This is Entry 247: 2012!

The year is 1992.


In Sports: The Washington Redskins win Super Bowl XXVI. The Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowl XXV. The Chicago Bulls win the NBA Finals. The Toronto Blue Jays become the 1st Canadian team to play in the World Series & the 1st non-American Team to with the World Series.

In Politics: 41st President of the United States George H.W. Bush become violently ill in a Japanese televised state dinner. While there there his threw up on Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa & then fainted. Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaced Jaiver Perez de Cueller of Peru as the UN Security General. Bill Clinton, before becoming 42nd President of the United States, plays the saxophone on the the Arsenio Hall Show.  Ross Perot buys a block of TV time for his Presidential Campaign.

On TV: Seinfeld, Barney & Friends, The Real World, Batman: The Animated Series, Martin, Goof Troop, Eek! The Cat, Roundhouse, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Mad about You, Ghostwriter & X-Men: the Animated Series all had their premiere episodes. The Cosby Show, MacGyer, Growing Pains, The Golden Girls, Night Court, Darkwing Duck also had their final episodes. The Sci-Fi Channel (now Sy Fy) & Cartoon Network premiere.

In Movies: Aladdin, The Bodyguard, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Basic Instinct, Lethal Weapon 3, Batman Returns, a Few Good Men, Sister Act, Bram Stoker's Dracula & Wayne's World are the Top 10 Movies of the year. Other notable movies are: 3 Ninjas, Bebe's Kids, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cool World, Cutting Edge, Death Becomes Her, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Encino Man, Honey, I blew of the Kid (sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids), The Lawnmower Man, The Crying Game, A League of their Own, The Mighty Ducks, The Muppet Christmas Carrol, My Cousin Vinny, Passenger 57, Reservoir Dogs, Rock-a-Doddle, Sneakers, Stop! or My Mom will shoot, Toys & White Men can't jump.

In Video Games: Mortal Kombat is released to Arcades. The Ecco the Dolphin video game is released. The Sega CD (an add-on to the Sega Genesis) is released in the US. 2 Games from the Ultima series of games were released (The Black Gate & The Stygian Abyss). The Later being the 1st 3D role-playing video game.

Notable Births: Disney Channel stars Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Dylan & Cole Sprouse.

Notable Deaths: Actor Dick York (Darren Stephens #1 from TV's Bewitched), Author Issac Asimov, Comedian Sam Kinison, Actor Robert Reed (Mike Brady from Tv's Brady Bunch), Comedian Benny Hill, Actress Marlene Dietrich, Musician Lawernce Welk, Carl Stolz (Founder of American Little League), Martin Goodman (Long Time Publisher of Marvel Comics), William Gaines (EC Comics/MAD Magazine Publisher), Joe Shuster (Superman Co-Creator) & Pierre Culliford/Peyo (Smurfs creator).

In World Events: Euro Disney was opened (The name was changed to Disneyland Paris later on). The 1992 Summer Olympics are held in Barcelona, Spain. Hurricane Andrew happened.

Now what does 1992 have to do with 2012 besides being 20 years ago....

In Seattle, Washington: A 9 year old boy starts down a path that will come to define his life.

Over the course of the rest of the year (& maybe a bit into 2013): I'm going to go over the comics I've read over the past 20 years. Most of the comics I'll be talking about are the "good" comics, the ones I really enjoy/enjoyed. But some of the "bad" comics might make their way into the retrospective if I think they are worth talking about.

There are a few notable Comic Book milestones that happened in 1992:

- Image Comics is founded.

- Detective Renee Montoya (Batman #475) & Carnage (Amazing Spider-Man # 361) make their 1st appearances.

- With Issue 12, NFL Superpro is cancelled.

- Spider-Man 2099 #1 is published.

I'll be back soon with the 1st official post in what I am calling "The 2012 Project". Until then, Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian.

This is Entry 246: Out with the Old & in with the New!

