This is Entry 236: Comic Book Round-Up for 10/19/11

Before I get into the comics I picked up this week I'd like to take a moment to thank a recent replier by the name of Lindsay. She posted some nice long comments (each reply was a couple of paragraphs long) to 3 different post. She also filled filled in some info for me on who Azazel from the movie X-Men: First Class. So... Thanks Lindsay! Hope to hear from you again sometime.





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Now getting to the comics of the week. Like last week I'll start off with the lone Marvel I picked up: Invincible Iron Man

This was the series that was launched around the time of the first Iron Man & has had some story elements that one could see that it tied it to the movie(s) but it's a series that is firmly planned in the Marvel Universe. I've enjoyed the series up till now. For the last few months we've been in the midst of the series tying into the mini-series "Fear Itself", a series I am not reading because of what little I know about it just doesn't interest me.

I feel that with tie in issues that you shouldn't have to read the main series to get what is going on & that the issues should still further the own series' story lines something that IIM is not doing. I've been lost last the last few months, IIM started to tie into FI in issue 503. But I've just been lost the last few months, we are now on 509, there is 1 more tie in issue. So, that is 8 whole issues that have tied into an event that I don't really care about & for the last few issues it just been Tony Stark (Iron Man) just hanging out with dwarves at an Asgardian forge making weapons. Also, what makes it's annoying is that we are not getting the whole story in the book. Major events happen elsewhere (most likely in the main book) & we aren't really given a recap or directed to what books to to find out what has gone on in between issues. Yes, there is a text recap page in the front but even reading that might not explain everything that is going on.

IIM use to be a book on the stop on my reading pile, now it have fallen to the bottom. Much like with FF I am thinking of dropping Invincible Iron Man but for different reasons. I've been spending 4 dollars a month on a book I don't really like anymore. So, maybe it's time to stop buying the book. I think it's partly the whole "Fear Itself" tie in stuff but then I was thinking about the book & I was kind of feeling my liking of the book slipping before FI came around. This might be yet another Marvel book I drop.





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On to the DC books of the week...

Catwoman #2: After what we saw on the last page of Issue #1 (Batman & Catwoman were giving each other a vigorous hugging) I wanted to see where Issue #2 went. The issue starts out with the two of them post coital. They talk a bit & then part ways. During the scene we get to see some shots of Catwoman in your undies (I think that is becoming a trend in the book). There is a fun scene between Catwoman (in a kind of slutty disguise) & Bruce Wayne. She doesn't know that Mr. Wayne is Batman but he knows she's Catwoman. Why? He's Batman! Do you need another reason? (The book doesn't say why he knows I'm just assuming the reason he knows is.. because he's Batman & used his detective skills to find out). That 4 page scene is the best part of the book. We end the book the introduction of who I'm guessing will be Catwoman's first foe for the series. The character's name is Lous Ferryman or as he tells her "Some call me BONE." Yes, in the book the word "Bone" is in all caps, bold & a special font then the rest of the text. He doesn't look all that boney, he just looks like some bald guy in suit with a skin condition. It's slightly smoother them The Thing's skin & white, not orange.

How do I feel about the book? Along the lines of how I was feeling about Batgirl #2: Meh. This issue had a fun Catwoman/Bruce Wayne scene something Batgirl didn't have (Not a fun Catwoman/Bruce Wayne scene, just a fun scene in general). I did like Catwoman #1 more then I liked Batgirl #1. I might drop both books but I'm more inclined to keep reading Catwoman but there are still some strikes against them.

Nightwing #2: I thought the issue was good. About on par with the first issue. The fights (yes there was more then 1) with the Saiko (who is named in this issue & on the cover) were good. The furthering of the storyline with Haly's Circus is good. I liked the Circus stuff better then the fighting but both were still good. I did think it was interesting that the book has two equal story lines going on. A number of the books have a few different storylines going on but they seem to have the main storyline & the secondary storyline. Here I feel both are the main storyline & yes they do connect in this issue.  1 art thing: I'm not sure if it's on purpose but they artist (Eddy Barrows) makes Dick Grayson look a bit like Tom Welling (Clark Kent from "Smallvile"). He doesn't look that much like Welling when he has the mask on but without the mask, he comes off looking a bit like Welling.

How do I feel about the book? As I said: Good. A book I'll definitely keep reading.

DC Universe Presents: Deadman #2: First off lets just look at that cover. That's kind of weirdly cool. Not exactly sure what it going on & nothing like that happen in the comic but it's still a cool looking cover. So, last month's 1st issue was one of the better things I had read that month. How was issue #2? Good. It had some interesting stuff going on. There is a magic night club in the issue that I think is a great idea. I wouldn't mind seeing more of it, not sure I will since it served it's story purpose but hopefully it will show up again sometime. Also, the blind Librarian is also an interesting character.

