Agatha All Along

I have no good reason for not talking about this show sooner. So I will spare you my life details, that's not what you're here for! Agatha All Along, the series no one asked for, but Marvel being Marvel, had a whole in their schedule that needed to be filled.

Let me make an admission. I didn't really love Wandavision. So the fact we have a follow up to that didn't feel my heart with joy.

Well let me tell you, I loved this series. I wish Marvel would make more like these. It was very straightforward, didn't rely on a bunch of CG that it didn't have the budget for and it had characters that you could love. The scope of the story remained contained and intimate, something I want from my TV shows. Not everything has to be world ending.

I'm a Kathryn Hahn fan, so when this was announced, that's the only reason I paid attention. I was glad she got a bigger portion of the Marvel sandbox, even if for a minute. Also, this show coming out around Halloween is genius. If you don't do something with witches around Halloween, you missed the boat.

What I did not expect was the level of singing we got in this show and I mean that in a good way. That Witches Road song lived rent free in my head for weeks. All the actresses were great and I'm glad that for the MOST part, they were devoid of Marvel Cinematic Universe ties, except for the Scarlet Witch. All of that stuff is still hanging around.

This show had me in a chokehold. I eagerly anticipated each episode, to see what the next Witches trial would be and what wacky costumes they'd wear. I was not prepared for the reveals that happen in the back half of the show, but I thought they were handled well.

Before I go, I have to say that episode seven, "Death's Hand in Mine" was one of the finest episodes I've seen in a long time. I love a good non-linear story when done correctly. Think of everytime you've ever seen Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen and you'll get the idea.

Sorry I don't have much more to say, but I wrote this review way too long after I actually watched the show. I would highly recommend it though. 

What makes me tick as a comic book reader/collector - Part 1

Hello readers. In all this time I've been doing this blog, I don't think I've gone into a little about myself as a comic book reader. Well, today is the day! I think the reading habits of someone can give you an insight into their personality. Lemme tell you about some of my quirks or maybe you'll find them endearing traits. I dunno, YOU be the judge.

Alright, really, how many comics DO you have?

Let's say it's north of 15,000. Keep in mind, this is an accumulation of about 30 plus years of comic book collecting. I took a pause between 1998-2003 because I was in college and I thought I was over this comic book thing. I was wrong. Once I got a real job with disposable income, I hit comic book stores, conventions and eBay HARD. Then I became a reader that would buy every Wednesday and here we are. 

Why don't you buy digital comics?

This is one of the places where I'm more analog. I like the feel of a comic book, holding it and finding a nice place to read it. As a collector, based on the aforementioned answer, I can't continue to be a hoarder with digital books. Come on! 

On a more serious note, I feel like it is my part to support my local comic book shop. The margins for running a comic book shop is so thin. I was worried about my comic book store during the pandemic and once or twice, I paid double what I owered for my weekly pickups, to help offset what I perceived that they would be losing. Now while owning my own comic book store would be a dream job of mine, I know I don't have the business acumen or the patience to turn a profit.

Speaking of comic book stores, what's your LCS (Local comic book shop) of choice?

I'm nothing, if not loyal. So I've been going to Capitol Comics for the past 21 years now. They used to have two stores, one on Hillsborough Street and one off Glenwood. Only the Glenwood one remains. So that is always my first choice. My second choice by a mile is Ultimate Comics. They are more kid friendly and have gobbled up the local market here by having like 5 different locations. I used them as a back up choice just for back issues or indy comics my shop didn't have. They just have more volume. My main beef with them has always been how expensive their back issues are. There's a comic book store in Fuquay-Varina, Yellow Bird Comics that just opened up a few months ago. I've only been once, but it was new then, so I will give it another chance soon.

When you buy your comics, do you have a particular order that you read them in?

Here's the thing about my reading order. I sort my comics by most excited to read to least excited. This way I get to the stuff I really want to read first and leave the sucky comics for the bottom. As time goes on, if I have a book that is constantly at the bottom and never moves up, I drop it. I can't be wasting money on stuff that I hate read. 

What are your current favorites right now?

You'll have to read my best of the year lists. Ha! I'm saying nothing here because my tastes change.

Have you ever had a comic that you strongly disliked?

Believe it or not, yes. They can't all be winners. But what sticks out in my mind is a particular episode of either Action Comics or Superman back in the mid-90s. All I remember is that there was a white villain that was going out of his way to murder black people. Just because they were black. I had never been more enraged reading a comic in my life. In a rare instance, I actually tore it to shreds and threw it away. I vowed that it would NOT exist in my collection. I almost went as far as writing a letter to DC about it, but I knew in my heart, it wouldn't have changed a thing.

Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994)

After watching the X-Men: Animated series, I figured, "What the hell, I'll watch that Spider-Man: Animated Series from the same era." This decision was also supported by a blink and you'll miss it cameo of Spider-Man from X-Men '97. I read speculation that seeing Peter and Mary Jane meant that Peter had found "the real MJ." I read that and was like, "What are people talking about? I don't remember that at all." I think it was because by the time the late 90's came around, I had jumped off the bandwagon for that show.

I can say now that I have watched all five seasons in it's entirety, I made the right call. For as much shit as I gave X-Men, that pales in comparison to this show. This show is remarkably bad. I'll get into my reasons for thinking that of course, but I didn't want to waste too much time before I got into my feelings on it. I will inevitably pull in comparisons to the X-Men show to prove my point. 

One thing I distinctly remember as a teenager when both this and X-Men were on is that X-Men had a Y7 rating and Spider-Man had a Y. I didn't fact check that, but my point is that the X-Men was the mature show and Spider-Man was for younger audiences. That is stark in the action that is presented. There's less hand to hand stuff and more laser guns misfiring like it was a GI Joe cartoon. X-Men sometimes stumbled into some cool action sequences, whereas all of Spider-Man's action sequences feel very boring. Spidey leaps out of the way of stuff, that's expected, but he plays so much defense, we don't see a lot of good offense. 

I was annoyed at the amount of stuff he literally threw. Either tossing bad guys or tossing stuff at the bad guys. Never any hand to hand combat, my bread and butter. To make things worse, throughout it's five seasons, this show repeatedly uses the same couple of clips of explosions, generic web swinging or Spidey shooting his web. They could be in the forest, something explodes and it's a shot of a city building having an explosion pop out. Maybe all the money in their animation went into the 3D backgrounds they tried to deploy. Even in 1994, those 3D backgrounds looked astonishingly bad.

While I'm railing on this show, let's talk about the animation a little more. This was some of the most safe and boring animation style that I've seen. It's colorful, but it doesn't feel colorful. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, so what I'm trying to say is the coloring wasn't dynamic. This lead to some weird character design choices like Venom, who had a blue and red hue to him at all times. I get that if he is all black, it's hard to shape him and his movement, but it just looked so weird. When they bring in other characters such as the X-Men, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, Doom, etc. they all just look bland and simple. X-Men at least used shadowing at times. I don't think this show ever heard of shadows.

