Blog #16: Side Kicks, Death and Captain Marvel

- My favourite super-hero sidekick is Rick Jones, as I had previously mentioned all the way back in The Cola Dog Blog #1.  Now in current Marvel he can turn into a Hulk-like creature called A-bomb but back in the day he was just a normal dude who hung out with super heroes. For a while he trained with Captain America and was his side kick, but most of his side kicking career was with the Hulk. I liked him because he was funny, hip and just a normal human with no powers just martial arts training. He was also indirectly responsible for Bruce Banner turning into the Hulk.

- Captain America's sidekick Bucky should have stayed dead. His death meant something and they ruined it by bringing him back and creating all this unneeded back story that is currently seen in Marvel. And speaking of side kicks who die Batman's side kick Jasen Todd should have stayed dead too. And on the subject of death when Aunt May died in the Spider-Man books it was a touching sequence, then again they ruined it by bringing her back.

- Although not a sidekick 'Captain Marvel' did have a few side kicks too. He is one character I've always liked but has never got the proper treatment.  Captain Marvel deserves his own title because I did like the series 'Power of Shazam' in the 90's, but since then the character just hasn't been used as he should have been. But recently Geoff Johns brought him back in the New 52 as a back up story in Justice League. I think the reason why he doesn't seem to fit in is because he wasn't actually part of the DC Universe for years and was acquired years later. Marvel was actually in competition with Superman back in the 40's and 50's. I don't mind having them in the same universe, it is neat to see Marvel and Superman fight. Superman has more powers to call upon but he is vulnerable to magic, which gives Marvel his powers. They had an awesome battle in 'Kingdom Come'. Looking forward to that and further adventures from CM!

 

See you next week!

This & That: He-Man Toy Collection Update

This last weekend I attended the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo and I managed to acquire some more toys for my He-Man toy collection.

And this is my entire collection to date:

Thanks to social media outlets Facebook and Twitter I was able to document my recent trip to the Calgary Comic And Entertainment Expo 2012. It was quite the quest filled with misadventure, good times and a few bad. Among my many activities that weekend it included the fact I got drunk with 'The Honky Tonk Man', I got to meet Stan Lee and most of the cast of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', and I had a talk with comic book writing icon Peter David. 


Check out my 'Captains Log' blog posts about my Calgary experience over at the Random Nerdness Blog.


www.randomnerdness.blogspot.com


See you soon!

Blog #15: Green Lantern Mini Reviews

I'm a little behind the times I'll admit because I bought this flick last summer and just watched it about a month ago, now I'm getting around to writing about it. I really liked this flick. I have not seen 'Green Lantern First Flight' yet so this is my first time seeing a DC animation Green Lantern flick. I'll admit to not being the biggest fan of Green Lantern but I really did enjoy this film. A series of short movies in one movie may have pissed off some die hard Lantern fans but being someone relatively new to the GL Universe I really enjoyed them. I definitely liked this better than the live action film from last summer.

 

 

 

I am in camp Nathan Fillion when it comes to GL, he should have played Hal in the feature film rather than Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds would have made a perfect Kyle Raynor, not Hal. As said I'm not the biggest Green Lantern fan in any way but the Hal Jordan I remember from the comics was older. He even had the 'Paulie Walnuts' grey 'wings' in his hair, thus Nathan Fillion I think would be the perfect age and look to play Hal. Also Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from the new BSG) should have played Carol in the movie.

 

Again In regards to the feature film live action movie: I bought the Blue-Ray extended edition and on that disc in the credits there is a brief scene where Sinestro actually puts on the yellow ring which suggests that the sequel will be about him turning bad. Way too freakin soon!!! From what I have heard apparently there is a sequel being planned. Although it wasn't a commercial success they are banking on the sequel to be better received like 'The Dark Knight' was as compared to 'Batman Begins'. 

