The Week In Geek 3/25/15

It seems like I do more Flash updates nowadays than I ever cared to do before. I really have to find a way to get Will over at Black Nerd Problems to invest in some kind of "Talking Dead" type of thing where we sit around and talk about the episode of Flash we just watched or something. People seem to like that sort of thing.

Anyway, this week marks the episode in which The Flash turned into professional wrestling....which sort of puts it in dicey territory. At the end of the episode, Flash meets with Captain Cold and they come to some sort of terms where they don't hit one another too close to home and the Rogues don't hurt people. This is one of those quiet-as-kept landmarks where casual watchers who don't read the comics get to see a side of comic-based storytelling that we haven't seen in a while in the era of Marvel's "it's all connected" approach. As awkward as it came across in the show, this actually makes it more in line with a lot of stand alone comics. Sure, there are the big guys who lurk in the shadows, plotting the end game (Reverse Flash), but there are numerous villains in comic-dom who just keep showing up because they like it. Cold says it numerous times and he's just starting to have fun being a supervillain. Hell, his sister turns things into GOLD and he still just wants to steal things for the hell of it. I think this all lends itself to what people love so much about this show. The degree of investment isn't nearly as heavy as buying into a universe where everything is urging you to watch something else (as high quality as it may be) to get an even bigger effect. It's an amazing representation of comic storytelling that Smallville just never managed to pull off.

My comic reviews for the week are still and always available on Black Nerd Problems. This week, I took a look at Batman Eternal and Uncanny X-Men.

The Week In Geek 2/11/15

With the day job and the overall business of self care and basic living, you'll have to forgive me for the late posting. Thanks for understanding. And if you don't understand....well, you clicked on it anyway so there's that.

Well, this week, the deal finally go inked that Spider-Man gets to come home to Marvel on lease from Sony. The only thing is that we don't know who's going to show up in the costume. Personally, I found Andrew Garfield to be a pretty good fit, but Marvel works in mysterious ways. I've mentioned this before, but the Donald Glover Spider Man talk has reached levels of annoyance beyond what I thought I could stand. I like him, but the day Troy Barnes from Community plays live action Spider-Man is the day Spider-Man has reached Looney Tunes level ridiculousness. I know there's a huge calling for a Spider-Man of color to appear in the movies because the demand for diversity in media is growing and that's a great thing to see. It's a good time to be a comic reader of color or, really, even a woman or young girl who's been waiting for palatable material like Bitch Planet.

My comic reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. This week, I took a look at...

Batman Eternal: The supernatural stuff always works out well for this book because they always manage to pick the perfect artist to pencil it. I've always liked how Batman just generally doesn't believe in the supernatural and yet always seems to have a plan for how to defeat them that involves magic like Nth metal. 

Thor: As if I haven't mentioned this enough, I simply cannot get past the fact that, of all comics, Thor has been made into a feminist narrative. If a troll can read the first few issues and still be salty with Marvel, then they're a troll the likes of which I've never seen before. This book comes with my highest recommendation. With Matt Fraction's Hawkeye and Brian Wood's Moon Knight going away soon, it's nice to know that Marvel still has some A+ material above the rest (which is still good) to keep my attention.

All New X-Men: Hallelujah!!! Bendis has finally gotten around to ending this story arc. The big payoff is watching Young Beast vindictively blowing up Castle Doom with that maniacal evil genuis look on his face. Between this and the Avengers "Time Runs Out" crossover into the Ultimate Universe (obviously setting up for Secret Wars), even though it's fun enough, it seems just a bit forced. On the other hand, I never hate seeing Ultimate Evil Reed Richards and Ultimate Doom show up in stuff. Part of me sort of hopes they survive Battleworld and end up in the 616 universe so their older counterparts can kick their asses (because the Ultimate versions wouldn't stand a chance).

The Week In Geek 2/4/15

This week, Netflix announced they're developing a Legend of Zelda live action television series. It's awesome that this came along in the wake of the Daredevil trailer because it sends a strong message that Netflix wants to be in the nerd business in a big way. These sort of projects have way more opportunities than they did when I was growing. I remember when we were stuck with Captain Lou Albano as Super Mario inviting pro wrestlers and Cyndi Lauper over to his fake house in between short Zelda cartoons (remember when Link was basically a rapey dudebro with a sword?).

Also, Brian Bendis announced he'd be leaving the X-Men books after he finishes the current arcs. Despite my being a huge Bendis fan, I think it's good that he's getting out. The longer a high profile writer stays on a book, the stronger the trolls get. For everyone out there that exalts Chris Claremont for his tenure on X-Men, there are people (like me) who struggle to understand what the big deal is. My only regret is that it looks like he won't get around to explaining how the hell Charles Xavier got into bed (literally) with Mystique.

My comic reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing enjoyment. Feel free to like, share, comment or whatever makes you happy. This week, I took a look at....

Batman Eternal: ACO's art was incredible this week. Great follow up to David LaFuente's turn at bad. As far as the writing, I ge t that there's the impulse to throw material at the reader rapid fire to close all accounts, but this sort of thing got easily convoluted in the middle of the series and you definitely don't want anymore tangles in the cords towards the end.

Star Wars: Considering the fact that John Cassaday managed to crank out not only one but two books on time (early, in fact), it's only appropriate to say that lightning has offcially struck twice with this book. It's very quickly becoming one of the absolute best titles in comics. Jason Aaron's Darth Vader is just about pitch perfect right down to his asking Luke Skywalker "Who sent you here to die like this?" 