There were also wild character choices made for this show. I feel like Spider-Man has a wide enough gallery of characters that he didn't have to stray too far out of his comfort zone, but they tried to anyway. They brought in the Punisher, Morbius, Blade and even the X-Men from the superior show as guest stars. Each appearance was watered down versions of these characters.  Again, I know it's a kid's show, but maybe you don't shoe horn in more violent characters into this show and sanitize them to the point where they don't feel like a threat. Also, Black Cat's origin is truly bizzare as it is fueled by Super Soldier serum and the ability to just...change at wll.

One thing I can't harp on enough. Spider-Man/Peter Parker is a real asshole through the majority of this show. He constantly whines about the state of his life, is rude to fellow heroes, blows off friends in weird ways and does this while constatnly chirping to himself and to anyone that listens. Spidey's whole thing is how much he jokes, but a lot of it is very annoying here. Marvel has put Peter Parker through the ringer, but I don't remember him whining about it as much as he did in this show. 

This show is caught between being a kid's show, but trying to have adult themes. I think it failed at both. His relationships with Felicia Hardy and Mary Jane felt weird and forced and I don't see what they want with the guy. There's cringeworthy plots with Hydro-Man, MJ's ex showing up and being super possessive and jealous. 

A final note. The stories this show tells. Boring. There's a watered down Secret Wars, there's some stuff with Golden Age heroes, Carnage shows up and a lot of Kingpin and Alastair Smythe stuff. Oh! Hobgoblin shows up before Green Goblin and Green Gobline is only Spider-Man's greatest archvillain. But no, let's shove Venom in here. The only thing I will respect about the show is each season had an arc that they stuck to. I can admire that kind of commitment to an idea, even if it's a bad one.

All in all, this show was an absolute chore to watch. I did it because I'm a masochist. Do I recommend anyone else watch this? Hell no. But if you're like me, you're going to do it anyway.

Deadpool & Wolverine Review

I'm just as surprised as you that I didn't see this movie, day one. I can explain that. Life stuff was happening and I couldn't find he time, so I had to wait a whole WEEK to finally see it. That is a lifetime in trying to avoid spoilers on the internet talking about the numerous amount of cameos in this movie. I finally did and let me tell you, I enjoyed it and thought it was great.*

You may be thinking, he put a * , what does that mean? I put this as a qualifier because I'm going to be real about something. My level of enjoyment was raised because of the massive amount of meta commentary that was throughout the movie. Unfortunately, a lot of that is built on whether or not you have read comic books in the last twenty years as a more than a casual fan, kept up with all the studio nonsense behind all these characters, watched the first two Deadpool movies, Logan, both seasons of the Loki series, any of the X-Men movies and some of the other Fox/Marvel movies that you forgot existed before Disney bought their whole catalog. Then there's stuff about movies that never were, jokes about comic book creators, obscure characters, actors that appeared in other movies. There is a LOT of homework that goes into fully appreciating some of this movie and I feel sorry for the normies. You basically need to have a PhD in Marvel of the last 28 years. So the target audience is nerdy 44 year olds. Oh wait, that's ME. This movie does nothing to explain any of what I just said, so you either know or you don't. Unfortunately, my brain is a factory of useless facts that serve no one except M-E. 

High level, if you liked the first two Deadpool movies, you will like this because it is more of that. With a bigger budget and more toys in the toybox to play with. You know the level of violence to expect and the kind of jokes you will see. If you aren't prepared for that, you're in for a rough ride.

Also, outside of the movie, "Logan", this is far and away the best Wolverine we've ever gotten. Look at that, it only took 24 years to get here, but we here.

Now, I'm going to take a different tact and start with things I really liked about this movie, that does not involve the cameos and the humor. What really got me in the feels as I thought about it was watching two tortured heroes that come together on two different paths. Deadpool realizes that for all his joking and antics, all he really wants is to matter. He wants to matter to his friends and he doesn't want to let them down, which is amazing given how he started out in that first movie. He's in a sad place when we find him and I think his mission is well meaning, despite how we get there.

On the other hand, we have Wolverine. He's been racked with guilt for his inability to stop what happens in his timeline and it's what turns him into a full on alcoholic wanting to live out the rest of his days. His gruff exterior is extra gruff in this movie and the more you find out, the more you see what makes him tick. I think his arc is fascinating, brought to life by Hugh Jackman who is really putting in great work here. That might be lost with all the antics happening around him, but I want you to really focus on him when you see this movie.

So you take this unstoppable force with an unmovable object and you get the kind of buddy cop film that I eat up. Wolverine is clearly playing the Murtaugh to Deadpool's Riggs. If I lost you on this reference, you might get lost on this review. I may stray into more pop culture references like this movie does. What I'm taking a long time to say is I loved their dynamic here and how they push each other to be better.

This movie moves fairly quickly and has jokes going at the rate of a Naked Gun movie. Just sight gags, quips, bits and other things to keep you distracted from what a serious movie it might actually be if they would let you sit with it instead of undercutting everything with a joke. For me, most of the jokes land and that is because the way the actors deliver them. Ryan Reynolds joking with people through out the movie makes everyone up their comedy game. 

Unlike the internet, I'm not going to spoil the cameos you see here, but there are a lot. All of them fulfilling in their own ways. It shows the magnetic pull Ryan Reynolds has behind the scenes to get all the people that he did. I enjoyed every last one of them and I so badly want to reveal them here, but I won't.

I will say, the main villains in this movie are merely a means to an end and never REALLY feel like a threat. Cassandra Nova joins a long line of Marvel villains that were mostly one note. To her credit, she just enjoys chaos and I think that's all you need to know. There is some really creepy body horror stuff that goes on when she uses her powers, that is unsettling in a good way.

I'll wrap up by saying the fight choreography is off the charts for a Marvel film. There's some quick camera work for some scenes that's very distracting, but for others, there are some close quarters fighting that shows the amount of effort they put into practicing to make it look good. Also, the Wolverine costume looks pretty good.

Would I recommend people seeing it? Yeah, but with all the caveats I listed. Most of you were already going to see it anyway, so I'm only validating your opinion. For others that are on the fence, I would recommend waiting till it comes to streaming because you might get overwhelmed with the amount of homework you will feel like you need to keep up. Better to save your money.

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have undeniable chemistry. I hope this is the last Deadpool movie, but I want to see them in other movies together. 

State of the Union: Black Panther

This year, 2024, I'm rolling out a new series of posts in this here blog. I'm not keeping up with it like I should and as a man in his mid-40's, I have lots of old man opinion on things. Why not channel that old man anger into my favorite thing...comic books!

This is my chance to focus on something that I like or don't like in a single post. If you know me, it will be a vehicle for my incessant bitching about said topic. Maybe it will be entertaining, maybe it won't. We'll see if the State of the Union is really strong!

The first thing I want to tackle is the Black Panther. Specifically within the comic books. He's been my favorite character for nearly 20 years now, so I've read practically every series he's starred in. I may not remember all of it, but I have a good enough sample size to have an informed opinion. Why am I talking about him right now? Simple. His comic book series have been mid to outright bad the past few years. If you read any of my thoughts last year, I railed against this book and did a think piece on why having an American black writer on the book is not enough.

