Venom

I saw this movie weeks ago and yet I haven't even written down my thoughts on it. I can assure you that I blocked out most of this movie in my mind, so this review will be short. So congrats reader, you won't have to deal with me rambling on and on.

So, Venom. Where do I even begin with this movie? I went in expecting it to be bad. It met those expectations and exceeded them. Oh wait, that makes it sound good. What I mean to say is, it was worse than I thought.

This movie is bad, in case I wasn't clear. I didn't want this movie to exist and despite the easter eggs they leave, I do not want a sequel to this. It felt like a late 90's to early 00's bad action movie. With the budget of a modern movie.

It tries to toe the line between serious drama, horror, action and low brow comedy and it really fails at all of them. In this movie, it is hard to root for Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). You are told he is a great reporter, but in what you see, he is not. Then we watch his life fall part, mind you, by his own hands. All because he follows the trope of "I'm always right cause I trust my GUT". You don't really take any pleasure in watching all the dominoes fall in the wrong way for this guy.  Tom Hardy tries his best with the material he is given, but there was no helping this. The dialogue is bad.

In this day and age, the special effects are okay. Not great, but not completely terrible. Venom looks like Venom, but given how this story is in the movie, there is no logical sense as to why he would be Spider-Man like. They do avoid having him web-swinging and things like that, but they try to shoe horn the Venom you know into this movie.

Finally, you have your mustache twirling villain, but you also get a couple of other sub villains (MORE evil symbiote), so I guess Venom is your hero by default? His motivations are faulty at best anyway.

I should also mention that the end credits song is performed by Eminem. Listen to about a minute of that and you get all you need to know about this movie and should affirm your reason to not watch this.

Avoid this movie at all costs and do something better with your life!

Iron Fist: Season 2

So. After the first season, I said I wanted nothing else to do with this show. Don't believe me, here's my post. That first season was awful. Then those antics carried into "The Defenders". When Danny Rand showed up in ONE episode of Luke Cage this year, I felt that maybe they got it right.

Then this show just kind of showed up out of nowhere. It's weird, but there was not the press that we have seen from all the other Netflix shows, so I thought it was weird that this just appeared.

I watched the entire season and I can safely say, I really liked this season. I can't believe those words are coming out of my mouth, especially after I wrote off anything related to this show. They fixed just about all the problems I had with the first season. I will take it a step further and say that there was a change in this season that I HOPE carries over into the other Netflix shows. For the first time, a Marvel Netflix series (excluding the Defenders) was ten episodes. With this season, I think that is the magic number. If Game of Thrones can tell a compelling story in ten eps, these shows could too. Thirteen eps has always been a bridge too far with each of these series. By trimming the fat, the show is more streamlined.

I have to admit, when I got to episode ten, after feeling so final, all I could think is, "Oh Lord. NOW what will they do for the next three episodes?" Thankfully, that was it. We have the magic formula now. Ten episodes. I hope they keep doing this now. Jessica Jones definitely needed it. So did Luke Cage.

Anyways, the action was so much better this time around. A new fight choreographer did wonders for the action on this show. Also, I felt like they really embraced the kung-fu-ness that this show was supposed to be in the first place. Now, Danny looks like a real martial artist. In addition, one of the main thrusts of the first season was a lot of corporate/business nonsense which this show smartly puts on the backburner. The last thing I want to see about a guy that knows a mythical brand of kung fu is watching debates about stock options and shareholders. Am I being reductive? Yes. However, if you watched the first season, you know what I mean.

Not only did they get the fighting right, but I feel like they fixed Danny Rand. No longer is he (as) whiny as he was in the first season or the Defenders. He does have a problem that after watching Luke Cage, Daredevil and Punisher I have become tired of. They all have this unwavering moral compass that they feel gives them this superiority. They hold on to it like there's nothing else and it honestly makes them very unlikeable. Rather than grow, they want to stay in their position. Now at least in Luke Cage, that lead to everything being flipped on it's head. Here, things are flipped in a different way. Even though this has been out for a few weeks, I don't want to spoil it, but the status quo gets shifted in a big way at the end.

Going back to Danny, we get to see his relationship with Colleen Wing and how that gets tested. Another gripe about these netflix shows now. All these characters are so damaged that they struggle in their relationships. I thought for a while, this one was going to break that trend. They seemed to work to stay together. Clearly I am alluding to something, so sorry. Spoiler?

It's not like I haven't made this statement before that I am about to make. I love Misty Knight. She's the best. She shows up to help anchor this show. It's amazing how she really makes an impact with her presence. They built on the Misty/Colleen relationship even more in this series and now my Daughters of the Dragon show is becoming more of a reality. Not only that, I feel like the actresses play off each other pretty well, so it at least feels believable. Misty is an interesting character in her own right and she can easily carry her own show.

Like with all the other series, this show inhabits it's own corner of New York. This time we remain in Chinatown and deal with Triads. Whereas the first season was lost and aimless, there is a clear focus here. We also get a compelling villain in Davos. Compelling in the way that a good villain should be. They have good intentions and think they are the heroes in their own story. Unfortunately, they come at it from the wrong angle. Since Davos has that past with Danny and is his equal, we get a believable good guy/bad buy dynamic here where you know they can go toe to toe.

If there was anything I didn't like, it was Ward and Joy being back. Ward is still a P.O.S. and Joy served as a good counterpoint to Davos for most of the season. She had clear beef with Danny stemming from the first season and I hate to see that halfway she changes. I would have liked her staying on that path. Also, I don't want to see redemption for Ward, but they try real hard for that here.

I have done everything to talk around the twist I didn't see coming and that is the interesting direction this show ends on. Like Luke Cage, it was unexpected and I completely dug it. We are left on a true cliffhanger as the status quo has clearly shifted, but they are not going to tell us what happened.

I can't believe I am saying it, but I am all on board for a third season and I really, really enjoyed this season. I was coming in expecting it to be a chore and all it took was the first episode to convince me this was a finely tuned product. I will tell anyone I can to watch this show and basically ignore that first season.

Kevin's Five Favorite Comic Book Issues

Recently, my fiancee asked me what my favorite comic book was. I had to think and realized I didn't have an immediate answer. With as many comic books as I own and have read over the years, I could not think of what I would qualify as my favorite comic book.

When I thought a little MORE, as is my way, I couldn't just settle on one book. I had to pick five. Usually I'm more decisive, but here, I narrowed it down to five, that have their own reasons.

Don't read anything into the order of how I talk about these, but below is my list. I've decided that I will write about my memories of these books and what I thought. Then I will re-read them and give my reaction to that, to see if my memories of these books are still held with such high regard. I hope I don't ruin them...

Fantastic Four #348 (Marvel)
My Memory: This was an issue I read early on in my budding comic book nerdiness. Ironically, it is a Fantastic Four book that barely stars the Fantastic Four. This had a 90's ass team of four heroes that were replacing the Fantastic Four. You have Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and the Grey Hulk. Funnily enough, two of those characters are in my top five favs! I remember that the differences in these characters were really played up and put on display. I forget the reason WHY they were together, but I remember this being a lot of fun. Also, I still love the cover of this book.

