X-men First Class Review

I went and saw X-men First Class this past weekend, so I figured I would do a quick write up on my thoughts on the movie.  First off, you don’t have to run in fear of spoilers because I’m not going to give anything major away.  I hate nothing more than reading something and having something ruined for me because I didn’t know to not read it.  Well with that out of the way, on to the review.

I must say I was skeptical of this movie being good.  All the trailers and stuff I read before I saw the movie made me think it was going to be bad.  Out of all the comic book movies this summer, it was the least I was excited for.  Then I started seeing reviews and people were telling me it was the best X-men movie to date.  This really enhanced my interest so I went and saw it.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how good the movie was.  I would rank it as the second best X-men movie, just right behind X2.  My only complaint about the movie is that it starts out kind of slow, but this understandable since they have to introduce a bunch of characters in a short amount of time.  They introduce these characters by jumping around between the characters at different points throughout the years, which is kind of overwhelming.  But once the story kicks in and the characters are in full force, the movie does not disappoint.  I feel it has the perfect amount of action and humor, something Thor didn’t get right in my opinion. 

When I read the list of characters for the film I was shocked at the choices, but they all worked out for the most part.  I still have no idea who the one villain with wind powers was though.  Also I was a bit shocked that Kevin Bacon was portraying Sebastian Shaw, but he did a very good job.  I liked how he was the main villain and they did a good job of fleshing his character out.  It was also good how they mirrored historical events with the movie as well.  It was cool to make it seem like Shaw was behind the Cuban Missile Crisis and they used actual historical footage to represent this.  I said I wouldn’t spoil anything but this is not really a spoiler since you pretty much see this in the trailers.  My favorite character by far in the film was Professor X, the actor they got to play him was spot on.  I’m not a big fan of Professor X in the comics, but the way the portrayed him made me like the character more.  Also the actress they got to play Mystique was very good as well.

The director, Matthew Vaughn was a perfect choice for this movie.  His previous film Kick-Ass was outstanding and he used his skills from that in this movie.  He said he was heavily influenced by the James Bond movies of the 60’s and it really shows in the film.  He uses very nice cuts and split screen effects.  The movie has done really well at the box office so far and I can’t wait for them to make another one.

Overall I say believe the hype and run to the theaters to see this movie, you will not be disappointed.  Even if you don’t like comics you will highly enjoy this.  It’s the perfect movie that everyone can enjoy and I feel you might even want to check out some X-men comics after you watch it. 



Detective Comics #875 Lost Boys

First off I’m not the biggest Batman fan out there.  I read Batman a lot as a kid and I still appreciate the character.  Dick Grayson was my favorite Robin and I like Nightwing because of this.  I used to get the Nightwing book until they cancelled it.  So I was excited when Dick took over for Batman while Bruce was “Dead” or lost in time.  That’s a long story all together and I’m not going to get into it.  Well after Dick took over from Battle for the Cowl, I started reading all the Batman books.  They were good  and I have the luxury of reading them off the wall J.  Then Bruce came back a couple months ago and decided to start Batman Incorporated.  This let Dick still have the mantle of Batman in Gotham.  This made me actually sign up for Detective Comics in my box at the comic shop.

Scott Snyder has been writing the book for the past couple months and Jock was doing the artwork and Jock’s work was amazing on it.  Then this months issue came out and the artist is Francesco Francavilla, I have never heard of him but his art style fit’s the book to a tee.  He has a gritty, noir feel to his art and it sets the mood perfectly for a Batman book.  Like I said I have been reading this book for quite awhile now and this issue is down right amazing.  You know how you read and issue and put it down and just have that feeling of reading something really profound.  Well I got that feeling from this issue and I even reread it the following day.  I rarely reread my weekly comics, but I was compelled to with this issue. 