What do I think about the book? Good. Definitely worth reading further issues of.

Red Hood and The Outlaws #2: I liked the issue more then the first issue. I liked it alot. It was a fun romp of book. We get more info of Jason Todd (Red Hood), the secret society, The All Caste & his connection to them. We find out that Jason has a connection to Talia Al Ghul (Daughter of Batman villain Ra's Al Ghul). There is some fun exchanges between Jason & Roy Harper. Starfire seems more like a person, she had a personality & was not just a sex object saying stuff (well, she might still be that but now she has a personality!).  We also the formation of the team wether they like it or not. There is a character in the book, Suzie Su, who I wouldn't have minded finding more about but we might not since she died in the issue (Just before she died, she did mention that her father might come after Jason for killing her. Given how Suzie looked, I wonder what her father looks like).

What do I think about the book? Good. As I said: a fun romp of a book. Definitely worth seeing where this book goes. But I might be of the small group who think so.

I picked up 1 more thing yesterday:

The reprint "100-Page Spectacular" of Superboy's Legion. It originally came out in 2001 as a 2 issue set. This book has it all in 1 book & only 3 ads (There is 1 on the inside of the front cover, 1 on the inside of the back cover & 1 on the back cover). The 100 pages mentioned on the cover is all story. Even though it doesn't say on the cover or anywhere in the book, this is one of DC's "Elseworld" books: a book that that take place in an alternate universe & doesn't relate to the main DC universe.

I had heard about this book & that it was good. A Bonus (at least for me): The art is by Alan Davis. I am a fan of his art. He has a nice classic feel to his art & I don't think I've ever been disappointed by the art in a book he's done & that comment holds up here.

The premise of the book is that the rocket holding the baby that would grow up to be Superman gets caught up in meteor field & goes dormant for a thousand years. So, instead of growing up in the 20th century, Superboy grows up in the 30th century, the time of DC's "Legion of Super Heroes". In the book he helps form the group.

It has some nice art by Davis. The Legion sport some nice costumes (a few of them being variations on the those they wear in the normal DCU). The story is a variation on the Legion origin. I only have a basic knowledge of the team but I don't think you need to know all that much about the team. Some of the jokes you might not get but I don't think it detracts from the story. It's a fun book & if you get it this way your saving a bit of money. You'll get the whole story for 8 dollars where if you searched out the original 2 issues you'd pay more. At 1 website I went to you you'd pay over 25 dollars for the 2 issues & that didn't include shipping the books to you.

Another book that recently came out as part of DC's "100-Page Spectacular" is

This is another 2 issue Elseworld from a few years ago: JLA: Age of Wonder. I didn't pick it up at the store since I bought it when the mini-series first came out (2003) & it's another good story. The story asks what would happening if the Heroes of the DCU appeared a century before then they did (instead of the 20th century, they show up during the 19th century). It has a bit of a  Steampunk feel to it. But is a fun story & DC made it easy for you to pick it up cheap. I saw on the 1 website that they were selling the issue at about cover price but once you add in shipping, your saving half the price by buying the "100-Page Spectacular" book.

Another book that I think DC should release as like these two is Secret Society of Super-Heroes. It's a good story & at the 1 website I keep referring to you, you can buy that 2 issue series for over 35 dollars & that's not with shipping.

I think it cool that DC is putting out these hard to find/out of print stories from their back catalog.

That's all I got for now. Until next time: Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 235: Comic Book Round-Up for 10/12/11!

It's been 2 weeks since I last told you about comics I've read.  But I'm back to tell you about them.

I'll start off with the the lone Marvel book I picked up this week. Yes, I do read some of what what Marvel puts out. Use to be more but I've pared back my readership of their books. Mostly because I lost interest in their books.

So... the Marvel book : FF. The book that arose from the death of of Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) & the end of the of the Fantastic Four (but they are or at least the book is coming back. Is Johnny? I don't know). I'm thinking of dropping this book from my monthly readership. It's not because I think the book is bad or anything. It's that I'm not sure it works reading the book in a monthly format. The story lines are large & drawn out. Some month's issues are just set up for things you might not even get around to reading until months later. This is nice since it gives you feeling that what is happening is large & it should be for "The World's Greatest Comic Book" but it might not be good month to month. I think I''l get to the end of this storyline & then just pick up the book in the collected format.

