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Comics of Interest for 12/16

rossofsaunders — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:38:28 +0000

Just talking about a handful that were exceptional this week.

Cable #21

So Hope and Cable crash land on Earth with Bishop hot on their tail. Hope’s mutant abilities begin to emerge as they fight Bishop. Hope also decides they should go back to the present and rejoin the X-Men. Not a bad issue here, it does feel kind like it’s leading into a dragging out effect at the end though. Overall though, a very nice issue that’s really shown how this series has progressed.

Captain America: Reborn #5 (of 6)

So the Red Skull is in Steve Rogers’ body and fights Bucky. Crossbones leads a team of MODOKs against the team of Avengers coming to rescue Steve and Sharon Carter. Despite feeling a bit thin for a series of this type, it was an enjoyable read. Brubaker and Hitch are enjoyable team to read. Again, my only complaint is that each really has felt like it could include so much more.

Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth #6

So Deadpool, Zombie head Deadpool and AIM scientist Betty are traveling through the swamp to find a way to send the zombie head back where it came from when they’re confronted by Man-Thing and Hydra. Not at the same time, but still. Decent issue. The cover was a bit misleading, but still a good read. Not sure how I feel about Deadpool appearing in three or four series–getting a bit concerned about overexposure–but it’s a fun read.

Fables #91

As Bumkin leads his army against Baba Yaga, the sorcery crowd at the Farm is about to have a fairly significant throwdown. Also, Rose Red is visited by Colin, the decapitated pig. I like that every character is getting a chance to shine in this series. It has helped the series progress beautifully.

Green Lantern Corps #43

Now that I think about Guy Gardner being a Red Lantern is something I should have seen coming. And yah! for Kyle not being dead. And Mogo shows, which leads to a Jim Morrison reference. Really good story here. Read it, enjoy it.

Nomad: Girl Without A World #4 (of 4)

Rikki Barnes escapes certain death and calls in the Young Avengers to help save Professor Power’s mob of mind-controlled teenagers. Now, I was never all that familiar with the Heroes Reborn stuff. I always assumed the general school of thought was to more or less forget Onslaught ever happened. Still though, I think she’d do well as a side-kick in Captain America–which will be starting up again pretty soon.

Powergirl #7

Intergalactic prince comes calling on Powergirl to be his wife… yeah, she doesn’t exactly go for that. This has been a surprisingly good series and I hope it lasts. Palmiotti and Conner are doing some real good stuff here.

Supergirl #48

Supergirl confronts Lana about her apparent illness before going to battle the Silver Banshee. A lot of good in this issue. It seems to be giving Supergirl and apparent archnemesis–she’s battled the Silver Banshee before–and presents a human side. And the art is amazing too. When the character was reintroduced to the DCU back in Superman/Batman, I wouldn’t have believed it could have lasted this long. I would not have said she could have carried a series on her own. I think for those first twenty issues or so of the current ongoing, that would have been correct. Jeph Loeb and Joe Kelly were horrible. But with Mark Waid including the character on his Legion of Superheroes–where the Superman family goes to grow up–and the work of Kelley Puckett and Sterling Gates, I would say it has been one of the most well written and best drawn books at DC.

X-Men Legacy #230

So Rogue and Trance manage to hold off Emplate long enough for the rest of the X-Men to do something tricky and scientific. Not a bad issue, I like what’s going on with Rogue right now. And it looks like we’re going to be dealing with Gambit again soon, so that should be entertaining as well.

Captain America: Reborn #5 - Review

paladinking — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:15:23 +0000

by Ed Brubaker (writer), Bryan Hitch & Butch Guice (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: It’s Cap vs. Buckycap as Steve finds himself trapped in the Red Skull’s mind.

What’s Good: It feels as though Brubaker has gone old school this month with his dialogue, with plenty of cheesecake to go around. While some may find this unbearable, I found that it added good, clean fun to a comic that has been pretty dark thus far. Red Skull in particular is nothing short of an old fashioned, cackling villain, letting loose twice with trademark villainous laughter. At one point, he even goes through the classic bad guy routine of telling one of the heroes his entire plan, in detail. It’s wonderful stuff, and it’s clear that it’s intentional on Brubaker’s part, as he writes the book very much in the spirit of the Captain America comics of yesteryear with his signature dash of pulp-awareness. There are some lines that are just so kooky, it’s hard not to smile.

It’s clear that Brubaker is trying to conjure the dichotomy of Skull and Rogers, once again positioning them as arch-nemeses as he brings Rogers back into the world. Much like Johns did with Sinestro and Jordan, Brubaker is making the classic opposition between the two characters into the basis for Rogers’ rebirth, and it’s done well. In bringing back this age-old battle, Brubaker also brings back the old school comic bravado that comes with it.

I also do have to say that I greatly enjoyed Hitch’s depiction of the Red Skull’s mind. His abstract, almost distractingly fragmented paneling worked well, and the Skull-centric, Nazi-imbued NYC was a nice touch, at once sinister and surreal. As Skull and Rogers tumble about a black and red mental plane, it really does look gorgeous.

What’s Not So Good: With a title like “Reborn,” Rogers’ coming back is no spoiler, but seeing him actually walking about in Iron Man and the Avengers Annuals does make this series lose some of its luster. Even if we always knew the happy ending was coming, reading Reborn #5 actually feels like we’re reading a back issue. It’s such a damned shame, since this issue is clearly meant to conjure excitement and vitality, but delays have basically robbed it of the chance. What we get instead feels a bit like paint by numbers, at times, with everything unfolding just as expected.

