The blazing comic book quickies 26/11/11

 

I'll try not to talk about buddy cops but I'm not making any promises.

THE FLASH #3

Written by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato art by Francis Manapul

The flash saves a plane from crashing after a electromagnetic pulse hits central city. I'm certainly enjoying this new rebotaverse flash book its delivering all the thrills and spills that you'd expect plus Barry Allen isn't being all that emo sure he's no kamina type but he's being fun and not driven like he was in flashpoint or bitching with kid flash like he was in the road to flashpoint. Heh yeah iv not read all that much flash. Right so spoilers then ? You guys cool with that yeah ? Barry Allen gets shot dead on the last page. Oh wells so much for Barry Allen then guess its time to bring on wally west cuz there's no way that Barry's death could be some kind of fake out or anything that type of thing never happens in comics theses days. Oh yeah and the art god damn bloody funking awesome.

 

AQUAMAN #3

written by Geoff Johns art by Ivan Reis

Yup the world sure dose hate aquaman all right. Hates probably a strong word, pity's probably better. Well he is aquaman after all. AQUAMAN! He cant even swim alone. The big goffs really taking the running joke of aquaman sucking big time and really hammering it home. The world of the rebotaverse is just like our very own in that it just see's the king of Atlantis as a joke and that's pretty cool mainly cuz it works. Its just feels more real that the world would treat him that way rather than treat him just like superman. Well that's what this books setting up so they can show that aquaman is bad ass that he dose kick ass and that he isn't a joke. Its not there yet but it's aiming for it. The goff man really likes aquaman stabbing dudes. Not my cup of tea really id prefer that he just punch fools like his counter part in the brave and the bold cartoon. That or just summon cthulhu. He can do that you know.

 

GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #3

written by Tony Bedard art by Tyler Kirkham and Harvey Tolibao

So about those gaurdians of the universe being total bad guy bastards. Yeah that's still happening. Its weird dudes like they are at this moment the closest thing to a big bad in current GL continuity. They want to replace the green lanterns themselves with a third army, thieve brainwashed gathnet and are currently kicking the absolute crap out of kyle ryaner just cuz he has more than one ring, something that's totally out of his control. Crazy issue but nothing that much happens other than larfleeze making his appearance. And really I think that's all we really wanted to see.

 

TEEN TITANS #3

written by Scott Lobdell art by Brett Booth

I have to say this issues knocked me back a wee bit. Teen titans has got banter. I didn't get that before maybe the writing and art just gelled this issue or maybe it was something I'm just missing but there were genuine laughs this time and that really struck me. See before titans was teetering on the edge of the drop list but after what I just read the book has potential and hopefully the next few issues will be as good.

Oh and there was one other thing ..... but I cant ... rember.... some thing blazing and old but also new .....something amazing no....incredible ....no.....something ell's.....

comic book quickies 21/11/11

Gotta love comics, there like more expensive crack !

JUSTICE LEAGUE #3

written by Geoff Johns art by Jim Lee

Not really feeling this book yet. Maybe its cuz the teams not all together yet and nothing that crazy ha s happened yet. Still its been fun just not as awesome as I think we all thought it would be. This issue was wonder woman's introduction and she was kind of bad ass but nothing to shout about. Sadly cyborgs dad was way less gendo than last month hopefully he's just playing the long con and his sons horrible disfigurement and transformation into a cyborg abomination went just according to plan.

 

AVENGERS #19

written by Brain Michael Bendis art by Daniel Acuna

Captain America puts a team together. That's like one of the base elements in storytelling present in all cultures throughout history and all dimensions. Its my understanding the Vikings sung songs about it. So this was a pretty neat comic yeah it was your standard bendis avengers assemble story and yes it still had talking heads but those were restricted to tv commentators and lets hope to funk that the were ment to be annoying.

BLUE BEETLE #3

written by Tony Bedard art by IG Guara

This comics totally that 90s kids film star kid. Just saying sports fans. So I'm likening this book and I like a grate menny people want blue beetle to succeed and hopefully this run will be the jumping on point ware people take notice of DC's very own spider man. Hopefully. This comic is pretty much written for the trade and not a lot has really happened yet. This issue was mostly about the scarab learning to be be less evil and corporate with Jamie like some kind of ..... buddy cop type relationship, its too early to call that so we can only wait and see.

