Trade Tales! - Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 17: Clone Saga

Well, it’s May and you know what that means: Cinco de Mayo! Also, it’s Sci-Fi Month, a time where I pretty much praise (or wreck) one of my favorite fictional genres. This month is different in that this is the first time where I won’t be looking at any Star Trek shows or movies. I’ll still fit it in though. The thing I like about Trek is that it’s not just contained to movies or TV.

This time though is a return to the Ultimate Universe. I’ve been wondering when this day would come. Now that it’s here, I’m a little sad. I thought about ending this long look at Ultimate Spider-Man with the next volume but I may continue to its end. Besides there are really only a few volumes left in this iteration of the series. It does mean I will have to browse the horrible subject known as Ultimatum, but I’ll get to that stuff later.

Today's post is about the Ultimate Clone Saga. Now, my history with the Clone Sagas (Sagi?) is a little limited. I never read the original Clone Saga from the 1970’s. Back in the day, I did peruse a few issues of the pretty infamous 1990’s version at grocery stores. I know this may be sacrilege, but I kind of liked Ben Reilly. His costume was kinda cool. Hey, I had to do something while my mom was getting groceries! This trade also marks an important time for the series. Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley together made it past 100 issues. That’s actually pretty rare in the comic book industry.

This 9-part story takes place in Ultimate Spider-Man #97-105. As usual, Bendis does the writing. Bagley is on the pencils. Inks are handled by John Dell and Drew Hennessy. They also get some help from John Sibal and Matt Ryan. The colors were done by Justin Ponsor, Richard Isanove, and Andy Troy. The letters were done by Cory Petit and Chris Eliopoulos. The trade I have also has some interviews from Wizard Magazine with Bendis and Bagley. So, let’s see what happens when Spider-Man meets a crapton of people who look like him!

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 17: Clone Saga

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils: Mark Bagley

Inks: John Dell, Drew Hennessy, John Sibal, and Matt Ryan

Colors: Justin Ponsor, Richard Isanove, and Andy Troy

Letters: Cory Petit and Chris Eliopoulos

SYNOPSIS

Life for the Parker boy is a little complicated right now. He and Mary Jane Watson are talking again which leaves Kitty (the current girlfriend) understandably miffed. Then, there’s the fact that his lunch with MJ is ruined when the Scorpion wrecks it all. He changes into costume and not only has to subdue this new foe but also not get shot by the NYPD. When they’re alone together, Spidey removes Scorpion’s mask and finds out that he looks exactly like him. Meanwhile, MJ makes it home she is then kidnapped by someone who is later revealed to be a disfigured clone of Peter.

Since the villain literally has his face, Spidey knocks Scorpion out and takes him to the Fantastic Four. He also reveals his identity to the four (take a drink) and Johnny recognizes Peter from his time at Midtown High. Peter realizes it’s getting late, so he heads back home and finds out that MJ’s missing. He first heads to the warehouse where they’d sometimes hide out and instead finds a young woman in a spider costume. Thinking she’s behind MJ’s disappearance, he attacks her and is effectively taken out by her. After she checks his vitals, the girl leaves.

Peter wakes up and heads back to his house where he finds someone else who’s supposed to be dead: Gwen Stacy. She’s wondering what’s happened and remembers little. Then, Aunt May shows up and sees Gwen. Obviously, she flips out but Peter is able calm her down. He also tells her his secret about being Spider-Man. May angrily tells them both to leave but they then get another visitor: Richard Parker, Peter’s father. It turns out that he didn’t die on the plane crash. Agent Henry Gyrich of the FBI found him and had him working for their Research Dept. He’s also behind Gwen’s resurrection. Then, things go from bad to worse when SHIELD shows up outside. Reed Richards told Nick Fury about the clone since cloning’s illegal, so Fury and a legion of new Spider-Slayers have come to take Peter in.

Because of all of this, “Gwen” transforms into a symbiote-like creature (a lot like the one that killed her) and attacks SHIELD while May has a heart attack. This enrages Peter who also attacks SHIELD. Ultimately, they are both stopped. Then, the Fantastic Four show up and try to defend Peter. Sue Storm goes into the house and takes May and Richard to the hospital. Peter surrenders himself to SHIELD when the woman in the Spider costume (I’ll call Spider-Woman) shows up and takes Peter out of the area. She reveals herself to be a female clone of Peter and tells him everything about how she and other clones were created. She also tells him that one of the clones (I’ll call Kaine) may have kidnapped MJ. They end up heading to the disheveled Oscorp where it all began.