Also, while much can be excused as Brubaker’s paying tribute to the style and rhetoric of classic comics, we’re still seeing another scenario of “good guy loses control of himself.” It’s a situation we’ve seen one too many times: the good characters telling their team-mate to “fight it,” the friend who can’t hit his buddy, the constant wonders if Steve’s still “in there.” It’s just not very original.

The real criminal this month though, is Bryan Hitch. There are anatomical issues throughout the comic, especially with respect to the possessed Steve Rogers. Many times, Steve looks bizarrely skinny and gangly, with a panel of him kicking Sharon being particularly awful. Also, Hitch gives us some rather strange perspectives this month, particularly in the action scenes. Worse still is an absolutely terrible fight scene near the comic’s end. Apparently, there’s no real martial arts employed; the characters just trade off kicking each other in the face. Seriously, in the span of three pages, there are five boots to the face. What were Brubaker and Hitch thinking?

Conclusion: It’s good, old fashioned fun, but it’s also damaged goods.

Grade: C+

-Alex Evans

Flickrfan: Red skull

sgarrett6 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:19:11 +0000

Photographed by guy schmidt

he’s kinda creepy

– License

Captain America: Reborn #4 - Review

paladinking — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:52:53 +0000

by Ed Brubaker (writer), Bryan Hitch & Butch Guice (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Welcome back Steve Rogers….maybe? Sort of?

What’s Good: Over the course of my reviews of Reborn, I’ve repeatedly stated that the comic is better the more it focuses on Rogers, as I’ve thus far found most of the present day portions to be relatively dry. This month bucks that trend, as while much of the comic is in the present, I nonetheless found myself interested. This is largely thanks to Brubaker bringing in the villains.

With Doom, Red Skull, and their henchman stomping about, getting their way, and generally acting like the cackling, arrogant villains that they are, these present day portions have a vitality that they’ve lacked through much of Reborn. It’s always fun to see some of the Marvel Universe’s bad guy power players in the same room at once and Skull and Doom have long been two of the most bombastic of the lot. Better still, their direct involvement in Reborn provides the miniseries with the specific, pointed adversaries needed to add fuel to the narrative’s conflict; they’re more tightly linked and unique to this struggle over Rogers, as opposed to Osborn, who is everybody’s bad guy these days.

Meanwhile, Rogers’ portions continue to be strong, channeling that sense of torment and entrapment that’s worked so well thus far. Though it’s still scaled back from, say, issue 2, that doesn’t mean that what’s here isn’t enjoyable.

Overall, this feels just as a blockbuster, widescreen mainstream comic should. It’s got action, it’s big, it’s loud, and it has those diabolical villains, all of it leading to a great ending that’s sure to leave you hankering for issue five.

Hitch and Guice’s work on art once again works fairly well, magically channeling much of the style and spirit of the late 80s, early 90s while nonetheless retaining that layer of modern gloss and polish. The Cap flashback scenes are especially fantastic, with one rainy WWII-era scene being an absolutely gorgeous reflection of the misery it’s meant to reflect.

What’s Not So Good: Despite this being and generally good-looking book, I couldn’t help but feel the artwork to be a little inconsistent in style and execution. Several panels look to be drawn by different hands, and it can be a little weird. With the art already meant to shift to accommodate the flashbacks, these inconsistencies only help the make the book feel a little chaotic at times in terms of style.

I also felt that while the villains were great, the scenes with Richards, Pym, and Vision felt a bit weaker. They’re just not as interesting as they could’ve been and barring one hypothesis by Richards, it just perpetually feels like they’re one step behind the comic and the reader.

Conclusion: Despite its underwhelming start, Brubaker has really turned Reborn around.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

Para este día de muertos, cinco calaveras de los comics

HGarza — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:50:28 +0000

¿Qué mejor calavera que ésta?

Considerando que vamos a estar saturados de elementos halloweenescos por un buen rato, podemos retomar un aspecto algo más nacional, como son las calaveras, pero en este caso, retomaremos a algunos héroes y villanos que se han hecho célebres pro esa misma esquelética apariencia. Pasemos ya a los huesos del asunto.

Cráneo Rojo: Es obviamente el primero en el que pensamos, y el que curiosamente menos tiene de calavera. Su apariencia se debe a una deformación de su piel, que le da el aspecto esquelético, pero que psicológicamente ha demostrado ser perfecto para su imagen.

Blight: Si bien no es exactamente de comics, este enemigo de Batman del Futuro tiene su lugar bien ganado dentro de esta lista. Nuevamente, no es un esqueleto real, sino que la radiación que produce hace visible su osamenta a través de su piel.

Mr. Bones: Cuando encuentras una forma de invisibilidad que sólo funciona en el tejido blando, tu apariencia puede resultar muy afectada, como es el caso de este héroe/antihéroe de DC, que se ha convertido en una de las mentes más maquiavélicas en el gobierno de los Estados Unidos.

Ghost Rider: El sí es un esqueleto por derecho propio. Sin importar a que encarnación nos refiramos, el esqueleto es auténtico, saliendo al descubierto cuando el demonio en turno toma posesión de su cuerpo.

Calavera Atómica: De nuevo, un efecto de su poder hace invisible todo su cuerpo, excepto su esqueleto. Es uno de los enemigos más viejos y poderosos de el Hombre de Acero.

New this week! Marvel Scarlet Witch, Eva Asuka, Shining Wind Celestia, Inu Yasha, Kagome, Sesshomaru, Figma Ein & Canaan, more...

kirinhobby — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:56:52 +0000

Kirin Hobby is now accepting preorders for Marvel’s Scarlet Witch from Kotobukiya, designed by Shunya Yamashita. Also coming up from Koto is the Asuka You Can Not Advance figure from the new Eva movies, plus new figures of Clalaclan and Celestia from the Shining series and the re-release of the Inu Yasha statues — Inu Yasha, Kagome & Shippo, Sesshomaru. Last but definitely not least are the exciting new releases from the Figma line of action figures from Max Factory featuring the Requiem for the Phantom Ein and Canaan!

