Movie Talk - Avengers: Endgame

Well, we’re right on the eve of a new year. Before the year ends, I want to get back to the superhero genre for a minute. I finally re-watched Avengers: Endgame yesterday. I needed something to be playing while I was doing some work in quarantine, and it was time to revisit it. I’ve been kinda mum on Marvel this year here, so why not end it with the conclusion to Infinity War?

Avengers: Endgame was released during April of 2019. It was the long-awaited sequel to Avengers: Infinity War where Thanos basically wrecked the universe. I saw it solo since I knew Liz wasn’t going to sit through 3 hours at a movie theatre. Thankfully, I wasn’t there alone since pretty much everyone was out to see this movie. The theatre was pack to the teeth, and I almost didn’t find a seat. Since I knew that the movies were loosely following the comics, I didn’t know what to expect, but I did end up seeing a couple of spoilers online.

Tales from the Trade! - Godzilla: The Half-Century War

Well,  this year is coming to an end quick. While I could say good riddance, this year hasn’t actually been as bad as it has been for others. Yes, it wasn’t a good year, but I can also look at the good that’s happened. One of those not-so-good things was that the new Godzilla movie getting pushed back into 2021. At least the WB may be releasing it on HBOMax, which was something that unfortunately needed to happen with COVID still going on. Which reminds me… I was in quarantine. I think my trip to the dentist last week did it. Thankfully, my quarantine has ended.

Anyway, onto the subject of Godzilla. I haven’t really read much of the G-Man in the comics. IDW has been producing comics for years now, but I’ve only read a couple here and there. I think one of them had Godzilla face the Greek Pantheon or something… yeah, I’ll have to search the bins for that. Today’s review is actually one that I ran into on a podcast some years ago. I want to say it was “Hey, Kids! Comics”, but I really don’t remember what podcast it was. All I know is that the review impressed me because I eventually added Godzilla: The Half-Century War, to my collection.

Half-Century War is an oddity with its concept. James Stokoe provided both the story and artwork for this 5-issue miniseries. It was published by IDW in 2013. Stokoe apparently got in with IDW thanks to Godzilla, and he’s also worked on a story called Godzilla in Hell. Yes, Godzilla goes to Hell at some point in the comics… you’d think running into Destroyah would be enough, but nah. The colors were done by Heather Beckel, and editing was done by Bob Curnrow, someone who I’ve ran into with the IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.

"It's a Video Game! - Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

Well, I finally made it. Other than Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and maybe a couple of non-main console AC games, I’m done with the Creed. I started this journey through the games in 2018 and thought it wouldn’t take too long to do it. I was wrong on that front, and it was this game’s fault! While Syndicate wasn’t exactly drawing me in, it’s also possible that I was burnt out on the franchise. Besides, there was other stuff to play. Anyway, I can finally say that I finished this race.

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate was released on October 23^rd, 2015 for the PS4 and Xbox One. Of course, I didn’t get around to getting this game until last year maybe. I’m not sure. I probably got it around the same time I got Unity last year. In the pretty lackluster present day story, you’re back as “Blank: the Helix Player”… yeah, I got no good name for this person. Anyway, you’re tasked by the Assassins to play the memories of two twin Assassins: Jacob and Evie Frye. You also see familiar Assassins like Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings as they search for an Isu artifact called the Shroud of Eden.

In the past (1868), you can play as either Jacob or Evie Frye. Unlike how Odyssey does later, you can switch them out during gameplay and play as either. While both are trying to take down the Templars in London, they have different goals. Jacob wants to chew gum and kick Templar arse while Evie is on the search for hidden Isu artifacts like the Shroud. They aren’t the only ones searching for the Shroud though since Starrick, the Grand Templar in London, has his associates out there running the place and looking for the Shroud. Add in a lotta Cockney accents, child labor, gangs, and overall calamity.

"It's a Video Game!" - Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

Well, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla has been released, and reviews seem promising. That being said, I’ll probably wait for the eventual “This Game Is Buggy” patch to be released before I end up playing it. I wish I could say that I’ve reached the end of the AC retrospective, but I have Syndicate to finish off. I’ll probably do that before I hit Valhalla. I’m just not sure yet. Anyway, on to Ancient Greece!

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey was released on October 5^th, 2018. I don’t think I got it until 2019 though. This continued what Assassin’s Creed: Origins did with the RPG-lite mechanics and went even further. Now, we can choose the sex of our protagonist (Kassandra or Alexios). We can also alter the story of these characters a bit during certain sections of the playthrough. Even the skill tree that was introduced in Origins has been spruced up quite a bit. Also, Naval Battle makes its grand return here. It was only used sparingly in Origins.

"It's A Video Game!" - Assassin's Creed: Origins

Well, another Assassin’s Creed game is upon us. At first, I thought I would be torn between Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077. Since 2077’s been pushed back to December (seriously, WTH CDPR), I might end up checking that out first. Then again, if it’s anything like how Assassin’s Creed: Unity was when it first shipped, I might wait. Anywho, it’s time to get back on the trail of AssCreed. By the way, if you’re wondering where Syndicate is, keep wondering because I haven’t finished it yet. I’ll touch on that when I actually get around to it. That’ll be a story!

Assassin’s Creed: Origins was released on October 27^th, 2017. After Syndicate, Ubisoft took a much needed year off to craft this new game. My guess is that they knew that the formula was getting stale because Syndicate wasn’t as well-received in 2015. So, they needed to shake it up and add in something new. One look at some of the gameplay and RPG elements can tell you that they were inspired by RPGs like The Witcher 3, a well-received game and great RPG in my opinion. Does Origins come close, or does it fall?

Favorites - 12 Favorite Opponents from the Godzilla Franchise

I couldn’t just stop at one post about Godzilla, couldn’t I? I also realized that while I like the big monster, I’ve barely talked about him here, so here we go for a bit of a stint. I could say that it’s RANDOM THOUGHTS’ HALLOWEEN GODZILLATHON or something. There is one story I definitely want to cover here (Godzilla: Half-Century War), but I gotta find the dang book. So, here’s something else for y’all.

Godzilla is one monster that sits in an interesting position. He’s been a villain, a hero, and even something in between. The monster’s still gone up against a variety of adversaries. He’s gone up against other giant monsters, aliens, the environment, and humanity itself. So, who are my favorite Godzilla opponents? I have to go with this wording because the G-Man hasn’t always been the hero of the movie. It’s not in particularly any order, but the best ones will be up at top.