On to the DC Comic books:

I won't be adding the cover for the DC books since I don't have much to say about them & I'm lazy. If you want to really see the covers I'm sure you could find them online somewhere.

Before I tell you about what I bought let me tell you about what I decided to not buy. The second issues of Batwoman & Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. came out this past wednesday & I did not buy them. Why? I just wasn't feeling those books. I may pick up the collected edition/trade paperbacks of those book's 1st story line in the store to look at & see what I missed. Batwoman has some really nice art.

What did I Buy:
- Justice League International #2: this came out last week & was the only book I bought last week. It's still a good book & introduced their first villian: The Signal Men. I feel like I've heard that name before but haven't looked into it yet. Nice issue all around. Also, we find out that Skeets, Booster Gold's sidekick/best friend/Personal assistant does exist in the New 52. We didn't see him but heard him so that was nice to know.

- Batgirl #2: This book was meh. Not really bad. Not really good. I may end up dropping it. I may or may not check back in on via looking at the trade in the store to see what I missed if I do so.

- Suicide Squad #2: Issue #1 had 3 artist on the book. Issue #2 has 2 artist on the book. Both times I liked the art by the other people then the main artist on the book. Now if the other filling artist had styles similar to the main artist this might not be a problem but they are not so it's a bit jarring to have one art style for a first half of the book & then you flip to the next page or look to the next page to see a different (better in my opinion) art style. This is my only really complaint about the book (other people have other complaint about the book but I look past those) & if happens in every further issue, DC either needs to get an artist you can actually do the art for the book on a monthly basic or I may drop it.

- Demon Knights #2: Probably the best book I read this week. It was awesome. Go read it! (See! I said I didn't have much to say about the books.)

- Mister Terrific #2: Another good book. Not too sure about the WiFi symbol of the villain Brainstorm's forehead. Not sure it actually is a WiFi symbol it just looks like that. Maybe that's means he's a WiFi hotspot :)  1 thing about the art in the book & I think I might have mentioned this in regards to last issue: The way the artist (Gianluca Gugliotta) draws faces can be a bit wonky at times. It's something I can get past since it's consistently wonky all over the book & it's something you could use to.

So... that's it for this weeks comics. I'll be back when I have more. I think I have a couple I want to pick up next week.

But before I sign off, just a plug for my *new* Tumblr account: My Life in a Longbox, the Tumblr edition. Right now it's just a mish-mash of pictures of stuff I've found around Tumblr that I found interesting. I'll try to get some more original content made by me up there sometime. Just go & check it out.

Until next time: Stay Jazzy, everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 234: Brian on the Aisle #11

Welcome to another installment of Brian on the Aisle. Today we will be looking at the last of summer Super Hero comic book movies: Captain America: The First Avenger.

As I've made mention there is a movie theater near my house. They get the movies for their theater as they are exiting most of the big chain theaters. They also don't charge you an arm & leg to see the movie. Every movie is a flat rate of 3 dollars.

Out of the 4 comic book movie adaptation I've seen this may well be the best of the bunch. Green Lantern could have been so much more but was enough for Hollywood to make a sequel (Yes, there is going to be a GL sequel. Let's hope it better then the one we got). Thor was a good film. It was a fun romp of film.

Cap has some in common with the last movie I saw X-Men First Class. Both are period pieces (X-Men is set in the '60's & Cap set in the '40's mostly). I feel that Cap's setting was better & made me feel like it was the 1940's. It contributed to the film. Where as X-Men's 1960's setting was secondary & if you change a few things it could have easily been set in present day.

I think out of all the Marvel films I've seen this has the best transition. You actually get the costume from the comics in this movie, his original shield & how they are used work to further the story. His "improvised" costume was reminiscent of the World War II era costume worn by Captain America in Marvel's own Ultimate line of comics. It's yet another visual taken from that line of comics (Nick Fury's look being the biggest so far & from the looks of it Hawkeye's costume in the upcoming Avengers looks a bit like his Ultimate counterpart).

We got some awesome stuff from the comics: The Cosmic Cube, Arnim Zola (before changed his look), The Howling Commandos & probably the most awesome cameo I've seen. It may only be second to Wolverine's cameo in First Class. The cameo is one if you blink you'll miss him & you might miss him if you don't read comics. The cameo was by the original Human Torch. A truly geeky moment for me.

What else should I say about the movie other then it was awesome? It's got a good story, casted well (Tommy Lee Jones is just awesome), there is some nice action. Felt very comic booky in a good way.

