Thursday Thoughts - 3-29-12

Welcome back to Thursday Thoughts comic book fans. This weeks' thoughts all deal with comics, which shouldn't surprise you, but who knows. I'm starting off with a few topics dealing with some awesome female stars.

1. Witchblade was pretty bad until Ron Marz took over. I struggled to get through it before he took over. It really was bad. I started reading the series with a run of issues from #115 or 116 through 125 or so. The writing and the art made me an instant fan. I then spotted the compendiums and figured she's awesome maybe she's got a ton of great stuff behind her. Wrong. The first volume especially was quite horrid. As I've already stated, I struggled reading it. That was until Marz' pen guided Sara's adventures. I honestly would not recommend anything before he took over unless you really just want to read it all.

2. I think Power Girl’s costume with the tit window was one of the worst visuals ever. Other than that, I liked the costume. Simply put, it was stupid. Seriously. And I believe they even tried to explain it in a conversation with Superman. But I could be wrong. People only knew about her because of her large breasts. Just unnecessary. And her new one sucks too by the way.


3. Pre-ordering is great for everybody. It guarantees you a copy of a book you want. Plus it gets creators paid. With that, it increases the chances of creators doing more solo work. But I hate the idea of pre-ordering subsequent issues of a book before I even get the first in hand. I was thinking about that when I put in orders for the second and third issues of a series. Just odd. But that won't stop me from pre-ordering though.


4. There should be some kind of ongoing ninja vs. pirate book. I'd like to write one. This match-up is a favorite on the internet. Just google or bing it and have a laugh or a hundred. Now we ALL know ninja would destroy pirates, but it'd be nice to see it play out on the pages. What side are you on?


5. John Stewart and Guy Gardner are the best Green Lanterns. They really are. Be honest, Hal and Kyle are kinda weak and boring. John and Guy just hold my interest more. And they have more imagination.

What do you think people? Have a subject you want to know my thoughts about? Let me know and I'll throw it in. Keep it nerdy my friends. Thanks for looking.

Cover of the Week for 3-28-12

Happy New Comic Day! It's a beautiful day to head to your shop and buy some comics. And because of the weather, why not read them outside? This guy won't be doing that because I have class. But I do have some nice books that will be waiting to be picked up. If someone wants to do that for me, I certainly won't object. Just sayin.

So taking a look at the releases this week, it was slightly sad because they were so few good looking pieces. Choosing this one brings to mind the phrase "easy peasy." Representing a franchise I've known since I was a kid, my choice is the center of a recent controversy which I actually don't care about. The controversy, not the franchise. So delaying no further, I present Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #8. Take a look ladies and gentlemen.

I'll be honest, I don't know which is the official release. My instinct says it's the one in which they're wearing the red bandanas. But I've seen the individually colored one on several sights. So either somebody got it wrong or they're both available. I doubt the latter is true. I posted them both just in case and because they good with their own colors.

We can thank Dan Duncan for this cover depicting our favorite turtles taking on the deadly mousers. My favorite turtle, Leo, on top with twin katana ready is looking good. That's a lot of mousers, but the turtles can handle. Hopefully they can. I guess I'll find out when I read it. Nice piece Mr. Duncan.

Go ninja, go ninja, go! I had to do it. Let me know what you think. Keep it nerdy my friends.

The Activity #3 Review

The Activity is one of publisher-extraordinaire Image Comics' younger titles. Written by Nathan Edmondson and drawn by Mitch Gerads, it's focused on a small special forces unit within the Intelligence Support Activity, or I.S.A. Designated Team Omaha, they consist of individuals with backgrounds in intelligence and the military. Assisting Edmondson and Gerads are color assistants Joseph Frazzeta and Jordan Gibson with letters by Jeff Powell.

This third issue opens with the team on mission in Gardez, Afghanistan. A mission that has gone severly wrong. From there most of the issue is set on their ride home. There is some tension between two characters as Master Sargeant Luke is arguing about a call Major Zoe made in the field. This clash stems from that call which may or may not have led to the death of one of the three "delta escorts" who were with them. Cooler heads prevail as the book goes on.

The highlight of this issue next to the character conflict is Gerads' work visually. Not as a whole, but specifically dealing with the facial expressions to show the mood. This is especially noticeable with the sunken heads and closed eyes as a result of what occurred in Gardez. You can feel the vibe amongst the group about how the mission went.

As far as the art in whole, it doesn't really stand out to me. But I feel it gets the job done. Darker tones and shadows set the mood. Not a lot of variance in color, mostly black, blue, brown, and green. But that's not a negative. This type of book wouldn't benefit from numerous and bright colors.