Favorites - Scariest Godzilla Movies

I think it’s time to break from superheroes for a bit. Besides, there are a lot of cool stuff out there, and one of them is the kaiju genre. The biggest of them (ha ha) is the G-Man himself: Godzilla. Now, I could do a list of my favorite Godzilla movies, but that seems too easy. Besides, the spooky season is upon us.

I started thinking about something recently: are there any scary Godzilla movies? I mean, Godzilla does kind of fit in the horror genre. Heck, his first film from 1954 was in a lot of ways a horror movie. Now, Godzilla didn’t stay that way after that first introduction. Heck, by the late 1960’s, he was a sometimes goofy friend to humanity. Also, it’s tough to make a guy in a rubber dinosaur suit scary. It wasn’t until the mid-80’s with the Heisei Era where Toho decided to make Godzilla a threat again. These days, he’s all over the place. He’s a god, a protector, an evolving and grotesque behemoth, a danger to all humanity, ghost, and an overall bad mofo.

So, here are what I could consider the scariest movies in the Godzilla franchise. These are ones where I kinda got a little creeped out. While most of these don’t creep me out as an adult, some movies are just weird enough to do it. It’s not in order from best to worst. In fact, I might as well handle this chronologically. So, let’s start with the legitimate horror that is Gojira.

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superman: The Death of Clark Kent

Well, it took a few days to get to this, but I’m usually a late bloomer. September was pretty busy in general. It’s 2020, I’m dating again, there was a family emergency, and there’s still a lot of housework to do, so the blog and some comic reading needed a break. Sometimes, you need a break from certain things. Still, I wanted to get back and finish what I started.

The 90’s was a big time for Superman since He got married, he died, and he grew long hair (NOT A MULLET!). He also had a crapton of stories where stuff would go wrong. “The Death of Clark Kent” is definitely such a story. Before I get to that, I need to touch on a newer character that showed up after Zero Hour: Kenny Braverman, aka Conduit. Kenny was basically a rival to Clark back in high school and even beyond. He was imbued with Kryptonian radiation as a child (he was born the night Kal-El landed in Kansas) which left him sickly sometimes. As an adult, he got with the government and had a suit created to channel that energy. He also had a mad hatred for Clark Kent since he always felt inferior to him. When he found out that Clark Kent was also Superman, his hate went into overdrive.

“The Death of Clark Kent” spun through the four Superman books in 1995. 

• Superman #100-101
• Adventures of Superman #523-524
• Action Comics #710-711
• Superman: Man of Steel #46-46
  

While it ended with Man of Steel #46, it truly came to an end in Adventures of Superman #525. I covered that a couple of years ago as well as Conduit’s first issue in Man of Steel #0. I’ll list the creative teams below since it got to be quite a lot. We also had a few changes around this time. Dan Jurgens draws his last issue with Superman #100, and Gil Kane takes over afterwards. Stuart Immonen had already replaced Tom Grummett a few issues before this. So, what does happen when a jilted jock decides kill his rival’s family and friends?

Random Thoughts On... Superman's Identity Revealed Arc from the New 52

Well, it has come to this. When I started this month, this was the first thing on the docket. I thought I would’ve gotten it out of the way first, but reading 30-something issues from this era of comics is a bit much. Still, I had to finish this race here. Last time, I said that this story killed the New 52 Superman. Was I right to say that? Not sure because I don’t know what DC’s plans for this version of Superman were. Still, you never know. Also… I kinda liked bits of this. Yeah, it’s actually a shocker.

So, what am I talking about today? After the Convergence event, DC transitioned from New 52 to “DC You.” Basically, the idea was to just go off the wall with certain things. Tom King was doing Omega Men, Hal wasn’t Green Lantern… again,  someone finally decided to give Starfire some frakin’ clothes (yeah, I’m bitter about how they treated my girl), Martian Manhunter got his own book, and Batman turned into a robo-bunny. Geoff Johns started up “Darkseid War” as well. This was a weird era.

As for Superman, someone had the “interesting” idea to out Superman’s double life as Clark Kent to the world. From what I can tell, it was mostly done for shock value. A lot had been done to this version of Superman. His parents were dead, he lost his marriage with Lois, he was in jeans during his early days, he hooked up with Wonder Woman, he got turned into a Doomsday (I’ll touch on that some other time), and he got a “totally rad” power called the solar flare. So, they decide to have Lois Lane out him, and not only that, he loses his powers. That’s a lot for one character, man.

Favorites - 13 Favorite Alternate Versions of Superman

Before I get to my last two posts, a thought popped into my mind: “What are my favorite versions of Superman?” I actually began to ponder on that. I mean, there are plenty variations of the character out there. That doesn’t even included the myriad of versions in other media. Even though things may be different from story to story or era to era, Superman is still Superman. It doesn’t matter if he’s good, evil, black, straight, living in Amish country, looking like Geralt of Rivia, animated, drawn, or old. There’s almost a version of Superman out there for everyone.

So, here are my favorite versions of Superman from... everywhere. One caveat I did give myself is that I wouldn’t include main continuity versions of Superman. So, no Golden Age, no Post-Crisis, no Grant Morrison New 52 version, and no Rebirth. If I do say something from main continuity, it won’t be the main Superman.  I’m also not just looking at alternate stories from the comics either. There are a crapton of TV shows and movies that feature the character and his world. So, in saying all that, let’s get the dictators out of the way!

13. Red Son Superman – We’ve gotten a few “evil” versions of Superman over the years… heck,  they're mostly in this century. The best of the bunch in my opinion is the Red Son Superman, though I don’t think you could perceive him as straight-up evil. You definitely can say that about Overman (Nazi Superman) and Injustice Superman. Kal-L from Red Son had a completely different backstory in that he landed in Soviet Russia during the 1930s. After Stalin dies, he becomes the leader of the Soviet Union and does some messed up things. Even though he wasn’t too altruistic, you did see points where the regular Superman shined through. I still haven’t seen the animated movie, but I will soon.

12. Injustice Superman – Now, when it comes to the Superman from Injustice, he’s definitely evil. After suffering some tragic losses, Superman and most of the Earth’s heroes decide to take out villains permanently. Superman even takes it further though by basically becoming Earth’s dictator. It ends up taking other heroes led by that Earth’s Batman as well another heroic Superman to take that evil version down. While I’m not the biggest fan of what was done with this Superman, I gotta say that he is pretty good at being bad.