At Oscorp, they find Kaine, a multi-armed clone, and MJ who has been transformed into a Goblin creature. Kaine entered the OZ formula into MJ so she could protect herself. Seeing Peter causes her to transform back to normal and Peter knocks out Kaine. Suddenly, Nick Fury, the Fantastic Four, and SHIELD shows up and they have Otto Octavius with them. The Fantastic Four leave and take MJ back to their lab. It’s ultimately revealed that Octavius is the true creator of the clones and “Gwen.” They were created so that the FBI more could have super soldiers that weren’t under Fury’s hand. It’s also revealed that Richard Parker did die and that the man Peter met is another clone with fake memories. Kaine tries to attack him but is killed by SHIELD agents.

After hearing all is, Fury has had it with… well, Doc Ock and leaves Peter and the remaining clones to “deal” with him. Unfortunately, it’s revealed that Octavius actually has the power to control metal and creates new arms for himself. The multi-armed clone is killed but Peter and Spider-Woman are able to take Octavius down. Spider-Woman leaves while Peter stays and is eventually picked up by Johnny Storm. At Baxter Building it’s revealed that Reed and Franklin Storm were able to cure MJ. Peter professes his love for her and they kiss. Reed also reveals that they could also make Peter normal if he wanted to be. Peter ultimately declines the offer, though.

At the hospital, Peter finds out from Sue that his cloned dad has died of old age. Peter stays with Aunt May and is visited by Fury who apologizes for all that went down. After he leaves, May wakes up. Kitty (who got the X-Men to see what was going on) is in the hospital with Jean and wants Xavier to erase Peter’s identity from May’s mind. Xavier doesn’t do it and it turns out that’s it a good thing since May is glad to see Peter safe. In the end, Peter stays at MJ’s house while May is in the hospital. Kitty also finds those two kissing later too. Fury holds on to “Gwen” and Scorpion. Then, this Clone Saga comes to an end.

OPINION

So, what did I think of this 9-part saga? This thing was long but it doesn’t read like that. Other than that, this was really good in my opinion. Bendis really gets to put Peter through the wringer this time. Not only does he have your stereotypical teenage problems, he’s got problems with “The Man,”man! It was interesting to see Peter deal with all of the crap being thrown at him. I also liked seeing this concept modernized. It’s like Bendis grabbed every small idea from the other Clone Sagas and threw them into a blender with some octopus meat. It also felt like a nice continuation of all that came before in the series with Peter’s dad, Doc Ock, Oscorp, and Nick Fury.

The drama gets ratcheted up to 11 with the dead returning and May finding out about Peter’s secret. I did feel it was weird for May go rail on Peter like that when she found out. Luckily, it was only a moment of madness since she’s fine with Peter at the end of the story. I also liked the heroic additions to the story with the Fantastic Four playing a major role and the X-Men cameoing once again. Probably the best addition to the series is Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman. She was actually pretty cool and she was even cooler than Peter was. It was also cool to see Doctor Octopus return in the way he did. The “Magneto” powers were weird but they did make sense in a way.

The artwork is pretty good overall. As usual, Bagley and team put in some good work. The quiet moments between everyone were pretty good. The action was awesome as usual. Seeing Peter and Spider-Woman tag team Doc Ock was pretty cool. I also liked the designs of the clones. They hearkened back to similar things we saw in the 616-universe. While I thought some of the art was a little sketchy at times (mostly the first issue), it was overall good.

I actually don’t have many problems with the story as a whole. I’ve said before that it’s weird for Peter to be the ultimate players of women’s hearts, but he is a teenager. Aunt May’s outburst felt pretty out of left field but when you consider all she’s gone through in the year, it makes sense. Plus, she’s accepted Peter at the end. I did think MJ turning into a Goblin creature herself was way out of left field though. Add the other weird elements of Gwen-Carnage and an aged Peter clone and you get one weird story.  At least it’s a well-written, well-drawn weird story that doesn’t get as weird as the 90’s Clone Saga was. It doesn’t take 3 years to complete either!

Unmaskings/Reveals of Spider-Man: 3

This time, we got 3 reveals of Spider-Man’s identity. I thought about including the FBI and their research team, but they’re a part of the government, so they already knew. The Fantastic Four find out Peter’s identity when he tells them at the Baxter Building. Later, Franklin Storm (Sue and Johnny’s dad) finds out his identity. Then, there’s Aunt May’s reaction to his identity. I’ll just leave it at three since that sound like enough to get drunk or gain calories on.