New in stock is the World of Warcraft (WoW) Illidan Demon form and the Ame Comi Batgirl and Catwoman statues from DC Direct. More Marvel Minimates goodness with restock of series 14, 23, and 26.

Enjoy!
Edward

Savior 28's History with Captain America

MechanisticMoth — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:50:10 +0000

While perusing the archives of one of my favorite blogs/ongoing updating thing of all “Comic Book Legends Revealed” by Brian Cronin, I found this interesting one under the #94 archive… now, doesn’t this sound, for you Savior 28 fans, a little familiar/the precursor to the current story we love. I’m glad to know the origins of Savior 28 in Captain America and recognize all of the changes/similarities the original story and final product have in common. Here’s the whole segment from Brian Cronin:

“COMIC URBAN LEGEND: J. M. DeMatteis planned to kill Captain America during his run on the title.

STATUS: True

Reader Garrie Burr asked me this one just last week, which was quite topical considering the death of Captain America in last week’s Captain America #25. Burr asked:

I cannot recall where I saw this, but I remember that the end of DeMatteis’ long run on Captain America was supposed to wind up with Steve Rogers dead and a new character taking up the Red-White-and-Blue. An urban legend?

I posed the question to the man himself, J.M. DeMatteis, and he offered me this extremely interesting story:

It’s true. My last year on the book was one long ongoing saga involving Captain America’s final battle with the Red Skull. It was to reach a turning point with a double-sized CAP #300 in which the Red Skull dies and Cap, after (at the time) forty-plus years of solving problems with his fists, begins to wonder if there’s another way to live his ideals and change the world. In the proposal I presented to my editor, the late, great Mark Gruenwald, Cap was, ultimately, going to disavow violence as a tool for change-essentially rejecting the entire superhero mindset-and start working for world peace. (Keep in mind that this was at the height of the Reagan “evil empire”/cold war period, so it was a pretty radical idea for its day.)

My plan was to have the world turn against Cap, his own country rejecting him as un-America, other world leaders shunning him: The only allies he was going to find in his quest for global change would be the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom. This was the period when Jack Monroe-aka Nomad, the Bucky of the 50’s-was Cap’s partner…and Jack, with his cold war mentality, would be manipulated by Cap’s enemies. In the climax, as Cap speaks at a rally of his few remaining supporters, Nomad (perched on a roof across the way) assassinates him. Only then, with Cap dead, would the world realize what they had. In tribute to Cap, all nations of the world would lay down their weapons for one hour. One hour of peace on Earth.

The plan was then to find Cap’s replacement. I toyed with the idea of Sam Wilson, the Falcon, becoming the new Cap

…but (as I recall-and, let’s face it, it’s been a while) I finally settled on Black Crow, a Native American character I’d used in the book, as the new Captain America.

Who better to represent America than one of the first Americans?

Gruenwald approved all this, I wrote the double-sized Cap #300, went ahead and plotted the next two or three stories in the arc; but editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, hearing what we were planning, shot the idea down. Jim said, essentially, that my idea violated Cap’s character, that Steve Rogers would never act like that.

Cap #300 was then cut down to a normal-sized issue and substantially rewritten, I think by Jim himself-or perhaps Gruenwald under Jim’s direction. (Which is why I used a fake name in the credits and quit the book.) At the time I was angry but, in retrospect, I totally understand Shooter’s POV. Jim-a brilliant editor and a guy who really helped me along in the early days of my career-was the custodian of the Marvel Universe: he had to protect the characters as he understood them. As noted, my idea was extremely radical for its day: I mean-Captain American involved in political controversy and then assassinated? How could anything like that every happen?

Just goes to show you how times change.

Ha!

Pretty darn interesting story, yes?”

I’m really glad that 9/11 was integrated into the story because I found that to be a figurehead of the brand new, renovated one, and the Reagan era becomes the Bush era that’s reflected in the story.

CAPTAIN AMERICA and RED SKULL statues for sale!

Shawn — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:53:32 +0000

I am parting with some of my coolest statues. Now is your time to own them for cheap. This is the only place to get them as a set. They sell anywhere from $35 to $60 each! Click the picture to check out the auction.

ALSO, don’t forget to visit

Old Man Logan

zaexcs — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:58:19 +0000

Gracias al trabajo de los chicos de la Novena Dimensión ya se puede disfrutar en español el final de otro de los magnificos trabajos de Mark Millar: “Old Man Logan Giant Size #1“.

Old Man Logan es una historia publicadada originalmente en los números #66 a #72 de la serie regular de Wolverine (USA) que ve su conclusión en este número.

En OML, Millar nos presesnta a un viejo y cansado Wolverine que ahora ha formado una familia y se dedica a la agricultura para tratar de sostener a su esposa e hijos y mantenerlos a salvo de la banda de Hulk. Estos rednecks canibales descendientes de Bruce Banner (aka Hulk) se dedican a cobrar por protección después de que todos los super villanos de Marvel decidieran unirse y combatir bajo el mando de Red Skull acabando con la mayoria de los super heroes.

Han pasado 50 años desde ese día y ahora Logan ya no es más Wolverine, es solo un viejo hombre común y corriente que vive al día relativamente tranquilo en Sacramento hasta que la banda de Hulk va por el y lo amenazan con matar a su familia si no paga la renta.

Temeroso de lo que le puede ocurrir a su familia ahora que se ha hecho una promesa de no volver a sacar sus garras después del incidente, se embarca en una misión con el ahora ciego y antiguo vengador Hawkeye para transportar una mercancía por todo Estados Unidos y obtener algo de dinero para pagar la renta.

