Hex's Fifth Column

The Crisis Hits Hex's Fifth Column!

2010-02-12T17:17:00.004Z

As my fellow Legionnaires know a Crisis of sorts has been hitting the Blogverse over the past few months, Robert was the first casualty, Kello was next and now it seems I have fallen to the crisis. Only X-Man has had the strength to keep going for which I applaud him.

I started the new year with so many good blogging intentions but my first obstacle was getting on the Internet itself. I am currently on my 3rd Internet provider in as many months! It's been a nightmare to say the least. Apparently I don't have very good Internet coverage where I live (London! I don't think so!). The second obstacle is that I am now spending time studying for a marketing course whilst also continuing my job hunting (for which I have an interview Monday, wish me luck).

So time has been short, and my comic reading has been reduced. I am still managing to write 3-4 blog posts per week over at www.acomicbookblog.com, it's a really great site that has great reviews from other bloggers too and a fan base that is growing strong, so I've wanted to concentrate more on that, and that means Hex's Fifth Column has to take a back seat for the foreseeable future. But guys please do come and check out www.acomicbookblog.com and comment when you can. I'd love to hear from you. Likewise Ill get back to visiting your sites when my connection is running better to see how you are all doing and can get back to enjoying my comic book fix from your great blog posts and our conversations.

Until then, Long Live The Legion!

Hex's Pull List - 06/01/10

2010-01-05T23:07:00.003Z

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2
Jonah Hex #51
Suicide Squad #67
Weird Western Tales #71
Sweet Tooth #5
Cable #22
Nation X: X-Factor
Siege #1
Haunt #4

Loads more Blackest Night goodness this week. I'm really interested in these resurrected titles Suicide Squad & Weird Western Tales, hopefully they will expose me to some cool new characters.

What you guys picking up?

Free Marvel Comics - 01/04/09

2010-01-04T21:05:00.008Z

This weeks free comics from Marvel are:

CABLE (2008) #16
DARK REIGN: SKRULL KILL KREW #1
DARK REIGN: YOUNG AVENGERS #1
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2008) #13
MS. MARVEL #42
SIEGE DIGITAL PROLOGUE #1

Next week's five free digital comics will be:

MARVEL DIVAS #1
DARK REIGN: THE CABAL #1
DARK REIGN: THE LIST- AVENGERS #1
AGENTS OF ATLAS (2009) #6
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #606

New "Phantom" pictures and website.

2010-01-02T23:41:00.007Z

"The Phantom" TV series that has now debuted in Canada has it's own fan site and forum at phantomsite.net that if your a fan of the character might be worth a look into. For us in the UK who have to wait until later in the year for the premier here are some better looks at the iconic hero's new costume. It's strange, but maybe I'll get used to it.

And here's the trailer for anyone who has missed it so far. Also anyone in the US seen the new series of V yet? Once again it's not out in the UK yet but I'm interested to know if it's any good.

Hex's Best of 2009 - Part 2

2010-01-01T23:47:00.014Z

My Surprise Hit of 2009

Booster Gold - I picked up the Blackest Night tie-in issues having never bought the series before, never giving the Booster Gold character a second thought but was pretty impressed with those issues so I decided to go back and check out the tpbs. I then discovered that the first 12 issues were written by my favourite writer Geoff Johns, something that had totally slipped my mind. I picked up Booster Gold Vol 1; 52 Pick-Up around a week ago and it was one of the most fun and enjoyable comics I've read all year and has made Booster one of my new favourite characters.

The main premise is Booster Gold is sent back through time to repair holes in the time stream where villains try to alter time for their own benefit. Booster becomes the greatest hero the world never knows. It has lots of action and funny moments and a great supporting cast too. Dan Jurgens is both writer and artist for the series now, and as the Blackest Night tie ins were good, I'll be picking up both the next issue and all the previous one I can get my hands on.

Best TPB's 2009

Batman RIP -A real masterpiece from Grant Morrison, Batman against his greatest foe yet, the personification of evil; Satan! Needs to be read very closely with the early Morrison Batman issues.

Batman: The Black Casebook -This is a collection of 1950's and 60's Batman stories that inspired Morrison when writing Batman RIP and it reads really well in conjunction with that book. There are some great and really wacky/ trippy stories in this. Must of been all the acid everyone was taking in the 60's.

American Jesus Vol. 1: Chosen -This Image reprint from writer Mark Millar presents a story of a boy who believes he may be the present day second coming of Jesus Christ, but it's not quite that simple. Its a nice story of a boy coming to terms with life and adolescence with a cool twist I should of seen coming a mile off. Good read. Not sure when we'll ever see the next two chapters from Millar though.

So that mostly my thoughts on the comics of 2009. Big shout out to DC comics. I've always considered myself more of a Marvel fan but this year with Blackest Night to the Green Lantern and Batman books, DC really kicked Marvels butt. Let me know your thoughts guys.

Marvel Previews - Comics on sale 01/06/2010

2010-01-01T23:17:00.004Z

CBR has an advance look at new Marvel comics on sale this Wednesday, January 6, 2010.

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

Hex's Best of 2009 - Part 1

2009-12-31T16:28:00.015Z

Looking back over a whole year and picking your favorites is harder than you first think. I'm sure there are classic comics that came out this year that I’m missing, and most of my choices seem to be from the latter part of the year, presumably because my memory is so terrible I cant remember that far back. So here I my choices as of right now, from the top of my head, some of my stand out comics of the past 12 months and the reasons why:

(One of my) Favorite Single Issues.

Jonah Hex #50 – Funnily enough this is not where I take my name from, but seeing as we share the name we are practically family so shame on me for not visiting this awesome Clint Eastwood styled cowboy more often. I did read the first few issues of Jonah Hex and while I thought the writing was pretty good, Luke Ross’s art is too slick and still for my liking and I never continued with the series. Then I heard about this issue and everyone was gushing about it. Darwyn Cooke had stepped in on the art duties for this special anniversary issue. The basic story is a heartbroken Hex is given the task of killing 50 wanted men while we see his love interest set up a home for herself in a nice little town. Of course its not that simple and trouble soon follows but I really don’t want to spoil the story on this one , it just needs to be read. It was heartbreaking and beautiful comic. One of the issues of the year for me and I hope for more of the same when I come back to pick up issue 51.

Favorite Ongoing Series'

Green Lantern has been consistently one of the best ongoing series since it began and this year just took it to another level with Blackest Night and the introduction of Doug Mahnke on pencils.

Batwoman: Detective Comics has married interesting storytelling and characters with amazing visuals. One of the books of the year for me and long may this book continue when Batwoman gets her own series.

The Sword has been my favorite work from the very talented Luna Brothers so far. Brilliant ideas, epic storytelling and brutal action, it’s just a shame it will be wrapping up in 2010.

Best New Series'

Azrael has seen a surprisingly good start in my opinion. One of my fav X-Men writers Fabian Niciesca has told a separate story each issue challenging the morals of the new Azrael. I hated art on Red Robin, but here its urban and gritty which is a great fit for this book. Bat fans should check this series out.

Ultimate Comics Avengers has been like an all out action movie,. This is writer Mark Millar's big summer blockbuster, with an awesome cast of characters, fun dialogue with knock out art. I've never ever cared about the Ultimate Universe before ,but now... well I still don't really, but this book rocks.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T16:27:00.003Z

Happy New Year everyone. I‘m back from my break and looking forward to the New Year ahead. 2009 was a bit of a drag for me so I hope 2010 will be a better one. New Years resolutions for me include learning to drive, getting a new job, getting fit and to start writing music again. Comics wise I would like to cut down on the amount I buy as I am really running out of storage space, but I know that will be a hard one to stick to so I won’t make it a resolution as Ill probably break it straight away. I also plan to put more structure to this blog and my posts, with a certain post designated to each day of the week. I will aim to do at least one post a day with 2 – 3 of them being featured over at acomicbookblog.com every week.

I got a post coming soon with some of my favorite comic book stuff of 2009 and another with some of my favorite movies of the past 12 months plus a look into what I look forward to seeing in 2010, so check back for that.

Anyway have a great New Year’s Eve everyone whatever you are doing, I’m partying with friends and will probably get more drunk than I should do but that’s what this night is all about. See you in 2010. Long live the Legion!

This week I have mostly been listening to ... Jet

2009-12-23T14:26:00.006Z

This is a track from Jet's latest and third album, Shaka Rock. It's been out a couple of months but I have yet to pick it up. I've been listening to the first 2 albums this week and they are just nice rock n roll records. Remind me of the Stones. Anyway this is a good track with a cool wolf boy video. I'll no doubt try to pick up the new album in the January sales.

And you can't mention the word 'Jet' without thinking of this great track from Macca's post Beatle's band; Wings. "Jet! OooohWooooOoooh!" Enjoy!

Hex's Pull List -12/23/09

2009-12-23T13:45:00.009Z

Here's my x-mas presents to myself.

DC
Blackest Night JSA #1
Detective Comics #860
Green Lantern #49
Teen Titans #78

MARVEL
Avengers The Initiative #31
Captain America Reborn Who Will Wield The Shield
Incredible Hercules #139
New Avengers #60
New Mutants #8
X-Men Legacy #231

I'll also be picking up X-Necrosha: The Gathering #1 that I missed the other week. And I'm giving New Mutants another go. I downloaded issue 6 and it was pretty good so I'll be picking up the Necrosha tie-ins, issues 6,7 and 8 this week too. The ti-ins have been better than the X-Force issues so far.

What's your x-mas pull list look like?

Blackest Night: Flash #1 - Review

2009-12-22T19:55:00.000Z

As Blackest Night roles on and I find myself enjoying it more and more, I have decided to go back and pick up various tie-ins that I missed, including this title Blackest Night: Flash by one of my favorite writers Geoff Johns and artist Scott Kolins.

The book opens with Barry traveling the world at super speed sending his message to all the heroes of the DCU warning them of the threat of the Black Lanterns. I have seen this in various other tie-ins so I liked the way this is tied-in bringing Barry very much to the centre of Blackest Night, almost as much as Hal Jordan, which seems to have been Geoff Johns idea from the start. Next we get a brief Flash history round up which is very handy for new Flash readers like me but I do feel kind of sorry for people who have been reading Flash Rebirth as It basically sums up the Flash in a couple of pages, without having to pay out for a six issue mini series that is not even finished yet. I bought the first couple of Flash Rebirth issues but as a non regular Flash reader, I found the character’s history and explanation of the speed force extremely confusing, but here it is dealt with simply and effectively. Job done.

Barry’s next mission is to speak with his friend, the leader of Gorilla City who Barry believes is one of the most intelligent beings on the planet, and a person who can help the heroes in the war against the Black lanterns. One slight problems though, Barry’s friend died in his absence which Barry is unaware of and the former leader of the great Gorilla City has now been resurrected as a Black Lantern. There are some great scenes drawn by artist Scott Kolins as the two friends battle and Johns writes Barry well as he tries not to give into his emotions, as he knows this feeds the Lanterns power.

In this issue we also meet the new Black Flash, who is the resurrected Zoom/Reverse Flash, and though he is dealt with pretty swiftly by Barry, we know this won’t be the last we see of him.

A second story within this book is that of the current Flash Rogues (led by Captain Cold) who prepare to face the former, newly resurrected Black Lantern Rogues next issue. Johns writes these characters so well and I’m sure that the inevitable showdown between the Rogues next issue with be great entertainment.

All in all this is a well rounded issue with a lot of action packed in that accompanies the main Blackest Night Series nicely. Check it out.

4 out of 5

Green Lantern Corps #43 - Mini Review

2009-12-22T19:46:00.003Z

Saying that Patrick Gleason drew his ass off on this issue would be an understatement. This issue he did phenomenal work. The scenes with the out of control; Red Lantern Gardner were fantastic, the way he tore through the Black Lantern Corps and his battle with Kryb... well, it needs to be seen to be believed. Awesome, awesome stuff. Spoiler! Tomasi revives Kyle Rayner already but in a way that ties in other characters development from previous issues and it’s handled masterfully. This is another fantastic issue of GL Corps. So far Blackest Night can do know wrong.

