Batman: Brave and the Bold.

Welcome again. As you know, who am I kidding, only Robert reads this. Hi Robert. Anyway, onto the review thingy.

When Batman was first created, it was clear that people were enjoying him. So, we got those cartoons that were around before Superfriends and stuff. Then, we got a live action TV in the form of Adam West. Even his name sounds awesome, even if the show itself was overly silly and basically whacked Adam's career over the head with a shovel. It was popular enough to bring us the Superfriends version of Batsy that was also moderatley popular. Let's face it though, that didn't do the character justice. The Adam West show actually did the character more justice than most believe. But I guess while he is Crazy Prepared, I think he'd more likley carry around a harpoon as opposed to Shark Repellent.

So then for a few years we got nothing. Until Tim Burton decided, 'Hey, I'm gonna make a kickass Batman movie!' And did he succeed? HELL YEAH he succeeded. Okay, I actually didn't like the film as much as I probably should as a Batfan, but I can't help but see too many problems with it. Not to say that it wasn't a good film, the absolutley only true problem I had with it was that Batman was willing to kill. However, I can actually accept that in this film. Except for when he blows up Ajax Chemicals, which didn't necessarily kill anyone, Batman's only kill attempt was on the Joker, and that failed. He died, and Batman had to do with it, but he didn't push him off the edge of the building. The machine guns on the Batplane were a bit strange, but he didn't hit anyone, it's justified as intimidation. Plus, Joker killed his parents, and is the Big Bad so yet again, justified.

This problem came up again in Batman Returns when...you know what? I'm gonna do this another time, I just lost track for a moment, my bad. We're here to talk about Brave and the Bold.

So, yeah, Batman The Animated Series came out and kicked serious ass. There were sequels and spin-offs, and then we got The Batman. This show was sort of like a less realistic Batman Begins. In fact, I actually felt that it was just a tie in. But the series lasted long enough to get a following, and while I didn't think it was that great, I did think it handled itself pretty well. Eventually it ended.

As it turns out, the people need a healthy dose of Batman to keep them going. Unfortunatley, BTAS had already established the awesomeness, and it was continued in The New Batman Adventures, and Justice League, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited. The Batman attempted to reimagine the universe with limited results. So, what would the plan be? Do the exact opposite of what we're used to. Let's make our way back to Adam West. This was the beginning of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Brave and the Bold is one of DC's crtitically acclaimed titles that serves pretty much as advertisement that they get paid for. I don't mean to demean the comic in any way, but I'm just saying it's there to show off characters we might be interested in. It's been through multiple incarnations, at one point specifically having Batman team up with people. So, they made a TV show.

I can't say I was thrilled with the idea of a campy and bright Batman show, I had just seen The Dark Knight and decided that this was the Batman I loved. My feelings were pretty much identical to the later Superhero Squad Show. But like SSS, I saw one episode and was hooked.

Unlike SSS, BBB dosn't feature an awesome theme song. The opening theme is cool, but I don't have it in my Youtube favourites. To make a long story short, the show is about Batman, who is treated as awesome as we feel he is, teaming up with superheroes to take down supervillains. Obvious really. Though we get many, and I mean MANY different heroes, if there's a recurring cast, it would have to be Aquaman, Green Arrow, Blue Beetke, Red Tornado and Plasticman, mainly because they're pretty popular yet unknown, especially Aquaman. Yeah, he can control fish, breathe underwater and throw balls of water. What use it that?

...F*ck.

With SSS, I have to admit the action sequences aren't all as good as the first few I saw. Most of the time they actually just stand there and throw lame punches at each other, or they just stand there and talk. BBB dosn't have this problem, and the action sequences almost ALWAYS rock. Batman himself is done pretty well. Admittedly he dosn't hide in the shadows as much, but he's definatlet 'powerful' and respected. And you'd think he's look silly with the bright blue, but when they show him in his more classic outfits, then he looks ridiculous.

It's also really fun to see other heroes being awesome. Especially Aquaman, who is now a fan favorite because he is now effective and pretty damn hilarious. Many people might think the campy nature is pretty lame and even a step back, but I disagree. While I do love darker Batman, I am also a sucker for the Silver Age. In fact, when I think superheroes, or comic books in general, I think Silver Age. I love the silliness, the campiness, and the style, and especially the basic, 'Oh no!' covers. Love them, so basically this is one of the reasons I love the show.

Now, let's talk about some negative aspects. Well, to start off with, the characters have some problems. I've heard people complain that Batman is too godlike. He's Batman, he's supposed to be. Well sort of, he's awesome nonetheless. I guess my biggest character related complaint is the occasional blandness of characters. Not necessarily in personality, but appearance. They just look like, 'I am a superhero,' or in some cases, 'I am a supervillain.' Like for example Dr. Fate and enemy sorceror whose name escapes me. Aside from Fate's mask, they look bland as hell. I hate that in characters, the appearance helps hook you in. That contrasts other times when characters look awesome, like Blue Beetle or Rubberneck (kinda).