This issue focuses on Jim Gordon and his son, that has come back to Gotham to prove to Gordon that he is not crazy anymore and on meds to calm him.  They gave a preview of this story a couple months ago as a little back story in an issue of Detective.  This issue starts off with a very nice monologue by Harvey Bullock and it sets the tone of issue very well.  The issue focus’s on Gordon’s search for a killer in an old case from when he was just a detective.  The case is called the Peter Pan Killer because the killer is leaving the window open and kidnapping little kids from their beds at night.  The killer took and killed 8 kids but was never caught and the murders stopped for many years.  Well it is 15 years later and the unsolved case still bugs Gordon.  He thinks he has figured it and is following the suspect that just got our of jail for other crimes. The whole time this is going on in the issue, they are giving flashbacks to when Gordon was first on the case and it shows him taking his family on vacation.  It shows Gordon with his new wife and his daughter Barbara going to mountains for their vacation.  They introduce Barbara’s friend and give you a weird vibe that Gordon’s son is going to do something to her.  Basically the book is giving parallels between the Peter Pan Killer and Gordon’s son.

I don’t want to give any more of the issue away because the book had me guessing up to the end.  It has a very nice conclusion and will leave you with questions in your mind.  Like I said, I have read this issue twice and each time I got more out of it.  I feel this shows that the issue is a stand out issue and I congratulate Snyder for his excellent writing.  I highly recommend you check this issue out and you don’t have had to read any other issues leading up to this one.  I can’t wait to see where Snyder takes the book next.


Flash #8 The Reverse Flash Rebirth

I’ll start this off with by saying that I’m not a big Flash or DC fan.  I don’t have a big history with the Flash comics, but it is a book that I usually read off the shelf.  I would never add it to my pull list, but it is usually a good read.  So I grabbed this issue off the shelf to read like I usually do and this issue was very original and blew me away.  I believe this came out two weeks ago, I don’t completely remember.  This entire issue is about Professor Zoom.  It goes back to his origin and when he was a little kid.  The book explains that “Time” is everything to our culture in the future and how everyone is trying their best to not waste it, so everything is planned out.  It explains how his parents made him to their specifications of strawberry blond hair, blue eyes, and an I.Q. of 167.  It is then deemed that he should have brother to help his family with a quota that would create benefits for all of them.  Eobard which is Professor Zoom’s real name, grows to resent his brother because he has to take care of and watch him instead of tending to his studies and it sets him behind his peers.  All this missed time on his studies causes Zoom to be turned down from working at the Flah Museum, where he wanted to study the Speed Force.  This drives him to illegally research the Speed Force and he gets caught by his brother who has become a police officer.  Then all of a sudden it shows Zoom choking his brother and it shows the panels of his childhood and the words are in reverse.  Then it shows him as a child again and he says he is an only child.

It then starts his life over again and explains that he had time for his studies, which got him a job at the Flash Museum.  He gets beat by another scientist on a break through on understanding the Speed Force.  The book then shows Zoom choke the scientist and it shows alternate panels of what happened after he manipulated the situation.  I don’t want to give the whole book away, but I was blown away with how well written and refreshing this book was.  I praise Geoff Johns for writing a book that breaks the norm and shows off an interesting idea.  The book really makes you think about life and what if you could go back and changes things.  In the end, just like in the book you realize that even if you could change things, they are not always for the good.  I urge you go out and read this issue, even if you don’t normally read the Flash.  You will be surprised with the depth this issue has to offer.  I applaud you Geoff Johns!!


Comics You Should be Reading, but…………

Well like Mike has said multiple times, my blog has kind of jumped the shark.  It was getting hard to find stuff to recommend consistently, so I’m just going to take this in a different direction.  Some weeks I’m just going to point out some books that stood out to me as amazing and that are worth a read regardless if they are new series or not, and some books that should never be read or heard from again.

I’m going to start this blog off with Wolverine: The Best There Is #1.  This is one of the worst books I have read in awhile.  We have all read books on occasion where they are just blah or unforgettable, but sometimes a book comes along that just pisses you off or makes you go what the f**k were they thinking. Well for me, this is one of those books that makes me scream obscenities.  It is written by Charlie Huston and I’m surprised he even wrote this crap.  He did a very good job writing Moon Knight a couple years ago when they re-launched the book, I’m not going to even get started on how Civil War ruined that book, because that can be its own blog.  The art is done by Juan Jose Ryp and I have never heard of him before this.  The art is not that bad, it just looks kind of weird and some of the panels of the characters look like dolls.   I think the best thing about this book hands down is the Bryan Hitch cover.  That might be the nicest statement I will have to say about this book when this blog is over. 