Uh... May? You okay? Missing your meds again?

Total Unmaskings/Reveals of Spider-Man: 18

HIGHLIGHTS

Finally, here are the highlights. While a lot of cool stuff happens, here are my favorite bits.

-Professor Xavier… is okay? – This occurs at the end where Kitty pleads with Xavier to erase Peter’s secret from May’s mind. Now this is an Xavier who isn’t a complete douche, Mark Millar! By the way, I know regular Xavier could be a d-bag too at times.

-Tag Team against Doc Ock – the fight between Peter, Spider-Woman, and Doc Ock was pretty cool.

-Meeting the Fantastic Four – It was about time he met up with the other four.

-Together Again – While Kitty being thrown to the curb is harsh, it is nice seeing Peter and MJ get back together.

 ……………………………………………………………………………..

Overall, this was a really nice arc. It definitely made up for the last few issues I’ve read. I felt the series had been a little off before this moment. Hopefully, this momentum continues from here. Well, I’ll stop here with my gushing over Ultimate Spider-Man. I do have something else coming later that involves Spider-Man and it may not be too good. Let’s just say that it involves skateboards, Emma Stone, a bewildered Jamie Foxx, and lizard cops. For now, Peace, God Bless, and watch out for my clone. He’s a bit… rough.

Trade Tales! - Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 16: Deadpool

Well, it’s April and we’re getting that weather everyone “loves.” For those who don’t know, that weather is a nice blend of wetness and wind. At least it’s warmer and the sun does shine from time to time. 

Before I get too bogged down in May (Sci-Fi Month), it’s time to return to Ultimate Spider-Man for a bit. So far, all’s been good for the most part. I do feel like the series has dipped a little at this point but it’s not dreadful. Today’s pick may test that, though. Ultimate Spider-Man: Deadpool contains Ultimate Spider-Man #91-96 and Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2. That second annual came soon, didn’t it. As usual, Brian Michael Bendis handles the stories for the trade. Mark Bagley is penciling the main series while Mark Brooks handles the Annual again. The inkers for this trade are plenty though.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 16: Deadpool

Writer:  Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils: Mark Bagley and Mark Brooks

Inks: Danny Miki, John Dell, Mark McKenna, Mark Morales, Jimmy Palmiotti, Jamie Mendoza, Victor Olazaba, and Mark Brooks

Letters: Cory Petit

Colors: Justin Ponsor, Richard Isanove, and Laura Martin

SYNOPSIS

“Deadpool”

The story starts out with Spider-Man and Kitty (in a masked costume) taking down a lame criminal called the Ringer. After some swinging and kissing, her automatic ride picks her up while Peter heads home. When Kitty makes it to the Mansion, she gets attacked by some of the X-Men. Before she gets knocked out, she sends the Blackbird to Peter’s house. Peter sees it, suits up, and has it fly him back the Mansion. Kitty meets him there but she then stuns him with a gun. It’s revealed the it was none other than Deadpool taking her form… huh.

Spidey then wakes up on a helicopter shackled with the other X-Men. Spidey and the X-Men then get dropped onto the island of Krakoa. It turns out that the government of Genosha has kidnapped the X-Men in order to get back at them. Spidey was just along for the ride. Spidey and the X-Men start out split up but eventually come together. It’s then revealed that this is being broadcast live around the world. It even has a swarmy announcer. Going against the X-Men are Deadpool and the Reavers, a cybernetic band of douchebags.

The X-Men and Spidey fight their way through the group. It takes some time, but the group is eventually beaten. Deadpool tries to get one more fight in but he is also taken out and unmasked. Let’s just say that the charbroiled version of him looks much better. The team makes it to the compound where Xavier is being held by the Ultimate version of Mojo. Luckily, all seems to be fine with Xavier since he gets to mess with Mojo off-screen. The heroes then head back to the States. The story ends with Peter getting home really late. Luckily, Aunt May decided to play hooky herself and spend the night with her date, Miles Warren. Duh duh duh!

(Note: Miles Warren doesn’t play into… well, you know…)

“Morbius”

The story starts out with a flashback to months ago. Spider-Man is chasing someone who is after someone else. It turns out that Blade, the Daywalker, is chasing down a vampire. Pete is almost bit when Blade grabs the vampire and takes it out. He then tells off Spidey and disappears into the darkness. We cut to present day where Ben Urich has proof of a vampire sighting. Unfortunately, he’s being blocked by Jameson. Peter want to say something but keeps it to himself. At school, Peter finds out MJ has seen he and Kitty together. He tries to keep it calm but MJ understandably sasses him out over it.