Reality: The make up of the New Fantastic Four is definitely as 90's as it gets. I was spot on with what I remembered about that aspect of it. Like I had mentioned, they really play up the differences between all these characters and their interactions with each other. I forgot how aggressive the relationship between the Grey Hulk and Spider-Man was. The artwork by Art Adams was really good here. This issues featured the skrulls, some of the great Fantastic Four villains. Also, this issue showed how much of a dick Reed Richards can be. A skrull replaced his wife and he is playing along, but makes a comment about how he's MORE attracted to this skrull than his actual wife! Watch out for Reed, man. I think this was a fun issue, but if I am being honest, I liked the cover of the issue more than the actual issue itself. I think that is why it has stuck out in my mind.

Amazing Spider-Man #375 (Marvel)
My Memory: Now this memory is very specific. I remember buying this issue when I lived in Germany. I think I had ridden my bike about fifteen minutes away to the small Air Force base and bought this book in a little trailer that sat outside of the BX. I was starting to get into Spider-Man and I was loving Mark Bagley's art on this book. At the time, Venom was like, the villain for Spider-Man. The threat was real because Venom was the one guy who's Spider-Man's spider-sense could not detect. That made him super dangerous. I remember the fight scenes being so dynamic with a satisfying conclusion. The only downside was this was in the middle of an arc where Peter Parker's parents had seemingly come back from the dead. The less I say about that, the better.

Reality: This one does not live up to my memory. I was spot on about the basis of the story. This is an anniversary issue, but it is about as cookie cutter as it gets. This epitomizes the 90's. The Mark Bagley art definitely holds up and it is the saving grace here. This essentially a fight between Spider-Man and Venom. You even get 90's ass characters like Silver Sable and the Wild Pack showing up here. If that doesn't jog a memory inside you, congrats. You escaped the 90's without having to live through this. Since this is an anniversary issue, there are also some nonsense backups that are included. Other than the art, if there is one plus I can say about this issue is that it read fast. Unlike the next issue I'm about to talk about...

X-Men #4 (Marvel)
My Memory: Thanks to the X-Men cartoon, I dived in with both feet into the world of the X-Men. I think I bought this book out of sequence with the other issues and slowly worked my way backwards. In fact, this was one of those rare comics that I had to replace because the condition got so bad that I could not deal. Anyways, that aside, I remember that it started out with a cool scene of some of the X-Men just playing basketball. It was Wolverine and Jubilee versus Gambit and Rogue. This was a point when that romance between Gambit and Rogue was just starting to begin. I remember after a brief fight between all these characters, Rogue and Gambit decide to go on a date. They are attacked by Omega Red, an unforeseen villain from Wolverine's past. What made this book so awesome was the Jim Lee art. This is when he was truly a force of nature in the comics world.

Reality: I forgot how overly worded these comics were back then. First of all, the Jim Lee art was super solid back then. This was when his star was on the rise. There is that fun basketball game between Wolverine/Rogue vs. Gambit/Jubilee. What was annoying is the overtly scientifically way that Beast's dialogue was. He sounds like a guy that uses big words to sound smart. This criticism is aimed at the writers. I don't know what they were trying to prove here, but it is very ham-fisted. It is laughably bad. The action looked good, but man, the writing was not. Unfortunately, this one didn't hold up as well as I thought. It is wrought with 90's schlock.

X-Men #25 (Marvel)
My Memory: At this point, I had been reading all the X-books (X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force and X-Factor), so I was all in. This issue was the big turning point in the Fatal Attractions story line that was running through all the books. It's a big deal because this is when Magneto pulls all the Adamantium out of Wolverine's body! The pain of this was captured in scary detail by the pencils of Andy Kubert. This in turn caused Professor Xavier to retaliate by completely wiping the mind of Magneto. This issue would have long lasting ramifications for the X-Universe for many years. From this story, it is revealed that Wolverine had bone claws all along, not created when the adamantium was added to his body, debunking that long held plot point. Xavier's actions would lead to the eventual creation of Onslaught, another X-Men big bad that would be the thing around 1998.

Reality: This issue is almost a time capsule of what comics were in the 90's. I forgot that back then, you would see characters smoking all the time. There are no less than five different scenes with characters smoking. You see The Thing stepping out of the shower with a stogie in his mouth! Nick Fury is smoking a cigar somewhere on the Shield Hellicarrier. Wolverine is shown smoking a cigarette before going on a mission and Gambit is too! They have done away with all that in comics today. Oh right, the issue itself. Fabian Nicieza must have gone to the Chris Claremont school of writing because this issue is overwrought with dialogue. What did come across is how dire the mission was to stop Magneto this time. The Andy Kubert art was really good, but there were a lot of shots of characters standing around, looking off into the distance. Also, some of the action scenes were framed really weird. The scene where Magneto rips the adamantium out of Wolverine is very visceral. Xavier's reaction to that was just as powerful, as he was a man who was finally fed up. If anything was weird to me, it's the makeup of the team. It's explained, but seemed weird giving all the X-Men running around at the time. Also, Jean Grey is brought along to back up Xavier in what feels really sexist in the way she's used. The 90's man. I think this issue holds up, but like I said, it took a while to read. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Fantastic Four #60 (Marvel)
My Memory: At this point, I had been out of comic books for about five years. Yes, believe it or not, when I went to college, I gave up comic books, cold turkey. This was a combination of a number of things. There was a horrible clone saga story line going on with the Spider-Man books. Onslaught lead to the Heroes Reborn and so on. So my cousin told me about this issue and I saw that it was only 9 cents. So with that price point, you know the idea is to try and hook new readers. Well, it was so well written and true to the spirit, that I was hooked once again. Mike Wieringo's art was dynamic and the humanizing touches that Mark Waid reminded me of what I liked about the Fantastic Four in the first place. This is the book that jump started my return to comics.

Reality: Yup. My memory of this comic was accurate. It is well written in a way that not many "introductory" type issues are. It uses a clever device of having an outsider join the Fantastic Four to chronicle their daily lives as part of a campaign to improve their image. In comics, there is always destruction by the heroes to save the day, but it's rarely shown the impact of that. The purpose of this PR campaign is to improve their "Q-Rating". What I loved about this issue is how playful the characters are with each other, which shows how much of a family they are and not just a team. Also, it has what I think is the best description of some of their powers that you will ever hear. Mr. Fantastic's stretching is described as the sound you make when you drag your hand over a balloon. The Thing's every action is described as rocks rolling around in a clothes dryer. That's genius stuff. The art is wonderful, but with all this explanation of the characters and their relationships, there is a mystery as to who funded the campaign for the group. It is revealed that it was Mr. Fantastic himself. He feels guilty about the hubris he showed in his experiment that gave them all powers and how that changed their lives. Especially Ben Grimm, which has been a plot point for many years. Honestly, if there was one book out of these five I would recommend to any person, it would be this issue.

So if I had to pick a winner here, it is clearly Fantastic Four #60. It reminded me why I love the Fantastic Four so much. All in all, I think this was a fun experiment. This ended up being Marvel focused, so maybe I will pluck five DC books at some point and go through those.

Cloak and Dagger

There seems to be an abundance of riches these past few years as far as comic book shows go. I can count at least nine comic book series I have watched. JUST THIS YEAR! Thankfully with each new show that comes out, they all have something fresh to offer.

This is what I felt about Cloak and Dagger. Look, I know this will sound like I have said this about a lot of things on this blog, but it is true. I've been a Cloak and Dagger fan for years. Unlike the other characters I have talked about loving before, I can't even determine when I started to like these two. I'm not even going to quantify it.

