Things get nasty right off the hop between Garrett, Falvey, and Law as they jump into discussions of Batman and sad New England Patriot fans. Things get worse a little later when we bring up the new ROUGE ONE clip.
Between all the fighting the boys find time to keep things pleasant enough to answer some Google Voice, play some old sounders, review some TV (Stranger Things, The Night Manager, The Night Of, Mr. Robot, Ray Donovan, Tyrant), some movies (GHOSTBUSTERS, EVERYBODY WANTS SOME, WIENER DOG, GHOSTHEADS, BEVERLY HILLS COP, BATMAN VS SUPERMAN, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT, SWISS ARMY MAN, SING STREET, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, THE NICE GUYS), and even talk about a few books (Kick: The Jenkins Cycle – Book 1, Batman: The Court of Owls).
Enjoy and prepare yourselves for next week when our worlds collide one more time for Lawlapalooza ’16.
0:01:50-Episode 4 and Garrett Collins fill in for Ammon and Moreno. What the fuck has Garret been up to? Batman talk, courtesy of Law and Jack (of course) Law finally gets asked what he’s been doing lately, but he’s been making dildos, you know this already. Falvey gets bulled about his love for a certain sports team.
0:18:40-GOOGLE VOICE.
0:47:36-Rogue One discussion/debate/argument/yelling. You may get mad at Four Outta 10 during this segment. Just to fucking warn you.
1:05:33-A BET IS MADE ABOUT SOMETHING SPECIFIC HAPPENING IN THE HAN SOLO ORIGIN MOVIE (WHICH IS 2-3 YEARS AWAY). 20 BUCKS IS ON THE LINE! I GOT IT, JACK, IT’S TIME STAMPED! Sorry for shouting.
1:10:25 Matt Wilson sent in an email with a review of Green Street Hooligans.
1:12:28-TV ROUND UP. Collins fifes over Winona Ryder so much but is meh on Stranger Thing. Valley caught up with The Night Manager and watched The Night Of. Law gives his two cents on Ray Donovan and Mr. Robot. Collins gets advice on Tyrant from Law. Roadies discussion. Collins needs to watch GoT Season 6 and Jack is going to begin Star Trek: The Next Generation very soon.
1:50:05-Law cranks out some old sounders.
1:59:10-WHAT DID YOU WATCH? Garrett rewatched Midnight Special, and gave Everybody Wants Some a second chance. He moves onto Wiener-Dog, followed by Ghostheads, a documentary showcasing hardcore fans of Ghostbusters (currently on Netflix). Episode IV revisited Beverly Hills Cop, tried Batman v. Superman again. Oof. He then talks about Where to Invade Next, the new doc by Michael Moore. He continues on with Swiss Army Man, Sing Street, and The Nice Guys (the latter in which Law gives his thoughts as well). The boys all meet in the middle to dissect Ghostbusters ’16, detailing the negative buzz leading in and the possible aftermath in the sequels, including another possible bet (GODDAMNIT JACK) that doesn’t hold any real weight so calm the fuck down. Who you gonna call? Cocksuckers!! I don’t know. Shut up.
This will likely have spoilers, so Binge reader be warned. To preface all of this, I was hardly excited for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. I just wasn’t into it. I love Batman. I honestly hate Superman. Anyone else that was going to be in that movie was only going to be a stepping stone to where we all want it to go. The trailers didn’t make me giddy. The TV spots didn’t have me counting how many weeks until the movie came out. I simply was uninterested in anything this movie had to offer. I wasn’t hateful towards it. I didn’t have any reason to be angry they made it. Zack Snyder was not a concern, though recently he hasn’t been at the strength I once recall. I didn’t think the story was going to be stupid, or that Jesse Eisenberg was going to be awful. I had absolutely zero commitment towards any stance on this movie. Now, I’ve seen it twice, once during each of the last two weekends. I came out of the movie the first time having enjoyed it, but not enough to rave about it. Then I saw it again this past weekend, and I’m completely at a loss to where the hatred for this movie comes from. The following is what I truly believe to be the problem with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Upon a second viewing, I saw this movie as I feel any fan of anything in this movie should, with joy. There was something mysteriously present in Batman V Superman that I didn’t notice the first time. It is the dream of so many people to see these two on screen together, and its finally happened. This equates to expectations of the highest level, which is where this movie first begins to fail its viewers. This goes to show what the main issue with this movie is, and that is the viewer themselves. It’s hard not to enjoy this movie, simply for what it is. All plot points and weirdness aside, this movie was a good time at the theater on premiere weekend. I had a laundry list of issues including Batman’s sudden befriending of Superman, the Kryptonite spear dilemma, Superman in general, and Ben Affleck as Batman. There were so many things to complain about, yet somehow it couldn’t suck this movie to lifelessness as some suggest it is. Nothing about this movie changes the way critics react and what viewers will do or say following. People simply see movies in different lights and viewers will have their minds made up about this one. Nothing is going to change that, and I’m not here to try.
