BC Refugees Blog

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #2    Brian Bendis and David LaFuente            My absolute favorite thing about Issue #2 is the cover, an artistic interpretation of how Spider-Man would look as viewed through a kaleidoscope, those cherished old-time toys that involved a telescope-like cardboard tube that you held to the light and looked through. They were colorful and usually featured abstract designs in geometric shapes. It was like looking at a stained glass window, and when you twisted the ends of the tube the images tumbled inside and changed.  And like that toy, Bendis and LaFuente take the Spider-Man we are familiar with and twist it and turn it so it appears new and different.            After reading Issue #2, I feel even stronger (see my comments last month on Ultimate Spider-Man #1) about this book being the best chance to introduce new readers to Marvel.  ...

Hot on the heels of "Green Lantern: First Flight" comes the latest direct-to-DVD DC animated feature, based on the opening 6-issue arc of the “Superman/Batman” comic by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. The character designs stick pretty close to McGuinness’ art style, which unfortunately doesn’t work as well on the screen. The characters look blocky in comparison to the elegant designs from the “Batman”, “Superman” and “Justice League” series. The comparison is inevitable, because the terrific voice actors from those series have been reunited here. It’s a joy to hear Tim Daly as Superman and Kevin Conroy as Batman again, but the characters as drawn clash with the image in my head of what they’re supposed to look like with those voices. Although this isn’t officially the same continuity, the story completes the character arc for Lex Luthor (voiced again by Clancy Brown) that started in “Superman” and ran through “Justice League” and “JLU”. (I’ve often thought that Lutho...

I’ve been following the various Batman-related titles more than I can remember at any previous time in their long history.  The reason is because the current crop is written and illustrated very well;  and the storylines are so compelling and involving.   In my book, the Batman: Reborn titles are winners.  I’m about to face some hard decisions as I start to fine-tune my monthly comics budget.  I’m spending and reading much more than I should be (considering current economic status) and I’ve got to reduce the number of books I’m purchasing.  What BAT titles will I chose to quit following?  This is going to be a tough decision.          BATGIRL #1:   writer Bryan Q. Miller, artist Lee Garbett What I like most about BATGIRL is the light-hearted, easy going and amusing style that Miller uses to move the story along.  I’m reminded of the early years of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and suspect that this had ...

Got sidetracked by not feeling well for a few days, but let’s try again… Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size: I’m not sure if I just lost interest because of the delay or what, but I actually kind of hated this. It doesn’t have any of the clever future-Marvel stuff from the previous chapters – it’s just a straight revenge story. It’s disgusting (Bruce & his cousin), violent (page after page of Logan covered in blood: “I’m just here to kill you people”) and repetitive (Millar’s already done the “Hulk eats people” bit in “Ultimates”). I actually went over to Amazon and cancelled my pre-order for the collection. Spider-Woman 1: Now that this is out in print, we can compare and contrast with the motion comic. This issue covers approximately the same ground as the first motion episode, which means the motion comic story is way ahead of the print version. (I wonder how they’ll deal with that at crossover time.) The motion comic has its merits, mainly the excellent voice acting, but f...

I’m just now getting caught up from being out of town for Labor Day, so I’m just going to lump all the September books (including this weeks) together and not worry about when they came out. It’s going to take a few days, so let’s get started. The Torch 1: Toro was never the sharpest kid on the block either in the Golden Age or in “Invaders”, but here he’s been resurrected in modern times (see “Avengers/Invaders”) in a way that somehow doesn’t mess up the timeline and the first thing he does is deliver himself to his only enemy on the planet. I like the idea that the Torch is responsible for Toro’s powers, which is backed up by his 1940’s origin story, but if you want to read about their history go read “The Marvels Project” instead. The Marvels Project 2: Speaking of which, Brubaker spends a lot of this issue on the origins of the Golden Age Angel (who I wasn’t that familiar with) and filling in the gaps between when the Human Torch escaped from his concrete prison and when he bec...

Marvel Super Hero Team-Up TPB: Marvel made a mistake with this book, in my opinion. It was originally titled “Marvel Bromance”, as a play on the recent “Marvel Romance” trade and the general pop culture trend. They changed the title because they were afraid it would seem dated . They may have been right, but the problem is that the book still has the same content under a generic title. There are much better “team-up” stories available then the ones chosen here – much better Spidey/Torch issues of “Marvel Team-Up” and much better Captain America & The Falcon stories, for instance. If you came into this without knowing the history, I think you’d be pretty disappointed. That said, the stories fit the “male friendship” theme pretty well and show some nice moments in the Spidey/Torch, Cap/Falcon, Stark/Rhodes and Wolverine/Colossus relationships. I also have a soft spot for any book that reprints Priest’s “Black Panther”: the issue chosen (#25) – not technically a “Super Hero Team Up” b...