I say all that to set up that I was looking forward to this show. This might be a minor complaint, but it is something I am noticing with more of these shows. There is a definite slow burn that is happening. Since it's not serialized television, you have a long running arc that goes throughout the season. What I had worried about here is that this show was a super hero show based on all the ads. That is barely what this show is about. So, I feel like those that came to this show expecting super heroes are going to be disappointed. Yes, they do have powers, but half the season are these two trying to figure it all out. They don't even appear in costume.

However, I did actually like this show. I just felt like it dragged a little in the middle. Also, knowing that these two are a couple in the comics, I kept shipping them hard and being disappointed when it wasn't going in that direction. This is my OWN baggage. I am at least thankful that it kept me guessing.

I also want to say that I loved that they chose New Orleans as the setting. In the comics, damn near every super hero is based in New York. These two are no exception. It's nice to see that with some of these shows, they are willing to move the characters to completely different locales. This is a city I don't see much of, so it's a refreshing change. The city also plays a part into many elements of the story.

As silly as their origin seems here, it's a lot better than the original conceit. Marvel really loved to tie all their super heroes to drugs in some way. Other small things that changed for the better, is they got rid of Tyrone's stutter, which was a big part of his personality within the comics. He didn't need that as a crutch. Giving him a somewhat happy home life helped flesh him out.

If I have a criticism, it's that not all of the actors are strong. This is a cable TV show and I feel like that shows. The main actors playing Tyrone and Tandy are good, it's just some of the periphery characters. I'm thinking of most of the cops that show up. Tandy's mom was a tad annoying too.

I am so glad that we didn't get a cartoony, comic book type of villain. These two are not fighting a costumed super villain. There are a lot of shades of grey here. I got wrapped up in the main mysteries of the season. That being the duel vengeance for the death of Tyrone's brother and Tandy's father. You wanted to see justice done and guess what, spoiler, it gets resolved. I now look forward to see where they go with their main quests achieved. There I am hoping they will be in some form of their costumes. All of the promo material had them looking like that, so I feel like that was the biggest bait and switch.

Would I recommend this show to others? Absolutely. The only caveat I would make is that this is a show aimed at teenagers, so you will have to deal with teenage angst. For me, I already watch Riverdale unabashedly, so I'm fine with teenage angst in my life.

Fantastic Four #1

They're back!!

I know it has been a few weeks since this book came out, but I needed to talk about it before I completely forgot.

I've documented many times on this here blog that I am a huge Fantastic Four fan. Well, as of two weeks ago, they are now officially back in the Marvel Universe! After a lengthy hiatus, they returned in Fantastic Four #1. The book continued the exploits of Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm, which is a thread that has been running over in Marvel 2 In One.

The reason I wanted to talk about this book is that it is rare these days that I genuinely feel something from a comic book. I've become jaded and cynical. Not much truly moves me. This issue did for a number of reasons.

At least with this first issue, writer Dan Slott has lovingly acknowledged the past of the Fantastic Four while keeping an eye on the future. In what was one of the more shocking developments, Ben Grimm proposed to Alicia Masters! How has this not happened?! All the stuff they have been through over the years and they are just now about to get married. This is one of those truly sweet relationships that you rarely find in comics. A blind sculptor who falls in love with a guy made of orange rock. Okay, it doesn't sound as sweet when I say it like THAT, but it is. Just trust me.

I've stated before how Ben Grimm is one of my favorite characters and I am glad to see him find a little bit of happiness here.

On the other side, we've been watching Johnny Storm slowly begin to unravel. In speaking of the past, we get an appearance from Wyatt Wingfoot AND She Hulk all in one issue, also acknowledging their past. I swear it's like this issue was written for me.

Not to be outdone, we also get a little bit of a view in the what Dr. Doom is doing.

What I said before is real. When I put this issue down, I was truly happy. I felt like I was back home again. It's a hard feeling to describe, but you know it when you feel it.

Surprisingly, this first issue did not feature the team getting together at all. However, you could feel their impression within the book and the anticipation for their return. The FF used to be the center of the Marvel Universe and they were the beginning of it. I hope with this new iteration, that can get pushed back there and maybe we can push the Avengers to the side a little...

Luke Cage - Season 2

I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but to the surprise of no one, I watched another Marvel Netflix show. This time it was season two of Luke Cage. Honestly, I liked this season more than the first. This show wasn't perfect and it had a few flaws. However, they were a lot less glaring for me than the first season. If we want to get REALLY specific, I hated Diamondback. Hated him. He's gone, so that makes this season infinitely better. Enough with this conversation, let's get into my review.

As usual, I will try to avoid spoilers, but I'm not human. They MAY happen.

To start off, what I really liked was the villain for most of the season. The villain this time around is John McIver, a.k.a. "Bushmaster". Here we have a compelling villain with an understandable motivation. He is coming after Mariah Dillard and Harlem just happens to be the collateral damage. First of all, I loved the portrayal of him by actor, Mustafa Shakir. I've never seen him in anything before, but this show made me a fan. We have a guy that is just as physically imposing as Luke Cage and feels like a real threat in a way that Diamondback never did. Also, unlike the first season, you have a villain that Luke Cage can actually fight. Secondly, I loved what his inclusion brought to the table of this series. We have a subtext of Jamaican black people versus American black people. You see how these two different cultures co-exist within Harlem. To me, this is fascinating and my not be something most people would even think about. Also, given his motivations, you kind of root for the guy in a way. You get where he's coming from and we get an interesting dynamic where he begins to become the talk of the town as Luke cage loses the faith of people. The two are diametrically opposed and watching that play out is compelling.

All of this leads me to something else I liked about this season. The arc of Luke Cage. This goes hand in hand with Bushmaster. At the beginning, Luke is Harlem's hero and he is reaping the benefits of that. We are introduced to D.W. Griffith, who I would consider is a deep cut for those familiar with the Power Man and Iron Fist series of the late 70's/early 80's. When Luke gets beat by Bushmaster, which is filmed, people lose faith in him and his popularity begins to wane. With this, Luke starts a series of questionable choices that lead him to where he ends up by the season's end. All I will say is that every villain is the hero in their own story. This is the path that Luke begins to walk as he begins to lose relationships due to his own uncompromising sense of morality. In a way, like the people of Harlem, you begin to turn on Luke Cage and I think the series does a good job of that. You start to question his choices and if this is the hero Harlem needs. If that is too subtle, pay attention to what D.W. says to him at the end of the last episode. Luke has lost his way and it will be interesting to see how he gets it back.

To give you a series of quick hits of other things I liked about this season, let me present to you the following in the next couple of sentences. I absolutely love Misty Knight and how she is portrayed in this series. She also gets her own arc and she is an example of characters that get screen time that is well worth it. After losing her arm in "The Defenders", we find her struggling to deal with that. For a brief moment, we get a glimpse into a Daughters of the Dragon team up, as she hangs out with Colleen Wing. This is another nod to the comics that pleased me to no end. In my eyes, seeing these two together almost justifies all we suffered through with the Iron Fist show. I get to finally see this team up realized, in the way I always wanted. Now that we got a taste, I would LOVE to see more of this pair together. Actress Simone Missick is fantastic.

I forgot to mention above, but there is an episode where we also get an appearance by Danny Rand, a.k.a., Iron Fist. We finally get the dynamic that Defenders tried to cultivate. Iron Fist finally felt right after his dreadful series and an appearance in the Defenders that had me second guessing him being around. I still don't like Finn Jones as Iron Fist, but at least here I had less problems with it. If we can get more of this, that would be much appreciated.