What Batman V Superman has though is tons of awesome. Wonder Woman couldn’t have been any more excellent, as she was totally captivating on screen. I don’t know who Gal Gadot is, but she was cool as all hell in that role and she fit it for me. I’ve never been a particularly die-hard Wonder Woman fan. I like when she shows up in comics and uses her tools to take down villains that the others can’t. She has a pretty decent running title right now and has been exploring some darker characters. After this movie, I want everything Wonder Woman and especially Gal Gadot’s. I’m obsessed with this character, and I am so insanely excited for the solo movie now, which I didn’t even know existed. The fact that she got to show up and kick Doomsday’s ass for the most part, and use her lasso on him was epic. She was done so damn well in this movie, I almost didn’t care about all of its faults. The second time she was no less entertaining, and I found myself seeking out Wonder Woman merchandise. God, she was so great on both sides of the character. And this is where I really saw what about this movie had me in high spirits, and that was what it meant to me as a child at heart.
This movie makes me want to get out the old action figures and make Batman and Superman fight like they did here. Each character had some tremendous scenes in this movie. Batman took a stand against many of the largest foes we have seen him face on screen. Bruce Wayne was faced with age and loss like we’ve never seen before. Superman actually lost hope in himself and society as a whole. Clark Kent was enraged by the potential harm of his mother that was out of even his control. Batman and Superman bantering over mothers and female coworkers was nothing short of hysterical. Superman losing his shit on the rooftop with Lex Luthor was one of the most intense comic book scenes in the DCU. Even when Superman had to admit to himself that he was like anyone else and would have to give up his golden boy reputation, I was on the verge of losing control. Everyone was upset by Superman’s death, but seeing him truly struggle with society’s reactions towards him was outstanding. Seeing an infallible character suffer at the hand of life and deal with that emotionally was just unprecedented for me. It’s something many rarely are able to touch on with Superman to make him a great character to enjoy.
This brings to another thing I ended up loving about this movie, and that was Superman. I enjoyed Man of Steel much more than I thought I would as well. It has a much different take on the character, something that sort of resembled a Superman: Earth One comic or something. A darker approach, but a true cinematic experience was Man of Steel. Then this movie comes along and delivers on several great Superman scenes. The rooftop scene with Lex was the turning point of the film and served as the top of the hill in this roller coaster. The dream sequence showing Superman stalking into Batman was terrifying, knowing how powerful and unhinged a lost Superman can be from Injustice, which is what the Knightmare sequence reminded me of. Then lastly, that touching scene where Super Clark finds Lois and tells her that he has to change Batman’s mind. He acknowledges that he could truly have become corrupted, that even he and his golden heart were susceptible to disgraceful actions. For me to even like anything Superman astounds me, and I thought he far out-shined his counterpart here.
Batfleck was exactly what I thought he would be. A serviceable Bruce Wayne that is not the worst as some claim, nor is he the best, though it’s hard to argue with who is better. His Batman worked for me, and it was really cool to see an older Batman for once. We’ve seen him so many times, getting this fresh take on it and in a different time in his career was cool to see. Robin is dead, not just waiting to show up. Joker has come and gone to ruin the life of Bruce Wayne. Alfred is like a nagging old grandfather begging for a grandchild to replace the void of his loss in Robin as well. There was so much to like about this take on Batman, as I felt it was probably the closest any of them have come to being like an Animated Series style and tone character. This movie is the closest a DC movie has brought me to a childlike sense of wonderment. Star Wars recently did this for me, but nothing has ever quite touched this in the superhero genre like the original X-Men or Spider-Man. I’ve been amazed by Marvel for years now, through the good and bad, which is where the hatred for this flick starts. But for me, it serves as the launching point for DC’s care of their characters, like realized long ago. DC fan service has begun, and if Batman V Superman didn’t give you a Batarang-sized Binge brain boner then I don’t know what will. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was the best DC movie outside of Nolan’s trilogy and either movie based on the works of the legend Alan Moore. Just think about it when you go back to watch it again, because you know you will…
After almost a month of site build-up and a lifetime of anticipation, the time is finally here. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice has taken the country by storm, earning nearly $190 million in its opening weekend. But, after spending hours picking apart the two principle characters of this franchise in their respective individual appearances, will Luke, Jack, and even I be satisfied?