Blog #14: Comic Pull List Review

- Star Trek: This ongoing series from IDW follows the adventures of Kirk and crew from the 2009 JJ Abrams 'Star Trek' film. The issues I have read so far are OK, but they are not original tales. They have taken plot-lines from episodes of 'Star Trek: The Original Series' are put them into comic book form with the 'new' crew putting their own spin on it. The art is good and the covers are awesome. From what I have heard they are going to be doing their own original stories for future issues. I am looking forward to those.

 

- Moon Knight: I didn't know too much about this character prior to this recent series but I am very much enjoying this series. Too bad that it has apparently been cancelled as of issue 12.

 

- Supercrooks: This week I read the first issue of 'Supercrooks' by Mark Millar, Story was good and the art was great. Check out this book! I love to read tales of super villains, and as the title suggests the main characters are not 'good guys'. 

- Superman: I wanted to like this title after they announced it with the relaunch of the 'New 52', especially that George Perez would be writing this book. The art is OK, but the story kinda sucks. Very wordy and the villains so far have been less than interesting to me. But a new creative team is debuting I believe with issue 7 so hopefully things will turn around for this Superman title.

 

- Justice League Dark: I have never been a big fan of the supernatural elements of the DCU, but this title had 'Justice League' in it so I had to try it out. And by golly I am actually loving this title. Story is good and the art is fantastic. A definite monthly must read for me.

 

- Avengers VS X-Men: Not sure what to expect with this title, wreaks of 'Been There, Done That', but I've decided to give this series a try. Guarantee a main character will die, only to return 6 months later...

 

And that is all for now. Talk to you soon! 

Blog #13: Irredeemable & Incorruptible

I started reading these tiles last year, got caught up by reading trades and I was kicking myself for not having read them sooner. Published by Boom studios and created by comic writing legend Mark Waid, these titles truly are some of the best comics being done today. But sadly from what I have read bot titles are coming to an end. But at least Waid was able to tell the story he wanted to tell. Here's a brief description from me, but really i cannot do these series justice. Definitely read the trades if you are a fan of Mark Waid.  

 

- Irredeemable: In this universe there is a 'Superman' like character called 'The Plutonian' who was beloved and ridiculed by the world and one day he snaps, and the worlds greatest hero becomes it's worst villain. Literally billions here on Earth are affected by his evil deeds. In this world there is a 'Justice League'-like team of which he too was a member, and now his former teammates are on the run from their former friend who continues to try and kill them. Ever wonder what would happen if Superman went crazy, well this is the comic for you!

 

- Incorruptible: Both series take place in the same world and do tie into each other, with this one is almost the opposite of 'Irredeemable'. A former super villain named 'Max Damage' is scared straight after witnessing first hand the Plutonian destroy the city he once protected. now Max is trying to do right by the world and if possible he wants a shot at the Plutonian because when he is at full strength he is almost as strong as Plutonian, if not stronger. Max Damage got his powers from a scientist who was selling powers to people. The longer Max Damage stays awake the stronger and more invincible he becomes. But if he is caught sleeping he's just as vulnerable as any human.

 

Sad to see these series end for sure. See you next week! 

Random Nerdness: Blog #23: Edmonton Collectible Toy And Comic Show ...

Random Nerdness: Blog #23: Edmonton Collectible Toy And Comic Show ...: Last Sunday, despite the monster snow fall and poor road conditions, my Wife, youngest daughter Shelby and I made th...

This & That: Update on the He-Man Toy Collection

For those who really know me know that I am a huge fan of He-Man/Masters Of The Universe, and when I was a kid I had a huge collection of toys and action sets. But as I got older I sold off most of my collection, but now as an adult attending comic cons I intend to rebuild my collection as best as I can. Here's a few pics of my collection as it is now. I managed to buy several figures this last sunday at the Edmonton Collectible Toy And Comic Show. At the end of the month I will be attending the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo where I intend to continue with my hunt for more vintage He-Man toys. 

The lunch box was actually used by me in Kindergarten