The Week In Geek 1/21/15

So, this week Marvel broke the internet by announcing that the "end of the Marvel Universe as we know it." It turns out the end of Jonathan Hickman's run is the prologue to Secret War, which will put the 616 Marvel U and the Ultimate Universe in "Battleworld." The outcome will be "All New Marvel." People should really calm down. It's highly doubtful Marvel will do a full reboot and risk sucking like DC's New 52 did for the first year or two. At best, this is just going to fold a few Ultimate characters into the 616 and by "a few Ultimate characters," I'm really talking about Miles Morales Spider-Man. After all, the Ultimate line spent so much time killing their characters, there's not a whole lot of them left to throw into 616 continuity. Marvel's gotten pretty good at "soft" reboots, so I say it's not going to be that big a deal.

My reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. As always, feel free to like, share, comment and share again at your leisure. This week, I took a look at...

Batman Eternal: As much as I LOVE this book, this week's "thing" is The Whole Thing with this series. The writing has mainly been consistently good and running according to Scott Snyder's master plan. Now, it's great that DC is letting some different talent get their feet wet on a medium to high profile series and all, but getting experimental with the artwork is always going to be the thing that makes or breaks this book. Putting three different people with prevailing weaknesses in their styles on the same issue just turned out to be a profoundly bad idea.

All New X-Men: It's nice that Bendis' story arc has picked up speed again, but I can't help but feel like Marvel kinda took the wind out of this plot's sails by announcing that they're about to phase out the Ultimate line completely (I mean, let's face it....Ultimate Spider Man's the only book that isn't absolute trash anyway, so...). The crossovers aren't as exciting when you know they're going to meet again soon anyhow. And Young Jean's transformation from "a hair's breath away from losing her shit, going Phoenix and ending mankind" to "Damn, I have to do absolutely everything around here" is a little bizarre. I do like that Bendis has taken this opportunity to give agency to a character that, historically speaking, hasn't had a whole lot in the past. On the other hand, it's kinda diminished some really strong characters that have to stand next to her (Professor Kitty, for one).

The Week In Geek 1/17/15

So, this week, Marvel released the first of its Star Wars comic material and thus far, the reviews have been mainly positive. I'll be talking about the book itself a little further down (with the reviews), but this is a really exciting time to be a Star Wars fan. I can't speak for anyone else, but I wasn't a huge fan of the Dark Horse books at all. I basically regard them the same way I regard David Goyer's idea to develop a Superman show without Superman in it. The timelines usually kicked off either so long before or so long after the movies I grew up with, I didn't quite understand what I was supposed to be relating to. Disney bringing all these elements under one umbrella is a breath of fresh air. As we've seen with their handling of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney likes their properties and characters being as accessible as humanly possible.

"You know Spider-Man? Sure, come on over. Don't like the movies? Don't worry about it. Here's an entry level cartoon for you. Don't like cartoons? Thinking about jumping into comics? I've got just the thing.

"Oh, you know who Luke Skywalker is? Come on in! You don't play The Old Republic? No problem. Here's this comic book you might dig."

As we get closer to Episode 7, it's going to be interesting to see what other properties Marvel can crank out.

My reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to like, comment and share at your leisure. This week, I took a look at....

Batman Eternal: This issue really meant well. It really did. The Bat-family going to break up a Mad Hatter caper should be some exciting shit. But it just didn't come off that way and the art was a huge reason why. As expressive as the faces were, it's strange that Joe Quinones wasn't bigger on detail everywhere else. It came across as a comic book you'd get with a 90s Batman toy. Honestly, this book can't really afford to have an issue that's this lacking visually so close to the end we've been waiting for.

Star Wars: See the problem with the handful of Star Wars I read during Dark Horse's reign was that the level of quality didn't justify the amount of material Dark Horse used to put out. You might find a decent issue once in a while, but you had to wade through a lot of crap. It's a lot like Azelia Banks. Sure, she drops jewels on Twitter once in a while about race relations but you have to sit through the stupid shit she says about everything else. And even when you do find the good books, often times, they were so far removed from the Star Wars universe I was used to (the characters and events in the movies), it only felt like it was just marginally a Star Wars book. Marvel's first new effort was the first time in 30 years I'd read a Star Wars comic that properly recreate the feeling I got at the movies. When the action starts, I was cheering out loud. Jason Aaron has a really good handle on what makes Star Wars so iconic. And it starts at a point where you don't have to feel left out. "If you watched the first movie, you're in. We'll take it from here."

The Week In Geek 12/17/14

My comic reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing enjoyment. As always, feel free to click, like, dislike, agree, disagree and share at your leisure (and your supreme leader's bidding). This week, I took a look at.....

Batman: I love what Scott Snyder's doing with what I call "The Last Joker Story," but I have to say I feel bad for whoever has to come after him. It was a couple of years after "Death in the Family" before Snyder himself could use Joker again just to give him the proper gravitas. If Endgame is headed towards an appropriately horrifying conclusion like I think it is, it's going to be tough to follow up.

Batman Eternal: So, the issue slowed the main plotline down a little bit, but the creative team definitely has a better handle on juggling multiple storylines. However, Jason Bard's character feels a little too whiny now that he doesn't have any real power and basically bungled his takedown of Batman. It was a good move to create some degree of sympathy for the character, but this version of Bard that seems to kick himself when he's down and is desperate for friends now that he's fucked up is a little depressing.