Will our most dire fears of Zack Snyder laying his hands on this fight be realized? Or will he surprise all of us with a masterpiece of superheroic proportions? Hit that download button to find out!
PS: An EXTRA special thanks to that Sneaky bastard Juan Carlos for not only his AMAZING Binge Fantasy League logos, but also each picture that has accompanied this retrospective. You sir, are the man!
WARNING: Unless you have seen the movie or don’t give a shit about ever seeing it, we appreciate your click, but DO NOT download this podcast until AFTER you do so. There are spoilers galore here.
It finally happened. One of the geekiest meet-ups in geek history, Batman V Superman, is here, and with it a whole lot of stylistic choices that we need to reconcile. Some like the flick, most kind of hate it, but there’s been a real groundswell of love for Affleck and his iteration of both Bruce Wayne and Batman despite the problems many have with the script, myself included. I, personally, loved Affleck in the role and would not have changed anything about the performance. There seems to be one detail that the fanboys and fangirls are up in arms over, and that is Batman’s alleged vigilantism crossing the line of him breaking his moral code of not killing people. While I absolutely, 100% agree that making Batman into a murderer breaks the essence of this character, I honestly don’t understand what people are complaining about. This isn’t the first time these types of kills have happened in a Batman film or comic. Furthermore, I did the legwork for you and present three distinct examples of Batman directly killing the bad guys. You believe this? Me, Jack Valley, defending Zack Snyder? Miracles do happen people. On with the article.
Batman
If we are going to nitpick Batman to death we have to start here. Tim Burton, for all the good he did, admittedly had little interest in the comic book iteration of the Bat. With several direct allusions to Batman being an actual BAT-man, Burton brought a lot of style and darkness to the universe. There are staples of the character that were brilliant here, such as the Anton Furst Batmobile and choosing to not tell the origin story. Michael Gough’s Alfred is still the guy that comes to mind when I hear that name anywhere. For all the good things in this film, there are some bad, and that has been detailed on this site before. Most of all, though, what is likely one of the biggest problems in this film, Batman kills indiscriminately, and in, I would argue, a much more brutal fashion than Affleck ever does. Not only does the Bat drop grenades next to a handful of henchmen at the chemical plant, he throws another guy off of the bell tower at the climax of the film to his death. Furthermore, he brings Joker to his demise as well. While a lot of people like to forget these details, I do not.
Batman Returns
In the admittedly very dark sequel, the Caped Crusader may actually be a more deranged psychopath than the previous film makes him out to be. While one could argue that Batman had no choice in taking out Joker in the last movie’s climax, here Batman is killing fools with style. For instance, he gives a fire-breather a taste of his own medicine by using the Batmobile’s jet-engine to light that fool up. There are at least a dozen ways he could have easily avoided burning the guy alive, especially when you consider all the “wonderful toys” that must be outfitted in the Batmobile. Within that same sequence, the Bat straps a ticking time bomb to one of the circus performers, making his death an absolute certainty. Also, although again this may be more of a crime of inaction, he allows the Penguin to just fall to his death at the end of the film. These are all hardly the type of vigilante justice we believe we are entitled to when it comes to Batman lore.
Batman Begins
Christopher Nolan’s first entry in the series was and, I would maintain, still is a game-changer. Nolan found a way to keep the subject material light while also maintaining a bit of that comic book levity to keep us both grounded in reality and in awe of the spectacle on screen. Of the more clever ideas in the film, the way Nolan uses Ra’s Al Ghul as a title rather than an individual’s name is truly inspired. The death of the first Ra’s Al Ghul, however, is problematic, because not only does it show Bruce Wayne as willing to kill, it makes for a really confusing situation. The entire reason Bruce lights Ra’s temple on fire is because he disagrees with their methodology. While everyone focuses on how Bruce saves Ducard, we forget that the petty thief and, most likely, others like him probably burned alive in the temple. Say what you will about the League of Shadows and whether or not they deserved what was coming to them, this is a morally grey area that the movie does a great job misdirecting the audience from. Make no mistake, however, because Batman probably killed a bunch of people in this scene. Deal with it.