Before I move on, like the first season, I absolutely love the music in this series. It still remains fantastic and keeps the blaxploitation feel that I loved.

So I spent a lot of time talking about what I like and I know they were super specific cases, but those are the things that still stick with me months after finishing the series. Now as for what I didn't like, that is also fairly easy.

I read over my review of season one, and I realized how kind I was and neglected to say a few things. Above, I mentioned how i hated Diamondback, but that old review was more glowing. This is what happens when you get older and crankier, folks. What I am trying to get at is I glossed over Alfre Woodard's, "Black Mariah" character. I think it worked in the first season, but in this second season there is such a thing as too much. That is what she was here. In the Bushmaster vs. Black Mariah fight, I was easily rooting for Bushmaster. She comes off as more crazy and unhinged in this season. Also, the tics that Woodard portrays her with starts to grate on my nerves. She does crazy eyes very well, I will give her that. She becomes a mustache twirling villain in this series.

We also have to see her relationship with Shades play out and it's so hard to get a read on the relationship. On the one hand, given the way Shades has been portrayed, you expect him to be playing her the entire time. However, they show that he is hopelessly in love with her. On a side note, I liked that they introduced Comanche into the series, which is another deep cut from Luke Cage lore. So like I was saying, their relationship is weird. Her whole arc and the inclusion of her daughter in this season don't help in humanizing her, but more firmly establishing that she's the worst. Wow, this went on way longer than I thought it would. The one saving grace is that she masterfully manipulated Luke Cage into the place where he ends up by the series end.

I've talked on long enough, but for those that are on the fence, I will say that I think that this season is good. I have talked with a few people that didn't like it or couldn't make it past the first few episodes. I get that, but I will say if you push through, I think you will get something that you will like. Season three is positioned to be really interesting.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

I will be honest. When this movie was first announced, just like with the first movie, I thought this was a reach by Marvel. Be honest, who really cares about Ant-Man? Even if he is being portrayed by the charming, Paul Rudd. Well, I ended up liking the first movie more than I thought I would. I am happy to report that I liked this movie even more.

There are a number of things I think this movie did better to correct the problems of the first. Most importantly, there is not a mustache twirling villain in this movie. Ghost, who we can say is the main antagonist, is not so much a villain as someone that is in a terrible circumstance. He/She will do anything to correct that. The motivations are crystal clear and he/she is a sympathetic character.

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is still a sometimes bumbling Ant-Man, but I think he has more heart in this movie. You can see that reflected in the relationship with his daughter, which is really sweet. He means well, but keeps messing things up when he is trying to do the right thing.

I feel like Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) was a lot less ice queenish in this movie than in the last one. She was clearly hurt by Scott Lang's actions in Captain America: Civil War and that relationship is strained at the beginning of this movie. Also, we get to see her do a lot more (action wise) and she is awesome. I love the strong female representation we are seeing in more of the Marvel films. That definitely wasn't there much at the start.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Michael Pena. If there is one guy that steals the show in each of these movies, it is him. I liked that they didn't give us TOO much of him, otherwise it would be overpowering.

Now that I've talked about the actors I liked, let's get into the movie itself. Like the first movie, it is self contained. It references and is affected by the events of the past couple of Marvel movies, but it lives in it's own space. I have repeatedly said in the past how I like movies like this. Here, Scott Lang is serving out his home arrest due to a plea deal he took as part of his actions in Captain America: Civil War.

There are honest belly laughs in this movie. The premise is handled with the appropriate amount of humor. There is a lot of science going on in this movie, but it doesn't get completely bogged down in it. We don't need to know how the science works. It just does. Move on. Rudd and Pena provide most of that humor, but it also comes from some of the other supporting characters. There are a couple of callbacks with some of the jokes, which I love. I would love nothing more than to give a few examples, but I don't want to spoil it. Well, the one thing I will spoil is you get another Michael Pena narrated flashback in the same manner that you did in the first one. This is a device that is still very funny to me.

I almost forgot that this movie is really about finding Hank Pym's wife, Janet in the "Quantum Realm". I think that search is handled as well as it could be from a plot perspective.

The special effects in this movie were pretty good. I really don't like the de-aging technology a lot of movies are using in flashbacks (they use it here for Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas). I find it distracting. Just cast younger version of the characters themselves. This is unrelated to the special effects, but I came to the conclusion in this movie that I just don't care for Michael Douglas. At all.

I really don't have anything else I want to say about this movie other than you should go see it. It is a fun and enjoyable film. If Marvel keeps this up, my top ten movies will be in a constant state of flux. You watched all the OTHER Marvel movies, so go watch this one too!

Rogue and Gambit!!

Before I say anything else, if you have not read "X-Men: Gold" #30, do not read on. If you have or have no idea why I am making this post, join me!

As is my way, I only really post my random comic book thoughts if something significant has happened. I don't want to oversell it, but this is that kind of post.

In X-Men: Gold #30, we were SUPPOSED to get the marriage between Kitty Pryde and Colossus. For long time X-Men fans, this is a relationship that has been off and on for about thirty years. It's one of those marriages that you figured would have happened already by now and only made sense when it finally did. Instead, Marvel gives us a weird swerve where they do NOT get married. Instead, we get Rogue and Gambit?!

Although this relationship is not as old as Kitty and Colossus, it has had it's up and downs as well. This relationship is the epitome of 90's X-Men comics. I mean, it made it into the cartoon! They were characters in X-Men vs. Street Fighter! Their relationship was a central conflict in the Age of Apocalypse story line. Or rather, hinted at what could have been. This was a pairing that I was always down with and I was saddened when the events of Uncanny X-Men #350 made it seem like this relationship would never happen again. It is only coincidence, I swear, that I quit reading Uncanny X-Men and comics in general after that.

For a few years, I gave up on the X-Men and didn't follow the paths of those two characters. When I came back to the X-Men, Gambit was not showing up as often in the books I was reading. Then he appeared in X-Men: Gold at the beginning and occasionally elsewhere. It wasn't until the Rogue & Gambit mini-series a few weeks ago did I get to see them together. Not only was that mini-series really good, but it rekindled my love of this couple. They always seemed to gravitate back to one another. It's good to see the "will they/won't they" finally end.

As a cynical comic fan, they always find a way to break up marriages, so I don't foresee this lasting very long. Need examples? Look at Jean Grey/Cyclops, Pater Parker/Mary Jane, Black Panther/Storm and Wolverine/Mariko. There are plenty more examples, but these are the ones that popped into my mind.

All this is to say, let's enjoy this while we can. Hopefully it will last longer than a year. Seriously, the X-Men could use a relationship that actually lasts.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

I saw this movie a few weeks ago and I have to confess, I really liked it. In my opinion, this is a movie that did not need to happen. With that being said, it was really fun.

After watching the initial trailers, I was not sold on Alden Ehrenreich playing Solo. However, he grew on me. Donald Glover is definitely a great choice as Lando. He attempted the cadence at times of a Billy Dee Williams, but I don't think he needed to. If his whole character is boiled down to his speech pattern, maybe there is something wrong with the character. Also, over the years, I've become a real fan of Woody Harrelson. He's fantastic in this movie.

Anyways, here is my short review of this movie.