El porqué de la promesa de Logan y lo que realmente ocurrió hace años los veremos en las páginas de este genial comic, pero para no arruinar la sorpresa para aquellos que no lo han leído digamos que tiene que ver con Wolverine siendo engañado para enfrentarse a sus amigos.

En esta conclusión vemos a Logan masacrando completamente a toda la banda de Hulk incluyendo al abuelo después de que no lograra llegar a tiempo para salvar a su familia de una muerte terrible a manos de los tipos verdes.

El final bien puede dar paso a una continuación en la que Wolverine y su nuevo aliado acaben con el reinado de terror formando un nuevo grupo de héroes.

La historia se ubica en uno de los universos alternos de Marvel y forma parte de un grupo de 3 historias entrelazadas escritas por Millar: Marvel 1985, Masters of Doom (dentro de los 4 Fantasticos) y Old Man Logan. De las cuales haré una reseña muy pronto pues es genial la forma en la que este escritor unió todas las piezas del rompecabezas de estas historias que aparentemente no tienen nada que ver entre si.

Aquí esta el enlace para toda la serie de OML nuevamente en la novena.

Captain America: Reborn #3

paladinking — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:47:14 +0000

by Ed Brubaker (writer), Bryan Hitch & Butch Guice (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Bucky and Falcon battle the Thunderbolts, Cap’s glass coffin is exhumed, an old “friend” returns, and Cap battles skrulls in space… again.

What’s Good: From the haunting first page, to the contents of Cap’s coffin, the time traveling plot of this miniseries is once again handled surprisingly well, maintaining a surreal feel throughout. I especially liked Cap’s method of getting a message to his friends in the present day, which was a definite “why didn’t I think of that” moment. Once again, it’s great when Cap “breaks character” and discusses his time traveling dilemma with a person from his past, as there’s always this intangible sense of excitement when he does.

Seeing Cap having to re-experience his battles in the Kree-Skrull War was also rather neat, and had a totally different effect from last month’s tragic reiteration of Cap’s origins. This really did feel like a 70s-era space-based Avengers comic repackaged under a modern lens, and it felt utterly bizarre. The clash of a past comic under modern artwork was jarring, which I suppose was appropriate, given that this miniseries is about a wrongful collision of past and present.

Though I suppose it was inevitable, the ending of this month’s issue still had a definite impact. Seeing the return of an old character, one that I’m sure I’m not the only fan of, is never a bad thing. I’m also all in favour of the character’s new appearance. It’s very 60s sci-fi, as though it lept off the pages of Brubaker’s Incognito.

Art-wise, you get more of the high-standard you’d expect from Hitch and Guice: an incredible level of detail, excellent shading, and an impossible work-ethic. I especially enjoyed the team’s depictions of high-altitude flight, which were bright, rosy, and gorgeous. Hitch and Guise also let loose with the splashes and double-page spreads this month, making some truly iconic work, here. One particular spread of Namor will certainly elicit its fair share of reader profanities.

What’s Not So Good: Unfortunately, this month’s issue takes a step back from much of what made last month’s such a step up in quality. The present day portions are still less engaging than Steve’s scenes, but while last month chose to focus more on Rogers, this month spends more time with his present-day friends. As a result, the issue just feels a bit more bland.

And when we do get Steve, there just isn’t the same level of introspection. The sense of loss, tragedy, and helplessness just isn’t as poignant. Instead of the monologues regarding his torment that made #2 so great, we instead just get a barrage of admittedly impressive spreads and splashes. Brubaker seems to have decided to go heavier on the action side with Steve this month, and the result is a lot lighter. There just isn’t the same level of gravitas and emotional weight, making the entire comic suffer.

Also, readers of that monthly comic will be quick to notice that Brubaker’s Thunderbolts sound nothing like Diggle’s. For instance, Ghost sounds like the leader of the team, which is just downright wrong.

Finally, while Hitch and Guice’s artwork is unbelievable, their panel layouts are not. For some reason, they’ve gone totally wild with the wide panels (widescreen shots) this month. It’s an almost non-stop barrage that’s repetitive, uninspired, and just annoying.

Conclusion: Fairly good and still better than issue #1, but a step down from last month.

Grade: B -

-Alex Evans

AntiNERD v 3.0

Red Skull — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:49:57 +0000

Il programma AntiNERD è stato aggiornato alla versione 3.0

Ho fixato alcuni bug ed ho fatto in modo che il programma contrastasse (anche se per poco) il taskmanager,infatti chiudendo il processo il programma viene riaperto continuando la sessione. (continuando il suo compito); Ovviamente è bypassabile facilmente da chi sa maneggiare un pò + gli strumenti, ma visto che il programma è rivolto ai genitori che vogliono tenere sotto controllo i propri bambini penso non si dovrebbero avere problemi.

Potete leggere tutte le info quì

ovviamente per qualsiasi bug/curiosità/info io sono QUI’

ps: nell’archivio potete trovare sorgenti ed eseguibile.

