I'm Glad Daniel Way is Happy. That Said, I Wouldn't Mind if He Wrote Comics Again

Daniel Way wrote a lot of comics in a short-ish period of time. From 2000 through 2013 or so, he did a ton of writing, especially for Marvel. Some of the bigger books included but were not limited to, 'Wolverine: Origins," "Deadpool," "Venom," "Ghost Rider," and one of my favorite works of his, "Supreme Power: Nighthawk." Toward the end of his tenure with Marvel, he did a chunk of a, "Thunderbolts," run and then shifted into works for other publishers at a much slower rate. He wrote for, "Crossed," from Avatar Press and some other stuff in 2014, scripted a, "Hit-Girl," mini-series in 2019, and did a little Deadpool yarn in a 30th anniversary special comic in 2021. That was it. He basically disappeared from comics in terms of writing any after that. He was practically everywhere for a decade and some change, then once we hit 2015...little to nothing (zero comics after 2021). I was curious if he was alright, and thankfully he is, and seems pretty happy!

In 2024, Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston was also wondering, "Whatever happened to...Daniel Way?" It turns out in 2016 he cofounded Geekcraft Expo, a comic-con-styled take on craft fairs. He is also the frontman for the band, "Gamma Gamma Ray," which plays at many of the Geekcraft Expos. He seems to (intentionally) have almost zero social media presence outside of a semi-official Facebook fan page that hasn't been updated since 2018, except for now linking to Geekcraft Expo.

To Way's credit, the Geekcraft Expo events remain popular,  happening in a mix of cities in varying months, with one having occurred in Saint Louis this past July, of all places! I actually was aware we had a geek-centric craft show held in our city on occasion, but had zero idea it was the one that Way founded! From the little I can find specifically about him on the internet, he's grown a family that he lives with in Hawaii when not doing the Geekcraft Expos. I wonder if a comic writing opportunity came along that was just right, if he'd be interested in scripting something? For now, he seems semi-retired from that particular part of, "Geekdom," even if he's quite active in other aspects.

Assorted News and Links for March 2025

It's March. The weather doesn't know whether it wants to feel like a nice and warm spring day...or be brutally cold and snowy. We alternate between needing a coat, enjoying the sunshine, facing storms with hail, and so forth. That's March for ya, though. Besides my musings about the weather, I thought I would share some interesting links and news. Read on and learn something new, perhaps!

I used to live in Cortland, New York, and my folks still are there. I was saddened to learn the town's only newspaper, "The Cortland Standard," has declared bankruptcy, with today being their last edition. One of NY's oldest papers, the town of Cortland is now in a news desert to a degree, which sucks.

Cartoonist R.E. Burke is from Britain and has been backpacking around America and Canada. A Visa issue landed her in detention and treated horrifically because I.C.E. has become a modern-day fascistic wet dream under President Trump. A GoFundMe has been established to assist with legal fees, advisory support, and so forth.

DC's new, "Absolute," comics have been quite good and clearly are building up to the eventual formation of a new Justice League or such. There have been rumblings of a big event for the Absolute Universe at the end of 2025 and I look forward to such a thing.

"Moana 2," became available to stream on Disney+ yesterday. I've heard it isn't as good as the original, but solid. Our eldest (Clarkson) loved the first flick and our youngest (Gibson) adores this talking Maui toy we have, so I'm thinking we'll give the sequel a viewing sometime soon and see what our household thinks!

"Who do you think you are? I am!" is a famous phrase spouted by Pete Weber when he won a major bowling championship for a record fifth time. It was on February 26th, 2012 that he won the U.S. Open by a single pin and said--to give the entire phrase--"“Yes, goddamn it, yes! That is right, I did it! Number five! Are you kidding me?! That’s right! Who do you think you are? I am! Damn it right!” There is now an extensive oral history of how such a random statement became enmeshed in popular culture courtesy of Alan Siegel with The Ringer. Whether you know a lot about the sport of bowling or not (I know very little) it is a fascinating read.

A new videogame called, "Wanderstop," has as one big element of the game being brewing tea. There is a whole plot and characters and such, but you get to make tea with fancy contraptions and that sounds fun.