4 out of 5

Free Marvel Comics - 12/21/09

2009-12-22T19:29:00.003Z

Here's your usual five free digital comics to help get you through your week and there's some really good ones. Just click the title of your choice.

WHAT IF? #32 (1977)
X-FACTOR #46 (2005)
X-MEN/SPIDER-MAN #1
DEADPOOL #7 (2008)
PUNISHER #6 (2008)

Next week's five free digital comics will be:

SECRET WARRIORS #2
THUNDERBOLTS #133
X-INFERNUS #2
AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 (2009)
DARK AVENGERS #9

Marvel Previews - Next weeks comics just for you!

2009-12-18T21:04:00.004Z

Lot and lots of previews today courtesy of Marvel & CBR. Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

IRON MAN 2 - TRAILER!

2009-12-17T11:49:00.006Z

I got some really exciting news. CLICK HERE to be taken to the first trailer for 2010's 'Iron Man 2' and then check back and let me know your thoughts on the clip. I'm buzzing, I think it's gonna be awesome and Mickey Rourke is gonna steal the show! Plus check out War Machine, it's spot on! Enjoy guys.

Iron Man 2 - Trailer LINK.

Hex's Pull List - Today!

2009-12-17T11:02:00.007Z

Well it's a bit late, but here's what I've ordered today.

DC
Azrael #3
Batman 80 Page Giant #1
Batman Streets of Gotham #7
Green Lantern Corps #43

MARVEL
Cable #21
Captain America Reborn #5
Daredevil #503
Dark Wolverine #81
X-Factor #200
X-Force #22
X-Men Legacy #230

I'm looking forward to Azrael #3, as the first 2 issues have been surprisingly good. GL Corps should rock as usual and Guy Gardner = Red Lantern should be awesome, plus what are the consequences of Kyle's death last issue- will he rise as a Black Lantern?

On the Marvel side Daredevil should be good and I'm hoping 'Necrosha' gets a bit more interesting in X-Force #22. What will you guys be getting?

Matt Fraction on Thor!

2009-12-16T00:00:00.004Z

Matt Fraction has been announced as the new writer for the Thor ongoing series next year.
Here's what he had to say about it:

MF: I’m most excited about getting off of Earth. There are nine worlds in the Norse cosmology, sort of, and lately the book has been spending a lot of time here in Midgard sweet Midgard. I want to take these amazing people, these characters that are so known and loved (at least amongst the pages of THOR), and take ‘em up and down the world tree. And beyond! Hell, why stop at just our world tree? I’ve said too much.

This is great new in my opinion. This is exactly the sort of direction this book should be taking, exploring Thor's world just like Fraction did with the Immortal Iron Fist book and his brilliant Thor mini series Ages of Thunder. If you haven't read Ages of Thunder I suggest finding them as they are not only fantastic reads but will be a great indication for Thor fans of where Fraction intends to take this book. Another book added to my list...DAMN YOU MARVEL!

A quick news recap!

2009-12-14T19:32:00.010Z

Wow, I was of last week working on some music stuff and job hunting (still!) going out getting pissed and various other things. I flip open my laptop this weekend and the comics industry had gone mad with loads of breaking and exciting news, especially from DC. I'm sure you all know the big news stories by now, I'm just gonna post some of my thoughts.

First up the one I'm most excited about: Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne

I am SO excited for this. IMO "Batman R.I.P" is one of the greatest Batman stories ever. Morrison's whole run has been incredible. I just bought the companion to 'Batman RIP' (The Black Casebook), and the way Morrison references old story lines is masterful. His story shows why Bruce Wayne is and will always be THE greatest super hero ever. In 'Batman R.I.P' Bruce managed to fight off the greatest evil of all time, Satan himself in the guise of Dr. Hurt, and now in the next chapter of Morrisons masterpiece we have Batman battling through different ages in time to get back to the present Gotham City. Yeah i know this sounds a bit like a certain star spangled heroes journey from an opposing comics company, but I don't care, this mini series will piss all over that Cap mini, we're gonna have a pirate Batman for fucks sake! Did I mention Andy Kubert, the greatest artist of all time was involved too...! My head just exploded.

Marc Guggenheim to write 'Action Comics' in 2010

All I can see is "Thank fuck for that!". Rucka writes 'Detec' so he's the man and all, but the 'Action Comics' book has been shit since he's been writing it. I don't think its Rucka fault at all, he has to work with a bunch of different artists (mostly rubbish) and has been given some crap 'Superman New Krypton' bullshit storyline to follow along side James Robinson, and lame characters to work with. I like Guggenheim. I liked his 'Blade' series, I was one of the few who actually liked 'Young X-Men' and I dig his work on 'Resurrection' for Oni Press. Will he get 'Action Comics' to the height's that Geoff Johns did? Prob not, but I'll def give this a shot. 'War of the Supermen' seems to be the big DC event of next year, but I'm not too excited yet.

Free Comic Book Day 2010 - Marvel and DC titles announced.

DC:
WAR OF THE SUPERMEN #0
A war is coming, and all that stands between Earth and 100,000 vengeful supermen is one Superman! Special #0 issue featuring all-new material previews the conflicts to come!

Well it' free so that's a good start, but still... don't really care.

As for Marvel:
IRON MAN/THOR FCBD 2010 EDITION
Two of Marvel’s heaviest hitters like you’ve never seen them before! A major new direction for the Marvel Universe kicks off HERE – on Free Comic Book Day!

Again. Not. Really. Bothered. But it's free, so cool. I think Ill be checking out the other publishers more though this time around.

DC's Earth One

John's and Frank's on 'Batman: Earth One'. Sort of a dream come true for me. Since this teams amazing work on the Superman books I always wanted to see them try their hand at Batman. So I'm happy but... Earth One, the DCU's answer to Marvel's Ultimate line maybe, not too cool. I would have preferred them on a mainstream Batman title but I'll take this. I like the idea of this just being released as graphic novels too. Cool.

As for 'Superman: Earth One'... well we are just about half way though 'Superman: Secret Origins' and already they announce 'Superman: Earth One' which will no doubt again go over a new version of Superman's origin. I'm bored already. Plus it's written by J. Michael Straczynski who managed to bore me to death on 'Thor', 'The Twelve' and his 'Red Circle' titles. Pass.

Well that's it for now. Any of this news get you guys stoked?

FREE Marvel Comics! - 12/14/09

2009-12-14T19:25:00.007Z

Want some free comics? I know I always do! Click away folks!

DARK REIGN: MISTER NEGATIVE #1
GENEXT: UNITED #1
MS. MARVEL #39 (2006)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #602
ULTIMATE X-MEN #88

Find out what next week's five free digital comics will be below!

WHAT IF? #33 (1977)
X-FACTOR #46 (2005)
X-MEN/SPIDER-MAN #1
DEADPOOL #7 (2008)
PUNISHER #6 (2008)

Hex's Pull List = 12/09/09

2009-12-08T22:23:00.004Z

DC
Adventure Comics #5
Booster Gold #27

MARVEL
Dark X-Men #2
Deadpool #18
Ghost Riders Heavens on Fire #5
Invincible Iron Man #21
Nation X #1
New Avengers Annual #3
Realm of Kings Imperial Guard #2
What If? World War Hulk
Wolverine Under Boardwalk
X-Men Forever #13

I'm looking forward to some good Nate Grey action in Dark X-Men #2. I'm picking up Iron Man #21 as I enjoyed the last issue quite a bit which was the start of the new 'Disassembled' arc. Nation X... I'll give it a go. ROK Imperial Guard I'm looking forward to as the 1st issue was great and I love those characters. Another shitty What If, which Ill pick up, I don't know why but I kind of like them stories, even though most of them are really bad. Guess I have to know 'what if' on some of these big Marvel story lines, just can't help myself.

What will you be getting?

Free Marvel Comics - 12/08/09

2009-12-08T22:18:00.002Z

Some free comics for you from Marvel. Just click whatever you fancy:

THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN SAGA #1
DEADPOOL #9 (1997)
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #22
WALLY THE WIZARD #1
BLACK PANTHER #2 (2008)
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #37

Find out what next week's five free digital comics will be below!

DARK REIGN: MISTER NEGATIVE #1
GENEXT: UNITED #1
MS. MARVEL #39 (2006)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #602
ULTIMATE X-MEN #100

This week I have mostly been listening to... The Drums, The Big Pink & The Blueskins

2009-12-05T21:59:00.008Z

This tune by The Drums sort of reminds me of the Pixies and it's really catchy. I like it.

Speaking of catchy tunes, this next song 'Domino's' but The Big Pink is on some TV advert or other in the UK and it's just so damn catchy I find myself humming this all the time.

And speaking of advert tunes reminded me of this little beauty of a song by The Blueskins that featured on a Lynx deodorant advert some time ago and also in the appalling 'Dukes of Hazard' remake film a few years ago. Do not see that film, that annoying singer Jessica Simpsons shorts are seriously the best part about it, oh and this song... so enjoy!

Millar & McNiven on 'Nemesis'

2009-12-05T21:37:00.005Z

Superstar comic creators Mark Millar and Steve McNiven (Civil War & Old Man Logan) have spoken to CBR about their next project 'Nemesis' due out next year. Here's some bits of the interview from Millar of what it's about:

Millar: But, yeah. "Nemesis" is a reversal of the Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark archetype. What if this genius billionaire was just this total shit, and the only thing that stood between him and a city was the cops? It's Batman versus Commissioner Gordon, in a weird way. Or maybe a super-villain version of "Se7en." A billionaire anarchist up against ordinary people. The Joker's the best thing in the Batman movies, so this guy is a bit of an amalgamation of all the stuff we like.

Millar: Nemesis is the world's smartest man, and the bad news for us is that he's the world's only super-villain. That means he's got freeze guns and jump-jets and all these James Bond gadgets and he's using them against us. To entertain himself, he picks a different cop every year and makes his life a misery. The book opens with him fucking over Japan's top cop, and then our story, the mini-series, takes place as he shifts his attention to Washington and his first American attacks. The visuals we've released here are just single panels from the Japanese segment. It's the best stuff I've ever seen Steve do.

I'm definitely real excited about this, I love nearly all of Millar's work, and think he is one of the best writers in the business right now, and McNiven is definitely one of the best artist so I'm sure they'll score a hat-trick with this new mini series.

See the full interview here.

Secret Warriors #10 - Review

2009-12-04T21:14:00.006Z

After 9 issues of Secret Warriors, I was thinking about giving up on this series. Hickman and young gun artist Stefan Casselli did a good job on the first arc, but with the second arc God of War, God of Fear came a new, less impactful artist and storyline. The story just plodded along for me and with my pull list seemingly getting bigger each week I felt now was the time to cut this book, but then I saw the preview for issue 10.

This issue was a completely stand alone issue in the middle of the arc focusing on the God of War; Ares and his son the God of Fear; Phobos. Where Secret Warriors has failed in the past for me is the cast of Nick Fury’s Secret Warriors team. After 9 issues I would struggle to name any of them, the characteristics and personalities are very forgettable, all except for Phobos, the God of Fear stuck in the body of a 10 year old, and Hickman does wisely focusing on the boy in this issue. The story narrates Phobos’s troubled history with his father and his meeting with the elder Gods to decide, as he was born of a mortal woman, whether or not he is worthy the title of God of Fear.

Secret Warriors #10 is for fans of old mythology stories like those found in Incredible Hercules or the stand alone mythological tales of the recent Immortal Weapons mini series. There are some beautifully drawn fight sequences between the gods with a really fantastic pale colour palate to give it that ‘tale of old’ style. For me the writer and art team have done their job very well and left the story with a nice cliff hanger ending to keep Secret Warriors on my pull list, for the next issue at least.

4 out of 5

Marvel previews for comics on sale - 12/09/09

2009-12-04T20:44:00.004Z

Marvel Comics has provided CBR with advance looks at new comics due out next Wednesday, December 9th, 2009.

