This Latest Marvel Storyline Suddenly Sounds Interesting...

When it comes to naming a villain who at times struggles to be interesting, one I can easily think of is Ultron. Created by Hank Pym (in the comics, in the movies Tony Stark is his, "Father," of course), Ultron has his whole deal being wanting to wipe out humanity...and that's about it. We do have a rare occasion or two where Ultron has had something more interesting going on (that time he considered conquering the galaxy, the weird day when he tried to seduce Hank Pym as a robotic version of his ex-wife), but it is telling my favorite story involving the character was one that imagined a world where he hadn't been created. I know somewhat recently Ultron and Hank Pym merged into one person or something ("Rage of Ultron," was weird), but that seemed to do little of note for the character being at all intriguing. Hence, when I saw the press for a new story-line in the, "Tony Stark: Iron Man," comic titled, "The Ultron Agenda," I assumed it would sound very dull. Then I saw Machine Man was the villain. Wait, that's interesting.

Aaron Stack AKA the Machine Man was created by Jack Kirby to tie-in with the classic film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," of all things. Over time other writers tackled the character as well as varying interpretations of him (Stack was very important in the out-of-continuity, "Earth X," to name one example). Stack arguably gained a whole new group of fans when Warren Ellis used him in the cult-classic, "Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.," series that painted Stack in a light that was both hilarious and a tiny bit sympathetic. He then popped-up in other series and is one of those cult-characters that has a small and dedicated fan-based but otherwise gets ignored a lot (kind of like my personal favorite character, Moon Knight). To see that Aaron Stack AKA Machine Man is going to be leading a robot uprising dedicated to making sure A.I. takes over the planet suddenly sounds pretty attention-grabbing as opposed to if it was simply Ultron trying to just wipe-out humans for the 50th time for little reason other than a slew of daddy-issues about his creator.

Reading that the, "Ultron Agenda," story-arc will explore concepts of just how, "Alive," the artificial life in the Marvel Universe is sounds pretty snazzy. It was a concept touched-upon to a good degree in the stellar, "The Vision," mini-series (fun fact, Vision is technically the son of Ultron, making Hank Pym Vision's Grandpa) and one worth exploring. Plus, with a character as interesting as Aaron Stack AKA Machine Man I already expect a lot more interesting stuff to occur than if it had been Ultron himself again.

Al Ewing is a Great Writer, As His, "Contest of Champions," and First Volume of, "Ultimates," Prove

A Talented Guy

If you check my blog for posts that mention Al Ewing you will find I almost always have positive things to say about him. The guy is just quite frankly a great writer, and when he's on a book I at least know I don't have to doubt if it will be entertaining. Two of his more recent works that show this are the sadly short-lived, "Contest of Champions," and a book that actually tied-in a bit with the previous but also is a great series all it's own, his first volume of, "Ultimates." Both are books that when you consider their background have the deck stacked against them, but somehow Ewing takes a potential, "Junk hand," and makes a Royal Flush, if I may use Poker metaphors. Let's discuss his books.

Contest of Champions Issues #1-#10

I was given as a present from my wife a trade paperback containing the first six issues of this series and managed to find the other #7-#10 at a comic shop. I wanted to read this because I heard it was really good and a bit like Marvel's old, "Exiles," series with a twist. You see, in, "Exiles," a bunch of characters from various Marvel dimensions had to travel to assorted worlds, with this book everyone from different worlds is brought to one place: Battleworld. Yes, even though Doctor Doom's Battleworld was thought to be destroyed at the end of the most recent, "Secret Wars," it seems it lived on. That already sounds a bit confusing but here comes the best/worst part--this comic is basically just meant to be a video-game tie-in.

That's right, this comic draws from the free-to-play (but full of stuff you can buy) digital game found smart-phones of the same name, "Contest of Champions." Now, comics that relate to video-games are a times good, and possibly even great (the early, "Injustice," comics are awesome), but usually when a comic draws from a game it isn't too much of a stretch to say people probably expect very little. Almost as if Ewing knows people aren't that concerned about his comic, he goes and just gives us something incredibly fun. Ewing makes it so that some multi-dimensional characters are fighting for power and using heroes from various Marvel Universes. This brings us characters from the ,"Regular," Marvel-U as well as known entities (The Punisher from the 2099 comics, Maestro, etc.) and some characters completely made-up for the comic. I'm a sucker for alternate-universe tales so I already am interested, but Ewing just makes things even better.

I always love a good alternate-universe team!

Throughout this series Ewing has some heroes from various dimensions engage in action-packed fights, give us humor, and brings in the latest iteration of The Ultimates as he's doing that book too. We get to see our heroes if they were further corrupted, our villains if they were better people, and then it all suddenly ends with the book's cancellation at issue #10. It's depressing because this title is just so darn fun, but I guess that's the way the cookie/universe crumbles.  At least another one of Ewing's great books is continuing (albeit with a recent relaunch).

Ultimates Volume 1/Issues #1-#6

Having the name, "Ultimates," in a Marvel book carries a surprising amount of baggage. You see, back in the days where Marvel had the ,"Ultimate," Universe that world's version of the Avengers was called, "The Ultimates," and had an incredibly popular comic written by Mark Millar and drawn by Bryan Hitch. After that the name kept getting re-used for other concepts set in the Ultimate Universe, but after it ended during the, "Secret Wars," (there's that event again!) the whole place ceased to exist with the characters that mattered (e.g. Miles Morales) simply being carried-over to the regular Marvel Universe. What to do with the name, "Ultimates," then? How about making a team that handles threats to our dimension in what is both clearly a need for Marvel to keep the, "Ultimates," trademark active, but also a bit of a knowing wink to fans who consider how this team basically saves Universes but inadvertently  draws their name from a team that came from one that no longer exists?

