Koete

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Everything posted by Koete

  1. We live in an age where guys hide behind the sanctity of Ghostbusters to hate on women, despite Ghostbusters having been franchised to hell already.
  2. A lot of stuff happened last night, although I'm still not excited yet. My favorite moment was (unsurprisingly after last season) the one with the High Sparrow.
  3. So you guys are saying The Fix...is in?
  4. You can say a lot of things about the DC movies, but playing it safe and by the numbers definitely are not among them.
  5. X-Men: Mutant Massacre TPB - As "nothing will ever be the same again" superhero stories go, this one actually delivers on it. Not only are the Morlocks almost completely wiped out, but Nightcrawler's in a coma, Colossus is paralyzed in is metal state, and Kitty Pryde is seemingly permanently intangible. Over in X-Factor, it looks like their cover is going to be blown (which, as Dan said awhile ago, was convoluted from the start) and Angel's going to lose his wings. Claremont and Louise Simonson build up the Massacre, starting with a couple Morlocks outside the tunnels, then captions describing the assault, and on, until there are several issues where the X-teams are surrounded by corpses. They spend several issues tending to survivors, which really gives the crossover weight rather than just something done for shock value (Leech crying for his surrogate mother got to me). The Thor crossovers are a bit random, but Thor reflecting on the Massacre from a warrior's perspective does add something. The Power Pack issue is just bizarre. With one of the boys telling the other one to kill the Marauders after seeing all the bodies, maybe it was a commentary on kids not understanding the gravity of violence from entertainment? But it's not really explored. Between that, the kids holding their own against the Marauders, and Jon Bogdanove's cartoony art, it goes against what the rest of the issues are trying to do. The rest of the art is mostly typical 80s Marvel stuff, with the stand-out issues being those drawn by Walter Simonson and one by Alan Davis. After getting descriptions of how much blood there is and how bad the massacre is in early issues, there's a double page splash by Simonson of an energy blast ripping through a Morlock that really takes you aback. The last issue is an epilogue/transition to the next story issue, and the cleanness of Alan Davis' art demarcates that. Plus, he's ones of the superhero greats. Avengers: Under Siege TPB - Along the same lines as Mutant Massacre on a smaller scale. Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil take over Avengers Mansion, leaving Hercules and Jarvis in critical condition. Also like Mutant Massacre, Thor shows up for a couple issues to have words with the villains as only Thor can. There's a lot of fights against heavy hitters like Absorbing Man, Titania, Mister Hyde, and the Wrecking Crew, but there's some interesting character work too, involving the female characters. On the Masters' side, Moonstone was the original controller of the dark dimension spawning Blackout. Zemo is well aware that she could challenge his position as leader, so he spends a chunk of the early issues insuring his position of power. The Wasp is the leader of The Avengers at this time, and while most of the members respect that, there are two that don't in different ways. Hercules is, unsurprisingly, pretty angry that he has to follow the orders of a woman, especially in battle. This allows him to be manipulated by Zemo, leading to his being trapped and beaten into a coma. Black Knight is in love with the Wasp, and feels like he needs to always rush to her aid, despite her being the leader and able to take care of herself. By the end, when he tries to do it again after being wounded, he finally listens to her and understands he was out of line. The biggest drawback to the story is the later part of Baron Zemo's plan. The Masters take the mansion in minutes, they capture a couple Avengers, including Cap, beat up Jarvis...and then everyone's just kind of waiting around for some data files to be stolen. It feels like it could have gone farther, but had to stop so the Avengers could come to take back the mansion. Baron Zemo being petty as hell and ripping up the picture of Cap and Bucky almost makes up for it. If you're doing Avengers and issue after issue of battles, it's hard to do better at the time than John Buscema inked by Tom Palmer. Even though he only did breakdowns, the faces are pure Buscema. And Tom Palmer was Gene Colan's go-to inker, which is the only credential you need. Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle HC - Can you tell I have a lot of unread classic Marvel stories laying around? This is the weakest of the three on a writing level. Claremont is overwrought and on the nose, but through that, he hits some emotional moments. Louise Simonson is less so, but in a similar ballpark, getting some good melodrama out of Angel and Cyclops. Roger Stern's writing really flows, considering the exposition of the time, with the superheroes acting like superheroes and the supervillains acting like supervillains. Comparatively, I remember a lot of corny jokes from David Michelinie. It's also more of a traditional series of Marvel issues, with several smaller arcs that have plotlines that carry through. The first two are a forgettable team-up with Namor, followed by an inventory issue recapping the origin. Rather than saying something new about it, it's basically a recreation of the original script and panels, a total waste of an issue. Then a couple issues where Iron Man fights Blizzard, Melter, and Whiplash, filling the action quota. The malfunctioning armor that's come up in the issues pays off as it frames Iron Man for murder, resulting in a quest for answers that leads to a first confrontation with Justin Hammer. In an amusing comparison with Avengers, Iron Man fights a dozen villains by himself without trouble. Then there's the classic "Demon in a Bottle" issue. Tony's alcoholism has been getting worse with each issue, from a few mini-bottles of gin on a plane to morning to drinks to getting wasted when Iron Man gets framed. They're up front about where things are going to, but there are some more subtle moments, like a shot of a table that shows everyone drinking coffee except for Tony. The strongest thing about the actual issue is that, soon after a page showing Bethany Cabe helping him get sober, he goes to take a drink after learning that S.H.I.E.L.D. is the majority shareholder of his company. Even though he doesn't take the drink, it's clear that one montage doesn't mean he's free from alcoholism. John Romita Jr. draws a Tony Stark that really captures the era. Beyond that, it's John Romita Jr. inked by Bob Layton, it's classic Iron Man. Overall, it's decent superhero comics, but it's not at the level of the previous two.
  6. Gotta say, pretty underwhelming start to the season.
  7. They probably keep making more because it's a successful brand and superhero movies are making a ton of money right now, but, while I no longer think she's heaven sent, I don't have a problem with her either.
  8. Good thing Downey Jr.'s Stark shtick didn't get old two movies ago.
  9. The only people that care about Battlefield Earth are people reviewing it on the internet.
  10. I do like that they've let the Joe/Wally relationship build rather than having them be father and son in a couple episodes.
  11. Filming has officially started.
  12. The logo looks like something a college intern put together.
  13. Yep, this actually happened. Creepy as hell.