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

Matt's Mini Reviews - Blackest Night gets brighter!

2009-12-03T21:45:00.004Z

Green Lantern #48

*NOTE – Read this issue before Blackest Night #5*

This series has been at an all time high in my opinion since the start of Blackest Night so I looked forward to more of the same this issue and it was good, but slower and very wordy. There wasn’t the same amount of action as the previous issues had but we do have some good padding out of the lantern characters, Johns has really established these as great new additions to the DCU. After some fighting and bickering amongst themselves the lanterns decide to unite (for now) to battle the common threat of the black lanterns, which leads into Blackest Night. An okay, solid issue but a must pick up if you are following Blackest Night.

3 out of 5

Blackest Night #5

One of the BEST issue of the series so far! Spoilers on!

Nekron is here, with an army of black lanterns battling the Justice League and the rest of the heroes from the DCU along with the newly united lanterns of the emotional spectrum (see GL#48). This issue is all out action laid out beautifully with some truly awesome splash pages. So many amazing things happen in this one issue; Lanterns are united, Guardians die, and (MAJOR SPOILERS!) a certain undead Bruce Wayne becomes a pawn of Black Hand and Nekron and is used to turn the heroes of the DCU that have escaped death and been resurrected (i.e. Superman, Green Arrow etc.) into latest editions of the Black Lanterns! The issue ends with black rings chasing down the only 2 resurrected heroes to escape the black rings so far; Hal Jordan & Barry Allen! What an ending and what an issue!

*Note – To top it all off you get a free Green Lantern ring with this issue (lets face it, this is the ring we all wanted and have been waiting for)- that helps it nail the top spot for book of the week!*

5 out of 5

Osborn's secret body guard is...?

2009-12-02T23:52:00.004Z

The shadowy figure that is Norman Osborn's secret weapon first showed up in Secret Invasion: Dark Reign and shows up again in this weeks Siege: The Cabal. IGN do a great run down of the possible candidates. This is def worth a look. Check it here.

So who are you guys betting on?

Reynolds on Green Lantern & more!

2009-12-02T23:01:00.007Z

There's a little interview over at MTV with Ryan Reynolds on his roles as Green Lantern and Deadpool. Best bits below:

MTV: When you take a look at this year, does it feel like, in the scheme of things, it's a landmark year, personally or professionally?

Reynolds: It's been probably the most unbelievable year of my life. Starting with setting some goals that I didn't think would be possible several years before, running a marathon, getting married -- the year has been incredible, all across the board. The fact that "Green Lantern" is something that's about to get going full-steam pretty soon, and then there is "Deadpool" on the horizon as well. If you asked me if this would be happening three years ago, I would have kick-f---ed you back to where you were from.

MTV: All these things we're talking about are things you set in motion. You pursued them, you kind of went after them. Does that make it a little bit more gratifying?

Reynolds: It's incredibly validating and gratifying when you can see that you can manifest something that you desperately want or a goal that you have. This is a difficult industry to get anything made, let alone a passion project, so when you see people understand what your vision is and come aligned with that common goal, it's pretty cool. I'm including all the creative types that are actually involved with "Deadpool" and "Green Lantern," because those guys want to make an authentic movie, and that's something a few years ago studios disregarded.

MTV: You have done everything from a publicity tour with Betty White to trying on the Green Lantern costumes. So, in looking back at the year, is there a moment that sums it up, that encapsulates what 2009 was about?

Reynolds: I think, seeing the prototypes for the Green Lantern costumes was a huge moment. It was a moment when I was like, "This is happening, and it's happening in the right way." That's a pretty cool, definitive moment for me.

MTV: Were you happy with the incarnation of Wade Wilson and Deadpool in "Wolverine"? Do you think you captured what you wanted to in the first look at Wade?

Reynolds: Yeah, I think the initial moment of the sequences that involve Wade, I think it did. It's always difficult to fully embrace something that isn't perfect, in terms of staying true to the source material. So it was a little bit frustrating. I really wanted to play Wade, and I really wanted to play Deadpool, and it would kill me to see someone else play them. I had a kind of ham-fisted attitude that it had to be perfect, but it doesn't. The movie's called "Wolverine," it's not called "Deadpool" or "Wade." I thought it was a nice little wink and tip of the hat to things to come. Finding the tone of that character alone is such a difficult prospect. I've been in so many meetings lately about "Deadpool" and meeting all these writers. Everyone is always looking for that one line, "What is that character?" and for me it's kind of like, "There's a guy, and he's in a highly militarized comedic fame spiral." That's not an easy thing to write -- an entire screenplay, let alone a franchise. I had a blast playing Wade. Every line I had in that was stuff I thought he would say. It wasn't something that a writer said to me. It was fun to really create that character, including everything he spits out of his awful mouth.

MTV: Does your love of "Green Lantern" and Hal Jordan go back far?

Reynolds: I've known about "Green Lantern" my whole life, but I've never really followed it before. I fell in love with the character when I met with [director] Martin Campbell. When I sat down with him, I really got what it is that this guy is all about. When you have a guy like Martin Campbell, part of his charm is that he has ba--s of titanium, and the other part is that he's slightly crazy, and you have to be to take on something with the scope of "Green Lantern." He's less of the director and more of a general. He just really knows strategies, he knows the intricacies, and his attention to detail! It's infectious. I sat down with him, and I could not even believe what he was saying. When I went to the meeting, I was entirely cynical. I thought, "What the hell, I'll see what they have to say," and I left the room with a completely different perspective.

And another post from MTV added the following:

After offering up some thoughts about Green Lantern's costume, Reynolds told MTV News that the scenes in which Hal Jordan isn't in costume will likely be the most memorable from the film — much like Robert Downey Jr.'s time spent out of Tony Stark's armor in "Iron Man."

"I think you walk away from this first film, and the moments that you remember and the moments that mean so much to you, not unlike 'Iron Man,' are the moments where the guy's not in the suit," said Reynolds.

However, Reynolds acknowledged that developing those moments amid the cosmic action central to "Green Lantern" is a daunting task — after all, a test pilot who receives a super-powered ring from a dying alien is likely to demand a much different tone than a billionaire industrialist building his own battle armor.

"That to me is the tough thing to get right," he explained. "And that's something that they did get right [in 'Iron Man']. You see why this guy's in the suit, and that's what's interesting to me. Not that he is in the suit, but why."

With "Green Lantern" scheduled to begin shooting next year (possibly in New Orleans), Reynolds shied away from calling the film's plot an origin story, despite the need to introduce Hal Jordan to mainstream movie audiences.

"It is [an origin story] to a certain degree, but it's not a labored origin story, where the movie [truly] begins in the third act," he explained. "The movie starts when it starts. We find out Hal is the guy fairly early on, and the adventure begins."

Hex's Pull List - 02/12/2009

2009-12-01T19:51:00.009Z

Sweet Tooth #4
Siege The Cabal
What If? Secret Invasion
X-Force Annual #1
Sword #20
Haunt #3

I'm also going back and picking up Invincible Iron Man #20 as I've heard such great things about this series that I want to give it a go at the start of a new story arc, and I'll be picking up Punisher #11. Why? Well the story of Frankencastle sounded awful at first but I've found out the art is by Tony Moore, that means it's a must check out for me.

Overall it's a smaller week for me, which is good, Siege: the Cabal being the biggest book of the week.

What you guys getting?

War Machine looks Bad Ass!

2009-12-01T19:05:00.002Z

This is the first poster to be released for next years Iron Man 2 and the first look of what War Machine will look like. Very similar to the comic book design and very bad ass. Do you guys agree?

FREE Marvel Comics! - 12/01/2009

2009-12-01T18:53:00.004Z

Here's your five free digital comics for this week, thanks to Marvel.Com. Just click on the title of your choice.

RUNAWAYS #11 (2008)
THE 'NAM #1
WAR OF KINGS #2
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #32
DARK REIGN: ELEKTRA #1

Next week's five free digital comics will be:

DEADPOOL #9 (1997)
THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST #22
WALLY THE WIZARD #1
BLACK PANTHER #1 (2008)
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #37

Read Chew #1 for FREE!

2009-11-27T11:19:00.006Z

I have heard a lot of good things about the new Image series "Chew" and was planning on picking up the first volume TPB which hits the shlves this week. To make my decision easier the good people over at Image Comics and Newsarama have made the full first issue available to read online for free.

It's a real funny, wise cracking and highly original comic. The main character Tony Chu is a cop who gets psychic impressions of whatever he eats. There is also a ban on eating chicken due to an out break of dangerous bird-flu which may or may not be a government cover up, throw in a portion of serial killer and a dash of cannabalism and you've got the recipe for a fun and as I said before; really original comic. But you really need to have a read of it yourself. Check out the full first issue here.

Matt's Mini Reviews

2009-11-25T17:14:00.017Z

The Black Knight #1 - One Shot

I love one-shots, epic runs can be great just like a great album by a fantastic band, but some time you get those one hit wonders, those catchy tunes that are just short and sweet. And I love my comics to be that way alot of the time. Throw in some knights of the round table, a magical sword to rival excalibur, action and adventure, and this is a real hit for me. It reminds me of the current Immortal Weapons books, the way beautiful tales of old are told around great little characters. If you like Arthurian Legend, (be warned that the dialogue is written as such, but it suits the style of this comic) with nice slick art, I would definately suggest picking this up. This is real hero vs villain stuff and it was fantastic.

5 out of 5

Red Robin #6

I gave it to this issue, where new artist joined Marcus To joined, to be the decider as to whether or not I would continue to pick up this series... and it's dropped. I believed this title was to deal the hunt for Bruce Wayne but writer Chris Yost has hardly dealt with this at all, instead focusing on Tim becoming leader of the League of Assassins, rediculous and totally out of character imo. Geoff Johns wrote the character better in a few panels of his Adventure Comics last month than Yost has in this entire series. And when Bruce does retun it will be well advertised and no doubt in a special mini series so as DC can charge $3.99 per issue, therefore making this series pointless to me. Marcus To does are fine job on pencils but his style is much like many other artists around, and nothing special to write home about. Pointless book and not very entertaining. Avoid

2 out of 5

Hex's Pull List - 11/25/09

2009-11-24T13:03:00.007Z

Blackest Night #5
Detective Comics #859
Green Lantern #48
Superman Secret Origin #3

Avengers The Initiative #30
Dark Wolverine #80
Immortal Weapons #5
Incredible Hercules #138
New Avengers #59
Secret Warriors #10
Ultimate Comics Avengers #4
X-Men Forever #12

Hmm...big week. Not really helpful when I already have loads to catch up on. I was pondering on getting Worlds Finest #2 but the first issue was very average and not really too exciting, with a big week like this, it's facing the chopping block I'm afraid. I was planning on dropping Secret Warriors too, as the last arc has not really been as good as the first and I cant get to like the characters enough, only Fury. With my list getting bigger each week that book was going to be another drop, until I saw the preview over at CBR that is and it just looked awesome. Check it here.

I'm a sucker for old mythological tales and the book starts with a cool one and this issue looks like it could be the big showdown between Ares and his son, so it's now back on the list...for this issue at least.

What you guys getting?

FREE Marvel Comics - 11/23/09

2009-11-23T21:20:00.001Z

This weeks FREE comics from Marvel Digital are:

DAREDEVIL NOIR #1
ULTIMATE X-MEN #100
MIGHTY AVENGERS #21
DARK AVENGERS #2
PUNISHER #1 (2008)

Next week's five free digital comics will be:

RUNAWAYS #11 (2008)
THE 'NAM #1
WAR OF KINGS #2
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #32
DARK REIGN: ELEKTRA #1

Enjoy folks.

Getting back into the swing of things.

2009-11-23T20:44:00.003Z

Hi guys and girls, I'm sure you've all given up on me by now, but I'm gonna try to get back on track. First I had PC problems, then Internet provider problems, plus loads of personal stuff and I haven't really read comics for ages. So now I've got a huge stack that I'm gonna catch up over the next couple of weeks and try and get back to doing some posts for any one who cares. First up is a review of Dark X-Men #1 that you can find below.