P.S. Depending on how you look at it, he probably should be brought up on a charge of manslaughter for letting Ra’s bite it on the tram.
All this and I didn’t even mention the one truck driver that gets DESTROYED by the Batmobile in The Dark Knight…
So there you have it. Say what you will about the problems with Batman V Superman (of which there are PLENTY) but this repetitive argument that Batman is an indiscriminate killer now is baffling to me. That whole “have to break some eggs to make an omelette” adage applies here. Collateral damage has ALWAYS happened and will ALWAYS happen in comic book films. Granted, the Darkseid-nightmare sequence has Bats using a handgun, but that was a dream sequence. That may be his ultimate dream, to be able to just gun down the bad guys, but the fact that he struggles with this idea is part of what makes him a phenomenal character. Also, that one scene where (SPOILER) he blows up the KGBeast’s flamethrower? That’s taken DIRECTLY FROM THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, so let us all take a step back and question what the hell we are complaining about. With the twenty-four-hour news cycle being what it is, this whole idea became a “thing” over the weekend and I think any real Batman fan would fully appreciate and understand the choices they make with Batfleck. This one little detail seems to be deterring some from even giving this iteration of the character a fair shake, and that is Why This Sucks!
Here we are again, Bingers. Time to tackle a franchise for your listening pleasure. Though this time, we will be tackling two at a time. Sort of.
Let me explain where I’m coming from here. For our special lead in to Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, I decided to look at the two characters surrounding it by asking two other guys from the site, who also happen to be huge fans of their respected characters, to come on the Aftertaste and discuss them both at length.
First up, Batman. And doing the honors of dissecting this character with me is the New England Patriots loving, Pulp Fiction addict (cue echo) JACK VALLEY. Listen in as Jackie Boy and I go over each portion of Bats in his media conquering pedestal.
Some of the questions we go over here:
How did Jack become such a big fan of the character?
Just how big WAS Nicholson’s contract to appear in Batman, and why was he paid for movies he wasn’t even in?
How much does the Halle Berry starring Catwoman fit into the DC universe, if at all?
What does Batman ’66 have in common with Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises?
What is Jack’s LEAST favorite characterization of Bruce Wayne?
What is the biggest missed opportunity of Tim Burton’s two directed Batman films?
Who else was paid to NOT be in Batman Returns?
What does Batman & Robin have in common with The Dark Knight Rises?
Is the relationship between Wayne and Gordon in the Nolan films similar to how it was in the comics?
How’s Nolan’s characterization of Scarecrow?
What is the’George Bush Theory’ that surrounds The Dark Knight?
How do we feel Batman Vs Superman Dawn of Justice looks?
So click that little download button on the bottom of this page and get ready for a bat of a good time. Gross.
While Comic Binge has been on a month long hiatus, we haven’t had a lot of time to read and life got real serious. But on that extra day of the year this year, some magic happened and we were able to finally get some shit read! What better way to get back into the reading mood than to pick up the gigantic, Morrison epic The Multiversity. The Multiversity did its best to feature all of 52 separate worlds within the DC Universe. It was really fun reading Grant Morrison write all of the different stories within the DC Universe but each with its own world. The characters varied from story to story, but the illustrations and overall structure of the story would almost shift and transition to and from. I loved how the art styles would go back and forth to different artists, and the stories would build upon each other while telling similarly separate stories about Multiversity. The concept of course as well, is brilliant. Leave it to Grant Morrison to yet again knock an original story of his out of the park. I generally hate large event books, but The Multiversity was well worth my time to read. I would consider buying this one if it didn’t cost so damn much, but I would highly recommend it to every DC Comics fan at least to read. The Multiversity features an assorted cast of characters assembled from all the different walks of the DCU, and holds a special tone and storyline throughout to create a truly unique comic book experience.
