Into the Longbox

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 m...

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 Liber...

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 Pl...

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 i...

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 i...

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 ti...

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 t...