DC Comics now has a new logo. It now comes in a variety of themes & colors!

I don't dislike this new logo (I didn't dislike the previous logo).

It could be cool to see it animated some how (like before a Movie/Cartoon/TV show).

That is all I got for now. Until next time: Stay Jazzy, Everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 245: Ch-Ch-Changes!

Yeah. I know i haven't updated the blog all that much recently but I have news!


1st off: the day I knew was coming for some time. DC Comics has announced the cancellation of 6 books. Those books are:  Blackhawks, Hawk and Dove, Men of War, OMAC, Static Shock & the only book of the bunch that I've been reading: Mister Terrific. It's sad to see any books get cancelled but DC has announced that they be replacing these 6 books with 6 "new" books. Of the 6 there are 2 really super cool & awesome books of the bunch: World's Finest with Power Girl (yeah. She's back) & Huntress (but not Helena Bertineli, Helena Wayne is back as Huntress) as the main characters in the book. Who's the team behind the book? Paul Levitz, George Perez & Kevin Maguire. The other book that I thought was just going to be a mini series but now I know is an on going series: Earth 2. You know what that means? The Justice Society are coming back. The team behind this book is James Robinson & Nicola Scott.


The other four books are the return of Batman Incorporated (by Grant Morrison & Chris Burnham), the replacement of Men of War G.I. Combat (by J.T. Krul), The Superboy/Teen Titans spin-off The Ravagers (by Howard Mackie & Ian Churchill) & the relaunch of the "Dial for H for Hero" which is now just called Dial H (by China Miéville and Mateus Santoluoco). Of that set I'd think about picking up the Dial H series becuase I've liked what DC has done with that concept in the past.


The 6 old series get cancelled in April & the 6 new series get launched in May.

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In other DC Comics news....

That might be their new logo. What was my 1st reaction after seeing it? 

WHAT ON RAO'S GREEN KRYPTON IS THAT THING?

Now this isn't a what it will be but this design has been set off to the U.S. patent office by DC. Also, it being "colorless": that was on purpose. If I understand what I read, they trademark it "colorless" they also have a patents on any color they change the logo to.

That's all I got for now. I have a nice stack of comics that I be back soon to talk about. Until then, Stay Jazzy!

- Brian

This is Entry 244: Comic Book Round-Up!

It's a been almost a month since the last Round-Up posting but there was the the Fantastic Four #600 review posting in there & it's been a few weeks since I've really posted anything. Why? Basically I've been doing other stuff.

But I'm back with 11 books & if I waited until tomorrow, there would be another 4 or 5 books to add to this pile. But I'm doing this now so I don't get so behind that I decided to not do this at all. Also, I don't have much to say about many of these books but I do have something to say.

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First off: Marvel.

FF #12: This comic has a nice cover class photo of "members" of the Future Foundation (The FF that the title refers to). This issue direct continues where we last saw them in Fantastic Four #600. Tomorrow 601 of the Fantastic Four comes out & we/I get more of a look at how these 2 books will connect together. If it's like this issue (Events from Book A are further explored in Book B) It should be pretty good. But I don't think you should have to read both books to get what is going on (something that that could be problem with the interconnected Comics of the 1990's especially when your buying years after they came out).

The Invincible Iron Man #510: I think I made mention of this the last time I talk about this book that I had been enjoying the book before it got all tied up in Fear Itself junk. It went from a book I looked forward to one I didn't. I also thought that it might go back to being good after the FI stuff is over. Well, 510 is the first issue post FI & it was pretty good. But I've just lost interest in the book so this is the last issue I'll be reading for awhile. Also something I've thought is odd: IIM is the only Super Hero book I read from the "Big 2" that is a dollar more expensive. IIM is $3.99 where everyone else is $2.99 & I don't know why. IIM doesn't have any more pages then the other books so I'm not sure why the higher price.

