Marvel Comics in 2026

It's been four years since I last posted about the comic books. They seem to be almost forgotten by Marvel themselves as the company shifted the brand's focus to movies, which did make them huge amounts of money, well...Disney perhaps is the man behind the curtain on this. Yet comics keep being made, and I keep reading them, but it is hard for me to imagine buying a physical copy of one at this point, as they are so inconsistent. To keep abreast of what was really going on, you would be blowing a hundred dollars a month on what?  Characters that are not being respected? 

How is this disrespect to the characters happening? Well, their stories are being bastardized. How many people have worn the Spider-Man mask in the past year? Wel that first requires you to answer the next stupidest question, who is Spider-man? If the answer is not Peter Parker, then the legacy of this character is in trouble. When I tell you, Norman Osbourne was wearing the red and blue suit while Parker was in space recently, then you might understand how sharks have been jumped, and poor editorial decisions have been made, and they are affecting most characters. This bleeds over into their delusion of what will work on the big screen or television, and things compound. 

I am going to look at 10 other comics aside from Spider-Man, featuring the 10 charaters that matter the most to me aside from Parker, and see where the problem lies. It makes sense to give my favorite character a look first, so let's see how ole Bruce Banner is doing.

The Hulk

Just got finished reading the lastest issue of the Infernal Hulk. The latest gimmick.  I approve of taking the Hulk in a more horror-oriented direction, and like the Immortal Hulk series, some of those books would have been worth buying. Maybe one day I will grab a trade paperback. For Infernal, I will break it donw like this an Anicent demon , yanked Banner from Hulk and now wears the Hulk as it has possessed him to wage war against god, not a bad concept in theory I am not opposed to it the execution is jumping ahead of it self as it has this Infernal Hulk taking on the Marvel Universes incarnation of God, the One Above All, or so the fight was billed but it was reallyu for of an Arch angel andd the Infernal Hulk crushed it, not Stark is about to put on some fancy armour and right him. It's dark, reminds me a little of Alan Moore Swamp Thing days when it comes to the art. Give it a B+

The Sentry

He just got a new series. It is not clear where this falls on the timeline in terms of  Canon; it looks like  New Avengers' era or an alternate Universe, he did get ripped apart by Knull a while back, and I do not recall reading an reasonable explanation for his reincarnation, but as his power set, I am not asking too many questions. Jenkins wrote this, so it should come together it seems the Void is acting on its own accord at times. I will see where it goes. Give it a C+

    Thor

Well, his book is now called Mortal Thor, so you can guess he came back from the dead with no powers, does not remember that he is Thor, nor does anyone really remember him as Thor, so magic is afoot in this regard. His son is about to take the throne in Asgard. It is a case of writers who should not be writing a character that they do not know what to do with at full power, as this has been done before, so why recycle the story? The art is decent. Give it a D +

Doctor Strange

He is in Asgard, being a wizard with Angela in tow. The writer is obviously into Dungeons & Dragons, it would be nice to see him more grounded in a 9th Gate type story, moving in a more Lovecraftian direction, but here we are, give it a C

She-Hulk 

She is now on Skaar, Planet Hulk, in a more involved soap opera of a storyline; they brough her boyfriend Jack of Hearts to fight her. It looks like after six issues, she might be heading back to earth as they milked it for all it was worth, very Star Wars-like story and action, give it a C

the Punisher

Another reboot finds Marvel repenting for being apologetic for the character after his iconic symbol was almost cancelled by stupid Millennials. He is back in the proper costume being treated the right way with great art. The first issue of the new series is some of their best work in years. Give it an A

Iron Man

Only on the 2nd issue of the new series so too hard for them to screw it up, but they are working with what is tried and true, which is the formula they should stick with. Give it a B

Captain America

With the Avengers disbanding their current roster, it means we have to use Steve Rogers, the heartbeat of what is going on at the center of the Marvel Universe. He does have General Ross (the Red Hulk) in the periphery of his stories, but things have not really come to a head with that. Seems like he has just been on an endless mission the past few years that digs deeper into things, but there is no clear story. Give it a C

Scarlet Witch

Not the best at holding down her own series, she is now the Sorceror Supreme, not the first time. The art is very 90s, and in some ways it works, but we got her fighting Agatha for four issues, and that got old. Not a fan of how she is drawn, not really as hot as she used to be in the 80s and 90s, she can still be curvy and powerful, it kind of kills their whole feminist vibe by not letting this happen ou are saying that those concepts are mutually exclusive- give it a C

Will try to get more regular with writing about the comic books, but the comic books should be more inspiring and not a second thought to the movies. 

Film Review : "Captain America Brave New World"

Not as bad as Rotten Tomatoes makes it out to be. But it's about on par with the Disney Plus show, though with a bigger budget that was ot invested in the boring fight choreography.  Sam Wilson, has problems fighting soldiers, that Steve Rogers would have annihilated by the time the elevator doors closed. I would have been less inclined to watch this movie if it was not for the cross-over into the Hulk's world. General Ross, is an antagonist of sorts. The final Red Hulk climax is not worth the cost of a movie ticket. However it does prove that Wilson's Cap was mismatched, and unless this was saved as a subplot the Thunderbolts would have been wiser to have fully fleshed out the Serpent Society and other corners of the Captain America mythos, even Baron Blood would have worked.