All New X-Men: For a story that has been moving so slowly, this book is SUPER entertaining. Young Beast taken captive by Doctor Doom, spilling his feelings for Jean Grey is worth its weight in gold. And Young Iceman versus the Mole Man's monsters was outstanding. Young Bobby Drake is proving to be this book's Spider Man (because every Bendis book needs a voice like Spider-Man's).

The Week In Geek 12/10/14

So, this week's midseason finale to The Flash kicked several levels of ass. The fight between Barry and Reverse Flash...who is TOTALLY Dr. Wells (sorry if that's a spoiler but if you haven't figured that out by now...)....was pretty incredible looking for primetime network television. I've been hearing a lot of complaints about Iris West's character, but I'm sorry....I love a pretty brown girl as the leading lady in an interracial relationship. By the way, I don't seem to remember all that complaining when Lana Lang was the leading lady in Smallville and that was maybe one of the worst shows in nerd history. Just saying. At this point, the complaints that "it's so CW" just have to stop. We (I'm speaking to my generation in particular) have to learn to get used to the fact that comic culture HAS to attract younger viewers to survive. I mentioned this in an article a while back, but fans have to get better about sharing. Otherwise, we end up looking like insiders and troll. Just ask the Gamergate trolls.

My reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. This week, I took a look at:

Thor: I am more convinced than ever that the new lady Thor is actually, Roz Solomon, Odinson's SHIELD girlfriend. That's why she was so desperate to get the hammer back before she turned back into Someone That Roxxon Would Recognize (from the Last Days of Midgard story). Anyway, I do appreciate that the hammer kinda offer tutorials in how to be Thor like Green Lantern's ring. Other than that, there's not much else to say. Jason Aaron is going to be remembered as one of the premier names when they talk about Thor in the 2010s.

Avengers/X-Men: Axis- Okay, this week was slightly better for Axis but not by much. I know Deadpool is supposed to something of a hood ornament to uptick your sales a little bit, but it just didn't work out here. Spider-Man, as usual, was something of a boon to the story and Scarlet Witch looked great and all, but this plot is so rough. It literally pains me to review it.

Batman Eternal: The funny thing is that the whole Jason Bard plotline hanging over the book has basically made plot "A World Without Jim Gordon", furthering DC's initiative to make Commissioner Gordon into a nigh-superhero. I've said this before, but aside from Batman, he's the only other thing saving Gotham from descending into Hell. This is, in part, why I'm so disappointed that the Gotham tv series sucks so bad.

The Week In Geek 11/19/14

My reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. You know the drill. As always, feel free to love, hate, comment, like, share as you see fit. This week, I took a look at.....

Uncanny X-Men: Brian Bendis' work doesn't move as fast for some as they'd like but honestly, I think this particular story arc is probably the strongest structured of his tenure so far. I really do hope both X-titles delve more into the Fall of Hank McCoy. It's actually reminiscent of Doctor Strange's arc recently where he started channeling the Dark Arts to be more powerful which was awesome (would have been more awesome had Marvel not done that already during World War Hulk). This story has been powerful because we've seen certain characters (Cyclops, Iceman, Beast) at their most vulnerable and in a book where the principle characters are basically family, that's an important aspect to show, moreso than these grand, repetitive action beats every 9 pages.

Batman Eternal: You would think Batman would have learned his lesson with making heavy artillery for all these Defcon 1 scenarios just for someone to steal from under his nose. Alas, Gotham is under siege once again thanks to a Batman plan. And, of course, Wayne Enterprises is going to up to its nose in legal red tape because Bruce Wayne funds Batman Inc. And Batman wouldn't be Batman if he didn't leave Lucius Fox holding the bag.

The Week In Geek 11/12/14

My reviews for the week are available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to love them, hate them, comment, share them as you so please. This week, I took a look at....

Batman: The Joker's return is likely the best highlight of the week. Snyder is leaving a terrific and unique fingerprint on the Batman mythos that we'll be talking about in ten years guaranteed, but more importantly, as a Superman fan, I have to point out that Batman said it himself, "If Superman wanted to kill you, there's probably nothing that could stop him." There. He admitted it. He said it himself. It's officially canon.

Batman Eternal: I have to say I do love the New 52 idea of the Spoiler, a kid who deals in information throughout Gotham, stays a step ahead of everyone (including Batman) and feuds with her C-list supervillain father. That said, I really enjoyed her teaming up with Batman to throw down against Hush only to pull Batman's own disappearing trick in him.

Thor: I love that the Thor's ancient magic hammer basically comes with built-in tutorials and helps you learn how to use it. Also, I'm sticking firm to my theory that the new Thor is actually Odinson's SHIELD agent girlfriend, Roz Solomon, but listen, guys, don't start emailing me the plotholes in my theory. It's just a theory. Besides, plotholes or not, there's precedent for EVERYTHING in the comics.

Axis : I don't even have notes on this book. It's getting worse and worse by the week.

The Week In Geek 10/29/14

Okay, so the Geeky Thing That Happened This Week is obviously the big Marvel Event in Los Angeles where Marvel once again curb stomped DC like they held out on milk money. Barely two weeks after Warner Bros. tosses out a sort of lackluster (at least in reception) list of proposed titles and times for their Cinematic Universe. The blogs start making the rounds about how DC is going to be first to have feature films with female leads and/or a lead character of color (which is not true) and then Marvel suddenly hit their rivals with a surprise attack.