The Defenders #1: This is the first book that I know that was come out that was connected to the Marvel: Point One one-shot that came out a few weeks ago. This was one of the few books I actually thought I'd might pick up before from the story in the book & an interview with writer Matt Fraction I read. Fraction also writes Iron Man so I know he can write a good book & the art by the Dodsons (the husband & wife art team, Terry & Rachel) do some nice looking art. How was the issue itself? Good. It may have the best line of dialogue to some up a feeling I have. The dialogue was uttered by Danny Rand, also known as Iron Fist (The guy with the glowing hands on the cover). He said:

" The older I get, the more life seems to be the stupid, frustrating stuff that gets in the way of You and reading Comics...."

The comic that Danny attempts to read through the issue I think might be foreshadowing something. Also, the comics has a very retro 1970's/1980's feel to it. Maybe it's just that the team, the Defenders is a comic from the 1970's/1980's. But yet it feels modern. It's somewhere in between & I like that.

You might be asking what that larger monster thing on the cover is? Well, that's Red She-Hulk & I don't think she'd like being called a Monster. Oh... you meant the monster in the background. That is the villain of the book. They don't exactly name him in the book.

Avengers Academy #23: Yes, X-23 (the teenage girl clone of Wolverine) does going the book in this issue & no Mettle (That's the guy's codename) does do not throw her in the comic. But X-23 being in the book is not the main focus of the book. I'd say it's more the conversation between Striker & Lightspeed (Formally of the Power Pack). What's the topic? coming to terms with your sexuality. it is done quite well. Another good issue of a good series tackling an issue that doesn't come up in comics all that often.

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On to the DC Comics...

Demon Knights #4: 1 thing about the cover. That sword seems a bit to long to be usable. I know there are "long swords" but that just seems too long. As stated on the cover, this issues does go into the back story of one of the mysterious members of the group. It does shed some light on the character but doesn't exactly explain everything. Another good issue of a good series.

Suicide Squad #4: *SIGH* I'm really trying to like you, Suicide Squad comic book but your making it hard to do so. What with your inconsistent art (On 1 page, Harley Quinn's makeup appears & disappears) & your confusing at times story telling (some stuff that might of helped explain what was going on just wasn't there). I know that a lot of people didn't like you from before Issue #1 came out but I was willing to give you a chance. But if you keep this up, I might stop reading you & from the sounds of it you can't afford to loose any readers.

Justice League International #4: I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's not the art or the writing. They are both good. It's just the book just hasn't really grabbed me. I'll read to the end of this storyline & then see how i feel about the book.

Justice League Dark #3: This cover doesn't really connect to the comic inside which is good both in story & art. It seems like it's trying to be a movie poster.

Coming this Summer from Warner Brothers Studios

Justice League Dark 
Are they enough against the rising Dark Forces?!?!? 

Mister Terrific #4: I don't have much to say about this issue other then it's another good issue of a good comic. The cover image does happen in the comics (Not that exact scene but Mr. T does face off against that creature).

Batgirl #4: Why isn't this Issue #3? Issue #1 Introduced us to the Villain, Issue #2 Batgirl fought him a bit. Issue #3 she fights with him for a 2 pages & then lets him get away. Batgirl spends the rest of the issue hanging out with Nightwing reminiscing about the same thing for 20 pages (Them being trained by Batman when they were younger. She also keeps mentioning that he she had a crush on him). So, Issue #4 is her fights the villain once more & defeating him. Why couldn't see have done that last issue & spent this issue hanging out with Nightwing?  What was Issue #3 just seems to be so out of place which doesn't help my minor dislike of the book. There is stuff going on that I do like not not enough. A book I might stop reading.

The Flash #3: The book I currently read with maybe the best art & most inventive use of that art. The way text is used in panels & how those panels are used on the page is worth looking at. Also, the book also has a good story going on. I don't have much more then that to say. Yet another Good Issue of a Good Book.