Like I said above, it was a lot of fun. It is essentially a heist movie that has a couple of twists and turns. To be honest, it didn't feel like Star Wars and that was a good thing. There were no lightsaber battles. There was no mention of the force. You just have regular dudes and shades of grey in the morality of these characters. For example, Lando is almost a straight up villain in this film. What do I mean? You will have to watch to find out. The empire makes an appearance, but you don't see a lot of Stormtroopers here. This movie is less Star Wars than Rogue One was. Given that thought, I like that these standalone Star War films feel like different genres of films.

The action scenes were really good. Quite a bit of suspense, as you find in a heist movie. I ALWAYS love seeing the Millennium Falcon, so it was great to see it. In all the trailers, it had that weird connecting piece in the middle. That gets explained and I hope we never have to see it again. I don't need that space between the prongs to ever be filled.

After seeing Chewbacca for maybe five minutes in the Last Jedi, it was good to see him in action and seeing him as a factor again. He was a major component of the first trilogy, but was so marginalized in the last movie.

What was not great was seeing how Han Solo got his name. It was dumb and I wish we never saw it.

Surprisingly, I don't have much else to say about the movie. Partly because it HAS been three weeks, but also because while it was a good movie, it didn't really leave an impression on me. It sucks that this movie did not do better because it is not as bad as people will lead you to believe.

Deadpool 2

I had to check and saw that we JUST had a Deadpool movie two years ago. With that being said, I don't think it had an adverse effect on the quality of this movie. I loved this movie. I think the first one was better because it had to work with a smaller budget and felt fresher.

This movie also delivered on the process of the ending credits sequence in the first movie by having Cable appear.

What is evident with the addition of Cable and the opening scene is that this movie had a lot more of a budget to play around with. It is definitely more special effects driven. We get an awesome James Bond like opening credits scene. What makes this more awesome (and I didn't realize this when we watched it) is that it was sung by Celine Deon. That's a pretty big pull, Ryan Reynolds. More props to him.

My lady pointed out something that opened my eyes. In this movie, Deadpool seems less like a mean spirited a-hole and more of a sympathetic character. To say why would be a spoiler. This thread drives him throughout the movie and I will say there are some surprisingly heartfelt moments.

I liked the new characters that we get in this movie. Specifically Domino. Cable was good too, but in a way he almost feels misplaced here. They did their best, but having serious backstory with major repercussions for the future feels at odds with this action comedy.

I will get into more things I liked, but I will say about the only thing I really didn't like is we don't get a truly mustache twirling, evil bad guy. Well, let me rephrase. We don't get an evil bad guy that warrants a huge boss fight. Okay, the other thing I didn't like is the amount of time we get with Colossus and one bad guy, which would be a spoiler. This is because the CG on them are not very good and their inclusion generally takes me out of the film.

The small budget in the first movie really made it more gritty, I think.

Getting back to what I liked, we get X-Force in some fashion and it is pretty great how they are used. This is another thing that would be a huge spoiler, so I won't say any more than that. We get more jokes about the past Fox movies and some of the DC movies. The action scenes were really good and did I mention I liked the jokes? The soundtrack plays an important part in this movie and I liked the choices that they made.

I'm writing this a few weeks after watching it, so I can't remember much else to say here. This movie was pretty good and you should go see it if you haven't already.

Jessica Jones Season 2

I finally finished this a few weeks ago. I'll elaborate more, as is my way, but I have to say this. I didn't like this season. At all. It made me truly appreciate how great Killgrave was as a villain in the first season.

I won't leave you with just that bit. I'll try to keep from any spoilers.

The biggest crime of this season is that it was boring. What I want from Jessica Jones is a story about a very good Private Investigator as she solves mysteries. This is the show that would greatly benefit from being a procedural and not serialized tv. At the end of the day, we just haven't seen enough of Jessica Jones doing a lot of investigation before that goes out the window for the main plot. Now you may be feeling this is an unfair assessment, but that is the lasting impression I get.

With that being said, let's go into this season. I feel like this show wasted all the good will it earned from the first season and the Defenders.

The characters have unsatisfying arcs which I will elaborate down below. A mysterious woman shows up and starts murdering people. The rest of the season follows Jessica and her confrontations with the mysterious woman. I know this has been out for a few months now, but I don't want to spoil the twist.

Clearly, I have run out of steam on writing this. When I love a show, I talk about it endlessly. When I hate a show, I talk about it endlessly. In this case, I just feel apathetic. Which is sad because I have nothing against the character.

However, in this season, we see more self-destructive behavior from Jessica which is tiring because we saw this arc last season. It is time for her to grow and we don't really get that. Also, we have to simultaneously deal with Trish as she gets hooked on the designer drug that made our made villains from the last season. Watching both of these characters circle the drain at the same time is maddening.

Also, we get more Hogarth and she is also dealing with her own stuff. We have three strong female leads all dealing with drama at the same time, but rarely interacting with each other. As a viewer, this is frustrating watching all of these characters deal with their issues in silos.

My final complaint is the setting. In the first season, we spent most of our time in New York and it felt like it. Here, they almost go out of their way to NOT be in New York City. The stylistic touches we got were practically absent this season. This show was at it's best with a strong villain and the villain in this season was terrible. The also comes to an unceremonious end.

I'm sure this will get a third season and I hope they can right the ship.

Avengers: Infinity War

Ten years and Eighteen Films later, we now have Infinity War. This is the culmination of everything they've done and what I love about it is it seems like this was the plan all along.

To the surprise of no one, I saw this movie twice over opening weekend. Then I had a great conversation with all my friends about it. Still, I needed a few more days to fully decompress and get my feelings right.

Oh, I've spent two small paragraphs without saying how I felt about the movie. I loved it. This was like a big comic book crossover, brought to life on the big screen.

Gun to my head, in all honesty, it would be forth on my personal favorite Marvel films list. This isn't a bad thing, I just liked my three movies better. For the curious, that ranking is Black Panther, Captain America: Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy.

What impressed me about this movie is that it accomplished two things that can be difficult. It felt like there were real consequences to what was happening. The other thing is that this movie manages to juggle like thirty characters and does it in a way that the movie flowed very well. I'm surprised that it didn't get crushed under the weight of it.

At this point, I should mention that there might be spoilers. I will do my best to not give away too much, but some things I will have to comment on.

Where to begin without giving away too much? I really liked the pairing of characters that we get. In comic books, it's always great to see characters that have never met get thrown into a situation to fight a big threat. It's throwing your typical team dynamics into a potential pressure cooker. This is comic book 101 and it is done expertly here. What is impressive though, is that they paired up characters that fit together tonally. For instance, you get Tony Stark, Iron Man and Spider-Man in one group. Seeing Tony and Strange play off each other, you realize how similar they are in some ways, yet also different. You get two alpha males and a kid that is still figuring it all out.

Tom Holland is still great as Spider-Man. I hope they keep him around for a long time. Also, it feels like Benedict Cumberbatch has lost that weird American accent he used in his own movie. Thank goodness.

Another pairing we get is Thor with the Guardians of the Galaxy, which was another team up that worked. Their brand of comedy meshed well. Again, this was a great thing to see.

In fact, to tie this up, it was great to see all the actors/characters on screen in all the different permutations.

