Thursday, July 9, 2009

ATN Comic Reviews July 8th

Welcome to another edition of ATN Comic Reviews....man, I gotta get a catchier title for that.

This was a bit of a small week for comics, only Green Lantern #43 and Red Robin #2 for me. Both were good issues though, so sit back and enjoy the reviews.

Let's begin with Red Robin #2. Turns out this comic is NOT about the bird mascot from the delicious restaurant chain fighting crime, but instead follows Tim Drake, the penultimate Robin as he searches for Bruce Wayne. Red Robin really shows both sides of Tim's character. On one hand, he has really learned a lot from his days with Batman, and uses those things to his advantage. On the other hand, it shows how Tim is not handling the fact that Bruce is gone very well. He has become a bit of a hermit crab, living on his own and moving from place to place, cutting himself off from all former allies. At the end of the issue, Tim finds himself making a bit of a deal with the devil as he negotiates with Ras Al Ghul. Red Robin has a nice touch of self-narration from Tim, and definitely has me looking forward to issue 3.

Next up is the final prologue issue to Blackest Night, Green Lantern #43. This issue is all about Black Hand, the main Black Lantern. It shows what a sick freak he really is, and delves into his origins a bit. Death interested Black Hand even as a child, as his main hobby was Taxidermy. Twisted right? Well it gets worse. He's seen lying in a grave, kills his entire family, there's a subtle hint of necrophilia, and he even offs himself at the end of the book just in time for Scar to turn him into the Black Lantern entity. Blackest Night is going to be an awesome horror/action event and starts up next week, so be ready for that! Lots of dead characters returning, lots of crazy colors flying around, and probably an explosion or two. What's not to enjoy?

Next week I'll be reviewing Blackest Night #1 and Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps

Monday, July 6, 2009

ATN Comic Reviews July 1st

Hey there fans,

So I've recently decided that I would do weekly reviews of the wednesday comics very similar to the Fresh Ink podcast that I am a big fan of. I also hope everyone had a good 4th of July, but let's get right into things.

*Spoilers ahead*

First off, we start with the new Deadpool series, Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth. Glad to see Deadpool's not becoming another Marvel sellout with 2 on-goings and a mini-series...oh wait. I do love Deadpool, but even I can only take so much of him. This first issue tackles Deadpool's character very well with his constant commentary and 4th wall breaking. He even makes a nice reference to Fallout 3 for any of you fans out there. The story seems a bit convoluted at the moment because as the cover suggests, it deals with zombies, cavemen, dinosaurs and zombie cavemen. Deadpool finds himself in the Savage Land and meets Ka-Zar. The art in this series is unique, but a bit childish in my opinion. The bonus story in the back of the book is pretty cool though and is from the original Deadpool series. This story isn't a must-read, and is definitely a bit iffy with the $3.99 price that Marvel seems to be subtley slipping under our noses.

Next up, Captain America: Reborn. This is the first of a five issue mini-series that is supposed to bring the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, back to life. Sounds pretty good right? Well, with great art and a storyline practically ripped straight from Lost, I'm interested. Turns out that Steve wasn't shot with a normal gun, he was shot with a gun that un-stuck him in time. He now travels through random parts of his life much like Slaughter-House Five or Desmond Hume from Lost. Hell, he's even got Sharon Carter as a nice constant. Marvel's very clearly trying to cash in on this event by releasing 4 covers to this issue, but hey, that's what good ol' capitalism's all about right?

Moving onto DC's comics, we've got the second issue of the new Batman and Robin series. As you should know, Bruce Wayne is gone and Dick Grayson is the new Batman. I couldn't have picked a better replacement for Bruce if I tried. However, his choice for the new Robin kinda sucks. Bruce had an illegitimate son with Talia Al Ghul named Damien, and the kid's a bit of a prick. So Dick thinks that if he guides Damien, he can cure him of said prickiness. Unfortunately, two issues in, Damien's still a prick. Grant Morrison is a great writer though, and I have a feeling that will soon turn around. They've got a sweet new bat-mobile, and a couple cool new villains as well. Check this series out if you're a Batman fan, Robin fan, or just enjoy a good read. P.S. D.C. is still sticking with $3 an issue, so there's that too!

Finally, we go onto Green Lantern Corps #38, the last issue of the Emerald Eclipse saga and last issue before Blackest Night, which if you know me at all, you know I am GREATLY looking forward to. The first thing I need to say about this issue is what a sweet ass cover it has. Kilowog holding up a bloody mess of Green Lantern rings? What's not to love? Emerald Eclipse has a good conclusion and does a good job of showing what douches the Guardians have become. It's nice to see that Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner still stand for what's right though. The final page of this issue provides a delicious tease at the event to come. The dead will rise and blood will be shed. Stay tuned all summer for my reviews on further Blackest Night books.

I'll see you guys next time when I review Green Lantern #43 and Red Robin #2

Monday, May 11, 2009

Star Trek

Good afternoon and welcome to another segment of ATN,

As you know (or at least should know) Star Trek came out on Friday and nerds everywhere were ecstatic. Now before we get into my review, let me point out that I wasn't a Star Trek fan going into this movie. I had nothing against it, I had just never really gotten into it. So without further ado, my review.

