Film Review : "Deadpool & Wolverine"

 What a world we live in. Its a world where writers must keep a careful balance of internet theories to please their audience. In fact, Deadpool's entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe pokes fun at this in its smartest moments. It also pushed the bounds of what you expect Disney to allow as the studio shows there is more wiggle room than expected since even half the adult audience might have to Google the meaning of jokes about pegging. Then it is too late, and they already have the money of the more prudish patrons in hand. I am impressed by how they worked in a wide swathe of the company's media output making "Loki" almost required viewing before going into this. Also, the bulk of the Fox films could help when some characters are marched out.  Spider-man and Ghost Rider were the only corners of the bigger Marvel Universe not touched upon with only a few winks in the direction of Peter Parker.   If you are touchy about spoilers then go see the movie, nothing happens that was not part of wider speculation and had not already been spoiled. 

Reynolds and Jackman, make this a buddy cop team-up that works well against the absurdity of premise. The fight scenes between the two were some of the movie's strongest action sequences. The various incarnations of Wolverine worked better than the varied incarnations of Deadpool, I mean where was Gwenpool? Though like many aspects of the movie, If I blinked I might have missed it. Plotwise there was little surprise, stop this and save your world tropes. I have read critics praising the movie villain Cassandra Nova, and it really just felt like Emma Corrin was doing her best Tilda Swinton impersonation as there was no clear motive or really anything to flesh her out, I think Mojo would have made more sense and been a more inspiring link to the X-Men, would have given the baby Deadpool an ore sensical role. Paradox, worked better as his two-faced manipulations of things, with no real powers held more weight. 

It would be misleading to say there were no X-men in the movie, as Colossus, X-23, and Gambit are all part of the team. I think what they were looking for is Storm, Cyclops, or Rogue, and get a glimpse at how they are going to be brought in. We can pretty much not rest assured that Henry Cavill is not going to play Wolverine, as look what happened with the Reed Richards casting in Dr. Strange, just enough fan casting then take a left turn. My favorite parts of the movie were the NSYNC dancing at the beginning and the brief appearance of the Hulk during the search through Wolverine variants. Overall the chemistry between the two leads was strong enough to carry the film in the classic Hollywood formula even when given the Marvel spin. It did not make apologies for being a super-hero movie which is a must for any such film. 

2017 : Marvel Should be Ashamed

The fact that it takes an act of sheer willpower for me to power through and write about comics, after having a blog devoted to them speaks volumes to the sad state of things. Marvel Should be ashamed of themselves. It's not just me that feels this way. I went into a local comic book store and talked to the owner . He told me things are rough for Marvel and fans are not pleased. He said it's a great time to be a D/C fan because you watch Arrow on TV and then go open a comic book and those characters are generally the ones you loved from the show. People go to a Marvel movie and then pick up a comic book and are confused. This diversity trend is hurting things just like I predicted.

 Are things getting better this year?  well with half the heroes replaced by impostors it can't get worse. U.S Avengers is another take on the New Avengers it follows the former Sun-spot and gets mired down slightly by a time line hopping Danielle Cage, the art is great and it has the Red Hulk in it so I am hopeful s he seems more like Hulk than Cho. The two big events on the front end of the year to follow up the underwhelming Civil War 2 that seemed just a vehicle to kill off more of the old favorites are the In-humans vs X-men and this Monsters Unleashed. Of the two Monsters Unleashed might be another vehicle to promote their new teen characters , but is also has more of a classic Marvel feel. I like the fact Ilsa Bloodstone is in this, of the newer characters she is one of my favorites .It is more like a D/C story line as it's just a bunch of random fighting. The In-humans vs X-men might also be a bunch of fighting, but it doesn't pack the punch it feels like it should.

The Clone Conspiracy is not terrible, but I am not sure if it is really making anything any better in the long run. Avengers comic books are mired down in another Kang thing, Glad Hercules is back in the mix, but the stories are disjointed. Thor's Unworthy book is decent. The Mighty with Jane Foster another story that feels forced. Solicits for Sam Wilson's book shows him back in the Falcon costume, it just won'r sell as many books if the title was Falcon. Black Panther is so terrible there is no way that movie can't be a disaster. Guardians of the Galaxy are being spread thin in solo books, and the main one which finds them on Earth is not what it once was. Scarlet Witch is a mess and Dr. Strange which has been the strongest title is heading in that direction. It's also hard to care about anyone on a street level as Daredevil had potential that is now kind giving us stories we have read before, and I am finding it hard to care about the Punisher. We won't even start on how bad Iron-man is .

For me to almost not want to even bother reading comic books is a problem I have been reading them for over thirty years, Marvel you should be ashamed of your self.

