Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

I know it's been a few weeks since I watched this. It should tell you a lot that I'm just now writing about it. I just didn't feel compelled to talk about it at all. This movie didn't move me in the way they were hoping for. Will I elaborate? You know I will.

Let me sum up my thoughts on this movie and the Ant-Man movies in general. Ant-Man was always the fun little side adventures that Marvel cooked up. No one asked for it, but we all believed we cared because we like Paul Rudd so much and we're just glad he's in the Marvel Universe. His previous two movies were fun heist movies and I legitimately liked Ant-Man & The Wasp. This movie, I didn't like at all. I didn't hate it, but I didn't fully enjoy it either. I was actually kind of bored with it and this movie kind of broke me.

This movie follows the Marvel Cinematic Universe playbook to a T. And that's the problem. This movie made me realize how tired I am of the Marvel Movie formula. I am tired of wise-cracking heroes. I'm tired of them being all jokey for the whole movie up until the climax when they have to get serious. I'm tired of them taking a team of people and splitting them up for asinine reasons, just so they can assemble at the end. It is hard to see team dynamics, when the team is hardly ever together. So then you tell us instead of show us.

Also, I feel like they keep trying to make fetch happen with Ant-Man. Admittedly, he shouldn't be carrying his own movie. He's not compelling enough. But they keep trying to put him at the center of all the important events and I'm tired of it. Let him be a side character in the Avengers movies or something and let that be it. We've seen enough of him to know who he is. Better yet, relegate him to a series on Disney+. That way you can tell us about his life in any way that you want.

For a movie that is so special effects heavy, they do not look great here. M.O.D.O.K. looks terrible. Every time he showed up, I'm immediately taken out of the movie. I don't care they changed his origin for this. I just care that he looks stupid. I know that is saying a lot because the comic book version is also stupid looking. Should tell you something, Marvel. All that glitters isn't gold.

Also, they say the "Quantum Realm" but the way the world is laid out, just say we're going to an alien planet and be done. I feel like they REALLY want this to be the Negative zone, but they didn't have the rights back when this movie was probably conceived.

Anyway, this movie is completely predictable. Jonathan Majors is fantastic and he is on a different level than the rest of the cast in this movie. Sure, he's the next big bad. I just hate that Ant-Man had to be used as the stepping stone to get there. Let's move on to Phase 5, Marvel. You had your fun experimenting with Phase 4. You unfortunately forgot to include us on that ride.

Watch this on Disney+ if you want. You lose nothing by not doing it. 

 

The Inevitable Best and Worst List of 2022 - Part I

Well, there is nothing like a timely end of year list that arrives a quarter into the following year. I gotta do better. So the world kind of opened back up in 2022. I read just as many books this year if not a few less. However, my time to read them was scattered and I read in waves. That's what having a kid does to you. As much as I read comics, there were so many damn comic book based movies and shows that occupied my time. This blog became more of a movie review site instead of comics. So in 2023 I will try to swing it back in that direction. There was so much that I read, it's going to be hard to remember what actually stood out. Guess I'll need to consult the ol' list of books I read. For those curious, the final count of issues I read this year was 551.

I don't think my reading preferences changed that much. I still read a ton of Marvel. DC has started to fallen by the wayside. Wasn't as much Image as I usually do. Will this swing the other way in the new year? No idea. I will say that my patience has begun to wane with all the X-Books. I initially loved this new direction, but I've grown tired of most of their books. It feels like it is treading water.

So let's get into it. What did my old man brain come up with? Without further ado, here is part I of my review of 2022.


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:

• Green Lantern - DC
• I Am Batman - DC
• Detective Comics - DC
• Amazing Spider-Man - Marvel
• Defenders Beyond - Marvel
• Marauders - Marvel
• Wolverine - Marvel
• X-Force - Marvel

Favorite Comic Book Movie of 2022 

Wakanda Forever (Marvel) - I already said a lot about this movie, so I won't go into detail. This movie had an uphill battle and I think it succeeded. This was as good as it could have possibly gotten. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Honorable Mentions: The Batman

Worst Comic Book Movie of 2022
Morbius (Marvel)- I knew I shouldn't have, but I had to see for myself just how bad this movie was. Let's say I lost valuable hours of my day to this movie. I also talked about this at length. It is such a dumb movie. There were quite a few bad movies this year, but this one won hands down.