My true problem is that Marvel editorial keeps throwing prose writers at a comic book. The reason I think this is a bad idea will be fleshed out more below. Just stay with me. It's a formula that doesn't normally breed success and it's especially egregious with this book. Marvel has it in their mind that getting someone outside of comics will bring new eyes and make new fans. I would love to think that is true, but comics are so intimidating and often impenetrable to new readers that I don't blame them for taking a hard pass.

Back to my problem. So the last couple of writers have been Ta-Nehisi Coates, John Ridley and Eve Ewing. All accomplished writers in their own rights, but not comic book writers. The reason prose writers don't work out in comics is because they treat comic books like they're prose books. They're not. The art does the heavy lifting so you don't have to explain every detail via overwrought dialogue, but these kind of writers tend to do that. It is a slog to get through and that is not how modern day comics work. 

Also, these writers couch their stories in more high concept themes that don't fit Black Panther. You want to talk about the downfall of a sovereign nation-state, espionage, living at the ground level as your people, that's fine. Each writer is socially conscious and know how they want to relay their message. Unfortunately, that gets lost because the stories are overwrought with extraneous dialogue that is either clunky or overly verbose. There's a pace within a comic book where the art has to mesh with the words. If I'm spending too much time reading the dialogue, my eyes get tired and I don't take in the art. I power through just so I can be done. You've failed.

Given that editing comics is their JOB, you would think the editors of Black Panther would have a better eye for talent. They especially know that it takes a love of comic books and understanding of how the medium works to be successful at it. This is why I keep harping on why prose writers are not the proper course of action. I still stand by my thought that the Black Panther is a character that needs to have a person of color writing it and there are a dearth of writers out there that Marvel can find. 

These last few writers have made me question myself. I've had to ask, "Do I enjoy this or am I making myself enjoy this because it's my favorite character?" Generally, that answer has been no, I'm not enjoying it at all. I have been hate reading for a few years now.

This is where we find Black Panther. He's had creative changes and new directions every volume, so much that it is making my head spin. Each writer wants to put their own stamp on things, but it doesn't tie back into the overall narrative of the character and has NO impact on the rest of the Marvel Universe, so why even bother? It's further worsened by the fact that he's a chair person on the Avengers and doing super hero stuff, while not being in his country and nothing in his own title affects that.

I've been reading comics enough to know that traditionally, Black Panther series do not sell well. It's a fact that is not lost on me. That is why they keep rebooting them because some complicated metrics show that #1 issues sell well. When the movie came out and turned him into an A-List character, I thought the quality of the books would follow. Marvel's typical penchant for synergy with their movie franchises never materialized. There was a real moment for Marvel to capitalize on. They could have ushered in an era of Afro-futurism on a grand scale and they fumbled it. 

I have not heard news of a new creative team and that's worrisome to me. It means that no one has volunteered up a pitch that Marvel wants to get behind. Maybe it's just a cursed book. There is an Ultimate Black Panther title that is written by an author I like, Bryan Hill. I've always felt the Ultimate universe and any multi-verse story is a cowardly way to do something new with your characters. However, that book has been very good, so I have hope.

Who would I like to see take over? It's hard to gauge. In an ideal world, I would want someone who is from Africa that would be able to tell a tale with some nuisance that an American born person just could not convey. I don't want Black Panther cozying up with any other teams in his solo title. He needs to primarily stay in Wakanda and deal with issues there because that is the space to explore that. It's also the ONLY book we can even find out about this fictional nation, so why not spend more time fleshing that out.

Will I keep reading? Yes. I've suffered worse than this. If nothing else, my blind loyalty can help sales in some miniscule way. 

State of the Union: Not Strong.

X-Men '97 Season 1 Review

Even after my blistering review of X-Men the Animated series, I was still excited for this show. I just didn't want it to be ANYTHING like the previous one that was fraught with so many issues. My feelings were relieved after the first episode, but then I thought, "Can they sustain this though?" The answer to that is an unequivocal yes. I will have specific thoughts at the last part of this review, but I wanted to give my quick thoughts on each episode.

Episode 1 - "To Me, My X-Men" - This episode went out of it's way to establish how a bitch-ass like Cyclops could lead the X-Men. He answered the call and I like how this show isn't trying to make you hate him like the previous one did. The action was top notch and did things in animation the old show could never dare to do. Peep Cyclops super hero landing and the team take downs of sentinels. The action here gives you hope that this show is not going to be playing around.

Episode 2 - "Mutant Liberation Begins" - In the first of many episodes that will hurt your soul, we have this episode. They ratcheted up the drama. This show is quickly establishing that it is not for kids. It's not afraid to tackle the theme of racism head on and it doesn't feel like it is bashing you in the face. My heart hurt for Storm, as she details her connection to the weather and how much it means when it is lost. Also, Magento was dropping bars.

Episode 3 - "Fire Made Flesh" - What I'm starting to really appreciate with this show is that each episode is self contained in that you get the beginning, middle and end of a story with no lollygagging. They took a years long plot of the Goblin Queen and condensed it down to ONE episode. I'm not a fan of that era and it really made Cyclops look like a heel. Here they humanize him. What is he supposed to do? Things get resolved and we move on. They don't draw it out for a few more episodes.

Episode 4 - "Motendo; Lifedeath Part 1" - This felt like a filler episode and in retrospect, the weakest episode of the season. I like the pairing of Roberto DiCosta and Jubilee, but I tepidly enjoyed this. They just threw away the rest of the team for a solo adventure with the youngest characters. Furthermore, they were caught in a video game created by Mojo. I would have loved to see everyone go against Mojo again, but it is what it is. Cool touch to have the original Jubilee voice actor appear. The other part of the episode let's us check in on Storm and Forge. After episode 2, I thought we wouldn't see Storm again until the finale.

Episode 5 - "Remember It" - This is the episode when shit got real. I was wrecked after this. There is so much drama and tension packed into one episode and it is masterfully done. We see the mutant dream of mutant Utopia in Genosha realized and the mounting drama in the unexpected love triangle of Gambit/Rogue/Magneto that comes to the most tragic of ends. I don't want to spoil it, but there will be tears shed. The destruction that happens is truly heartbreaking.

Episode 6 - "Lifedeath Part 2" - Interlude as we join the Shi'ar. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Mild spoiler, we find out that Professor Xavier isn't really dead. He's just been chilling with his alien girlfriend on her planet. Seeing Charles' anguish over his "children" and choosing between them and the love of his life was heartbreaking. You also find out that the Shi'ar are not as benevolent as you thought. We also get the other half of Storm's story. I'm glad they broke it up because it wasn't as interesting as I was hoping it would be.

Episode 7 - "Bright Eyes" - We finally see Rogue dealing with her grief and she is coming in hot on everyone. Her encounter with Cap was everything. It was good to see Rogue cut loose and then the moment when she lets herself feel her grief is also heartbreaking. I'm also so glad they properly brought Nightcrawler into this show.