There is going to be a new, "Thunderbolts," comic coming out right in time to sync up with the new movie. It has a random assortment of members, including...Carnage? I get the idea that the comic is nowadays a bit like, "Suicide Squad," with baddies trying to do good (originally it was about villains as posing as heroes and the focus shifted), but Carnage is a psychotic monster who can't be redeemed. Wait, Eddie Brock (the original Venom) is now Carnage? Man, comic-books keep getting weirder and weirder. I'm not mad at it.

Lastly, there is a lot of fancy and high-concept talk regarding colonizing Mars. It is, quite frankly, improbable to the point of being impossible, as this humorous article by Albert Burneko discusses. Thanks to Kieron Gilllen for sharing it in his newsletter.

November 2024 News and Links

 It is Finally Cooling Off 

Welcome to November of 2024. October was weirdly warm but now we're feeling a chill--after all, the month kicked off with an election that I already shared plenty of thoughts about. We will conclude November with Thanksgiving seemingly really late this year too. In the meantime, here are some pieces of news I found interesting.

News and Stuff of Interest

The movie, "Wicked," has a lot of toys that are going to tie in. Someone who isn't aware of the correct movie URL might try to just go to Wicked as a website instead of the movie one and discover that the former warns folks it is a grown-up site that wants you to clarify you're grown and okay with seeing adults doing adult stuff. No harm no foul if you mess that up. However, if Mattel were to accidentally put the wrong website on their boxes for Barbie toys, that would be quite a mistake. Somebody got in big trouble at Mattel but Wicked (the adult site) is laughing all the way to the bank as they've hit a 12-year high in traffic visiting the site. If even a small percentage of people who are now aware of this site subscribe to it that's a nice chunk of change. Ironically, the mature site has a bunch of spoofs of movies as the news will tell ya, but nothing relating to, "Wicked," itself. That's the real shame here.

In other movie news, Marvel showcased more of their upcoming, "Captain America: Brave New World," and, "Thunderbolts*," movies at their D23 Brazil event. These actually are looking pretty good and like they could draw some crowds after a chunk of Marvel projects have been received with less buzz lately (flicks with Deadpool and/or Wolverine aside).

The new, "Absolute," books DC is putting out have been extremely well-received to the surprise of some who weren't expecting much beyond alternate-universe takes on popular characters. I have read the first issues of the Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman series and they all are pretty cool. I (and many individuals I've spoken with) really was into the, "Batman," title but see some big potential in the other two as well. Between the Absolute stuff at DC and shockingly good Ultimate titles at Marvel, I guess sometimes a new take on an old classic is what a story can quite benefit from.

"Saturday Night Live," struggled a bit deciding what to say with their first episode since the Presidential election. There was one skit people seemed to either really enjoy or quite dislike that had nothing to do with politics, however. Presented as a bit of an advertisement with host Bill Burr discussing a band called, "Snake Skin," and their greatest hits album, it is glorious. Snake Skin is a fictional 80's band and I personally found the skit hilarious in how much it really did sound like a hair metal band from the 1980s singing about how much they want, "Nah-Nah," along with other raunchy absurdities. I do mean some people hated this sketch, but I was cracking up.

A gentleman playing, "Red Dead Redemption 2," on the PC modded it so that every horse and carriage moved at the speed of a missile and became extremely deadly. The results were both stupid and hilarious. I mean, we gotta do something to pass the time while we wait for, "Grand Theft Auto 6," don't we?

Lastly, everyone has been telling me how much I need to watch that, "The Penguin," show on MAX that spins out the Matt Reeves/Robert Pattinson, "Batman," movie. Colin Farrell is a great actor and person, so I plan to tune in. I just need to find the time to also watch that actual, "The Batman," movie because it is almost 3 hours long and life can be a bit too busy to sit that long. Maybe if I split it up into a few viewing sessions that could work? We'll see as I do really want to watch that, "The Batman," flick and then its Penguin spin-off show as it is getting rave reviews.

The, "Thunderbolts*," Teaser Trailer Has it Looking Mighty Fun

I noted two things as I watched the teaser trailer for, "Thunderbolts*," which was put online today. The first was that it looks quite fun with its random assemblage of not-heroes-not-quite-villains to create Marvel's version of a Suicide Squad. The second thing was being relatively surprised it doesn't give away the entire plot of the movie as more and more trailers seem to do lately (the AV Club noted that too). Check the teaser trailer out below:

We have until May of 2025 to know what exactly is happening in, "Thunderbolts*," and why it has that random asterisk in the name. I don't mind not knowing everything about a movie in advance, for once, and imagine people who get real uptight about spoilers-inserted-in-the-preview-itself are happy too. Plus, we get Bob! I assume that is Bob Reynolds AKA the Sentry, but time will tell. For now, I love him just saying how he's Bob in the trailer. Between how this looks entertaining and the upcoming, "Captain America: Brave New World," seems exciting, Marvel has some interesting-sounding stuff on the way!