This iteration of, "Ultimates," is still ongoing, but did have a re-launch after, "Civil War II," and now is, "Ultimates²," because somehow adding a, "Squared/²," to your logo makes more sense than simply using a 2. Anyways, after Marvel rebooted everything post, "Secret Wars," a lot of questions about continuity and the Marvel Universe itself were left dangling. The team in the Ultimates aims to address that and basically without Ewing I doubt anyone would have brought back-up how time was broken in, "Age of Ulton," and realities in general are pretty messed-up lately due to Marvel's constant events/how the Universe keeps changing (if we're giving an in-story reason).

Having a team set-out to correct a broken universes and time-lines isn't only deliciously meta, it also results in a great story as Ewing arguably explores the very foundations of the concepts that make-up the Marvel Universe and the characters within it, whilst also turning them on their head, with one incredibly cool example being his taking of the infamous Galactus and having the team change his powers from destructive to restorative--that is, instead of eating planetary energy he now grants planet's life.

The, "Ultimates," that Ewing gives us are fun, smart, and has stuff I love like weird science as well as explosive action (and Kenneth Rocafort's artwork is awesome on the book too). I am eager to pick up the second volume of this first, "Ultimates," series and then pick up, "Ultimates²," even if it has a weird title that is a pain to type because I keep having to remember the ALT-code for it (you hold ALT and type 0178 on the number-pad, in case you're wondering).

Stellar Series

These two titles by Al Ewing both are just plain awesome and I give both titles I've read 5 out of 5 stars with no hesitation. I am excited to see what other works Ewing has in store for us and to read even more of his, "Ultimates." If you haven't read anything by Ewing yet I encourage you to correct that mistake immediately, and perhaps to do so with one of these stellar series!

Rage of Ultron--A Sort-of Tie-In to a Movie Which is Nothing Like the Movies

New Readers Need Not Apply

Hey, remember when that popular, "Age of Ultron," movie came out? Yeah, you may also recall that there had been a comic-event of the same name but with a drastically different plot. To fix this issue, Marvel released an original graphic novel  at the start of April titled, "Rage of Ultron," that helps viewers of the movie by being...completely unlike the movies and actually apparently set after an event (Secret Wars) currently going on, making my review not outdated but actually from the future, kinda. Okay?

Yes, it seems after, "Secret Wars," the Marvel Universe is jumping ahead another eight months in its continuity, and, "Rage of Ultron," takes place during that gap. I guess the idea was to lure in fans of the Marvel movies and the latest, "Avengers," flick with Ultron, but I think most folk reading this OGN who have no knowledge of the comics will find it indecipherable.

"Sabertooth dressed like Wolverine? What?"
AKA
What most readers of the comic who just follow the movies will say.

We have a Thor who is a lady (still a mystery woman when the book came out, but we now know her identity is Thor's on-again-off-again girlfriend Jane Foster), The Falcon is Captain America, Hank Pym features heavily in the comic talking about how he created Ultron even though fans of the movies know Tony Stark as Ultron's, "Father," and Hank Pym as the nice old man played by Michael Douglas. Oh, and Sabertooth is basically there as an apropos Wolverine and no one explains why (it was that "Axis" event Remender also wrote) There are references to other Marvel comics, from some, "Secret Avengers," business that this novel's writer, Rick Remender, did a bit ago with robots, to the Wasp talking about living in another dimension (that was from when Bendis did "New Avengers" most recently, I think).

I haven't even discussed the comic's quality yet--and it's a perfectly decent story with some stellar art--but I just think it is worth discussing that for a comic meant to catch the attention of folk excited about the movie-version of Ultron this comic fails on an epic scale when it comes to being new-reader-friendly. That established, let's discuss the comic itself.

Beautiful Art, Passable Story

Jerome Opeña is a fantastic artist, there is simply no doubt about that. Rick Remender can be a great writer (just look at "Fear Agent" or his time on "Venom"), that much is clear. That said, you can hear this story groan under the weight on continuity from all the aforementioned plot-points and struggle to tell an admittedly interesting story about concepts of humanity and technology (and how they combine).

It sadly is presented in a bit of a manner that is black-and-white where Hank Pym's argument against evil AI comes off as a jerk-ish viewpoint and the Vison's claims that a robot is just as human as anyone seeming more legitimate. It seems a really out of character for Pym, because most other times I've seen him, he usually is a bit more warm towards robots--I mean, the man led a robotic team of Avengers recently in, "Avengers: AI." It really reads like Remender needed to give Pym a, "Redemption," arc to his story and did it by writing him as horribly off-kilter at first before making him resemble the Pym we know and love (well, some folk love him and others despise the guy).

These is discussion about how Vision came from Ultron,
so that is at least kind of like the movies these books are riffing on.

The overall plot is how we see Ultron and Pym fighting in the past and Ultron appearing in the present to attempt and take-out his Father before Pym successfully stops him by having their psyches and forms become one...or something, its unclear. The ending is a bit of an anti-climax with Pymtron (I think I came up with that) running off disgusted at what he's becoming and hibernating in space only to return next time a comic-event or movie tie-in the story calls for it.