Episode 8 - "Tolerance is Extinction, Part 1" - The start of the final three eps and it is a doozy. Once again, we get more great action and the threats are now real. The villain, Bastion, was revealed a few episodes ago and we're now seeing the fruits of his labor with his human sentinel hybrids. I was delighted by the tag team of Wolverine/Nightcrawler duo on the screen. The Wolverine POV of how Nightcrawler teleports was masterfully done. The return of a character we thought was dead makes a huge impact here. Now it's on.

Episode 9 - "Tolerance is Extinction, Part 2" - If you didn't think shit was getting real before, it is now. I read that the former showrunner referenced the Fatal Attractions storyline from the 90's in reference to this show. I knew exactly what that meant, but still wanted to see how they get there. One thing this show has that the previous one didn't? Balls. I hate that I'm trying not to be spoiler-y, but I will say that Xavier has returned (not who I mean in the previous episode that returned) and we now see a division in the team as it truly becomes Xavier vs. Magneto. This has been building all season and there is no shortage of fireworks. The battle becomes deadly.

Episode 10 - "Tolerance is Extinction, Part 3" - Thankfully, this show stuck the landing. This episode tied up a few threads from throughout the season and from the old show, while also bringing in something new. There was tension all over the place as the Xavier vs. Magneto rivalry took center stage once more. I love how complicated their relationship is and they explore that more here. Also, there were cameos aplenty! At the end of this episode, I was left wanting more. This means the show has done it's job. I finished my plate and I wanted seconds.

Now to get into my overall thoughts of the show. It exceeded all my expectations and is legitimately the best thing Marvel has put out in cartoons for years, except for one Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Nostalgia is what pulled people like me in, but they KEPT me here with intricate, well thought out storylines that doesn't shy away from realistic issues. This show was not treated as something for kids and it was the best representation of the X-Men comics we have ever seen on TV or in the movies. I don't say this lightly.

I also want to get on my soapbox and address a few things. First off, Morph. When it was revealed that they were non-binary and using they/them pronouns, certain neckbeardy comic people took umbrage and talked about how being "woke" was ruining the X-Men. Number one, they're a shape shifter going between genders all the time, so this only makes sense if you think about it. How this was never a thing before blows my mind. Oh, I know why. Cowardice. Years ago they didn't want to offend people, but we're past that now. This only makes sense for their character and it's never an issue in the show. It's blown way out of proportion. 

Another thing I want to speak on: the issue of X-Men now being too "woke." Anyone saying this has never read an X-Men comic in their lives and it shows. Since Chris Claremont began writing them, that's all they've ever been. They were a diverse teams with different backgrounds dealing with prejudice against their ethnicities and layered on top of that, being a mutant. That has only been more enriched over the years. If you're wondering why I didn't credit Stan Lee, his original creations were five white people with powers and he said he made them mutants so he didn't have to explain how someone else got doused in radioactive waste or bitten by radioactive spiders. He created the X-Men, but he's not the reason they became who they are.

Anyway, complaints about the X-Men being socially conscious is both dumb, ignorant and dumb again. Shut the hell up. Moving on to another fake controversy. Gambit. In an early episode he is seen hanging out in the kitchen in a crop top and pony tail. Again, cries rang out that they were making Gambit, "gay". I guess those people never saw how people dressed in the 90's. Also, I don't think it matters if he was gay. Doesn't diminish his character in any way. Just more fake outrage that I wanted to address.

The voice acting is top notch and I was happy for the returning voice actors that still got it after 30 years. Beast sounded older, but mostly the same. That goes for the voice actors for Rogue, Nightcrawler, Storm and Wolverine. Special shout out to Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm. She is THE definitive voice of Storm. No one brings the gravitas and compassion that she does. It's that voice acting that made what happens in episode 2 so damn sad.

Matthew Waterson as Magneto is especially fantastic and about every line he delivers carries weight. Let's say it together y'all, Magneto was right.

There were a lot of cool little things that this show did to go that extra mile in making it great. If you're paying attention, the cast in the title sequence changes almost every episode depending on who is still around and who has left us. It's a small nod, but the fact they did it is amazing. Also, I read this and didn't realize it, but if you hear one of the character's voice actors read the "Previously, on X-Men" something bad is about to happen to them. So buckle up.

When I saw the initial character designs, I thought they were too simplistic. As I read, this was done to help make the animation smoother and I have never been more wrong in my life. The style was perfect, allowing for some top notch animation while also keeping the look of the 90's version. Even when the characters don their older costumes, they look amazing as hell. The fight scenes are also top notch and inventive.

Look, we all hated Cyclops in the original series and that series is a big reason we all hated him for decades. I'm here to tell you, I've come around on Cyclops the last few years and this show almost breaks it's back making you do the same. Some will argue with me, but I think they succeed. In the original series, he was the boy scout in the worst way. That arrogance is what made you hate him. Here, they explain the heavy burden he carries as a leader and WHY he acts the way he does. He thinks that's what Xavier would want and he doesn't want to fail in carrying on the dream. Then he gets thrown a curveball with Jean Grey and Madalyn Pryor. In the books, he handled it poorly and made you hate him. Here, you feel for the guy because what in the world would you do in this case? They also give him a lot of cool fight scenes and ups his competency with them. Now you get why they would follow him.

I loved the true sisterhood we see between Jean Grey and Storm. In the original series, it's like they didn't interact at all. The fact that they confide in each other and support each other was truly beautiful to see. Also, their exchange they before their last battle is fantastic. Jean: "Make them mind your weather." Storm: "And make them weather your mind."

I was surprised at how little we see Wolverine in this show. He's my favorite X-Man, followed by Storm, so it sucked to see him used so little. I also think the show figured out that in a show full of people that have ranged powers, having one brawler with a long claws isn't very useful from long distances. I was relieved that he wasn't getting beat up all the damn time like the old show, so I can forgive this. He gets a few moments here and there, but I feel like season 2 will spend more time with him given what happened at the end of this season.

This show was an absolute emotional rollercoaster and I'm sad that it is over already. I'm also glad they stuck to 10 episodes so that they don't overstay their welcome. It also keeps the storytellers locked into their story without straying too much. It kept things tighter for sure. 

I would recommend the original X-Men series to no one. I would recommend X-Men '97 to anyone. It's that great. Those high scores you may have seen with reviews are valid. This show went above and beyond and it's disheartening to know that Marvel fired the showrunner before this aired. He at least mapped out the second season, but we'll see what happens from there. I better start seeing a lot more X-Men merch and Marvel better get their asses in gear to bring them to the movie. The world is ready to embrace them again.

X-Men: The Animated Series

Like many of you, I grew up with the X-Men cartoon in the 90's. Well, technically I was 12 when the show started, but those were my formative nerd years. Surprisingly it was THIS show and not Batman: The Animated Series that was the full blown start of my relationship with comic books. I had dabbled before but it was X-Men that birthed the interests I still have to day. I saw the premier "Night of the Sentinels" in the US, just before we moved to Germany, where I lived for the majority of the show's run. I watched the first two seasons via the color coded VHS tapes I bought from the BX or by watching them on British cable. My relatives proved unreliable in recording me anything, so when we had a brief return to the US, I made sure to record a few episodes on tape.

