Stuff I Read This Week 5/28/14

My comic review picks for Black Nerd Problems this week are up and available for your enjoyment (or dismay). Here's a few notes on the books I took a look at.

Ms. Marvel #4: It's really hard not to love this book. Marvel seems to be doing really well with their more "quiet-as-kept" titles like this and Daredevil and this seem to be taking it quite seriously. The only thing I'm really wondering about is whether or not Kamala Khan will (or should) be immersed fully into the Marvel superhero community. Sure, it's canon, but there are a handful of titles that have historically worked better secluded from large crossovers and team ups (Matt Fraction's Hawkeye, various Punisher titles, Daredevil). I'm curious as to what's going to happen if G. Willow Wilson decides to veer off into team-up territory.

Batman #30: Without repeating myself too much, it's really hard not to love Scott Snyder's take on Batman. I mean, this is easily one of the best books in comics. Snyder has such an engaging take on Batman, but another really commendable act is in the fact that he really gives plentiful amounts of glory to Jim Gordon. He's always eyeing his options, rarely gives up and takes as many death defying risks as Batman himself. If there were a cop as tough, determined and incorruptible as him in real life, he would hailed by the media as a borderline rockstar.

Batman Eternal #8: I really have spent the past eight issues or so eating my words about how most weekly books just don't work out as well as they could for DC. Batman Eternal, even in spite of some strange hiccups in artwork here and there, is a exercise in damn good superheroing. This particular issue stands out for me as the best looking of the series so far. I'm almost inclined to say that my review didn't stress nearly enough that Guillem March's pencils here are SICK. His "night in the life of" depiction of Batman in the first few pages was absolutely EPIC. I am, however, wondering how long Snyder long game is going to take in getting us to the fast forward we saw in the teaser issue of Batman a few months back.

Stuff I Read This Week 5/21/14

This week's comic reviews on Black Nerd Problems are up and available for public consumption and enjoyment. This week, I took a look at.....

Batman Eternal #7: The 52 series from some years back really put a bad taste in my mouth about DC doing weekly titles, but this addition to the Bat series has been an impressive showing so far. I will say all of this is going to read much smoother once they get the first story arc into a graphic novel collection. One complaint I had that I left out of my review is that the depiction of Catwoman was a bit exploitative (more than usual) to say the least. The gender politics of mainstream comics as whole have been questionable for a while now but DC strives to raise the bar.

Uncanny X-Men #21: Bendis' take on Marvel characters has always been divisive among fans for some reason I may never figure out, but I have been unquestionably on board for his fresh perspective on the X-franchise. In particular, this is the first time I've actually found Mystique to be an interesting villain probably since that Wolverine story where they knew each other back during the Prohibition era.

Justice League #30: DC is really hitting home runs with their depictions of notable female characters this week. And by "hitting home runs," what I really mean is shitty. Granted, Wonder Woman hasn't exactly been known for her subtlety in recent years, but for fuck's sake, this mostly awesome issue of Justice League paints her to be an unlikable bully. Other than that, I really enjoyed The Self Proclaimed Redemption of Lex Luthor. Granted, we all know this isn't going to last, but Geoff Johns is really good at making villains fun to read. So there's that.

The Thing About Internet Spoilers

I've been meaning to talk about this for a while now, but didn't really have a good example to springboard the topic. The best example in the past few weeks I can think of is probably the "Royal Wedding" on Game of Thrones. People lost their shit about the ending and set Twitter on FIRE. It's a pretty well known fact that Twitter knows no chill even on its slow days, but this was an especially HILARIOUS night to bear witness to.

In fact, this is such a special spoiler, I'm not even going to talk about it until after the jump.

Stuff I Read This Week 5/14/14

Okay, humans, I'm doing things a little differently from now on. Thanks to the attention garnered by writing this blog weekly (THANK YOU ALL FOR CONTINUING WITH ME, BY THE WAY), I've been picked up to write for an all new website, Black Nerd Problems. I'll be writing my reviews there, so I'll be giving basic summaries for all the books I write up weekly here and encouraging you to read my reviews on the site. I'll still be writing my opinion pieces here, but until I find a balance between that and the day job, it might not be as consistent. So bare with me.

Batman Eternal #6: Granted, I know six weeks is a bit soon to pass judgment on a weekly series, but I'm calling it. Scott Snyder is doing the Lord's work on this book.

All New X-Men #27: Just when I was getting worried about this show digging up the remnants of that dull Battle of the Atom, Bendis surprises me.

New 52 Future's End: For the first time in a while, this is the first book that I can't suggest to ANY kind of reader for any reason whatsoever....unless you want to see how badly written Mister Terrific could possibly be.