Were it not for the fact that Jerome Opeña is an absolute beast when it comes to artwork this would be a generally average book. Thanks to him though this is a pretty good time. I checked it out from my local library (those are really handy) so I didn't feel like I wasted my time, but had I bought this full-price I might have felt a little different. My suggestion is to give it a read if you have the chance, but only actually buy it if you really love Opeña's artwork or obsesses about Ultron a bunch.
3 out of 5 stars.

That Latest "Age of Ultron" Trailer Was Okay, I Guess (I'm Still Excited for the Movie, Though)

Yesterday the 3rd big official trailer for "Age of Ultron" was released upon the internet. It was supposed to hit the interwebs today, but clever marketing fan demand resulted in it coming out yesterday. I've watched it, and strangely enough compared to the earlier trailers found myself underwhelmed. Check it out and then see if you agree with me:

I'm still very excited for this movie, but compared to that amazing first trailer this was just a let-down. We had more slow-motion action-shots, hints of characters fighting each other, Ultron talking about how he is going to destroy everything, and really nothing especially new or cool until those last few seconds where a glimpse of The Vision is had. This trailer kind of just looks like a standard action movie that happens to have Marvel characters in it--although I am almost positive this won't be that as Joss Whedon and everyone else gave us an amazing first flick, so my hopes are high for this one.

Perhaps I am just at the point that my excitement for the movie is at its maximum level and little else can be done to get me any more pumped, resulting in efforts such as this being met with me feeling unimpressed. I'm not sure why this trailer had me feeling a bit apathetic, but I know I'm still quite eager to see this on the silver-screen soon.

Mini-Series Conclusions, T&A Witches, and Outer-Space--These Are My Rant-Reviews!

No Particular Reason
Today I thought I would just do whatever and review the final issues to some mainstream mini-series (some of which finished a bit ago and others still fresh in our minds), the ever-entertaining if also completely bonkers, "Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose", and just for good measure throw in a review of the first two issue's of Garth Ennis' "Caliban" coming out from Avatar Press. Yeah, there really isn't a rhyme or reason to my selections today other than I felt like talking about these particular books, so let's get to breaking things down, shall we?

Reviews
Origin II #5
Wow, after a somewhat slow start, then getting more promising I had developed relatively hopeful expectations for this comic before...well, this. Basically all we learn is that Victor Creed AKA Sabertooth has a sister that Wolverine hooked up with once but whom was never spoken of again by anyone. Also, Mr. Sinister "dies" but with that guy death is about as final as finishing your soda at a restaurant--you've got another one coming to you again relatively soon as long as the refill machine is working. This was not terrible, but still disappointing with a ending that all but guarantees an "Origin III" is in the works. Hopefully it won't be as wholly unimpressive as this mini-series. At least Adam Kubert supplied some dynamite art.
2.5 out of 5 stars.

What-If: Age of Ultron #5
Another Marvel-mini that ended a bit ago, and another disappointment. After a bunch of relatively-unconnected issues occurring with the only theme being the breaking of reality in "Age of Ultron" altered some worlds, all of the sudden the various universes explored in the previous four issues merge together in order to fight Ultron and give birth to a new world...or something. Honestly, this issue kind of ruins the previous ones--not that most were particularly good--and seems like a missed opportunity to tell a good "What-If" story based around "Age of Ultron", which readers will recall I actually have some fondness for despite others being hard on it. Oh well.
2 out of 5 stars.

Forever Evil #7
This is the last event-comic I plan to read for some time, as I repeatedly keep telling anyone who will listen how I have event-itis. "Forever Evil" wasn't that great, but it actually wasn't particularly bad either, telling a relatively-solid if not overly-creative tale of evil versions of DC's heroes coming and causing all sorts of trouble before in a (not that shocking) twist the very villains of the main DC world end-up saving the day. This issue had plenty of over-the-top violence as DC seems to love doing lately, drawn capably by David Finch, so that's good too.

With Lex Luthor now set-up as being a hero of humanity it might be interesting to see the direction some of the DC comics take--if you're someone who is still reading them. The only thing that really was a bit surpsing was Luthor figuring out how Bruce Wayne is Batman, that may result in some interesting stories before DC finds some way to erase that from Luthor's memory and/or continuity.
3 out of 5 stars.

Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #86
Jim Balent likes to draw half-naked (and fully-naked) bi-sexual witches. He also likes to draw mostly-naked bi-sexual were-cats (its like a were-wolf  but a cat-body) and bi-sexual vampire-women. He then draws these characters engaging in almost pornographic sex with each other or a man in other issues, but keeps it just tame enough to not end up in the adult section of "Previews". He draws this T&A with great skill though, being good at giving the audience what they want, which is sexually-charged comics with a wiccan-theme that inexplicably draws a large female audience.

This is what Balent wants to print every two months, and its what his fans want to read. Therefore, this issue where Tarot and a vampire fight over how they want the were-cat to be their exclusive girlfriend and also say some stuff about magic is exactly what readers of "Tarot" look for. It's gorgeously drawn T&A with a teeny-tiny hint of something deeper while also being a bit insane. For succeeding at what it sets out to do I respectfully give it...
4 out of 5 stars.

Caliban #1 and #2
Garth Ennis has made some interesting books with Avatar Comics, doing everything from his favorite subject of war-comics, to horror (look at "Crossed" for an example of that) to now outer-space with a horror-bent. These two issues basically entail the crew of a space-ship called the Caliban accidentally merging with an alien ship when both try to occupy the same hyper-space. This fusion results in the crew exploring this mysterious alien ship where it seems a variety of strange samples from other worlds are being kept and things clearly are about to go even more horribly wrong--if the end of the second issue is any indicator.