Honorable Mention: Black Adam (DC)

Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2022
Peacekeeper (DC) - Marvel went hard with the quantity of shows this year. While I loved Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk from Marvel, pound for pound, Peacekeeper wins this award. Look, I'm not going to link to all my old posts for everything I say here. Just kidding, here you go. Just know this, the show was a lot of fun and I think John Cena found the perfect role and cast surrounding him.

Honorable Mentions: She-Hulk (Marvel), Ms. Marvel (Marvel)

Worst Comic Book TV show of 2022
Harley Quinn - Season 3 (DC) - There were a lot of comic book based shows and there are even more I didn't watch. But when I Think about the most disappointing, this show popped to the top of the list. For all the complaining I did about Moon Knight, it didn't make me feel the way this show made me feel. I still need to do a post, but between season 2 and season 3, the writers got up their own asses or something. American animation has leaned hard into this adult themed content for the sake of doing it. This show toed the line before, but now everything about this season was overkill. They gave me less of what I want (Kite Man, King Shark, Dr. Pyscho, Sy Borgman, Commissioner Gordon) and increased more Batgirl, Joker and Clayface. The mix was just off. Nothing felt as funny as the previous two seasons. Don't get me started on the Valentine's Day special they released a few weeks ago. I can't even and Harley is becoming borderline unlikeable. 

Honorable Mention: N/A.

The “Oh you still come out and I buy you” of 2022
Lazarus Risen (Image) - This was a book that I loved immensely when it came out. It was by one of my favorite writers at the time, Greg Rucka. There have been ridiculously long delays between issues in this book. It went from monthly, to bi-monthly, to quarterly to whenever. This is the problem with books from Image. There's no real editorial oversight, so there is no one to keep these things on a schedule. I have completely lost the thread on this book and I'm unwilling to go back and re-read anything. With these kind of delays, you need to have a detailed, "Previously in...".


Favorite New Artist of 2022
Carmen Carnero - She came in like a force of nature on Captain America. It's the best art I've seen on his book in a while. Marvel's art lately has been feeling very bland lately, so I'm glad to have her around. Her art is so fantastic. It's like a Steve Epting look, but I feel it is less rigid at times. My only worry is that she is so good that she will get poached by Mark Millar as well and then we won't see her in books I actually read. Enjoy it while you can. I can't wait to see her blow up more and get on some bigger projects. She's worthy of it.

Honorable Mentions: Dike Ruan (Shang-Chi) 

Worst Artist of 2022
N/A - Unfortunately like last year, I read so much, I didn't mark down the bad art I saw. I know it's out there, I just can't remember any of it, so this will be unfilled for now. Next year I will mark it down so it is easier to remember. (Editor's note: You made this promise last year and you didn't stick to it. Don't make promises you can't keep)

Honorable Mentions: N/A

Favorite Artist of 2022
Dan Mora - Detective Comics (DC), Once & Future King (Boom Studios), World's Finest (DC), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (Boom Studios) - He wins for the second year in a row for me. Look at his body of work in ONE CALENDAR YEAR. This guy is not human. No one in the industry puts out art like this, but here he is doing it. And it is all consistently good. I've become such a huge fan of his, that I get delighted when I see him on a title. He is another artist that can sell a book for me. 

Honorable Mentions: Chris Samnee - Firepower (Image), Pepe Larraz -X-Men (Marvel)

Favorite New Writer of 2022
Tochi Onyebuchi - Captain America: Symbol of Truth (Marvel) - I am so glad to see many new black writers popping up in Marvel (and DC. Hell ALL the companies). I know I have complained about novelists coming into comics, but it seems that lately the ones that do genuinely love comics. I don't have to worry about their stories, it's just how do they adjust to the medium? Do they overwrite too much? Do they at least come with fresh ideas? I think Tochi has come up on the latter side of this. His first 10ish issues of Captain America (the Sam Wilson one) has been great. The twist of African-Americans immigrating to Wakanda and being turned away due to Sam's actions is heavy stuff. I don't think I've seen that angle before and it's that kind of fresh thinking is why he's my favorite new writer of the year. Can't wait to see what else he brings. 

Honorable Mentions: N/A

Worst Writer of 2022
John Ridley (Black Panther, I Am Batman) - I don't take pride in putting this brother here, but you've heard me rant about the current run of Black Panther. I don't think I've ever been so pissed off at the way a comic has been written in a long time. Go read that older post if you want more. You've read enough already!

Honorable Mentions: N/A. (I can't remember anyone else that should be on this list)