The writers tried to play off tensions in the world today, but replaced China, with Japan, yet neglected to tease any character from the Pacific. Instead, I tried tying up loose ends and serving as a bookmarker to keep the public interested in the Marvel formula, but I think it's safe to say the momentum of that magic is long gone. The hype for this film ducked and dodged they claimed Sabra had been dialed back but in reality just silenced the fact she was Isreal's protector and toned down her powers simply making her another Black Widow. When Bucky Barnes is the biggest guest spot you know times are hard, and the gaping Avvenger's sied hole in this cinematic universe continues to yawm out into the void.

The stakes could not be any lower for this movie, yet they missed the mark visually, with the Red Hulk being the only interesting part of the movie and the elderly Harrison Ford being forced to pull all the film's weight. Design-wise they missed the mark with the Leader. Any teases that this would be a Hulk movie with mentions of the Abomination and Banner, are all misdirectsThe bright side of this will hopefully be that Anthony Mackie showed he plays a better-supporting character, and if placed as the centerpiece of an Avengers film it would bomb rather than uphold the previous legacy of the original films. Right now things are not looking so great for the future of Marvel and this movie did not restore any hope, at least it's better than the Marvels. 

Reviewing the Year in Marvel Comics-2024

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It has been a minute since I wrote about just comics which used to be a weekly ritual for me, in fact, this very article I started back in 2023, but am now forcing myself to finish it. as Marvel Comics have been pretty underwhelming as a general. DC when I have given them the chance has been worse, they seem to be falling for some of the same traps as Marvel in devaluing the legacy of their characters Marvel got the hint to some degree and is trying to salvage its comics line and make people care about them since the movies and shows have started to tank. They are learning people do not want Disney politics mixed in with their escapism. This is bleeding into the comics as stories are starting to head back into a more classic direction. 

. The further we get from the Avengers the more it's going to fade in the rearview mirror of our collective attention span. The comics came first and that is the legacy of these characters more so than any whoring of their likeness to Hollywood so let's take a look and see how Marvel is doing in reclaiming this to steer the ship back in a better direction. So how was  2024? I will take 10  branches of the Marvel Tree that matter the most and give the run 

Spider-Man...

It does not matter who has the hit at the box office, he is their flagship legacy. Peter Parker, is doing pretty well in the Amazing Spider-Man series, it keeps breaking down into something more street-wise at present. They need to break it down to just Peter, Miles, and Jessica Drew, as the only spider people for sure.  Doctor Octopus was back in the mix, along with  Norman Osborne who returned as a crazy big bad. Parker dated   Black Cat again. It worked best when there was little to no crossover from other corners of the Spider-Verse for now at least. They tried killing off  Ms Marvel in his book, was un-needed would have made more sense in Avengers, that way there would have been someone for them to Avenge, but aside from that Amazing Spider-Man is worth reading these days. It has Parker back in a more grounded place.  Sure there is the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man cartoon, that did some ridiculous race swapping, which seems to be shooting for a younger audience. Who cares about it really, it's something I will forget about after I press publish on this article. 

Fantastic Four

Another one of the Golden Age staple books, that in the past found itself a little convoluted with too many cooks in the kitchen and way more than the core Four. Some of the babysitting hanging on is gone and at present, they are focused on Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny, which is as it should be. Though the writing it not the greatest a they have a penchant for dedicating issues to a single member rather than focusing on them as a family unit which is their strength They will be getting more of a push this year with the movie gaining hype. 

The X-Men

There are too many books, so the storylines get muddled making it a continuity nightmare.  I feel like I am always struggling to keep up, the last Uncanny arch was pretty good, and we have most of the essential characters on state. Then an increasing number get solo series which if we are going to be honest  Wolverine is the only one who warrants their own series, unless we are counting Deadpool as an X-man, less convoluted than it has been. 

Avengers 

As far as team books go the current run the roster is all classic characters like Scarlet Witch, Thor, Iron-man etc with the only twist on the classic being the Sam Wilson version of Captain America which is getting hype for the movie to come. They have tried to work Storm in a possibly Black Cat. Unless it's an Uncanny Avengers book, which was a good series worth bringing back, they are better off leaving her in the X-men, but at least there is no Blade of Ghost Rider, who was never a good fit for the team anyway. I think they need to focus on picking villains suited for them, as there can be too much in the way of trying to farm new characters than having no emotional investment. 

Daredevil 

With Spider-man also more grounded in the streets, Daredevil needs to be left on the grittier side. Matt Murdock's character is always picking himself back up to re-invent. Kingpin was running the show which put him in a bad spot, the whole prison arch, with Elektra becoming Daredevil was dumb, they should just work on making Elektra more interesting as her own character. The same cycle of rogues has been in rotation too long, they need to get writers in who keep things fresh while staying true to the character. 

Hulk 

Once again we begin to see writers at Marvel wanting to be the next person who creates a big bad like Gorr or Venom who catches on and sticks to become a recognized villain in the Marvel pantheon but fail to do this in a method that pulls from existing mythos. With Hulk, I am surprised we have not seen more from the Leader since Sterns is appearing in the new Captain America movie. While I am glad we do not have too many Hulks in the mix, it's about time to have Skaar show up, where the hell is Abomination? Rick Jones? The Hulk is doing what the Hulk does, and I have not disliked the monster slant, but there are plenty of monsters that could have made an appearance rather than trying to create new ones. Glob, the Missing Link, Wendigo, Frankenstein, the Living Mummy and Werewolf By Night could have all made an appearance shit I'll even take War-Wolf. 