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Not sure if there will be another post or not before the end of the year but there might be. Check back & see! :)

Until then: Stay Jazzy & Merry Christmas (if you celebrate that)!

- Brian

This is Entry 243: Coming Attractions!

Here is the "teaser poster" for a project that has been in the planning stages for a few months. It will start up soon (for hopefully obvious reasons). What it is actually is about will be revealed at that time.

Until then, Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 242: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine Returns!

So... Last week this came out:

There are a couple different covers this just happens to be the one I have

The "Fantastic Four" comic book is back after about a year away with Issue #600. The last issue before this was the "final issue" & #588. Where are issue 589-599? Uh.....

(Marvel is counting the issues of the first 11 issues of the FF comic as those "missing" issues but unless you know that in a few years when people are looking for back issues of Fantastic Four might be a bit confused where those 10 issues are.)

This is the 2nd over sized book I've bought from Marvel in the last few weeks. The other one was their Point One anthology. Both of these books have some similarities:

- Both are longer them an average 32 comic book: Point One is 64 pages, Fantastic Four #600 is 100 pages.
- Both are more expensive then an average comic book (which ranges from $2.99 or $3.99 most times): Point One was $5.99 & Fantastic Four #600 was $7.99).
- There are multiple stories in both (Point One has 6 stories, Fantastic Four has 5).
- Both are preparing what future comic books (Point One has a bunch of stating points for stuff Marvel is soon to put out & Fantastic Four #600 is a getting you set for what's happening in future issues of Fantastic Four & FF).

But as I said when I talked about Point One I got the book half off from my local comic book store because they didn't anyone would spend 6 dollars for it & of the 6 stories I'd only read 1 or 2 of them. Is Fantastic Four #600 any better?

Oh heck yeah!

Of the 100 pages in the book, 6 pages are ads. That's 94 pages of story. (Point One had 10 ads but also has almost half as much pages). In those 94 pages, writer Jonathan Hickman packs in a lot of story. Things that have been building since around the time he started writing the book which he's done for 30 or more issues.

My 1 complain about the last few issues of "FF" was that it all felt like set up & I was getting tired of reading the set up without getting much of a payoff. This issue was the payoff & then some. Oh man, was it a pay off. I did not mind at all the $7.99 price tag: I got my money's worth!

The 1st/main story was almost the length of an average comic (27 pages, no ads in that story). If that 1 story was all we got in a double sized issue of "FF" that would have been awesome & worth the cover price. But this being a 100 page book & we are only on page 27: we still got a lot more to get to.

With the reveal at the end of the 1st story, we our first ad before getting to the 2nd story which takes of most of the book (The story is 46 pages long with 2 ads). In it we find out what *SPOILER CHARACTER* has been up since we last saw them & they have been busy which is partly why I think it takes up the majority of the book.

I felt the art change from Steve Epting in the 1st story to Carmine Di Giandomenico in the 2nd was if a tonal change but Carmine's art did fit with the location (The Negative Zone) & for the Bug Horde that is present. But I found how the characters are drawn to be a bit wonky or at least for me. They can look a bit odd at time when I don't think they are meant to look odd.

We flip the page for 3rd ad of the book & past that is the 3rd story of the book a 7 page story involving the Inhumans & we see how Medusa & Blackbolt "talk" to each other. Once again the art changes (each story has a different artist but all the stories are written by Hickman). The art for the 3rd story is by Ming Doyle & nicely goes with the story.

I will say this that all the art in the book while it changes from story to story they all compliment the story nicely if as I said might look "wonky" at times.

On to Story #4 with art by Lenil Francis Yu it is set on the moon with Reed & Sue talking Galactus. They talk about the future of Earth & how it's not going to be a great one. It's only 6 pages long but it sets up a lot.