This Week in Marvel : 2/9/16

Though it wasn't the best nor the worst episode, Agents of Shield returned to shockingly low ratings. While Marvel will redeem themselves with the second season of Daredevil. If Agents of Shield tanks the rest of the season then what does that mean for their network tv deal? Well the first shots of Spider-man in Civil War made the Internet forget about not only Bat-Man Vs Super-man , but Daredevil too. But back to what really matters here and that's comics. After a pretty good week last week, this week it's hit or miss, but they do knock it out of the ball park a couple of times.

It is a shame the 5th and final issue of Black Knight didn't end on a better note. Sure throwing Hydra and Merlin into the same issue was fun, the story seems rushed and there was too many pieces on the board.The first issue of Mockingbird was terrible. The art was ok, but over all lacked action and story. Wasn't that impressed with the Uncanny Avengers take on the whole Standoff thing leading into what will turn to Civil War 2.The art in the 6th issue of Guardians of the Galaxy had decent art, the intent to push it in the right direction was there , but the execution was off. Most of this centered around the writers inability to find the proper voice for the characters making Quill and Kitty seem like they had little to no chemistry together, being on a team much less a relationship. Though the cover says that the 9th issue of Amazing Spider was the start of a brand new story line it seemed like the same old same old that they have been running the past 8 issue with Zodiac. The fact Parker has a rocket ship makes this seem like a cartoon. He even survives a fall from space because he has more gadgets than Bat-man now. This is a problem.

 In other problems the density has shifted on Vision in his 5th issue and the book is going down. It was pretty dull. The art is really slacking as well. In the solidly tepid department Spider-man 2099  wasn't bad in any area, the story just seemed very color by numbers. If the next issue of Red Wolf ...which will be their 5th doesn't get any better it will be the last time I waste a minute of my life on that book, it hasn't been terrible but if we get to 5 issues with nothing really happening and it feeling like a watered down version of Banshee then I'm over it. The 5th issue of Ms. Marvel finds it improving with her golems, but on thing I realized is she really hasn't faced much fire power on her own in terms of bad guys . Weird World 4 is another huge waste of time with even the art getting sloppy. Almost as sloppy as Spider-Gwen


Infinity Entity must be their way to bring Adam Warlock back in time for Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which is fine by me, I find it a little weird  that Jim Starlin would miscalculate his powers so grossly. Other than that it captured the classic Marvel feel.  The only way to save face in the Jane Foster throw down with Odin was for something to happen that distracted Odin and caused him to step away from the fight. This was the death of his wife.So they dodged the bullet while still pushing their agenda "Damn the white male patriarch god, we have girl power".The comments section on the site I read this book makes Thor the most hated book in comics right now. But will Marvel admit to this mistake? or are the too invested in it? I had to stop and re-read Dr. Strange's 6th issue before it clicked with me, but in the end it shows this book continues to rise to the top of Marvel's heap. The end section with the wink to Harry Potter is pretty funny. Agents of Shield rivals Dr. Strange in it's 3rd issue in terms of being the weeks best book. It feels like the best parts of the show, mixed with what we want from the Marvel Universe and helps to set up Civil War 2 in a big way. It brings up some questions like what they fuck is up with that Wolverine, which comes out of left field. Speaking of Wolverine the 6th issue of the all new title is pretty decent ending this arc of her clone saga.

The Week in Marvel : 3/2/16

The 7th issue of "Invincible Iron-man" finds Mary Jane Watson being forced into his story for the bulk of the book. War-Machine is in trouble so he brings in Spider-man to help. The at is pretty killer even if the story is all set up here. While it's clever that the Avenger's Mansion was turned into a sex-club for cos-play, Wrecker's rampage and the Quick Sliver & Dead Pool team up fall short of really packing a punch in the 6th issue. Red Skull is back and Sin is drawn pretty hot.  While the art in Nova is a mixed bag I'm not sure how I feel about the clone of his dad, it seems a little like a cop out to me. The 8th issue of Deadpool was alright, not great but entertaining enough. It seems like a very color by numbers Deadpool story that plays it too safe. While it's well drawn and succeeds on many levels Spider-Man's second issue has some problems. Sure Miles is a teenager and has high school drama, I think Spidey handles this better . The big thing is OK Miles beat Black Heart, but not after he schooled the rest of the Avengers who are far more powerful, I'm not buying it. Nova is another book with high school problems, these might even be more serious. I'm cool with the art. Even the Richard Ryder clone is jumping the shark, but I can handle it. The 5th issue of Nova just doesn't gel in the way it's all handled. If we were watching this on screen it would seem like bad CW writing. A-Force's 3rd issue is just bad, if anyone believes they just killed off Dazzler in this book has money waiting on them from a Nigerian prince. Good art alone can't save Guardians Infinity book. The fourth issue seems to be the choking point for most Marvel arches. I am not sure that they need two Guardians of the Galaxy books as well as solo titles for every one no matter how good the movie did.