The Movie Spider Man Problem

So, after writing my review for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, I then went out in the internets to read reactions to the film and, as predicted, it proved to be as divisive (if not moreso) than Man of Steel was among nerds. They either a). walked away entertained while totally aware of the film's more glaring issues or b). eager to forget the whole thing ever happened. Both are fair reactions to have. After all, it's every bit as understandable that someone would be taken with Andrew Garfield's performance enough give the rest of the movie a pass as it is that some people won't be able to get past Dubstep Electro and Kinda Green Goblin getting maybe five minutes of fight time.

But the ending put something about the movie franchise as a whole into focus that could possibly be a bit off-putting for some old school Spider-Man loyalists on a subconscious level (I say "subconsciously" because I can't say I've actually ever heard this complaint from anyone watching the movies....just a conjecture) that makes some of the goofy moments that much more goofy. I submit that there's a good chance we might not ever see the kind of Spider-Man story the source material whores want to see.

"Well, damn, Oz! Why the hell not?" Good question. One thing that was more overt in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 than any other movies is that Spidey is BELOVED in New York City. I mean, there are at least three cinematic instances I can think of where a Spider-Man fight was a public event akin to street dancers on the subway as opposed to what it would REALLY be which is people fleeing in terror, most of them not even knowing what they're running from other things exploding. The first movie showed people flinging trash at the Green Goblin, claiming the webslinger as one of their own. Spider-Man 2 featured a subway car full of people crowd surfing him with his arms like Christ. Spider-Man 3 had a parade in Peter's honor as well as a day named for him.

Anyone who keeps up with the comics could probably see how strange this is. It's pretty much standard operating procedure in the comics that Spider-Man is, at best, tolerated by the status quo. There are moments even when he's saved the day, he doesn't get it 100% right and people hate him for it. Of course, this is in keeping the overall moral of a Spider-Man comic that sometimes it sucks to do the right thing and people might hate you for doing the right thing, but do the right thing anyway because it's right and it beats being a terrible person. In fact, the only time I can remember people adoring him the way they do in the movies is during the Superior Spider-Man when Doctor Octopus Spidey was almost constantly applauded for being an Extinction Level Douchebag (which is part of why 75% of that book was a stupid idea).

There's only two applicable reasons I could fathom for this.

1). Given the fact that Sony exclusively owns the movie rights to Spider-Man means that it exists in a different universe as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That means he and the Avengers don't exist together. In other words, in the New York he occupies, there's no such thing as the Avengers....so he's the only superhero the people have ever seen. So, sure, it might make sense that he'd be something of a rock star.

2). (And this is really the more important thing to pay attention to.) More than ten years later, a post 9/11 Hollywood will always be hesitant...and rightfully so...to depict an apathetic, rude New York that treats its heroes as anything other than heroes. I get that this is a weird criticism, but consider Movie New York over the years.

I apologize in advance, but this is the second time in the life of this blog that I have to explain Ghostbusters II. This is the movie where an evil painting was filling the sewers with slime that made people into hateful jerks while slowly plunging New York into the eighth level of Hell (or Dallas, depending on who you ask). When the Ghostbusters came to the Mayor, making an impassioned plea to take action, this was the result.....


For me, this is pretty much the poster child for how New York was portrayed in television and cinema before some assholes threw a plane at a building and took countless lives, a day that most of us will probably not forget. This happened so close to the first Spider-Man film that they had to go back and delete the Twin Towers from the posters and certain scenes.

Odds are good we'll probably not see a movie anytime soon where a guy saves hundreds of people from a guy throwing exploding jack o' lanterns or a guy made out of sand only to have trash thrown at his head while he's being called a bum.

Because, as cynical as this generation can be, mainstream moviegoers want to see heroes win. (This is probably why Watchmen had such mixed reactions from people. It's hard to sell people a superhero movie that's primarily about failure.) They want them to be loved because, ultimately, they're blank slates for the viewer. They want to be able to paste themselves the point of superheroes is to give us some semblance of hope that doing the right thing can have a semi-happy ending.

Unless, of course, you're Batman. Because Batman doesn't give a fuck if you like him.

Stuff I Read This Week 5/7/14

Iron Fist The Living Weapon #2: I'll be honest with you. I don't know if Marvel is going to really invest in keeping an Iron Fist title alive. Historically, despite decent sales, they haven't kept the series around for very long. I CAN tell you that if they do plan to really keep this series happening, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon stands a pretty good chance.