Torna alla HomePage

Captain America

dougmoore38 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:04:58 +0000

Captain America 1990
Director: Albert Pyun
Writers: Stephen Tolkin and Lawerence J. Block
Starring Matt Salenger, Scott Paulin, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty, Michael Nouri, Kim Gillingham, Francesca Neri and Melinda Dillon

Only compared to Batman and Robin is this a better comic book movie. If that film didn’t exist this would be the Plan 9 From Outer Space of super hero films. This film is really a pile of steaming shit on the comic book fan in general and especially towards the diehard Captain America fan. The biggest insult this film makes is turning the Red Skull into a Italian. That is just the beginning though, Salenger is just too wooden as Captain America and his suit looks like it was made from Glad trash bags. Really the only thing it has going for it is Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty. These two actors really are the shining stars in this film.
The plot basics are this, It is before WWII and a young boy in Italy is taken by the Nazis and is experimented on and is transformed into the Red Skull (Paulin), the scourge of the Axis. The Doctor who created him, escapes to America and help the Army creates their own super soldier, they pick a frail young man, Steve Roger (Salenger). They inject him and it is a success but there is a traitor within their midst who kills the doctor before Steve stops him. Then Steve is soon garbed into his uniform and dubbed Captain America and is sent to stop a missile launch by the Red Skull and aimed at the White House. He infiltrates their base and is captured and strapped to the missile and he is able to detour it and he ends up crashing in Antarctica and going in suspended animation for 50 years. He is awakened and finds out the Skull is still in action and he hijacks the President (Cox) and plans on brainwashing him to do his bidding. This leads to a dramatic showdown at the Skull’s lair.
I had not seen this film for almost 20 years and I was hoping it wasn’t as horrible but it was. Pyun’s direction is not as good as his usual work and I think this is his worst film after Adrenalin: Feel the Rush. The action scenes were pulled off haphazardly and the tones of the scene were just all wrong. The script is really weak, I still cannot understand why they made the Red Skull Italian and it baffles me. The acting is pretty much substandard except for Cox and Beatty. Salenger is just way too stiff. Paulin is a really pathetically contrived super villain too. The SFX is laughable at best and horrid at worst. The Red skull looks like someone with dried spaghetti on his face. This film fails on pretty much every level and is only surpassed in it’s horribleness by Schumacher’s Batman and Robin.
This one gets 2 out of 5

Ultimate Comics Avengers #2 - Review

tonyrak — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:30:29 +0000

By Mark Millar (writer), Carlos Pachecho (artist)

The Story: The secret history of the Red Skull is revealed as Colonel Danvers reluctantly tasks Fury with putting together a black ops team to capture a rogue Captain America, who is still understandably distraught after last issue’s startling revelation.

The Good: Millar again reminds us why this will forever be his comic, imbuing this issue with great character moments that put the entirety of Ultimates 3 to shame (I know, like that’s hard to do, right?). From Captain America crashing a plane into the ocean and then telling its crew to stop whining to Nick Fury sharing his true feelings about Hawkeye… I was reminded of how much of a welcome relief it was having Millar back on the book he made famous. Pacheco’s art is reliably solid, and he delivers some spectacular scenes like Captain America’s two-page throwdown and Red Skull’s… uh, transformation.

The Not So Good: I can’t help but feel like Millar is showing an incredible amount of self-restraint on this title so far. Whether he’s been asked to tone it down or has simply lost interest in the characters, Ultimate Avengers is lacking the drive and energy that made Ultimates such a thoroughly addictive story to read, and that’s been disappointing. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is a flat out boring comic, yet, but it’s getting there. It’s to the point now where something doesn’t happen to justify the $3.99 price tag. I’m willing to drop this title because it has yet to give me any reason to stick around, and this is only after the second issue! Also, Red Skull’s origin was painfully contrived and unconvincing. I read this issue twice just to make sure there wasn’t something I’d missed that explained his motives, but no, Millar simply never took the time to explain it better. Skull’s origin reads like it was concocted solely for the purpose of justifying the inclusion of that splash page, but utterly failed to make me believe why and how he turned out the way he did. With a little more thought into what he was writing, Millar could have easily avoided this pitfall if he wanted. Finally, I felt Pacheco’s art suffered greatly at the hands of too many inkers whose own art lacked the depth necessary to bring Pacheco’s pencils to life. The finished pages were good, but they could have easily been great.

Conclusion: This is a decent comic, but it’s simply treading water when it should be making waves. The writing and art are solid but uninspired, and for $3.99 an issue, I don’t know how long I can keep waiting for things to get interesting. I have yet to be convinced that this is a comic I need to collect.

Grade: C-

-Tony Rakittke

Disney e Marvel

Burning — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:01:17 +0000

De volta dos mortos! Muita coisa aconteceu e eu estava sem disposição para continuar. Mas sabe como é a vida não? Um dia após o outro, e logo aqui estou eu com vontade de continuar a falar besteira e ver onde isso acaba. Como não podia deixar de ser, o primeir assunto depois deste hiato é: Quadrinhos!!!

Esta semana a Marvel Entertainment foi vendida pela bagatela de 4 bilhões de dólares em grana viva. Pode parecer muito para alguns, pouco para outros, o importante é que o negócio é fantástico… para a Disney. Atualmente a Marvel é a empresa que mais vende quadrinhos nos EUA e conta também com uma boa rede de distribuição dos seus produtos. Nos últimos anos conseguiu fazer uma grana louca com filmes bons como o Homem de Ferro e outros que são patéticos como Homem-Aranha 3 e Quarteto Fantástico 2. Então a situação da empresa é no mínimo boa. Disney wins!

Já para a Marvel, se a Disney resolver mudar muita coisa por lá pode significar a perda dos títulos adultos, revisão para impedir que os quadrinhos ofendam algum grupo etnico/religioso, filmes família com o Capitão América aprendendo a perdoar o Caveira Vermelha no natal e grandes cross-over entre a família Disney e Marvel, resultando na luta entre o Wolverine e os sobrinhos do Pato Donald… Ok, fui longe demais.

Convenhamos que a Disney tem uma reputação a zelar nos Estados Unidos e é a primeira vez que terá em mãos super-heróis que não são bonzinhos o tempo todo, tem toda a história de racismo contra os mutantes e de vez em quando (muito mesmo) aparecem temas homossexuais, e nada disso faz parte da família Disney (pelo menos não oficialmente). Por enquanto acho que nada vai mudar, talvez um ou outro herói Marvel apareça nas revistas Disney, mas nada grande.