The 2022 D23 Expo Has Announced a Lot

 

D23 is a big Disney event and it has been stacked this year. We've got announcements about all kinds of, "Star Wars," properties, the latest and last, "Indiana Jones," flick, plus a whole bunch of Marvel content. We've got a trailer for, "Secret Invasion," a cast announcement for, "Thunderbolts," and we saw "Armor Wars," which is reconfirmed along with more info on, "Ironheart," too. Tim Blake Nelson from the 2008, "Incredible Hulk," movie is even coming back as The Leader to fight Anthony Mackie's Cap in, "Captain America: New World Order."

There is a full trailer for, "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur," and in the news that has me the most excited due to how it looks cool, "Werewolf by Night," is getting a Halloween special this October 7th with Man-Thing involved as well! Even more than what I've said has been shown off ("Willow," has a trailer for its return), and Disney clearly has a ton of content to continue making and releasing--yes, even more of James Cameron's, "Avatar." I mean, I'm sure someone is really excited about that.

Well, Marvel Pretty Much, "Won," CCI/SDCC This Year

Marvel had its big Hall H panel last night at Comic-Con International/Sand Diego Comic-Con. They announced what felt like everything and the kitchen sink whilst also making it clear some more announcements would come later. We are currently in phase 4 of the cinematic universe and phase 5 was wholly laid out along with a big chunk of phase 6 basically making it known that by the end of 2025 we would see the entirety of, "The Multiverse Saga," with everything basically culminating in two Avengers flicks during 2025, "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty," and, "Avengers: Secret Wars." A lot of us saw that, "Secret Wars," coming (myself included in a recent post), but it is appreciated for Marvel to make it clear what the over-arching plan is after lots of folks had been wondering what precisely the flicks and Disney+ shows were leading up to--if anything specific. 

Basically, Marvel showed up and said, "You want to know our plans? Well, here's an overview of what the first half of this decade is going to look like, MOFOS! We've got Daredevil coming back, Kang is gonna cause trouble, we've got a Fantastic Four flick, we'll be doing wild Multiverse stuff, and before all that phase four is going to close strong with, 'Black Panther 2,' looking absolutely awesome. Open wide for this loaded cocktail of content, suckas!" The MCU's guiding hand, Kevin Feige, showed up and made it clear Marvel has a plan, one that will probably rake in the dough too. I have gotten to a point where there is just so much stuff coming out from Marvel I don't always have time to see it all, but I watch what appeals to me and some of these announcements are quite promising ("Blade," finally has a release date, which I like and a, "Thunderbolts," movie was confirmed). 

Marvel essentially stole the show this year at CCI/SDCC. You almost feel a little bad for DC as, "Black Adam," and the new Shazam movie both look fun, but one company showed up with a metaphorical lunchbox that had some snacks in it and the other arrived with a fully catered meal, so to speak. It's going to be an interesting next few years for Marvel when it comes to their movies and shows, that much is very clear.

A New, "Thunderbolts," Comic is Coming and it Looks Fun!

True story: Thursday  I was having lunch with a friend and while we chatted about comics I mentioned it had been a while since a, "Thunderbolts," comic was being released. We agreed it wouldn't be long until the series was revived because Marvel usually doesn't let a title (or most characters) stay dead for long. Later that day a teaser was released for a new, "Thunderbolts," and when I messaged my friend about it we laughed. Today, all the details were revealed and it does look pretty snazzy.

Spinning out of that, "Devil's Reign," event that is going on, the latest, "Thunderbolts," series will be written by Jim Zub and have art by Sean Izaakse. Zub actually has a solid previous run on, "Thunderbolts," and while I am not very familiar with Izaakse, what I've seen of their work looks good. Hawkeye is leading the team (so it's a little reminiscent of the West Coast Avengers in that way), and other characters I enjoy are present too such as Monica Rambeau (who has had many nicknames), America Chavez AKA Miss America, Persuasion, Power Man (the younger iteration, not Luke Cage), and plus a new character with the admittedly silly name Gutsen Glory.