"I will see your Cyborg and Wonder Woman movies and raise you Chadwick Boseman as the Black Panther, the female Captain Marvel that everyone loves so much and Benedict Fucking Cumberbatch at Dr. Strange."

I went on about this before but the one reason Marvel smokes DC every time with these little stunts is because they put out a reliable product. You would think putting out some rigid schedule of movies you want to make in the next five years or so would feel stuffy, but it doesn't. Marvel has established several times that not only do they make good product but it has the capacity to get better over time (Captain America 2). When you do good work, people want to know when you're doing that good work again. Of course, when there's delays, questionable casting choices and basically a 24 hour news cycle built around the possibility of your project's failure....well, ask DC.

My reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing enjoyment. This week, I took a look at:

Batman Eternal: This was pretty epic, I'd say. From the awesome looking scene of Batman diving head first into a crater amidst gunfire from the police, the wholesale destruction of Arkham Asylum and the long awaited appearance of the Spectre which was here and gone way too soon....this is a better resolution than any to one of the book's many conflicts.

All New X-Men: Although the plot itself has begun to move in slow motion, I must say there are some things to enjoy with the current status of the book. Angel trying to teach X-23 just to be a person let alone a girlfriend is pretty entertaining. And watching Beast and Ultimate Doom in a room together has so much potential for mayhem and comedy, I can barely stand it.. Hopefully, the pace picks up next issue, but I'm okay with where it is for now.

The Week In Geek 10/22/14

So, this week, the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron got leaked which seemed inevitable considering the buzz Marvel generated by stealth bombing San Diego Comic Con with a "special sneak peek" that nobody outside of that sound stage has seen to this day. I have to say that Marvel is really taking the whole thing in stride which does nothing but help their image at this point. To the surprise of nobody, what we saw in the teaser is very impressive. In particular, the shot of Hulk fighting the Hulkbuster armor looks absolutely incredible. Marvel gets better and better at capturing the essence of the mostly CGI monster every single time.

The trailer was supposed to make its debut on the upcoming episode of Agents of SHIELD (by the way, Tuesday's episode with "Mockingbird" was fucking awesome) and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Marvel showed the SDCC trailer instead just to keep fans happy. Also, given the bizarre ratings drop of the season so far, they could use the viewers, so my suggestion would be to watch this week's episode anyway.

My comic reviews for the week are available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing enjoyment. This week, I took a look at:

Batman Eternal: Okay, there's been some complaints about the book's tendency to divert from the main plotline to tell some side stories and tie off hanging plotlines, but honestly, that's no different from shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. After al, the purpose for Eternal is to build a universe out of Gotham opposed to Scott Snyder's Batman, which is a more focused book that only has Batman himself to center on. With that in mind, I think it's a solid book despite some of it's issues in the art department at times.

Avengers/X-Men- Axis: Decent but sloppy. I have to appreciate the step up in the art department, but still. The resolution felt so circular. Avengers Vs. X-Men was supposed to jump start the resolution of the rift between the mutant community and the Avengers. Then, we got Uncanny Avengers as a result which was supposed to be the solution. Almost three years later, we're back to this "mutants and the government will never get along" shit. The whole thread seems to have chased its own tail.

The Week In Geek 10/16/14

Since I didn't do a week in geek last week due to time constraints and the Day Job, I'll backtrack a little bit.

-The Flash premiered last week and I can tell you without going into a whole fleshed out review since there's a perfectly good one that I kinda disagree with over at BNP....it was incredible. Honestly, if DC is keen on creating a primetime television universe (excluding Gotham because it's turning out to be a shit show that will probably on get a second season before completely tanking), this was a step in the right direction. The show really serves as the perfect counter to Arrow, which comes on the night after. Whereas Arrow has made its name on being a much more intense "ultimate" version of the Green Arrow mythos (because the idea seemed to be it to be a primetime Batman surrogate), Flash is Arrow's more earnest counterpart which, incidentally makes for hugely entertaining television. And Jesse L. Martin does this show ALL OF THE FAVORS. I mean, sure we've seen Bill Sadler and Tom Cavanaugh do pretty well, but Martin's performance does laps around the whole rest of the cast. And they've wasted no time teasing us with the promise of assembling the Rogues and even Professor Zoom. This show is definitely going to be the one to watch this season.

-Last week, Marvel announced that it would be bringing back the Secret Wars next year. They put out this epic poster done by Alex Ross (The GAWD) that features what looks like this epic showdown between heroes and a lot of their alternate versions with nods to the Ultimate Universe as well as Supreme Power. Now, I'm not going to comment on the "Marvel has run out of ideas" fanwhining because that's just a degree of circular logic where nobody really wins. However, I WILL point out how funny it is that there was NO sign of the Fantastic Four or the X-Men in the poster. With Fantastic Four having already been cancelled, this really just adds to the rumor that Disney bigwigs are attempting to completely snub Fox, who owns the movie rights to both (FF, of course, has that movie reboot coming up in....you guessed it...2015). While it hasn't exactly been an official mandate by Disney OR Marvel, the signs certainly point to some truth in the rumor more and more as time goes on. And, sure, Marvel pours too much money in to X-books to every cancel those outright, the timing for them to kill Wolverine off seems extremely convenient as well. At this point, they couldn't get anymore overt if they had Leonardo Da Vinci himself paint Wolverine giving Fox the finger while slicing through a picture of Michael B. Jordan.


Anyway, my comic reviews for the week are available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. Also, check out my reviews for episodes 2 and 3 of Nightwing: The Series as well as my opinion piece on the announcement of a Suicide Squad movie slated for 2016. This week, I took a look at.....