11. Superman from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – Yeah, Dean Cain has made it to the list. It’s quite an achievement. While he might actually be like the jackass he played in that episode of A Different World, his Superman was interesting. Actually, his Superman kinda sucked. He wasn’t bad in the role, but something felt lacking. The thing that made Cain stand out was his portrayal of Clark Kent. The show took quite a few cues from the original George Reeves show, and this was one of them. This show was the reason I like a more natural, down-to-earth version of Clark than the version who is just a klutz.

10. Earth-2 Superman (Val-Zod) – The new Earth-2 updated classic characters like Alan Scott and Jay Garrick to modern times. It also introduced some new variations of characters, and one of them was Val-Zod. Adopted by the El family and rocketed off to Earth with Kal-El and Kara, Val-Zod ended up being kept by the government for years. When Earth was in danger from the forces of Apokalips, Val-Zod decided to take on the mantle of Superman. Unlike most Supers, he really wasn’t keen on violence, but that doesn’t mean he’s a pushover. Him being black is even more icing on this cake.

9. Max Fleischer Superman – If you want to see the closest thing to a Golden Age Superman in action, then you can’t go wrong with the Max Fleischer Superman. It may have been short-lived, but it left an impression on a young boy. The cartoons are 8 to 10 minutes of fun action. You may not get Superman saying much, but actions speak louder than words. It also helps that the animation from that time looks beautiful.

8. Earth-23 President Superman – While it’s not the first time we’ve seen a President Superman, it definitely was the first we got of a black President Superman... I think. We haven't gotten much of him, but seeing him show up is always cool. Inspired by Barack Obama, this Superman (President Calvin Ellis) first showed up in Final Crisis. Even though the New 52 came, this Superman stuck around and even led the Multiverse’s Justice League Incarnate. If that’s not cool to you, I can’t help you.

7. DCEU Superman – What Superman Returns didn’t bring, Man of Steel brought. I was ready for a new take with Superman in live-action, and what we got was good. Henry Cavill felt right as Superman even though he’s more of the silent type. Hey, I like it since I’m a quiet dude myself, and as I said earlier, actions speak louder than words. Seeing him in a world that’s much more real and sometimes dour was interesting. It showed that even in the darkest times, he could still rise to the occasion and be the hero. Here’s hoping the Snyder Cut is decent and that we get more of Cavill’s Superman.

6. Superman: Secret Identity - Now, this was a fresh take on the character. One day, a young Clark Kent wakes up with the powers of Superman, who in this story is just a fictional character. Yeah, this Clark was never a Kryptonian immigrant, and his parents were apparently douches for naming him after Superman. We get to see Clark actually grow as a person through the miniseries. We see him rise, fall, get married, deal with the government, become a father, and grow old. Yeah, it doesn’t have the supervillains or the big theatrics, but it’s as valid as any Superman story.

5. All-Star Superman – I’m not the biggest fan of the Silver Age Superman, but All-Star Superman helped win me over if only a little. We have a character as close to a demigod in that story, and all he does is help people. Even when he’s klutzing it up as Clark Kent, he’s doing something to help folk. When he realizes that he’s about to die, he does all he can to help folk through his labors. Who does he think he is? Hercules? Anyway, it’s a good rendition. Grant Morrison can almost do no wrong. Just almost.

4. Donner Superman – Yeah, you know Christopher Reeve gotta be on here. He’s the first thing folk think of when someone says Superman. Reeve just sold the character. He was able to show all the best qualities of Superman. I’ve said this before, so I don’t need to say it again. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of his Clark Kent and some of the movies weren’t that good, Reeve was one of the reasons I became a fan.

3. Smallville Superman – Before anyone says that Tom Welling wasn’t Superman… shush! The dude had the role of Clark/Kal-El/Superman for ten years straight (over 200 episodes), wore some cool renditions of the suit, and did wear the suit in the end. He’s Superman in my book! Also, there’s Season 11 to consider if you want to get more technical. This was another thing that got me more invested in the character. We got to see Clark grow over 10 years. I liked that we got to see this Clark screw up and grow from those screw ups. This did what the Superboy comics did for folk back in the day. I also loved that the creators didn’t just stick to what was done before and did their own thing.

2. Kingdom Come Superman – Of all the alternate Supermen we’ve got over the years in comics, this is probably my favorite version. This Superman left the civilized world when humanity wanted a more brutal type of superhero. He only comes back when a tragedy strikes and he can’t take any more crap from vigilantes doing whatever they want. Kingdom Come takes this version as well as other heroes down a path where the right thing may not be the best thing, and even Kal-El (he abandoned his human name for a while) has to learn some tough lessons. There’s a reason why I think this is one of DC’s best. Also, that suit was the bomb!

1. DCAU Superman – Finally, we got what is, to me, the definitive Superman in other media. This beats all of the live-action series, movies, and other cartoons. While this version of Superman wasn’t the most powerful, he had everything that makes Superman work. He was earnest, bold, and had a nice solid uppercut. It also helped that Tim Daly and George Newburn did some dang good voice-acting over the various shows. It was always cool to see either of them return in other animated properties.

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I know there are more versions out there, but I gotta stop somewhere. If any of your favorites didn’t make the list, let me know. Now, if you excuse me, I gotta put the finishing touches on this Truth storyline. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

Random Smallville Episode - Infamous

Next up for the month is a return to Smallville. Since I got a bit of a motif this month with the whole “identity revealed” trope, I thought I would find one of those. Quite a few folk knew Clark’s identity on Smallville especially by the 8th season. At this point, the show had two hurdles they had to overcome: the departure of important actors (Michael Rosembaum and Kristen Kreuk) and the executive producers (Miles Millar and Alfred Gough). Still, I thought they were able to overcome them both. Season 8 is fine, but a bit rocky in places especially towards the end. Clark’s finally at the Daily Planet, he’s being more active in the superhero business, and he’s getting closer to Lois. Add the fact that Smallville starts to add more comic lore to the show, and you get a decent season.

Where we’re at during this point isn’t its best time though. At this point, we just got off a five-episode run where Kristen Kreuk returned to the role of Lana Lang. Also add the first appearance of Doomsday, the Legion of Superheroes, some J’onn Jones action, the death of Lex Luthor, and the horrible end of “Clana” in two of the worst episodes of the series (“Power” and “Requiem”). That run was a mixed bag and what we got would be a bit of a mix too. Tonight’s episode is “Infamous”, and it features the return of Erica Durance (was notably absent during the Lana episodes) and Tori Spelling as annoying gossiper Linda Lake.