Next was a book I have been wanting to pick up for awhile, and that is Stan Lee’s comic book memoir. As if there was any other way to tell the story of the legend Stan Lee, he has written a comic version of his memoirs. I for one found this to be an incredibly grand and perfect way to tell the life of a man who created a lot of the classic Marvel characters. There was plenty of drama, and especially at the beginning you really get a feel for Stan Lee’s troubles as a young man. What all Stan Lee had to grow up through and then overcome in his later years was nothing short of impressive, and is a testament to the man we know of today. He is truly a legend, and even though he tells this story himself, you really can see why he is so good with the fans. The book is full of historical facts about himself, plenty of humor, wit, and self-awareness. There was no mention of Kevin Smith, which I was sort of hoping for, but my other favorite guy in the biz Ron Perlman sort of gets a cameo. Not only was Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir one of the best books I’ve read so far this year, but it was incredible read for anyone at all. It’s a great graphic novel but it’s also just a great book and shows why comic books can be really relevant too. Stan Lee obviously tells his own story best in this comic form, and this is another book that I’m adding to the list to buy here at Comic Binge.
Now that we’re living in a post-Deadpool world, the floodgates are open. R-Rated comic book movies are officially profitable, and as such we’re about to see more of them. It’s not a foreign concept, with flicks from Barb Wire to Sin City having various levels of success/failure depending on who you ask. All that being said, Deadpool proved that if you give the fans exactly what they want you can make some moolah, so here are five other comic books/characters that, if given the R rating approach, could be insanely well received and accepted.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
I’ve written about League before as one of my guilty movie pleasures. I stand by that, but the potential of this series is astronomical. One of the great things that Alan Moore did in the series run was humanize these literary heroes by taking away their mythic status. Allan Quartermain is, essentially, a sickly and naked old man when we first see him, but it makes the story more relatable and has a kernel of human truth to it. The timing is perfect for someone to come in and fix this now.
Loki
Tom Hiddleston is incredible as Loki, but I fear we’ll never enjoy the truest over-the-top performance from him that we as fans deserve. While Loki isn’t known as an overtly murderous character, he could work really well as a power-hungry villain who will do whatever he has to for the glory of Asgard. A film like this could have a really credible edge and I totally want to see this happen.
Maus
When you look at the graphic novel as an art form, Maus is always part of the conversation. The story of a Holocaust survivor told with all the characters replaced as mice sounds insane at first and, honestly, difficult to relate to. Given a shot, the book wins you over with its honesty and art style. This would be a perfect introduction into a more adult-oriented animated adaptation.
Ghost Rider
I love Nic Cage and will not say a bad thing about him here, but come on Marvel, you can do better than that. From a purely visual standpoint Ghost Rider’s look and tone is amazing, but to make it work you need him to be able to inflict some serious carnage upon his foes. I’d love to see a great filmmaker like Duncan Jones take this material and inject it with a solid dose of the weird. Of all the properties listed here I think this one is the most likely to actually happen.
Batman – The Killing Joke
I’m aware there’s an animated version of this coming down the pike, and I have the utmost confidence that they will do a great job with that, but I need a live-action version of this story. Joker is one of the most interesting characters in not only the comic book world but the world of fiction at large. This story is a vital and important piece of what makes him great, and while admittedly Batman wouldn’t have a TON to do here I still think this would be a great success. So what other properties are you hoping get the R-Rated treatment? Comment below, and as always, Binge On!
Welcome again to the Comic Binge everyone! It’s been an exciting week for comic book readers as we’ve been getting a lot of big news on all of our upcoming super movies this year. Deadpool is only a few weeks away and so far the word seems to be good, if not really good. It’s a possibility that’s due all to good advertising or just a lot of it, but Deadpool seems to be the next good time at the movie theater with Marvel. Then we have the new trailer for Suicide Squad really amping everything up from the trailer before. Lots more Joker, and a lot more action. I’m still sticking by my guns in saying regardless of whether the not the movie is good, but Leto appears to be giving us a big over the top R-rated Joker we’ve never seen before in a movie. I’m excited just to see it, and if it fails then we’ll have to re-evaluate. Batman vs. Superman trailer spots have been dropping everywhere, and Wonder Woman clips and shit, and I find myself least excited about these. Regardless, we have an awesome year of comic book movies ahead of us and some of these comics should or will be at some point! One of these should definitely have a movie, so let’s get down to business.