Those first two seasons, I watched multiple times and I can quote most of them and remember very specific musical cues and scenes. I was all in on this show and have nothing but fond memories.

When Disney Plus started, I started a slow rewatch of the series. When X-Men 97' was announced and with it coming out tomorrow, I accelerated my consumption of the show's five seasons. It was then I was met with a harsh truth... this show is bad. Real bad. Our collective childhood have warped this show into something that it isn't. Good.

Let me elaborate. This show had a particular style that worked when it wasn't moving. Everything was covered in shadows, even when they are standing in the light of day. Batman: The Animated series came out a year before this and looks so much better by leaps and bounds. They clearly had the money that X-Men did not have. There are so many animation gaffes and while the characters move okay some of the time, the backgrounds are laughable. In later seasons (ALL of season 5), the animation is downright offensive. I didn't do any research, but they clearly started using other studios of lesser quality for the animation and it is painfully obvious. Our first exposure to this is the first two episodes of Season 3, "Out of the Past" that features Lady Deathstrike. Another example is "Cold Comfort" that is a clunky episode that introduces us to Iceman. There are so many more misses than hits in the last three seasons. 

The X-Men had a rich history up to this point and I understand why they would want to adapt so many of their stories, including the grand daddy of them all, the Phoenix Saga. The problem is they have to sanitize it so much for a kids show that it feels hollow. This is the same for any other major story that they had to adapt. I know this is a kids show, but even though you are lowering the violence, you don't have to insult our intelligence. I hate to compare back to Batman, but that show had smart storytelling and they did not box themselves into adapting every Batman story under the sun.

I want to take a quick pause from pouring out my disgust by offering some praise. The voice acting on this show is top notch. The performances here set in our minds how these characters actually sounded and they did a remarkable job matching up everyone. With all the bad things that I will lay out about this show, the acting is a saving grace. If you close your eyes, you can be introduced to a wonderful radio drama. Maybe that's the way you should watch this show, honestly.

Now, back on my soapbox. This show is guilty of single handedly ruining our perception of Cyclops for at least twenty years. Before this show, in the comics, Cyclops could stand toe to toe with Captain America as a battle strategist and tactician. In this show, he is whiny with the most punchable face you've ever seen. Wolverine especially punks him and dismisses him so much, you wonder how he could ever lead anyone. This show also makes the mistake of giving us numerous solo episodes featuring Cyclops. Taking the least interesting character and devoting entire episodes to him was a bad move. On the flip side, I think the solo episodes with Wolverine is when the show was at its best.

Speaking of uninteresting characters, I like Beast. But I don't LOVE him. He also gets a lot of solo episodes and he is probably the second least interesting character. That's not fair. Morph is the second least interesting character. So Beast is the third. Every team needs the smart guy though, so he fits the bill. Unfortunately for us, when they pair the team down for some episodes, he seems to always find his way in. In later seasons, they give him a deus ex machina backpack and then that is when the fun truly begins. To be fair, I don't think they knew what to do with him.

By the way, Jean Grey. The most useless character in this show. She is an omega level threat in the comic books, but she's relegated to being the object of affection between Scott and Wolverine. And a daughter figure to Professor X. The Phoenix Saga doesn't really work because we're not invested in her at all, so when she does a heel turn, we don't care. We know how it goes in the comics, but if you're watching this show without knowing any of the comics, it feels strange and that's the lens I'm viewing this through.

My final gripe with the show and my biggest one, is Wolverine. They have to nerf him so bad that whenever he acts like a threat, you don't believe him. In the comic books, he was FEARED. He was the prototypical loose cannon that could go off the rails at any moment. With that, he also got respect because he was willing to do what no one else would. Given his power set, he is the character that constantly gets dunked on, because he can take it. But by being the punching bag, as a viewer, you can't take him seriously. I get it. A dude with metal claws that cut through everything can't be slicing up people. So he only truly unleashes when he has to fight robots or chop up weapons.

I know you may have fond memories of this show. I did. You may think, "But Kevin, there are a lot of great episodes that I love, what are you TALKING about. You're such a hater." Yeah, I thought that too. And yes, I am. There is way more bad than good. Do yourself a favor. Remember this show how it was cause if you watch it now, the warts on this thing are going to show. If you ARE going to watch it, stop after season two.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur - Season 1

If I had been on top of my shit, I would have had this out during Black History Month. But I don't, so I didn't. Don't let my tardiness take away from what I'm about to say about this show. For those that want to know what they're getting into, this will be a glowing review. 

Before I get there, I feel it is important to mention how this show differs from the comic book series of the same name, which I also read avidly.

In the book, Lunella Lafayette (Moon Girl) is borderline unlikeable with no redeeming qualities. She's a super genius, with all the personality quirks that comes with someone that is genius level. Egotistical, prickly, feeling no need to have any friendships. Throughout her series, she gets by without truly making friends and doesn't seem to have an arc where she improves. As much as I wanted to always recommend it, that made it a tough read.

Thankfully, the show does away with that. Lunella is still a super genius, but she is trying to fit into a world that she is smarter than. They rightfully root her in her family and she has a best friend that also serves an important role in her crime fighting with her double life. Not to mention, Devil Dinosaur is more of a character here and you have the makings of a very fun kids show.

Going deeper into what I love about this show is the animation style which has a graffiti look and is gorgeous to look at. Everything pops and they make stylistic choices throughout the show during action scenes or to convey different moods to match what is happening on screen. The consistency of the animation and specific look of this show makes it the best looking Marvel animated show in easily the last decade. I tried to watch their Avengers, Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy shows the past few years and they were all bad and looked cheap as hell. This is why DC consistently kicks their ass on the animation front. This show is the only one I would add to an argument of "Hey, Marvel has good animated shows! There's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur..." and then stop right there.

The other thing that is great about this show is the soundtrack. After the first episode, I went out and bought the soundtrack and I was not sorry. It is amazing. Raphael Saadiq was in his bag. There's even a track with Laurence Fishburne singing, which is fantastic.

The voice talent assembled on this show is top notch. The aforementioned Laurence Fishburne was an executive producer on the show and lent his voice to the Beyonder character that shows up. Alfre Woodard also has a role here as the grandmother and she is also a steadying voice within the cast. I don't know who Diamond White is, but she's perfect as Lunella and is also instantly likeable. Hell, they got Wesley Snipes as a guest voice. Clearly everyone enjoyed taking part in this project on the voice cast side and it shows.

I loved how this series is based around life in the Bronx and the Lafayette family owning a skate rink, so there's a lot of skate rink stuff sprinkled throughout the series. Like a kids show, there are little lessons taught in each episode and it pays off on a big mystery that had driven the story. The cliffhanger is also very good!

Everyone is extremely likeable and a lot of fun. The villains are throwaways, but that is beside the point. HIGHLY recommend watching this and now that season two has dropped, go watch that too. If you got Disney+, you have something new to binge to hold you over until X-Men '97.