Then there's the substitute villains. Fun Haus is obviously replacing Toyman for copywrite reasons. But why? Toyman isn't exactly our one stop for Superman villains. He's been known to be creepy, but he's not that great. So, why did you create Fun Haus? Same with Toy Maker on The Batman. Didn't Toyman appear on that show anyway? I can't remember.
Then there's Kru'll the Eternal. What? You wanted to draw Vandal Savage as a neanderthal? What gives? Didn't you like the name? I mean I've barley heard of the guy in the first place. I first 'found out' about him because of a Simpson's Super Spectacular where a knock-off named Sinister Van Dallus, who had the same basic gimmick kidnapped some writers from RL and made them screw around with Radioactive Man's continuity. Packed with jokes about Marvel Zombies and Clone Saga.

Then there's Babyface, and Mrs. Manface...WHY?!?! These are two original characters who I guess are parodies of Batman's common gangster enemies. But seriously, they have to be some kind of Nightmare Fuel. But then, one man's Nightmare Fuel is another man's Fetish Fuel. Wait...WHY?!?!
I suppose they aren't forbidden from creating original characters but...They're just weird.

Then there's Equinox. I don't know if he's original or not, but he's an okay villain. He attempts to create order by creating chaos to make up for all of Batman's doo gooding. He keeps reappearing to bother us until the season final where he faces Batman and Dr. Fate. The action and stuff was good, and it was sorta cool to have the heroes come togethor, but...this didn't seem like an episode of BBB. It seemed like 'Oh shit, we have to wrap up that storyline, don't we?' Dr. Fate was important to the plot, but he didn't really contribute anything that we couldn't recieve from the likes of any other mystic hero. It would've been much more epic to have a full on brawl between the heroes and Equinox.

Then there's Joker. Seeing how Batman's Rogues Gallery is purposley left out on the most part (though Catwoman has appeared more than she ought to) and in fact some like Riddler only appear in the world of Bat-Mite, because he's a big time Batman fanatic. But...Joker. I will admit, he's had some funny moments, and he's more of a Silver Age villain, but honestly, he's not that great. I don't hate him, but he just dosn't give me any sense of, 'Come on, do a Joker episode!' which is what we always wanted from BTAS and to a lesser degree, The Batman. But at the very least you can take him more seriously than Doctor Doom, who was beaten up by a little girl. I don't care if she was powered by a Fractal, he was beaten up by a little girl. Lame!

But other than those minor problems, BBB is an awesome show that showcases what's awesome about the DC universe, and may actually convince you to buy series you'd otherwise never look twice at. It made me pick up Booster Gold.

Mental Cover: When Mentallities Collide!

Time and Space decide that physics are for wussies and let alternate realities run wild! Cue a crossover event that streams from violent blobs, to mischevious ghosts, to city slinging nutbags, to...people covered in nanobot goop and Anime. Woo.

When I had huge expectations for the Mental series, I originally designed multiple universes for which to do spin-off titles. Assuming that I ever get it published, and it's any bit successful, I may get to do some of these. Some of these I thought were cool, while others I seemed to have made just for the heck of it, examples, Penultimate (Madman looking) Mental, and Living Impaired Mental respectivley.

Random Comic Trivia: Savage Dragon.

It's once again time for random fun facts! Woohoo! Tonight's subject, Savage Dragon.

Savage Dragon was originally created by Erik Larsen during his childhood. Back then, he was a combination between characters such as Speed Racer, Hulk, Batman and the sort...Yes.

Dragon is most famously an officer of the law, even though he's had other occupations, but he hasn't weilded a gun in quite some time. Larsen had an excuse, but I forgot.

Dragon had his own cartoon series, and by what I've seen it wasn't that bad. The bad guys were there, the setting was there, and the bad guys are there. And I haven't heard Larsen talk about it with disgust, so that's pretty good. To make a long story short, it didn't last very long. And be was voiced by Jim Cummings (DarkWing Duck)which I just don't think is a very good choice.

I still think Larsen gets a CMoA for going off at a fan who claimed he was selling out by changing the setting of the book. And this guy wasn't just saying, 'Shame on you,' he was full guy was just infuriated, he was talking about how the book is a laughing stock, how Dragon has been turned into a wimp, and how he feels ashamed to have ever respected Erik. Cue one ass kicking rebuttel.

Larsen sounds like Bruce Campbell.

This seems to be a bit more about Larsen than Dragon, isn't it?