Going into this movie I wasn't sure I'd see James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes in the movie. The way he's in the comics might not exactly work in the movie but there he was & was used well. They even managed to work in some of his comic book storyline. Cap failed to save him but that doesn't mean he couldn't be back for the Avengers film if you know anything about how's been used in the comics in the last decade.

I thought the inclusion of Howard Stark, father of Tony "Iron Man" Stark was a nice addition. He's not normally part of the Captain America origin story but it shows that yes these movie all exist in the same universe & characters can meet (see next year's The Avengers for more of this).

Regarding the origin story: it's pretty much the one of the comics just slightly altered to fit the movie. There is nothing there is to drastically different from the comic book. All the event from the comic happen, just a bit differently & that's ok. The major parts are there.

So... yeah. That's my feelings towards the movie. I saw it with my parents & they seemed to like it. My sister had seen it a weeks ago & liked it. So, not only is approved by me but it's approved by my whole family!

I give Captain America: The First Avenger 3 circular shields out of 5.

Until next time: Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 233: Everyday I'm Tumblring

well... not everyday since today is the first day with my new Tumblr account. :)

so... Yeah. I have a Tumblr account now which can be viewed here. It's just another way to share stuff I find interesting with the word. I've labeled it the Tumblr version of this blog but I'm not sure how much it will be like this blog. I don't plan on now any of the post I do here over there. I will be cross posting hopes that if people see something from over there will come over here & check out the awesomeness (Yes, there is awesomeness).  The blog I consider a journal where as the Tumblr will be more of photo album. Most thought will be put in over here. But check it out if you want to see pictures of stuff that interests me or funny things I find.

That is all.

Stay Jazzy Everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 232: Check... Check... Checklist!

It's another entry & another DC centric entry. I'm not sure where I will stop doing these purely DC centric posts. I guess when I run out of stuff to talk about. I will try to space them out a bit (note the word "try", this does mean I will space them out).

DC on their blog, The Source they have released a checklist for the 2nd issues of the New 52. I noticed that some books have moved around in the schedule & at least one has an altered title.

I hope you can read that. sorry if you can't.

The checklist for Issue 1 is on right & Checklist for Issue 2 is on the left. I like the look of the 2nd Issue checklist better. It's got the checkbox so you can check it those you bought & the header is just better. They could have added the words "DC Comics" to the top to make it say:


DC Comics: The World's Greatest Super Heroes

52 All-New Series

But that is just semantics.

As for what is different between the 2 checklists. Not much:
- Batgirl got bumped down from Week 1 to Week 2 while Red Lanterns got bumped up from Week 2 to Week 1. Why did they changed this? I don't know. Maybe it was to have 1 Lantern book a week (there are 4 weeks & there are 4 Lantern books).
- Justice League went from being the 1st title in the "New 52" to being the 34th title in the "New 52". I thought that JL would have been a week 1 title & not a week 3 title. They made a big deal about it being this flagship title but a flagship title is not a book you put in the middle of the books. But then the week it comes out it's not up against many other "big" name title other then Batman & one of the Lantern titles.
- The Firestorm book changed titles. Issue 1 was The Fury of Firestorm, Issue 2 is this The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men. As for why the change in titles? Again, I don't know. There are a number of Firestorms running around that book.

That's all I have for now. I have a few other posts planned:
- Which "New 52" titles I'll continue to read past Issue 1
- I took a Neilsen survey regarding the New 52 & got some stuff to say about it
- I thought I'd tell you what Marvel comics I read

Stay tuned for those & others. :)

Until then: Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 231: Hey Look over there! There some stuff going down!

As promised in the last entry I am back with my thoughts on the last week of the 1st issues of DC's New 52.

First off all the comics I past on:

For some reason I don't remember seeing many of the this weeks books out at the store I went to. But I found that in weeks past that it mostly likely I just didn't see them. 2 books I didn't see but wouldn't mind looking through are Aquaman #1 & Superman #1 just to see what's up with the books. Others I didn't see but am less likely to look though are Batman: The Dark Knight #1, Blackhawks #1, Green Lantern: The New Guardians #1, The Savage Hawkman #1 & I, Vampire #1. Why am I less likely to look through them? just not interested.

I did look through Teen Titans #1 & Voodoo #1. TT like I thought is tied somewhat into the Superboy book & like the Justice League book they didn't show the whole team in the book. As for the rest of the book: wasn't really interested. I did see that Miss Martian exists in this New Universe (a picture of her was on a screen so she might be a future member of the group) Voodoo took place almost entirely in a strip club & our main character is a stripper. And she is also some sort of shape shifting monster thingy.


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On to the 3 books I did buy: Justice League Dark #1, The Flash #1 & All Star Western #1.