Para completar, ontem no Estado de S. Paulo, eles colocaram uma charge sobre a compra. O desenhista fez uma alusão do Mickey se transformando no Capitão Marvel. Por azar ele escolheu o marvel errado, remetendo ao Capitão Marvel da DC Comics. Eu, como outras pessoas, escrevi ao jornal apontando o erro, e hoje recebi um e-mail do autor, reconhecendo o erro e lamentando porque não poderá concertar e publicar outro desenho.

Bring on the Bad Guys - Marvel 70th Anniversary Villains Logo

marvelsmartass — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:13:34 +0000

The Marvel-teasing hiatus continues with my second take on the Marvel 70th logo … devoted to our favorite bad guys. Dare I say it … BWAH-HA-HA!

The Real Beginning

artofwar11 — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:18:53 +0000

So, basically everyone agrees that the first issue of Captain America: Reborn was rather underwhelming. Consider that the prologue. Here’s where it all gets good. Steve Rogers continues to travel through his own past, fighting off Master Man in Germany and meeting with Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washingon D.C. He comments that he basically has no control over his own actions, as though he is just a spectator in his own body. Meanwhile, in the present day, the current Cap, Bucky, and Black Widow face off against Ares and Venom, along with some H.A.M.M.E.R. agents. Ares is far tougher than either of them, so the battle is a foregone conclusion. Hank Pym (the Wasp) and Mr. Fantastic analyze Sharon Carter to figure out what the “constant” that Arnim Zola mentioned is, and Norman Osborn recruits Sin and Crossbones to join him in reviving Captain America’s body with the Red Skull’s mind. Then Steve travels back to his origin moment, and he is once again unable to save Dr. Erskine, the man who created the Super Soldier serum. Then, Osborn blackmails Black Widow, saying that the truth about Sharon Carter killing Cap is now public. If she doesn’t get Carter to him in twenty-four hours, Bucky dies.

Now, here we go. Ed Brubaker is using this Slaughterhouse Five thing to revisit Cap and really show what makes him tick, what makes him great. Yes, it is still, as I said, in the same vein as Green Lantern: Rebirth and Flash: Rebirth. But this issue is not just that, because it’s a continuation of Brubaker’s great, ongoing story for Cap. The juxtaposition of Steve Cap in his past and Bucky Cap in the present is superb. I’m still unsure about having Steve come back as Cap, especially with the good stuff that Brubaker does with Bucky in this issue alone. He has his own love interest, his own story, and it’s great. But Brubaker has never let me or anyone else down, so I’m sure he’ll come through, as he already is. My only complaint about the plot is that Osborn seems to be the villain. I hope that the Red Skull eclipses him soon, because I’m kind of tired of seeing Osborn everywhere in Dark Reign nowadays. Bryan Hitch’s work here is the best of his career, significantly better than his work on Fantastic Four. Maybe it’s because he has Butch Guice to clean things up. At any rate, this story has really gotten going at last. I can’t wait to see what happens, and I know Brubaker will tell a great story, even if Steve Rogers comes back.

Plot: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Dialogue: 9.2 Overall: 9.0

Captain America: Reborn #2 - Review

paladinking — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:39:01 +0000

by Ed Brubaker (writer), Bryan Hitch (art), Butch Guice (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Looking for answers, Cap is forced to relive his most painful moment as he stumbles through time. Meanwhile, Bucky Cap and Black Widow meet Norman.

What’s Good: It was hard not to groan at “Steve Rogers: Lost in Time” last month; the concept is cringe-inducing. Yet this month, Brubaker actually making the most of the concept, manages to pull attention away from the lameness of the concept by focusing on the torturous nature of Steve’s current time-hopping existence, as he is forced to relive a particularly awful moment of his life. Brubaker successfully puts across Steve as imprisoned and tormented by his past, managing to turn a cheesy concept into effective emotional drama. Those who found last month a little slow will also be happy to know that this month also brings the action, Dark Reign-style and WWII-style.

Brubaker also gives the initially hair-brained “lost in time” concept some much needed nuance and some even bigger questions. Steve goes through the old “I can’t change anything without risking the future” time travel dilemma. However, it’s effective in that this difficulty grows to be the lock on Steve’s jailcell, forcing him to not only endure a horrid event from his life again, but allow it. The divide between Steve’s narration and Steve’s physical presence only augments this effect. Also, the question of Steve being unconsciously in control of his time jumps is also intriguing to say the least.

As is probably expected, Hitch’s art is a thing of beauty, hyper-detailed as we’ve come to expect from him. What’s most impressive is how the art shifts in style between depictions of Steve’s WWII past and the current day Dark Reign. Of course, this is thanks in no small part to Paul Mounts’ work on colors. Where the WWII bits are brighter and colored in earth tones, the present day is all shadows, blues, and blacks. Hitch and his team do a better job of depicting the mood of Dark Reign than a hundred tie-ins could ever hope to. The art alone creates Dark Reign as a very distinctive, and very malevolent, time.

What’s Not So Good: Perhaps it’s only fitting that a book about Steve Rogers’ return leads to the “lost in time” portions featuring Steve Rogers being head and shoulders above the rest of the book. Whether it’s Rogers’ narration or the emotional impact of his entrapment and suffering, it’s just far more enjoyable than the present day segments. While the Dark Reign segments aren’t at all bad, the Steve Rogers bits are simply so good that I found myself often just turning pages waiting for another Rogers scene.