In a fight between Savage Dragon and Savage Dragon, the winner would be Savage Dragon...No, really, check out Issue 156.

Dragon fans love Avatar. Mainly because now they can have an awesome looking Savage Dragon film one day.

The most famous issue of Savage Dragon features God punching out Satan and saying "Don't f*ck with God!" This would be awesome for christians, except it's God from the Spawn universe, who like Satan, is evil.

Dragon is a one-man police force. He can knock down buildings with his might. He can rip criminals apart with his bare hands. He can also raise two kids and write a bestselling book.

There is a Savage Dragon precurser in the Marvel universe. He has the fin and basic shape of the herop we know now. Unfortunatley he's completley unimportant to the universe and has made like two appearances. Fans have dubbed him something like Savage Swampman or something, or Savage Fin.

Dragon has been considered for a live action series. Looking at it...yeah, they could probably get away with all this using prosthetics and stuff. That could work.

One of the series most popular characters, Powerhouse, is super powerful man with...Am I reading this right? No, I don't believe it. He's a super powerful man with a...chicken head.

Image United.

Today I'm gonna talk about Image United. I've only read the first two issues, so this isn't an actual review.

The series is Image's answer to the massive vent comics that surrounde Marvel and DC. Unlike most other Event Comics, it sort of screw around with continuity. Wait, did I actually just say that? My bad. Like most event comics, Image United screws around with continuity. It's written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by a number of Image's top guys.

The story is simple...and I do mean SIMPLE. Big Bad Guy makes other bad guys go nuts, superheroes try to stop him. But that' not why we read it. We read it cos there's lots of fighting.

After only two issues, I can honestly say that I am really enjoying it. Unfortunatley the critics don't seem to agree. In fact, apparently rge reviews have actually been negative. At first I had no idea why. It's like an event comic, it just shows the important stuff, such as the mass fights that are enveloping the world. But then, I figured some stuff out.

The artwork is somewhat inconsistant. In one scene, Spawn is in his most famous getup, but then we see him in his more blobbish and basic look that he's been using for a few issues, then never goes back.
Issue 1 ends with the character Fortress locked up by Shaft of Youngblood for assaulting Savage Dragon, which is actually a result of his robo-suit malfunctioning. As the world goes to hell, Shaft bursts in, as Fortress has been declaring that he knows what's happening. Then they reappear in Issue 2, Shaft is acting like Fortress is wasting his time. Admittedly, he has lives to save, but he's the one who came to Fortress!

Also, while it's called Image United, and there's a ton of Image Characters, it seems to be focussing more on Youngblood and Savage Dragon. That's good for Dragon fans like me, but heck, the Big Bad is the original Spawn, and he seems like just one of the many villains running around, even if he's targetting the new Spawn. Witchblade appears and fights, but she dosn't have a story going on, she just arrives and starts fighting. ShadowHawk is trying to join Youngblood, so that basically makes him part of their story, and if I'm right, Fortress was made specifically for the series as a main characters. He hasn't done all that much compared to Dragon or Youngblood.

Then there's the mass of villains and heroes who appear. I love this aspect, cos it makes me want to buy more Image comics to see them with their proper personalities, but it also shows how unoriginal they can be. At one stage a hospital is attacked, and we get, "Super Strong Guy1" then "Super Strong Guy with Nazi Tattoo" then "Super Strong Guy who is Some Kind of Moose." Admittedly, they did look cool, but it was like looking at alternate costumes for the same character.

I'm also not understanding why Invincible isn't appearing. He appeared in Savage Dragon, and virtually everyone and more here appeared in Invincible War. I'm assuming he dosn't fit into the more gritty world of the rest of Image, but still. And I'm not confused because Kirkman's writing the series, I think he's probably the one who decided it.

One more nitpick, and this one is VERY petty. In the first issue, Fortress looks upon the heroes who the story focuses on and declares that they are not the worlds greatest heroes, but what is left. What the Funk and Wagnall is he talking about? You've got Spawn, who was created by Malebolgia, who is pretty much The Devil if he didn't already exist, Dragon, who has saved the world numerous times and is without a doubt more capable than the entire Police Force, and freaking Youngblood. I'm not a fan, but dammit, they're the flagship team of Image, just like how Spawn is their Spider-Man (you McFarlane fans can count that as a mythology joke if you wish), they have to be at least effective!

Still, I can't say it deserves such negative reviews. The only real problem is that while it's supposed to be canon, I don't think the usual event comics tie into the main series, and I don't think they did that here. I can sort of understand lackluster sales, but so long as it's not flopping, it's all good, right?