Issue #2 picks up almost directly after the first one in the immediate aftermath of the (I shit you not) robo-ninja attack on Danny Rand's apartment. As I mentioned in the last review for this title, readers who are used to a slightly more jovial Iron Fist might feel a little disoriented by this battle-worn, disengaged take on the character. A lot of the issue is centered around giving us a look at the magical city of K'un Lun where Danny Rand had to kill a dragon barehanded to acquire his kung-fu powers and become the Iron Fist (Did you hear me? I want to take a second and harp on that fact that HE HAD TO KILL A DRAGON to become a superhero!!!!). Sadly, Kung Fu Heaven's festivities are about to be interrupted by uninvited guests. We also get to see an equal amount of spotlight lent to the moments in Danny's childhood that inevitably lead to him becoming the Iron Fist. Kaare Andrews is clearly influenced by old martial arts films and brings several of those elements to the script with shrieking women, strong familial bonds and grand speeches driving the narrative. Visually, the book has yet to lose a step. There are certain panels that look like they could be stories from an old scroll. Andrews makes Danny's abilities really seem like something you'd have to kill an ancient dragon to obtain.

Bottom Line: Another strong offering from Kaare Andrews that'll keep new readers sated for next month. 8.5 out of 10

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #1-With all the Amazing Spider-Man 2 in theaters, Peter Parker returned to former glory in his own relaunched title, a Spider-Man 2099 title on the horizon....it's only appropriate that Miles Morales get a fresh coat of paint. Also, Marvel's Ultimate Universe is a lot like a 90's boy band. There's mostly B and C students talentwise and then there's one breakout star that makes it all profitable. So far, New Ultimates is the Joey Fatone (the "who the fuck is that" guy), Ultimate FF is JC Chasez (the "close but not really" one) and Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man is Justin Timberlake, the profitable one.

Despite the new title, there's not much particularly new about this book, really. However, that's not actually a bad thing. This has been the standout property of the Ultimate line for as long as its been around, so if there's nothing broken, there's no need to fix it. And Brian Michael Bendis sticks closely to this old adage. Things pretty much pick up where Ultimate Spider-Man #200 left off. Miles is still coping in the aftermath of Galactus' attack on Earth as well as his father's disappearance. Bendis handles this with his usual perfect blend of humor and real pathos. While most of the dialogue is as good as you would expect from a Bendis book, the interactions with his best friend, Ganke, are easily the strongest in this issue with a Mary Jane Watson run-in at a close second. The book really goes out of its way to hammer home that just because Ultimate Peter Parker is dead, that doesn't mean the problems and villains he left behind are all taken care of. Miles really struggles with the "What Would Peter Do?" predicament and it makes for a layered plot that doesn't chase away Parker fans, but still attracts new readers. And it's always nice that Marvel can manage to write a person of color without constantly hitting you over the head with the fact that he's a person of color (I'm looking at You, EveryoneAtDCWhoEverWroteCyborg).

Keeping David Marquez drawing this book is probably the best decision Marvel's made this year. This issue is probably some of the tightest work I've seen from him on this franchise. There's a clear sense of what's happening in every panel and you're never confused during action beats. And the way he conveys emotion is second to none.

Bottom Line: This is still the best Ultimate book without question. 9 out of 10

Well, The Amazing Spider Man 2....Umm...Happened.

The fanboys are going to have to start learning to live with one inescapable fact: Spider-Man belongs to Sony and the suits would rather lob off their own pinkies in a fit of cocaine induced rage before ever giving him back to Marvel. It will not happen. So, the dreams of a Spider-Man/Avengers cinematic team are just that: a pipe dream that will come to fruition around the same time the Dallas Cowboys win another Super Bowl (that's code for "Never").

I say all that to say that Marc Webb's follow up to 2012's "The Amazing Spider-Man" is probably the most that comic culture can ask for out of Sony's crack team of writers and producers which, judging by the amount of characters and conflicts crammed into 2.5 hours, must be legion. Civilian (non-nerd) moviegoers will almost certainly adore this visually arresting romp. Comic loyalists will be ridiculously divided. I remember sitting in the theater, seeing an unforgivably goofy moment in which Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) saves three different people out of a frenzied stampede of hundreds from certain electrocution using his only functioning web-shooter and I could practically hear the true geeks groaning in unison. However, if they get past their perennial inability to share with mainstream audiences, this actually ends up being a somewhat decent addition to the webslinger's adventures.

The movie opens up with us seeing Peter Parker fully embracing his whimsical personal as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, loved by the city (most of it, anyway) and loathed by crooks. Meanwhile, in his civilian life, he remains tormented by Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary) who, with his dying breath in the first film, made Pete promise to keep his daughter, Gwen (Emma Stone) out of his death defying adventures. This probably fucks with him so mainly because of their resolve to ignore the Captain's orders. This is easily the most compelling narrative of the film since it involves two of the best performances. Stone's Gwen is brainy and confident which makes her an adequate leading lady for Garfield, the eight cylinder engine powering this movie, who really gets to show off as the fully realized Wallcrawler we didn't get nearly enough of in the previous film, a witty Spidey that wisecracks through pummeling bad guys to hide his inner turmoil, stumbling through the consequences being Spider-Man has on his personal life.