Tales from the Trade - Man and Superman

Next up for the month is a look at an old but recent book. Back in 2006, DC was releasing a book called Superman Confidential. I don’t remember the purpose of the book, but I think it was supposed to show out-of-continuity stories as well as the early years of Superman. Think of it as Superman’s Legends of the Dark Knight. It had a rotating creative team.  I remember that Darwyn Cooke’s and Tim Sale’s “Kryptonite!” story started that off. That  reminds me, I need to read that one day. The series ultimately got cancelled after 14 issues.

One story that was supposed to make in was a story from Marv Wolfman. Man and Superman was the name the story was given. When I saw it 2019, I picked it off the stands since I have a liking for Wolfman. He helped mold the Post-Crisis Superman. My other guess on why this didn’t get released back then was because Geoff Johns was doing his own revamp of Superman’s first days with Secret Origin. The artwork was done by Claudio Castellini. Hi-Fi handled the colors while Tom Orzechowski did the letters. So, how much of a screw-up was Clark Kent during his first days as Superman, aka “Ski-Mask Man,” “Many Muscles Man”, and my favorite, “COVID-19 Man”?

TV Talk - The Adventures of Superman Season 3 and 4

Hmm... how can I explain this episode where a gangster who's trying to steal a pie gets accosted by two Supermen (long story) in the North Pole???

Next up for the month is a return to The Adventures of Superman. Last year, I looked at the first two seasons, aka “The Black-and-White Era.” Now, I’ve gotten to the colored era for the show… or at least most of it. Apparently, some viewers would’ve seen the show in black-and-white since some TVs were just made for that setting. I was going to try and get through all four seasons, but I gotta stop somewhere in this binge. Besides, things are a bit “eh” this time. I’ll get to why below.

Seasons 3 and 4 aired from 1954 to 1956. We only got 13 episodes for each season, and that’ll be the same for the last two seasons. Nothing’s really changed with the cast itself. George Reeves is still in as Superman/Clark Kent, Noel Neill is still around as Lois Lane, Jack Larson is still cub reporter Jimmy Olsen, and John Hamilton is the grouchy Perry White. We also got Robert Shayne back as Inspector Henderson for a few episodes. The format is more or less the same:

• Long-a$$ intro that’s pretty similar to the Max Fleischer cartoon
• We’d get introduced to the main theme of the episode
• Superman/Clark, Lois, and Jimmy would be doing their job and such
• Lois, Jimmy, or Perry would somehow get into trouble
• Clark runs off, changes into costume, and does his crime-fighting thing
• Cue Superman march and possible marching band

 One thing that has changed is that both seasons have a more lighthearted, whimsical feel to them. Things aren’t as darker as the previous seasons were, and I’m not talking about the fact that we’re in color either. It wasn’t that dark to begin with, but those early seasons did have a crime show vibe to them. Some plots could be a little silly. Even when things got serious, you still felt that there was no peril.

No, you don't have to adjust your channel.

This especially affected Superman who barely throws punches on bad guys. He might karate-chop them, but that’s it. The bad guys would end up knocking themselves out sometimes. They also became caricatures since you’d have some pretty dumbfounded lackeys along with the criminal mastermind. Also, we probably got some more cases of brownface unless the Native Americans we saw were the real deal. The jury’s still out on that.

This just seems off. I guess someone decided to shoot on Gunsmoke's set for a day.

Some characters are more one-note than before. You definitely see this in Jimmy Olsen who kinda got on my nerves with these seasons. Yeah, he could be a little naïve, but man, I wanted to slap some sense in the boy! Perry was still his grumpy self, but he had some moments that were decent. I didn’t know he was also a nuclear scientist on the weekends! Lois and Clark are probably the one who come out of these seasons the best. I’ve warmed up to Noel Neill’s Lois, and Reeves’ Clark/Superman is good as as usual.

Sorry, Jack, but I wanted to slap Jimmy for a bit.

While it seems like I’m not liking these two seasons, I did think they was fine. The plots are pretty much the same old, same old. You got Superman going up against robbers, gangsters, weird machines, cowboys…, and pirates. Yeah, you read that right. I told you this starts to get silly! You find that out in the first episode of Season 3 when everybody gets teleported back to the caveman era. That being said, they were times where the silliness could be pretty funny. This one nutty scientist creates a machine that can mess with someone’s senses. Basically the camera was turned upside down, and that was kind of creative. Other than all this, that’s really all I got for now.

HIGHLIGHTS AND FAVORITE EPISODES

I know I want to return to the black and white era, but this is too much!

While I didn’t have too many favorites from these seasons, there were some I wanted to highlight.

Season 3:

• Through the Time Barrier – A criminal causes a professor’s time machine to malfunction, and it teleports them, Clark, Lois, Jimmy, and Perry back to caveman times.
• Great Caesar’s Ghost – Perry begins to hear voices and even sees the ghost of Julius Caesar. The team try to figure out what’s going on.
• Clark Kent, Outlaw – Clark gets framed for taking money from a criminal, so he plays into the act to take them down.
• Flight to the North – Things get weird and silly as Sylvester J. Superman comes to town… yeah, I know. Just watch the thing!

Season 4:

• Joey – Superman and the team have to help a young girl with a horse named Joey. Yeah, “it’s so sentimental,” I sarcastically say. At least horse loves may like it.
• The Big Freeze – A corrupt politican gets a scientist to use a freeze ray on Superman (zaps him of his powers) in order to win an election.
• Topsey Turvy – A group of robbers manipulate a scientist with a mind-bending machine to rob banks.
• Jimmy the Kid – It’s another look-a-like episode as a gangster takes Jimmy’s place to steal some evidence from Clark Kent.
• The Phantom Ring – Superman and the police have to contend with a gang who use invisibility to commit robberies.

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In the end, these are two middling seasons. They’re not bad, but they aren’t that great either. It’s like someone wanted to sap out all the peril and coolness form the black-and-white seasons. Then again, you know how parent groups are with that thing called violence. Your mileage may vary with these here. I may be cutting it short for these series, but there is only so much I can say about them. Next time, I think it’s time to head back to Smallville. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - DC Comics Presents #92

Next up for the month is another issue from the DC Comics Presents series. It was basically a Superman team-up book akin to Batman’s The Brave and the Bold book from the Bronze age. It started in 1977 and ended in 1986, sometime after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Even though the post-Crisis had started, there were some vestiges of the pre-Crisis Superman out there. I’ve read a couple here and there. As for this one, I found it in the 50 cent bin and finished it off on the DC app.