Hope everyone has been good and I look forward to catching up with you guys, especially my fellow Legion.

Much love.

Hex

Dark X-Men #1 - Review

2009-11-23T20:38:00.005Z

This is a book with some real characters in it. You get the always enchanting and dangerous Mystique, the whacked out and needy Mimic, the power junky Omega and supreme evil Dr Henry McCoy from the alternate reality; Age of Apocalypse. That’s a great cast to begin with right? So I was going to pick up the book anyway to see what plans Osborn has for this evil misfit band of X-Men but when I heard Nate Grey was to return in these very pages, the ‘Nathan Summers’ from the same ‘Age of Apocalypse’ reality as Dark Beast, It was moved to the top of my Must Read pile.

What is great about this book is the character work by Paul Cornell, he gets the characters down really well and Leonard Kirk does fine work on the art. The story line at this moment is pretty thin. It seems there are masses of folk walking around in a mind controlled state claiming “I am X-Man”. Osborn sends his team to investigate which results in the team at a hospital bedside of one of these crazies. It seems that somehow the possessed people’s collective thoughts were being controlled by something extremely powerful which ends up consuming both Omega & Mimic and sending their powers out of control. At the end of the issue it is revealed that this power is actually Nate Grey who has returned, though so far how or why is unexplained.

The problem that I have is that this issue is not very new reader friendly, hopefully the second issue will do a short 1 page recap of the history of Nate Grey, not something too long that it holds up the progression of the story and bores older Marvel/ X-Man fans, but gives enough info to get new readers up to speed on one of the coolest Marvel characters from the last decade.

Character focused, the return of X-Man, not a bad start, but not spectacular either.

3 out of 5

Blackest Night: Superman #3 - Mini Review

2009-10-31T14:13:00.006Z

As it's Halloween today I'm going to stick to that theme and do a mini review of the Superman tie-in for the biggest undead comic event of the year; Blackest Night.

Issue 3 completes a strong tie-in mini-series with a strong final action packed issue. This series in my opinion has been much stronger than the Batman Blackest Night mini. Robinson does great work writing the Superboy character the same way G. Johns does in Adventure Comics, which is basically a young man struggling with his identity. Psycho-Pirate is a great choice of villain for this series due to his control of peoples emotions which links back nicely to the Lantern Colour's Emotional Spectrum. Krypto and Ma Kent are especially awesome in this issue and all the villains are dealt with nicely wrapping up the series but still at the end leaves room to connect back into the main Blackest Night event. Eddy Barrow Barrows work has been fantastic for this series and is fast becoming one of may favorite DC pencilers.

4 out of 5.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T14:07:00.002Z

Happy Halloween guys & girls! Anyone doing anything special? Halloween parties and costumes maybe? Myself, my girlfriend and a few friends have booked a tour for tonight of a haunted manor house and woodland. Looks pretty spooky and silly so should be fun. Here's a little clip of what it's all about. Have a great time whatever you do?

Thunderbolts #137 - Review

2009-10-31T03:25:00.006Z

Thunderbolts #137 - Review

WRITER: Rick Remender
PENCILS: Mahmud Asrar

Sometimes it’s nice to get a one and done superhero tale and this is exactly what this book is. I have not been reading Thunderbolts since Warren Elis left but this was any easy issue to jump onto as Rick Remender steps into the role of writer as Andy Diggle moves over to Daredevil . The reason I decided to pick this up was as a fan of the Iron Fist and Luke Cage characters I was intrigued to see them team up against Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts, I have enjoyed some of Remender’s work in the past so decided to give this a shot.

The story goes that Iron Fist has been captured by the Thunderbolts by orders from Osborn which we see in a nice action packed flash back. Norman’s idea is to capture as many hero’s as he can and use his new toy in order to mind control them and eventually replace his bickering Thunderbolts team. Now the nice little twist that Remender writes into is that some of the Thunderbolts have figured out Osborn’s scheme and are obviously not to happy about it, their mission then becomes to mess with Osborn’s plan and help Iron Fist and his would be rescuer Luke Cage escape.

I feel Remender writes the Thunderbolt characters very well, I had no prior knowledge of any of these characters except for Robert Kirkman’s Ant-Man and they were all enjoyable to read, especially Ant-Man who provided the main comic relief for this issue in the way Spider-Man would in a New Avengers book.

The art is good looking nothing if nothing spectacular, but suits the feel of the book nicely.

If you want a bit of Iron Fist & Power Man team-up action with a few laughs along the way and a nice one and done superhero tale, check this issue.

3 out of 5

Today I've mostly been listening to...The Datsuns - Harmonic Generator

2009-10-31T03:10:00.005Z

So the new Internet provider is up and running and hopefully the Gremlins are gone from my PC.

Because of this I am now in a good mood and have been in need of some proper rocking tunes to match my mood. So I dug out The Datsuns self-titled debut album, first released in 2002, as it rocks hard, very hard! I'd forgotten how good some of these tunes were. Whatever happened to this band?

'Harmonic Generator' was one of the singles from that album and also one of it's best songs. Here's the video so you can join me in my rocking happiness, enjoy!

Marvel Previews - Comics on sale 4th November

2009-10-31T03:00:00.002Z

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

Communication breakdown!

2009-10-26T12:27:00.003Z

Sorry i haven't been around lately guys, my computer wont let me view web pages for more than a few seconds most of the time before shutting down! Very annoying. I'm trying to get that sorted while also using all my free time looking for a new job. I'm not sure how long I'll be out of the game for but I'll do my best to keep checking in on everyone else's blogs/ sites etc when I can and when I'm back I'll be sure to let you all know and look forward to catching up on reading and chatting to you guys about all the comic goodness I've missed.

See you soon.

Haunt #1 - Review

2009-10-14T16:33:00.004+01:00

This title has been highly anticipated to say the least, you all know that. What you want to know is if it’s any good, and judging by other reviews on the net you’d probably be inclined to think this book was terrible, well you know what, I thought it was great. Here’s why:

The two lead roles for this story are brothers who lead very different lives but are both really captivating characters. One is very depressed priest named Daniel Kilgore who seems to have a lot of women issues, firstly for being in love with his brothers girl, secondly as he has a tendency to visit prostitutes.

The other brother, Kurt, is a Special Ops type action hero who gets killed on a mission (during some great action scenes). What we learn throughout the issue is that Daniel is now being haunted by his dead brother who urges Daniel to visit Amanda, whom it seems they were both in love with, as Kurt believes she may be in danger.

While Daniel stays at Amanda’s house it is raided by some nasty looking guys out to kill the girl, they start shooting and the ghost of Kurt merges with Daniel just as he is about to be shot and together they suddenly take on the ghostly monstrous appearance as seen on the cover. Cool stuff.

The idea of this book came from both Robert Kirkman and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane with the actual series being written by Kirkman, with layouts by Greg Capullo, Pencils by Ryan Ottley, and inks by McFalane.

I really like Kirkman’s script, the dialogue is realistic and sharp but the art on this title is the real star, it just looks fantastic. Ottleys pencils especially. It’s also worth noting that this is a $2.99 book but this has a glossier paper that is slightly heavier than normal with a really nice feel and it makes the art and coloring extra bold to look at.

I thought this was a brilliant first issue and I’m definitely on board for future issues, I’m really unsure why it has received such negative comments elsewhere as I think the execution of this book and its creators was fab. It seems a lot of people had problems that the story was not very original and there have been a lot of comparisons to Spawn but I’ve never read a Spawn book so can't comment there. All I know is this book is fun and cool and has action and espionage and really looks amazing. I say sod everyone else and pick it up.

4.5 out of 5

This weeks FREE Comics from Marvel.Com

2009-10-14T16:28:00.003+01:00

Great set of Free comics this week from Marvel.com. Daredevil #116 is one of the single best issues of any comic I have read this year, X-Men Forever has been a cool new series and worth checking out and I'll be having a read of Dark Wolverine #75 as I've heard some good things about that series. Just click the links guys.

BETA RAY BILL: GODHUNTER #1

DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR #1

X-MEN FOREVER #1 (2009)

DAREDEVIL #116 (1998)

DARK WOLVERINE #75

Planet Hulk DVD artwork by Alex Ross

2009-10-13T17:00:00.003+01:00

Looks pretty sweet dont ya think?

Here's the trailer below too if any one hasn't seen it. I didnt read Planet Hulk but this cartoon looks quite cool. I'll definately check it out.

Blackest Night in January and the end of Batwoman?

2009-10-13T16:14:00.004+01:00

An interesting 10 Questions with Dan Didio this week as he actually gives some great answers to the Newsarama reader questions.

One of the things we learn is that in January there will be a break from the main Blackest Night mini series (to allow Ivan Reiss enough time on the art duties) but we will still be getting plenty more Blackest Night action. The following one shots have be announced to resurrect certain DC titles in the Blackest Night theme. The titles are:

The Power of Shazam! #18 is being written by Eric Wallace.
Catwoman #83 is going to be written by Fabian Nicieza,
Suicide Squad #67 is being written by John Ostrander.
The Question #37 is Greg Rucka.
Phantom Stranger #42 is Peter Tomasi.
Weird Western Tales #71 is Dan DiDio.
The Atom and Hawkman #46 is Geoff Johns.
Starman #81 is James Robinson.

I think this sounds pretty cool, and there are some good writers involved, though no artists confirmed yet.

Also reading I noticed that it seems Batwoman will no longer be the headlining star in Detective Comics from January. I was not aware of this and am pretty gutted as the creative team on that book have been great and done excellent work with the character. However, is a solo Batwoman series a possibility somewhere down the line?

“ Nrama: The cover to January's issue is Batman instead of Batwoman, so is that when Batwoman steps out of the comic? Is she completely out of the picture at that point?” “DiDio: I think we'll be still seeing her appearing in the series. As a matter of fact, you might be seeing her appear in a couple of the Batman series at the start of the year, and then it's going to be hard to contain her just as a guest star appearance. I feel that she's really proven herself as a solo star.”

If a Batwoman solo series is coming out I hope its still Rucka and Williams so they can continue the great work they have started.

Check the full interview HERE.

Hex's Pull List - 10/14/09

2009-10-13T15:52:00.002+01:00

DC
Adventure Comics #3

Green Lantern Corps #41

Red Robin #5

Secret Six #14 (maybe)

MARVEL

Deadpool #900

X-Men Forever #9

Nice light week for me so I'm also going to pick up some old issues of Avengers Initiative and Amazing Spider-Man that I have missed to get me up to date.

What are you guys picking up?

More mini-reviews

2009-10-13T15:46:00.006+01:00

Batman and Robin #5

A definite step down in artwork from last issue, the details and faces of characters didn’t look as good. Jason Todd is back to his red hair, oh and SPOILERS! it was him under the Red Hood. That was a bit disappointing for me as I thought Morrison was going to throw a curve ball in there and shock us with that one, but unfortunately no. I’m really not keen on the way Morrison wrote Jason Todd as being like a whiney kid in this issue, moaning that the helmet is giving him spots! I didn’t like that. I’m personally still holding out for Jason Todd to redeem himself as the good guy who died as a hero, but I don’t think it will ever happen (damn you Winick!). Scarlet however, the Red Hood’s new sidekick is a great new character, and this issue has a lot of focus on her, which is to its benefit.

3 out of 5

Cable #19

This is one of the worse issues in this Cable series I have read. It’s the continuation of what seems like a very silly story arc which sees Hope, Cable and Bishop battling against old X-Men foes the Brood, what the point is….I don’t know. There was some very strange stuff that I really couldn’t get my head around, for instance; Cable got swallowed by a giant space whale and Hope fights off a space shark with rockets coming out of it’s ass, all while floating in a giant green oxygen bubble in space! I think writer Duane Swierczynski may be on acid, maybe if I took some Id get it but you guys should def avoid this.

Oh, I should mention the art too… its pretty crap.