Conclusion: Cap fans can rest easy; this might just end up being pretty good. An action-packed, emotional ride and hopefully a sign of things to come.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

Happy Birthday To Me

Red Skull — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:50:13 +0000

E bene si ! ! !

Oggi 6/8/2009 Compio ben 17 anni ! ! !

Azz, è già passato 1 anno ?

Come vola il tempo;

1 Anno pieno di cambiamenti e di avvenimenti.

Bè che dire mi aspetta una bella festa con amici e parenti, con tanti bei regali (sperando xD)

Quest’anno me lo sento, sarà 1 anno impegnativo, però non mi farò scoraggiare.

Porterò avanti il blog aggiungendo notizie,info,programmi,sorgenti utili a tutti e a me stesso.

Bè che dire se non HAPPY BIRTHDAY RED SKULL

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You've gotta be Jok(er)in' me!

Zack! — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:45:24 +0000

Sorry about that.

Let’s first give credit where it’s due: to portray the president in Jokerface and slap the ol’ “socialism” label below might not take any creativity, or balls, or talent–but it does take an idea, and so for that–good on you. Otherwise, yawn. With caveats.

The first, and most glaringly obvious, problem that a lot of people have brought up is the sharp smacking of racism. Well, duh. It doesn’t take a lot (or any) imagination to translate this image as our president in blackface. Yuck. The counterargument is, um, does not–largely because it is supposed that a racial message wasn’t intended with this piece. Well, maybe duh. But seriously, guys, just because you didn’t mean it doesn’t mean it’s not going to be there. It might be a nice idea that we’re truly a post-racial society that can draw our African-American president wearing clown makeup and not evoke the degrading connotation of black face–but we ain’t there yet, the recent dust-up over Gate’s arrest pretty much confirms that. At any rate, you’d be better off avoiding any images of the president as a tarbaby, too. You’re gonna run into the same problems there, and all this just distracts people from your central message–the president is a socialist.

Which brings us to problem number two: Is the Joker a socialist? I’ll grant you he’s an outlaw, and I’ll grant you that in these United States of Amurica there has been a certain (unseemly, IMHO) association between socialism and illegality–namely that good, red-blooded capitalists want to make socialism illegal. But the Joker as a class warrior? Her? Really?

Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention, but I don’t remember Heath Ledger spouting any Stalin while he was acting his ass off in The Dark Knight. In fact, as far as a critical reading of “Batman” in general goes, I don’t think that you could find a comic book universe more overtly capitalistic in all its elements that “Batman” (maybe Iron Man–but he’s really just the Marvel equivalent of Batman, anyway). Take Bruce Wayne, the Dark Knight himself: Rich guy, do-gooder. His do-gooding is funded by his rich guy activities; his rich guy activities are justified by his do-gooding. Now, you’re thinking, ‘Hey, Batman is a stand-up capitalist and his arch-enemy is the Joker, ergo…’ but you’re wrong. Capitalists duke it out with each other all the time–It’s kind of in the rules. And Batman and the Joker are no exceptions.

In fact, their relationship is, in many ways, the perfect good capitalist/bad capitalist (robber baron) argument: the Batman uses his wealth in order to benefit society, and the Joker simply pursues wealth at any cost, and by any means. There’s nothing socialist at all about the Joker–it’s not like he’s turning around and giving the money to poor people (which also, doesn’t have to be a strictly socialist act).

In the final assessment, this poster is a big fail. It could have been easy to find a much more fitting (as far as the right’s argument fits [not much]) mocking of the president. How about Red Skull, arch-nemisis of Captain America? Sure, he’s a Nazi, but Nazis are socialists too. Plus, waaaay scarier.

Forever Loyal

artofwar11 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 06:47:08 +0000

So, in the last few months, the amazing Mark Waid has come to Collector’s Paradise, my comic book shop, twice. Thank you, Ed! Anyway, the second time he came, I decided to pick up a copy of his original run on Captain America from before Heroes Reborn, which is contained in its entirety in the trade paperback Captain America: Operation Rebirth. It’s a story leading off of when Captain America is believed dead because of his deteriorating condition as a result of the Super Soldier serum. The Avengers, which at the time, included Black Widow, Hercules, Quicksilver, Crystal, Goliath (Hank Pym), and Deathcry, reluctantly admit his death when forced to by a terrorist attack. However, he is actually alive, kept in suspended animation by his worst enemy, the Red Skull. The Red Skull, whose body is a cloned version of Cap’s, gives him a blood transfusion and oddly asks for his aid in destroying the Cosmic Cube, which contains within it the evil essence of Adolf Hitler. Hitler is using the Cube to warp reality to his whim, and the last time they met, the Red Skull betrayed Hitler, so he wants Hitler gone before he bites the dust. In addition, the Skull enlists the help of Sharon Carter, who Cap had believed dead for years, but had actually gone undercover. These three unlikely allies go off to stop Hitler within the Cosmic Cube, though as you can guess, the Red Skull has some evil plans of his own. Afterwards, Cap has to deal with the consequences of having been seen by American soldiers working the the Red Skull and being exiled from the U.S. while fighting off Machinesmith.

As a big fan of Mark Waid, I knew I’d like this story. And I did very much. Mark Waid was given the unenviable task of having to bring back Cap from the “death” caused by the Super Soldier serum, and he did a bang-up job by incorporating the past storylines of the Red Skull’s cloned bodies and his feud with the Hate-Monger, a.k.a. Hitler. Plus, by bringing back Sharon Carter, he allowed for all these great storylines, the least of which is Ed Brubaker’s Cap opus, to occur. I consider Carter to be Cap’s one true love, so I’m glad Waid did it. I also love the idea of Cap losing his American citizenship, and Waid allowed that to evolve naturally from the previous storyline. Seeing Cap and Bill Clinton interact was not only nostalgic but a tad funny. Most importantly, Waid, like the other great Cap writers, including Brubaker, Mark Gruenwald, Roger Stern, and J.M. DeMatteis, can really portray Cap’s statuesque-ness, that amazing quality of leadership, morality, and courage that makes Cap one of the best characters in comics. That’s one of the big reasons why this storyline is so good. It’s odd to see Ron Garney’s art back then, since it and the artistic genre conventions have changed so much since then. Still, considering when it was, the art was pretty dang good. All in all, Cap fans will not be disappointed with this brief but awesome run. And remember, we owe Sharon Carter being alive to Waid.