DC Comics Presents #92 was written by Paul Kupperburg. He had actually took over for Marv Wolfman for the book’s guest star, the Vigilante. I don’t remember much about this character other than the fact that he first appeared in New Teen Titans and that he had a cool costume. Reading this, I now realize that it’s someone else under that mask other than Adrian Chase, the original Vigilante. Curt Swan handled the pencils, Dave Hunt did the inks, Gene D’Angelo did the colors, and Helen Vesik did the letters. So, what gets Superman to team up with a potential murdering Vigilante? 

Tales from the $3.99 Bin! - Superman #18: "The Truth"

Next up is another big moment that Brian Michael Bendis pulled in his run on Superman: the revealing of Superman’s identity! I wasn’t a fan when I first heard this. I imagine most weren’t because this isn’t the first time in recent memory where DC’s revealed Clark’s double life to the world. That being said, I was curious on how it would be handled especially since the last time was… a bit much. I’ll get to that later this month. Luckily, Bendis did state that he would handle it differently, and when it came, I will admit that I was surprised. Superman #18 was written by Bendis, of course. Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, who have been regular artists on the book, handle the artwork.

Tales from the $3.99 Bin! - The Man of Steel (the Bendis Version)

Before I get to “The Truth”, I wanted to start at the beginning with Brian Michael Bendis’s run with Superman. I just found out yesterday that his run on Action and Superman will be ending. A lot is going on at DC these days, and this is just another one. I’ll have to read both Action Comics and Superman again, but his run is okay. I know it’s considered to be mixed with some folk, and I can’t blame them. It’s Bendis, after all.

BMB started his time with DC Comics with 2018’s The Man of Steel. Not only did he bring back the trunks (you can find my opinion here), he also brought in a new enemy to face the Man of Tomorrow. Bendis was joined with a variety of artists for these six issues. We had Ivan Reis, Jason Fabok, Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, Ryan Sook, Kevin Maguire, and Adam Hughes doing artwork. Ivan Reis also did all six awesome covers.

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superman #4: Bloodsport!

Yeah, I’m starting Superman Month a little late. At least I pretty much know what I’ll be talking about this time. First up, I’m heading back to the beginning of the Post-Crisis universe. This is more or less my era of Superman. Even though I started to get into comics in the mid-2000’s, I would peruse this era a bit. Today’s issue is Superman #4 from April 1987. We got John Byrne writing and on pencils, Karl Kesel on inks, John Costanza on letters, and Anthony Colin on the colors. One reason I picked this one out was because of the villain, Bloodsport, will be appearing in the next Suicide Squad movie. By the way, that took me for a surprise. So, what carnage did the first Bloodsport get up to?

Random Thoughts #55 - "2020, Are You Alright?" Part 2

2020: The year where things and stuff happened. To say that it’s been a weird year is an understatement. I remember that my last Random Thoughts post talked about how weird the year was already being. I wonder what Ryell from March would think now!  Not only is the Mamba (Kobe Bryant) gone, our King of Wakanda (Chadwick Boseman) is now gone. That was a shock to my system, and we’ve already been going through stuff. Anyway, strap in for some more Random Thoughts.

Random Thoughts on ... Batman: The Killing Joke Comic and Movie

Well, it’s time I got back on my Batman fix. Today’s book is one that I just read. Yes, I’m admitting that I haven’t read The Killing Joke until now. I could call myself a bad Batman fan, but that ain’t happening this time. I’ve read and seen too much. It’s been a minute since I’ve visited the mind of Alan Moore. This story has been something I’ve wanted to cover here eventually.

So, what is The Killing Joke? It was a 48 page one-shot written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. John Higgins originally colored the comic while Bolland handled the colors in a deluxe edition. Richard Starkings did the letters. It’s one of the stories that made the Joker, who was already back in his more psychotic roots, even more of a major threat to Batman and his world.  It also gave him a possible backstory. It even revolutionized Batman’s and Joker’s rivalry. It also made a big change with Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl.

The story was well-received when it was released back in 1988. It was one of the stories that helped make the Joker a household name. It also got criticism with its treatment of Batgirl, who became Oracle after this story. It even got made into a movie, and that is something I will review here as well. With all that said, let me spiel on this a bit:

Movie Talk - The Nemesis Movies

So, I got bored one night. Since we’re still in pandemic mode, that’s something that happens a lot. I started to peruse Amazon Prime and came across some sci-fi movies from the 60’s to today. One series I saw that piqued my interest was the Nemesis movies. I vaguely remember seeing the covers to the movies at the video store back in the day, and I guess I was kinda interested. I couldn’t get them since they were rated R. At least the covers looked cool. So, what did I do this week for some unholy reason? Watch these crappy movies.

The series looks like its cyberpunk but sticks to it about as well as Shaq scoring from the 3-point line. The movies are like hybrids of The Terminator, Robocop, Tarzan, Rambo, Beach Biker Babes, and that Van Damme movie, Cyborg. They were all directed by Alex Pyun, the director of Cyborg, the 90’s Captain America movie, and a lot of low-budget movies. We start out with Nemesis in 1992. We then get Nemesis 2: Nebula released in 1995.  Nemesis 3: Prey Harder (What the Frack) and  Nemesis: Death Angel (or Cry of Angels) were released in 1996. 21 years later, Nemesis 5: The New Model was released. Yeah, Pyun had to crank one more out, didn’t he?

Not-so-Favorites - 12 Worst Supervillain Costumes in Live-Action

Well, I've gotten to the villains of this part. Oh boy...

1. Doom from Fant4stic

While I could throw all the costumes from that film on here, Doom is the crème of the crop! So, he gets left in the Negative Zone, and his suit melts on him? That sounds fun! Even Doctor Doom from the Tim Story FF films looked better than this, and his costume wasn’t too bad. The whole movie was a trainwreck, and the moment you see Doom’s look in the film, you know we’ve reached the bottom of this… thing!