Batman Eternal: Okay, I glazed over this point in the actual review, but....Batgirl has become downright thuggish and I LOVE it. You can also tell DC is really making an effort (for whatever that's worth with DC) towards retooling the gender politics in their universe when you have a dope moment like Jason Todd openly admitting that Batgirl has always been the most formidable of Batman's proteges. Dope moment. As far as progress goes, you have to give credit where it's due.

Uncanny X-Men: So, Bendis had to take a departure from the familial shenanigans in favor of advancing the plot a bit faster since there's another "MostPowerfulMutantEverUnlikeAnythingWeveEverSeenExceptForTheLastTimeAndTheTimeBeforeThat" at large, but it's still a really strong story arc happening. One story I noticed they seem to be conveniently glazing over is the revelation that Charles Xavier was married to Mystique and, evident from the All New Brotherhood's attack in All New, had a kid. Are we going to sit down and have a talk about how Raven Darkholme is apparently comics' most notorious rolling stone? Seriously, man....it's just getting weird at this point.

The Week In Geek 10/1/14

So, this week, I did a review on Nightwing: The Series and honestly, it might have the best reception a superhero related project could ask for this week. And yes, I absolutely recognize that both Agents of SHIELD and Gotham also happened this week. My statement still stands. Gotham got quite a bit of chastisement for its episode, "Selina Kyle" and I'll have an upcoming post about why it was well deserved. Meanwhile, Agents of SHIELD took a bizarrely huge hit in its ratings which is really weird considering the new season improved upon its previous problems DRAMATICALLY. Hell, they even dipped into the budget to bring more black people on the show. Just goes to show how fickle a mob the Fandom Hype Machine truly is.

Anyway, my reviews for the week are available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. This week, I took a look at:

Batman Eternal: I don't know...maybe this is some kind of sacrificial tribute thing where if we're going to have the incredible James Tynion IV writing the book, we have to have shitty artwork as a trade off. I mean, it's been just unforgivable the past couple of issues. The sad thing is I love the story so much and feel so invested, I don't have the heart to put the damned book down. However, it's only fair to say that odds are we'll probably have better art coming up. On the plus side, I have to appreciate the ongoing war between the Spoiler and her seemingly Z-List father, the Cluemaster. Hopefully, we'll see more of Stephanie Brown's daddy issues sooner than later.

Thor: Honestly, this one is an open/shut case. The name and art have changed, but Jason Aaron's master class in storytelling remains the same. Bit by bit, he's giving us insight into the Future King Thor he's teased us with throughout the course of the God of Thunder series and I love it. Very few writers are capable of making me enjoy a villain I dislike as much as Malekith, but Aaron is pulling it off.

The Week In Geek 9/10/14

So, this week, the second issue in the Death of Wolverine dropped. I'm not going to give some in depth overview of the story or dissect the event. Because I'm not reading it. I just plain have no desire to see how Wolverine meets his end for at least the third time I can think of. I think this represents two different sides of the same problem. First and foremost, it's indicative of the overall fan fatigue brought on by years of oversaturation. I mean, let's face it. At one point not too long ago, Wolverine was the centerpiece for 3 different solo(ish) ventures, 3 X-Men titles, 2 Avengers titles all at once. And let's not forget he was basically the star of the first 3 X-films on top of his two solo movies. It's easy to see how people could get fed up with the little fella.

On the other hand, I can't help but feel like this is also the result of fandom reaping what it sowed. There was a time when fans wanted All Wolverine Everything. If he was on the cover of something, that something sold twice as much as it would have without him. He was like the Spock of X-Men. Of course, Spock wasn't simultaneously the captain of two Starships, a Federation space station, a Romulan Warbird and organizing Klingon Poker Night on Thursdays, but still....fans LOVED Wolverine and so comicdom gave them all the Wolverine they could stand. I'm just sayin....there's an ebb and flow.

Besides, we all know he'll be back. The only death so far I've been led to believe is going to stick for the forseeable future is Charles Xavier. I mean, the X-Men have been mourning him for two or three years now. Usually, there's an underlying agenda to make sure you're not comfortable with that character being gone because We All Know They'll Be Back. It's been two years since Avengers vs. X-Men and Marvel is STILL putting Professor X in the ground. Even now, two years later, Uncanny X-Men's latest story arc is "The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier." It's like every other month, they're saying "No, seriously. He's dead. Don't wait up." Now, don't get me wrong. This doesn't mean it's a done deal that he's gone forever, but Marvel's biggest non-Spider Man cash cow gone forever when there's another X-Men movie AND solo sequel in the pipeline (honestly, those movies are so awful, they're better promo for the comics than vice versa)? Not gonna happen.

Anyway, my comic reviews for the week are available at Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. Also, make sure to give the follow up to my Black Panther analysis a look. Feel free to click, comment, share at your leisure. This week, I took a look at:

Batman Eternal: Probably one of the best issues of the series. This book is a lot more effective now that Scott Snyder's overall plotline is getting down to brass tacks. I really enjoy the return of Hush, but I can't help but feel like he's been used enough that his "holy shit" factor may have dwindled slightly. I think time will tell as the next phase of the new big bad's plan for Gotham gets even worse.

