X-Men Vol. 4 #1 – The Ladies

Ok, here we go again with yet another #1, reboot, revision, do-over. When will it ever end? X-Men Volume 4. I was somewhat excited about the new title bx-men campbell variantut I was going to hold off on any comments until I actually read the book. I ordered a copy from the service where I get all my comics now (every 3rd Wednesday of the month and I have to order then 2 weeks in advance) as well as two copies of the J. Scott Campbell Midtown Comics variant. All I can say is the variant cover is the best thing about the book.  I guess I just don’t like gimmick books where they pawn it off as the women of the atom in their own series. I wouldn’t like it if they had a series of just the men either. All I really want is a good writer and a good artist on a good long run to get some rhythm and continuity going.

I mentioned before that I collected comics many years ago and then quit for a few different reasons. Then I get back in to it when I heard about the New 52. And here I am back to where I was many years ago ready to quit again because I can’t get in to the stories. If they kept me engaged and invested in a story by a great plot, excellent writing and art, they’d have me. But no, all they can do now is spit out trash with variant covers and gimmicks to keep the readers hooked. That only works for so long before guys like me, the ones that love the books for what they are and not just an investment, quit forever. Digital comics are cool but they don’t compare to having that book in your hands.

x-men campbell sketch variantEither way I am just about done and unless something changes where I have 5 good books to collect, I am out again. This October I am going to the NYCC again for the 2nd year in a row. I am going because I already bought the tickets and I plan on taking some good covers along to get signed for my collection. Not to mention the exclusives that are pretty awesome.

Well, back the story, if you can call it a story. Jubilee is coming back from Croatia or something and she has a baby that she “adopted” or smuggled or whatever(isn’t she a vampire now?). Apparently some dude has been following her and to be honest I have no idea who he is. Apparently he’s been around for a billion years and he and his sister had some sort of tiff way back when. She must have been out in space somewhere all pissed off all this time and now she is back on Earth. This baby seems to have some sort of mutation where it conducts or creates electricity or energy and possibly could lead to the end of the world. That is pretty much it for the entire 1st issue.

Written by Brian Wood and art by Olivier Coipel, this was supposed to be something huge, the last great hurrah from the 1st wave of Marvel Now titles. I am just so very confused about which characters are on what teams. Many of them are on multiple teams and I find it difficult to believe they can have so much shit happen to them with each team. There just cannot be enough time to get in to that many predicaments with different team members. I’ll give it one arc to see how things go and after that I am done. I really hate being this negative but honestly Marvel and DC give me no choice. They are the ones putting out all this crap.

Thank you Bleeding Cool…

…for saying what I attempted to say the other day in one of my posts. You however said it better, with more detail and to a much, much, much, much larger audience.

jerry lewis comic

 

In case you wanted to read that post, click here

Internet Sales Tax

Looks like Congress is going to pass the internet sales tax bill soon. That means large online retailers will have to charge tax. If I am reading the article correctly though, the retailer has to do more than $1 million in sales per year. Internet_Sales_TaxI guess that means I am safe with whatever I sell on eBay or via the website I never monetized.

DC Comics Spoiler Alert?

So I wonder what it is this time? Looks to me like Doomsday is entering the new 52 but who knows. Teaser after teaser, gimmick after gimmick, anything to get new readers or to keep existing. I have an idea. How about a really good idea or storyline that keeps my attention. How about something like a novel with multiple chapters, suspense, action, adventure, intrigue and drama. Throw a little love triangle in there an you have a story that can keep people coming back month after month without the need for adding new books, dropping others and crossing over in to every other book.

DC Spoiler Image

Seriously though, I love comics and I love great artwork so just get a great story in with the great artwork and you got me. Please just don’t reboot the whole death of Superman theme because I really couldn’t handle yet another ridiculous plot twist. I did see and post about Cyborg Superman so maybe they are going to lead in to something like that with the whole Trinity War thing that is coming up. I’m becoming too cynical too quickly and I hate that. I’m really not hard to please, you did it many years ago and kept my interest, and my dollars spent, for a long time. You can do it again, I have faith.