Ennis always has had a good ear for dialogue, and maintains his great skill of building tension while giving us just little bursts of violent and/or scary release (whilst still continuously ratcheting up the intensity). While not a ton has necessarily occurred within these two issues Ennis has nailed the atmosphere of fear and dread wonderfully and I look forward to seeing what happens next in the third issue which comes out this week.
4 out of 5 stars (for both issues).

So there it is, some comics reviewed. Have a quality rest of your day.

A Defense of "Age of Ultron"

Note: This is an older article about the "Age of Ultron" comic mini-series. For my thoughts on the movie go to this more recent post.
Court is in Session

Yesterday the trade paperback for "Age of Ultron" came out, collecting the series along with an extra tie-in issue. A hardcover came out previously with all of the less-important tie-in issues, but having read a variety of those I would argue a person could just read the main series and be fine. The thing about "Age of Ultron" I want to talk about though is a lot of people really don't like it, but I have a secret that I've hinted at on the blog--and that is how I actually am quite fond of this series.

Sure, I've said I "kind of liked it", or "didn't hate it", but I never fully came out and said, "You know what, I really enjoyed 'Age of Ultron' despite its flaws." Well, I'm tired of living in this closet so I felt it was time I officially "come-out" and declare that I am a "Friend of Ultron" as we colloquially call ourselves.

I'm being cute with my metaphors, but the fact still stands I truly did find "Age of Ultron" to be one of the few more-recent event-comics I liked (with "Inifnity" not being bad, and "Flashpoint" being another solid alternate-world tale), but with so many people against it I thought perhaps I should lay out my own defense of the series, making some points about why "Age of Ultron" gets more hate than it deserves, especially seeing as how it does a lot of things just as good as, or better than other event comics.

The Defense Has the Floor

Little did we suspect this history behind this Ultron head.

Defense 1: It cleverly already told us the ending well in advance
If you read the Bendis-written (note, the same person behind "Age of Ultron") and Maleev-drawn "Moon Knight" series that ran for twelve issues you know that it it wasn't too amazing, but was a solid  title. You also know a big plot point was Moon Knight finding an Ultron head and the resulting trouble that occurred because of it. The series ended saying how we could see more of Moon Knight in the upcoming "Age of Ultron" mini-series, but once we read it something quite clever was apparent--Moon Knight actually picked up the head of Ultron that disappeared at the end of the mini-series. In an astonishingly clever little twist then we actually we reading an epilogue to "Age of Ultron" that we didn't fully realize tied-in to it until after the event itself.

Some people thought this was stupid, but to them I point out that Grant Morrison basically did the same thing with his "Seven Soldiers of Victory" series of comics, with many characters from that having story-lines or plot-points that weren't as obviously important until "Final Crisis" came about some time later--and folk gave Morrison "mad props" for it, as the kids today say. Why it is cool when Morrison does this but lame when Bendis does I'm not sure, but I thought it was neat.

The "time is alive" speech.

Defense 2: It acknowledged the Marvel Universe's issues with time-travel
The Marvel Universe has had a complicated history with time-travel. Depending on who is writing a series, or what kind of time-travel technology is being used differing theories have existed. Some argue that if a hero goes into the past and changes it, that just creates a separate time-line and the hero will simply return to their time. Other's have made it so that heroes can go back in time and actually change things, or go to the future, learn what went wrong, and return back to their present to make sure they don't make their mistake, thus preventing one kind of future. It's been messy, and "Age of Ultron" tackled that problem head-on.

At first "Age of Ultron" seemed like it would have the standard plot-point of the heroes trying to fix the past (in this case Wolverine and Sue Storm killing Hank Pym so as to prevent Ultron from being created), returning to the present, seeing things are worse, and then undoing what they changed because they see they just made things awful. That's fine, but a bit clichéd. However, something amazing happens when the alternate-present Tony Stark points out that all this constant meddling with time is in fact hurting it, because time is something that is alive in a way just like us, and with much more mucking-about it could be broken. Wolverine and Sue Storm of course don't listen, and that's when the shit hits the fan, as it were.

Our heroes screw around with time some more, and just when it seems the day is saved, time-and-space begins to freak out, messing with our Universe in a way that sends some entities away (such as Galactus going to the Ultimate Universe), brings in characters from entirely different comic-Universes (providing a clever excuse for Marvel to bring Angela to their comics from the "Spawn"-line), and results in the rest of the Galaxy being pretty mad at Earth (providing some context for "Infinity" and the earlier events of the "Guardians of the Galaxy comic, which also incorporated the just-mentioned Angela). I can get annoyed when it seems like an event just sets up other events, but "Age of Ultron" set up major plot-points in general comics and helped kick-start multiple events--in this case Galactus causing trouble in "Cataclysm" and some of the rumblings of what would lead to "Infinity".

They broke time and Universe!

Defense 3: Its flaws actually have an excuse
Look, I'll admit that "Infinity" was arguably much more well-written than "Age of Ultron". It was intricately plotted, with multiple story-lines happening within the series along with the tie-in issues that found interesting ways to incorporate their conflicts into "Infinity" (such as "New Avengers" using it to further their whole story-line with alternate-earth's coming into contact and destroying one another). The thing is, "Age of Ultron" may not have been planned out as well, but its problems actually make it kind of appealing in a weird way. Yeah, certain mysteries pop-up and aren't acknowledged, such as a clear answer of what Ultron actually did to "win", what happened to a group of heroes who went into a future ruled by Ultron, or a variety of other questions.