2 out of 5

Deadpool #16

This is the second part of the current story arc but you can easily jump on here, I did. All you need to know is that Deadpool wants to join the X-Men and we start this issue with Deadpool being refused entry from Cyclops. After being persuaded by Wolverine that it’s safer to have Deadpool under watch on Utopia and Dazzler pointing out the fact that calling Utopia a Mutant Haven but refusing Deadpool entry is a bit hypocritical, Cyclops decides to send Domino to invite Deadpool back. Hilarious scenes follow and Deadpool fans and X-fans should def give this a pick up. Highlight of the issue is when Deadpool dons his x-uniform he’s made and states “BOOM!... even has my name on the back!”. That cracked me up. Art is fantastic, and the cartoony element suits this book really well.

4 out of 5

X-Men: Second Coming - Begins March 2010!

2009-10-13T11:22:00.003+01:00

Comic Book Resources have published a real in depth interview with the current X-Franchise creators on next years big X-event; “X-Men: Second Coming”

What’s it all about? CBR have the rundown:

“In March of 2010, Cable and Hope return to the present. Kicking off the final chapter in the Messiah Trilogy, "X-Men: Second Coming" was announced today at the Diamond Retailer Summit. It's a multi-part crossover that begins in the "X-Men: Second Coming" one-shot, then runs through issues of "Uncanny X-Men," "X-Men: Legacy," "X-Force" and "New Mutants," before ending in June with another one-shot. CBR News spoke with writers Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Matt Fraction, Mike Carey, and Zeb Wells and Editor Nick Lowe about the crossover.2
Chris Yost told CBR. "I think you'll finally see some answers to questions that were posed way back in Messiah Complex,” "Who, and what, is Hope? What does her return mean to the X-Men?"

"You'll see new books being born and existing books being redefined," Mike Carey said. "As with 'Messiah Complex,' I hope it will feel like the natural playing out of elements we've been building for a long time. You'll suddenly see the relevance of a whole lot of stuff." – This is really interesting – What titles will be changed, which titles canceled and which new ones will be born out of this x-over?

One of the titles that will definitely be ending for its creators (and perhaps disappearing from shelves altogether) is X-Force. CBR wrote:

“For Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, "X-Men: Second Coming" is doubly satisfying because not only is it the final chapter of the Messiah Trilogy, it's also the final chapter in their run on "X-Force." "Chris and I have had a plan from the beginning of what we wanted to do with this team. We knew what the last page of our last issue on the title looked like," Craig Kyle said. "This is going to close a chapter for us, and like our run on 'New X-Men,' it's exciting because we planned for it and knew it was coming. We've been talking with everybody for about a year and a half now about how we wanted to go out, and it's going to be in a blaze of glory.”

I’m really happy an end is now in site for the Messiah Complex, I’ve really enjoyed the previous chapters and have been following Hope’s journey in the pages of Cable so I cant wait to see how this plays out and what Hope’s true powers are. Xciting stuff!

To read the full article click HERE, and be sure to check back and let me know your thoughts.

Matt's Mini Reviews

2009-10-12T16:15:00.004+01:00

Green Lantern #46

One of the issues of the year for me, Doug Mahnke and Geoff johns are a total dream team for this series. This is just as good as the Black Hand issue from a few months ago, but this time we switch the focus to Sinestro and get some big ballsy action as he battles Mongul to reclaim leadership of the Sinestro Corps. We see an unlikely alliance between Hal Jordan and Sinestro to battle the greater evil and it works well, none of the characters lose face. The artwork from Mahnke is pure awesome especially the fight scenes. This issue was all killer and no filler. Must pick up!

5 out of 5

Spider-Man Clone Saga #1

I went into this issue not knowing anything really about the infamous Clone Saga, and I finished it not wanting to know any more. The story was bland and the art wasn’t to my taste, the action parts were just ridiculous. The villain of the issue (Kaine) somehow manages to get a car, climb up a water tower and throw it at Parker & Reilly (Pete’s clone) while they argue on top the roof of a Hospital (and they are both really whiney!), I’m pretty sure the water tower was thrown at them too at some point, but I was sort of skim reading book by this point. The dialogue and art were nasty and reminded me why I stopped reading comics in the mid 90’s. It was $3.99 too. Ouch.

1 out of 5

X-Force #19

All the females’ characters still look exactly alike, and all the male characters still look female. Every character has ridiculous butt muscles and…. well you get the point, the art is horrible, but I still like this book, the story just keeps me interested. In this issue we deal with X-23’s escape (last issue she was kidnapped by her creators), and there is some good action and interaction between X-23 and her assistant escapee. It should be noted that the whole time x-23 is battling her captives and trying to escape that she is carrying her dismembered arm that was sawn off and the end of last issue! It’s both totally ridiculous and bad-ass at the same time. I like the story and characters used in this book, it’s just a real shame everyone looks like a wax work she-male.

PS. Check out the ridiculous wings on Angel on the cover above, that's exactly the sort of shit I'm talking about with this art, over the top and ugly. Angel doesn't even make an appearance either.

3 out of 5

Marvel Previews - Comics on sale 10/14/09

2009-10-09T16:13:00.002+01:00

The previews for next weeks Marvel comics are here courtesy of Comic Book Resources.

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

Deadpool #900
GeNext: United #5
Incredible Hercules #136
Iron Man: Iron Protocols One-Shot
Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #16
Marvel Super Hero Squad #2
Nomad: Girl Without A World #2
Punisher: Frank Castle Max #75
The Marvels Project #3
Uncanny X-Men #516
Uncanny X-Men: First Class #4
Web Of Spider-Man #1
X-Men Forever #9

This weeks FREE digital comics from Marvel

2009-10-07T16:03:00.004+01:00

This week’s FREE digital comics and previews from Marvel.com are as follows:

ULTIMATUM #1

BLACK PANTHER #1 (2008)

AVENGERS/INVADERS #5

ULTIMATUM: SPIDER-MAN REQUIEM #1

X-MEN ORIGIN: COLOSSUS #1

Just click the title of choice to be linked to the issue.

Enjoy

Hex's Pull List - 10/07/09

2009-10-06T15:59:00.003+01:00

Batman and Robin #5

Batman Annual #27

Cable #19

Dark Reign List Secret Warriors

Deadpool #16

Ghost Riders Heavens on Fire #3

X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #1

Haunt #1

Sweet Tooth #2

War Heroes #3

Haunt #1 has been getting terrible reviews, mainly for the many comparisons to Spawn, but I have never read Spawn, I like Kirkman and I liked the preview pages so I'll give the first issue a go.

I was planning on waiting on the trade for Sweet Tooth but I enjoyed the first issue so much I kinda cant wait another 6 or 7 months for that trade to appear.

War Heroes #3 is finally here! I think the last issue came out about a year ago or something. If not it feels like it. But I loved the first 2 issues and love Millar (especially his independent work) so I'm really looking forward to this and as you can see above it has an awesome cover.

What are you guys geting?

Birthday Post - We're gonna party like it's 1983!

2009-10-06T10:26:00.019+01:00

So I'm 26 today (unfortunately), and it got me wondering about what was happening in our favourite comic books 26 years ago in 1983, the year I was born. How different were things in the Marvel U and DCU back then compared to now? Perhaps not so different at all, in fact it seems a certain Geoff Johns may be very fond of some of the DC issues released this year! Have a look below at some covers from our favourite titles released back in 1983 to see for yourselves. I think I picked some cool covers so I hope you enjoy them too. And please let me know if you own any of these books, I'd love to know some more about the stories inside. Enjoy.

Dan Didio & Philip Tan take over on Outsiders

2009-10-05T12:56:00.005+01:00

Does anyone care, is anyone still buying this book?

I like Philip Tan's art. That's all I can really say about this news right now. The only thing of Didio's I think i've read is his Metal Men story in Wedneday Comics which was okay.

Here is what Dan D had to say:

“This is an exciting time for me both personally and professionally. I have been a fan of The Outsiders since their inception and with Pete Tomasi moving on to some very exciting projects in 2010, I have been afforded the opportunity to work with some of my favorite characters. Most importantly, this also gives me the chance to work with the immensely talented Philip Tan, and together I hope we can meet and exceed all expectations for this series.”

Philip Tan says?

“I have orders from Dan to hunt down and skewer anyone who buys comics and doesn’t pick this up in January.

Seriously though, I can’t be more excited! Batman and the Outsiders is actually the first DC book I ever bought (and got stolen)! It will be a challenge to pick it up after Peter and Fernando’s run and continue to entertain, but Dan and I are extremely confident that we will be able to create some very exciting visual stories! There are tons of ideas that we want to play with! It is not only a huge honor for me to work on Dan’s first monthly book, but I’m also insanely giddy about being able to be creatively involved on a whole new level with this project, a level that I have never experienced!”

Anyone excited, sad.... bothered?

Superman: Secret Origin #1 - One of the most important Superman comic books of all time

2009-10-05T12:22:00.013+01:00

Why is Superman Secret Origin #1 one of the most important Superman comics ever? Please read on for my thoughts and be sure to comment after and let me know what you think of this article and the comic itself.

With his work on Action Comics, writer Geoff Johns made the Man of Steel feel human again, which is a big deal for me as a reader as Superman can seem so ‘Super’ at times it can be hard to relate. The character work he did captured both Superman & Clark brilliantly (especially his relationship with his father), and that is why Johns Superman work contain some of my favorite comic book stories ever.

Gary Frank who did the pencils for the majority of John’s Action Comics run emphasized Superman’s human side and drew Superman very much like the Christopher Reeve incarnation from the motion pictures, which being a huge fan of those films, really made me connect with the story a little more as the stories really felt like the Superman I knew and love, mine and my generation’s Superman. In my opinion he is the best Superman artist I have ever seen, so who better to create this book along with one of the best Superman writers?

This mini series; Superman: Secret Origin was highly anticipated by myself, other fans and critics alike, while a lot of people have mentioned that we all know Superman’s origin as the last son of Krypton, I don’t know much about his time in Smallville and I feel a lot of today’s younger comic readers might not either. I have never read any of the old Superboy or Legion of Superhero comics of Clarks days growing up in Smallville (I know there is the TV show, but I’m not a fan, comics is my superhero medium of choice), or any other comics of Superman’s early adventures as to be honest a lot of them were written many years ago (decades even) and I find that material extremely hard to read as it is far too… dare I say it; ‘corny’. Those stories were written for their time which is fine, but we are in a new century now, the times and writing styles have changed. Why is Superman the biggest superhero in the world? Well the great thing about this comic is it makes Superman important again TODAY, for a new generation of readers.

The young Clark in this series feels more human to me as a character than ever, I mean the first page drags you straight into Clark’s headspace at the time of the story by asking the biggest question in the universe; “Why are we here?” It’s a question everyone can relate to and has asked themselves at some point. Clark in this story is in a difficult period of his life. He is just about starting puberty, is getting interested in girls, and has to deal with everyday life at school and the strange powers that begin to appear. In this issue we see Clark’s strength accidently causes a friend to break his arm while playing football, and his heat vision nearly burns down the school when he has his first kiss with Lana. On top of all these problems (some more normal than other’s) Clark then discovers his true origin and the fact that he is not only adopted but an alien from another planet that has now been destroyed (again I’m sure we can all relate to feeling different growing up, maybe not this different but hopefully you get my point). This is a lot for any kid to take, and the emotion from Clark is conveyed masterfully by Johns and Frank.

There is a scene where just after Clark learns about his true origins, he runs away into the fields of his parent’s farm utterly devastated. After Clark stumbles Pa Kent catches up with him and they embrace. Clark is scared and tells his Pa that he doesn't want to be different and that "I want to be Clark Kent. I want to be your son." to which Pa Kent responds "Clark…you are my son." It’s a really beautiful moment and I literally had a lump in my throat. It’s drawn from a birds eye view which reminded me of the funeral scenes for Pa Kent at the start of ‘New Krypton’ some months back, also beautifully drawn my Frank. Geoff Johns conveys to his reader that Jonathon Kent really is Clark’s hero and a lot of what makes Clark ‘Superman’ is drawn from Jonathon’s influence and his special relationship with his son, and that’s why I really look forward to more of this issue. That’s why this origin story will be different; it will be remembered for the great relationships John’s has further explored with the characters. And even after only one issue, I feel it will gone on to be one of THE classic Superman stories that will be referred back to and enjoyed for years to come, I believe in the artistic team and their grasp of the main character that much. Johns & Frank are telling the tale of the farmer’s boy from Smallville who grew into Superman, the greatest superhero in the world, showing how his loved ones guideded him on his journey and helped mould him into the hero and icon he is today.