When I heard about this book & as I have noted here on this blog in the past, I just don't really like the title of the book. It's kinda clunky & I sure hope the group doesn't actually call themselves that in the book. I'd let it be mentioned in the book if only as a joke i.e What do we call our group Justice League Dark?"

So my expectations were low for the book but I was open to trying it. I never read much of DC's magic characters & had very few preconceived notions to the groups members. I had heard of most of them, some more then others (Madame Xanadu, Shade the Changing Man, Enchantress, Zatanna, John Constantine, Deadman) but wouldn't say I was a big fan of any of them.

What did I think of it? I thought was good. Maybe one of the better things I read of the month. I would come back for Issue #2. They introduced everyone but not the group yet which I didn't mind (At least everyone from the group was in the book unlike in Justice League). There was also a problem set up that the normal Justice League couldn't handle. With this book Batman has been in all 3 League titles this month but this was just a cameo appearance not like in JL & JLI where he'll be a member of both teams. I do wonder how this team will work with the main Justice League team. But since the team was not yet set up here in this issue, hopefully this will be brought up in a future issue.

I wouldn't have minded if Zatanna had kept her previous "Stage Magician" costume, I quite liked that costume. It worked both for both of her jobs and it would be something new readers might of recognized since it was the one used in her appearances in the "Smallvile" TV show. But maybe in this timeline she never had that one. I sure hope the blue & white costume with those ugly red "Z" earrings & whatever that red thing she had on her head doesn't show up again. I do not like that one.

This book seems to continue on from the past Pre-Flashpoint Flash series with some adjustments to fit into the new Post-Flashpoint timeline we find ourselves in. Now that is not a bad thing, the art by Francis Manapul (who is now a co-writer) is still good. There is a new way to how Barry Allen gets on his Flash costume which looks kind of cool. Not sure how that exactly works but it's a comic book so you just go with it. There are some odd lines on the Flash costume now that I don't like since they seem pointless. I read that they are the suit's seems which is ok (I guess).

I do sort of wonder how he relates to the the Kid Flash over in the Teen Titans book since there was not mention in the this issue of there being a connection but I would assume there would be one.

1 change from Pre-Flashpoint to Post-Flashpoint Flash: he is no longer/never was married to Iris West but she is still in the book. So, they could still get (back) together. Her appearance does bring up something: Where is Wally West? It has been recently confirmed that he is around. But much like with Stephanie Brown (the last Pre-New 52 Batgirl) I have not heard where these 2 characters will end up & what they'll be doing. But with all these it is only the first issue & not every question can be answered. Because then there would be no reason to come back for Issue #2.

Much like DC's magic stuff, I haven't read any of there western stuff. That is partly because DC doesn't put out that many Western books & most of their western stuff was out way before I started reading comic/I was born. They had a Jonah Hex series out recently by the same writers (Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti) of this book & I had heard that book was good. So I was open to giving this book a try.

What did I think? I thought it was ok. Maybe even good but there was just something about the book that just didn't draw me like other books have. There is an interesting story there in the book. It's presents it's world well. The art by Moritat is good. It fits the era & feel I think they were going for.

But I just wasn't all that interested in the book. I still wouldn't mind find out how the story turns out. So, I might not read it monthly but I would definitely think about buying the the trade paperback of this storyline when it comes out.


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And that's it for the New 52! At least the 1st issues of the New 52.

So what did I think? There was some good stuff, ok stuff & could get better stuff. I didn't find anything that I thought was truly bad. But that's my own opinion. I know from reading stuff elsewhere on the 'net that some people that DC had put out some bad stuff.

One thing I was sad to not see was anything truly new. Everyone of the 52 books that came out was a reboot/relaunch/rehash of something that DC already had.  I would have liked to see something new, something I hadn't seen before. Sure, I found some stuff I had read before or something I hadn't read much of. But where was the New in the New 52?

We could have done with 1 or 2 less Batman, 1 or 2 less Green Lantern books, maybe just 1 Legion of Super-Heroes book? Maybe some of the series could have just been miniseries (since I think some won't get beyond the first story arc)? If they had done that, they could have freed up some space for new stuff. But that might of been to much of a risk?

Then what was the point of the New 52 if it was to not take a risk? They could have done much of what they are doing in the old timeline with only minor changes not the wholesale changes they've made. They have done that before. Changes are made every couple of years.

The way DC is now will not how it will be in a year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years. They have proven this to be true.

I'll be back soon with which of the 15 DC books I picked up in September that I'll be reading in October.

Until then: Stay Jazzy!

- Brian