Peter, you suck with women. Also, nice Blue Beetle reference, Bagley. 

Later, Ben Urich tries to talk to his witness who was bitten by a vampire. Unfortunately, the chick bites him. Luckily, Spidey was tailing Urich and a fight breaks out between her, another vampire, and him. Also, Morbius shows up to apparently fight the other vampires. Spidey gets them all lumped together and the fight continues. The fight ends with Morbius taking on the other while Spidey gets Urich to a hospital.

Morbius: Also, put your mask back on, dummy!

Later, Morbius comes to Urich’s room and tries to bite him but Spidey stups him. It turns out that if Morbius bites Urich, that’ll counteract the other vampire’s bite and cure him. Spidey doesn’t believe it but their scuffle ends when other vampires come to get Urich. Peter even gets bit but luckily his radioactive blood keeps him from turning. Morbius kills the vampires  is able to cure Urich. The story ends at school. Peter (hiding his bite) and Mary Jane (who’s cooled down from yesterday) have a bit of a moment together.

“Annual #2”

The annual starts out with Spidey taking down the Shocker once again. Thanks to advices from lawyer,  Franklin Nelson, Spidey actually takes the lame criminal to the police department. There, he runs into Captain Jean De Wolfe who is secretly in cahoots with Wilson Fisk. She pulls Spidey aside and asks him to trail a recently released criminal by the name of the Kangaroo. The actual truth is that Kangaroo is encroaching on Kingpin’s territory. Spidey feels uneasy about this but does it anyway.

Spidey heads to the location and finds that he isn’t the only costumed nut after this guy. Daredevil is there beating the crap out of him. Then, the Punisher (who recently escaped from Ryker’s Island) joins the fun and fires a bazooka at the location. Then, Moon Knight (who just recently woke up from his coma) joins the fight. What I’m trying to say is that it’s all one big cluster—buster. Anyway, Daredevil isn’t exactly happy to see Spidey since Spidey’s still too inexperienced. Luckily, Spidey and Daredevil take down Punisher and Moon Knight leaves.

I'm kinda sad that we won't get this in the MCU.

Captain De Wolfe and the police come to apprehend Kangaroo. All seems good until Punisher breaks his bonds and shoots De Wolfe dead. Spider-Man finds him and starts to lay in on him but Punisher reveals that she was working for the Kingpin. Spider-Man and Daredevil get their butts out of there. The story ends with Daredevil finding Moon Knight at his base of operations. The story ends with Daredevil telling Marc Spector that he’s putting a team of costumed folk together to one day take down the Kingpin. Also, we see Fisk mourn for Jean De Wolfe.

"... and I'd like to invite you to our Avengers Initiative."

OPINION

So, what do I think of this one? I wouldn’t say it’s the least favorite, but I can’t say it’s the best either. There are good things here though. I thought it was cool that we get to see more of the Peter/Kitty relationship. We also get the other part that involves Mary Jane. It does make Peter seem like a bit of a douche but he is a dumb teenager, after all. It was also nice to see him actually team up with the X-Men this time. When he’s been around them, not much fighting’s been going on. Too bad it was against some lackluster villains.

Then, there’s the other two storylines. While I didn’t necessarily enjoy the Morbius story, it was nice to see the Ultimate versions of Morbius and Blade for a short time. I also liked that we got some more Daily Bugle action. It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had that. The Annual was cool in that it’s a continuation the underworld shenanigans involving Kingpin. It was nice to see Daredevil (needs to switch to decaf), Punisher, and Moon Knight show up here. Just know that this is leading to something. Heck, Daredevil’s Nick Fury-like approach to Moon Knight at the end was definitely an example.

As usual, the artwork here is pretty good. While there were a lot of inkers in on the fun, it didn’t feel too different. Bagley did a good job as usual and Brooks handled the annual pretty well. As I said once before, their styles are a little different but fit the universe. The small quiet moments and the action scenes were pretty good. I also thought Kitty’s new costume was pretty good. I do have to say that some of the double pages in the first arc were a little muddled at points.

You can look up how he looks online. It is pretty bad.

The negatives are few but important. While the Spidey/X-Men team up was interesting, the villains were a bit lame. I really wasn’t a fan of Ultimate Deadpool. I barely like regular Deadpool and this version wasn’t an improvement. Basically, he’s “Anti-Mutant Bigot #119” to me. I also felt that team up was an issue too long. As for the Morbius story, it felt a bit shortened since we really don’t learn much about the vampires here. The Annual was fine but the flashbacks were a little weird at points. That being said, it’s not a bad trade. The good does outweigh the bad here.