Before I go any further, for a movie this big, you need a great villain. I am glad to say that now that we finally see Thanos for more than 5 seconds, he is the perfect antagonist at the perfect time. They had to change his origin a bit, but at the end of the day, he was a great and they played him perfectly. I have said this before, but my favorite kind of villain is the one that thinks they are the hero in their own story. In this movie, he had a clear motivation for what he was doing. It's a warped way of thinking, but he had a plan and truly thought he was making the universe better.

Also, they did a great job with the CG on Thanos. Sometimes you truly forget he's not a real person. It's clear where some of the money went.

Another particular thing that speaks to my soul is watching fight scenes where the heroes are fighting together with various team up moves. If there is one thing that gets me in a team movie, it's synchronized moves. With stakes this high, it is good to see the heroes fighting together, not apart. Same goes for the villains.

Speaking of which, we don't get any background on Thanos' Black Order, which is okay. They are mini-bosses for the heroes to fight, so they serve their purpose.

There are specific moments in this movie where I either let out an audible, "YES!" or I was so excited I got goosebumps. One moment is when we first see Captain America. Another is watching Spider-Man swing into battle. I can't say when, because that would be spoiling. There is also a moment where you see Captain America and Black Panther running into battle and as they turn on the jets, it's a cool visual to see them leading the charge into a battle (that I am trying hard to not reveal).

I will say, that if you do not like quips, you would hate this movie. The quips are all over the place. As the movie goes along, you will see this is very necessary as this movie is extraordinarily dark. We need those moments of levity. If you haven't heard anything about this movie, the ending will be a huge gut punch.

Before I end this review, since we had to follow a lot of characters, we get to see a lot of different locales and they were all different while being distinct.

As you can see, I clearly had a lot to say about this movie and yet I feel like I didn't really talk about anything. I did this for YOU, dear reader. I wish I could get into more specifics, but I don't think the statute of limitations has passed yet.

Runaways

I initially meant to talk about Hulu's Runaway series months ago when it ended. This one slipped through the cracks and not due to anything with the show. Sometimes life gets in the way.

I want to start off by saying I really enjoyed this show. Almost more so than some of the Netflix Marvel shows. I think by being in LA and not in grim and gritty New York, the atmosphere was just so different. I think the fact that it was about a bunch of teenagers and not maladjusted adults helped too.

It has been a long time since I read the first volume of the Runaways comic, but this show felt pretty faithful to that. This series was a fresh concept when it came out and still feels fresh here. If there was any difference between this and the comic book series, I think the parents get more fleshed out here. In the comics they were basically mustache twirling villains. Here, they all have their own motivations and we get to see those played out.

They did a really good job with the young actors that played our main characters. I liked them all in their own ways. I think that is what really makes this show. The strength of our main characters. They also felt like authentic kids. I didn't cringe at the dialogue as you can do when a show is trying too hard.

I've become more convinced that ten episodes is about the right amount of episodes in a show. There is little filler because time is at a premium. This show gets going, but doesn't hang around too long. If the Marvel Netflix shows could do the same, we would have something.

Let me talk about the look of the show. I feel like some money really did go into this show. Old Lace (Gert's pet dinosaur) looked pretty good. The sets looked good and even though I have never been to LA, this show felt like it was authentic enough. The costume designs seemed pretty spot on too.

I wanted to keep this review short, so I will end by saying that this show is definitely worth a watch. It ends on a cliffhanger that makes me excited about where this show will go next. My initial excitement for this show was the reason I finally decided to subscribe to Hulu. It was well worth it.

The Fantastic Four Are Coming Back!!

Alright, Alright. So you've heard my whining pleas as I wistfully pined for the days of yesteryear. Nothing gets more yesteryear than the Fantastic Four. After Marvel was teasing this "Fresh Start" (ugh) initiative they are doing with their comic line, they spent days teasing what was coming. Then today, they announced that the Fantastic Four are coming back! I couldn't be more happy! Absence truly makes the heart grow fonder.

Even better, they get a really good creative team. We get writer Dan Slott, fresh off his ten plus year run on Spider-man and Sara Pichelli on art. If they can sustain this, that's a pretty good team. I hope this book doesn't fall into the double booking scheduling that Marvel/DC seems to be doing right now. I'm not going to lie, I really wanted Chip Zdarsky to get that shot at writing this book after the great work he has been putting in on Marvel 2-In-One.. Since he signed an exclusive with Marvel, maybe they have other plans for him.

I'm definitely over the moon. You could tell because I felt compelled to actually write a timely post on this here blog. That is all.

Black Panther

Now that I have seen this movie three times within the last seven days, I think I have formed enough of an opinion to actually write about it. You may have seen this everywhere else already, but I want to echo that same sentiment. This movie is a big deal for me and black people alike. There has never been a big, blockbuster super hero movie like this with a black cast this large.

What's even better, is that in this movie, the characters are not all cookie cutter stereotypes that you find in most black characters in film. This in and of itself is also very refreshing. It is great to see black characters as being fully capable and smart.

As I think about it, this is a movie that I am immensely proud of. It's a movie that I can happily recommend to people because it is also a pretty good movie in it's own right. It is a celebration of black excellence. As I alluded to above, we get positive portrayals of black people here which is counter to what you normally see on screen.

Let's talk about the movie now. After the last couple of Marvel movies (Thor: Ragnarok excluded) it was nice to see a film that had a fresh take and look. This movie does not look like the other Marvel movies and it is all the better for it. Whether it's CG or not, there is a lot of beautiful scenery to take in here.

I also want to add that there is a lot to unpack from this movie. I won't go into TOO much detail, but this movie deals with a lot of issues, which would almost seem heavy for a super hero movie. Here I feel it is done organically without feeling forced. For starters, it deals with Isolationism and the detriment it can have. Wakanda is a nation that is rich, but to the outside world they appear as a third world country. This is by design, as Wakanda looks to take care of their own and nobody else. This is probably the most central them of the movie. When there is a line about not allowing immigrants into the country because they bring their own problems with them at the expense of the host country, this rings true with real world events.

Then you have to deal with the fight between tradition and modern ideas. T'Challa's sister, Shuri, is the best representation of this. You see this in that they have all this wonderful technology, but their clothes and their armor reflect their tradition. This is also evident in the clothes that Shuri wears. What makes this interesting is that with all this technology, they still have hand to hand combat to show who is truly worthy to be the king of the nation. If you think about it, the dichotomy between those two is pretty stark.

Let's not forget how heavy is the head that wears the crown.  T'Challa, who has been thrust into a ruler due to extremely unfortunate circumstances, has to constantly juggle whether it is better to look after his own country or be a shining beacon to the rest of the world. All this and he is trying to live up to legacy of his dad, who he idolized as a hero. This also gets challenged later in the film and has a profound effect on him. We get to watch T'Challa grow into his role as the king.

One last theme I want to talk about is the concept of Duty. This struggle is seen in the character of Okoye. As a general, she has to remain loyal to the throne, no matter who sits on it. She is pretty steadfast in her commitment to this, but you can see her also change through out the movie. I hope with her performance, Danai Guirara put the world on notice. She is the best part of Walking Dead and she steals the show here.

How about we talk about probably the most compelling character in this movie, Eric "Killmonger". He was wonderfully portrayed by Michael B. Jordan. They always say the hero is only as good as his villain and Killmonger shines in this movie. Sure, he kills people and that makes him bad, but he had a compelling argument for his actions. For him, the fact that Wakanda stood idly by while the rest of black people have been enslaved or impoverished, served as a reason for him to bring down the monarchy. Also, as part of his quest, he does begin systematically tearing down Wakanda from the inside, forcing the nation to have to change. He wasn't so much an agent of chaos as a villain that was cold and calculating. Also, the best villains are the hero in their own story and that is Killmonger in this movie to a T.