Also, Dragon's daughter's name is Battle Girl. Serious? Her real name, Angel, makes a much better superhero name. Admittedly I don't think she's actually called Battle Girl that much, but still. I'll admit, Larsen tends to give his characters names like this a fair bit. We get fellows with monickers like, "Killcat" or "SuperPatriot" or even "Buster Justice," but they seem to be done on purpose. Still, Battle Girl? If it was her usual name, that'd just be lazy.

Son of a Bitch: Linkara vs. Image.

Okay, this isn't actually a complaint, so I think I might change the title in future. This is just a little thing that annoys me a tiny bit.

Linkara's show, Atop the Fourth Wall is based around reviewing bad comics, and admittedly he's let at least one decent comic fly, on a whole he seems pretty hateful towards most of them. Now, I'm not going to say he hates them in real life, I doubt he actually yells at bad comics while he reads them, that's just cos it's funny, and he's never reviewed a comic I have personally owned, or even given a bad review to a series I buy (except Maxx, but I don't buy that any more, and it was moreso because he just didn't get it. In fact, I don't think I got it either). But I noticed that while multiple DC and Marvel comics appear because he schedules his show that way, I noticed that Image has appeared quite a few times when he does independents. Looking back on those years I missed, I can't say he's wrong, they were very misguided and some of the stuff they made was just terrible.

But that's the thing, it WAS terrible. In recent years, the company's really picked up it's feet. I'm sure it's still got problems, but I obviously don't pick up that many books that contain them. Unlike characters of Marvel and DC, I don't think he's ever stated that the book eventually got better. Youngblood was cancelled, but it picked up again and got really popular. Heck, Alan Moore had a run! Logic dictates that would improve it at least a little.

He's also never pointed out that while Pitt was a terrible comic, he didn't mention that he's managed to become popular enough to be brought back for multiple guest appearances, mini-series and action figures.

In fact, he never really points out that Image has a plethora of quality comics. My guess is that he's aware of this because he only really reviews stuff from the early years, but I don't recall him ever pointing out that they're some good ones now. Take Invincible for instance, it is a perfect example of what he's talking about.

Invincible is probably Image's most popular title, and it embodies nothing of the early years. He dosen't kill, carry guns, look ridiculous, and his name certainly isn't EXTREME! And it's one of their bestselling titles! It proves his point!

Then there's his joking about the shared universe. I know they didn't actually appear in each others comics, but what's so strange about a shared universe? Maxx thought Mako the Sharkman from Savage Dragon, and Spawn and Youngblood regularly crossed sides. Heck, Spawn was sent to hell after being killed by Chapel!
Okay, this ones a bit strange, cos the Image Universe is much different nowadays. WHile most of the comapnies characters exist side by sidem it isn't really the same continuity. The best example I can think of? The Earth was destroyed in Savage Dragon. I don't really get it myself, so I can't really explain, but the planet was destroyed, and it didn't in any other comic at the time. But several issues earlier, Dragon fought Spawn, and this apparently happened in his universe too. I can't say about it any more, because while they have a shared universe, it's weird.

So, this isn't so much as anger as mild confusion. I don't think he hates Image, I just think he...I don't know his opinion, and I don't have an opinion on what it is. I just thought I'd get this off my back.





Though I must admit, I do like how he hasn't mentioned Savage Dragon. Hopefully that stays off his radar.

Mental Covers: Iron Man Vs. The Metal.

The metallic Titans of music clash, The Iron Man, who has travelled through time to warn us of the apocolypse, only to bring it himself, faces The Metal, the unstoppable force that doth slay all other genres of music, and The Superpowered Psychopath is caught in the middle! Dundundun!

I originally planned out the Captain Mental series very badly. Story archs lasted for tens of issues and moved insanley slow. One much idea was to have the world come under siege by The Iron Man, in reference to the Black Sabbath song. Thinking that this might get me in legal trouble, I decided that I'd have a better chance of using Tenacious D's The Metal. I have given up both ideas. However, I am using a character called Tin Man, so there you go.

I also remember this one guy who posted a comment on a Youtube Iron Man video, telling everyone they were idiots for thinking the song was made for the movie. Ironically, he believed it was made for the comics. After informing him/her of this, I was called a f*ckhead because he heard an interview that said he was right. Let me let you know that this video we were commenting on had the lyrics. Here's how I know we are talkig about a different Iron Man.

Comics: A drunken billionaire with a heart condition who fights for the country in a high tech suit of armour after being kidnapped during a war.

Song: A man turned to metal because of exposure to the magnetic field during time travel who is ignored by the present when he tries to warn them of destruction, which he proceeds to deliver.

Actually, now that I think about it, there is something similar about them besides their names. Both have a metal gimmick. That's where it ends.

Crowning Moment of Linkara

That Guy With The Glasses.com has a reputation for being awesome. It's like Doug Walker invented an Awesome Machine and hands out a handfull of awesome to everyone who joins the contributers of the site. For the Team Brawl, he set the machine onto overtime.