Thor 

Getting back to basics is working Enchantress was due for a comeback., It was good to see the Executioner in play as well. I think there needs to be a balance of how we see Asgard and Midgard interplay. The Thor being a wanted man on Earth could have been a good angle, who would they send to hunt Thor down, when does Thor get fed up with humanity's shit and do some god smiting would be an interesting question to pose. He plays too nice, I think he works best with a rougher edge that is more true to Norse mythology. But things are less contrived than they have been in the past which works for me. 

Dr. Strange

Of all the books Strange is getting the worst end of the stick. Killing him off an making him a ghost, is dumb if anyone can navigate the afterworld back to his body it's Strange. This has spilled over into other books like Spider-man and we have seen both Clea and Dr, Doom trying to be sorcerer supreme. It's as dumb as when Thor was unworthy. This is an easy fix they need to get in there and do it right.

Iron Man

Pretty decent Stark is doing better than Steve Rogers. Stripping away Stark Industries and not making him more of an Elon Musk, works for now, but how can you expect him to not get back to where he was considering who he is and the network and resources he has. At least his book is not as littered with too much supporting cast. Not sure how I felt about the Emma Frost thing. The thing they need to get back to the classic feel, and the West Coast Avengers book seems like the part forward to that. 

Captain America 

I am only exposed to Sam Wilson through Avengers which is fine, as he is a better supporting cast member than some one in the spotlight, he has not rogues gallery and I do not see Roger's villains taking him seriously. Rogers is like Stark where too much supporting cast members like Bucky or Black Widow weigh things down and lower the stakes. There are some interesting stories that could be told with him, and I think we would be a good avenue to bring back SHIELD as a shadow organization, maybe that he plays against as was hinted in the movies, but their is a wealth to work with that is not being tapped here. 

    . 

Film Review : "Avengers End Game"

If you think anything you could read about Avengers :End Game “ is going to be a spoiler then you did not pay attention to the other movies. It was all foreshadowed if not outright telegraphed, Not to mention the fact that most of the characters are getting either tv shows or sequels so how much in question can the fates of Spider-man, Dr. Strange, Winter Soldier, Vision , Falcon, Scarlet Witch and Black Panther really be ? Did this movie need to be 3 hours ? No. It does drag some in some of the laboratory scenes and when everyone's is getting into their feelings about the post-snap world the movie starts off in.  Despite juggling the story-lines for the 6 original Avengers, it does stay on track, there is still plenty of fat that could have been trimmed. Perhaps it’s this fat, along with the performances of the veteran core, that hides the fact plot which has less surprises than plot line of your average video game that is high on the quest mode.

If you had not read the comics then I am sure the ending of the last movie seemed like a cliffhanger. This all culminates here, the final fruits of the movies picking and choosing what parts of mainstream continuity and the ultimate universe they want to pick from , we see how if they had stuck closer to the source material they would not have to jump the shark so hard. So without characters like the Sliver Surfer and Adam Warlock we are left with Stark having to do a bunch of tinkering and coming up with “Legends of Tomorrow “ like narrative. None of which is really spoiler heavy if you have already seen the movies they revisit. You are going to regret not seeing Dr. Strange.

While it does get mired down in sentiment it is the sense of humor that helps balance the pace and once they get on their respective missions, the movie is certainly fun. It focuses largely on the 3 core members  Cap, Thor and Stark. This makes sense as they have been the 3 who have held up their own trilogy of films .All the actors from the first film have really settled into their roles so it’s hard to not see them s these characters. I think Paul Rudd once again steals the show with conviction, so I am hoping they make an Ant-man 3. There are plenty of mis steps that are balanced out by the heart of the performances. The big cgi battle at the end feels a kid just dumped all their action figures on their bed to see what would happen.

One thing I do like about this movies is it is aimed at the fans who have stuck by these movies and not the fair weather fans only there for the diversity marketing in fact  Black Panther only gets a few passing glances and Captain Marvel get much less screen time than most predicted. . While there are easter eggs at the end that give nods to certain shifts in the comics, since they were largely short lived when b - list characters proved unable to support their own series, I can see this transitioning into another Avengers movie , though he next Spider Man movie it is going to be a rough ride for Marvel until they are able to dust off the Fantastic Four and the X-men.

The Top 30 Marvel Movies

When Marvel started making movies we were just glad to see these characters on the screen. Now it's a billion dollar hype machine. People need to attach things to these character that just isn't there. Fuck the politics of what Hollywood wants them to  promote on any given day and lets look at how these movies stack up against one another. Ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of faithfulness to the comics , acting , cinematography these qualities put them where they sit on this list. Since after all those are the most important elements of a movie about super-heroes, story wise they already have it laid out for them.



1-Dr. Strange

Faith-9

Act-10- The best cast yet

Cine-10

29...the best of the bunch.



2-Captain America Winter Solider

Faithful-9

Act- 9

cine- 9

27

This movie had the most heart Marvel has committed to film so far



3-Iron Man

faith-8

Act-9

cine 9

26

Kicked off the concept of a shared universe. Rober Downey jr, became Stark.

4-Captain America

faith -9

Act- 8

Cine-9

26




5- Captain America Civil War

Faith - 7

Act-9

cine-9

25

The most heroes they have had on screen up until this point, Spider-man and Ant-man stole the show.