I've seen some irritation online that the team isn't villainous (the original incarnation of the Thunderbolts were baddies pretending to be heroes), but that version of the team was just the debut and many versions have been quite different since then--so I'm fine with it. I'm just excited to see a writer I enjoy, an artist whose stuff looks good, and characters I like all present for my reading pleasure in this newest series.

The, "Black Widow," Movie Trailer is Online

The trailer for, "Black Widow," looks decent. It clearly has a lot of spy-style action as this is a more espionage-themed Marvel movie. Also, as this is a prequel (due to how things end-up for Black Widow in, "Endgame," e.g. she is dead) I imagine it maybe sets-up future stuff--perhaps more Taskmaster later on, or the appearance of William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross hints at the long-rumored idea of a, "Thunderbolts," flick or Disney+ show. I mean, I imagine that is the idea, otherwise, it is kind of random to finally be making a, "Black Widow," movie considering how, as I mentioned, the Scarlett Johansson version ain't exactly in the MCU now. Plus, with Yelena Belova appearing here I imagine she'll take on the mantle of, "Black Widow," perhaps. Should the movie be great or mediocre, David Harbour as the Red Guardian looks pretty entertaining at least.

"Savage Avengers," Looks Cheerfully Insane

I saw artwork for an upcoming comic but didn't realize it was a book that was actually happening until my pal Tucker Stone at The Comics Journal mused on how bizarre it looked and the official solicitations came out. The comic is titled, "Savage Avengers," and it features the most violent heroes and anti-heroes around. Made-up of Venom, Elektra, the Punisher, Wolverine, Brother Voodoo ( because every Avengers team needs a random magic-user) and for some reason Conan the Barbarian--who Marvel got the rights back to a little while ago--this looks like a team of Avengers more likely to shoot, stab, and eat the brains of villains than any other Avengers team in history; that actually kind of sounds like a concept so crazy it could be fun.

It is as if Marvel wanted to think-up the most extreme and over-the-top team it could, then went that extra step further. Marvel went so heavy on fan-service it is almost gluttonous in its delicious absurdity. They're out here saying, "So we heard you like Venom and Wolverine a lot so we put them both on an Avengers team with the Punisher for optimal bloodshed, plus Elektra because she's probably our deadliest female character. Oh, and we took Conan the Barbarian and inserted him into the modern age with his big-ass sword. Why, you ask? Because fuck you, you want this, that's why!" Gerry Duggan is a writer who has done a good job furiously-straddling the line between funny-and-gruesome before on work such as his run with, "Deadpool," and Mike Deodato is a skilled artist who drew some impressively gross scenes of Venom literally biting-off people's appendages back in the days of the Warren Ellis-written run on, "Thunderbolts," so I imagine this book won't want for a colorist eager to use various shades of blood-red. Frankly, whether the comic is good or miserable I'm just excited to be able to read it so that upon finishing the book I can place it down and declare, "Man, those Avengers are savage!" Then I'll start to laugh loudly at my own joke, much to the confusion of everyone else at Starbucks. Good times.

Rant-Review Mayhem Part 3: Marvel and DC

So, We Have Reached the End
We now of course come to the top dogs, the major players, the, "Big two." I am of course talking about Marvel and DC. While I have expressed more and more irritation with these entities for seeming to put out nothing quite new or great, there are of course still newer titles that look promising and some comics I still greatly enjoy. Then again, of the four comics that have been around awhile which I review, three are in fact cancelled due to low sales--with me actually reviewing the concluding issue of one. Perhaps there is a message there, in that the smaller and quirkier titles I enjoy seem to be the ones the ubiquitous force known as, "The market," chooses to reject in favor of the, "Same ol', same ol,'"of repetitive events and pointless relaunches. Well, having already gotten us off to such a cheery start in this final segment I suppose we should proceed to the reviews now.