Ms. Marvel: First of all, this is one of the best looking books in Marvel's rotation. Easily. Adrian Alphona never fails to deliver these fantastic moments that, on their own, could convey the tone and emotion of the book as a whole. There is no more priceless moment than Kamala Khan pouncing on Lockjaw (as much as a dog like that will allow, anyway), loving on him like he's a damned teddy bear. Second, this is one of the most well-written books in Marvel's rotation hands down. G. Willow Wilson is doing a great job of keeping this book interesting and I'm so excited to see where else it can go.

Batman- Future's End #1: This was an awesome one shot future vision. I have to admit...ever since the "Epilogue" episode of Justice League Unlimited, I'm a complete sucker for the "There Must Always Be A Batman In "Gotham City" line of thinking.

The Week In Geek 9/3/14

So, this week the announcement finally went out officially that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will be playing Black Adam in an upcoming Shazam movie. He's been screwing with fanboys on Twitter for months, posting pictures of possible characters he could have been playing, but it's nice to have officially have confimation. Arguably, this is the first no-brainer DC has actually gotten right in the casting department. Truthfully, they needed a win after a few lackluster choices that weren't necessarily bad but don't really leave anyone camping out in front of the theater.

Granted, I was almost sure he was going to end up being Shazam (because playing a 10 year old in a superhero's body is the kind of shit Johnson can do in his sleep) but I could see his Black Adam being fucking menacing. There's an argument that it's a miscast because Dwayne Johnson's thing is that he plays heroes and would be a great addition to DC's cinematic hero roster. Normally, the fact that this is an opinion that came from IGN would be more than enough to make it inadmissible evidence because most opinions that come out of IGN either come from a). bad information or b). a lack of information. The argument of "I don't want to see The Rock as a bad guy because he's not a bad guy" is, at best a sort of hilarious stance to take. Anyone who holds this logic will have to come to the realization eventually that Dwayne Johnson is, in fact, NOT an actual superhero that DC is actually adding to some list of actual superheroes. He's an actor. He's a wrestler. Even then, the Rock was actually a heel back in the day just before the pinnacle of his wrestling career. He was also a bad guy (a shitty one, but still...) in The Mummy Returns and, before eventually becoming a hero (because Universal would have been stupid to give him up), he was the guy the Fast and Furious team was on the run from. These are nitpicks, but still....to say that an actor should always be a hero just because he's done it well before sort of misses the point of acting, especially when said actor is one of the rare cases in which a wrestler has enough range and charisma to keep getting decent work. Besides, Black Adam's path in the comics has gone for unapologetically evil to kinda-sorta-antihero. And we all know how well that's worked out with Loki over in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's entirely possible that we could get that kind of popularity for this character over at DC.

Anyway, I'll talk a little about the scourge of fuckery in the nerd community known as #GamerGate tomorrow mainly because I'm in a good mood today and would like to remain so. Until then, my comic reviews for the week are up on Black Nerd Problems and available for your viewing pleasure. As always, feel free to comment, like, share at your discretion. This week, I took a look at:

Iron Fist, The Living Weapon: As much as I enjoy this book, I think they've done the whole "break the hero down as much as possible" thing enough. I think everyone reading this book should be just about ready to see the hero win a little bit. I mean, I doubt the the payoff is going to (or can afford to) suck when the titular hero has a Netflix series in production.

Uncanny X-Men: Okay, I wasn't too happy about Chris Bachalo's return to this comic. I mean, I like his style, but honestly, I felt like it served its purpose in previous issues. In fairness, it wasn't that much of a bother because there wasn't a lot of action this time around (because sometimes his action beats are difficult to follow), but Kris Anka just raised the bar so high, it's hard to forget. Aside from that, Bendis' dyfunctional family narrative is still working out well.

Batman Eternal: Let me just say....a villain called the Architect whose outfit theme is clockwork is a little silly. DC really runs the gamut of costumed villains as if there's a compendium of names versus a list of themes and they just close their eyes and pick one from each list. Other than that, this was a pretty good issue.

The Week In Geek 8/27/14

So, one of this week's Geeky Things That People Were Talking About was the announcement that, Donald Glover, to the apparently overwhelming joy of Twitter, will be voicing Miles Morales in an episode of Ultimate Spider-Man. On one hand, it's cool that the social media campaign that inspired Miles in the first place gets a (kinda) win in seeing their idol on screen in some form. I'm just not entirely sure this is that much of a "win." Mainly because Ultimate Spider-Man is a uniquely awful half hour of television. The thing that makes it so notably bad is that a). Spectacular Spider-Man, a perfectly decent show got bumped for this and b). it's a titled after a Brian Michael Bendis work but follows it in the same way the latest batch of X-Men movies follow the comics (meaning there are characters with similar names and attributes, but aside from that....nope). I could go into everything this show does wrong but I digress. Donald Glover.

I'll say this for Marvel: They draw we better
edge-ups than DC (sorry, Mister Terrific).

Let me just say right away that I like Donald Glover. As this is being written, I'm actually listening to his Because the Internet album. I respect that he (as I've found out in the past couple of months) has a fanbase that is, to say the least, rabid. So, I don't have any personal distaste for the guy (I'm really trying hard to save myself any fan backlash here because I've seen them in action).