The thing is, I don't actually mind not having these things answered, because while usually this would be a sign of sloppy writing by Bendis (and possibly still is), the fact that time and space have become broken support the idea that certain things are "out-of-whack". Plot elements such as these maybe weren't forgotten so much as the breaking of the Universe made them a moot point with the formation of so many other conflicts. Almost all stories have continuity problems, "Age of Ultron" actually has a pretty good excuse for its own.

You've gotta love heroes in an alternate-world

Defense 4: Who doesn't (usually) love a good alternate-world/future yarn?
I love alternate-world stories in my super-hero comics. I thought "Flashpoint" sounded dumb at first, but once I read it and fell into its fascinating world I really liked the comic and some of its tie-ins. "Age of Ultron" is basically one big "What If?", showing us a potential future with Ultron taking over, another time-line with what would have happened if  there wasn't an Ultron, and a finale that actually permanently impacted another popular alternate-Universe (The Ultimate Line). Sometimes stories about alternate worlds or futures can be lame, but when done well I--and it seems many others--seem to greatly enjoy them. I mean, alternate-world stories are popular enough DC is doing their big "Future's End" story that kind of is ripping off "Age of Ultron" (although "Age of Ultron" ripped-off a lot of sci-fi concepts anyways), so Marvel must have done something right.

It may be morbid with all the death and destruction, but the action is fun.

Defense 5: It's exciting and mostly self-contained (until the end).
For my final defense I simply offer the argument that while other events may be dramatic or "important" in that comic-line's Universe, "Age of Ultron" was just simply really good fun and mostly self-contained. It was a clever idea portrayed interestingly across multiple time-lines, and between the action and often-good art it was an enjoyable read. Some events are so busy trying to be "World-changing" like with the new DC series "Future's End" (which is in an alternate future impacted by events in a nearer-future and the present, I dunno, I'm skipping it because I have eventitis now), or show us how things will "Never be the same" they forget that an event could just be a fun thing that perhaps has consequences, but doesn't have to bill itself as so world-changing that all the comics a company puts out have to tie-in with it.

While the end of "Age of Ultron" resulted in some big changes in a many comics, when the event itself was going on it was pretty self-contained, with some tie-in comics but still being completely understandable if you were to just read the event itself. My other beef with the aforementioned "Future's End" is that it is not only a long-running weekly-series, but will have a whole month of comics that tie-in with it come September--that is just too much for most folks' pocketbooks. "Age of Ultron" was by comparison a relatively brisk 10 issues that came out at quite a good pace in this day and age of major comics seeming to be horribly delayed (with the caveat that while the issues came out fast when the event started, there were horrid delays in it launching). Still, once the comic started it was good, fast, and fun with you not having to buy any other comics than the event itself until it ended and all results of "Age of Ultron" could be followed in the bunch of comics that came in its wake.

The Defense Rests

Even if it is not based on the comic,
Marvel Studios liked the title and possibly some of it's ideas enough to use it/them.

"Age of Ultron" is clearly not perfect. It has flaws, but it also works at being a fun title with some clever plot-elements and story-telling devices I often enjoy such as alternate futures and presents. Many liked to insult "Age of Ultron" and call it names, pointing out its faults while ignoring its successes. I don't mind those people though, because while they may have a point, I still really enjoyed "Age of Ultron". It holds a special little place in my heart for things it seems nobody likes but me, resting there with purposely-burnt scrambled eggs and the movie "Joe Dirt".

Hate away on "Age of Ultron" all you want, but I hope my list of defenses at least gave you a temporary pause in your barrage of insults. Plus, I think we can all at least agree no matter what that "Age of Ultron" was better than "Fear Itself", another widely-reviled Marvel event. Now that was a piece of trash...at least that's what I'll say until I see someone else post a big defense of it, considering how basically any event has some fan out there, somewhere--and I'm the one for "Age of Ultron" and won't apologize for it.

Done With Comic-Book Mega-Events AKA Eventitis Finally Takes Its Toll

D-O-N-E

Okay, that's it, I am officially tired of, exhausted by, and done with comic-book mega-events. I'm sorry big comic companies--specifically Marvel and DC--but I just don't have the patience, funds, or optimism to continue following these big event-comics you like to have. When it was one a year I could maybe manage, and sometimes they were even pretty good. I enjoyed "Civil War", "Final Crisis", "World War Hulk", and "Flashpoint" was surprisingly good too. Oh, and I actually kind of liked "Age of Ultron" and  "Infinity" even if they weren't many peoples' favorites.

The thing is though, over time the near-constant influx of events has just taken its toll on me. "Secret Invasion" started promisingly but ended up being startlingly mediocre. "Dark Reign" wasn't necessarily an event, but the "Siege" it led to was, and God was that terrible. I couldn't even finish "Fear Itself" and "Avengers Versus X-Men" may have put Cyclops in an interesting place thematically but was overall a pretty damn poor excuse for a 12-issue series. "52" was incredible, but "Countdown to Final Crisis" was an abomination, with "Blackest Night" being decent but nothing to get overly excited about (I have the same feelings about its follow-up "Brightest Day" but did like that a bit more). Then "Trinity War" turned out to be nothing more than a prelude to "Forever Evil" and with it almost finished I'm pretty sure that event is going to get a solid "C" or "C-" from me once it ends.

I couldn't even finish this event.