One aspect of the series I don't like is that it's hard to keep track of everyone name-wise. Real names as well as code-names are used together, when names are used at all. This probably isn't an issue if you have had them straight in your head since the first issue. But with the death in the book, the weight isn't truly felt because there's no frame of reference for the character. It would be different if she was a member of their unit.

For this specific book, we don't know why they were in Gardez. That may have been intentional to place focus on how the characters immediately dealt with the failure. Pesonally, I would have liked some intel on the mission. There were several flashbacks throughout the book where some pieces of information on the mission could have been relayed to readers.

I like special forces type books. I've read G.I. Joe books for years as well, so if you've read those, that will give you an idea of how this book works. I recommend this series and welcome any thoughts on it after you read up or you're already reading. Thanks for stopping by.

Thursday Thoughts - 3-22-12

Hello funny book lovers. Welcome to my new weekly feature, Thursday Thoughts. This feature will consist of five thoughts related to comics (and occasionally other nerdy interests). Sometimes an entry will include topics directly dealing with certain comics, characters, creators, publishers, conventions, cosplaying, the industry in general, and any number of other areas. Sometimes I will throw in something about toys, video games, tv shows, and movies. With that said, let us begin.

1. Being that this is the first entry, I must start it off right. I think Cyclops is the greatest X-Man. Why? Because he's been around since the start and he's awesome. Despite Wolverine's popularity, I like him too, Cyclops is the face of the X-Men to me. It hasn't been easy, but he's led the X-Men and maybe he's made some questionable decisions along the way, but a leader can't always make everybody happy.

2. Image and Dark Horse are my favorite Indie publishers. As a kid, I loved Spawn and Wild.C.A.T.s. I fell out of them for a while, but got back into Spawn several years ago. I've read many Image titles over the years, especially recently as my tastes have expanded. Dark Horse kinda surprised me. While going through my collection one day, I noticed how many Dark Horse titles were there. Not complaining at all. They were all quality books. Currently, I have several books from both publishers on my pull-list. Mostly Image course. And they rock. I recommend The Activity, Shinku, and Spawn. Image, especially, likely has something for almost any reading taste.

3. DC’s New 52 novelty is wearing off. It really is. I've just been looking at the series, some of which I'm actually enjoying. Some I feel like I might be reading just to read. I've dropped a few and plan to drop more. I just don't care about much of them anymore. It was new and exciting while being mysterious as well. Not so much anymore. The fun has faded for the most part.

4. I disliked Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. I liken them to chores for the most part. The only part from the series that I really enjoyed was the downloadable combat map in AA. On this map, you could fight goons endlessly until you died. I'd have some fast-paced rap playing and would just go at it. I had a ball. The rest of the game? Not so much. I couldn't wait to get through with most of it. I had to do a second play-through for an achievement or two and it was mad boring. I kid you not. I questioned if the achievement was even worth the trouble. And its' sequal, AC, wasn't any better. More space in the city, blah blah blah. It still wasn't fun.

5. Avengers movie action figures suck. Seriously. They look horrible. Take a look a few here. Especially that hideous Hulk.

And these are from the same company who makes G.I. Joe, Marvel Universe, and Marvel Legends? Wow. I shouldn't be surprised considering how a lot of movie figures seem to lack in quality. But it's never been an entire movie line. X-Men Origins: Wolverine had some figures worth purchasing. Even though they weren't that great. Iron Man 2 had several as well. Next time you step into the action figure aisle, if you haven't seen these abominations already, take a look at them. But don't stare too long, you'll be scarred by ugly forever.

So what did you think about this debut entry of Thursday Thoughts? Have a subject you want to know my thoughts about? Let me know and I'll throw it in. Keep it nerdy my friends. Thanks for looking.

Cover of the Week for 3-21-12

Happy New Comic Day! Another lovely week of comics for us. So let's flood our shops and buy some good books. I won't lie, there aren't that many cool covers out this week. Once again we celebrate the eternal battle between two awesome fictional forces. Check out the variant for Snake Eyes #11.

Yo Joe! The credit for this one is rather tricky. Several sources give due to different artists, David Williams and Kelsey Shannon. I don't know either of their work to be able to visually differentiate between the two. If anyone knows for sure, let me know, and I'll correct it.

The G.I. Joe books have taken home several CotW awards. It's not totally my Yo Joe bias, it just happens that they have nice covers. The image above is actually three covers formed to make one image. So for this week, focus solely on the middle section which features Cobra Commander's giant metal head in front of dueling sword-brothers Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. In the reflection on chrome dome's faceplate, you'll notice the burning American flag. That's some imagery right there.

I love G.I. Joe. Now you know. And knowing is...well you know the rest. Thanks for looking.