6-Blade

Faith 8

Act- 8

Cine- 9

25...Black Panther might have been created by some white men in 62 making him the first black Marvel hero, but Blade was the first black hero to hit the big screen. If he is not a hero then neither is Bat-man. Some classic scenes in the movie that was really well done considering when it came out.

7-Incredible Hulk


Faith - 8

Act- 9... thanks to Ed Norton

Cine-8

Norton is probably the best Banner yet.



8-Guardians of the Galaxy

Faith -8

Act- 8

Cine 9

25... Groot and Rocket stole the show.

9-Deadpool

Faith-7

Act- 8

Cine- 9

24...Rated r super hero movies became a thing, tone was better than their faithfulness or lack of to the books



10-Logan

Faith- 6

Act - 8

Cine -8

24...Gritty in all the right ways even though it never touches the Old Man Logan Story.




11-Punisher War Zone


Faith - 9

Act- 7

Cine- 8

24...as violent as it should be.



10- Spider-Man 2

Faith - 8

Act-8

Cine- 8

24- Molina's Dr. Octopus was great and Mcguire got comfortable with the role.

11- the Avengers

Faith - 6

Act- 9

cine-8

23- Their chemistry worked despite the cgi vomited ending that became an unfortunate super-hero staple.





12-Spider-Man Homecoming

Faith 7

Act-8

Cine 8

Thankfully spared another origin story, Holland is the best of the three Spider-men


13- X-men First Class

Faith -6

Act- 8

Cine- 8

22...guess they didn't know who was actually in the first class, it was the most fun I had in an X-men movie up to this point.



14-Iron-Man 3

Faith - 5

Act-9...thanks to Robert Downey jr

Cine 8

22...the movies villains were a little weak, but Downey pulled it together.

15-Amazing Spider Man

Faith - 8

Act- 7

Cine-7

22...too soon for a reboot, the mask came off way too much.

16-Blade 2

Faith -  8

Act-6

Cine - 7

22...still fun, they should have ended it here and not made the third movie


17-Guardians of the Galaxy 2

Faith - 5

Act-8

Cine 8

21...Mantis was a Pokemon and it was way too goofy.

17- Avengers Age of Ultron

Faith - 4

Act- 8

Cine-8

20...at least we got Vision and Scarlet Witch though way too far from the source material.

18-Ant-man

Faith 4

Act-8

Cine 8

20...This should have been Pym,

19-Iron - Man 2

Faith - 4

Act-8

Cine-8

20...not sure what didn't work about this movie, maybe it way when Whip Lash got armor.

20-Spider-man

Faith-8

Act-6

Cine-6

20...why was the Green Goblin a Power Ranger?

21-Thor the Dark World

Faith - 3

Act-8

Cine - 8

19...why were elves in space ships?



22-Thor

Faith - 4

Act-7

Cine-7

18...He didn't have his powers half the movie and they were too apologetic about him being a god not an alien.



24- Amazing Spider man 2

Faith-5

Act- 6

Cine- 7

18...Electro was terrible

25-Black Panther

Faith- 6

Act-5

Cine - 6

17...the acting was terrible with accents that came and went scene to scene, supporting cast was either wooden or acted like teenagers, we are too far into this to have cgi of this low quality.

26- Fantastic four 2 rise of Sliver Surfer

Faith - 4

Act-5

Cine- 7

16...might have been better if Galactus was not a purple cloud.

27-Daredevil

Faith- 6

Act- 4

Cine-6

16-acting was as stiff as Affleck looked in that suit.

28-Punisher


faith-6

Act-5

Cine   - 4 

15...I tried really hard to like it when it came out.

29-Spider-man 3

faith-3

Act-4

Cine -7

14...Venom was horrible

                                           

30- Man-Thing

Faith 4

Act4

cine 3

Worse than the second Swamp Thing , but we did get titties for this b-horror movies right from the jump.

This Week in Marvel

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After what happened at the polls this week, the Riri Iron-man books, feels like a discarded foot note in Marvel's social justice warrior agenda. I can't see Disney wanting to be considered subversive, so no more M.O.D.O.K Trump jokes. What is eluded to here is the fact Tony Stark might have been killed off in Civil War 2. So Marvel is really spitting in the faces of it's fans by taking away a third character we know and love. Three from the cinematic universe, if they continue to commit marketing suicide. This week it was obvious we are tired of being politically correct, so give us back the original characters living and dead.

All- new X-men brings back the Inferno arc and seems like it is setting the ground for their next Monsters on the Loose cross over, though we know some of that is coming from the Cho-Hulk series. Amazing Spider -Man's Renew Your Vows feels good as a story until you consider where this is going to fit into to continuity.  Speaking of outside continuity that go back and tell a classic Avengers story on the 1.1 Avengers book. Why not just make this line-up the new team and kick the imposters out? This eliminates the margin for error more ret-conning can cause. As for ret-conning gone wrong, the seventh issue of Captain America, finds this hail Hydra story line muddying the waters even further. The 13th issue of Daredevil is a waste of time as Murdock is barely in the book which focuses more on his side kick we could not give a shit about and the serial killer chasing him in the sewer.

Ret-conning continues with the second issue of the Clone Conspiracy. The Jackal brings back everyone who has died on Spider-man's watch with what he implies to be the best intentions and they do handle the two Gwen Stacey's as well as one could deal with that without killing them off, which is what is best. This does raise the question of if this will create more problems than it solves. The Uncanny X-men was a slight improvement, but the Uncanny Avengers was much better as they square off against the Hulk who is resurrected by the Hand. The team sees that they are out classed. Though Rogue goes into the fight thinking she can hand with any version of the Hulk. This version can't talk but doesn't seem to be totally mindless as it has enough memory to fight out of instinct. Not sure Cable is going to help much.

