AVENGERS #1 brings the excitement back to comics...big time!

AVENGERS #1 (May Cover Date)
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Ed McGuinness 

In a nod to the recent Infinity War movie, Avengers #1 posits our heroes in smaller groups to confront an all encompassing villain (s). The story begins with a stirring prologue at the dawn of time with the prehistoric Avengers led by All-Father Odin (yes Thor's dad), the first Black Panther, The Phoenix, Amagotto (the first Sorceror Supreme) and gigantic Stone Age Hulk. They take on a truly large scale villain in the opening pages which then flash forwards to the present day.

Now our trio of Thor, Iron Man and Captain America are having drinks in a New York bar, contemplating getting the band back together before they are interrupted by massive sounds of destruction and away they ago. Meanwhile in space right above Earth, Captain Marvel (yay!) sees the action first hand and zooms into this worm hole to see what the fracas is.

Meanwhile back in Wakanda, T'Challa and Dr. Strange investigate strange occurrences underneath the fabled nation which leads to some crisp and funny dialogue.

Across the world Ghost Rider in his spiffy new Black Charger, gone is the motorcycle, tries to save his young nephew from some demons that start materializing out of thin air. Finally back in New York, Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk is just jogging along in Central Park when things get real.

Whats the commotion you say..freaking Celestials falling from the sky, pretty much dead. Now Celestials are some heavy duty dudes and for someone or something to take them out is definitely someone not to be trifled with (yep borrowed that line from The Dark Knight Rises).

Iron Man, Cap, and Thor meet up with Captain Marvel and things are quickly explained. A lot of exposition is needed to set up this exciting new series and some cool action set pieces are filtered through-out. The writing is witty and engaging by Aaron and the art by McGuinness is fantastic!

Welcome back Avengers. I'll post another review soon of the second issue.

Rating: B+

DOG SOLDIERS is one hell of a movie...

Back off kitty....

I have one holdover from Halloween to talk about. I just re-watched 2002's Dog Soldiers and it's even better than I remember. The story has a British squad on a training exercise in the Highlands of Scotland. They're supposed be simulating war games with an elite Special Ops squad but things get deadly when they come across the bloody remains of the ops soldiers save for the wounded captain. Then all hell breaks loose as savage creatures attack. The creatures turn out to be werewolves on the hunt. The British soldiers are rescued by a zoologist named Megan in her jeep and haul ass to a farmhouse. It's here where they will make their last stand. Dog Soldiers mixes action with horror extremely well. Writer/director Neil Marshall would go on to make the even better film, The Descent. But here he borrows a little from Aliens with the plot and situations but then puts his on spin on this creative werewolf tale. And speaking of werewolves, these are some cool looking creatures. Best I've seen in recent memory. The action is fast and furious and the dialogue is crisp and humorous with a British/Scottish accent. The cast are all solid especially Sean Pertwee as Sgt Wells, the leader of the British Squad; Emma Cleasby as Megan; Kevin McKidd as Private Cooper who steps up to take charge; and Darren Morfitt as Private Spoon (the wild soldier who has a memorable one on one fight with one of the beasties in the kitchen). Pure awesomeness! And plus it has a cute little dog too.
B+

Spoon and a werewolf about to go a few rounds...

Cooper and Megan on their first date...

Man, I knew I should have just stayed in bed this morning...

Megan thinking...what the hell am I doing here?

SIN CITY is one hell of a movie...

Sin City is a superb and exciting visual treat of a movie. Based on the popular graphic novels by Frank Miller and directed by the electric Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Planet Terror). The film has several connecting stories featuring an all star cast. Bruce Willis is tough cop Hartigan who is the protector of Nancy (Jessica Alba, who has a terrific dance number at the local bar). As a matter of fact, Alba's scene is a showstopper.  Nancy was abducted by the creepy kid (Nick Stahl) of a powerful man. Hartigan ends up saving her life. Another story has a hulk of a brute named Marv (played by Mickey Rourke) who gets involved with a woman named Goldie (Jaime King) who was murdered and he took the blame. On the run, Marv tears through the city to find the true killer...a young man named Kevin (Elijah Wood) with a penchant for cutting up young women and a taste for human flesh. Kevin is super quick and never says a word. The third story has Dwight (Clive Owen) who teams up with the sordid ladies of Sin City led by the wild Gail (Rosario Dawson) to take on a corrupt cop named Jackie Boy (a terrific Benicio Del Toro).