The first issue of Black Widow really kills it. I'm not the biggest fan of the pencil work, but it is drawn from an interesting perspective with angles that look like they are from a Die-hard film. The book is also paced like a Die- Hard film. Little dialogue, Natasha is escaping from the Helicarrier with extreme prejudice. My only qualm is Natasha could have been drawn better. She looks like she has the body of a 12 year old. Avenger's Standoff Assault on Pleasant Hill, is damn fine story telling. Yes they are still ripping off  Wayward Pines, but the link to the Cosmic Cube is explained and the Thunderbolts role in all this is pretty clear. They pretty much telegraph, how Steve Rogers gets his groove back. Speaking of Rogers he is next up for issue 4 of Old Man Wolverine. But I am getting ahead of myself, Old Man Logan's 3 issue is pretty damn good. Not a big Kate Bishop fan, but the writers got her voice right, and I love the fact Logan says there is no girl- Thor in the future. In other X-related news Uncanny X-men, has some of the company's better art and aside from a lack luster team everything else you could want from an X-men book. I am going to start another column entitled" Save Your Heroes" where I'll answer the question... so you think you can do better? and layout what I think would be a better direction for the book. I get the fact this book is taking the place of X-force, but it could be done in a more interesting manner.

Marvel Now Phase 1

We are now entering phase one of the 2014 Marvel Now. All New Invaders lives up to it's hype with the second issue, the artwork is the best the company has going. For fans of this Sliver age team, this book is a must, they don't cut corner, even the original Vision makes and appearance of sorts when they are recalling the old days, the next issue should have more Namor, in it who only comes up in conversation this issue.

The first issue of Loki Agent of Shield... err Asgard , seems interesting. I like the art work, the Avengers make an appearance as he sneaks into Avengers tower to purge Thor of some corruption left in him that in turn seems to have become the original or more traditional depiction of Loki in the marvelverse, Leaving the question well now with two Lokis?

New Avenger's 14- seems to be lost the way many D/Ctitles are with too much dimensional jumble as other earth's collide. The Dr. Strange arc is worth following as Stephen sells his soul for more power.

Iron Man 21... was a decent superhero comic , the Mandrains' power ringer's continue to plague Toney, the art work is crisp like something from a D/C book, very Super-man in the scope of it's action.

Punisher and Wolvering both kicked off this week with new number one titles and truth be told neither was that gripping, the art work in Wolverine was good , which is much more than can be said of the Punisher, who appears to be drawn rather scrawny, sure a new version of the Howling Commandos are going to be popping up, but the appearance of the Superior Spider-man in the new Wolverine book is much more likely to give me reason to check it out. The Wolverine book also seems much more firmly rooted in canon.    

Comics For Dummies?

Either you are part of the problem or part of the solution when it comes to comics these days. It's bad enough they have become marketing fodder for the movies they not promote or they are stories spread too thin by arcs like Infinity, which would have been wrapped up in a couple issue back in the glory days of comics in the 70's and 80's . But now you have idiots like blogger Doug Zawisza of Comic Book Resources who encourages the dummy down for the audience tact that Marvel has taken trying to lure in new readers by numbering comics with a one.

Here's the news... kids are introduced to comics though cartoons and mass media, then they buy the books, It does not matter what number is on the front. If you can not pick up a comic book and jump in at whatever point the story is at then you are either too dumb and need to go back to Curious George or it's bad writing.
When I was a kid, I grabbed whatever was on the spinning metal rack at the gas station and started reading from there. There were no special allowances made for children in the 80's and why should there be now.

A good story is going to be a good story no matter where it begins, Star Wars is a prime example, sure they gave you in the in a Galaxy Far Far Away in the opening sequence , but from there you jumped into the world and figured out who Darth Vader was and what the parameters for the Force were all without the benefit of a Wiki page. In fact that is what makes collecting comics so much fun is you get to dig back into the back issues and discover the history of canon all on your own. If that is not instant gratification for your tiny mind, you can go to the web and dive into a bottomless rabbit hole of links to catch up.

So to say a story needs to be more approachable to new comers means, dummy it down for stupid kids these day because they can't figure out a story as complex as the Avengers having a cook out on the top of the building. Sure it was not a big epic story, deptie catching a run away planet, but it was a lot of fun and if new readers could not catch on the problem is the lack of special education programs in American schools.

The best part of the story to me was the fact characters who should have never been Avengers in the first place like Wolverine and Spider-man are getting cut. Now if they can ditch Avengers A.I and get Pym and Vision back on board to replace the New Mutants and Hyperion we will be better off.    

Scarlet Witch Found Dead

Scarlet Witch was found dead in the pages of Uncanny Avengers issue 14.While tragic and raising many questions this also might be one of my favorite books of the year. Also among the casualties were Rogue and possibly Daken, though no word yet on if the healing factors of either will counter act this dramatic turn of the murderous writer Rick Remender. The where abouts of Wonder-Man are also unknown as it appeared his ionic form dissipated , when Wanda finished a spell to raise mutants before she died.