Thats why I belive Superman: Secret Origin #1 is one of the most important Superman comic books of all time. So what do you guys think?

The Web #1 Review - save your money.

2009-10-02T17:22:00.006+01:00

The Red Circle one shots were very mediocre but I thought I’d at least give the new creative teams a try for the first issue of the ongoing series, but unfortunately they couldn't hook me in.

It’s a shame because The Web One Shot performed the best out of the 4 Red Circle One Shots released so I had good expectations for this issue but it was a totally boring . I can’t even really remember what happened except that we find out The Web is in love with his dead brother’s girlfriend, and then....nope it was so dull I forgot.

The cover is deceiving as you hope the art is going to be as cool as that, not so I'm afraid, it's just regular cartoony superhero stuff. Not bad, just not very good.

The Hangman backup was just as useless as it just re-hashed all the info we learnt about him and his powers from the previous Hangman One-Shot. Avoid this and save your 4 dollars for something a bit more exciting folks.

Hex's score: 1 out of 5.

Marvel Previews - 10/07/2009

2009-10-02T12:25:00.002+01:00

Next week's Marvel previews are here courtesy of Marvel & Comic Book Resources. Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

Astonishing X-Men #31
Black Panther #9
Cable #19
Captain America Theater Of War: Ghosts Of My Country One-Shot
Daredevil #501
Dark Reign: The List - Secret Warriors One-Shot
Dark Reign: Zodiac #3
Deadpool #16
Doctor Voodoo: Avenger Of The Supernatural #1
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire #3
House Of M: Masters Of Evil #3
Iron Man & The Armor Wars #3
Luke Cage Noir #3
Models, INC #2
Spider-Man 1602 #1
Starr The Slayer #2
Strange Tales #2
The Torch #2
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #3
Vengeance Of The Moon Knight #2
X-Babies #1
X-Men vs. Agents Of Atlas #1

Batman Annual #27 - Preview

2009-10-01T16:31:00.004+01:00

Check out the first four pages of Batman Annual #27 HERE.

What's it about?

'Writer Fabian Nicieza and artist J. Calafiore present a tale of a murdered priest. A desecrated grave marker. A kidnapped child. A secret key. A mystery whose solution could upset the world order. For Batman and Robin to stop the rampage of a zealot named Amon, the Sixth Sinner, they first have to halt a deadlier foe intent on making sure Amon succeeds. To end the killer’s mad scheme, Batman faces Azrael, Death’s Dark Knight. “The Eighth Deadly Sin” continues in DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #11 and sets the stage for this month’s premiere issue of the AZRAEL ongoing series. '

If your a fan of Grant Morrison's Batman run like me, this issue will no doubt have caught you attention as it continues the adventures of the new Azrael; Michael Lane, previously Morrison's '3rd Ghost of Batman'!

'The Phantom' TV series first trailer!

2009-10-01T12:05:00.002+01:00

Interview with Robert Kirkman on 'The Walking Dead' TV show

2009-09-30T16:52:00.009+01:00

Do you like zombies????? Of course you do!

The news of a 'Walking Dead' TV series (based on the critically acclaimed post-zombie apocalypse comic book series from Image) has been floating around for a while now, but this nice little interview over at MTV with creator Robert Kirkman goes a little into how things are actually shaping up with the TV adaptation.

Check it HERE.

I think a this could be great, the comic book series is written like a TV drama anyway and with Kirkman's involvement the transition should hopefully be pretty smooth and honour the source material well.

This reminds me that I need to pick up Walking Dead Vol.10 TPB soon or I'm gonna get behind.

Man.... why are zombies just so cool??

Hex's Pull List - 09/30/09

2009-09-29T16:25:00.003+01:00

DC
Green Lantern #46

MARVEL
Secret Warriors #8
Spider-Man Clone Saga #1
X-Factor #49
X-Force #19
X-Men Forever #8

Nice size week, this is more like it, I don’t feel too bad or guilty each week if I’m only buying six books, It allows me to free up some cash and maybe I can get round to picking up one of TPB’s from my long lists of must buys, that just keeps growing and growing, or grabbing some older x-men back issues from e-bay.

I’m looking forward to reading the Clone Saga, just for the subject matter really. I never read the original but have always been fascinated by the idea of it and how it is universally hated, so the idea of the Clone Sage revisited and (apparently) told as it was intended intrigues me.

What are you guys picking up?

X-Men Legacy Annual #1 – Review

2009-09-29T15:54:00.003+01:00

X-Men Legacy Annual #1 – Review

Story by
Mike Carey
Art by
Daniel Acuna, Mirco Pierfederici

Emplate the mutant sucking vampire is back people, yes the same one from the Generation X days. Apparently he has been starving since M day and is on the hunt for some mutants to sustain his hunger, it’s pretty handy for him that all the mutants are now all cooped up in one place on Utopia Island, it’s like a mutant drive through.

There are some really good action scenes as Emplate battles and dominates against Cyclops X-Men. Another highlight are the scenes between Cyclops and Rogue as they discuss the future guidance of the younger mutants on the island.

Daniel Acuna’s art is just simply gorgeous, and I love his rendering of all the different X-Men characters and designs.

There was a second feature following Gambit on a mission to destroy Norman Osborn’s mutant power sucking machine (as you can tell the name for the machine escapes me right now). Gambit runs into a spot of bother and what’s very interesting is we find out that his Death powers (the ones given to him by Apocalypse) are still bubbling under the service and are activated during the battle, very unfortunately for Gambit’s foe.

This is a great issue. “Bold new direction!” says the cover and while it's not quite 'bold' the story threads with Emplate, Rogue’s leadership concerns and Gambit’s power issues make this a very interesting book going forward.

Hex's score: 4 out of 5

The most bad-ass cover of the year!

2009-09-28T15:48:00.006+01:00

And Hex's award for the most bad-ass cover of the year goes too.... well, we don't know yet, but it features one of the current Atoms (could be Ray or Ryan) about to be eaten like a Snickers bar by the older now zombiefied Atom. I found this image posted over at DC's blog the Source, it's obviously a Blackest Night tie-in but we don't know what issue it relates to yet, possible JSA or JLA? Any way the sheer awesomeness of this literally made my jaw drop when I saw it. Fantastic stuff.

Matt's Mini Reviews

2009-09-28T15:39:00.010+01:00

These books are weeks old now but I’m just catching up. As they are older ones, I’m sure I want be spoiling to much for you guys, so I’m just gonna do a quick ramble on what I though of each issue.

Batman and Robin #4

A real shift in art here as Philip Tan starts his arc. The panel lay outs are great, the coloring is dark and suits the mood of the book, Morrison picks up on various plot threads from his previous Batman work and I cant get enough of it. It’s like a long soap opera, he really is a complete master of the comic book form especially his work on Batman. Each issue needs to be studied like you would a text book, each phrase and action and re-action is there for a reason, nothing is included without lots of thought. Genius at work here, but that is just my opinion. The Red Hood & Scarlet were totally terrifying too, is the Red Hood Jason Todd? It certainly seemed like it at the end of this issue, but maybe there were some clues in there that it’s someone else?

4.5 Out of 5

Blackest Night #3

Wow, you got to feel for Firestorm after this issue, it was really messed up. That’s why Geoff Johns is so great. I love the use of other characters from the DCU, not just the GL’s. The Indigo Tribe make there presence known and it’s about time. A solid issue, good action and good character work, I’m sure all the goodness will continue to the next chapter.

3.5 Out of 5

Captain America Reborn #3

Some of the art feels really rushed on this issue. I am enjoying this series overall, but we need to be getting somewhere a bit quicker. There is a really cool action scene on the airplane where the Falcon stages a rescue of Bucky, probably one of the highlights of the mini-series so far. This series is good but I wanted the return of Steve Rogers to be great. 2 issues to go let’s hope it can get there.

3 out of 5

Dark Reign List Daredevil One Shot

This surprised me and I liked it much more than I thought I would. Daredevil really is the human punch bag of the Marvel U. Just when you think things cant get any worse for him, he decides to play cat and mouse with Bullseye and as a result, Bullseye is let loose and able to blow up a huge building full of innocent families, just to give a big two fingers up at Murdock. Man that Bullseye is evil! There was a great twist at the end also, with Master Izo being captured by Ninja clan the Hand, sure to face the death penalty as one of Daredevils tests to become leader of the Hand. I hadn’t planned on picking up Daredevil now Brubaker had left, but Diggle MIGHT have just pulled me back in.

3.5 Out of 5

Mini reviews of X-Factor #48, Blackest Night: Batman #2, X-Men Legacy Annual #1 & Sword #19 coming soon.

Read Surrogates #1 for FREE!

2009-09-28T15:22:00.005+01:00

So the Surrogates movie staring Bruce Willis is out at the cinema, anyone seen it yet? I haven’t but I do plan on doing so at some point. But if like me you didn’t really know much about it (I knew it was based on a comic and Robots were involved, that was about it) Newsarama have made available the full first issue of the comic book series available to read for free HERE.

I read and really enjoyed the issue. It’s a futuristic noir/ detective type story and although at first I wasn’t sure about the scratchy style art, after a few pages I felt it totally fit with the style and tone of the book and made it feel darker and more mysterious and intriguing, and definitely of an alien/ futuristic setting. I'm definately considering picking up the rest of the series in TPB and look forward to seeing the movie, now I know a bit more of what it's about.

If this sounds like something you’re gonna dig then you can read the full first issue for free just by clicking HERE.

Enjoy guys, and let me know what you thought, of both the film and comic, do they compare? Which is better? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Hex out.

Revisiting the "Phalanx Covenant", and why it rocked!

2009-09-25T14:46:00.009+01:00

So recently I’ve been re-reading my old x-men comics in chronological order, and just last night I read the Phalanx Covenant, specifically the ‘Generation Next’ story featured in Uncanny X-Men #316 – 317 & X-Men #36-37 (I’ll be reading the concluding parts of the Phalanx in the other x-titles next). I haven’t read these in a while, but basically I thought they rocked. Here’s why:

1. This story line introduces 'Generation Next' to the Marvel U.

Basically this storyline was set up for that exact reason. A new title was being born called Generation Next by Scott Lobdell & Chris Bachalo. These characters were the next generation of mutants, and were a real sorry looking and weird bunch, but that was also their appeal. I have the first 15 or so issues of that series and from what I remember they were pretty good (they’ll be re-read soon also.) The Phalanx Covenant introduces most of the young mutants that will feature in the new title and they were; Skin, Synch, Husk, M & Blink (who didn’t actually make it to ‘Generation Next', but more on her later).

2. A change in writing style.

This was the first few issues where I could generally sense that style in which comics were written were beginning to change. Especially X-Men comics. From the late 80’s through to the early 90s there was a lot of inner monologue from each character and a lot of over explaining everything. For instance it seemed in every issue every time a mutant/ X-Man was seen on page we had to have 3-4 captions explaining their mutant powers and their back story. I can understand this is helpful for new readers, but reading virtually the same text issue after issue got a bit tiresome. In these few issues though I started to get the fell that the writer was moving away from this, dialogue was more realistic and the feel of the book was moving more towards how today’s comics read.

3. Joe Madureira on pencils.

Well, on Uncanny at least, and it really is stunning work. He had already done a couple of issues for uncanny but this is where he started hitting his peak. The forms of characters are much better than they were before this and are later in his career (Ultimates 3!). But overall I adored his work on Uncanny X-Men and Age of Apocalypse. His slight manga style mixed with traditional American superhero work look fantastic, and really influenced other artists (both good and bad). Andy Kubert a few months later noticeably adjusted his style on ‘X-Men’ to look more ‘Jo Mad’, and I think it looked awesome . Check out the images for Uncanny I have posted here for an idea of Joe's work then.