All these stories are connected and combine to make a truly imaginative film. The entire cast is rock solid with an excellent supporting turn by Carla Gugino as Marv's parole officer who likes women and sleeping in the nude. Also on hand is Michael Clarke Duncan, Rutger Hauer, Josh Hartnett, and Brittany Murphy. And one more thing Nick Stahl stands out as the whacked out Junior. The look of this movie is amazing as it was filmed in black and white but with splashes of color to signify certain characters and themes. Stahl later becomes Yellow Bastard so you can imagine what he looks like. Sin City is one awesome movie.
B+

Retro Goodness - Escape From New York (1981)

Classic 80's flick with Kurt Russell ultra cool as bad ass ex-soldier now criminal, Snake Plissken. Set in 1997, he's finally caught and on his way to the maximum security prison which is now the entire state of New York. But  a group of convicts kidnap the President (played by Donald Pleasance) from Air Force One and threaten to kill them unless they're released from prison. So the prez's only hope is Snake, who reluctantly agrees. Russell is perfect as Snake who doesn't say much but kicks a lot of ass. Once he enters New York, he tries to track down the president and runs into a cab driver (Ernest Borgnine) who takes him to The Brain, a smart dude who knows all the angles. But lo and behold The Brain (played by Harry Dean Stanton) is a former partner of Snake who left him high and dry after a job. So Snake is a litte pissed at him. But The Brain tells him he will never find the President without his help as he is being held by The Duke, the self imposed leader of New York (played by Isacc Hayes). Also involved is super sexy Adrienne Barbeau as the Brain aka Harold's lady friend Maggie and Lee Van Cleef as Bob Hauk, the warden who gives Snake a hard time. Directed by ace horror master John Carpenter, who worked with Kurt on other classic 80 films such as The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China. Also John did the very cool music score.

Man, I know I saw this movie like 40 times when I was a kid. And I thought it was the coolest movie ever. Kurt Russell was just all that as Snake. Didn't take crap from no one and did his own thing. The eye patch made him look cool and he was one guy you didn't want to mess with. A sequel called Escape from LA would follow about 15 years later, a little too late I think. While it was great seeing Snake back in action, it just wasn't the same. It was not as good as New York. So I can enjoy Escape from New York anytime I feel like it since I own it on DVD and I think I might be watching it again very soon. The rules are simple once you go in, you don't come out.

B+

Snake meets his old friend The Brain

Snake having a little chat with Hauk

The Duke

Maggie is a little pissed

Man, I am not in the mood to be fucked with..

The President under duress

My Top Ten Favorite Comic Book Series of 2010

2010 was an ok year for comics. I quit buying some of the big guns like Spider-Man and Batman. But started reading some cool new series that maintained my interest over the entire year. I believe 2011 will be much improved. Anyway here is my top ten list of my favorite comic book series of 2010.

10. SPIDER-GIRL - After reading only one issue, Spider-Girl vaults into my top ten with a return to the fun that's been missing from comics. See my earlier post that describes in detail why I loved issue one of this new engaging series.

9. WITCHBLADE - I have read every single issue of Witchblade since it debut 15 years ago and it's still just as good when it first started. The adventures of New York City detective Sara Pezzini, who also is the bearer of the Witchblade, an ancient weapon that she wears on her hand like a gauntlet. It comes in handy when dealing with the scum of NY, but also attracts all kinds of supernatural attention. Co-created by the recently deceased Michael Turner, Witchblade is a great mix of cops and magic and demons and all that stuff. And Sara Pezzini is one of the best female characters ever created. Here's to another great 15 years.

8. THE SECRET SIX - This cool series focuses on a team of ex-villians who take on even worse villians. The team is probably the most dysfunctional bunch you will come across in comics today. There's leader Scandal, the lesbian daughter of DC baddie mainstay Vandal Savage. Scandal recently lost her lover and is constantly dealing with that, but she still kicks ass with the best of them. There's Catman, an old Batman foe that uses to be an overweight laughinstock back in the 60's but after intense training and losing some pounds, he can go toe to toe with Bats now. Also onboard is Deadshot, the ruthless mercenary who is all about the money and women. Ragdoll is a wacked out guy who is like a junior version of The Joker. Another old Batman villian is on the team as well: Bane. And recent addition Jeanette, a powerful sorceress, who can turn on the evil in a second. This is a very underrated series that more people need to be reading.