X-Men: Battle of the Atom

I’m back on board with some X-titles after a short hiatus due to the inept and extremely lacking storylines. I hate the fact there was yet another reboot of sorts, it feels as though whatever DC does, Marvel feels they have to do better. Whatever Marvel does, DC has to one up them. It gets old and honestly it turns the fans off or in another direction. I’ve begun to love all the new all new xmen 1Image titles and then I started reading some IDW, Zenescope and Dark Horse books because of it. However, I have to say I really do like the All New X-Men book where the past core members are brought to the future in hopes of changing the course of history. I love the storyline by Brian Michael Bendis and I wasn’t always, but am now a big fan of Stuart Immonen. I am also a fan of Uncanny X-Men by Bendis and Chris Bachalo. The dynamic between the ex Phoenix Five and everyone else is really awesome.

all new xmen 2Scott Summers is now the poster-child for the Mutant Revolution and I think I like it. For a long time he seemed to be too much of a pussy, always trying to do the right thing but falling short because of his ideals. Well now the time has come to just accept your fate and the hand that was dealt to you. You are a bad guy whether you like it or not so own up to it and move on. However, coming out of C2E2 there comes yet another crossover entitles X-Men: Battle of the Atom. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good crossover that means something but didn’t we just come out of AvX? Isn’t there this little thing going one called the Age of Ultron? I mean come on…really? Just take a storyline and let it play out. Give it some depth, girth and go with it. I would love to see the dynamic between the different teams go on for a year before we have to throw yet another crossover in to the mix. Two years would be good. Develop some plot twists and sub stories that eventually lead up to something.

However, the theme of the crossover is quite intriguing as future X-Men know what the Hell is going to happen to present X-Men and they need to come back and try to make things right. With that being said, how far in the future are they coming from and is there going to be some character development? I need to know who people are before they just roll in and start doing things. I need for there to be a little back story with twists and turns and growth from my favorite mutants. x-tinction-agenda-0Going back many years to before and after the X-tinction Agenda there was a lot of history. It wasn’t just something that happened overnight after a new book was introduced. Maybe I am wrong and things have always been like this. Maybe I just think the writing of old and the characters of old are better because I am getting old. Maybe the artwork is better now and I am wrong to think that Lee, Portacio, Liefeld*, Silvestri and Adam and Andy Kubert were just ok along with writers Chris Claremont, Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza. Not that the current writing isn’t good, it’s just I want depth and drawn out plot. I want 12 pages of lead in to the punch at the end.

Either way, it is what it is and I cannot change it. All I can do is blog about it and hope that people read it and agree with me, or disagree, doesn’t matter. I the muckety mucks at Marvel decide that I am right well then anyone else who feels the way I do can be pleased if things change. If not, then those that love it the way it is now can be happy to keep buying half thought out plots and storylines. Maybe I am just having a bad day and this is how I get to vent. Maybe I am right. Who knows. Just read this and let me know if you agree or disagree.

Xmen battle of the atom

Cyborg Superman

Cyborg Superman

Kenneth Rocafort’s version of Cyborg Superman…New52 style. How badass is this version of the Cyborg Superman? Rocafort never ceases to amaze me with how intricate and detailed his work is. Compared to some, it’s like a beautiful architectural blueprint. Check out his work on Facebook, he posts a new sketch/drawing every day. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mitographia-The-Art-of-Kenneth-Rocafort/125136894228663?fref=ts

Man of Steel

I am not a Superman fan by any means, in fact I think the whole concept is kind of hokey. With that being said, I am getting excited for this most recent incarnation of the Superman legend. Going back to the original movie with Christopher Reeve, anything since then has been a total sham and not worth my time. Of course you can say Superman II was good, but in comparison to the first it wasn’t as good. Each movie after those were increasingly tedious and pretty much unbearable to watch. Now comes something new, something a little grittier and darker that I really hope makes the leap and translates well on the big screen. I am going to hold my judgement until I see it at least twice.

In case you have been under a rock, here is the official trailer…let me know what you think. Click Here or below

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It’s All About The Benjamin’s

Benjamins

 

So apparently there is going to be a new $100 bill released in October. It’s about time, Benjy has been looking a bit ragged since the last little nip n tuck. I love the fact that on the back, in case you are really not sure what denomination you are holding, there is a massive gold lettered 100 on the right. Gizmodo breaks it down here.