I also want to mention the Dora Milaje. Not only them, but the characters of Okoye, Nakia and Shuri. Here you have three different and distinctly strong black women on film. The fact that they are black is secondary to their strength, but it goes to show how little of that we get in big budget super hero movies. It was great to see so many strong women kicking ass on screen.

I could go on and on, but the cast was fantastic here. I've gone all this way and I am just now mentioning that Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett are in this movie.

I don't want to discredit the job that Chadwick Boseman did with this movie. In such a large cast, it would be easy to fall in behind so many other strong performances, but he is excellent in this film. He put a lot of hard work into preparing for this role and it shows. He is completely committed to the character and that makes him a joy to watch. You want to root for him and in some of the showings I went to, there was open applause when he appears near the end of the film.

I loved that this movie was self contained in that you do not see a lot of the other Marvel films having any bearing on what happened here, other than the death of T'Challa's father, which happened in the Captain America: Civil War film. I thought the movie was paced well. It had a great infusion of humor that never seems forced. Everyone is not here to make quips like we've seen in many other Marvel films.  The stakes felt very real and the way it was playing out, you weren't sure who was going to live or die. I was definitely on the edge of my seat.

There area lot of fantastic action sequences in this movie too. From the hand to hand combat of the fights for the throne, the car chase scene in Busan, the last battle scene of the movie, the action helped balance the non-action sequences very well.

My only complaint is that I really hate CG stuntmen and there was a lot of that here. I know it is here to stay, but I can't help but to complain every time I see it. It can make it look more like a video game and less like actual actors doing some of these stunts.

I am so glad they made this film and that it is doing extremely well. Black Panther is my favorite Marvel Character and I'm glad to see him treated so well here. I also hope that people are watching it and catching some of the themes I mentioned above. I know it can be lost amidst the noise of a super hero film.

If you haven't seen this film, please go see it. It comes with my highest recommendation. After seeing it three times, I think I can officially unseat  Captain America: Winter Soldier as my favorite Marvel film and put this movie into it's place. I've watched all the films, so I don't come by this lightly. I know a lot of my own personal feelings are wrapped up in this, but isn't that what a film is supposed to make you do?

Wakanda forever.

Marvel Two-In-One makes me ask...can we have the Fantastic Four back now?

Can we not just use a door like gentleman?

It's not often I get moved by a comic. I'm not made of stone, but I can get emotional. Will I admit to crying? Never!

Then there is Marvel-Two-In-One, Marvel's new series that is a return to the series of yesteryear. In that original iteration, it was all about Ben Grimm (The Thing) teaming up with random super heroes, kind of like Spider-Man was doing over in Marvel Team-Up. I've admitted on this blog before that Ben Grimm is in my personal top five favorite Marvel characters. Number two in fact. So I was super excited for this book to come out. It also helps that Jim Cheung is on art duties for these first two issues, who is one of my favorites.

Anyways, there are only two issues out and it has made me YEARN for a new Fantastic Four comic. In summary, Ben seeks out Johnny Storm, who has been having a rough time of it ever since Reed, Sue, Johnny and Valeria disappeared into obscurity. These first two issues are heavy because you deal with Johnny not only being depressed, but also losing his powers. Ben brings him along to take him out of his funk and give his life some purpose. To know these two characters, this is really heavy stuff. They had a falling out and now they are trying to get it together. All the while, Ben is keeping a big secret from Johnny that will play out later.

The reason I felt compelled to write this is Chip Zdarsky did a fantastic (see what I did there) job with these first few issues. In reading this, I can only hope that when the Fantastic Four do return, he gets a chance to write them. He has the voice of Johnny and Ben down. Not only that we get a return to monster island (where the comic first started) and Dr. Doom. Let's just keep checking those boxes, Chip!

The true reason for this post is for me to talk about how much I miss having a Fantastic Four comic. To some, it is a concept that is outdated. What kind of world is this when a comic book about a family that actually likes each other, is passé? If anything, we need it more. Their comic is what started the modern day Marvel universe and I hate that they've been disrespected and shelved for so long. All of this over a rumored dispute between Fox and Marvel.

With Disney close to buying the film rights to Fox's library, I hope that the ice on the Fantastic Four franchise will thaw.

The Inevitable Best and Worst List of 2017

Well, I completely failed my resolution from last year's best of post. I said I would get this up sooner, but instead it took me longer. Life goals people. You need to have them. 

Anyways, 2017 is gone and in the books. DC continued it’s resurgence and Marvel has begun to flounder. My books still skew towards the Marvel side, but that is supplemented with DC and Independent books, so I am still getting my variety. The volume of books I buy have certainly gone up since Marvel and DC have become obsessed with the double shipping of most of their titles. On the DC side, it isn’t as bad since most of their books are $2.99. Marvel on the other hand wants to stick to their $3.99 cover price and I can’t remember the last time they were below that number as an average. I'll have a full rant about how I really feel about double shipping later in the year. 

Without further ado, here is my review of 2017.

Dearly Departed (The Comics I dropped this year)

Before I get into the rest of my list, a moment of silence for the number of comics that I dropped this year after giving a good go at it:

• Paper Girls – Image
• Champions – Marvel
• Star Wars – Marvel
• Wonder Woman – DC
• Low – Image
• Extraordinary X-Men – Marvel
• Doctor Strange – Marvel
• Avengers – Marvel

Favorite Comic Book Movie of 2017

Spider-Man: Homecoming (Marvel) – There were a lot of comic book movies this year and there was a clear line between the good and the bad. However, when I think about which movie I had the most fun with, that made my decision easy. I liked everything about Spider-Man: Homecoming. Also, a hero is only as good as his villain and I thought the Vulture was hands down the best villain this year. He’s the only one that had some depth and some real motivation that extended to being bad for badness sake. Also, we had a hero that was not perfect, but he kept trying without giving up. 

Honorable Mentions: Wonder Woman, Logan

Worst Comic Book Movie of 2017

Justice League (DC) – I’m sorry, DC fans but this was a no-brainer. Don’t get me wrong, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was an easy second. Ultimately, I found this movie to just be plain boring. A movie about the biggest super heroes DC has and I was completely bored. The action lacked any stakes in my eye. The villain was one note and a bad looking CG villain at that. We’re supposed to buy these guys acting as a team when they barely know each other. They were hastily thrown together, just like this movie was. I already went on at length about how I really feel, so I will spare everyone here.

Honorable Mentions: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2017

Riverdale – CW – When I heard they were going to do a modern day adaption of Archie comic characters, I was skeptical. What I got was a show that surprised me and that I legitimately enjoyed. This show falls under the guilty pleasures list. They were mostly faithful to the characters, while also putting on some different twists. Jughead is hands down the best character on this show. I’ve been meaning to do a full post on this and I think will once season two wraps. So I will save my words about this show for then.

Honorable Mentions: Runaways, Punisher

Worst Comic Book TV show of 2017

Iron Fist - Netflix – This one wasn’t even remotely close. I won’t get into detail, but my full thoughts on this show already exist on this blog [insert link]. It is easily the worst of the Marvel shows. It’s a show I hate watched if we’re being perfectly honest. The character/actor was marginally better in Defenders.