Unmaskings/Reveals of Spider-Man: 1

Morbius unmasks him at the hospital in order to see the bite. Luckily no one’s around to see. Still, I have to give a point to the meter. At least it’s only 1.

Total Unmaskings/Reveals of Spider-Man: 17

HIGHLIGHTS

Finally, here are the highlights of the trade:

-Spidey and Kitty vs The Ringer – That was one lame villain! It was hilarious seeing the two tear him down like that.

-Blade cameo – While he wasn’t in the story much, it was cool to see Blade. I just imagined Wesley Snipes playing him.

-The Death of Jean De Wolfe – Her death was a bit of a shock and yeah, I know what happened to her original counterpart. Everyone’s reaction to it was interesting. What was more interesting was Kingpin’s reaction to her death.

………………………………………………………………………..

Overall, this was okay. It’s not bad but it isn’t one of the better trades in the series. A part of me feels like Bendis was filling in space for some of this. Maybe he didn’t want to go all out with these issues since we’re coming up on a turning point for the series. Let’s just say that some serious stuff goes down in the next big story arc. Next time, I’ll be looking at the Clone Saga… the Ultimate Clone Saga. Besides, it’s Sci-Fi Month as well, so you know clones need to be involved! Until then, Peace, God Bless, and don’t toy with your women.

TV Talk - Marvel's Netflix Series

If you haven’t kept up with Twitter, then you’d know that Marvel’s Iron Fist has been released on Netflix. The early reviews didn’t paint a good picture. This was one I was already worried about since I’m not a big Iron Fist fan. By now, I’ve finished all of Season 1 of that show. Today’s post will actually be about it and the other Marvel shows on Netflix. I already talked about Season 1 of Daredevil, so it’s time to move on to Season 2 of DD, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and the released Iron Fist.

With Season 2 of DD, I was on board day one. It took me a while to get through the season but I got through it. As for Jessica Jones, I actually didn’t get to this one until sometime before Luke Cage was released. I pretty much binged it one weekend. As for Luke Cage, this was also a bit of a binge. I pretty much saw it all when it was released. My dad even checked in on this one, so I’ve seen bits and pieces of it more than once. It took a couple of weeks to get through Iron Fist, though.

Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones was the second show to be released on Netflix. It aired after Season 1 of Daredevil. It follows Jessica Jones, a private eye with her own set of superhuman abilities. She’s trying doing her thing when her past has come back to haunt her. During her time as a small-time superhero, she was under the control of Kilgrave, a man who has the ability to control people with his speech. Luckily, she has some help in the form of Trish Walker and some black dude named Luke Cage. Oh yeah, there’s a lot of other craziness with weird neighbors, a cold-blooded client, and some crazy cop with a pill problem.

Jessica: Yeah, I'm listening. I'm just helping the Red Ranger kick his drug habit. 

While this probably my least favorite Netflix show (it's either that or Iron Fist), I did like this one. After seeing IF, this is definitely the darkest of the four shows. It deals with personal subject matter like rape, substance abuse, and PSTD. It also wasn’t afraid to earn that MA rating. I thought the cast for the most part was good. While I wasn’t a big fan of Jessica Jones as a character (I liked Trish more), Krysten Ritter was good as the damaged P.I. Carrie-Ann Moss also did a nice job as the utterly unlikable Jeri Hogarth. Pretty much everyone else like Rachael Taylor (Trish Walker) and Mike Colter (Luke Cage) did a good job. It was even cool to see another Power Ranger alumni (Eka Darville from RPM) show up here. We even get a little bit of Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) in here too.

Of course, the biggest boon to the show was David Tennant as Kilgrave/The Purple Man. He was the right blend of slimy and charismatic with the actions he took. Even though they give him a tragic backstory, he’s still a messed up psycho who’s done some horrible things. The stuff between Kilgrave and Jessica was definitely a highlight. I also liked that this didn’t take the stereotypical route in it being a superhero show. Yeah, it had the powers and fight scenes, but it had something that you don’t see on the live-action side.

Man... what a performance.