7. X-MEN - While nowhere as good as their glory days of Claremont/Byrne or Jim Lee, everyone's favorite mutants still deliver some of that old school action. The current team consists of leader Cyclops; his current squeeze- Emma Frost; Colossus; Wolverine; Rogue; and Magneto. Other members are present as well as the team have created their own sanctuary called Utopia, off the San Francisco Bay. Recent battles have included a mutant hating racist group and the son of Dracula. There are several X titles on the market and I read three of them and they are about equal.

6. SECRET WARRIORS - Exciting series that has former SHIELD director Nick Fury leading a clandestine group of young heroes to take down evil groups such as HYDRA. Fury was doing this sort of thing back in the 60's but the current stories have been modernized and the action amped up. Lots of fighting and explosions and political backroom dialogue make this one of my favorite series. And what's cool is that these guys are on their own...so you won't see The Avengers and the Fantastic Four, which makes the book stand on its own.

5. THE NEW AVENGERS - Brian Michael Bendis continues to work his magic with his take on The Avengers. This group operates out of Doctor Strange's mansion and includes Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Iron Fist, Mockingbird, The Thing and Wolverine (this guy gets around). They operate independently of the other Avenger team and I like it. They got all the drama and heroics you expect from being an Avenger plus the old witty banter Spider-Man, that's missing in Spidey's regular books.

4. BATGIRL - Surprisingly good book in the Batman canon with Stephanie Brown (Tim Drake's ex) taking over the  mantle of Batgirl from silent but deadly Cassandra Cain. And the charm of this series is watching Stephanie learn the hard way of being a hero. She makes mistakes and she's not perfect but with the help of Oracle, she is getting better and better. Very good book with awesome art by Dustin Nguyen.

3. GREEN LANTERN CORPS - The sister title to Green Lantern that focuses on the entire Green Lantern Corp and specifically on Earth Lanterns Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner. Outer space thrills and lots of humor from Guy makes GL Corps a great companion book to Hal Jordan's exploits in Green Lantern.

2. GREEN LANTERN - Writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke continue to crank this solid book that is still recovering from the events of Blackest Night as Hal has to team with Sinestro, Larfleeze (the Orange Lantern) and Atrocitus (the Red Lantern) to scour Earth for deities that can help the Lanterns cause. Oh did I also mention Parallax is back as well. Johns continues to be the most consistent writer in comics today as he keeps pushing Hal to his limit and sometimes beyond it.

1.  POWER GIRL - If anyone is not reading this great series, then you should. First off writer Judd Winick has taken the B list heroine Power Girl (Superman's cousin), who was always the butt of sex jokes and such and made her into a real character that readers are really intrigued by. Making her the CEO of a company ala Tony Stark was a brilliant move and it splits the time between boardrooms and throwdowns in metropolitan cities. And the art by Sami Basri is sensational. Fluid and jazzy. I started reading Power Girl with issue #1 and haven't regretted it. I love everything about the book and it is my favorite comic series currently out there. I hope Judd and Sami keep up the pace in 2011.