In the conclusion to the Mechakara story arch, Doug obviously loned the Awesome Machine to our dear friend as this was by far his most epic video yet!

I will not spoil it for you, but it is like a one-show Team Brawl, except with a plot.

I also read a review of it a few minutes ago by someone who was dissapointed by it. This person raised many good points, but if he was dissapointed by this, and seeing the standards of his other moments of awesome, this guys standards must be insane! The amount of effort in this is maddening! Yes, there are a few things, but it's justified! This guy was expecting forty minutes of nonstop fighting. You know, because Linkara is a millionaire who personally knows special effects wizard Rick Baker, and recently bought Industrial Light and freaking Magic! Oh, and did I mention that he can pause time so that everyone can take a moment to contribute fourteen hours of footage to the goddamn video?
Okay, that is purley that person's opinion, but I'm just saying that his complaints didn't make any sense to me.

Let me just say that if you enjoyed the Team Brawl, you will enjoy the Mechakara saga. Considering that it was done by a small group of people, the end result is stunning. And for some reason I really love these moments a lot for some reason. I mean, let's say Ghost Rider has millions of dollars going into the fight between Johnny and Legion, but I could sleep through that. Here, probably a few thousand or less go into these things and the results are epic as all hell! Now what the hell are you waiting for! Go watch his Ultimates reviews, then get onto Youngblood #2 and Power Rangers! Do it!

The Tick. Featuring Crowning Moment of Awesome.

I said I'd review it, and although my desire to actually do reviews has waned significantly, what the hell, I'll do it anyway. It's just the series on a whole anyway.

The Tick was created by Ben Edlund as the mascot for a local newspaper/deli/something. The character managed to get considerably popular amongst the community, so they funded a proper comic book series entitled, 'The Tick.' It was in Black and White, but the writing and artwork were excellent. The basic premise was that The Tick was a superhero who was more interested in fighting super villains than defending the innocent. Unfortunatley, the city he ends up in is one of the most peaceful ones you could imagine, leading to boredom.

The original series set up the boredom of The City (yes, that is it's actual name) and multiple characters and relationships. We had Paul the Samaurai, The Man-Eating Cow, Oedipus, his chubby moth sidekick Arthur, his battlecry of SPOOOOON!, some of his more popular Rogues Gallery, and the fact that New York is Superhero Central.

My favorite part comes in the first issue set in New York. The Tick is challanged by another, apparently more powerful superhero also named The Tick, for the right of the name. Though he gives the first punch, The Tick gets owned completley, and is slowly being crushed to death under The Tick's shield. The psychotic weirdo proceeds to push harder and finish the job. Tick proceeds to pull away the shield and punch him through the wall. This is my favorite comic book fight scene of all time.

The original series was great, but it only lasted 13 issues. But if it's so good, how could that be? Well, I guess you could say that The Tick's success was also his downfall. Within it's 13 issue run, it was successful enough to garner an animated series, which to this day is said to be fantastic. The series changed a few elements, such as making The City a place of excitement and making it Superhero Central. It also introduced the moderatley popular side characters, Die Fledermaus and American Maid, parodies of Batman and Captain America respectivley.

The series lasted three seasons and was very successful. Unfortunatley, in order to keep it awesome, Edlund had to come into work on it, menaing that he wasn't writing the comic any more. This resulted in an issue which attempted to address all the hanging plotlines. I actually feel that it did an okay job, but it still left too much hanging. I have to admit it's another Crowning Moment of Awesome to see EVERY. SINGLE. HERO. show up to combat the villains, but it missed a few things.

The series came back as The Tick: Karma Tornado, which I'll admit to not having read. In fact, I've missed a lot. What I do know is, Tick started a superhero team, The City seems to be more exciting, and Edlund hasn't returned to the series.

In 2000, a live action series was commissioned, starring Patrick Warburton in the title role. Having not seen it, I have to say that my opinion is non existant. There have been multiple complaints that the series was too much like a regular sitcom and didn't feature enough action. By what I've heard, this is accurate, as only about three of the eight episodes feature a super villain, or at least one capable of fighting. Die Fledermaus and American Maid returned as new characters, Batmanuel and Captain Liberty, for the reasons of the legal kind. However, they were too well known amongst the fanbase to be left out.

There was also a video game based on the comic series during the popularity of the show. Unfortunatley it mainly followed the Ninja storyline, which wasn't adapted into the show, thus few people recognised the characters aside from Tick. Also, the gameplay was rubbish and the number of enemies were considered insane. Sorry Tick.

The latest Tick Series have been in color, which I like, I mean TMNT are still in Black and White, and that Franchise has been a billion times more successful.