The first volume of Batman: Eternal was something I struggled with the first time I tried to pick it up and give it a read. I’ve had a lot of good times reading Scott Snyder anything when it comes to Batman, but somewhere along the line in Eternal I just lost all interest. Now some time later I’ve tried to get back into the Batman: Eternal story and I can’t say it’s gotten much better. Batman faces off against a couple of foes, all the while the story is dragged along in what feels like another hefty volume of comics. Not nearly as big as the first, but we’re still talking about a lot of time taking place for a story that doesn’t need as much. It reminds me of Marvel event comics that are drawn out, and well I guess DC does it too. There isn’t enough here for me to really want to read it over any other Batman book. I will admit I found this volume a lot more entertaining, and we see the character Hush return but I can’t say that the story is anything new. Catwoman gets set up as the head of the Calabrese Crime Family from her last volume that I read, and Gates of Gotham really random Architect time for people who know that villain. In pretty typical fashion Batman and family are out on the city fixing the unfixable while Alfred is out of competition due to capture and his daughter learns about Gotham the sort of hard way. Overall I guess you could call it one of those Batman timekillers. It’s just good enough to get a read just because it’s Batman, but overall I don’t think it’s anything you need to bother with having to read. It’s better than the first, really slow volume of Batman: Eternal and of course I’ll be reading the third to see what happens as usual!
Next up this week was the first volume of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl from Marvel. I first got wind of this character while I was playing some Marvel Puzzle Quest awhile ago, which is a game worth playing might I add, but then found out Squirrel Girl is actually a somewhat older character. This book sees the character into a modern day mold, and I have to say that Squirrel Girl fits in well for her first book. A lot of reader have been latched onto Ms. Marvel as the best female lead in Marvel, but I think we need to be paying attention to Squirrel Girl before she gets her own movie. From the beginning, hilarious Doreen Green brings us straight into the life of being Squirrel Girl. New girl at college, she meets her roommate and cat Mew along with several others. She squares off with Kraven and Galactus, with a few others and it’s always sort of playing in a light-hearted way. I love the way the book is written. Her sense of humor is on point, and there’s a slight breaking of the fourth wall between you and Squirrel Girl. Each page has plenty of laughs, but at the bottom outside of the panels you get a look into the mind of this new superhero for us. She’s a ton of fun, and the first thing you get from her is recreating the Spider-Man theme song for herself, and Deadpool is one known to engage in these kind of antics as well. Squirrel Girl is sort of a teen version of Deadpool, so for those teenagers clamoring for PG-13 Deadpool, here it is for you. Don’t let Squirrel Girl fool you, because in this first volume awesomely called Squirrel Power it really is a squirrel power on the market for Marvel Comics right now. At first I didn’t care for the art, but slowly it grows on you in this kind of story with this kind of humor. Deadpool’s Trading Card of Marvel Education are a really nice touch, and again show our hero’s likeness to the Merc with the Mouth! If you haven’t read Squirrel Girl, I can’t recommend it enough!
Lastly this week I checked out what was left of a Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 5: Through the Looking Glass, after having read The Black Vortex story in another trade book. First up was the Annual #1 which is possible I’ve read before too, but it was probably the only good part of the book. Captain Marvel is with the Guardians and Venom and the usuals, and of course Rocket comes in for the occasional good laugh. Otherwise those, this volume of Guardians of the Galaxy wasn’t very good and follows the downturn trend in quality for me over the last two volumes. I hope that with the new movie and as story details emerge about it, we get some new stories and twists in the Guardians of the Galaxy comic. Rocket is at his best when he’s actually on the pages, and so are the regular Guardians of the Galaxy as written in the movie. I don’t want to be the guy that only knows all the new stuff, but from what I’ve read between new and old I much prefer the newer stuff that came out right after the movie. Here it to hoping that the sixth volume of the Guardians has more in store for us that this event-ruined volume of a middle of the road Marvel comic.
Hello all and welcome back to yet another week of Comic Binge! As the year comes to an end, I’m yet again taking a look at past articles of 2015 and trying to determine what works best and what doesn’t for the future. I think it’s about time I give you more reviews, though they may have less content. I read much more on a weekly basis, but there’s often not a ton to say other than the obvious yays and nays for every book. Granted, I try to write about books where there is plenty to say, but there just always isn’t. So now, I’m going to do a little rapid fire of everything read on my vacation this week, because this is the cleansing of my shelves before I get heavily into Star Wars canon for the release of the movie! Make sure to check back next week a day or two before the release of the movie we’ve all been waiting for, to see all kinds of reviews for new canon comics and even Kanan himself! So without further ado, here, we, go…
The newest, sixth volume of Catwoman, Keeper of the Castle, sees Selina taking over the Calabrese Crime Syndicate which is associated to her lesser known family. Extending out of other books’ events, this in turn takes Selina out of the sexy suit and into more formal attire. Now, I’m not one to objectify characters for looking their bad selves, but this book takes just about everything out of Catwoman that it should be. Sure, she’s still in Gotham, and she has her run-ins with the Batman, but it’s hardly the same thing. As Selina Kyle figures out her place at the head of the crime family she’s been thrust into, she also has to deal with the absence of her alter ego out on the streets. She discovers that someone else has taken her place as Catwoman, but she cannot divert her attention from the mafia goings-on around her. This book probably would have been a lot better if she would have come full circle back to the leather onesie a lot earlier. It also probably would have been a lot better had the art not totally sucked cat milk. I know Catwoman hasn’t been one of the prouder titles in the recent New 52 lineup, but it’s gone awfully far down hill after the awesomeness that Judd Winick started with in his first two volumes. Let’s hope that this was a one time deal for the character, and that she can return to being the cat’s meow of Gotham.