On to the 5th & final story, it's 7 pages long & the art is by Farel Dalrymple (They also letter the story, too). It's a story involving Franklin Richards & Leech. The art has a childlike quality to it (That is not a bad thing). There is also a mysterious white man. They are completely white. Just the outline of a man with nothing but white in the outline. The "white man" also seen in 1 panel standing partly outside the panel I partly think this is "white man" the writer, Hickman talking to Franklin & Leech but I might be wrong.

And with that we end the book on a text page with some words from Tom Brevoort (Editor at Marvel among other things), Stan Goldberg (Artist & the original colorist for the Fantastic Four comic book) & Paul Mounts (the current colorist for the book). The very last page is the last ad for issue 601 of "Fantastic Four" & Issue 12 of "FF".

From the looks of the ads, what I've seen elsewhere & read elsewhere, the Adults (The Thing, Reed & Sue Richards, *SPOILER CHARACTER* & maybe a few others) will be the focus of the newly restarted Fantastic Four where the "Kids" in the Future Foundation will be the focus of the FF book now.  Which I don't mind I think Hickman has enough to fill both books. But this does mean that I now have one more book to read a month :)

Now this wasn't the only book I picked up last week (It certainly couple have been given that I was that good). There were 3 others but I'll talk about them when I talk about the books from this week & that will be a post for another day.

Until then: Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 241: I'm thankful for...

So, last week in the good ol' U.S. of A. was the Thanksgiving holiday & a day where we gather together with family & eat lots of food. We are also to think about what we are thankful for & I probably should have posted this last week but I didn't. So, 1 thing I'm thankful is this:

It has slipped my mind when I was talking about the latest issue of Demon Knights to talk about the last page of the issue (which that image is). I'm thankful for writer Paul Cornell & Artist Diogenes Neves for not showing me all the gore of the decapitated head. Yeah, it's a bit odd to not see their faces but if I had to a choice to not see their faces or to see blood, guts & gore: I'll got with not seeing their faces. That's all I got to say about it.

Until next time: Stay Jazzy!

- Brian

This is Entry 240: Comic Book Round-Up for 11/9/11 & 11/16/11

I think that I'm going to be doing more & more of these 2 weeks of Comics in 1 post round-up posts what with the schedule I've been keeping with these post. I've got most of my comics from last week (except for Marvel Point One which got it's own post) & all of the comics I picked up this week.

Let's start off with the lone Marvel comic I picked up this week & the 2nd/3rd time I've talked about this month: Avengers Academy #22:

Not only does it get the "Shattered Heroes" banner (Still not sure what that means, not one here seems "shattered" other then Jocasta) but it also gets the "Regenesis" banner at the bottom of the cover because every book that has the X-Men in it for the next few months is getting that. So... yeah. The X-Men are in this issue or at least Magneto, Cyclops & Emma Frost are in the book.  I liked this issue & the appearance of the X-Trio didn't seem likely a meaningless cameo just because the Academy has not moved to California. There was some really nice scenes between Magneto & Quicksilver. Also, some nice scenes between Hawkeye (who has changed costumes in between issues for some reason) & Hank Pym regarding the X-Men (or at least regarding Magneto & Emma Frost). Again as I said last time regarding this book: another good issue. One of the better Marvel book I read.

On to the DC books & there are a lot of them.




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Red Hood and the Outlaws #3: First off I like the cover.  Now what is shown on the cover (The group fighting their past selves) doesn't happen but we do get to see a flashback to a time in each of the group's past which I thought was cool. I liked the flashbacks for Roy Harper (Arsenal) & Jason Todd (Red Hood) better then the one for Starfire. They were all good but felt the flashbacks for the guys were more interesting. I was also nice seeing what Jason looked like when he was Robin.

Suicide Squad #3: 1 thing about the cover. Harley's Boobs: they are bigger then her head! What the What? Moving on to the book it's self as seen on the cover, Mad Dog is back!

Cover to Issue #1 of the mini-series.

