Comics

Scott Pilgrim Vs The Universe (Vol. 5)

I will be the first to say that I was late to ride the Scott Pilgrim Fan Bus, and like many others, I was instantly hooked upon finishing the first volume. The joy of starting late is that I was able to continue reading the next three volumes. Then, I had to wait, and wait, and wait for volume 5. Lewis Black said it best when indicated that, “Anticipation is better than the act.” Anticipation for what you want is always better than what you get. That too is true in the case of Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe.

Turf writers want Matthew Vaughn

Having directed Layer Cake, Stardust and Kick-Ass there is no wonder why Matthew Vaughn is considered one of the hottest talents around. He is now wanted by Jonathan Ross to direct an adaptation of his comic-book miniseries Turf.

Jonathan Ross is best known as a television and radio presenter in the UK, having presented many of the BBC’s flagship shows, like the popular Friday night talk show, the Film Programme and hosting the late morning radio slot on Britain’s most popular radio station on Saturday. But he is now famous as the man burning all his bridges with the BBC after the infamous Sachsgate affair.

Turf #1

Vampires, Aliens and prohibition what more could one story offer? How about Mobsters! As ridiculous as this premise is, it attempts to work. That’s not to say that it’s great but it’s functional. The story starts in 1929; prohibition is in effect which means that mobsters are getting rich supplying booze to the country. New York is divided between four families and recently one of those families has disappeared from the face of the planet. The Dragonmir brothers run a vampire clan, but have not yet revealed themselves to the world. To the mobsters they deal with, they are just weird rich people that buy blood rather than booze.  What the mobster’s don’t know is that one of the Dragonmir brothers is attempting a coup to not only take over the mobster’s territories but also the vampire clan.

C2E2 Marvel News: Spider-Man/Fantastic Four

Another Marvel announcement from C2E2 (Chicago’s Comic & Entertainment Expo), Christos Gage (Avengers: Initiative) and Mario Alberti (Amazing Spider-Man) team up this July to bring you Spider-Man/Fantastic Four a companion series to Spider-Man/X-Men.  Gage’s take this time around is to capture different points in Spidey’s and the Fantastic Four’s history together. Each issue will deal with his relationship with one of the Fantastic Four and they’re perspective of each other.

Much like Spider-Man/X-Men, each issue will have a new villain that the group will deal with. The first issue features Dr. Doom and Namor. Later in the series they face Venom symbiote without a host and the Skrull De’Lila. The story will jump between four era’s of the Fantastic Four including: Silver Age, Post Secret Wars, New Fantastic Four and Modern Fantastic Four. Again, much like Spider-Man/X-Men there will be a mystery running through the series and tying into each era.

Ultimate Comics X #2 – Review

Our story begins with a mystery. Who is Karen Grant? Who is this mutant dying her hair before heading to work? Then of course she uses her powers to move things around the room, another clue to the puzzle. It remains a mystery because the clues are so vague that at first glance, this could be any female mutant.

Dave is a mall cop in love with Karen, our mystery mutant, since the moment he saw her. He’s planning to ask Karen to marry him after work. That is the narration of the issue, and it has nothing to do with the story. There are many well-executed narrations that do not give a play by play of what is happening in the story. In fact when done right they are very powerful and moving. Ultimate Spider-Man has a perfect example of this: The Ultimate Venom storyline has Peter fighting Eddie Brock after becoming Venom. The entire narration is a letter from Peter’s father, and although it happens in the past it still indirectly ties in with the events happening in the fight.

Jeph Loeb (Ultimatum, World War Hulks) uses a misplaced narrative in an attempt to humanize one the Ultimate universe’s mutants left in hiding afterUltimatum. I applaud Loeb for trying to grow as a writer but this is his third failed attempt of this narration type. He tried it in Ultimates #1, failed. He tried it in Ultimate Comic X #1, failed. The narrations themselves are not half bad but they are distracting from the story and do nothing to move the plot forward.

C2E2 Marvel News: Thor: The Mighty Avenger

Marvel announced a new monthly Thor title this weekend at C2E2 (Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo).  Thor: The Mighty Avenger, will be written by Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show) and drawn by Chris Samnee (Avengers VS Agents of Atlas) and is scheduled to begin in July.

According to Langridge, “the book will have an overarching plot that spans through the first year of the book, but that each issue will act like a one-shot.” This seems to be a growing trend at Marvel. For example, series like the Fantastic Four are doing the same thing. Langridge also stated that Mr. Hyde would be the villain to jump start the series and followed by some re-imagined Asgard and Avenger villains. The series will also at some point feature all of the original Avengers and several other Marvel characters that the team wanted to use. Hopefully the book can hold its own and not become another cameo-of-the-month title like Moon Knight or Wolverine: Origins.

Head to Marvel’s new section to see all of Chris Samnee’s promotional art and character sketches.

Avengers: The Origin #1

Origin is a modern retelling of the first meeting of the Avengers.  At the focal point of the story is Loki, who has been cast out of Asgard for acts against his half brother Thor.  Cast-out, but not without his magic, he decides to launch yet another attack on his half brother. He tricks the Hulk into nearly derailing a train full of people.  The Hulk, having the worst publicist in the world, is painted as the villain and the military is mobilized after him.  Rick Jones and his band of merry hackers send an encrypted message to the Fantastic Four asking for them to help the Hulk. This of course interferes with Loki’s game. He can’t stop the message, but he can send it to someone else. This is the story of how Loki, unknowingly created the Avengers.  It’s such a weird origin tale. I cannot recall another team/heroes origin where the villain of the story created the hero and that’s what makes it interesting.

Joe Casey (Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Elephantmen) and Phil Noto (Beautiful Killer, The New West) knock this issue out of the park. Casey is already very familiar with the Avengers and modern takes on older storylines, but he meshes the two together perfectly in this book.  Fans of Avengers that miss the good old days of the founding members can take comfort in this. Each character speaks and acts like their golden-age self, which is to say that the Hulk is without a doubt the Hulk. Not an inspired version of the character. Probably one of the strongest interactions of characters is between Ant-Man and the Wasp. They’re just working out of Pym’s garage not rich and famous. But there’s a real sense of home and uncertainty between them. They’re just starting off as superheroes and unsure what that means.