Star Trek, the final frontier. A subject no man has explored before...except for the original series, countless spinoffs and movies. The movie focuses on the adventures of the Enterprise (that's a big important spaceship) and its crew, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Ahora, Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov. The acting in this movie is supreme. Zachary Quinto performs the role of an emotionless, logical Spock quite well. Chris Pine played the smug badass James Tiberius Kirk enjoyabley. These two characters are the main focus of the movie and have the deepest background. While the main focus is on Kirk and Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Sulu provide some wonderful comedy and banter. Eric Bana plays yet another green character (I apologize right now for referencing the horrendous 2003 "Hulk" movie), the evil villain Nero. Nero is a bat-shit crazy Romulan from the future that is hellbent on revenge. The only thing to top off the afformentioned acting, is the appearance of the legendary Leonard Nimoy. I won't spoil how he relates to the plot, but he's definitely an important character and delves a bit into his roots.

The effects in this movie are very well done. I enjoyed every bit of them from the black holes, to the red matter, to the planet destruction. Phasing from spot to spot had some very nice special effects involved and provides a couple nice jokes for Chekov and Scotty. Overall, I feel that fans would enjoy this even more than I did, which is hard to achieve. While I may not have understood all the little references and allusions to the original series, I could tell when they happened because several members of the audience started laughing. Star Trek is a must-see for fans and casual movie goers alike. I thoroughly look forward to the sequel, because let's face it, there's gonna be one, and am now inclined to check out the old show at some point to look at the similarities. Live long and prosper!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Nerdsplosion!

Hey there fans,

Sorry for the long time without an update. I know all of you were dying to know the winner between Megan Fox, Jennifer Aniston, and Jessica Alba, but we'll get to that in a minute.

So, what a big weekend for nerds, am I right? The premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which I'm sure many of you saw at midnight, and of course the 8th annual Free Comic Book Day! Let's discuss my feelings on Wolverine first.

Wol-ver-ine: noun. The poster-slut for all things Marvel. Synonyms: Spider-Man. Antonyms: Batman, Superman. X-Men Origins: Wolverine has gotten a lot of bad press and reviews. I however thoroughly enjoyed the film. It was a nice action flick, that was at least relatively close to the comic origin. There was a nice jumble of some of my favorite marvel characters, some good action scenes, and some generally good action. However, I do have a few small gripes. My first, and perhaps biggest flaw of the film, is Deadpool. Now, for any average Joe seeing this film, I'm sure Deadpool was fine. But for those of us devoted comic book fans, he was a slaughterfest on our favorite Merc with a Mouth. The Deadpool featured in the beginning couldn't have been better. Then, at the end, they decided to go completely off-source and do whatever they damn well pleased with such a good character. Oh well, there's word of a Deadpool spin-off, maybe they'll fix him up by then. Another gripe, would be Wolverine's claws. Hands down some of the worst CGI I've seen in this generation of movies. Onto my last big gripe, which is about Fox. Why on Earth would you make two different "after the credits" scenes, and send them out randomly to movie theaters? That is a major inconvenience to fans. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to go to every nearby movie theater, hoping for the grab-bag chance that I get to see the other bonus ending. Oh well, back to my main thesis. Wolverine is a must-see for comic fans, and while it is still over-shadowed by Iron Man and Dark Knight in my book, with an 87 million opening box office, I don't see Marvel's poster-slut going anywhere anytime soon.

Now let's discuss Free Comic Book Day, one of my favorite days of the year! May 2nd, 2009 marked the 8th annual Free Comic Book Day. For those of you unfamiliar with this, it's an excuse for your local comic book shop to lure you in and snatch your wallet. All the big comic book publishers send out one designated "Free Comic" for retailers to stockpile. Little children then go to the store and force their parents to buy them all the other shiny comic books about Spidey beatin' up baddies. Now, usually, I go into Free Comic Book Day and expect 7 or 8 comics, ya know, the ones from the big publishers. Not this year, oh no. I walked out of there with 33 free comics and a few others that caught my eye. Granted, most of the "free comics" were things I would never read, but a true collector never complains. The best free comic would be Blackest Night #0, the prelude to the upcoming Green Lantern event. It was a small taste of the delicious crossover likely to fill my upcoming summer. Some other sweet issues were a reprint of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Marvel's Avengers comic. I encourage all of you to go to your local comic store and see what's left over, so you too can enjoy the free comic goodness.

Finally, Jessica Alba and Megan Fox are co-winners. I waited and waited for someone to break the tie, and no one did. So both girls share the March Babeness trophy this year, maybe one will prevail next year.

Thanks to all the fans, and spread the word to your friends! Maybe someday this blog will be featured on Attack of the Show or something haha. And stay tuned for my review of Star Trek, that I am eagerly awaiting on Friday.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

March Babeness: Final Match

So, last round had a tie that didn't look to be broken anytime soon. I decided to just have three finalists and have one winner amongst the three. So, enjoy the pics, and leave your votes. Hope you guys enjoyed this fun little tournament, I know I sure did.

Final Match:

Jessica Alba


vs

Jennifer Aniston



vs

Megan Fox

Friday, March 27, 2009

March Babeness: Final 4

Alright guys, by now you should know the jist, so let's not waste any time!

Winners of last round:
Alba (5-0)
Aniston (3-2)
Strahovski (4-1)
Fox (5-0)

Final 4:

Jessica Alba


vs

Jennifer Aniston


Yvonne Strahovski


vs

Megan Fox