2. Green Goblin from The Amazing Spider-Man 2

While Green Goblin from the 2002 Spider-Man film looked bad, this version takes the cake. He just looks ugly, and I don’t like calling folk ugly. What they did with the Osborns in that film was weird, so you know the Goblin side was gonna go bad. Maybe I’m just used to a mask for the Osborns, but this looked too off the wall.

Not-so-Favorites - 12 Worst Superhero Comics in Live-Action

Well, now that I’ve praised live-action costumes, it’s time to dog on some! There are some truly bad costumes out there. Production teams tend to look at the costumes in comics and think “I can do better!” Sometimes, that does actually work out. Not everything will work in live-action. Other times, you get the costumes on this list. I got 12 heroes for this one. With all that said, let me first harp on my favorite Superhero’s worst costume:

Favorites - 15 Favorite Supervillain Costumes in Live-Action

Well, if I gotta do the heroes, I need to do the villains as well. For the villains, we’ve had some good costumes and some costumes that are just “eh.” I think the villains get hit with this more than the heroes do. There’s something about the villains that most teams feel they need to fix. I think Green Goblin from the first Spider-man movie is an example of that. Heck, Green Goblin from Amazing Spiderman 2 is another example of that! What’s up with these bad Goblin costumes anyway? Hopefully, the MCU doesn’t get hit with its own barrage of bad Goblin costumes.

So, here are my 15 favorite supervillain costumes in live action. The same rules pretty much apply for this list as well. I’m looking at TV and movies. I will make an exception on one villain here because I couldn’t leave these suits off this list. It’s also in random order this time. I just started thinking about good costumes and just kept on until I couldn’t think of any more.

Favorites - 17 Favorite Superhero Costumes in Live-Action

While I get the interest in talking about some Digimon, some Assassin’s Creed, and the “greatest Batman Story Evar”, I thought I’d go to another subject. We’ve had a lot of good superhero costumes come across the screens for years, haven’t we? You don’t even have to start with Christopher Reeve’s Superman costume either. George Reeves and Kirk Alyn even had some well-rendered suits. Yeah, we’ve gotten some lackluster costumes over the years. I can look at 90’s comic movies, the Arrowverse, Smallville (love the show, but some costumes… eh), and even the MCU for some bad ones. Oh yeah, who remembers Shaq’s costume from Steel? Quite horrid, I say!

So, here are some of my favorite superhero costumes in live-action. Yeah, I’m going all over the board with this one. To even make this harder on me, I’m going to only include one superhero for this list, so no doubles like Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton for Batman. It’s also not in exact order, but I’ll have my favorite superheroes up top. I considered including villains on here, but that’ll wait for now.

TV Talk - Star Trek: Picard

Well, it’s come to this. I never knew that a revival of this would ever come. So, I’ll start the beginning. Digimon --- wait. I’ll save my talk for the franchise that is better than Pokemon (you know it’s true!!) later.

I’ve been sitting on this one for quite a while now. Heck, it took me a while to see all 10 episodes. So, I might as well start at the beginning. Star Trek as a franchise has seen a bit of a resurgence thanks to CBS All Access. While it may not be perfect, Star Trek: Discovery has been a success in my eyes. Heck, we’re getting more of Anson Mount’s Captain Pike, so you know things are looking up a bit. Of course, there’s that Section 31 show that may or may not come. Then, there’s tonight’s pick about that old French/British bald guy, Jean-Luc Picard.

Star Trek: Picard was one of the ideas that Alex Kurtzman had for CBS All Access. All  they needed was Patrick Stewart, who at the time was pretty much done with Trek, to come back. It took some a lot of work and the right story, but Stewart eventually said “I’m back.” Michael Chabon, a novelist, also came on as writer and producer. The show stayed in production for a couple of years until it was released on January 23^rd, 2020. It’s the first official show or movie that takes place after Star Trek: Nemesis. Yeah, the 2009 Star Trek movie had the destruction of the Romulan homeworld, but this was the first time we’d be seeing more of the Prime Timeline.

TV Talk - The Expanse Season 1

Next up for the month… wait, it’s June. Yeah… I got a little sidetracked with some stuff going on. Have you been seeing the news lately? I gotta say that it made want to take a break, so posting about some possible dystopia futures didn’t sound all that great. Also, I had some other projects (work, home, and church) going on, so the last few days have been a bit busy. So, Sci-Fi month pretty much ended with Kirk beating Nazis, and that’s a cool thing. I still want to talk about a few things that didn’t make it into May, though.

Anyway,  next up is a show that I’ve been meaning to watch: The Expanse. The show  was based on a novel series by James S.A. Corey. This was a show that I was pretty curious about when it was being aired on Syfy. When I heard that a grounded, dour sci-fi show was coming to Syfy, I was interested… I didn’t tune in, though. Yeah, I could’ve went online to their site, but I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. It then got cancelled but revived on Amazon Prime.  I ended up getting Amazon Prime this year, and when I realized that I could finally watch some shows that I’ve been curious about, this was the first one on the list.

Weird Trek Episodes - Patterns of Force aka "Why did you use Nazi Germany for your system, you Idiot?

Next up for the month is a return to the OG series for Star Trek. Current events got me wondering about this episode. No, I’m not saying that America is looking like Nazi Germany, okay? With everything going on, I thought I might revisit this one. I needed to break the pattern of “Look at Social Media and be Disappointed by People.” I don’t know what I can add to the conversation other that “F###, f###, f###, and S###,” so I’ll just like and comment a couple of things. Besides, everyone else is saying good things, and for that, I’m glad.

“Patterns of Force” came from the show’s second season. It’s not their best season, but it did have some pretty good episodes. We start out with the Enterprise heading to the planet Ekos to pick up history observer John Gill. I’d make a Johnny Gill reference, but I’ll hold off for now. After they wonder why a rocket was shot from the planet, Kirk and Spock beam down in disguise. Ekos’s technology is similar to 20^th century Earth. What our heroes find is that it’s too similar to 20^th century Earth because they find soldiers dressed up as Nazis.

Trade Tales! - Astonishing X-Men: Torn

Next up is a return to Joss Whedon’s and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men run. It really has been a while since I looked at the first two trades… a long while. I was always meaning to get to this one, but other things kept getting in the way. I guess this was the right time to do this one since Whedon’s name has been thrown around because of his time on Justice League. No, I won’t be discussing the Snyder Cut here… yet (wink, wink).