Next up this week stuck with female lead characters, and that was the Angela spin-off from Marvel. Coming off the pages from the universe of Thor, Angela may be a character that is familiar to some of you. She once was spawned on the pages of Spawn, and has seen time in other books as well. I’m a newcomer in regards to the character of Angela, so I was really anticipating learning a bit more about her in this first volume of her new series. What we get in this book however, is a story that lacks any sort of clear direction or plotting. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you at all what this book was about or supposed to be about. It certainly wasn’t a starter story or an origin story, as you’re dumped into Angela’s world with absolutely no knowledge as to what’s going on. Even after a few issues, I was having trouble putting together any semblance of a story in the pages. What I could get down with though was the art, which was pretty decent for such a confusing and unclear book. I’d hope that maybe Angela gets another shot to shine, as she is a cool and badass character. Even the appearances from the Guardians of the Galaxy could not save this book, and made you wish that Rocket Raccoon would pull a fourth wall stunt and BLAM! murder this book. I might be in the minority, but this book seemed pretty empty and pointless.
The continuation from Cyclops’ solo series finally reached the desk, and boy was it disappointing. The first volume was decent, and started by telling stories about the character that happened at a much younger age than we are familiar with. This book continues that thought, but boy does it fail at making anything interesting happen. By the title, A Pirate’s Life for Me, I was really expecting some fun swashbuckling. But what I got here was again another book where I could hardly care about what was going on on the pages. This one too, didn’t have nearly as good of art as the other books I’ve been reading. The first book in the series by Greg Rucka wasn’t anything amazing, but I was hoping for a bit more from this series. It furthers the opinion that I have of Marvel and their new Marvel NOW! titles in that a good 80-90% of them are garbage. I really wish Marvel had better books, because characters like these deserve much more than they are receiving. Don’t worry about checking this series out, or the most recent book, unless you’re a die-hard fan. But even then, you may have trouble wanting to keep your eyes open, even if you don’t struggle with laser beam vision.
Last but not least, I caught up a bit more with some of New 52’s Suicide Squad title. I’ve been a bit behind on the series because it’s been hard to get my hands on the books. I got a hold of the third and fourth volumes this week, and I have the fifth on deck for the weekend. The third volume saw a sort of Death of the Family vibe, much like the rest of the Bat titles in New 52 around this third volume period. Harley is tempted by the Joker’s return, as he comes in and shows her how much she’s changed into a goody two shoes. We see the struggle of the two unfold before us, but outside of the Joker-Harley scenario, there isn’t much to read for here. It was a decent volume, but nothing special, and the art was a little different too. Then the fourth volume saw the return of the Squad into more relevant stories, but now they’re up against Waller, who put the team together in the first place. Waller has found herself working along with the son of Gordon, who some may know as the villain of some recent Batman epics, Black Mirror being one of them. Waller and Gordon team up against the Suicide Squad, and a new member of the Squad is still a mystery to us. After a few battles and the Squad getting out of captivity, we see an awesome scene between Harley and Waller which was too cool. Waller had been picking away at their weaknesses, and so when Harley gets her hands on her it becomes a mess. Afterwards we see them tackle a monster in Vegas, followed by a Harley origin comic and a Deadshot origin comic. This had me thinking that we’re going to see some more origin and also maybe a new team and a re-branding of this team as the movie nears release. I am definitely looking forward to that, because Suicide Squad has been a decent, fun, and entertaining bad guy comic since its beginning here in the New 52. The following review numbers will be for the better, fourth volume titled Discipline and Punish.