Echo

My only regret about this show is that I didn't write about it immediately after watching. Unfortunately for me, that was a few weeks ago, so details are going to be hazy, so I'll speak in broad strokes. 

First off, I liked it. It harkened back to the days of Netflix Marvel, when things were gritty and grimy and self contained. Those shows I felt gave us New York as one of the characters, displaying the different boroughs. Here, we spend most of our time in Oklahoma of all places and the setting also feels like a character. And like those Netflix series, I liked that you get time to breathe within that environment. UNLIKE those Netflix series, they didn't stretch this out into 13 episodes. They kept it a nice and tight five episodes. And most of those episodes weren't even close to an hour. Just another small thing I appreciate. Know your story and be concise. 

I'll ignore how Marvel is trying to do mental gymnastics to back into having Kingpin and all of this tie into their cinematic universe, after going out of their way to make sure the properties never meet. It's good to have Kingpin back, they just need to make sure he stays in his lane. He is a crime lord, but he is not a super villain on the level of Thanos, let's pump our breaks.

Anyways, back to my main point. I thought this show was good. I love that we're finally getting more Native American representation in our media as they have been long overlooked. Admittedly, this also shows Marvel's lack of representation on this front. Outside of Forge, Thunderbird and Warpath from the X-Men and Shaman from Alpha Flight, you would be hard pressed to think of any other Native American characters outside of Echo. 

I also think the character (and outstanding actress Alaqua Cox) fare much better here than in the comics. I ranted at my spouse about how this character is created in the comics. They out out of their way to say that she is deaf, but can read lips to understand people. Then damn near every artist shows her standing off to the side, behind, below, above, etc. and NOT IN EYELINE of everyone she talks to and they have regular conversations. I know it's asking a lot of an artist, but I have seen nary a one try to draw ASL. So the fact in this show they took great pains to be aware of all of these details was refreshing. I hate that my bar was so low. I think it had more to do with the actress as in they just COULDN'T do that. 

Sorry, I got off my main point yet again. I thought it was shot well, it moved with minimal slow down (there was some) and I loved all the supporting characters. I'm going to ignore the powers they gave her because it seems that Marvel can't help itself. You can't just have a regular ass character anymore (outside of Hawkeye). That comes with the territory. The hand to hand action also harkens back to those Daredevil days, which is what I'm sure they were going for. Hell, the action in that Hawkeye series wasn't bad either. So keep that up. My only complaint is that there wasn't more of it.

In the end, I think it is worth a watch. I hope this is a formula that Marvel uses with their other shows from now on (five to six episodes max, concise storytelling).

The Inevitable Best and Worst List of 2023 - Part II

Let's carry on with Part II of my year in review. Now we get on to favorite writers, mini-series, events and favorite series and whatevers.

Favorite Writer of 2023
Ryan North - Fantastic Four (Marvel) - This was a toss up between Rainbow Rowell on She-Hulk and Ryan North. I went with Ryan because he's been having a great, inventive run on Fantastic Four. His writing has been very different than it was in the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. I figured he had range, but I didn't know it was like this. He is clearly a smart person, because this book has been infused with a lot of great science in how the Fantastic Four approaches problems and solve them. Everything this year was compelling, inventive takes on the characters as they tackle their issues. It sounds bad, but by removing the kids for the run so far (they got trapped in a building zapped one year into the future), he's been allowed to get back to the core of these characters to see why they mesh and what makes them tick. Everyone has had a chance to shine. His Reed Richards is almost likeable compared to how he's usually portrayed. We are in a renaissance of Fantastic Four stories.

Honorable Mention: Rainbow Rowell (She-Hulk)

Pleasant Surprise of 2023
Transformers (Image) - WOW. We're only three or four issues in, but this re-imagining of OG Transformers is fantastic. Darren Warren Johnson is putting on a master clinic here. He's taking what we've known from the 1980's cartoon and putting a different spin on it. His Transformers look really cool and he does great action scenes with hand drawn sound effects. We live in the era of the trade paper back, so the pacing is written with that in mind, meaning it takes like five issues for something significant to happen. However, I'm all on board and I'm glad so far they have kept things simple without mucking up things with too much mythology. 

Worst Event of 2023
Sins of Sinister (Marvel) - Look, the X-Men have always had complicated crossover events that occur because the writers get too cute. This was no exception. I swear, everyone keeps trying to go back to the well of "Age of Apocalypse" from the mid 90's, an event that was sheer perfection and full of shock value. Now every few years, they try a different spin on that with diminishing returns. They keep chasing that dragon. This time, we look at an alternate timeline where Mr. Sinister has "won". At this point, nothing is shocking and we know the status quo will be returned to in a few weeks, so why bother investing? As I was reading, I was like, "I don't really like this..." Can we not just have a character focused event that is small in scale?

Biggest Missed Opportunity

Predator vs. Wolverine (Marvel) - You knew that once Disney bought the rights to all the Fox properties, stuff like this would come to fruition. On it's face, this seems like a natural fit and would be a great series right? WRONG. This book seemed to have missed the memo on the basic premise of this book. Wolverine fighting a Predator. Instead, we get snippets throughout his history where they fight (for like five pages) then we spend the rest of the time pontificating on what may or may not have happened, cause you know, Wolverine has a bad memory, a thing comics seemed to have fixed years ago. What in the hell. You had one job, book. Just give us that. I don't want to see past versions of Wolverine encountering people. This is the problem with modern comics where they write for the trade. In the 90's this would have been one 64 page book where they would get to the point. Instead, you have to read maybe about 112 pages to get the story. UGH.

Favorite Mini-series of 2023
Clobberin' Time (Marvel) - At this point, it should be no secret that The Thing is one of my favorite Marvel Characters. He is number 2, maybe even 1b behind Black Panther on any given day. So this little team-up series was a lot of fun. Steve Skorce is a name I'm familiar with from waaaaaaaay back in the 90's during the Age of Apocalypse event with the X-Men. He drew "X-Man" for a few issues. His art fit with the 90's aesthetic back then, but thankfully he evolved. Along the way, he also became a fun writer and that was shown in this series. This was like a good ol' "Marvel-Two-In-One" with the Thing teaming up with a rotating cast of characters. The main villain was as comic booky as it gets, but the fun is in watching the interactions between Thing and his co-stars.

Honorable Mentions: Joe Fixit (Marvel)

Favorite New Series of 2023
Blade (Marvel) - I'm just as surprised as you are. I like Blade, but I don't love him. Something about this book though clicked for me. It didn't rely on any of the old stuff we know about Blade, it refreshingly introduced us to some new characters from his past that we never met before. It had super natural hijinks and in the most recent issues, Dracula get involved, but not in the way you think. Bryan Hill's writing combined with Elena Casandre's art made this my easy pick. I'm actually excited for a Blade comic. Didn't have that on my bingo card.