Personally, I hope The Tick is revived in one of these new fangled superhero movies. I bet they could pull it off. In fact I've written half a script based on the original thirteen issues...it's rubbish.

Villain Spotlight: GIR.

The robot sidekick of Invader Zim fame. While probably not even aware of his acts being villainous, heck I don't think anyone realises that, GIR has made it to this segment out of sheer awesomeness. I love Zim himself, but god knows that GIR is made of win. Who else could go on a city wide rampage for a taco he couldn't even eat at the time. Or get him and his master lost in the city and nearly get them killed because he wanted to put tuna in his head? GIR could. And that is why GIR is both Crazy Awesome and a Cloud Cuckoolander.


I GOT MONKEY'S IN ME!

Narwhals

This is awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykwqXuMPsoc

Double points for the scene with the old sea captain. I love that trope.

My Mother is a Dork.

HEY EVERYONE ON THE INTERNET! MY MOTHER IS A DINKUS WITH NO BRAIN! HA! NOW THE WHOLE INTERNET KNOWS, AND THE WHOLE THING IS IN BOOOOOOLD WHICH MAKES IT TRUE!

Sorry that my mother's incompetance has caused me to waste your time.

Crowning Moment of Awesome: Doom (2005)

Ah Doom The Movie, what a piece of crap you turned out to be. I guess I should've realised that when me and my mother were the only ones in the theatre. It was well made in some parts, and admittedly I look back on this film when I think about The Rock's more recent films. Yes, both Doom and Tooth Fairy was terrible, but at least here he shot people. So, what could possibly constitute a CMoA for such a stupid movie? The Firsy Person sequence.

The film didn't really have much to do with the games. Okay that's a big fat lie. But with a game with less plot than Kevin Federline has talent, I've gotta say it's a weird situation. They're on a base on Mars. Fighting monsters. That's the story. I will give it props for giving us a Doomguy who wasn't The Rock, which is what I'd have expected. But the film's best point is the First Person Sequence, when Grimm (The Doomguy) awakens after being injected with a super soldier serum and the place is being overrun by monsters. He goes on a pretty cool rampage against the zombies and monsters surrounding him, making the entire film worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhD3847ANR0

Enjoy. Lord knows I can't say the same about the rest of the film.

Mental Covers: Communism Lives Again...As Gloves!

Yes, I realised that my over Captain Mental thing wasn't very funny, so I thought I'd make up for it by replacing it with some covers I made.


My original idea was to post these on Flickr and get people to expand on the story, but I didn't actually get a following. I had a friend who wanted to do it, the awesome as hell RayRay Shippe (her internet name) but she was already working on another collaboration with me, and now she's too busy to continue them. But I'm one to talk, I've told her about all these ideas I've had and how 'I'm gonna stop sitting on my ass and make this' and have abandoned the idea shortly after.

So, anyway...Captain Mental faces a pair of Communist Gloves who attach themselves to his hands, making him seem like a Commie. I freely admit that I stole the communist dialogue from the original Tick series, which I will be reviewing later.

So, anyway, hope you enjoy.

OMG! THAT GUY WITH THE GLASSES DVD!

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! SHIT SHIT SHIT I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S FINALLY HERE! OH SWEET MOTHER OF UNGODLY GODS AND ALL THAT IS HOLY! I ALWAYS HEARD RUMOURS BUT I NEVER IMAGINED! WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THE AWESOME! NEED NEW WORDS! AWE-GASMIC, AWESOMERRIFFIC, actually those are very poor description, IT'S JUST SO MOTHERF*CKING AWESOME! THERE'S NEW STUFF AND OLD STUFF AND MORE NEW STUFF AND SOME OLD STUFF AND AWESOME STUFF AND IT'S THE GREATEST THING I HAVE SEEN TODAY! Except well, I technically got a message from my online friend, but she dosn't have a DVD, so...OH MY GOD! THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! OH THE LEVEL OF OMIGOSH CANNOT BE CONTAINED BY ONE SINGLE PERSON. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE ARE GOING INTO RANDOM SPASM OF JOY BECAUSE I AM SYPHONING IT TO IT SO THAT I DO NOT EXPLODE! OH. MY. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

Now, I just need to get a job, so I can get a credit card to buy it with.

Son of a Bitch: Marvel and DC.

Welcome to a new segment which I call, Son of a Bitch, where I talk abou things that irritate me. Tonights subject are the two warring factions of the comic books world, Marvel and DC. And just because I found them, here are two different establishing pics.

Okay, I buy comics from both sides, but technically prefer Image because it has less hassle when it comes to continuity, and since there is technically no actual Image Universe, Event Comics are not a problem. But the big two suffer from a variety of problems, some of them stem from the very fact that they are the big two. Let's dig in, shall we.