4. Foil Covers.

These issues had a card stock cover with a foil/ metallic strip down the front of them to resemble the robots of the Phalanx. I am a sucker for foil covers for some reason (and the x-titles in the 90’s had quite a few). I think its probably just a total 90’s nostalgia trip, I would never pay full wack for a new comic with a foil cover when I can have the same new issue at normal price, but for back issues that you can pick up cheap... why not?.

5. Blink’s sacrifice.

The character that just got introduced, sacrifices her life to save the rest of the next generation of mutants. It’s a great moment. We do see her again a few months later in the parallel universe of Age of Apocalypse, where she becomes one of the most popular characters in the AOA universe amongst fans.

6. Banshee becomes a Bad Ass!

Seriously, in this comic, he is really cool. I never cared for him before, but this is a great way of re-introducing the character to a new generation of readers and making fans care about him again before him becomes the new mentor and lead character in Generation X.

7. Villains do good.

Sabertooth is a major player and helps Banshee battle the Phalanx, and Emma Frost AKA The White Queen, begins her path to redemption. She ends up becoming the second mentor for Generation Next which basically sets her on the path for the character she is today.

So thanks for bearing with me on my trip down memory lane. I would say if you’re a fan of the x-titles today or just like great artwork these issues are definitely worth a look.

Those of you who have read these (X-Man75 i know you must have) hit me back and let me know what YOU thought of these issues.

Hex Out

Pull list - 23/09/09 - Already?

2009-09-23T15:41:00.004+01:00

I've been feeling pretty ill for the past week and have been off work (yay!), so sorry for the lack of posts (not so yay!). Anyway, I haven’t even got round to reading most of last weeks books yet, but here we are again; new comic book day. So this is what I’ll be getting:

Blackest Night Superman #2

Detective Comics #857

Superman Secret Origin #1

The Web #1

Wednesday Comics #12

MARVEL

Dark Reign List X-Men One Shot

Dark X-Men Confession One Shot

Immortal Weapons #3

Incredible Hulk #602

New Avengers #57

Wolverine Giant-Size Old Man Logan #1

Wolverine Origins #40

Pretty big week for me. Superman: Secret Origin #1is definitely my highlight of the week. Johns & Frank back together on Superman! I hope it's as good as their Action Comics run.

What you guys getting, and which book are you looking forward to the most?

War of Kings: Who Will Rule? #1 - Review

2009-09-23T11:52:00.002+01:00

War of Kings: Who Will Rule? #1 - Review

Story by
Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning
Art by
Paul Pelletier, Andrew Hennessy

I was a bit annoyed at having to pick this issue up to complete the recent ‘War of Kings’ storyline from Marvel. I’d bought the complete six issue mini series expecting the story line to be resolved within the last issue, but with what seems to becoming more and more of a trend (obviously to get more cash from us fans), we are told that this extra one shot will bring an end to the War of Kings saga. So I reluctantly parted with my hard earned cash and bought the extra issue. But was it worth it?

If you want true finality to this story arc then I would suggest yes.

Just a quick re-cap for those who didn’t pick up the ‘War of Kings’ mini:
- The Kree /Inhumans won
- The Shi’ar lost.
- Lilandra of the Shi’ar is killed and both Vulcan and Black Bolt die in the huge final battle which causes a tear in the fabric of space and time itself.

This issue dealt with the aftermath, and is a slow paced but good issue. The Shi’ar Empire is in Civil War and the Inhumans are mourning the loss of their king Black Bolt. The Inhumans arrive in the Shi’ar to appoint a new ‘Majestor’ the day of Lilandra’s funeral and end up in conflict with the Imperial Guard who still fight against the Kree/ Inhuman rule as they believe that Vulcan could still be alive. The battle between the two groups provides the action for this issue and is quite enjoyable. The main part of the story however is told from Gladiator’s perspective, who after the battle with the Imperial Guard, reluctantly decides to take up the mantle of ‘Majestor’ to the Sh’iar to try and bring some order to the empire. I like the idea of Gladiator finally stepping out of the shadows and coming to the forefront as ruler. His character has great potential as the pride and strong will he constantly has to battle against makes him an interesting read.

Another great story potential is the tear in space and time caused by Vulcan & Black Bolts final battle. As mentioned in the beginning of this issue, this rip in the fabric of space could possibly serve as a doorway to other dimensions and universes, so the potential for exploration story lines and other new threats is huge.

In the end this is a true epilogue to the recent War of Kings mini series but that should not put people off buying this issue if it interests you at all, as it also serves as a stepping stone to the next cosmic chapter in the Marvel U, Realm of Kings. Seems like Gladiator will get his time in the spot light for a little longer yet, so I’ll have my head in the Marvel U star’s for a little longer too.

Hex's score - 3.5 out of 5

Marvel previews - Comics on sale 09/23/09!

2009-09-18T16:46:00.003+01:00

Marvel Comics has provided CBR with advance looks at new comics on sale next Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

"Anita Blake, The Laughing Corpse - Necromancer" #5
"Avengers: The Initiative" #28
"Dark Reign: The List - X-Men"
"Dark X-Men: The Confession"
"Ender's Shadow: Command School" #1
"Fantastic Force" #4
"Fantastic Four" #571
"Guardians of the Galaxy" #18
"Immortal Weapons" #3
"Incredible Hercules" #135
"Incredible Hulk" #602
"Ms. Marvel" "45
"New Avengers" #57
"Nova" #29
"Riftwar" #4
"Spider-Woman" #1
"Uncanny X-Men" #515
"Wolverine First Class" #19
"Wolverine Origins" #40
"Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size"

Checking the previews I was really happy to find that Immortal Weapons #3 is drawn by the brilliant Tom Green II. He previously did a great stand alone issue in the Iron Fist series about a futuristic Iron Fist and it was awesome work. He also penciled a previous Star-Lord mini series prior to Guardians of the Galaxy and again it looked great, his style is so unique.

Great Wolverine week next week. Wolverine Origins #40 is the conclusion to the “Romulus” arc which has been pretty good, but I really hope we get some answers, and it doesn’t lead into some other storyline. I mean I think Romulus was first mention in Wolverine 50 a couple of years ago. The mystery has gone on long enough. I want to know who Romulus really is, i.e. some history about him, and why he keeps messing with Logan.

The “Old Man Logan” conclusion is also here, and again the artwork looks fantastic. I’m sure this issue will be all out mayhem, I can’t wait to read that one.

Checking the preview for Uncanny X-Men #515 I see Greg Land is back on art unfortunately, so I probably wait this story arc out until Dobson returns on the next one.

Spider-Woman.... well, I'm on the fence about that one, but the art does look really dark and beautiful. You guys picking it up?

So have a look guys, and let me know what is listed above that you just can’t wait to get your grubby little hands on.

Robinson's new JLA roster

2009-09-18T14:48:00.004+01:00

Interesting line up, it seems the main theme is that the younger heroes are getting their shot in the BIG super hero team. A lot of Titans seem to have been promoted.

Im happy to see Ollie there and the Guardian is a cool pick, he has been the best part about Robinson's Superman run imo. But as interesting as the line up is I probabley wont be buying this book as I'm not loving the creative team at the moment.

What are you guys thinking about the roster? Happy, sad, surprised?

Read The Sword #15 for FREE - You lucky, lucky people!

2009-09-17T16:31:00.008+01:00

Image have allowed Newsarama to post the full issue of The Sword #15 for you to read for FREE! But I should warn you this comic is for Mature readers.

This is one of my favorite tiles on the shelves right now. So if you've ever thought about checking it out, but didn't want to risk your hard earned dollars, now's your chance.

If you do give it a read, let me know your thoughts, or if you have any questions on the series, I'd be more that happy to answer them for you.

Anyway enough of me, go ahead and check out The Sword #15 HERE.

District 9 – Review

2009-09-16T16:50:00.003+01:00

District 9 – Review

Well it’s been a couple of weeks now since I went to see District 9, and everyone else has probably seen it so I don’t want to bang on about it too much. Basically I just wanted to say that if you haven’t seen it, I think it’s one of the most important films of recent years and definitely deserves your attention. That’s not to say I think it’s perfect, I don’t. The first half hour or so with the documentary style filming was pretty boring and I didn’t think I was going to like this film at all. After the lead character is infected in the ‘prawns’ camp however, and slowly begins to change into one of the ‘prawns’ (think The Fly) the film takes a completely drastic and brilliant turn, switching gears and completely upping the excitement. This movie is part horror, part sci-fi and part action. The film deals with racism, fear of the unknown, love and determination.

The effects are mind blowing for the relatively low budget used. I actually felt really moved by the story of the main ‘prawn’ and his son, I really wanted them to make it home alive, bearing in mind that they were, from what I can gather, completely computer generated, that gives a real sense of how strong the effects were and how well the actual story was written.

As I said, District 9 is not perfect, but it IS a great film, and one that I can’t help but feel that will be kept in very high regard by both sci-fi and general film fans alike, for many years to come.

Previews please!

2009-09-16T16:09:00.007+01:00

Dark Reign: The List - X-Men - Preview

Batman and Robin #4 - Preview

Brave & Bold #27 -Preview

R.E.B.E.L.S #8 - Preview

Check out Streets of Gotham and Action Comics

2009-09-15T15:21:00.004+01:00

Batman: Streets of Gotham #4

I love that freaky cover. Creeps me out. I’m sure the main story will be as good as ever, I just hope the Manhunter back up gets better this issue, it’s the worst back up story from DC I’ve read so far.

Check the preview here.

Action Comics #881

I’m not gonna be buying this, but if you guys want to see the preview before you step in to your stores tomorrow, check it here.

Hex’s Pull List – 09/16/09

2009-09-15T15:12:00.004+01:00

Loads of good stuff shipping tomorrow. I'll be getting:

Batman and Robin #4
Batman Streets of Gotham #4
Blackest Night #3
Wednesday Comics #11
Captain America Reborn #3
Dark Avengers #9
Dark Reign List Daredevil One Shot
X-Factor #48
X-Men Legacy Annual #1
Sword #19

Action Comics is out this week. But I won’t be picking it up. I’ve had enough of the current Superman Universe for the time being. Action Comics was one of the best titles on the stands when Johns & Frank were on that title, but since they left Action Comics, and with Robinson on ‘Superman’, the books have been on a very large downward spiral. I;ll just ge my fix from Superman: Secret Origins when that hits.

I’m reluctantly going to pick up Dark avengers #9, to help follow the new story arc in Secret Avengers, and with the hope that Ares will face off against Nick Fury, as the cover suggests.

And Philip Tan on Batman & Robin. I’m looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

What are you guys reading this week?

DVD's - What I'm buying.

2009-09-15T14:33:00.006+01:00

I loved the latest Star Trek film, and I can honestly say before that I never had any interest whatsoever in watching Star Trek the Next Generation of any of the previous films Star Trek films. I always liked the original series. I wasn’t a die hard fan or anything but the campness amused me and it definitely had better characters than later series in my opinion.

Anyway as I said before I really dug the new Star Trek film, one of my fav films of the year so far. I felt it really done an amazing job of bringing the franchise to a new audience (i.e. me) so I was eagerly awaiting details of the DVD release from various companies in the UK trying to decide what exclusives you get from each company etc. Anyway after doing a bit of research there wasn’t too many exclusive out there. With the Iron Man film last year I was able to get a 2 disc Steelbook version with a mini sized Iron-Man #1. Basically an awesome package, so I was looking for something similar. This is what I went for in the end, and ordered for the November release date:

Star Trek XI (2-Disc Edition) with Free Comic Book (from IDW) (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk)

I decided to go for this as it came with the free mini comic book (shown above - I believe it is issue 1 of the Prequal series from IDW -Star Trek: Countdown). I’m a comic book fan, so it was ano brainer really.