Honorable Mentions: Wonder Woman (DC)

Favorite Graphic Novel of 2023
Blacula: Return of the King (Zombie Love Studios) - I only read one graphic novel this year, but even if I had read more, it still would have been this book. In part one, I mentioned how Rodeny Barnes is my favorite new writer. Some of that is attributed to this book. It is a clearly a labor of love. He took a blaxploitation movie and infused it with more mythology and pathos than I thought possible. Combined with his frequent partner, Jason Shawn Alexander, this book was a lot of fun. I wish more Blaxploitation properties could get renewed life in comic book form.

Honorable Mentions: N/A

Worst Series/Mini-Series of 2023
Daredevil & Echo (Marvel) - Taboo from Black Eyed Peas co-wrote this in case that is a thing that interests you. Whatever pull he might have had with this book ended about ten years ago, but I digress. There's a very particular reason I wanted to call this book out. It's a problem throughout all Marvel comics in regards to Echo. She is a great character and I love that there is some Native American representation. However, one of the main parts of her character is that she is deaf. She can read lips though, so that is how she can know what people are saying. The problem is, literally every comic she is in has her doing dialogue side by side with someone and not facing them head on. So how does she know what people are saying? Also, how is she having perfectly normal conversations, when she is a deaf person. It's like anyone working on this character has never met a deaf person in their lives. She doesn't even use ASL with ANYONE, so they tell us constantly, "Oh she's deaf, but she overcomes her disability", but never showing or acknowledging it. So this book did that constantly and I was so annoyed by that detail, it overshadowed the dump story about fighting a demon or something. What are editors even there for? Ugh. Anyways, given how much I just wrote shows how pissed off this book made me.

Honorable Mentions: N/A - I can't think of any others that made me dislike them.

Favorite Series of 2023
She-Hulk (Marvel) - This might come as a shocker, but this book has been really good. It stays consistently at the top of my stack when I pick up books for the week. The writer, Rainbow Rowell, has made a huge fan out of me. She had a great run on Runaways a few years ago and now she has taken over She-Hulk. This book has been low-stakes, but just focusing on everyday life of Jen Walters aka She-Hulk as she navigates her life with work and a relationship. This sounds so mundane, but Rowell deftly handles this with some super hero stuff that has worked really well. She's really humanized Jen in a way that makes you root for her. She-Hulk has been back and forth with her portrayal over the years, so I'm glad to see they are just keeping it simple. What gave this book the nod over the Fantastic Four is the wonderful art of Andres Genolet. Fantastic Four has had a who's who of nobodies filling in and there's no consistent style. This book has it. I will also state the obvious. Women write better characters than men do, because there are so many complexities that I can't fathom, that she presents in this book to an idiot like me that is easy to digest. I full endorse this book to anyone that is new to comics or just wants a good, fun read.

Honorable Mentions:  Strange Academy (Marvel), Fantastic Four (Marvel)

The Inevitable Best and Worst List of 2023 - Part I

This was certainly a year. I think the number of comics I buy in a year actually went down for the first time in a while. I have no explanation other than the obvious, I was just buying less. Why? The musical chairs of writers/artists on books and the slow output of creator owned projects left me with my normal pull list and I would MAYBE pick up a book or two outside of that. I also get behind on my comics all the time due to a kiddo, so I'm not in the shop every week grabbing what is new like I used to.

I have definitely pulled away from DC, as they have reduced their output and nothing much interests me over there outside of the big three. And even then, I buy based on the creative team, not the character.

Marvel is the same thing, but there is so much quantity, I have a lot more choices and I will take a little more risk. With all their movies, some characters got pushed more than others, for good or for bad. I didn't take good (any?) notes this year, so let's see how this goes. It's going to be a dumpster fire.

This year, I will do a few fun, superlative categories to fluff my content.

Without further ado, here is part I of my review of 2023.


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:

• N/A - I didn't actively drop anything. Stuff just ended!

Favorite Comic Book Movie of 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Multi-verse (Marvel) - Come on. I honestly almost forgot that this movie was THIS year because it was so early on, but this is easily the best comic book movie of the year. This movie had heart and fantastic visuals. It sucks to know that those visuals came at a cost of the poor people that worked long hours for us to get this. Even though the movie starts a lot with Gwen Stacy, it is still very much Miles' story and how he is adapting to things. I already wrote my review on this, so I will finish by saying, it was a great film.

Honorable Mentions: Blue Beetle (DC), The Marvels (Marvel)

Worst Comic Book Movie of 2023
Antman and Wasp: Quantumania (Marvel) - This was a hard choice between this movie and The Flash. The Flash was an absolute mess, but it had Michael Keaton as Batman, which is the only factor involved. This movie moved away from what made the other Ant-man movies so fun. You can argue it's still a heist movie, but this time it's on a much grander scale that doesn't serve this character. I'm sorry, but Ant-Man is NOT going toe to toe with Kang. No way in hell. But that is what we get here. Also, all the actors just seemed exhausted with this movie (probably not as exhausted as the poor SFX people) and bored, like we were. There were stakes here, but I never felt like they wouldn't achieve them. We knew this movie was only another step up the laborious tower of Marvel to get to the next big thing.

Honorable Mention: The Flash (DC)

Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2023
My Adventures with Superman (DC) - I will be real here, this honor would probably have gone to Superman and Lois, if I wasn't a season or two behind, so I guess I have to pick something. So I will go with the next best thing, "My Adventures with Superman". I would say I'm a low-key Superman fan, but I think I've proven time and time again that he is one of my favorites ever since childhood. As an adult, I like seeing how they handle a guy who is clearly overpowered, dealing with something that could actually threaten him. In this show, since we're just starting out with him, just about everything is a threat to him. Underneath all that action is a sweet love story between brash and bold Lois and timid and meek Clark. Caught in the middle is Jimmy Olson who realizes he's becoming a third wheel. I loved the fun take on classic superman characters and the voice acting is superb. 

Honorable Mentions: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Marvel)

Worst Comic Book TV show of 2023
Secret Invasion (Marvel) - Hands down, the easiest choice I had to make here. And I don't take pleasure in doing this. This is a concept that should have been a slam dunk, but they fumbled this one big time and quite frankly, wasted Sam Jackson's time. Like Wolverine, Nick Fury is a character we don't really need to know much about his past, only what he's doing now. By trying to flesh him out, you made him less interesting. They would have been forgiven if we had like an episode of sad Nick Fury, but six episodes of him being a step behind and not proving why he's the best? That's a no from me, dawg. Let's also not forget the little nugget that dropped at the end about Rhodey having been replaced by a Skrull some undetermined amount of time ago.

Honorable Mention: N/A.

The “Oh you still come out and I buy you” of 2023
Immortal X-Men (Marvel) - I know I've been back on the X-Men train for the past two-three years, but for the life of me, I'm not sure why I still buy this book. It's about the last interesting X-Men characters (Douglock) and I guess what's left of the little government they set up.

The "Oh, why don't I drop you because it would be so easy" of 2023

Immortal Thor (Marvel) - Historically, I've never cared for Thor. Then I read Jason Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder run and I got into the character and I've stayed around for a few years. I've read spinoffs like Valkerye and Jane Foster. Now though, I'm so done with this character, but I keep buying the book. It's fine, but I don't enjoy it enough to keep spending money. I need to stop. I just have to remember to take it off my pull list...