This Week in Marvel

The race debate continues as a seemingly non caucasian is cast to play Mary Jane Watson, which is fine with me as long as she has red hair. The Jennifer Jones casting is more worrisome should that fall into the wrong hands for her Net-Flix series. The Fallen which shows Banner's funeral was alright. It made me think how can Bruce be dead if the Maestro is alive in the future? Just another The fallout from Clint Barton's actions is seen in a few books aside from the Fallen one shot. A-force shows it is and continues to make both Medusa and Capt Marvel further disliked.It's not just me check the comments section of any site where this is a topic and it's all taking a unfavorable turn towards Carol. Spider-woman handles it pretty well and finds Jessica siding against Carol. Sam Wilson Captain America continues on with it's hashtag take back the shield, looks like John Walker is showing up to kick his butt. It's a social justice bitchfest in every issue they should just run this as a web comic on Cnn. All New In-Humans remains another time waster in it's 10th issue as the focus remains on Flint who is a supporting character at best. Marvel is of the delusion all of their characters are created equal and can hold the spot light thanks to success of a character like Jessica Jones or Guardians of the Galaxy.


The Inclusion of corgi's in Mocking Bird was cute, but like my wife's reaction when I showed her..."what the hell kind of comic book is this?"  Power-Man and Iron-Fist's 7th issue finds the book losing some of the steam and serving as the build up to the next issue that will bring Cage into conflict with Captain Marvel. Uncanny Avengers awkwardly resolves the story with the Pym fused Ultron. Black Widow's last issue finds the book still a bore, a shame since it got off to such an awesome start in the first issue.

The All New Wolverine's l1th issue which crossed over with Civil War 2 was pretty damn good from every angle. Captain America's appearance wasn't forced and felt very natural.Though I don't think X-23 is experienced enough to trade blows with Cap like that. The Civil War issue of X-men was decent, the Luke warm fight with nothing happening between the two teams made more sense when you find out it is just a diversion.  The Amazing Spider-man was pretty decent, Robot Master is a very stupid villain but they made the most of it. The Gods of War issue of Civil War was pretty decent glad Hercules is powered back up.

Marvel Week of -6/29/16

Here's what was up with Marvel last week...it's been rough recently. To be fair Black Panther has never had a decent solo book, so there is not a lot to expect from this, so I think people are impressed because, well...this is better than the other attempts, but the fact is Black Panther is a better supporting character than being able to hold down his own book...or movie for that matter which is why this will fail. The third issue tries to build up a supporting cast I can't care about and take the focus off the fact Black Panther is not interesting enough to carry this book. He could be, but the focus is not there.The 9th issue of Silk is a waste of time to get to some where that we could have covered in three issues back in the 80's. Captain Marvel's 6th issue is more un-needed back story leading into Civil War. Uncanny Im-humans does a much better job of advancing that story. Nothing is done to make you more sympathetic to Danvers side and I am looking forward to her getting her but kicked by Stark. The 11th issue of Extraordinary X-men is rather convoluted and this Apocalypse Wars thing is rather silly. The 9th issue of the Uncanny X-men also gets dragged into this. Spider-Gwen is about as dumb as it gets and the fact Marvel's editors let it out of the gate shows how the quality control has spun out of control.

The 5th issue of Spider-man is pretty damned good. Black Cat feels better here. Jessica Jones is in the mix, so we have some interesting things transpiring with good art to go with it.The second issue of Captain America makes more sense of the Hydra connection. Marvel are liars by trying to say he was not brain washed. Lets get this straight. If the Cosmic Cube, changes your memories and creates another lifetime in your head, you have been brainwashed. Hyperion's 4th issue is alright, look forward to seeing what they do with Thundra.

Last Week in Marvel 6/22/2016

The 8th issue of the Ultimates was a waste of time as they keep re-telling events we have already seen and not really offering much difference in perspective than what we have already seen though that is their intention here. The 8th issue of the Mighty Thor continues to underwhelm. the next arc they are building into promises to be another snooze fest, if she is facing off against a woman who shoots gold bullets and the Silver Samurai , sounds like more fitting foes for X-23. Sadly Scarlet Witch continues to be a terrible book. The 7th issue is a drab bore. The art obtuse. This is one of my favorite Marvel characters getting mistreated here. The 8th issue of Ms. Marvel has no redeeming qualities. You just just chose  not to read Civil War Choosing Sides, as it's a waste of time.


The tenth issue of Sam Wilson Captain America is racist in it's attempt to not be racist as only the black superheroes got together to discuss WarMachine's funeral when the character has many other friends and some of the character shown here were hardly around him, when Black Widow or Hawkeye might have been more fitting. Some one should have asked ,where were you when the west coast Avengers were around. I don't like where Totally Awesome Hulk is heading, even with Bruce Banner back, I am glad the sales of this book are going down the drain it's time the fan's voice spoke louder than Marvel's sjw agenda.