Plot: 9.4 Art: 9.2 Dialogue: 9.3 Overall: 9.3

First Avenger: Captain America News

roncomedy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:21:00 +0000

During San Diego Comic Con, Marvel’s President of Production, Kevin Feige spoke about a lot of things. One of them was the upcoming film, The First Avenger: Captain America. The last movie to come out following Iron Man 2 and Thor before The Avengers film hits theaters in 2012.

There are no casting decisions being made because screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are only about “half way done” with the script and director Joe Johnston doesn’t join production until October. However Feige did have a few things to talk about in regards to Cap’s origin story.

Setting it in World War II — the Marvel version of World War II — I think is gonna open it up in another big way … What’s funny is it will actually end up being, I think, our most diverse and our most international film, in terms of the content of the movies itself. It takes place overseas much more than any of our other films do. In terms of the cast, there’s a group that Steve [Rogers] works with that will have an opportunity for many more international actors than any of our other films.

He also had a few words in regards to some villains that might appear.

We are gonna explore those aspects of World War II that made Cap special: the Super Soldier program, Red Skull, Hydra, all of those things that exist in the Marvel version of it. As you know if you read the comic books, the origin of Captain America is really the origin of the Marvel universe … it’s about that time in history when the idea of the superhero began to emerge.

Daily sketch #79 - Lukin

tenbandits — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:57:29 +0000

So, today I got the first Ed Brubaker CAPTAIN AMERICA omnibus, and thought it was, well, fantastic. The character of General Lukin is fantastic, especially as he starts losing control of his mind to the Red Skull. So tonight’s sketch is Lukin, sat in his chair, gazing worriedly at the Skull mask in his hands. I’d have made the skull red, but, well, I forgot my red pen ran out a week ago or so.

This Feels Familiar

artofwar11 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:28:44 +0000

It may be by a different company, but Captain America: Reborn feels so thematically like both Green Lantern: Rebirth and the Flash: Rebirth. All of them are about bringing back their titular characters and examining their legacy and their future. That’s okay and all, since both of those two DC series are stellar comics. In the first issue of the story that will see the Steve Rogers Captain America brought back in some way, Steve has become unstuck in time as a result of the Red Skull and Arnim Zola’s plan and Sharon Carter’s interference from back in the Death of Captain America. Bucky and Black Widow infiltrate a H.A.M.M.E.R. ship with help from Nick Fury, and Sharon Carter and the Falcon visit the Mighty Avengers, specifically Vision and Wasp (Hank Pym) to get some help with the confusing machine stuff. Bucky and Black Widow end up getting attacked by Ares and Spider-Man (Venom), and we find out where Arnim Zola’s been hiding: Thunderbolts Mountain, under the careful protection of everyone’s least favorite psychopath at the moment: Norman Osborn.

Technically, this issue is very sound. It’s building on elements that have been clearly presented throughout Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America. However, this series is definitely inferior to both of the previously mentioned DC miniseries, and it’s inferior to most of Ed Brubaker’s work thus far. The entire Slaughterhouse Five-esque unstuck in time thing is a very bizarre way of bringing Cap back. I still do trust Ed Brubaker on the execution, but this is just another contrived way of bringing a character back from the dead. There’s time travel, which is always confusing. And then there’s the question of where exactly Cap is coming from. Is this Cap from the moment of his death, bouncing around through his past? If that’s so, then how is it that Cap is dead in the current time? Are there two Caps as a result of the Red Skull and Zola’s fiddling? I’m not sure. At any rate, it’s contrived. It’s something that doesn’t fit in the street-level kind of world that Ed Brubaker has constructed.

As for the art, this is why Bryan Hitch couldn’t be bothered to finish his work on Fantastic Four. It’s as good as his normal work, which is pretty dang good. And the transition between him and Butch Guice is rather seemless. I just don’t think that Hitch fits with this series. I know Steve Epting is working on the Marvels Project, but he started this whole story with Brubaker, and he should finish it. At the very least, Guice or Mike Perkins should be the main artists here. Or someone else whose art looks like Epting’s. Even Luke Ross would be fine. In conclusion, this is an underwhelming experience. I hope that’s just because this is the first issue, and things will pick up later on. In fact, I almost count on it, since it’s Ed Brubaker. But I doubt my complaint about the art will change.

Plot: 8.4 Art: 8.8 Dialogue: 8.8 Overall: 8.5

Cambio nick

Red Skull — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:02:44 +0000

Da oggi ho deciso di cambiare il mio nick.

da Red Skull 92 lo cambio in Red Skull

Penso che il 92 sia in più e che non doveva proprio starci dall’inizio.

I miei sorgenti o programmi da oggi come autore avranno Red Skull .

La mia email e il resto importante non lo cambio visto che non ne vedo la necessità (quindi anche il nome del blog non verrà cambiato).

Poi non sopporto che la gente mi giudichi solo perchè ho 16 anni (nato nel 92 e a breve 17 anni).

Scusate per la comunicazione che mi sembra ovvia visto che vi potreste anche insospettire vedendo un altro nick.

Bè Buona giornata

Red Skull

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