Man vol. 6: Girl on Girl This was a rather entertaining arc, I liked it, it keeps things going, has a fun little arc involving pirates, and also poses some really big questions to the readers about drugs as an escape from reality, and drugs as a method to start trade. Vaughn returns to the international scale as we are reintroduced to the global outlook, the global economy, and each country's defensive nature. The writing and art is consistently entertaining in this series and this volume is no different. 9/10 Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross First off, the art is amazing. The big spreads present the wondrous nature of the Marvels, and the quiet scenes are lifelike and full of emotion. The writing is excellent, and for someone who isn't too familiar with the classic stories of the Fantastic Four, Avengers, and Captain America, I was rarely lost (the only time I was really lost was on the FF fight with Galactus in Issue 3, I along with the main character and still incredibly confused on how they (and Surfer) stopped Galactus). The main character is likable, although I found him to be a bit of a pawn at points, though, it still goes in line with how mob mentality, group influence occurs. This is honestly the best introduction to the Marvel Universe I can think of for anybody interested in comics. The first two issues are much better than the latter two...but they're all great. Really glad I picked this up from TFAW in their spring sale.

Watched some more of season 3 and they include some excellent episodes. Obsession: This one focuses on Archangel's obsession with killing Apocalypse, it's a really great episode due to the characterisation of Archangel as his obsession not only draws sympathy but disgust. Rogue sympathizes with Archangel and helps him, while the other X-men try help Archangel but are not interested in feeding his rage. THere's also a little subplot with Beast and a sentient shit, which ties into the story because Archangel's obsession ultimatley ends up destroying the ship who has been trying to help them and made a connection with Beast. One of the best episodes of the series 9.5/10 Dark Phoenix Saga Parts 1-4: As much as I didn't like the Phoenix Saga, I really enjoy these episodes a ton. The first two episodes introduce the Hellfire club (or the Circle club, as they're called in the episode) and really they're not great villains but they ultimately serve the purpose of playing on Phoenix's rage. Phoenix not only feels emotions and feelings, it drives the darkness as she feels double-crossed by Scott (as Scott was in a friendship with Dazzler) and then used by the Hellfire Club. There's some pacing problems, ala the first two episodes are slow, as it's not about the Phoenix or X-men as much as it is about the Hellfire club. Ultimately it's a sufficient set up to an excellent second half where Phoenix goes DARK and wallops on everybody threatening to destroy universes, which brings the SHIAR who wish to kill Jean in order to stop Phoenix which puts them in conflict with the X-men because they want to stop Phoenix without destroying Jean. It's got lots of interesting character momments for everybody except maybe Gambit. It sparks discussion on the means to an end, the importance of one life, and it's the closest Cyclops and Jean ever came to being a fully fleshed out characters. It's an excellent pair of episodes and fitting for one of the most significant stories in Comic book history. 9 Cold Comfort: This is Iceman's one and only appearance in the show and it's a fun one althought they don't get Iceman as well as they have gotten other guest-stars. He's more bitter and less goofy, fun, and sophmoric. Also making a guest appearance is Peter David's 1990 X-factor team, again they're all missing the humor that made those stories so great. It's an interesting, if not eclectic episode, as in it doesn't juggle all the stories quite as well as it should. THere's Iceman's story here, and then theres a theme of mutants who want to live regular compared to mutants who want to change the world for the better, and then there's the government mutant team which doesn't really conclude sufficiently, just introduced, and then there's Jubilee wanting to take in more of the action, and then there's some theme about leadership here. It just doesn't come all together as well as it should, with only anything dealing with the Iceman story coming full-circle and to a significant conclusion and since that takes up most of the episode it's still a really fun episode nonetheles. 8.5/10

Y: the Last Man vol 3 (One Small Step) and vol. 4 (Safeword) I'm absolutely loving this series, it's consistently funny, intriguing, exciting, and moves at a breakneck pace. Vol. 3 continues to deal with the larger picture, with this time Alter being the main antagonist of the book. It continuously feels huge in terms of political ramifications dealing with large scale subjects, this volume around the main topic is economical in a sense, world supply of males and survival of countries. While human survivals has always been at the forefront of the book, this volume finally reveals comptetive survival of countries. As the series goes on, Brian K Vaughn is giving a better balance developing both the plot and characters. The first half of vol. 4 (Safeword) is a big step to that, as we really see the inner depths of the Yorick and it deals with some very touchy subject matter, such as sex and suicide. It's easily my favorite arc of the series this far. While the second half of vol. 4 didn't really do anything new in terms of plot devices (militia groups, kidnappings, shootouts, new temptation for Yorick, etc..) it still had a great spotlight on Dr. Mann as she becomes more and more anxious due to the secret she's been hiding and a great ending in terms of how it will effect Yorick in the future. 9.5 Total: Comic books: 9 Trade paperbacks: 32 Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volumes 1, 2, and 3; The Authority by Ellis/Hitch/Millar/Quietly Volumes 1 (Relentless) and 2 (Under New Management) and 3 (Transfer of Power); Batman: Year One; Batman: The Long Halloween; Planetary vol 1 (All Over the World and Other Stories), vol. 2 (The Fourth Man), and vol. 3 (Leaving the 20th Century), Planetary Crossing Worlds (The Crossover specials); Planetary 19-26; Batman: The Man Who Laughs; Frank Miller's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; RONIN; JOKER; Deadpool #1; Punisher Max vol. 1-4; Penance: Relentless; Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis vol 1-2; Thunderbolts: Secret Invasion, Astonishing X-men Hardcovers volume 1 and 2, Daredevil: Born Again, Y: The Last Man vol. 1-4, The incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit

Episode 35-36: Savage Land, Savage Heart parts 1-2 I think I'm having some order problems here as there's no real mourning of losing Jean. Not a huge fan of these episodes, it feels out of place, it's pretty Storm-centric as she gets a lot of screen time as her powers get out of control. Also it's got a ton of focus on this random old villain who is pretty lame and Sauron. I think the first half was more entertaining but the second half put me to sleep. There's a slew of running gags as Beast continuously saves people falling from the sky, Sauron continuously turns the X-men against each other, and also an appearance of the fast-ball special. It's not a total failure, there's some good scenes involving Rogue, Jubilee gets to strut her stuff and not be totally annoying, and Karl Lykos is not one dimension just boring, but the episode was not the follow-up it should have been. 6.5