With that said, he's no Spider-Man, cartoon or otherwise. Black, white, whatever...there's a certain atmosphere of iconic, dormant heroism to everyone to play/voice Marvel's poster child. Tobey Maguire had a wide-eyed, nebbish Luke Skywalker quality to him. Andrew Garfield is a dorky smartass more like the Ultimate Peter from the comics. Even Christopher Daniel Barnes from the animated series that dominated most of the 90s had an unassuming everyman quality. Donald Glover is....well, Troy Barnes. Putting Troy Barnes in a Spider-Man costume is nothing less than fan service. And that's okay. With superhero comics, if they run long enough, it's inevitable that they're all subjected to a degree of fan service. It's just that sometimes, that works out for the better (Dick Grayson as Batman, Bucky Barnes as Captain America, Wolverine being on virtually every major Marvel team possible) and sometimes you get Childish Gambino being snarky in a Disney cartoon for 30 minutes.

Then again, I really could have stopped this little analysis at "Ultimate Spider-Man is a uniquely awful cartoon" anyway.

Anywho, my comic reviews for the week are available on Black Nerd Problems for your perusal. As always, feel free to comment, like, share and troll as you see fit. This week, I took a look at.....

All New X-Men: I have to say that I like the groove Bendis has found for his take on the X-franchise. The Original X-Men are at their best when they're getting into trouble while the staff isn't around. I like the direction of the whole "different factions fighting for different aspects of the dream" thing, but the Originals, not having all of that baggage, serve as a nice break from all that without completely departing from it either.

Batman Eternal: Finally, some major plotline payoff!!! This is definitely one of the top 3 best issues of the book. James Tynion IV did a pretty good job of balancing all the plotlines he had to work with. Granted, he conveniently didn't have as many to juggle as pretty much every other writer has, but still. Masterful job getting to Gotham's big upheaval. I'm VERY excited about what's next.

The Week In Geek 8/20/14

My comic reviews for the week are available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. As always, feel free to comment, share or fling feces at anything you like or don't like. This week, I took a look at.....

Batman Eternal: I loved this issue but after writing the review, I went back and read it again and it occurred to me that Batman has the weakest material of all the principal characters....in a Batman book. I'm sort of in the middle about because on one hand, structurally speaking, Batman shouldn't have the weakest material in a Bat-book. On the other hand, if the cost of downplaying Batman (I mean, let's face...dude has had 75 years of character development) is giving Jim Gordon The GAWD all of The Glory, so be it. Because holy shit....watching him give Carmine Falcone's goons the Ice Challenge was fucking epic.

All New Ghost Rider: Okay, it's official- I fucking love this book. But I sort of want them to get away from this Bane venom steroid pills plotline and get a little more supernatural with the threats. So far, we've only seen the Rider in regular old fist fights. I'm not exactly shitting on the new guy, but the Ghost Riders of old have gone up against people like the HULK. The "Worldbreaker" Hulk....the "OhMyGodTheHulkIsAboutToRainOldTestamentArmageddonOnUsAll" Hulk. I'm just saying....I need a fight that's going to set the neighborhood on fire. But it's early, so I'll be patient. For Now.

Can we PLEASE have
Self Destruction as their theme song?

Multiversity: This is a book that really only has problems depending on how you feel about Grant Morrison books. I mean, come on, let's face it. Most Morrison books are pretty much based on whatever he's smoking that week. I'm STILL trying to figure out what the fuck Final Crisis was about. But for all its psuedo scientology babble, I actually really enjoyed this book. How could you not? A black POTUS who is actually Superman? In what world is that not awesome? And the DC spoof version of the Hulk in a diaper? I cried laughing. There were enough easter eggs and Morrison trademark to keep me entertained in a bizarre way, so yeah....I'll be back for the next issue.

The Week in Geek 8/13/14

My comic reviews for the week are available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. As always feel free to like, share, comment, fling poo at anything you love or hate. This week, I took a look at.....

Batman Eternal: Just in terms of going from last week to this week, this has mainly gotten back to being a good book to look at. A story that was mainly about Batman skulking around in the sewers looking for a killer shouldn't be so visually vanilla. This week was a huge improvement....except for two things.

First of all, this is the second week in a row where this book has made Jason Bard look like a complete doofus for the greater good of making Batman look cool.

Look at this:

You've got Batman going all headfirst into action. Killer Croc looking as menacing as ever like he's about to "Hulk Smash" whoever the fuck they're about to fight. And there Jason Bard, Gotham's new top cop, carefully rappelling down the fucking chasm. Granted, there's virtually no way to make a regular guy look cool while climbing, but still. They couldn't have given him a rope or something?

Second: Red Hood's mask. This is a problem and I'm not sure why its disquieted my soul so thoroughly but, goddamnit, it has. It's just gaudy as fuck. I mean, look!!!

You can't tell me that doesn't provoke some questions. Does it mold to his lips? Does he talk through the mouth? Is that mouth supposed to be  moving and we're missing it? I shouldn't be spending this much time asking this many questions about a mouth that doesn't belong to Rosario Dawson. I'm just sayin. Fix this shit, DC.

Batman: Okay, this is a nice way to follow up Zero Year. Instead of throwing us right into the next thing, Scott Snyder and Gerry Duggan give us a grace period and use this mainly one-shot issue to get us used to not having Greg Capullo around. Duggan's style is tailor made for hard boiled detective shit which is exactly what Bats gets down to here. I'm very much looking forward to what this creative team has in store.

All New X-Men: I thought I was going to miss Stuart Immonen on this book because, as much as I love Brian Bendis, he did the title a lot of favors visually. But Sara Pichelli has taken the torch and carried the fucking thing like she's been there all along. There are going to be some people that don't like this book because they feel every issue of a superhero book HAS to be about people beating the shit out of each other (though, in fairness, it's been so long since the X-family got along, readers might have forgotten what that looks like and doesn't really know how to respond). This is really no different than an episode of a television show devoted to character development. If you can sit through a whole hour of Heisenberg trying to kill a fly, I don't see why you can't read through this.