Terminator Salvation was also available to pre-order, a film that I though as a stand alone action flick was really quite enjoyable. I had a search around on the net for exclusives again and Play.com have a steelbook available but it seems only single disc. In fact the only 2-disc edition I could find available to pre-order in the UK was over at HMV.COM, it just so happens that it came with this amazing Terminator head packaging.

Terminator 4: Salvation: 2dvd: Hmv Exclusive

How cool is that. I normally don’t like this type of casing (I have seen previous ones for Iron Man, Dark Night & Watchmen) as I always though they looked quite cheap but this one by far has the best detail. I think it will look pretty evil peering off my DVD shelf. Again this will be shipped to me in November when the DVD is released here in the UK.

So I was wondering, I always see amazing DVD exclusives over in the US and wondered if any of you guys got any cool deals on these on any other DVDs? What’s your favorite DVD exclusive you own, or plan on getting?

Hex out.

Dark Avengers/ Uncanny X-Men: Exodus - Review

2009-09-15T11:32:00.004+01:00

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus – Review

Written by: Matt Fraction Art by: Terry Dodson & Mike Deodato

Well the final chapter of Utopia arrived in an extra sized format for an extra sized showdown between the Dark Avengers & the X-Men, it’s the confrontation we have been waiting for in this whole story arc, but unfortunately this issue left out too many plot threads, the characterization was off and was pretty much all round poorly executed.

The issue starts with a flashback (I think) of Cyclops and Emma in their bedroom contemplating whether or not to reveal their individual secrets to each other about their recent shady actions (i.e. Scott forming X-Force and Emma meeting with Norman). But this is not resolved, this is basically a quick advert, and if we want to know the outcome on their discussion we have to pick up Dark X-Men: The Confession. How annoying!

We then switch to the Dark Avengers attacking the X-Men on their island; Utopia, and this pretty much occupies the remainder of the issue. While the action is enjoyable enough, we are let down on previous plot points, such as; we don’t find out what happens to Beast (he was recently depowered in previous issues and started loosing his blue fur, but we don’t yet know to what extent this has affected him), and we also don’t see anything of Mystique at all, who had been deceiving the public as Professor X.

Speaking of Professor X I felt Fraction really wrote him out of character. There was this one scene where Emma rescues Charles and he gives the impression that he and the X-Men must make sure Osborn pays for what he has done. That’s not the peace loving ‘All humans & Mutants need to learn to live together’ guy I know, that’s not the same guy who takes in feral killers like Wolverine & Sabertooth under his wing to try and rehabilitate them. And I’m pretty certain this was not Mystique in disguise as Charles’s telepathy powers were displayed.
One of the better scenes was the start of the confrontation between Angel & Hawkeye/ Bullseye. Warren flies the villain off the Island to keep him out off the way but just as they start to get into a great match up, annoyingly we cut away from the action. Then inexplicably at the end, Warren and Bullseye are seen back on the Island, with no explanation how they got there!

As for art duties, they were split between Terry Dodson & Mike Deodato. The two have very contrasting styles, but I didn’t mind so much as Deodato was used for the main story, and Dodson used for flashback/ side stories. While I think Deodato is a great penciler, I really didn’t like his panel lay outs on this, that really let him down.

All in all, this had sloppy execution, but quite an enjoyable big fight finale. It was just frustrating that a few plot points were still left dangling, but I suppose Marvel need to sell more X-Men books, right? They really do drag these stories out these days, and no last chapter is ever the last chapter. And likewise this story will continue next in Dark Reign: The List – X-Men & Dark X-Men: The Confession. I hope that those titles perform a bit better than this one.

Score: 2.5 out of 5.

The next Batman & Robin artist is...

2009-09-11T15:58:00.000+01:00

A new Batman & Robin artist has been announced to follow Phillip Tan’s arc on the title. The person in question is Cameron Stewart, who has previously worked on CATWOMAN and Vertigo’s SEAGUY.

I thought I wasn’t familiar with Stewarts work but after a quick look on the net for more of his previous stuff it turns out that his was the artist on The Other Side series by Jason Aaron. If you haven’t read it it’s a great Vietnam story about the horrors of war and the effect it has on soldiers, and more importantly here, it’s a really nice looking book. There is some fantastic haunting imagery in the book as the soldiers are constantly hallucinating and experiencing some frightening scenes. So basically I’m pleased with this news. Morrison obviously likes working with Stewart as they are already collaborating on Seaguy, so no doubt Morrison will write to Stewart’s strengths and hopefully the serious will continue strong. A cover sketch for Batman & Robin by Stewart can be seen above.

Marvel Previews - Comics on sale 17/09/09

2009-09-11T14:13:00.004+01:00

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

"Agents of Atlas" #11
"Captain America: Reborn" #3
"Dark Avengers" #9
"Dark Reign: The List - Daredevil"
"Dark Wolverine" #78
"Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth" #3
"Dominic Fortune" #2
"Invincible Iron Man" #18
"Mighty Avengers" #29
"Punisher" #9
"Thor Annual" #1
"Ultimate Comics Armor Wars" #1
"Uncanny X-Men: First Class" #3
"Vengeance of the Moon Knight" #1
"War Machine" #9
"X-Factor" #48
"X-Men Legacy Annual" #1

I love Daniel Acuna's art and from the preview it looks as good as ever, so I'll make sure I pick up X-Men Legacy Annual. X-Factor looks to be good as usual (though the cover is hideous). Not much else there that's too exciting for me from these previews.

Anything you guys like the look of?

Mini Reviews! - JLA -BLAND Justice #3 & Sweet Tooth

2009-09-10T16:29:00.004+01:00

Justice League – Cry for Justice #3

On the strength of this appalling issue this title is now being dropped. This had the single worse dialogue of any comic I have ever read. I cannot believe a well respected writer is producing this crap. (But maybe I should have seen this coming as the only work of Robinsons I think I have ever enjoyed is the Jimmy Olsen: Superman’s pal one shots, which says a lot. I blame myself for buying his work for this long.) Some of the most stupid and cheesiest lines are used; “Are you a hero or a villain?” & “I’m good, not evil” and still more of; “I want JUSTICE!” (Jesus! We get the point!) but yet all the characters do is continuously stand around talking shit. I’ve decided while the art looks pretty, it is not right for the interior of a comic book, everything is far too static and boring. I will not be picking up any more issues of this or Superman (another title by Robinson that has been on the verge of being dropped by me for some time now) nor will I bother with JLA when he takes over on the main series. This comic was just complete crap. I can’t believe I paid $3.99 for this. Avoid if you value your intelligence.

0 out of 5

Sweet Tooth #1 - Review

This was an absolute pleasure to read. This is a real heart warming tale of a boy who is born different, and is kept away from the rest of the world by his father for fear that the boy may be hunted by others and taken away (It seems our lead character is not the only animal/human hybrid and it appears they are very valuable to hunters). In this issue we learn that the boy has already lost his mother to illness, and his father soon goes the same way. The boy’s curiosity for the out side world takes him away from the safety of his home where he is met by immediate danger, and then saved by a strange man who our lead has been having recurring nightmares about.

This was a really good read and at a cost of only $1 I definitely would tell everyone to pick this up. If you don’t like it, what the hell it’s only cost a dollar. I can’t praise Vertigo enough for their pricing on no. 1 issues when companies like Marvel stick a $3.99 price tag on all their no. 1’s.
I’m not going to buy each issue as I believe Vertigo titles read better in trade paper back, but on the strength of this issue I can’t wait to have the collection on my shelf.

4.5 out of 5.

Blackest Night: Batman #2 - Preview

2009-09-09T12:09:00.004+01:00

Nice preview over at IGN. You can check it HERE.

I wasn't crazy about the first issue, but Tomasi is a good writer and it looks like we'll get some Tim Drake action this issue too, so I look forward to reading this.

Hex's Pull List 09/10/2009

2009-09-09T11:44:00.004+01:00

Adventure Comics #2

Blackest Night Batman #2

Green Lantern Corps #40

Red Robin #4

Secret Six #13

The Shield #1

Wednesday Comics #10

MARVEL

Dark Avengers Uncanny X-Men Exodus

Dark Reign List Avengers One Shot

Kick-Ass #7

Ultimate Comics Avengers #2
War of Kings Who Will Rule #1

X-Men Forever #7

13 this week, but out of that I believe 7 are $3.99 books. All of the Marvel books this week are $3.99 except Kick-Ass. I’m really starting to feel these price increases each week.

Wednesday Comics is nearly finished, and I’m quite glad. What started off as a fantastic series has been a bit of a let down the last couple of weeks, with all the stories becoming a bit bland, and I think the whole newspaper novelty thing has now worn off. But I’ve bought the last 9 issues, so I’ll keep at it to the end (12 issues in total), hoping that it will finish strong.

'Kick-Ass #7' finally! I’m sure it will deliver the goods.

I hope we get some good Gladiator action in 'War of Kings: Who Will Rule', I love the idea as having him as the new Shi'ar ruler.

I hope we’ll find out what happens to the big blue fur ball Beast in; 'Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men- Exodus' and whether he retains his blue fur or not. It’s been quite an enjoyable cross over by Matt Fraction over all and I hope the story threads are tied up nicely in this issue.

What are you guys getting?

X-Force #18 - Review

2009-09-09T10:16:00.001+01:00

X-Force #18 - Review

WRITER: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost

PENCILS: Mike Choi

COLORED BY: Sonia Oback

This may be a little harsh but, I think Mike Choi may be the new Rob Liefeld. Why? Well because the guy draws a human torso with like a million muscles on it. It is really ridiculous. Warpath looks like a Native American girl (all be it a very muscle bound one) as he has the most feminine of facial features and the butt muscles on Rahne Sinclair in her Wolfsbane mode…well, they need to be seen to be believed. And who could of missed the last page arm incident…Ha! But we’ll get to that in a bit, what did I actually think if the story? Well, I liked it actually.

We jump straight into the action following last issue. The premise is that young mutants (in this case Surge & Hellion) are being kidnapped and infected with a strain of the Legacy Virus that will make their powers flair out of control and in effect become walking time bombs. This is a story that started back before the X-Force/ Cable cross over “Messiah War” and in this issue; X-Force, back from the future, get to the two mutants just in time to save them and other innocent by standers from certain death. It’s very handy having Elixir on your team who is a mutant healer as he is then able to use his mutant power to remove all traces of the Legacy Virus from the two young mutants.

Elsewhere, X-23 is captured by supposed S.H.I.E.L.D agents after rescuing Boom Boom (or whatever she is being called now) last issue. Now I don’t know about X-23’s background, but from what I gather it appears to me that she may have ended up as a captive of her original creators who at the climax of the issue proceed to torture her with a chainsaw – chopping off her right arm, as shown in one panel – but which actually appears to be her left arm in another panel, hence supporting my Mike Choi = New Rob Liefeld argument.

Yes this book has a lot of mindless violence, but the team leader is Wolverine so what do you expect? If you want a good action packed X-book with mutant mayhem every month, this is the title for you, if you don’t mind all the male characters looking like Miss Universe contestants that is.

Hex’s score - 3.5 out of 5

Previews day

2009-09-04T16:40:00.005+01:00

Click the links below to be taken to the Marvel preview of your choice.

"Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus"
"Dark Reign: The List - Avengers"
"Enders Game: Command School" #1
"Hulk Team-Up"
"Incredible Hercules" #134
"Kick-Ass" #7
"Marvel Adventures Super Heroes" #15
"Marvel Super Hero Squad" #1
"Models, Inc." #1
"Nomad: Girl Without A World" #1
"Punisher Frank Castle" #74
"The Marvels Project" #2
"Thunderbolts" #135
"Ultimate Comics Avengers" #2
"X-Men Forever" #7

Kick Ass 7 is nearly here- finally!

Plus from DC

Red Robin #4 preview - HERE

Adventure Comics #2 preview - HERE

Have a great weekend guys, I'm off to see District 9 tonight as it's released in England today and I'll do a post on my thoughts of that another time. I've heard nothing but good things so I'm really excited.

Laters