Now we have events that overlap with and tie-in to other events. DC is going to have their three weekly-comics going at once that all seem to end in March of 2015 (with the special month-long event in September that uses the horribly stupid 3-D cover gimmick again and which ties in to one of the weekly comics, "Future's End") and therefore might be leading up to another mega-event.
Marvel is going to be making a big deal out of killing Wolverine, and "Original Sin" just kicked off with tie-in mini-series in the works along with those dreaded ".1, .2, .3, etc." issues.Oh, and then Marvel announces a mini-event set in 2061 (100 years after Marvel officially "started" as it were), and starts teasing something called "Axis"  that will clearly involve the Avengers and the X-Men butting heads once again. Plus, there is something in the works featuring all the spider-men in the multi-verse teaming-up, and I'm officially just done, D-O-N-E, done.

Between DC's three weekly series and September event plus Marvel's mega and mini-events, I'm just through. I'm tired of having these huge world-spanning, "Things will never  be the same...until the next big event" shenanigans taking place on what feels like a near monthly-cycle of one event ending and another starting. I've officially caught the dreaded eventitis

What is "Eventitis"?

Some of you out there may not be familiar with the medical condition known as eventitis. The prefix "Event" is of course in reference to comic-book mega-events, and "itis" is a Latin and Greek suffix for something to become inflamed, abnormal, or in excess. Comic-books have and seem to be having more-and-more events and therefore, eventitis is basically a slang term for being burnt-out on all these comics events--with it I suppose quite literally meaning that there is an inflammation/overabundance of events causing irritation, specifically to a person's pocket-book.

Eventitis is usually something that does not happen overnight. Like most irritations and inflammations it develops slowly over time, bugging you slightly but being something you think will go away. Then one day you wake up, look at the problem, and wonder how you let it get so bad before doing anything about it--with the problem in this case of course being all the comic-events happening one after another, after another, after another. Eventitis is something that once contracted may eventually go away, or be stuck with a person forever. I don't know if my eventitis will somehow fade if the prefect event for me to is announced, or if I'm forever stuck with it. All I know is I've come down with it, and I've got it pretty badly.

Treatment

"D.A.R.E." may have failed as a program,
 but their slogan is quite apt in this case.

I've got eventitis, that much is clear. the only treatment I can think of for it is to not read all the events coming out, and that is in fact my plan.

I'm going to read the "zero" issue of "Original Sin" that was recently released out of curiosity but am not going to be following the event. I'm also not going to pick up any of the weekly comics DC is putting out, and September may be a month where I skip the relatively few DC books I'm still reading ("Batman" "Green Arrow", a "Justice League" or two and "Injustice: Year Two", which isn't even in the main DC Universe, possibly explaining why it is arguably the best book out of all of those). I'm not going to read that Spider-Man event, the Marvel 2061 stuff lacks a place on my pull-list, Wolverine can die without my reading about it, and whatever "Axis" is can carry on without me.

Nope. I'm not gonna do it.
I'm not going to get excited for this.

I still enjoy a variety of comics that are more popular and less popular along with being mainstream or independent. The new "Moon Knight" and "Loki: Agent of Asgard" comics from Marvel are killing it with barely any issues even out yet, and other Marvel titles that aren't trying to tie-in with major events are pretty great too. Image of course has stuff like "Saga" and "Zero" to keep my attention, and Avatar's "Uber" continues to be a treat. Plus there is "Afterlife with Archie" which is just great, and, "The Beautiful War" will be coming out relatively soon with great art by Ashley Wood, ensuring it will at least be gorgeous. All of these show that clearly I'm not burnt-out on comics as a thing I enjoy, I just have a severe case of eventitis.

I may have eventitis and not plan to actively buy and read all of these new events, but I will of course follow the news about them and potentially flip-through any issues I hear about with shocking matters. My main worry is just that some of the comics I still enjoy will tie-in with these events I'm not following and leave me extremely lost. At that point I may have to either resign myself to some confusion or just drop those comics tying-in with events if needed. When that potential time comes and irritates my eventitis I'll deal with it, but until then I guess I just have to accept the fact I have this condition and still enjoy the comics that don't bother it. Whatever the case, please do tell me how they kill off Wolverine; I'm betting its vague enough they can bring him back just a few months later.

Links and Updates on Recent Stories

Let's do some links to new things that are happening and some updates on past happenings I may have discussed.

There is going to be a new comic about Marvel's Inhumans and it will be called "Inhumanity". It looks like it basically is going to add a ton of powered people to the Marvel Universe as a new minority...which is what mutants were until "House of M" took away most mutants' powers and "Avengers Versus X-Men" sort of tried to fix it but not completely.

At one point I mentioned how it appeared Warren Ellis' story, "Dead Pig Collector" would not be seeing release anytime soon due things falling through with Ellis' publisher at the time. Luckily, that has changed and it will be out as an ebook single before too long.

After hearing a bunch about this short movie titled simply "The Flying Man" I decided to check it out and was pretty impressed. Within its relatively-brief 9 minutes it successfully imparts how we as a society would actually most likely react to a flying vigilante--not with excitement but immense fear and paranoia.

For some inexplicable reason I almost-kind-of-liked Marvel's "Age of Ultron" event (I at least didn't hate it), but Timothy O'Neil was a not a fan. He expresses much distaste here and also here where the epilogue issue does not escape his wrath either. I may not fully agree with all he says, but he's a damn good writer at saying it. To his credit, Angela popping up at the end (Um, spoiler for the one person that didn't hear about that) really does make zero sense.