And now, in closing, the most awkward but necessary transition EVER....

So, with the turmoil in Ferguson and the untimely departure of Robin Williams, it's safe to say that this week was a particularly maudlin one. This doesn't have much to do with comics and I hate to feel like I'm ambushing you guys with some soapbox shit at the end of an emotional week, but suicide strikes a certain nerve with me, so you're gonna have to bare with me today.

If you know someone who's having a tough time to a point where they might consider hurting themselves or if you're having a hard time, hear me now. Tell someone. Tell anyone. Tell me if you have to. The only way we make it to tomorrow is together and trust me when I say this: We Want You Here. There's too many wonders in this world for us to not want to share them. There's no shame in reaching the end of your rope if there's someone waiting at the end of it to catch you. Don't let the darkness consume you. Don't wait. Don't stay silent. Don't hesitate. There's love all around if you look for it. 

1-800-273-TALK
suicide.org
crisistextline.org

The Week in Geek 8/6/14

So, this week, Black Nerd Problems published an exchange between me and my editor, Will Evans about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and whether it's a Pass or a Play. Granted, I argued for seeing the movie mainly because thus far, I haven't personally seen any aspect of it that makes the whole thing a "non starter" like it has with some. In truth, I think the thing that has hindered the movie before we even got a trailer is the perpetual press junket. I harped on this a little bit in my Comic Con commentary last week but as a whole, (running the risk of sounding like an old man) I think cinema in general has been somewhat hindered in the era of social media.

Don't get me wrong. As a member of "New Media", I recognized how much progress has been made as far as independent property being circulated and having so many options for alternatives to hoping for the old mainstream venues to notice you. However, for the mainstream big budget films, I remember seeing nothing more than a thirty second trailer and maybe an endorsement from some fast food joint and being able to go into a movie cold with an open mind about what I was about to see. BvS is a prime example of how there is a headline now to tell you every single level of the production process to the point where there's no mystery anymore. Marvel is a pretty good example of an outfit that knows how to use the media engine to its advantage, control what gets out and treat their fanbase to some quality tidbits for its loyalty, but even with that in mind, I still basically walked into Guardians of the Galaxy KNOWING it's going to be awesome as opposed to the degree of wonder that should come from a Marvel movie that doesn't feature conventional superheroes (though, yes, I get that it's in a superhero filled universe). In any case, I'm not exactly #TeamZackSnyder, but I think I've seen enough that movie deserves a we'll see.

Also, I'll have a few thoughts about Guardians of the Galaxy up some time tomorrow.

My comic reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. This week, I took a look at.....

Why the FUCK would you point your flashlight at Killer Croc
and NOT YOUR GUN?!

Batman Eternal: I think every comic has a make/break issue that can harm the quality at any given time. With Warren Ellis books, it's the overall patience of the reader. With Jonathan Hickman books, it's his tendency to meander in the world he builds for the reader. With Greg Land books, it's Greg Land. With Batman Eternal, at any given time, the artwork can easily sink this boat for that week. The gift AND the curse of having Dustin Nguyen on the title was that it raised the bar. Anyone who's seen his previous work on Batman books knows that his style feels so natural for this universe. Then, for Andy Clarke to have to follow up behind Nguyen's gorgeous work was rough. It was a decent job, but after a plot where some of the panels were simply terrifying, chasing monsters in the sewers should have felt much scarier and atmospheric than this did. Hopefully, this improves next week.

Iron Fist, The Living Weapon: I'm really having a hard time deciding whether we're going to look back in a couple of months and find this to be a sleeper hit by the time Kaare Andrews is done....or if Marvel is going to cancel it prematurely and leave us wondering what happened to this run in a few years when someone else comes along and gives it the Shang Chi treatment (I'm sorry, but that book is awful).

The Week In Geek 7/30/14

I'll have some San Diego Comic Con follow up stuff ready to go for you guys tomorrow since people asking me about certain events took up the better part of my time this week. It's flattering and a little surreal that you people seem to care so much about my opinion on these things lately. I literally can't even go on a date these days without running into a reader who says some shit like "Hey, man, your whiskey sour is on the house....but you're dead wrong about X-Men this week." Anyway, my reviews for Black Nerd Problems are up and available for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to click, share, comment and troll at your convenience. This week, I reviewed....

Batman Eternal: Listen, folks, I know this book, despite my praising it, has had some problems along the way, but this Ray Fawkes and Dustin Nguyen fall very perfectly into this supernatural, "creepy shit afoot" groove with the greatest of ease. Bringing back the Roman was awesome early in the series, but making Deacon Blackfire matter again is setting up to be a good look. I could definitely see the events of this storyline spilling out into the rest of the Bat-books just in time for some fun Halloween related books.

Uncanny X-Men: Listen, not only is this book back to being brilliant, but it's surpassed its previous brilliance. The thing about X-Men books in general is that there are often times when they work better not focusing on superhero antics. Their whole thing is making the public perception of mutants a little more upbeat, but they don't get to do that very often because most of the time, they're fighting with each other on one level or another. And even if they're not fighting each other and actually saving the world, they take it on the chin so often, they never really get around to changing minds. I think Bendis understands that X-books are at their most poignant when they centered around the idea of the X-Men as a family...sometimes fractured, always dysfunctional.