Anyway, tonight’s trade is Torn… the title, not the trade itself. It contains Astonishing X-Men #13-18. The creative team was pretty much the same with Whedon doing the story, Cassaday doing the art, Laura Martin doing the colors, and Chris Eliopoulos handling the lettering. Around this time, I remember that the book was starting to be delayed. I know it got worse as time went along. I don’t if it had to do with the process or with things changing for the X-Men at Marvel. This was released around the time Decimation, the era where only 198 mutants were left on Earth. So, what happens when the Hellfire Club “returns?”

Astonishing X-Men: Torn

Writer: Joss Whedon

Artist: John Cassaday

Colors: Laura Martin

Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos

Associate Editors: Nick Lowe and Sean Ryan

Editor: Mike Marts

 

Trade Tales! - Exile on the Planet of the Apes

Next up for the month is a return to Boom Comics’ Planet of the Apes books. They had quite a few mini-series and even a main series that was supposed to bridge the gap between Battle for the Planet of the Apes and the first POTA movie. I looked at one of these minis a few years back and quite enjoyed it. I thought it fit well into the original series as a whole and gave an origin for Doctor Zaius.

It’s sequel is today’s pick: Exile on the Planet of the Apes. It mostly has the same team who did Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes. Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman were the writers. Instead of Hardman handling the art, those duties go to Marc Laming. Jordan Bellaire returned to do the colors for the first issue, but Darrin Moore did the rest for the story. Ed Dukeshire stuck around for the letters. So, what happens when humans start to rise up and attack apes?

 

Exile on the Planet of the Apes

Writers: Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman

Art: Marc Laming

Colors: Jordan Bellare and Darrin Moore

Letters: Ed Dukeshire

Editor: Dafan Pleban 

Weird Stargate Episodes - Need aka "A Very Special Episode of Stargate SG-1!"

Daniel: Why do I keep ending up like this? Everyone wants a piece of me! That's cool, but still, I'm a married guy!

Next up is a bit of a new thing that’s kind of a riff off my Weird Trek Episodes posts. I’ve been revisiting Stargate: SG-1 on Amazon Prime and it feels like coming home. I’ve been skipping around with the early seasons, and it is good. You got good heroes, good villains, and a good continuation of what was done in the movie. I ended up coming across an episode that kinda fits the definition of weird, but your mileage may vary. Tonight, it’s “Need,” the 5th episode from Season 2.

The episode starts out with SG-1 arriving a planet that is producing naquadah, a mineral that the Gou’ald use to make their weapons. They do their best to hide from the Jaffa who are forcing the slaves to do their work. Unfortunately, Daniel Jackson has to get into trouble when he sees a young woman try to leap to her death. He saves her, but she leads the Jaffa to the team, and they end up being captured. The leader, Pyrus, forces them to work in the mines. Shyla, the lady Daniel saved, takes a liking to him.

SG-1 tries to escape from the mines, but they cause a cave-in, and Daniel is severely injured. Shyla uses their Gou’ald sarcophagus on him to heal his wounds. It’s also where we find out that Pyrus isn’t working for the System Lords, and that he has used the sarcophagus for centuries. Shyla then manipulates Daniel into using the sarcophagus while healthy, and he ends up getting addicted to its aftereffects over the next few days. Sam Carter, who remembers her time being possessed by a Gou’ald, realizes that this may have happened to Daniel when he returns aloof and distracted. Jack O’Neill pretty much has to keep reminding Daniel that they need to get home.

If you want to look at how politicians view the working class, I think this pic fits.

Even though he’s being used by Shyla, Daniel’s able to get the team out of the mines and back home. Daniel promises to return to Shyla, and even tries to resign from the team after they return to Earth. Later, Daniel starts to have withdrawal symptoms from being away from the sarcophagus for so long. He tries to stage a break out, but Jack is able to get him to come to his senses. After he gets weened off the device’s effects, he asks General Hammond if they can go back to Shyla’s world to help them. Even though she did manipulate him, Daniel still cares for her and does want to help her people mine naquadah in a better way. The episode ends with Shyla destroying the sarcophagus.

I thought that this was a fine episode. It’s not their best, but it’s not “Emancipation” either. It does well for being a by the books episode of SG-1. We got Daniel using the sarcophagus… again, and it actually plays into the episode in a big way. Dude had being using these things since the movie, so it was nice to see it have a negative effect on him. It’s even hinted in the episode that the usage of the sarcophagus is why the Gou’ald are so messed up. It even explained why Pyrus was a bit of a bad guy.  I also thought Shyla was a nice antagonist since she ultimately was trying to find someone to lead beside her when her father dies.

The episode has some nice moments here and there. Seeing Michael Shanks be high when the rest of the team is covered in dirt was hilarious. Another good scene was the Daniel’s and Jacks’ confrontation. You got the idea that Jack went through the same thing, and Michael Shanks played the role well. I will say that it is a bit all over the place with its plot, though. It also takes some time to really get going. Other than those things, this was a fine episode.

In the end, this was nice, but it wasn’t one of the best from this season. Still, if you want to see why the sarcophagus may be a bad thing, SG1 in trouble again, and another hot lady lusting over the awesomeness of Daniel Jackson, give it a shot. Anyway, I’ll get back to some writing and reading. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there. Be wary of hot women getting you the hook up to the nasty stuff.

Random Thoughts On... House of X/Powers of X

Other titles for this post were the following:

• Random Thoughts On… Jonathan Hickman having his way with the X-Men Books
• Random Thoughts On… wondering what the crap Jonathan Hickman is doing with the X-Men Books
• Random Thoughts On… Jonathan Hickman returning to Marvel to do some more greatness
• Random Thoughts On… Jonathan Hickman flirting with your mother, your ex, your current spouse, and rebuilding two houses while helming the X-Men books for the foreseeable future

Okay, that last one was a stretch.

Next up for the month, I thought I would come to the present and get back to the X-Men. It’s been a minute since I’ve talked about Marvel’s “Merry” Mutants. One of these days, I’ll actually watch Dark Phoenix (I got it for my sister for Christmas), but today is not that day. I got two posts planned for them this month. While one is in the more usual mode for the team (psychics and aliens, ‘yo!), this is one that is definitely different for the team and mutants as a whole.

Erik may be wearing white, but that mouth hasn't changed.

During March 2019, Marvel announced that Jonathan Hickman would be returning to Marvel. Hickman’s done quite a bit for the comics industry. He’s done quite a few books for Image Comics like East of West, The Manhattan Projects, and The Nightly News. During his time at Marvel, he did a lot of stuff like working in the Ultimate Universe and having long runs with Fantastic Four and the Avengers. He also helmed events like Infinity and the new Secret Wars. He even helped write a couple of issues of Avengers vs. X-Men.