Who? yeah. Mad Dog is a minor DC character who got a 4 issue mini series way back in the 80's & I don't think had been seen since. How he is seen on the cover is not how he was seen in the 80's. I will say this about  redesign. I sort of miss the Hockey Jersey & the laughing dog. But they kept the look of a hockey mask for his present day mask. Something not seen on the cover but he has a necklace which has the design of the target symbol on it. (The target looked like the "O" from the old mini series' logo). I don't well see much more from Mad Dog given what I think happened to him at the end of the issue but he might be. I'm not sure.

But how was the comic? Getting better issue by issue. My 1 real complaint about there being more then 1 artist per issue seems to be solved. There was some great moments in the book (They should do more with King Shark, he was great in this issue). There was some great banter between the Squad members. If the banter in Suicide Squad became a bit more like the banter Red Hood and the Outlaws that would be cool.  Also, at the end of the issue we got a new Squad member: Captain Boomerang! 1 person we haven't really seen much since issue 1 is Amanda Waller. We've heard her a few times but not seen her much.

Demon Knights #3: Kind of of an off issue for me. It's not that it was bad. Just more of the same from Issue #2 which was good. Nothing truly new, still a good book.

DC Universe Presents: Deadman #3: We are half way through Deadman's story. DCU Presents is an anthology book with a rotating cast of characters (I think I read that The Challengers of the Fantastic will be the next story in the book). EDIT: As pointed out to me Jay Boaz, It's Challengers of the Unknown not the Challengers of the Fantastic.  How was Part 3 of the Deadman's story? Good. The story has nicely clipped along. Each issue has introduced some interesting ideas or characters. Some which I'd like to see elsewhere but am not sure I will.  A good story but not much else  to say.

Mister Terrific #3: We have the conclusion to Mr. T's fight with Brainstorm which was good. Much like with Deadman: a good story but not much else to say beyond that.

Batgirl #: *sigh*. I didn't see much point of this book existing. They spend much of the issue with Batgirl hanging out with Nightwing which could be a interesting idea for an issue. It wasn't. They don't do much. Almost nothing really (they spend a few pages talking about how they were both trained by Batman. Really???!!! I did not know that! Please, waste a few more pages talking about that). I know writer Gail Simone can do better then this! I'm seriously thinking about stopping reading this book.

Speaking of books I'm thinking of no longer reading....

Catwoman #3: Before we talk about the book (which there isn't much to talk about) let's talk about the cover. Actually more 1 thing on the cover: The Bat. You can't really read it at the size I have it at but on the the Bat is the logo "Gotham Bats" which I guess is a local sports team (Really Gotham City? Does Metropolis have a team named the Metropolis Supers? Is there also the Central City Flashes?). But just that Artist Guillem March put that on the bat is kind a groin worthy moment (Not as much as Nova's "Epic Fail" comment from last week but I still groined a bit after looking at the bat). 

What about the book it's self? meh. Not really bad, not really good. Just kind of there. I know writer Judd Winick can do better. He's done better stories & better Catwoman stories in the past. The art is nice but I'm seriously stopping reading this book which mean the only books I'd be reading for DC that have female main characters would be Red Hood and the Outlaws (with Starfire) & Suicide Squad (with Harley Quinn) & they aren't the best female characters DC has now are they? :)

Nightwing #3: That is an awesome cover! 

I want to show you a panel from the comic:

It's probably my favorite panel from the issue. The art by Eddy Barrows is really nice through the whole book & from the past 2 issues also.

So.... what about the story? It was also pretty darn cool. Good book: Good Art & a Good Story. A book I will continue to read.

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I have a short list of books that I am thinking of stopping reading (both DC & Marvel) they have until January to be better or I stop buying them.

Also, the next round up post might not becoming all that quickly. Next weeks comic will be out later then normal due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday screwing with shipping. That means I'll get the comics later which means I'll be talking about them later then normal. That will also happen in December due to Christmas screwing with shipping.