Why Does Almost Everything I Love Die/Get Cancelled?
Thunderbolts #32
The 32nd issue of "Thunderbolts," is also its last, which sucks because I liked this comic even when a lot of people didn't, and loved it when it started to really get its groove going around when Charles Soule came on the book as the writer with issue #11 and did a great job for a bit until Ben Acker and Ben Blacker took over writing duties to see the book to this, its current end. This issue brings things full-circle, taking the team back to the island nation they had their first mission on at the start of the series and basically restores everyone's status quo to how things were before they joined the team--e.g. off doing their own things. The comic has a bit of meta moment where some characters point out to General Ross/the Red Hulk his idea for this team never was going to last as they were just characters that shouldn't work together--it's strange and almost feels like the old story of the fox declaring the grapes he's unable to reach as probably being sour. Regardless of that weird moment, this comic ends the series in a way that is moderately enjoyable and a bit funny in a dark and cynical way. It's too bad, but at least most of the characters who made up the team are doing fine in their own solo books or other team-comics (Venom left awhile ago to join-up with the "Guardians of the Galaxy" comic of all things). At least this got in 32 solid issues.
3 out of 5 stars.

All-New X-Factor #15
Remember how I said pointless re-launches bother me? Well, this comic is an example of how Marvel took a moderately successful and long-running series written by Peter David, the "X-Factor" that launched shortly after "House of M" and went a number of years, and proceeded to re-launch it for little reason, with the result being much lower sales that resulted in it being cancelled. I know the 16th issue is out already but I haven't picked it up yet, and therefore I am reviewing this one. I may not even read any more issues until the final 20th one comes out and I can gorge myself on the last four whilst sobbing as if I were downing a pint of "Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream." What, you think you have the right to judge how I spend my weekends?

Anyways, how was this issue itself? As always, a pleasure, if a bit hindered by the fact that it sort-of ties into all this "Axis" business which I have almost no interest in reading. It isn't officially a tie-in although when first solicited it in fact was. Therefore, I suppose this means this issue and however many after it that involve "Axis" won't appear in the "Axis"-related trade paperbacks, but this clearly was written with that event in mind, as it features the team trying to maintain calm throughout the Washington D.C. area whilst everyone freaks out due to the mind-altering powers of the evil Red Skull. Basically, we get another really good issue of the X-Factor team, but a tad hobbled by its kinda-sorta tying into "Axis". This makes for a comic that is still solid, but not quite at the level of other issues. Still, it's an easy...
3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #16
The penultimate issue of this series, depressingly. For awhile it was a bit of a running joke how everyone thought it would, "Get the axe," but somehow kept surviving, with solicits for some issues even proudly exclaiming, "Still not cancelled!" Well, with issue #17 this title is indeed over, and its a shame as this is yet another entry that showcases the talents of Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber wondrously. The artwork has moments that remind of "Acme Novelty Library" in their creative design, and to compare someone's artwork to Chris Ware is high praise, no doubt. That isn't to say Lieber's stuff doesn't stand on its own as a glorious piece of work, because it does, with its peppy style complimenting the fact that this comic is absolutely hilarious. Besides being hilarious, it also is super-clever, always introducing a new twist almost every issue in the series to a point where you aren't sure whom you can trust--which is sort-of the point as when it comes to this team, ain't any of them particularly trustworthy.

This has been one of the consistently best titles Marvel has put out (except for that weird two-issue break that didn't tie-in to the normal going-ons with a different writer whose name escapes me) and it is a shame to see it go. Spencer clearly is building up to something quite huge though and I for one am extremely eager to see what the conclusion will hold for our, "Sinister Six," which actually only has ever had five members. It'll be some quality stuff, I bet.
5 out of 5 stars.

Superior Iron Man #1
A newly-debuted title spinning out of the events of Marvel's earlier-mentioned latest event, "Axis," I picked up "Superior Iron Man" with some trepidation as I haven't been reading, "Axis," but hoped that the talents of writer Tom Taylor (whom writes another comic I love and review below) would overcome any hurdles being related to an event this comic would have, and possibly even utilize the events of, "Axis," in a way that results in an even better comic--the heroes are having their moral, "axis," twisted a bit, or something I believe? Well, having read this issue I can say that this stands on its own pretty well in regards to any events, but as just a comic is...okay, I suppose?