While it has good stuff, it also had some “meh” moments. I thought there were too many characters running around in this show especially when they didn’t add much to the overall plot. Jessica’s neighbors and the cop who helps them are examples. The pacing was also a problem here. While I liked Kilgrave’s and Jessica’s interactions, the cat-and-mouse game between those two does drag on for too long. A part of me feels like the show could have been much shorter. I think this is a problem for most of the Marvel shows since this show wasn’t the only one that had that problem. Lastly, the fight scenes were okay. They didn’t really showcase what Jessica could do but they weren’t the focus here anyway. Overall, it may not be the best show, but it tries a lot and mostly succeeds.

Daredevil Season 2

Season 2 of Daredevil takes place a few months after the previous season.  Matt, Foggy, and Karen are trying to get the law firm more notoriety. He’s even getting closer to Karen. His Daredevil activities are keeping him busy and in danger too. He goes up against new vigilante known as the Punisher. He also has to deal with a troublesome ex-girlfriend coming back to town. It all culminates in Matt and his allies taking on a powerful organization known as the Hand.

While I can’t say that it was better than the previous season, it had a lot of good things. The new editions to the cast were good. I thought that Daredevil vs. the Punisher was quite possibly the best “vs.” story we got in 2016. Yeah, I went there. One of the best things about this season was the Punisher. Not only is it the best version of the character we’ve gotten story-wise, Jon Beranthal (who I actually share a birthday with) was great in the role. Pretty much everything involving his character was good. As for Elektra, she was pretty interesting for the most part. I thought Elodie Young did the role well. The fight scenes were on par with last season’s and that stair case scene was awesome.

As for our regular leads, they get a lot to do. Matt is still doing the lawyer-by-day, ninja-by-night role and he gets a better mask. It’s here where his double life really gets to mess with him especially when Elektra, Stick, and the Hand show up in the second half of the season. He does come off a little unlikable at points but it works since he is under tons of pressure. Foggy and Karen get a lot to do as well. I liked that Foggy was literally the voice of reason this season and that he got to outshine Matt lawyer-wise. I also though Karen’s new role as a writer was interesting but it did make me miss Ben Urich. We even get more of Claire Temple meeting up with Matt and that’s always good. Another person also shows up in the ninth episode that had me go “Oh ####!” Just guess who.

You may not make healthy choices but you do tend to say the right thing, Foggy.

As for the negatives, the show does get a little bogged down in the second half of the season. It’s not bad, but after those first few episodes, things get a little disjointed. It definitely felt like that with the Punisher and Elektra storylines towards the end. Also, while it’s cool to see some ninjas show up, the Hand were alright. A former villain from last season returns to lead them and he was a little bland.  I also wasn’t too fond of some aspects of Matt’s and Karen’s courtship. It was nice seeing them together, but some things didn’t gel too well. Overall, it’s as about on par with Season 1.

Luke Cage

Luke Cage pretty much spins off from Jessica Jones. For those who don’t know, Luke has invulnerable skin and super-strength. Luke heads to Harlem since he’s on the run from the law.  He hides out with his father-in-law. He ends up getting embroiled in the mess going on there with the law and a gangster known as Cottonmouth. After someone close to him is gunned down, Luke has to come out of hiding and try to take Cottonmouth’s empire down.  Things get tougher when another player by the name of Diamondback enters the battle.

Even though it has its flaws, I really enjoyed Luke Cage. It’s rare that we get to see any superhero shows that have a primarily black cast. I was impressed by the whole cast for the most part. Everyone from the leads to the side characters were pretty good. Mike Colter was cool as Luke Cage. I was also impressed with Simone McKissick’s Misty Knight, Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth, and a few others. I was also glad to see Rosario Dawson show up here too. She’s literally the Coulson to these shows.

The stories were pretty good for the most part. I also liked some of the social commentary used as well. I liked the overall setting with it taking place in Harlem. It was like a Blaxploitation movie only modern and done better. I’ve seen some bad ones, man. Another thing that stands out here is the music. Everything from the main theme to the stuff in the episodes was good. I liked that a lot of genres were used and we even got some professional performers in there. We even got some old-school doo-wop stuff in there. It was great. Lastly, the fight scenes were fine. They weren’t great but the one that stands out to me is Luke’s takedown of Cottonmouth’s storehouse.

While we didn't get a former Power Ranger, we do have a guy who looks like he stepped out of a Super Sentai.

As for the flaws, there are a few. Once again, the pacing is a problem. This shows up more in the second half of the show when Cottonmouth is taken off the board. After that, it’s like the show dips down for a bit. Even the finale, while fine, felt lacking in a couple of places. After Cottonmouth is gone, he ends up getting replaced by Diamondback. While Diamondback was a more threatening opponent for Luke, he just didn’t have what Cottonmouth had. If I could describe it, Cottonmouth is your Netflix Marvel villain while Diamondback is you stereotypical MCU villain. Lastly, the writing didn’t always hit the mark it needed to. Overall, even with its flaws, Luke Cage is one to see.