1 more thing: My Life in a Longbox is on Facebook so like me & get updates about the blog on your wall! :)

Until next time: Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian 

This is Entry 239: Rapping & Comics Collide!

Still saddened that she doesn't exactly exist in the "New 52" (if you count the Karen Starr in Mr. Terrific as a non powered version of her). But I have a theory of how he could exist in the new 52 that I'll be posting here once I collect all my thoughts on the subject.

Until next time Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 238: The Future begins Here!

Back in Entry 230, I talked a little bit about Marvel's upcoming Point One event/thingy. Which I said that it might be the reaction by Marvel to DC's New 52. And they do need something since DC is beating them currently in sale something that hasn't happened in years.

To get you excited/interested in what is coming down the pike, Marvel put out a anthology book called well... what else but:

Before we talk about the cover, let's talk about the price of this here comic book for a moment. It's over 6 dollars. There are 7 stories (6 with a framing sequence) in the book so your almost paying a dollar per story & in this down economy the price point might turn people off buying this book. The comic book store I went to (Arcane Comics) knew this & was offering this book at half off the cover price so it was only 3 dollars for the book. Why did they do this? I was told that they didn't think anyone would buy the book for 6 dollars. I was willing to, just because I wanted to talk about it here on the blog. If I didn't have that as a reason. I would have flipped through it & not bought it. Marvel could have priced it cheaper but maybe they are trying to make up for money lost to the New 52 :)

On to the cover: A general mish mash of characters. Some people are drawn better then others. Nova (way in the back) looks too wide. The Scarlet Spider (to the right of The Watcher's big, bald head) is drawn weird or at least looks a bit weird to me. Maybe Adam Kubert, the cover artist, wasn't exactly sure what the costume was going to look like so kept it vague. Ultron (under the Watcher's Left hand) looks weird. I think it's the head that throws me off a bit. The rest of the people look ok. Still not sure if the archer at the bottom is Hawkeye or not. If it is him, then he's getting a new costume because he ain't wearing that now. When I first saw the cover, I thought that was Sabertooth. Not sure why but that what my mind connected to. Also, I have looked at this cover a half dozen times & it wasn't until I had scanned it in & had it starring me in the face while typing up this post, did I noticed that the Phoenix was on the cover. I thought that was the sun, a lens flare, something other then The Phoenix.

Let's talk the book it's self. I'll say what the stories title is & who made it (The writer & artist only).

The framing sequence (by Ed Brubaker & Javier Pulido) I made mention of is that there are 2 astronauts who are part some group called The Unseen who break into the Watcher's moon base while he is in a trance. A trance that lasts only 42 minutes (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference? Doctor Who Reference? Random Number?). So, the 2 astronaut go look at to the quote the book "a Wall of Memories and windows into Alternate Universe". So, the Watcher's TV which he uses to watch events that have or might happen. The two are there to record what the Watcher has been watching (Who watches the Watcher? Apparently these to). From there we get out first story.

Story #1: "Harbinger" by Jeph Loeb & Ed McGuinness. A story featuring Nova in a story that I feel like I've read before. It's not just that this story is telling me that the Phoenix has returned & that it just killed a planet (because that what The Phoenix does). But this felt very much like Crisis on Infinite Earths #1. Nova is Pariah, the one who witnessed the destruction. The Phoenix is Earth-3 because it had a bad guy who thought he fight against the all encompassing whiteness of death (Earth-3 had Ultraman where as the Planet Birj had Terrax). This story probably has the worse line of the whole book & Nova says it as he flies away from the planet as Phoenix sits on it (or eats it depending on how you look at the picture):

... All those people... I... epic fail...

No, Nova. You don't. Don't blame yourself, Jeph Loeb epic fails because that's a stupid line & he was the one who came up with it & had you say it. That line might be the stupidest line I've read in a while & not in a stupid/awesome kind of way. Just a stupid/makes my brain hurt kind of way.