Basically we have Tony Stark, but as a bit more of a jerk than usual, being all self-interested and creating an app for the phones in San Francisco that lets people look gorgeous thanks to a modified version of Extremis (that virus that helped him out in the comics and was a part of "Iron Man 3"). The twist is how Stark is planning to charge them one hundred dollars a day for the privilege of looking and feeling good after a brief trial-period. This doesn't sit right with Pepper Potts and leads to her colluding with a mysterious figure at the end of the book. It's a pretty basic first-issue in that it simply establishes the initial idea (Tony Stark is being an ass), introduces some characters (Pepper Potts, oh, and Daredevil shows up because I think he's in San Francisco now too in his comic) and introduces a, "Hook," in the form of the aforementioned mysterious figure. This results in a comic that is perfectly fine but a bit by-the-numbers except for how it makes it clear that despite the book being named for him we aren't supposed to be rooting for the newly Superior Iron Man so much as all the folk who want to take this unpleasant version of Tony Stark down a peg. So yeah, it's okay.
2.5 out of 5 stars.

Injustice: Year Three #2
Another comic by Tom Taylor, and one of the incredibly small number of DC comics I'm still reading. I also greatly have enjoyed this series throughout its seasons and in a miraculous twist others have loved it enough that its sold to a degree that it isn't cancelled! I know, isn't that crazy how a mainstream book I love is actually doing okay in the market? That said, this issue continues the trend of carefully walking the high-wire of discussing the serious topic of Superman-gone-mad but also working in some funny moments--Harvey Bullock pointing out how awkward he feels as a regular cop standing in the room with people such as a talking Chimp who also is a detective is one example. If I were to have any complaints it would be that Constantine so far in this "Year Three" of "Injustice" has been written moderately well, but just never feels as authentic as the one we know from the Vertigo days when he could swear up a storm instead of just referring to Superman as a, "Motherlover." At least he still says, "Bollocks," and has his nasty habit of smoking, making him feel somewhat familiar. Still, that issue aside, this is a great comic that quite frankly has grown into something even better than the enjoyably off-the-wall video-game.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

Concluding Comments
It may be depressing to see many of the mainstream titles I like end-up cancelled, but the occasional successful title that also happens to be good (such as "Injustice") allows me to not fully give-up hope. Plus, as my earlier rant-reviews of various independent publishers and Image have shown, there are still plenty of wonderful books out there to be found with companies who could be argued as possibly more willing to take creative risks. In the end I suppose as these reviews illustrate, all you can do is try new things out, support what you love, and hope enough other people like it too for it to keep coming out. Such is life.

Let's Link to Interesting Things!

I haven't linked to things I've found neat for awhile, let's rectify that!
Like the headline says, here are some cool links...

A good series.

In the past I've said how "Thunderbolts" was a good comic with a great idea, I'm glad since the title has had time to grow and try out other writers more folk think that also now.

Rosario Dawson is going to be in the "Daredevil" Netflix series. She's a good actress, so that sounds pretty good, and considering who they got to play the Kingpin it looks like a quality cast is coming  together.

Chuck Dixon

I've enjoyed Chuck Dixon's comics regardless of his political affiliation. He makes claims that being a conservative in the field has made getting work--especially with the big 2--much harder, however. The thing is, folk like Tom Brevoort counter that it isn't Dixon's politics that make him undesirable, but his attitude when it comes to working well with others. Whatever the case, I wish Dixon the best and hope he can get some work as the man has made some good comics.

I think even if he weren't also someone who cheated his way out of paying taxes, we could all still agree that Hitler was a terrible, terrible person.

Well done, Mozzocco, well done.

J. Caleb Mozzocco is a genius for coming up with the above article, and others along with myself have insisted he make it a monthly thing. The only aspect I hate about this is that I'm mad I didn't think of doing it first.

So, Iraq is a mess, again--and please note this link has a news-video that will auto-play.

I wish I could have gone to this Marvel-themed restaurant back in its heyday.

Bob Kane, the solely credited "creator" of Batman is getting a posthumous star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame". As someone who has read-up on Kane and his numerous questionable-to-terrible actions, I have no comment on this...at least not one that is very nice.

Speaking of "Batman", 25 years ago today the original "Batman" film came out. Crazy to think I would have barely been walking and talking all those years ago.

Finally, Ubisoft is looking really bad right now for not having any female assassins in the next "Assasin's Creed" game, claiming that it would have been too difficult to animate women. People of course called them out on this B.S. and now its become one huge PR debacle, one that other companies are eager to take advantage of.

One Sentence Summaries (of Some Recent Comics) Strikes Again!

It Begins
Back in October I tried out a new "bit" where I summarized some newer comics with one sentence. These were not reviews so much as first impressions of various comics I had read or at least skimmed enough to make a snarky comment. I found it fun so lets do it again!