Uncanny Avengers is getting a little better, not sure about this Ultronized Hank Pym, like the art work and at least the are trying to recapture and Avengers feel. The fifth issue of Power-man and Iron-fist was, fun, nothing ground breaking the book seems to be trying to find direction. Dr Strange's ninth issue was pretty good, I am still unsure why Scarlet Witch needs weapons when she has mutant abilities that are not dependent on external sources to generate magick, and why this hasn't been brought up or how everything seems to be working fine in her solo book.

The Week In Marvel 5/25/16

Obviously an entire post- could have been written about how stupid Captain America being an Agent of Hydra is. It spits in the face not only of canon, but the legacy of Marvel and goes to show how as long as they are making money from the movies they feel like they can spit in the faces of the fans who put them their to begin with. What a fucking mess to clean up, you think things like the Clone Saga and One More Day would teach them a lesson in fucking up comics. It took something this big and dumb to almost make the six issue of Totally Awesome Hulk seem worthwhile. The art was terrible and cover misleading , no actual throw down takes place, and seems like a good thing one doesn't as this Cho-hulk is a damn pussy. I am not sure he can get angry enough to beat Foster-Thor. I tried to read the 12th issue of Deadpool and it was an obtuse mess. Ms. Marvel's 7th issue finds the book continuing to be a waster of paper. Her and Miles run around school without their costumes most of the issue.

Dr. Strange was alright, though Scarlet Witch doesn't need magic for her powers, she's a mutant ...depending on how you want to ret-con it even a In-human. So why was she reduced to acting a human? Too bad they had to wait five issues for the writing in Red Wolf to pay off. Not that the character really has a lot to stand on in order to support his own book.

The Week In Marvel

Of course the hype for Civil War is at a fever pitch both in the comics and on screen. One thing Marvel has not been pressed on yet is not why they are revamping a story line, but the obvious fact of marketing and the timing it's being released while a movie of the same name is coming out, which is very shameless. The bar couldn't be set any lower when it comes to what happened on page in the Free Comic Book Day first issue of Civil War. Thanos showing up can just be a random happenstance here. Its the Ultimates, In-humans, well three of them and Human Torch and a few members of A-Force vs Thanos. Despite the causalities of She-Hulk and War Machine they are able to do pretty well against him, with Captain Marvel being able to fell him with a punch after he quickly killed War-machine and She-hulk, that makes no sense. The 10th issue of Spider-Man 2099 is also a little dull, though looks like it could improve with this version of the Sinister Six. Even though I knew better I threw away precious moments of my life to read the first issue of Gwen Pool, Howard the Duck teams up with her, it has nothing to do with Deadpool. While it still tires too hard it looks like by the 5th issue A-Force is moving in a better direction. Nova's 7th issue kinds drops the ball. The clone father sacrafices himself and who cares.

Moonknight's 2nd issue finds the book just now beginning to take off and if it had been written in the 70s or 80s all of this narrative would have been condensed into the first issue. The 6th issue of Scarlet Witch is a waste of time story wise, who really gives a shit about a french version of Angel? Spider-Gwen is a mixed bag and seems to focus more on Silk, who is just a more interesting character.The third issue of X-men 92, finds Storm able to scare away Dracula, and the whole book really becoming a joke vampires and all. The 7th issue of the All- New In-Humans, is a terrible bore. Great art can't save the 9th issue of Invincible Iron Man. The 3rd issue of Black Widow finds the book losing a little steam making it all the more amazing that Marvel thinks she can support her own movie. The sixth issue of Drax introduces one of the worst super -villians in some time Killer Thrill, who is like Gamora meets Tank- Girl.




The Free-Comic Book day issue of Captain America is much better than Civil War , though it is a little cluttered with too many Falcon's. It surpasses the 9th issue of the  Sam Wilson version of the title. This has Sam getting his butt kicked by Misty Knight in a frustrated sparring match. I am failing to see the point in the book and can't imagine it will retain it's audience if forced to pick between forking over cash for this or Steve Rogers. The 12th issue of Amazing Spider-man seems much better due to the fact the Zodiac are not in it. The inclusion of Mary Jane Watson into the Iron Man world seems very forced.

This Week in Marvel 1/27/16

First off lets get the big news that is really non news out of the way since it should come as no surprise that the Alex Ross cover of the All New Avengers fourth issue that got some hype as it fooled you into thinking that Sam Wilson and Jane Foster were going to be a thing. Given her taste in men, it seemed far fetched to begin with and the two have zero chemistry, when here motives for kissing him on solid ground not in the sky are vague, just a seize the moment shock value thing that doesn't even make sense when taken in context. The best moment aside from Vision schooling a 3rd string villain is the line by the civilians complaining about being save by the understudy Avengers to which the other replies "Where are the real ones, man the world is getting so politically correct these days." While the tension continues to grow with Marvel trolling their readers, take a look at message boards and it's obvious to readers this is becoming the case, which is only going to go so far. I for one am not buying comics any more for this reason and will only read them online or in the store and purposefully not buy them, with the first issue of the recent Dr. Strange being the only exception. I will buy issues when Thor...Odinson and Bruce Banner Hulk come back. But Marvel is pissing over their legacy for a feeble attempt to grab more money, that way they can do much like the trend of bringing back the originals, sell you an Asian ken doll or a white one. But super heroes are iconic because they are the only one who does what they do so it is devaluing their product.