BATMAN #3

written by Scott Snyder art by Greg Capullo

Its hard for me to write these quickies when a comics well written. Batman's one of those comics ware I cant just say omg buddy cops ! or holly hell ! Fifteen page fights ! Its just so damn good in that way ware you can feel it rather than give stand out moments of galaxy splitting awesomeness. So batman fights owl men ! Well he try's to find them at least. Fast paced and utterly bad ass. Love it BUY IT.

 

SUPERGIRL #3

written by Michael Green art by Mike Johnson

Sadly this was a wee bit of a step down in quality from the last two issues, sure there were fights and those fights were purtty cool but it wasn't a full issue of fighting like the last two times and that saddens me. Saddens me to the core. Supergirl dose fight a brain monster made of water IN SPACE at one point so that's a plus point but the issues mostly about her not accepting that krypton is gone and her meeting a generic corporate pimp. also IN SPACE.

Mud Man #1

written and art by Paul Grist

I was sold on the title of this book alone. Mud man. Saw that and just had to buy it and yeah it was a damn gid comic. Dude falls in mud and gets mud powers. Hells yes. More please !

pretty quick this week likes !

Pre-owned Games

This is a topic which is getting talked about more and more recently; the morality of buying and trading in used games. As you may have noticed from previous reviews, I like really cheap old games, so I have an opinion to share.

I’m not going to make out that pre-owned games don’t hurt developers, because they do. When you buy a used game, literally none of that money goes to the people who made it, and there’s less impetus for the game store to order a brand new copy if they know that people are going to end up trading their games in again. But here’s the twist: I’m all for buying games second hand, but I’m also against trading them in. I know right? It’s like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

I own a fair few games, most of which I could trade in at a moment’s notice, or sell on Amazon or whatever. And in the past, I have traded in games. There are a couple which I regret, but mostly, they were games that I did not, or no longer felt I wanted. I have not done this for a few years however, because basically, I like games. I like having them all on the shelf, even the bad ones. I routinely switch the covers of the ones I really like with the one’s I don’t like so much so that they look nicer. Plus, I’m really indecisive, and prone to shifting tastes in genre, so I need a lot of choice around me. What’s more, I’ve acquired a few games that didn’t do anything for me when they first came out (PS1 games in particular, such as Soul Reaver and Metal Gear Solid), and found that I enjoy them immensely. Now, even if I bought these games in mint condition, still factory sealed, the companies who made them would still get no money, since they aren’t making new copies of those games, and the store can’t re-order.

Recently, however, game companies have been putting in little things to stop people from buying their game pre-owned. Batman Arkham City activated it’s Catwoman levels (arguably, a major selling point of that game) with a single use DLC code. You do have to download the Catwoman content, but that’s largely beside the point.

Classic games get re-releases fairly routinely. If I want to play Final Fantasy VI, I can get the PS1 version, the GBA, or download the PS1 or SNES versions onto consoles. And that makes sense for the developers to do; they still make money, and people who weren’t around to get it the first time for one reason or another can play through a pretty good RPG. But then there’s all these Cult Classics. Eternal Darkness was only released on the Gamecube, and silicon knights seem keen to distance themselves from the few good games they’ve ever made (ooh, burn). Beyond Good and Evil sold so poorly that they were given away with boxes of cheesestrings. And Grandia II, despite being the most popular thing on this blog, has not been available to buy since about 2003. And let’s not forget that ridiculously popular games, like the PS1 final fantasies, did not get any sort of re-release until about 2009. For 12 years, the only way to play FFVII was to buy the original PS1 version. Well, technically you COULD play the PC version, but you COULD also rub glass in your urethra, that doesn’t make it an enjoyable experience.