THE SURROGATES  TPB  by Robert Venditti, illustrated and colored by Brett Weldele  (reprint 2009, Top Shelf Productions)            Another science-fiction comic gets adapted to movies with the September 25th premiere of THE SURROGATES in theaters.   The movie trailers look interesting and appear to at least                 remain faithful to the major theme of the limited series comic.  Although there are  several scenes depicted that I don’t remember as occurring  in the  original  storyline.  I hope the film gets it at least half-right.                                             ...

SWEET TOOTH #1  (DC Vertigo)   story and art by Jeff Lemire I nearly passed over this based on the dumb-appearing cover depiction of a backwoods Appalachian boy with deer ears and antlers and chocolate mess on his perplexed face.  (It’s not so dumb after you read the story).  Yet, at the introductory price of $1.00 it was worth a closer look and less of a monetary risk.  I also was curious to read something for the first time by Jeff Lemire, whose indie reputation is growing.  I was actually moved and saddened by this tender, apocalyptic tale (yes, yet another post-cataclysm story).       In spite of that put-off, I was moved by the simple nature of this book.  Very  quickly and easily Lemire immerses the reader into the story as we begin to realize the loneliness that the dying father and innocent son are experiencing .   Gus, the son born post-apocalypse of a dying mother and mutated by the after-effe...

“I’ll have an iced Venti latte and a slave girl, please.” (Read about Jabba’s adventures – an actual Lucasfilm employee testing a new costume – here .)

I watched the two episode sneak preview of Marvel Animation's “The Super Hero Squad Show” on Cartoon Network tonight and, though I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised, it was pretty much what I expected. I’m not the target audience, so I won’t bash it too much – in fact, I think 8-year-old boys and under might like it a lot. The voice acting is fun and over the top and the animation is pretty good considering the kiddie character designs (especially the title sequence), but this isn’t one of those things that can be enjoyed on different levels by kids and adults – it’s mainly fart jokes and bathroom humor. It’s fun to see some of the obscure Marvel characters like Modok, the Wrecking Crew and Ms. Marvel (who I don’t think has ever been animated before) but for comics readers and older kids I have to recommend “Spectacular Spider-Man” on Disney XD or “Wolverine and the X-Men” on Nicktoons instead. (If you do have young kids you think might like this, the schedule is available by...

Before I comment on these latest books, I want to make a correction to my last posting 0f September 4th (DARK WOLVERINE: AN APPRECIATION). I referred to several events as happening in DARK WOLVERINE #77, when they actually took place in #76. I didn’t have my chronology in order. I even referred to some Issue #75 events as taking place in #76. I’m sorry if it created any confusion, especially if you’re seeking out these books. In the comments section I jokingly referred to this as being a purposeful error, but that’s untrue. I just screwed up. DARK WOLVERINE #77: The unanswered question from issue #75 gets clarified here, right in the summary on the opening credits page : “Daken proves to be just as devious as Osborn and has carefully orchestrated a conflict between the Fantastic Four and Osborn by shooting the Human Torch in the leg with one of Bullseye’s arrows. Daken, feigning innocence, visits the FF at the Baxter Building and creates a shaky alliance w...

Now to rush onto my new books for August to be finally caught up...on the issue reviews I do, at least.  I still have other stuff to write about, but those aren't quite as time sensitive--I'd rather get these out while they're still somewhat relevant. Adventure Comics #1 (or 504) - DC Comics Not too long ago, I complained about Legion of Three Worlds .  While it's still certainly not my favorite recent book, I've gotten past many of those complaints just in time for this new ongoing series that, hopefully, will be around for a good, long time.  To start with--the art on this book?  Gorgeous.  Francis Manapul takes the talent he shaped on earlier books up until  The Legion of Super-Heroes and adds in the color wash he perfected during Superman/Batman to create the beautiful look he gives Superboy and Smallville.  The early spread with him, Ma Kent and Krypto looking at the farm was my wallpaper for a good, long time.  An upcoming solicitation shows that Jerry Ordwa...

  Been some time since I've made a blog post--it's just me being lazy.  So, I'll start with some more reviews of the new titles in July. I started this in the middle of August.  And then the computer crashed and, because the auto-save feature hadn't activated in a bit, I lost all of the reviews I'd written.  I'm finally going back to it, now. Okay!  Well. Blackest Night #1 (of 8) - DC Comics For those who like the insane crossover events--this is the book for you.  When we take a look at what both major companies have done, this is  far more like  Secret Invasion than it is  Final Crisis --in fact, DC hasn't really done anything like this since  Infinite Crisis , with other events ( Amazons Attack, Sinestro Corps. War, New Krypton , etc.) being focused on individual franchises.  Here, though, we have the DCU in all of its glory, by one of its top superstar writers and a growing superstar artist, with a large number of tie-ins on the way.  I haven't pai...