I mentioned how Microsoft basically reversed everything they had said they were going to do with the Xbox One, and sadly that still hasn't helped with the bad press. At a fighting-game tournament event the new version of "Killer Instinct" found itself being booed when the crowd was reminded how it could only be played on Xbox One. I myself am kind of over being all "down" on Microsoft because they realized they had made some terrible decisions and changed what was planned. It seems others are not as forgiving as me, or are still creeped-out by the idea of Kinect's potentially ever-watching eye.

Generally I don't swear much, but seriously, fuck Texas--well, not all of Texas, but anyone in its Congress and within the state that supports this bill that tries to put a woman's right over her body back to the 1960's. I thought this had died but then the anti-choice legislators basically cheated to get their idiotic law through.

I have a weird soft-spot for the Martian Manhunter so I was pleased to hear he finally is appearing in the "Injustice: Gods Among Us" video-game that I've reviewed (with assistance from my girlfriend) in the past.

The Comic-Con that has grown so big many folk just call it, "Comic-Con" instead of attaching the "San Diego" to it is approaching rapidly. I of course won't be there. Why? Well, if I had the money to fly out and attend the 'con I honestly would probably spend that cash on a cruise--so in other words I can't afford it and am not known enough to get free press tickets and/or rooming. Someday I'll go maybe, but until then I can look at the site and sigh with heavy heart.

Lastly, I was very pleased by the positive reaction to my post about the lack of Muslim super-heroes and the question of just what sort of "ideal" super-beings represent. I'm glad people like my big essay posts I do sometimes as they can take forever to write and I worry if anyone really cares or would rather see me just rag on the newest crappy thing from Bluewater Comics. Speaking of which, Bluewater is putting out a Paula Deen biocomic. Yeah, I'll leave you with that mind-obliterating thought.

Tales from the Dollar Bin: X-Force #1

I've created a new segment that should serve to entertain and inform. I hope to do it somewhat-regularly. Now I shall debut it with the description I will always have to kick it off.

There are comics which are worth incredible sums of money, but so many of the most interesting, tragic, or just downright weird can be found for a simple dollar or less in a  store's "dollar bin". There, comics that never gained much popularity can be found alongside those that sold so much as for a copy to be worthless. "Tales From the Dollar Bin" aims to explore these comics, be they a single issue or an entire run of a series. From the great to the miserable, some of the best treasures and worst nightmares can be found in those infamous boxes. Let's have a "tale" now..
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The Twisted Saga of "X-Force #1"

It is no secret that I basically now don't care for Rob Liefeld as he went from a mediocre artist who at least seemed like a really nice guy, to a complete and utter jerk. He used to be quite the hot property though, and this dollar comic I found attests to that.

The first-ever issue of X-Force (in their own self-titled comic, at least) is the 2nd best-selling comic ever, behind the first issue of X-Men back when it was re-released in the 1990's. This comic came out during the speculation-craze when people were buying poly-bagged comics with all kinds of extras (trading cards, shiny covers, etc.) and storing them away unread in the hopes they would someday be worth something. Considering how many copies this comic sold it should come as no surprise that even still in its original plastic bag with the trading card it is basically worthless despite the label on the plastic packaging declaring it a, "collector's item." The fact that there are people who spent so much money out there on comics such as these and then went broke when the market crashed makes the whole thing as fascinating as it is sad.

The comic speculation market, seconds before the bubble popping

At the store where I acquired this first issue of "X-Force" there were four total copies of just the first issue, still sealed in the original packaging along with a few "loose" copies. This got me thinking how all the way back in 1991 someone could have bought this comic, and kept it sealed-shut in the hopes it would someday be worth big bucks. As time went on and the comic-market basically crashed they probably cursed this comic, glared at it with rage, but somewhere deep within their heart hoped it would be worth at least some money at some point, keeping it encased within its plastic prison, never to be read, with only a trading card packed by its side to keep it company.

Maybe one day our theoretical person just gave up, sold all their comics in bulk--the valuable and worthless--and the store where I bought this got a few of the copies, didn't even bother to open them, slapped a "$1.00" sticker on the copies, and shoved the four sealed-up issues of "X-Force" into their dollar bin never to be seen again until someone with a passing interest in curiosities such as these (me) bought one.

How is the comic itself though? Well, its a 90's-era Liefeld "X-Force" comic, that's all you really need to know. It's classic over-the-top Liefeld and otherwise is unremarkable other than how the comic itself kind of stands for everything that went wrong with comics back then--the mindless buying of multiple issues, gimmicks, and the inevitable bursting of the speculation bubble. I mean, the cover seriously declares itself a special collectible twice with the labels on the poly-bag, is that not absurd?

It's 2013 and we're still doing this poly-bag nonsense?

In some ways a comic such as this can serve as a warning to the comics of today. We have poly-bagging making a return with the occasional "big-deal" comic having the wrapper, often to obscure the cover which inevitably gives away a major plot point (that everyone knows anyway thanks to the internet). A mere week ago "Age of Ultron #10" had a little black poly-bag to hide away any secrets within the comic. This of course also served to theoretically make it more valuable to anyone who leaves their comic sealed shut within the plastic, never to be read and enjoyed, but instead treated as some sort of investment in the future.

The Story Comes to its End
I've always felt if you're buying new comics in the simple hope they'll go up in value you're doing comics as a hobby wrong. Go ahead and buy old ones that have some worth and maybe sell them, but if you truly believe that snatching up a hundred copies of some new series or big event's conclusion will make you rich, well, you're living in a fantasy land (although, to be fair, anyone who did pick up a bunch of "Walking Dead"  #1's probably is living the high life right now).