Honorable Mention: N/A. This show sits alone.

The “Oh you still come out and I buy you” of 2017

Ringside (Image) – I hate to say this cause a few years ago it was one of my favorite new series. Now, due to delays I still read it, but I have long since lost the thread. What started off as a promising take on Wrestling and the lives of those characters has become a bit of a disappointment for me. Due to it coming out infrequently, I have a hard time remembering what happened. I still have faith it will turn around, so we’ll see if it shows up on my 2018 list as a book I dropped.

Favorite New Artist of 2017

Jorge Jimenez – Super Sons (DC) – So apparently he’s drawn an issue or two of other comics I own over the past two years, but this year is when I really noticed him on his work with Super Sons, so that is why he is getting the nod here. I realize he is not technically a new artist, but he’s new to ME and it’s my blog. So… there. I really enjoy his cartoony style.

Honorable Mentions: Dan Mora – Go Go Power Rangers, Oscar Bazuldua – Spider-Man, Juann Cabal – All New Wolverine

Worst Artist of 2017

R.B. Silva – X-Men: Gold (Marvel) – I wanted to be really catty and say just about anyone drawing X-Men Gold right now. I mean, the double shipping is killing this book. My love of X-Men and the desire to see them rise back to prominence is what has kept me reading so far. What I saw out of Silva in his stint is work that just looked sloppy and rushed. Again, maybe the double shipping is a factor, but I can’t give that a pass since he’s not drawing EVERY issue.

Honorable Mentions: Travel Foreman – Ultimates 2, Ken Lashley – X-Men: Gold

Favorite Artist of 2017

Stefano Caselli – Invincible Iron Man (Marvel) – As always, this is a crowded field, but out of all of them an artist emerged that in thinking about it, I really liked. That honor goes to Stefano Caselli. He’s drawn a lot of comics I read before, but his take on Riri Williams and the Invincible Iron Man comic really struck a cord with me. For me, it’s always important how an artist renders black characters. Do they have stereotypical flat tops or afros? Are they drawn with comically large lips or noses? Caselli did none of these and that helps earn my respect. There is also a lot of detail to his work and I like his design of the Ironheart armor.

Honorable Mentions: Matteo Scalera – Black Science, David Marquez – Defenders, Russell Dauterman – Mighty Thor

Favorite New Writer of 2017

Rainbow Rowell – Runaways (Marvel) – It is always refreshing to come across a writer you have not encountered before. A quick Wikipedia search will show you that Rainbow is a prolific YA Author, so it makes since she would be working on Runaways. To my surprise, it really felt like the Runaways. After a couple of years of mini-series that never really felt right, THIS feels right. I hope this book goes long enough for her to tell her story.

Honorable Mentions: Mariko Tamaki – Hulk/She-Hulk

Worst Writer of 2017

Nick Spencer – Secret Empire (Marvel) –This book will appear again in a few sections, but I chose Spencer here because I really didn’t like Secret Empire. Like all the Marvel event books lately, it was choppy. There’s holes that are left intentionally so that you will go buy all the mini-series, but this book was never compelling enough to make me care. I can appreciate that he took the long view on what he did for Captain America, but how we got there was boring and I lay that solely at Spencer’s feet.

Honorable Mentions: N/A

Favorite Writer of 2017

Tom King – Batman (DC) – I have really enjoyed Tom King’s time with Batman, but this year he seemed to settle in and really push the limit. I can’t pinpoint exactly what I like, but I just really love his take on Batman and the way he’s handled the Batman/Catwoman relationship. If you have any doubt, read the magnificent Batman Annual #2. Recent issues that have also featured a double date between Batman/Catwoman/Superman and Lois Lane was a stroke of genius and a great character study on the Batman/Superman relationship. I’m practically gushing here.

Honorable Mention: G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel)

Pleasant Surprise of 2017

Mech Cadet Yu  (Boom Studios) – This book scratched that anime itch that I didn’t realize I still had. I say this because this comic feels very much like an anime. Not to say that all anime involves humans and giant robots, but come on. Anyways, like the writing and the art in this book. I’ve always liked Greg Pak’s writing and the art of Takeshi Miyazawa, who I’m glad is still putting out work. I first encountered him on a book called “Sidekicks” about fifteen years ago? Sorry, why am I asking you, the reader this question? I would be the only one to know!

Honorable Mentions:  She Hulk – Marvel, Lazarus X+66 - Image

Worst Mini-series of 2017

Secret Empire (Marvel )– For everyone that freaked out about Captain America being a Nazi, we get the payoff with this mini-series. My problem with this mini was just how mundane it was. I had a feeling of been there/done that. I mean, we JUST had Civil War II where the characters were fighting each other. I’m so over heroes versus heroes. Here a couple of characters died, but who really feels like these deaths will last more than a year? I’ve been reading comics a very long time and if it’s done one thing above all else, it’s made me extremely cynical.

Honorable Mentions: N/A

Favorite Mini-series of 2017

The Old Guard (Image) – I’m a huge fan of Greg Rucka and I read just about everything he puts out. If nothing else, he is really great at world building. He’s also well-read and that is reflected in his books. In this mini-series, it is about a group of characters that are immortal and how they have dealt with changes in the world as they can never theoretically die. Set against the backdrop of a black ops team, this mini was fantastic and the art style fit well with this book.

Honorable Mentions: Lazarus X+66 - Image

Favorite New Series of 2017

Invincible Iron Man (Marvel) – I can’t even believe I am picking an Iron Man book, but here we are. I loved that we had a positive character in Riri Williams and the fact that Bendis had just a fresh take and voice on this book. He was still able to keep his patented snark with the Tony Stark A.I. that is a supporting character here. I don’t want to oversell it, but this is an important character because Marvel is truly trying to create a more diverse cast of characters. That may have had some bearing on my pick here.

Honorable Mentions: The Defenders

Worst Series of 2017

Star Wars (Marvel) – It pains me to even put this here because I really love Jason Aaron’s writing. However, towards the end of his run on this book, I just quit enjoying it. I ended up dropping the book altogether. This series is supposed to fill in the gaps between Star Wars and Empire Strikes back. So we start getting all these tales in between that if you REALLY think about it, just don’t line up right. Anyway, the reason this book ends up on this list is we had a few issue story arc revolving around Yoda and some evil kids using the force. I wish I was making this up, but I’m not. And there was a giant mountain that was sentient. There was other silliness with C-3PO being kidnapped and the band not really going after him. I think I am also just getting Star Wars fatigue…

Honorable Mentions: N/A

Favorite Series of 2017

Defenders (Marvel) – The combo of David Marquez and Bendis on this book is more than enough reason. I’ve expressed my love of Marvel’s street heroes before, so I won’t rehash that here. What we do have are the characters from the Netflix show, so let’s not pretend that wasn’t the reason this comic book exists. However, it rises above that premise by taking another C-level villain in Diamondback and trying to raise him up a little. Also, outside of David Walker, Bendis easily writes the best Luke Cage out there. After all, he is the main reason Luke Cage came back to prominence so many years ago. Where was I? Oh right, a book about street level characters. If you recall, I think I chose Power Man and Iron Fist as a favorite last year, so clearly I have a type.

Honorable Mentions:  Mighty Thor – Marvel, Ms. Marvel – Marvel, Batman - DC