Squirrel Girl continues to be a waste of time, they can't even keep to their own myths with the Dr .Doom thing. Venom Space Knight at least continues to wow you with the art where Carnage's solo book is now a mess and just a waste of time , if this is supposed to be a horror book there is nothing scary about. Spider- woman's 3rd issue sees the stupid pregnancy arc coming to a close. There was some interesting choices with the layout of the story that almost seems like clips from Family Circus, but they work and this is one of the better issues in the Ms. Drew book since she has been slapped in that stupid costume. While it's not bad and often endearing the 6th issue of Extraordinary X-men is not extraordinary. It is better than the first issue of Old Man Logan which seems unclear as to what world this is happening in and wasn't that the point of Secret Wars to get everyone on the same page. Another looming mess is in Angela Queen of Hel, though Hela's appearance might clear some things up. How Angela can hold her own against Bor is a mystery to me, but it is good to see the forced lesbianism on a character who wears a chastity belt pushed aside for a second for some sword play and that was not mean to be the pun it turned out to be. Moongirl and Devil Dinosaur might be getting better when the Cho-Hulk shows up in the next issue , but the current 3rd issue is really nothing to write home about. The New In-Humans  this week feels more like  a super hero book, book none of the characters are very engaging even Crystal so you could care less if they are walking into a trap or not.

The fourth issue of "Howling Commandos" finds the title pulling it together to make one of the best books of the weeks holding it's own if not better than most of Marvel's other team books and finds the book at a place where the story has arrived to take you off into what could be one of their staples if given the right push and aside from Man-thing these were characters I never ad any connection with. In the 3rd issue Daredevil continues to stay strong and finds his secret identity colliding once again with his work in tights.

The Week in Marvel... we're back

We are back up in this bitch . Obviously I was doing what I had been doing in terms of reviewing comics for Geeknthings so it would have been redundant for me to replicate that, but Geeknthings is gone to ground for the time being and may or may not climb back out so it's time to pick up where we left off. The big news is Steve Rogers is coming back as Captain America, because diversity is just a marketing tool over at Marvel and with the new movie coming out of course he was going to be back, Jane Fosters Thor days will also come to an end when the next Thor movie comes out. Ok now for a look at this weeks comics there's some good new and bad news , lets get the bad news out of the way first.



The bad news is that the Uncanny Inhuman's finds the book becoming even more obtuse and less entertaining despite some great art in it's fourth issue. When Black Bolt's song asks Johnny Storm, why he is there it and he can't come up with an answers, because it's just so forced , his lack of an answer reflects the tone of the entire story. I'm also beginning to slip away from New Avengers in it's 5th issue , which the arc it's self is going to be dealing with the corruption of Wiccan and turning him into the Demi Urge.The 2nd issue of Starbrand and Nightmask, doesn't really do anything for me. I'm a little hesitant on how they are starting off Sliver Surfer, it's about as serious as an issue of Howard the Duck, which doesn't reflect a tone that is most fitting for the character.The art work is the same and Ben Grimmm looks to be making an appearence soon so there is a chance for improvement.

As much as I don't like Kamala Khan the 3rd issue of Ms. Marvel serves as a much better sales pitch for the character. Uncanny X-men's second issue has great art and brings Mystique to the forefront with Monet and Sabertooth not far behind. The mutant hunting in this issue is smartly written. Ant-man is better than most in its 4th issue and I can see it beginning to get bogged down in it's soap opera , as if the writer watches too much "House of Cards" and the more soap operatic parts are all they latch onto. This new Giant-man is just dumb all the way around. Even if I'm not too fond of the whole prequel thing, the vibe continues to improve in the 3rd issue of "Star Lord". The art is some of their best. Speaking of space, with Kelly Sue Deconnick gone from the book, Danvers is soaring higher than ever. Not sure yet how I feel about the Alpha Flight being her underlings , but I have always loved that team, so good to see them back in action in some capacity, even if I question the voice they are written with it's still and improvement. The third issue of Hercules is o.k, not mind blowing a little tired of him having to use guns, the art is pretty decent in this issue.

Why Can't Comics Just be Fun?

I have been reading comics for over thirty years it is one of my greatest pleasures or at least in once was, the big two are caught at a cross-roads now that comic book movies have opened the doors to readers they feel the need to placate to. When I was a kid in the 80s, I went to the comic book store bought my comics, never heard any complaints about what the publishers should or shouldn't be doing, people would get their panties bunched about their favorite hero getting busted by someone one, but thats about it. There was no internet to sway them. There are some issues I run across that do re-kindle the feeling I used to get out of reading comics as a kid, but the writing is not as true to who the characters I have grown up with. In fact super-heroes became the new mythology of the western culture. In some cases like Thor pulling from older myths of other cultures. But those guys and girls in spandex represent our higher selves. Now I seem to be deriving more enjoyment from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, than last weeks issue of the Hulk. This is a problem because all of those shows and movies we are enjoying are based on character established back in 1961. So for we'll say 50 years considering how bad the past year has been, these characters have stood the test of time. So why change them?