In the end, whether that first issue of a comic turns out to be worth thousands, or barely a dollar, is purely up to the desires of the market and a healthy helping of sheer chance. Only the passage of time will determine if something becomes worth a lot of scratch, or just another...tale from the dollar bin!

Rant-Reviews--Funny Comics, Serious Comics, and Just Plain Confusing Ones

Adventures in Reading
Even though my blog had been a bit sparse on the posting until this avalanche of content, I still was reading plenty of comics when I had the chance. Therefore, I now present to you my thoughts on some of them.

Deadpool #7
Poshen and Duggan have been writing one fun Deadpool. Despite a start that I found a bit weak, once the book found its footing around issue #3 it became highly enjoyable. Interestingly enough, this issue doesn't continue the story of the first six issues, choosing instead to be a faux-inventory issue set around the Bronze Age of comics. With an art style that could easily pass as being from then you could almost believe this were set in the past, were it not for the fact that Deadpool hadn't been created yet back then (plus there are some smart little winks to the future in a few of the jokes). Scott Koblish absolutely nails the aforementioned art and most of the jokes are successful in making me laugh. Whoever said you can't do quality done-in-one issues this modern day was as liar, as this comic proves otherwise.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

Stormwatch #19
I've seen some positive reviews of this issue and am wondering if something is wrong with me and the not comic. I say that because I read this issue and instead of fully liking or hating the it I can only wonder just what the Hell is happening. It seems the current Stormwatch has been erased from existence so now heroes are being pulled from other dimensions to form a new team, but some of them are the previous versions of Stormwatch characters? Is that what is going on? Do those weird robot-looking things that are altering history serve as villains or are they actually doing good things and we don't realize it? Why is that creepy guy with the huge eyes around, as I've read writer Jim Starlin created him long ago for a different comic? Seriously, what is happening in this comic? I ask because I truly have no clue, and that makes it pretty low in enjoyment-levels.
2 out of 5 stars.

The Standard #2
It is only on its second issue, but after its strong debut (as I've discussed before in a post on new publisher Comixtribe) and this equally excellent entry I'm prepared to say "The Standard" is shaping up to be one stellar story. Between its clever bouncing-around from the past to present, an older superhero investigating the death of his former sidekick, and some clever meta-commentary on how heroes have functioned in society's psyche ("If people see us as fun and colorful they're not as scared of us") this is definitely a comic worth buying, or demanding your store start stocking if they haven't been carrying it yet.
4.5 out of 5 stars.


Batman #19
The opening to this issue had me absolutely scratching my head until I reached the conclusion (which I'm going to spoil) some 20-ish pages later. After that everything made sense. Writer Scott Snyder is at his best when instead of trying to tell complicated sweeping tales (such as "Court of the Owls") he focuses in on characters and their motivations. His run on "Detective Comics" was stellar in making James Gordon extremely creepy, and in this single issue Snyder has made the villain of the issue, Clayface, pretty interesting between his powers changing and new mysterious motivations occurring. Clearly the evil Bruce Wayne at the start of the issue is Clayface, but the question now is what does he have planned, and why? After the somewhat disappointing, "Death of the family" arc with the Joker I'm pleased to see the book become a good read again.
4 out of 5 stars.

Team 7 #7
I've given up on trying to understand this comic. The characters that randomly show-up, their motivations, what the overall plot is, I just don't care. This thing went from moving at a relatively leisurely pace to throwing out every random idea it has now that the series dies a sad and unnoticed death next issue. This is just bad comic-booking right here.
1 out of 5 stars.


Age of Ultron #6
This came out today and I read it first out of my stack of new comics. I didn't do this because it is such an amazing comic that I have to read it as soon as I buy it. No, it is more a curiosity about if Bendis can keep this pretty-good-so-far story moving along as well as he has. Perhaps having Bryan Hitch turn in lovely artwork those first five issues helped as his super-detailed way of drawing scenery really imparted the destruction being wreaked by Ultron. That, and things are relatively fun with the whole, "The heroes lost and are just trying to survive now," plot. Also, Bendis has a tendency to have a huge team then strangely just focus-in on a single character or two, but that has worked pretty well in this series, giving everyone a bit of limelight. Be it showing Black Widow and Moon Knight on the West Coast, Hawkeye and Spider-Man escaping a bunch of villains, or Luke Cage and She-Hulk working together to trick Ultron, having all these little moments of duos has helped move things along pretty well.

One thing that has bugged me is we still haven't actually seen the main Ultron doing all this and learned what his true motivations are beyond killing everything--and we're more than half-way through the series now. Perhaps there isn't much of a twist beyond, "Ultron hates human life," but the story has kept hinting at such a thing, be it in the text or with the weird announcement that a character Neil Gaiman wrote for an issue of "Spawn" will be showing up at the end (I still can't wrap my head Angela showing up like that). I'm just concerned with the next issue seeming to go the, "We changed the past and ruined the future!" route if it turns out that actually occurs. Still, the accelerated release schedule of the book has been great as it keeps it fresh in readers' minds and means the event won't go on forever ("Secret Invasion" felt like it took 2 years). I'm liking this still, and that's always good.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

That's All She/He Wrote
We've got some comics reviewed, some being quite good and others pretty bad. I guess at the end of the day all you can do is hope the positive outweighs the negative. Then again, most comics weigh the same so that saying doesn't really work now, does it? Such is life...