Into the Longbox

I know it has been about a week, but I wanted to share my thoughts on HeroesCon. This was my twelfth consecutive trip to what is easily my favorite convention. That's because the focus is squarely on comic books. I had another good time at this convention. However, something was different this time around. I came to a starting revelation that I knew was going to eventually happen. In all my years going to this convention and others, I have now pretty much exhausted my list of comics to search for. What I have always loved about these conventions is the thrill of the chase. I'm always looking for SOMETHING. Since my friend and I have gone to this for so many years, the convention has become an exercise in routine and structure. I briefly described this in my  post  last year. This year we took a different path than what we did last year. Instead of pre-ordering tickets, we simply bought our tickets with cash at the ticket booth. It took us all of two minutes. As you'll...

I'll be honest, I was dreading the existence of this movie. After suffering through the last one, I vowed never again. Michael Bay (via producing, not directing) ruined one of my childhood favorite cartoons. Then I heard that Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang and to a lesser extent, Baxter Stockman would be in this movie. I knew I was doomed. I was going to hate watch this film. Now keep in mind, I am well aware that I am part of the problem with movies like this getting made. Anyways, back to the movie. Let me just put this out there. This is a terrible movie. It is terribly flawed. I understand they wanted to work in fan favorites, but the ham fisted way they do it is inexcusable. I so badly want to say how they get Bebop and Rocksteady to their mutant forms, but I don't want to ruin this for anyone that hasn't seen it yet. It's really stupid. There's also a lot of over the top action set pieces. Splinter still looks terrible. Thankfully they limit his involvemen...

Last year, I wrote a blog post sharing my favorite Marvel characters. As a fun exercise, I thought I would check in to see how they are doing. So let's get to it. Power Man / Iron Fist - So they both have a netflix series coming up. They also have a brand new comic out. This comic has actually been fantastic and it makes me realize how much I've missed a buddy team up book (excluding Archer and Armstrong). Both characters are receiving a higher profile these past couple of months, so I'd say they are doing well. I'm not completely blind and a cynical Marvel fan. This is only happening because of the netflix shows. I am not complaining though. Spider-Man  - So I haven't read a Peter Parker led Spider-man book in almost a decade. Let me take that back because there was the Ultimate Spider-Man series. I haven't read a Spider-Man headlined book in the 616 universe in almost a decade. With that being said, I have thoroughly enjoyed the adventures of Miles Moral...

I feel like I start every movie review with a line about how, "I am a huge fan of X and it was one of the first comics I started reading". So I'm going to just skip my long history with the X-Men and just get right into what I thought about this movie. Spoilers ahead. I've come to a realization with the past couple of comic book movies and I've decided the kind of comic book movie I like. I like a movie where there are low stakes. By that, I mean there is personal crisis for the main character, but it is not a world wide cataclysmic event. I don't need a movie about heroes trying to save the world. The personal stories that are more important to me. I know these movies cost a lot to make, but look at what Deadpool did. That movie encapsulates almost everything I want. It was personal, it was not about the end of the world and it remained within the confines of what it was. Then there is this movie. Each X-Men movie has escalated to ridiculous portio...

I realized that I haven't written a single blog entry about anything that WASN'T comic book movie related. Guess it's time to change that. So apparently the new issue, Captain America #1 made the mainstream news due to some controversy. This book was already in my pull list so I was going to read it anyway. After hearing about this, I had to uncharacteristically put it at the top of my list. I just had to read it right away! Now that I have, all I had to say was, "Meh". I mean, I get the controversy. Spoilers ahead. It is revealed at the end of the issue that Captain America is an agent of Hydra. Not that he just turned, but that he's been a Hydra agent all along. What the what? Let's just forget the fact that they are ignoring 75 years of history that contradicts this very reveal. Let's also ignore the fact that despite what they say, there has not been subtle clues that lead to this. It came out of left field. This is a dumb decision by Marv...

After a couple of days and two showings of this movie, I've had enough time to gather my thoughts about this movie. As if you might not already be able to tell, I loved this movie. There were so many little things about this movie that I loved. So let's get right to it. Slight spoilers may follow. I will start off by saying any comic fans that were expecting this movie to be like the comic book event from a few years ago, prepare to be disappointed. This movie deviates from almost all facets of that story except for a central conflict between Captain America and Iron Man. I for one applaud that. I don't want a literal translation of the comic book pages to the screen. Also, let's be realistic. If you're paying attention, a lot of those characters in that story have not been introduced into the Marvel cinematic universe. Or they do not have the rights to those characters. I think people forget that the Fantastic Four was a big part of this event. Marvel doesn...

Has it really been a full year since the first season of Daredevil came into our lives? I've had a couple of weeks to let my feelings on this show marinate. Also, the arrival of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, kind of pushed this out of my mind. As I reflect back on the second season of Daredevil, I still feel the same. It was really good. I had a few problems, but not enough to make me enjoy the show any less. So where to begin? Let's start with the Punisher. We get the best Punisher seen on screen to date. Jon Berenthal was a very inspired choice. He was perfectly cast. I like that he starts off as a force of nature in the first half of the season. They give his character an arc and I love the philosophical foil he makes for Daredevil. While I'm on the Punisher, I will just say that the violence this season was cranked up to an 11. With the Punisher involved, it is appropriate I think. What better way to show how different he is from our heroes? The other n...