Let's start with Marvel. Once upon a time there was a man. Or shall we say, he resembled a man. He came to Marvel looking for temporary work and left revealing that he wasn't a man, but a god. His name was Stanley Lieber. His name is now Stan Lee. I'd say Stan was a genius, but I wouldn't say he isn't now. He's pretty much retired, so I think we can maybe understand if he hasn't created any mindblowing characters recently. In any case he's responsible for the Marvel Universe and millions of dollars. So, what's annoying about all this? Well, when I think of comics, I like to think of say, Spider-Man fighting someone like The Rhino, or Doc Ock. In recent years, we've had a craze of Event Comics, stories that concern the whole damn universe. These can be cool I suppose, but do we have to change very damn thing we know and love?

Abomination, the Hulk's arch-enemy and probably his oldest actual villain (Ross dosn't count) has recently been killed off by Red Hulk. Now, I'm not stupid, I know it's a comic book, he can come back, but you can't kill someone like that after everyone else has failed hundreds of times. Oh, and you know Tony Stark, Iron Man? Yeah, lives a lush life in charge of Stark Industries while battling villains and alchoholism in a special suit of armour. WRONG He's on the run from the law, and the suit is built into his bone marrow! Now, I haven't read Extremis, nor have I even read Iron Man, but what's stopping me is my lack of familiarity. I have to give you props for trying and heck you don't care what I think, but I would just like to buy a comic without having to buy fifteen more of the same series to understand what's happening.

That brings me to The Gauntlet, Spider-Man's current storyline. Spider-Man deals with the seemingly unrelated returns of his most famous foes, which is secretly the work of the Kraven family. I only have two problems with this one. First of all, I don't know what's happening with Peter's actual life, which extends to the fact that J. Jonah Jameson is now the Mayor. I bought an issue of Young Avengers only a few years ago, and JJ was still in charge of the Bugle. So I'm being told that Within those few years he's left teh bugle and become Mayor. Not exactly a bad thing, but honestly, I think he's been at the job too long for it to change now. But again, I haven't read that much so I don't actually know how entertaining the story of this is, and what I have read included him mourning the destruction of the Bugle building. I admit I felt for him.
My second complaint is that it's a weekly series now. I want to buy it, but for everytime I visit, there's like six new issues out. That is frustrating! Especially because it's a weekly series, we get a different bunch of people working on it, which isn't exactly bad, but what I like about buying a single series is that sense of familiarity in how everything looks. Here however, I feel like I'm buying different Spider-Man one-shots.

Now onto DC. DC's storyline has gone to hell. STOP REVAMPING YOUR CONTINUITY. 52, Countdown, the whole thing is confusing. Is this the same Batman series that Bob Kane created, or is this a near-identical alternate universe. YOU DON'T MAKE SENSE! And also...actually, I can't think of anything else. I know there's things that annoy me, I just can't remember...weird. Oh well.

Now something about you, ordinary people. Because my friends know me as the guy to ask Comic Book and Sci-Fi info from, I occasionally get questions like, 'Why wasn't Spider-Man in Justice League.' What? Are you dense? Are you retarded? IT'S THE GODDAMM DC UNIVERSE! Even stupid people realise that they are two different worlds. We have cartoons, we have Smallville, we have movies, do you need any more sources of information on which to learn the obvious!

Okay, now I am done, thanks for listening.

Also, while I would definatley see a Hulk vs. Iron Man film, or a downright Avengers film, I am somewhat annoyed that Thor will be involved. That means that Tony Stark exists in the same world as the Norse gods. Prepare for wall banging.

Villain Spotlight: AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses

Quite possibly the most evil villain I have presented so far.

There's no such thing as a stupid question, until you ask it. That's what he tells us. But what he means is, 'I WILL KILL YOUR FAMILY AND DEVOUR YOUR CHILDREN!' The only one on the list so far who considers an hour and a half of exploding babies to be a great idea for a film. Yes, he'll give you advice for your problems, but be warned, many of tehse include performing acts that will have you arrested. Then executed. Yes, perhaps one time he was revived from death by appealing to the good nature of god himself, but just a few episodes later, he let us know he works for Satan.

The only thing worse is Bennet The Sage. Not only does he manage to terrify today's subject, but then drags him off to perform horrible...horrible things to him. The sad part? You sympathise with ThatGuy.

But for those of you who can't help but see innocence in his eyes, remember his rousing speech at the end of the Team Brawl, which showed us that somewhere within this Hellish personification of a human being, there was a strand of humanity left within him. Beautiful.

Alice in Wonderland.

Last night I went and saw Alice in Wonderland. Was I impressed? Let's find out.