One reason is writers who are not well read in the source materials and do not know how to write Steve Rogers as Steve Rogers or Peter Parker as Peter Parker so they try to put a spin on it. But in forty years from now something like Thor being a girl will be taken as seriously as when he was a frog. And if we want to get into the real lore of the character, well Thor is a god. How about we make a comic where Jesus is a girl? Or the Buddha is a girl? How would that fly? How are those deities any more sacred than Norse gods, who are still worshipped by pagans today? But what this is really about is how to please everyone? How can we reach into the wallets of every demographic? Disney seems to have done a pretty good job of this and Mickey is the same mouse he has always been. I said it once and I'll say it a hundred times, if you want strong female characters why not give Valkyrie or Sif the spotlight? Thor is a name that sells. Why doesn't Sam Wilson get a Falcon comic? Captain America is a brand that sells. Another Thor is fine there the horse alien Thor Beta Ray Bill, who won a hammer of his own fair and square. The new Thor has not beaten Odinson.Even if your only knowledge of Scandinavian culture came from the show "Vikings" you would be aware there was a certain social order and no way Odin would just say,"Ok, Little girl you can be my son." Since gods might be depicted as having certain human characteristics , they can never be not worthy of being a god that what they are. Are they going to write a comic where they say to Jesus come down from that cross we need the wood to build this little girl her own manger? So why call her Thor? It's not to give female fans a strong woman, its because the name sells the comics.

All of this is beginning to take the fun out of comics , and is making the companies put out a lower quality of product. I look forward to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, if I was watching it an some one was sitting next to me in my living and saying things to me like "Why is Agent Coulson the star of the show. Why is he a man?" I would wait until the commercial and pick them up and toss them out the door with a swift kick to the teeth to thank them for ruining my enjoyment. So why do I continue to make the mistake of clicking on articles on Comic Book Resources written by some of their liberal attention seekers? It was an honest mistake this morning when I clicked on Joseph Illidge's the Mission column. I need to avoid it. It is like a lingering fart that makes me want to clear out the room.

He went above and beyond. Comparing Thor to Captain America, the current incarnations of the books mind you. He first went on to praise the female Thor, he was also under the delusion it was because He is now a she. Not the case, I read it because I know Odinson and the characters related to Odinson are going to be in the book, the female character is the weakest developed of the bunch, one reason being is she doesn't have decades of development behind her. However in his article Illidge stated that it took him 90 minutes to read six comic books, this seemed long to me so I went online and found six comics I had not read before and timed it. It took twenty minutes. So if it took him four times longer, then well... I guess that why Odin makes all kinds of people some are just better at something than others. This is a concept Illidge doesn't grasp as he complained Sam Wilson, was struggling to much to be Captain America. The reason for this Joseph is he is not cut out to be Captain America, Sam is much better at being Falcon. He can't hang gong toe to toe with some of the guys Cap fights. One reason for this is he is not even half as strong. This is canon, Wilson can only lift 480 lbs, Rogers can lift over twice that. He then goes onto say like most black people in real life Sam Wilson's book has little chance of success. The reason is the book has had it's moments, but the concept is dumb so it should fail, its a gimmick rather than just getting a writing to pen a good Steve Rogers story, when Captain America 3 comes out do you think Wilson would have still been in the red, white and blue? No, he'll be Falcon that what he is good at and succeeds at. Even Luke Cage is a better leader of the Avengers than Wilson. Cage is not struggling he sticks to what he's good at.

So before I let all of people personal issue bleed over into my enjoyment of comics, which are becoming the battleground for social debate, and what some people think social change, I think I'll stick to clicking only on what matters, super-heroes in the comic books, it's supposed to be fun not like watching CNN,it's always been about escape. If you don't find a character you relate to escape with then you are reading the wrong books. I'm an alcoholic but I would much rather read the Hulk than Iron-man.

Movie Review: Captain America: the Winter Soldier

Thor 2 aside , Marvel keeps getting closer to getting it right and the sequel to Captain America comes the closest yet. I liked the first movie and in someways think it stands out from this one in the way it juxtaposed the two time period where this movie comes across like a straight up action flick, a more over the top version of one of the Bourne films. This over the top element it what a comic book movie needs. A good question to ask is if this was in the pages of the book would it be a good read? This felt closer to the comic book than previous marvel films, with the first Iron Man, right behind it in this regard.

It is placed firmly in the Marvel Movieverse and is not unlike the Agents of Shield show it was good to see the characters from that show cross over into this and word is the movie is cross back over into the show. Right off the bat they were throwing in more characters from the comics with Batroc the Leaper the first threat. Arnim Zola turned out to be one of the masterminds behind the whole thing and Baron Von Strucker marches his way into the lead in they provide to Avengers 2 ...and then there was my favorite moment the appearance of Quicksliver and Scarlet Witch. Is it me or did Scarlet Witch come across a lot like Drusilla?

I thought Sam Wilson was handled well. I have little emotional attachment to the character and was much more excited to hear Stephen Strange's name mentioned, in the discussion of possible threats. There was a lot more of Black Widow in the film than I expected, her combat moves stay the same as they did in Iron Man and Avengers, and to be honest, I would not mind her getting phased out of Avengers 2  to make more room for Wanda and Captain Marvel, since we won't get Wasp until after Ant-man.

As for Bucky Barnes, it was funny how much of the audience was shocked to find he was the Winter Soldier, I would have expected more comic book readers in the theater , but when a movie is raking it in like this one is I guess realistically it makes sense. But this goes to show a movie can do well while sticking to the source material. Chris Evans is well settled into the role and with this films success it lives no doubt that there will be a third film. Maybe the Serpent Society or Modok for the next one, though Baron Zemo needs to show up at some point to prep for the Masters of Evil, which would be good for Avengers 3.

Overall I am pleased with this one, it kept me entertained and gave me enough easter eggs to keep me satisfied. I can't say Cap is in even my top twenty heroes, but I respect him and value his place in the Avengers and the Marvel U.