One Sentence Summaries of Some Recent Comics

Bedlam #4
This comic went from being a slow-burn murder mystery to the apparent serial killer just going all-out and starting a rampage, but the comic is interesting enough I'll let the jarring change of pace slide.

Fearless Defenders #1
An entertaining comic featuring female super-heroes which proves that just because the comic's characters have two, "X," chromosomes that doesn't mean their carrying a book is an impossible task--although that lesbian kiss came off as somewhat creepy fan-service.

New Avengers #3
This is still moving a little slowly for me but we are starting to see where this syncs-up with the normal Avengers' book, plus I like how Captain America never compromises his morals unlike those other gutless folk in the Illuminati.

Justice League Dark #16
I like this comic, but feel something is missing which is preventing the book from really "clicking" for me.

All New X-Men #7 
This is good so far, but God help me the near-weekly release schedule for the comic is kind of absurd.

Thunderbolts #4
I stand by what I said about this being a good series even if people hate on it--it's an interesting book full of terrible people doing terrible things.

X-Men Legacy #5
This continues to be the best Marvel NOW book that people seem to not be reading.

Scarlet #6
Holy crap, this comic still exists after a year-or-so delay and is pretty good?

Deathmatch #2
The intrigue behind how all these characters became forced to fight each other continues to be more interesting than the fights themselves, and that's perfectly fine.

Young Romance: The New 52 Valentine's Day Special
This contains completely forgettable stories, but those Valentine's Day cards you can rip-out and keep (or give to people) are just adorable.

Daredevil: End of Days #5
If one of the apparent Daredevil replacements isn't Danielle Cage (the daughter of Daredevil's friend Luke Cage and Jessica Jones) I will be quite surprised.

Avengers #5
There is a callback to Grant Morrison's "New X-Men" which I loved but otherwise this was just a bunch of random space-junk featuring everyone's favorite forgettable aliens, the Shi'ar.

Stormwatch #17
The dysfunctional nature of this team makes The Justice League look like one big happy family.

It Ends
There we go, I hope you enjoyed my summaries and perhaps noticed that three of the comics I reviewed were written by Bendis. That guy has continually written a ton of comics for years now, I wonder when he sleeps?

Thunderbolts Mini-Run Review AKA Why is Everyone So Negative About This New Series?

Thunderbolts #1-#3 Mini-Run Review

As part of "Marvel NOW," we have had a new Thunderbolts comic written by Daniel Way with art by Steve Dillon. The first issue got a decent-enough response from reviewers. My friends over at Nine Panel gave the series' debut a respectable 6 out of 9 panels in their review. We are now on issue three, and wow, the negativity has been overwhelming.

I'm no ray of sunshine, I declare my hate for a wide variety of comics, their characters, companies, writers, artists, printers, and anyone who was ever involved in any way, shape, or form with a Bluewater Press publication. That said, I find it odd this good comic is getting lambasted by so many people. When it comes to reviews for the latest issue, CBR maybe was the most positive with its review of 3 out of 5 stars. However, Comic Vine didn't like this comic much, Major Spoilers absolutely hated it, and even IGN which normally loves everything because they have no editorial freedom beyond, "Let's adore everything so companies like us, declared Thunderbolts to, "suck." What is the deal?

A cure for negativity? Not when its comic-reviewers we are talking about.  Trust me, I'm one of them.

Some say the book is trying too hard to be grim and gritty. Others say the characters are either too dull except for Deadpool, or good except for Deadpool who is too annoying (either way you can't win). I've heard smart-ass remarks that Marvel made a team entirely of characters who are Wolverine, in the sense they are tough and not afraid to kill. Some people just don't care for Steve Dillon's art. Fair enough to all of this, these thoughts are reasonable-enough opinions. One thing that I recall reading somewhere that I just couldn't stand however was the idea that this was a bad comic because the characters are all impossible to like. Well, yeah, that's the goal.

This team of Thunderbolts is made up of people who do bad things; the only reason they aren't evil themselves is that they only do their bad things to other terrible people. Deadpool is a mercenary who despite trying to act like a hero sometimes is a killing machine. Elektra is one of the most dangerous assassins alive. Frank Castle has killed more people than most of us will ever meet. The Red Hulk is General, "Thunderbolt," Ross and if you know his history with the original Green Hulk it is clear he lacks most niceties too. Flash Thompson as Venom is maybe the only person who is the least bit likeable as he is simply a soldier feeling he is doing a soldier's work, but everyone else is just a wretched person--but on purpose.