I pretty much like his runs on Secret Warriors, New Avengers, Avengers, and Secret Wars. Him coming to X-Men definitely made me curious. I tried to get back into the X-Men for a few times over the years, but I never stuck for whatever reason. I mostly stuck around on the recent Uncanny X-Men book, but it just felt like the same old stuff. I know that the X-Men have to protect a world that hates and fears them, but that can get tiring especially when the real world is also looking like that. Suddenly, Hickman comes in promising something new, and it got me interested in what will happen next.

So... what's going on here?

Hickman started his X-Men run with two miniseries: House of X and Powers of X (10). They were released weekly from July 2019 to October 2019. One week, you’d get HOX. The next week, POX would be released. Hickman wrote both books. Both books had different artists. On HOX, we had Pepe Larraz on pencils and inks. For POX, R.B. Silva did the share of pencils and inks while Adriano Di Benedetto helped with additional inks. So, why in the #### did Professor Xavier team up with Magneto and decide to form a sovereign mutant nation?

House of X

HOX pretty much sets the new status quo for the X-Men and mutants in general. To keep it simple (and somewhat spoiler-free), Professor Xavier, Magneto, and Moria McTaggart (it’s a long story) end up forming a sovereign mutant nation on Krakoa. Any and all mutants are invited to live there. The only way to the island is to use these custom-made gateways that are parts of Krakoa. These gateways are all set up all around the world. Some surprising mutants even get an invite to Krakoa. They’ve also even set up imports and exports of pharmaceutical drugs that can help humanity.

And he's back...yeah, I think Scott Summers is a BAMF.

While things seem to be pretty nice for the mutants, the X-Men are still going to do their thing in protecting themselves from enemies of mutants. A new human enemy enters the fray: ORCHIS, a rogue anti-mutant group that’s composed of former members of Marvel organizations. When the X-Men get word that ORCHIS is up to no good in space, Xavier has Cyclops assemble a team to stop the plan they’re hatching. They succeed in their mission, but it comes at a cost…, or so that’s what we’re to believe at first. Let’s just say that death may not be too final.

Xavier and the others also set up their own government with its own rules. We find out personally happens when one breaks one of their three cardinal rules. I’ll just say that it’s Sabertooth. That jackass has to always make trouble for folk, ya know? Anyway, after all the business is settled up and… Cyclops team “returns”, we get to have a little ‘ole rave. Luckily it’s not bland and off-putting like the one from the Matrix Reloaded.

Powers of X

POX shows how the new status quo came about and why it’s ended up being the way it is. We also get three other timelines, and we see how they play into the present day know as X1-Year 10. X0-Year Zero is pretty much the past. It shows Moira and Xavier setting their plan into motion over the years. X2-Year 100 shows a post-apocalyptic future for the X-Men… a usual thing. Machines have taken over Earth, and only a few Mutants are left standing to fight. The final timeline is X3-Year 1000. In this era, humanity has evolved even further with machines while what’s left of the mutants is in a literal zoo. I ain’t going to spoil all of this, but just know that ‘ole Moria is the key in all four timelines.

OPINION

This was a pretty great read. When you got me wanting to come to the LCS every week to pick up an issue, you’re doing something right! When I heard Hickman was coming to the X-Men, I already was getting ready for what might come. I didn’t expect this, though. Talk about changing the game for the X-Men and mutants as a whole. That first issue pretty much lets you know that things have changed. You got Magneto in white, Xavier looking even more shady (and kinda dressed up like the Maker, a Marvel villain), Logan laughing with kids, Jean Grey in her old Marvel Girl outfit for some reason, and Cyclops being an ass to the Fantastic Four. It’s awesome!

The X2 timeline was a pretty interesting one.

Hickman does some retconning with this new venture and you can look at Moira McTaggart as the big change. It’s revealed her that she’s a mutant who basically reincarnates into her own body and resets the timeline. You find out that she lived ten lives as herself with the current day being the 10th one. In her issue, you pretty much find out why she’s done all of this for Xavier. With the island, they end up doing some really crazy stuff. The pharmaceuticals is probably the least crazy thing the mutants do here.

At that moment... Xavier learns that Moira is into a lotta things... oh my.

One of the things I really like about it all is how much thought goes into the island itself. It’s not just  another Asteroid M scenario. A lot of thought gets put into how this island will function and operate. A government gets set up, they get imports/exports set up, and they even get some custom laws set up. With their new status quo, they gotta set up some new rules. Another that was pretty cool was Hickman’s info dumps. Anything he couldn’t explain in the story gets thrown into a page of text. Luckily, most of it is actually interesting to read since you get the idea that he’s setting up more for the future there.

The buzz on this image and a couple of other things involving these three has been funny.

Seeing the various timelines was also a treat. It was cool to see how Xavier went around to pretty familiar characters to get the house set up. The X2 timeline was particularly interesting since you not only saw a couple of familiar faces, you also saw combinations of certain characters lumped into one person. We also got one of the funniest and scariest Sentinels in Nimrod. For a robot, That dude was all over the emotional spectrum. The final timeline, X3, was just okay. You really don’t know why we’re here until the last issue. Before that, it’s just some weird stuff involving the Phalanx, the X-Men’s version of the Borg.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the X3 timeline, but the ending makes up for it.

The artwork is pretty good all-around. Larraz did an awesome job with House of X, and Silva did great with Powers of X. There’s really nothing bad thing I can say about the art here. It does what it needs to and then some. We got some new but familiar designs for all the X-Men. For example, we got Logan back in a classic suit, and Magneto looks awesome in white. I also liked how Krakoa looked in general. It’s like a weird organic and technological combination.  The only thing I do think is weird is that Jean’s back in her 70’s costume with the skirt. I wonder if there is a story reason behind that…

Overall, this was cool. The only issues I do have is that it can geta little too wordy at times. Also, that X3 timeline thing could’ve been handled a little better. Even those issues and any small nitpicks don’t hurt the overall story. This was a good start for this new era for X-Men. It helped me, someone who’s had a hard time getting into the X-Men in recent years, stay with an X-Men book. I’m only getting the main X-Men book for now, but that may change. Anyway, I’m off to read some Asimov. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and don’t tick off the really giddy Sentinel.