Iron Fist

The last one for the night is the recently released Iron Fist. In this one, Danny Rand returns to New York after being declared dead for 15 years. As he tries to prove his identity and re-acclimate to modern society, we find out that he is the Iron Fist, an Immortal Weapon of K’un L’un. He also starts a friendship with another martial artist named Colleen Wing. Danny eventually learns that that the Hand, the enemy of K’un L’un, is up to some tricks in New York. Not only does he have to deal with them, he also has to do deal with Harold Meacham, one of his father’s closest friends.

Man, he did not take those reviews well. Also, what does he have against doors?

While Iron Fist isn’t as good as most of the other shows, it’s better than the ratings the critics gave it. I’m not going to comment on the whole race thing here since, honestly, I don’t care about it much. Besides, Danny’s race isn’t the reason this show isn’t as good as the others.  I liked most the cast here. Jessica Henwrick as Colleen Wing is probably the best character here. I also liked the Meachams especially Harold Meacham. You didn’t know what or where he would be during it. I was also glad to see Madam Gau return since she was one of the best parts of Daredevil.

I actually did like some of the corporate drama with Danny and the Meachams. Since Danny is a rich boy, it’d have to go there. I also liked the stuff involving the Hand since it went down paths I wasn’t expecting. Also, it’s always cool to see Claire Temple show up. I wonder if they’ll do a Claire Temple show or something. Lastly, there were some decent fight scenes especially in the latter half of the show. The standouts for me were Danny vs the kung fu drunken master and this big fight at an academy.

Yes, this is crass to show here, but this was actually funny. I guess he saw Rotten Tomatoes too.

Now, here’s the not-so-great. It takes a long time for this show to get moving… too long, in fact. I can see why critics were down on the early episodes but the show did get better. It wasn’t by a lot, though. There were also times where things got a little jumbled story-wise. It kind of felt like that towards the end. There wasn’t really a central villain to the show, so stuff felt kind of scatterbrained.  I get the idea that they’re setting up a lot for The Defenders, so that may be why things felt a little rushed in places.

While I enjoyed some fight scenes, something felt weird about a lot of them. I don’t know if it was the stunt team or the camera work. It bet it would have helped to find a lead star who knew martial arts! That is probably my biggest sticking point with the show there. I know they have to find a credible actor, but I like seeing stuntmen flex their acting chops. As for Finn Jones, he was okay but I wasn’t really a fan of Danny here. I don’t know if it was the actor or the direction. He seemed too uptight at points but fine around Colleen and Claire. Maybe if they get him around the other heroes, he may lighten up like he is in the comics. Overall, I liked it but I felt it could have been much better.

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Overall, Marvel’s Netflix series have done pretty good. There have been dips here and there, but they’ve stuck to the course. In August, we should be seeing all of these characters come together in The Defenders. Not much is known about what’s going to happen, but I bet a lot of the things that was set up in the other shows will come into play. Just know that I’ll definitely be checking it out. I just hope it is as good as most MCU team-ups. Well, that’s all I got for now. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

I guess Danny has to stick out somehow...

"It's a Video Game!" - Batman: Arkham Knight

Well, as most superheroes state in their movies/comics/TV shows, “This ends tonight!” Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham series is probably one of my favorite video game franchises. So much was done in order to get Batman and his world right in pixels. Even though Batman: Arkham Origins wasn’t a Rocksteady game, WB Montreal took a lot of cues from Rocksteady. Rocksteady wasn’t done and they churned out possibly one final game to finish off their trilogy. Batman: Arkham Knight was released in 2015 to much acclaim and criticism. The game didn’t translate well to PC and there were some problems there. This was the first game I decided to play on my PS4. By the way, it’s been pretty fun so far. Right now, I'm replaying Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Batman: Arkham Knight takes place a year after the events of Arkham City. Stuff had kind of cooled down since those events but Batman is still dealing with the fallout. Suddenly, calamity strikes as the Scarecrow (voiced by John Noble) returns and unleashes terror across the city. Citizens flee most of Gotham as crime and all-out douchbaggery takes over. Luckily, Batman is still leading the fight against evil with a new suit, some allies, and new gadgets. Things get worse when Scarecrow reveals a new partner in his plans: The Arkham Knight. Not only does Batman have to contend with the Knight who is well-versed in his ways, he starts to really crack under the pressure after he’s exposed to some of Scarecrow’s gas.