Well the book starts off with a naked Wolverine being tortured and treated like a slave.  He has a dog collar on and is walked out of his cage like a dog.  He is then thrown in a arena and forced to fight a rat like creature.  He cuts the things head off and then proceeds to what we are to believe is that he kills everyone in the arena.  Then we abruptly cut to him in a car with a woman and they discuss how she picked him up hitchhiking.  She says she doesn’t believe who he says he is, which in turn causes Wolverine to cut her bangs off in the front.  She ends up liking how he cut her hair and jokes are made about Wolverine opening his own hair salon.  I am not making this up people, they actually make jokes about Wolverine calling his salon Claws.  She then tells him about a party she was heading to and they decide to go.  She tries to get Wolverine to dance with her and of course he says no, but while she is dancing a girl comes over and asks Wolverine to cut her hair since she heard he was the other girls stylist.  Ugh another scene involving Wolverine as a hair dresser.  He ends up cutting a couple girls hair and even makes a Simon Cowell joke in the process.  He then gets introduced to the guy who is throwing the party.  This guy is shown as some sort of villain, but I have no idea who he is.  He shakes Wolverine’s hand and this causes him to freak out and he thinks he is killing everyone in the room.  Then they end the book with Wolverine stabbing himself  in the chest multiple times.  Great now they are making him look like an emo kid that cuts themselves.  Wow was I relieved that the book was over.  I put the book down and scratched my head in disbelief.  I’ve been a Wolverine fan since I was a kid and this is not the Wolvie I have read and cherished for years.  Why would Marvel green light this book?  I can only imagine it was because they thought yah, a new Wolverine #1 book that we can sell like hot cakes.  I for one am very pissed that I bought this piece of thrash.  I will definitely not being picking up #2 and I highly suggest that you don’t either.  Heck don’t even pick up #1 in the bargain bins, when it hits there eventually. 

Well this was fun venting for a bit, hopefully you will like my new format as I move this blog along.  Now I’m off to try and rinse the bad taste of this comic out of my mouth, it was even more painful reliving it this second time to write this blog. 



Comics You Should be Reading, but Probably Aren’t Part 9

1. Halcyon

This book is written by Marc Guggenheim and the art is by Ryan Bodenheim.  I really like some of the previous stuff that Guggenheim has written for Marvel, so I decided to check this new series out.  If you have not read his run on Young X-men, I suggest you check it out.  This book is being published by Image and as far I as I know is an ongoing series.  The first issue just  came out this week and I am really curious to see where the book is going to go.  The main plot of the book is that there is a group of super heroes in the world and they are starting to get concerned that there is no crime anymore.  They get secret records from the government that crime has been declining rapidly for the past couple months and they are worried what may be going on.  It is very intriguing and different to take a book and have the heroes be upset and worried that crime and aggression is becoming extinct.  Some of them like what is happening and others show signs of not wanting the crime to end so they can still get there fix off fighting crime.  Some of the characters are very interesting and I can’t wait to see how they get developed more.  My favorite of the characters shown so far is Sabre, he is a vigilante of sorts and is kind of a more aggressive Batman.  I recommend picking this book because it is a nice fresh take on super heroes and I feel that lots of people will be chatting about this book.

2.  Superboy

This book is written by Jeff Lemire and the artist is Pier Gallo.  I picked this book up solely because of  I love Jeff Lemire.  If you have not read his Essex County Trilogy, stop reading this now and go pick it up.  Jeff Lemire usually does his own art work to go along with his books, but on this he is not doing the art.  The artist they got is very good in my opinion.  I have never really heard of him, but the art fits the feel of the book well.  You can tell they are going for more of a campy teen years feel to the book.  The book starts out with Superboy explaining who he is and then Phantom Stranger breaks in to explain that some evil force will be coming to Smallville and it is his fault for being there.  This concerns Conner Kent (superboy) and he is thinking of leaving.  All these thoughts are interrupted when Parasite jumps into to town to take down Superboy.  I don’t want to give any more away, but the fight between them has some pretty amazing art panels.  I’m glad I picked this book up because of Lemire and he has not let me down yet.  Also check out his other ongoing Sweet Tooth.  Do yourself a favor and pick this up, you won’t be disappointed.