The issue which was penciled by one of Marvels best artists Steve Mcniven, was full of action and blood shed, with a really cool plot development of Kang going into future time-lines to build a team of future Villains to take on the Avengers , the team looks to include Iron-Man of 2020, Venom-girl, and future Doom.

The deaths that dominated the violence, even after Wolverine said no one dies, occurred in the books second act, Wanda and Simon, engaged in a ritual to raise mutants , but Rogue thought it was another no more mutants thing, so she kills Wanda, using claws she borrowed from Logan. Rogue was then killed by Grim Reaper shortly after wolverine went berserk and killed his son.

So much like the Peter Parker less Spider-man , does anyone think that Scarlet Witch is going to stay dead when she is being introduced in the Avengers 2 ? Of course if Rogue had absorbed Logan's claws then she had his healing ability. Daken was a Horseman of Apocalypse so he had his healing amped up if not immortalized. So what does this death filled issue really mean? It was entertaining, and I don't like knowing I am going to say good by to Wanda even if it just for a year as she is one of my favorite Marvel characters, but hasn't she already died before, is Marvel giving all heroes a Buffy " I've Died Twice" cards?

In other news Paul Rudd is days away from signing the paper work on becoming Ant-man, leaving Gordon Joesph Levitt in the Dr. Strange slot and Rashida Jones remains the contender for the part of Wasp.
             

Finally!!

Well before I go any further I have to express my excitement at the fact ...SENTRY IS BACK!!! o.k as a horseman of Apocalypse and since his return is taking place in the pages of Uncanny Avengers this will lead to a rematch between Sentry and the man who put him down...Thor. This will of course be a fight that I am conflicted over since I like both characters , if I think back to Seige, I was rooting for Thor and  will prolly always root for Thor over Sentry, just like I would want the Hulk to beat either of them should those tussles ensue ...which if this bleeds over into Avengers it very well could.

I do think he should keep this black and blue looking tron suit that he's wearing , I like it better than the yellow one , though he has that blue Arch Angel looking face that I could do without and the pale white hair is an improvement in the  characters look. Hopefully there will be some positive fan response and this can be a permanent thing rather than just a few issues. We have seen other characters like Wolverine , the Hulk and Angel all go back to their normal selves after a stint with Apocalypse, but since his current horsemen have been brought back from the dead then does that mean they go back to being dead?

So who are the other three? They are choices designed to target specific avengers for sure , and good choices one in particular would make me a little excited for the next issue but is eclipsed by Sentry for sure and that's Daken. The other two are Banshee and the Grim Reaper who just died an issue or so ago, when Rogue killed him.

oh and other comics came out as well,   new avengers or  the Illuminati Avengers, has the Wakanda and Atlantis war building, I think Atlantis will take them.

The Hulk was alright, Daredevil's guest appearance was not annoying and the build here is that Baron Zemo is going to be a big bad, not really much the Hulk should worry about.  Superior Spider-man was pretty decent , the amped up Scorpion and Vulture loose on the raft as the Spider-slayer is hunting him or J,J Jameson.    

Cable and the X-force, the Uncanny Avengers showed up for Cable there was a brief fight , Thor schools Colossus in a big way and the Avengers get Cable, pretty satisfying and a fun read. The art in that book is pretty good, not up to the level of new avengers which was the best marvel art.

Then there was Age of Ultron 10, Marvel got butt hurt that it leaked after being poly-bagged, but truth be told I would have been pissed if I had paid to read that piece of trash, it's not the first time Bendis has wasted my time, they used up the space time continuum, so this gives them a loop hole for all sorts of multi-universe abuse, they go into the Ultimate verse and show galactus show up. Thor knocking Ultron's head off was the best of it all , but overall the whole ten issues has been a waste.

Hulk and such

OK , getting back on track with my pulls , The Hulk has started to eclipse the incredible title, jeff parker used his noggin and relaxed to write an issue which the number i don't have on me i will come back and edit it in but it has a zzzakk hulk on the front , it was very fun read hearkened back to the days of the 80's hulk, remember back when it was just a fun title to read - sure peter david had his moments, but got too much into the path which ang lee took of the self help hulk
anyway ross is starting to feel more like his own person here .
the hulk annual that is a cross over with the spider-man and dead pool annuals was some alternate universe gobbly gook worthy of sucking an egg like it was written for legion of super heroes and waste of money.
i was very impressed with uncanny x-man 439- shame they are switching writers for schism , or the x-civil war - all the x's are going to live in text as they are hyping it as some thing that is going to change the x landscape - whatev- the art was iffy on uncanny but writing stellar even if it just boiled it down to hope and wolverine