Favorite New Artist of 2023
Elena Casagrande - Blade - (Marvel) - For years, Marvel has been running this "Young Guns" or "Stormbreakers" stuff that showcases "new" talent. I say "new" because they've been drawing for a while, but are newish to Marvel and they're getting put in the spotlight. Sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss. Elena was someone in the group and when I saw her work on Blade, I instantly became a fan. I'm going to go track down other books she's worked on (like Black Widow) to fully appreciate her. I hope she continues to get more high profile books.

Honorable Mentions: Can't think of none

Worst Artist of 2023
Carlos Magno - Captain America - Cold War - Marvel - Unfortunately, I'm basing this award on ONE issue that I saw drawn by Carlos, but it was igregious enough that I marked it down so I wouldn't forget about it, seven months later. So here we are. My notes on why I put it here were, "Low Rent Gary Frank". If you don't get that reference to well known comic book artist, that's fine. I also put, "People were all teeth." Which meant there were a lot of "Grrrrrr" faces, which is a cheap trick in comic book art. So there you have it.

Honorable Mentions: Caio Majado - Incredible Hulk Annual

Favorite Artist of 2023
Khary Randolph - Sirens of the City (Boom Studios) - I did some soul searching and followed my heart. I see a lot of good art, but there isn't always a lot that moves me and makes me go, WOW. Randolph's work in "Sirens of the City" did that for me. His art crackled with a creative freedom I hadn't seen from him in a while. He clearly was enjoying himself on the book and when I heard about this book, I bought it solely for his art. Definitely recommend picking it up.

Honorable Mentions: Andres Genolet (She-Hulk), Daniel Sampiere (Wonder Woman)

Favorite New Writer (to me) of 2023
Rodney Barnes - Killadelphia (Image), Blacula: Return of the King (Zombie Press Studios) Gang War: Luke Cage (Marvel) - Rodney Barnes has been in the game for a while and has written for a number of tv shows. I'm still behind in his book, Killadelphia, but I started to read it this year and I instantly became a fan of his work. I also picked up his graphic novel, Blacula: Return of the King and that is also excellent. I always want to support black writers and he's starting to gain steam in the comic world, so I want to continue to support him. He trends towards more horror, but it's always from a black person angle, which we don't get enough of in horror. He's definitely worth checking out.

Honorable Mentions: N/A

Worst Writer of 2023
Joe Madueria - Battlechasers (Image) - What is this, the 90's all over again? I honestly don't know why I picked up this series which had been on ice for about twenty years. The writing definitely didn't improve in that time. Picking on this feels like low hanging fruit, but it was so egregious, I had to put it here. His art is great, but his writing is definitely not. This book is about as generic fantasy as it gets.

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

The Oversaturation of 2023

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - It mains me to say this, but there was a lot of damn Ninja Turtle stuff this year. I love them, you all know this. But when I list out what came out this year in addition to their mainline title, you'll see what I mean. I'll even use a numbered list to hammer home my point.

1. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Power Rangers II"
2. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Stranger Things"
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Wherewhen
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Street Fighter
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin - The Lost Years.

Could it be that there was a movie coming out? Couldn't tell ya. But also, damn. Look at that list. That's too much. I am also guilty of having read EVERY SINGLE ONE. I can tell you that the Street Fighter one didn't need to happen. The Stranger Things was better than you would think because they used the Eastman/Laird original turtles from the 80's since Stranger Things takes place in the 80's. Get it? Cute. The Power Rangers one was built for me and I loved every damn issue of it's nonsense. I'll do a separate set of reviews for these later. I need to re-read them because honestly, they run together.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

I saw Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom last Thursday and I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet in this review. It's a bad movie, but it was also kinda fun. So I guess I liked it in the way that I like the Fast and Furious franchise. You have to turn your brain off because stuff will not make sense. Just drift away in the current. (See what I did there?) Otherwise, you will be UPSET.

This movie is in a weird spot because we know that it doesn't count in the grand scheme of DC's future movie franchises. I guess they thought they could recoup some money, but honestly, they should have just put it on Max and called it a day.  They'll bury a Batgirl movie, but let this one see the light of day? Give me a break.

We're not really told where this movie fits with his appearance in that Justice League movie. Its as if the two movies themselves are in different universes. We start off finding out that Aquaman and Mera (we'll get into her later) had a kid, Aquaman is a part time king (how does that even work?) and splits time between Atlantis and living with his pops in a lighthouse. 

The family dynamics are so weird here. We know who Aquaman's mom is (Nicole Kidman) and she comes up to say hi to him and her lover every now and then, but also spends her time down in Atlantis with her new baby daddy, Dolph Lundgren. Look, I can barely be bothered to say character names, so I will just say the actors in most cases. Mera is a mom that is around sometimes and other times she's just gone. Aquaman keeps making comments about being a single father, when we just saw Mera helping out one scene before. I would argue that Amber Heard has zero chemistry with Jason Mamoa and the baby.

The movie also centers around Orn, his half brother who was imprisoned after the last movie. Confused yet? Imagine watching this movie with all the family drama I mentioned above and they don't dig into it, outside of the brother relationship. You got a ready made family drama if you wanted to go there, but this movie has zero interest in that. Let's just show cool shit.

To the movie's credit, all the fun is in the Orn/Aquaman pairing and the movie is smart to have them together as much as possible. They use the odd couple dynamic to a t. One guy is messy, the other guy is clean. One guy is buttoned up, the other guy wants to have fun. Jason Mamoa is being Jason Mamoa in this movie and when I saw he had a writing credit, I was like, "Of course he did." Unlike Amber Heard, he has chemistry with Patrick Wilson (Orn).

There are a lot of good jokes in that pairing. My personal favorite is the rare, specific detail of how Orn runs when he is on the surface. He starts the movie doing a Naruto run (look up that reference if you don't get it. This is a nerd blog, you should know already!) and when Aquaman calls him out on it after one too many times, he replies that he's used to swimming, not running on the surface world, which makes sense. It is the ONE clever thing this movie does and will do. It's a great joke. There are other jokes that they do make callbacks about, so the movie at least commits to that.

Like I said before, this movie is a mess. The special effects are very suspect. They don't match the ambition of this movie and things looked best when they weren't underwater. The plot is predictable and you know where it's going to go. Also, as much as I liked seeing Black Mantis be mostly the sole bad guy here, he's still being manipulated, so he's a mini-boss at best. At least there was no redeeming arc for him.

My final thoughts. Amber Heard. After all that went down with her and Johnny Depp, I'm surprised she's in this movie as much as she is. They clearly wrote around her character instead of just recasting it, so things just feel off in every scene she's in. I didn't think she was great in the last movie, she's not great here and it's just a weird thing where real life intervened here.

Is this movie worth a watch? Sure, for free. With friends where you can make fun of it as you watch. It's a big dumb movie that is at least more put together than the first one. It isn't trying to do four things at once.

Oh and Randall Park is in this movie being Randall Park. So if you like him, you get moments of levity. I personally like him, so it gave me stuff to watch for.