I also don't understand why this exists. Unless they don't something new & different with The Phoenix I don't see why there needs to be yet another Phoenix story. But they might. They might not.

Onto the next story, Story #2 "The Myth of Man" by David Lapham & Roberto De La Torre. This story brings up back to the Age of Apocalypse for a 3rd, 4th time. Not really sure why we need to return to this alternate timeline. It seems kind of pointless since I didn't there was anything left to cover in this timeline. Sure, not everything had been covered but you don't need cover everything. The story we have here is that basically the entire human race is dead (The rest of Earth's population are Mutants) except for a group of 5 humans who are on a quest to kill mutants. What does merry little quintet but the most extreme name that could come up with: The X-Terminated! Which I guess works for a alternate timeline that came into being during the Mid-1990's & as Lewis Lovhaug has a habit of telling us poor literacy is of course kewl. :)

Story #3, yet another story with calls back to the Mid-1990's "The Scarlet Thread" by Chris Yost & Ryan Stegman. The Scarlet Spider is back in action! But it's not who you might think it is but you'd be close. Scarlet Spider was the identity original created & use by Ben Reily, a clone of Peter Parker (Spider-Man). But this time it's Kaine. Who? He's another clone of Peter Parker. During the 90's he had a lot of clones running around. In fact there was a whole saga about him & his clones. This story spins out of the events of Spider-Island, which is a story I haven't read but it does kind of interest me. Something I might pick up when they collect it into trade paperback form. We see Kaine in his Spider outfit beat up a few bad guys. One of the better stories in the book but I'm not sure if I read the continuing stories with the new Scarlet Spider.

Story #4 "Yin & Yang" by Fred Van Lente & Salvador Larroca. The main characters in this story (codenamed Dragonfire & Coldmoon) are from the only story to not get some representation on the cover. All the other stories have at least 1 character on the cover (2 stories get 2 of their characters on the cover). This brother & sister duo (DF is the brother & CM is the sister) are 2 characters I had never heard of. From the looks of the story & how it is told they are new characters. They will be teaming up with the Avengers to help take down an evil corporation by the name of Taiji because as Coldmoon said in the story:

"Taiji is infecting this planet with alien technology that will enslave humanity if we don't stop it."

so... yeah. This is all set up for something in the future. The book doesn't tell us where to read their further adventure (most likely an Avengers book). This story has a slightly funny interchange between Hawkeye & Wolverine after seeing Dragonfire & Coldmoon show up:

Hawkeye: Friend... or Foe?

Wolverine: Or somethin' in between?

I got a laugh out of it.

On to the next story, one of the better of the book. Story #5 "The Shaman of Greenwich Village" by Matt Fraction & The Dodsons (Terry penciled the art & Rachel inked the art). I read an interview with writer Matt Fraction over at Comics Alliance about the upcoming The Defenders book which this story leads us into & it sounds like a cool book with an interesting story to tell. Given the interview & this story, "The Defenders" is maybe the only book I'd think about picking up.

The last story in the book is "Age of Ultron" by Brian Michael Bendis & Bryan Hitch. This story & the Defenders' story might have the best art in the book. I got an Old Man Logan feeling from this story but that might just be the "Story set in a not to distant crappy future" setting to both of those stories. It doesn't tell you much but that's ok. I might pick this up.



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So... out of the 6 stories in the book I'd pick up 1 or 2 of the books, I find 1 pointless & 3 I'm sort of non plussed about. Was it worth my 3 dollars? Not sure. But It certainly wasn't worth my 6 dollars.

I'll be back soon with my thought on the other books I picked up this week.

One more thing: My Life in a Longbox is on Facebook. I've set up a group page which I think you should be able to find just by searching for by name. If you "like" it you can get message about this blog on your Facebook wall. How cool is that? :)

Well... until next time: Stay Jazzy, everybody!

- Brian