PROS

While I can't say this is the best game of the three, this is still a nice game to end Rocksteady's run with. By the way, I'll spoil some of this but not all of it. It's been out for two years and Wikipedia spoils it all anyway. Everything about this game works for the most part. Rocksteady took a lot of what worked in Arkham City and applied it here. The graphics and designs are top-notch. You get to operate in Gotham City itself. There are three big sections of the city and they all are pretty massive in scope.This is possibly the ultimate Batman experience. You got the moves, the gadgets, and the lumbering, black weapon of mass awesomeness called the Batmobile.

The combat is still the same since Arkham City pretty much set it in stone. You have the stealth approach as well as the "beat 'em down" approach. There are some adjustments like tag-teaming with your allies. On certain missions, you can team up with Robin, Nightwing, or Catwoman. As for the driving aspect of the game, it was cool for the most part. It did take a while to get used to using it in battle, but when I got the hang of it, it was awesome. Unfortunately, the Batmobile sections have their problems and I'll touch on them later..

This was fun. I kind of wish we got more of this.

The story is pretty good for the most part. You get the idea that Rocksteady is trying to end this all in one big bang. Pretty much all of Batman  allies and villains (living and not so living) are back in a way that works. It was nice to see one the Scarecrow be the top villain. The missions are all diverse in some way. There were even a few twists that I didn't see coming. There was one that I and most fans saw coming from about 50 miles away. I'll get to that later. Of course, The Joker does make a reappearance since you apparently have to throw in the clown. I will say that his place in the story was actually pretty interesting and ties into the series as a whole. It even references one of my favorite Batman animated movies with how he's used.

CONS

Me When Doing This Stage: $$$$ %%%%$$$ ####$$ **^^%$%$##!!!

While the game is really good, it does have some flaws. First , there's the Batmobile. Now, I liked the Batmobile for the most part, but I was shocked at how much it gets used here. I'd probably say that the game is possibly 40% Batmobile action and there are many times where you have no choice but to use it. I mostly kept to the skies since that was more fun. The Riddler sections were probably some of the most grating parts. You have to do some race courses and the final one may make you want to throw your controller. I didn't do that but a few pigeons were thrown at the TV.

Sorry... man/ma'am, but you're not doing it for me.

There were also some lackluster boss battles which is a shock. You'd think Rocksteady would have went all-out for this last one. Some of them involved the Batmobile and really only a couple of those were cool. The final "fight" with the Arkham Knight was pretty cool though. Then, there's the subject of the Arkham Knight. I won't spoil the identity here but I wasn't a fan of how this character was handled here. It's especially a letdown since other media has treated the character better than this. Let's just say that he/she played a major role in another Batman animated movie. Yes, the Arkham Knight is...  Lois Lane! Other than those major things and some small quibbles, this game was pretty good.

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Overall, it's a good game to check out if you haven't done so. While I had my quibbles, it's still Batman being done by Rocksteady. You can't go wrong with that. I can't say it's the best of the trilogy though. All of the games have been really good, so choosing the best would be hard. I can choose my favorite though and that would have to be Arkham City. Anyway, I'm out. Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there in Gotham City.

Trade Tales! - Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 15 - Silver Sable

Wow, it's been a while. Between working days, getting used to my PS4, and doing other things, posting has been a little challenging. Then, there’s the fact that the views on my recent posts are all screwed up and crap. I know I ain't that popular and I did ask about it. Darn spammers. Oh well, it’s time to move on and get back in the swing of things. Since Spider-Man: Homecoming is making his way down the red carpet with Christina Hendricks at his side, I think it’s time to return to the Ultimate Universe for a bit. Besides, it seems this new Spidey is looking to be more and more based off that universe especially when Miles Morales is involved. Weird.

Silver Sable is the title for this latest volume. It contains Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #1 as well as Ultimate Spider-Man #86-90. We more or less have the same team on this one. BMB is writing and Mark Bagley is handling pencils. We do get another penciller for the annual issue and that is artist Mark Brooks. The inks were handled by Scott Hanna, John Dell, and Jamie Mendoza. So, let's see Peter win some and lose some.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 15: Silver Sable

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils: Mark Bagley and Mark Brooks (Annual #1)

Inks: Scott Hanna, John Dell, and Jamie Mendoza (Annual #1)

Colors: Justin Ponsor and Dave Stewart (Annual #1)

Letters: Chris Eliopoulos and Cory Petit