Spider-Girl #1 puts the fun back into comics

I remember when I first started reading comics back in the 80's they were cool. They were entertaining and exciting and most of all, they were fun. Flash forward to present times and comics are all dark and depressing. Marvel had a Civil War just rip through their universe. DC had to deal with Blackest Night. Things are just so bleak. I mean we're talking about people running around in spandex. Come on lighten up. But here comes Spider-Girl to save the day. The story has teen-ager Anya Corazon, the daughter of a famed journalist, doing the super-hero thing in New York. A few years ago Anya was transformed by a strange Spider Society into Arana, a champion who had similar powers to Spider-Man. She recently lost though powers but got trained by the best heroes in the business like Black Widow and Ms. Marvel to compensate. Now she is Spider-Girl, who continue to battle the bad guys, even without powers. The opening scene has our girl tangling with this internet crazed villaness called Screwball who wants to put her exploits all over the web. Spider-Girl ain't having it and quickly dispatches Screwball. Later on, Anya who lives with her dad plans some family time with him until he has to go to work unexpectedly. So he decides that Sue Storm AKA The Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four would be a suitable replacement. The two gals bond over dinner until Sue gets an emergency call to dispatch some new villainy. She leaves and Anya goes to vent off some frustration by taking on some would be thieves. Of course things turn out to be a lot worse as Anya happens along to see the FF getting hammered by the Red Hulk and it's up to her to save the day. I love this book. It's refreshing and it's fun, like comics should be. Spider-Man now is all dramatic and serious, so I stopped reading his book, but it appears Spider-Girl will get the job down. The writing by Paul Tobin is great and filled with lots of humor. The art by Clayton Henry is clean and sharp. I love Spider-Girl's costume. It's black with a white spider symbol on the front. Kind of like Venom but with better taste. And Anya delivers quips like a seasoned pro. She will remind you of the old Spider-Man, you know when he was cool. So I look forward to reading the adventures of Spider-Girl on a monthly basis.
B+

Review: Uncanny X-Men #521 (April 2010)

I just read the newest issue of Uncanny X-Men and it was pretty good. For the past year the team has been living in San Francisco dealing with everything from racist skinheads to Norman Osbourne's Avengers. They recently raised Asteroid M from the Pacific Ocean and are currently residing there, declaring it a safe-haven for mutantkind. In the previous issue a pack of mutant eating Predator X's were unleashed on their new home. After dispatching those creatures with the help of the newly re-powered Magneto, The X-Men find out who sent the predators after them and head to New York to have a little chat with them. So Wolverine, Colossus, and Psylocke arrive in NY and are promptly engaged in battle with the bad guys, who actually are beating the X-Men pretty good until the mutant mercenary Fantomex shows up and starts wrecking s**t all over the place. He's like Snake Plissken, as he is a loner who likes messing up people. But it's a typical day for the X-Men in this issue. The art by Greg Land is stellar once again and the story by Matt Fraction has all the mutant geek babble and required heroics of any good X-Men story. No, what makes this issue note-worthy is the cliff-hanger on the final page that shows a mutant who has been missing from the scene for about two years now. Most people thought that this mutant would never return but they have and it will make for a super charged storyline. And no I'm not talking about Jean Grey. She's been killed and brought back so many times, it has become a running joke. So, I won't give away who the mutant is, but if you stopped reading the X-Men, now would be a good time to pick it up again.

Comic Book Review: Green Lantern #50

The final two chapters of the epic crossover saga, The Blackest Night will hit stores over the next two months. In the meantime, the action is taken up a notch in the main Lantern books: Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. For the special 50th issue of Green Lantern, Coast City, Hal's hometown is under siege by tons of Black Lanterns (recently deceased heroes and villians brought back to life in all their decomposing glory). But Hal is not alone. He has several allies and friends by his side including Star Sapphire, Wonder Woman, Flash (the recently returned Barry Allen), Mera (Aquaman's wife), The Atom, Sinestro, and Atrocitus (baddest of the Red Lanterns). But this motley group doesn't just have to contend with the Black Lanterns but also The Spectre, who has become one also. The Spirit Of Vengeance is a powerful force to begin with...add to that the power of a Black Lantern and look out. Hal pretty much throws everything at The Spectre and it doesn't even begin to faze him. But Hal comes up with an insane plan that just might work. The last time The Spectre was involved in a crisis was when he battled Parallax, the entity that possessed Hal's body and wreaked havoc all over the universe. Hal recalls that The Spectre was actually afraid of Parallax, and that might be the only way to bring down The Spectre. Of course not everyone thinks this is such a good idea, even Sinestro, Hal's longtime enemy. So Parallax is let loose and takes over Hal's body to set up next issue's battle royal. What a hell of a cliff-hanger! The team of writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke keep firing on all cylinders with Green Lantern. Johns has been writing this book for 4 years now and I'm just wondering how long he can maintain this quality of storytelling. I hope for a while, because GL is by far the best comic book on the market right now. And I can't wait for the exciting conclusion to this classic in the making Blackest Night saga.