Okay, from what I had originally heard, the film was another adaption of the story. Eventually I learnt that Burton was going to do it as a sequel to the books in order to add some new twists to it. And THEN I learnt that he was planning on having characters stick around to create a proper supporting cast. And THEN I went and saw the film and found out that the film was ACTUALLY a new story altogethor with the same characters and themes. Which made it very hard to enjoy if you've spent this much time thinking the opposite. And not to mention getting to the cinemas was hectic enough. My mother gets a Crowning Moment of Awesome for actually finding a carpark in time to get in before the film got too far, just as I was buying tickets for today.

What helped even less was that the part where she enters Wonderland was virtually exactly how every other version had depicted it. Albiet, there was some mild lampshading, but seriously, you set the wrong tone!

And then, once she's in Wonderland, we just get half the cast thrown right at us. The caterpillar (he had a name, but I can't be bothered remembering) was cool with Alan Rickman's voice, but he was just treated strangley in my opinion and could have been cut, the same with Tweedledee and Tweedledum, they were funny, but didn't have to be there. The Mad Hatter was definatley my favorite character, but even though I think Johnny Depp is an awesome actor, I have to say I had a little big of trouble following him at times. He was definatley mad though.

But, once I accepted that this wasn't a retelling, I very easily fell into the atmosphere of the film and had a jolly good time. I also liked The Jabberwocky. Admittedly I didn't like how he was a basic dragon, but I forgave that when I realised it didn't fly, which was actually kind of cool. And Christopher Lee's voice acting was okay, but I have to say it could have been cut, but I guess they really wanted him to do the voice.

Helena Bonham Carter may be one of Burton's staples, but I don't feel she did a very good job. She just yelled and whined, and I know that's the Red Queen/Queen of Heart's job, but she's also supposed to have menace about herself, I did not feel menaced (word?).
Alice herself seemed a bit odd, but she grew on me after a while. And yes, I'm aware that what I just said counts as a pun because she grows and shrinks in the film.

The climax at the end was done well, even if it seemed a little strange for an Alice film. Though Alice's Post Mortem One-Liner was clever, it seemd somewhat forced.

And finally, the basic 'Everything's Hunky Dory, Oh No Bad Things are Happening' flashback didn't do anything for me at all.

But asides from that, I thought the film was pretty good. I'd probably see it again even.

Awesome Covers: Invincible 68

Okay, this is the last Invincible post in a row, I promise.

So, what's so cool about it? ...He's fighting a bloody dinosaur! What the hell more do you need? It's a hulkish mutant dinosaur that has robot parts and generally looks awesome. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?!.

The cover was cool enough to get me into the series again after I felt it wasn't for me. Usually when I see a preview for the next issue, I feel, 'Looking forward to that,' but had I bought the previous issue, it would have probably been, 'OMIGOD THIS LOOKS AWESOME!' And chances are we'll get another cover with him on it with all the popularity he got in his one appearance.

Crowning Moment of Villain Spotlight: Angstrong Levy.

Yes, that's right, I'm combing Crowning Moment of Awesome with Villain Spotlight, hurray. And, since I just recently talked about Invincible, why don't we talk about the villain who is arguably his Arch-Nemesis, Angstrong Levy?

Angstrong Levy was a guy who could travel through dimensions. Hvaing not actually read teh early issues, I don't know if he was evil. But, he contacted other versions of himself to help make dimensional travel easier. However, his one bad idea was to use two super villains to help him. They obviously got into strife and almost killed our plucky hero, but luckily Levy tried to stop them using the machine...which promptly blew up, and him along with it.

Luckily, since this was a comic book, thanks to surgery, he survived with minor scars and mutations. He was mad at Invincible for this and tried to have his revenge...and was then beaten to near death by the hero. Seriously, this guy is just real unlucky. And when I saw beaten to near death, I don't mean he was left a bleeding mess, I mean to be a bleeding mess would be pleasuable compare to what he was reduced to. Like smashing and apple with a hammer! Gosh.

But no, even this dosn't stop a villain and he had alien surgeons fix him again to exact revenge once more.

So, yeah, pretty good villain I suppose, but why'd you have to combine two segments togethor for this? Well, that brings us to his revenge plan. Well, unlike most villains, his plan destroyed half the planet...

DESTROYED. HALF. THE. PLANET.

Suck on that Dr. Doom, you can't even kill a goddamn human Stretch Armstrong, this guy destroys half of civilisation. Every major city completley and uttered trashed, superheroes everywhere dead or injured, millions dead and a few members of the main cast gone forever.

I will admit, he failed to kill Invincible, but he still kept his cool. He even managed to fend off the things that were causing the damn devestation. This is an awesome villain, thank you Robert Kirkman for being good at your job. Now work on a movie deal, it will be decent!