You aren't supposed to like these people, the whole point is to see that there is the thinnest of lines separating them from the people they kill. When the Punisher has rebels use a primate for target practice its supposed to disgust us and make us uncomfortable. When General Ross reveals he is using an ex super-villain as a pawn before planning to kill him, that is meant to make us squirm. These are people you wouldn't want to go near in your normal life, but if you're dealing with something even worse than them, well, you want this team of Thunderbolts helping.

I understand people don't like this comic being all dark, but the point is to show the sad fact that there are monsters that go unattended to by the big-name heroes because those lot are busy fighting cosmic wars or having super-battles among themselves. Those lesser evils such as a dictator of a country or his corrupt army can't be dealt with by the Avengers or Fantastic Four, they are needed to save another dimension or such. In the Marvel Universe for the smaller and uglier jobs you need the black-ops team of people who know how to follow orders, work together, and get their mission done even if in the process of doing so they lose their humanity...or at least let the team think this is case, even if we are the reader question just how ethical everything is.

The Thunderbolts are not heroes, at least not in this incarnation. They are killers, terrible people, and this comic is going to follow them down the rabbit-hole of how far they'll go in their crusade of thinking the ends justify the means. I've found these first three issues to be of a great quality and look forward to seeing where this series goes next, even if many other reviewers don't seem to be as eager as I am to read future issues.

Give this version of the Thunderbolts a chance even if some of the negative reviews have put you off picking this up. Just remember you aren't reading about heroes, you're reading about people who keep pushing the question of how much bad you can do in the pursuit of good--and who may not like the answer when they "push" too far. Keep all that in mind and you should enjoy this just fine.
4 out of 5 stars (for all three comics).

Rant Reviews--5 Fear Itself Tie-Ins AKA Get Your Snark On

Fear Itself hasn't been very great, and most comics that tie-in with it are dragged down in quality, so of course I want to engage in the ever-so-fun activity of reviewing comics that directly relate to the event. Yes, I'm going to be a smart-alec in my reviews of these.

Rant-Reviews--What does it mean when I enjoyed the $2.99 comics more than the $3.99 and $4.99?

Alright, so I read Deadpool #39 and Mystery Men #2 which are $2.99 and enjoyed them a fair amount. Then Wolverine #11 is interesting and chock-full of allusions to other stories that would make a trivia geek go wild, but I just don't have as much fun as I would like--and it costs $3.99 for the standard 22 pages. Then I get the, "Double-Sized Special" of Thunderbolts #159 and other than the first story by the guy who normally writes the series, I'm left feeling pretty cold for my nearly-five-bucks. What does it mean when the cheaper comics are more fun than the comic that costs a dollar more but adds nothing, and a lot more enjoyable than the comic packed with substandard content? I guess it brings a new twist to the phrase, "Getting your money's worth." Let's break down why I feel how I do about these comics.

Rant-Reviews--Mutant Teams, Tie-Ins, And New Avengers Barely Avoids Getting Cut From My Pull List

Today we've got X-Factor #220 with a kind of lackluster issue, Uncanny X-Force #11 in an alternate universe, Thunderbolts #158 tying in to Fear Itself decently enough, and The New Avengers actually brings those two separate story-lines its had together finally in an issue that is surprisingly not that bad.

June 2011 Previews--What Looks Especially Good

Time to discuss what is looking particularly snazzy or noteworthy for some reason in this month's Previews.

My Comic Book Haul, June 1st, 2011

It's that time again, where I look over my comic haul for the week because I randomly thought this was a good week to comment on the books I picked up ahead of time before I review them. Let's get into it...

Rant-Reviews--Daken, Heroes You Pay, Deadpool Wants To Die, And A Rare Miss For Thunderbolts.

We' got a series of declining returns, with a really great Daken: Dark Wolverine, quite good Heroes For Hire, pretty enjoyable Deadpool, and a surprisingly mediocre Thunderbolts. Yes, they are all Marvel books, but I have something big planned for a DC character on Friday so it's cool.

Rant Reviews--Thunderbolts, Hulk, X-Factor, Iron Man...I Couldn't Think of a Pun.

The latest issues of Thunderbolts, Hulk, X-Factor, and Invincible Iron Man, and not one disappoints!