Shoehorned into the narrative was Peter's continuing search for answers concerning the disappearance of his parents (Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz) when he was a little boy. This felt like a rush job that led to a). a heartwarming scene between Peter and his struggling Aunt May (Sally Field) and b). a "sins of their fathers" plotline to link him to his long lost childhood friend Harry Osborn (a creepy, slightly emo Dane DeHaan), whose ailing father, Norman (Chris Cooper), owns Oscorp, the mega-conglomerate that Peter's father worked at. The movie makes no bones about painting Oscorp as NOTHING but the sum total of every "evil empire" ever imagined from which nothing good is derived.

They don't even have appropriate health insurance, evident by Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), a dorky Spidey-obsessed employee who has an unfortunate spill into a vat of electric eels (I shit you not) and becomes the villainous Electro. Foxx did what he could with what the writers gave him, but he has so much natural charisma, he wears the nerd facade about as well as the Roach from Men in Black wore human skin.

Oh, and there's Paul Giamatti as the Rhino, who feels about as "Aww shucks" and comically throw-away as Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow from the Dark Knight films. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him in later films getting beaten up for about ten minutes before Garfield goes on to face whoever his main threat ends up being.

Spidey has his work cut out for him as did Webb, who tried his absolute damnedest to tie all these conflicts together in a neat bow. He doesn't necessarily fail, but the script's Frankenstein-like stitches are definitely apparent. Although, in fairness, it's clearer in this movie than it was in the previous one that the faults aren't necessarily his fault. It's obvious that this car was already fresh off the assembly line and that he was just the driver. Although this movie is at its strongest when it's highlighting the internal conflicts of its major players, the battles still pack plenty of punch with enough "holyshitareyoufuckingkiddingme" moments that really show off why our hero is utterly BELOVED by the citizens of New York (to the dismay of some comic loyalists).

Bottom Line: Is it perfect? NO. Is it better than the first one? Possibly. Will EVERYONE be happy? Hell No. Will it entertain the majority? Most likely. In that regard, it was pretty okay. A mixed bag...but there's nothing wrong with that. 7.5 out of 10

Stuff I Read This Week 4/30/14

Avengers #28: Avengers came off of having a really good run during and after Infinity. Jonathan Hickman's penchant for world building gave rise to some goddamn good superheroing in the past year. The latest story from the past few issues involving alternate universe Avengers coming into the 616 dimension has had some potential, but has also some weird pacing, making for a strange read. 

Fortunately, business starts to pick up again in this issue that mainly centers on Bruce Banner in an awkward sitdown with Tony Stark. This leads to some hard truths about the manner of the Avengers' new format as well as some of the threats the Illuminati has kept at bay from the shadows in Hickman's New Avengers series (which, by the way, has gotten so slow, I'm not sure it's actually moving anymore). This is awesome because a). it gets back to displaying the world building elements that Hickman does so well and b). because we get to see more of the cunning Bruce Banner that fans have really wanted to see over the years from Hulk lore. It's nice to see that his place in the Marvel Cineverse has inspired a more fleshed out presence from Green Goliath's more enlightened side. Salvador Larroca's pencils are as strong as they've ever been. He gives off a very clean, almost cinematic storyboard style that pulls off some truly engaging scenes. The look of Banner keeping his anger in check, holding back "the other guy" is compelling and ominous.

Bottom Line: Delightful art, coherent, nicely paced tie in to New Avengers....it's nice to see Hickman getting back on track. 8.5 out of 10

Silver Surfer #2: Dan Slott and Michael Allred got the new Silver Surfer off to a strong start. Slott borrows a lot from Doctor Who, but as any Whovian can tell you, there are certainly worse places to draw inspiration from. After all, while comics have the capacity to act as gospel and lead in parts of pop culture, they also have a history of, to their benefit, being very derivative as well. 

This issue picks up with the Surfer flying off under duress to combat the mysterious Never Queen that threatens the people of the Impericon. We gain some insight into exactly what makes our hero's foe such a threatening one. Meanwhile, Slott also gives us ample time with his accidental partner, Dawn Greenwood, displaying what makes her such an appropriate companion (see what I did there, Whovians?) for the Surfer. In many ways, she's reminiscent of Clara, the Doctor's latest traveling buddy. It's great to see a female character take herself out of the damsel in distress box for a change (looking at you, Laurel Lance from Arrow) and take charge of a situation. There's a page in particular where Slott teases readers with a few possibilities of things to come for this unconventional team-up of sorts. There is simply NOTHING complain about art-wise in this book. Some fans have complained about the more visually lighthearted it takes, but honestly, Marvel could use a little more of that. Dawn is portrayed in a way that's stylish but isn't oversexualized and the Surfer has very dynamic poses that jumps right out at you. 

Bottom Line: Another great installment that makes future adventures out to be very promising. Thus far, this is one of the best relaunches of the Marvel NOW initiative. 9.5 out of 10.