I’m starting to ramble, so I’ll make my point clear. In five years time, Batman Arkham City (there are other games that do this, and even worse, but they’re shooter-things so I don’t give a fuck) will probably no longer be in production. I doubt that the DLC servers will still be active. That means that eventually, people won’t be able to play through the entirety of that game. Now, I would tend to argue that games are art, at least in as much as any other entertainment media. I can go out, pick up a copy of, let’s say, The World Ends With You, and play it, from start to finish, with every little bit of the experience intact, even the weird tin-pin epilogue where the plot get’s explained in more depth. And the odds are, that game will be pre-owned. If in five years, I buy a copy of Arkham City, then it won’t have the Catwoman levels. Yes, they are largely optional, and yes, they’re not integral to the plot, but that’s not the point. If any part of the game experience requires online activation, then that part is going to be lost forever. And sometimes, it’s the stupid extras that make a good game great. Imagine FFVII with no Vincent or Yuffie. New Super Mario Bros. without worlds 4 and 7. Pokémon Silver without the Kanto region, or the other version mascot. None of these things matter for the story to work. All of these things are entirely optional. But in the world of tomorrow, you are denied them, and you will know that they were there, but now are not.

The pretty gid comic book quickies 13/11/11

Despite being a pretty sparse week we got some damn solid comics out of it. And hey we even picked up a marvel ! So it looks like the lads over at marvel might have picked themselves up showered themselves off and got back to work after there apocalyptic panic attacks of the last few months in the wake of the new 52.

GREEN LANTERN #3

written by Geoff Johns art by Doug Mahnke

See what I was saying last month aboot hal and sinestro being buddy cops ? Yeah there totally buddy cops. AND IT IS GLORIOUS. You know what I'm talking about its like starsky and hutch, kittan and kamina or BRIAN BLESSED and pretty much anyone. See I think pretty much the hoal GL fan base will be ok with sinestro being a green lantern again if it means he's written as the stricked bad cop to hal's fun good cop and that's basically this issue. Iv only been reading green lantern since blackest night so I'm not sure how much evil sinestro has actually done but I know there was a war and he is space Hitler so I'm guessing he's a pretty bad dude and that might make it hard to for some people to accept him as a buddy cop. This issue was the buddy cop's going to sinestos home planet to free it from his old yellow lantern corps's. It had its share of funky moments like the two turning there GL suits to stealth mode and space Hitler DRILLING through one of his former mooks. A fun book well worth picking up.

SUPERBOY #3

written by Scott Lobdell art R.B Silva

Right so superboy is shinji ikari from neon genesis evangelion but in a fun way. I think I just divided by zero. Its hard to deny that eva has been bolted onto this book though, well I spose its a mixing of different things like he is also mewtwo and he is wareing a new style tron suit but its that eva flavour that comes through the strongest. The lad was gendo posing over in teen titans for peat sake. Sadly shinji-boy dosent fight a street shark this issue but what we did get was a highly entertaining read. Basically its superboys first interaction with people in the real world. Its just fun to read, the dudes not really met anyone before and is it only me that finds it funny/awesome that he introduces himself as superboy not meaning it a super hero name or a boast but that's just his name. And then he fights a lava girl and that's always fun. And we end the issue on kinda sorta fan service. Sweet.

FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E #3

written by Jeff Lemire art by Alberto Ponticelli

So this mountain turns into a giant monster bug and Frankenstein pulls its hart out and stabs it to death with his sword. Funk yeah I'm glad I bought this book its just so damn gid ! That's pretty much all you need to know about this book right there Frankenstein kills a monster mountain bug and he dose it like an orkish BRIAN BLESSED Klingon. And the teams mummy khalis kills a continents worth of mooks with one energy attack. Normally I'm not big on genocide but those monster dudes were gonna kill earth so I guess its cool. And by that I mean its BLODDY awesome. I had my doubts about this book before issue one thinking that it be a gory horror book but much like a have been with the rest on the new 52 iv been proven totally wrong. its like ranger team hellboy! Which I guess makes it like the B.P.R.D... but meh RANGER TEAM HELLBOY !

ULTIMATE COMICS ALL NEW SPIDER-MAN #4

written by Brain Michael Bendis art by Sara Pichelli

Well the schedule has slipped back to monthly so we might not see the origin story to the end but hopefully we will be survived be our children and grandchildren to carry on in our place. Still purty gid issue likes, milses is getting less emo but only after seeing peter die and getting the grate power speech off Gwen Stacy. Still think peats death was weak maybe if he had died fighting a city sized green goblin wareing a cape of his own blood whilst pointing to the heavens then maybe it be a cool death. Maybey. Also he'd shoot webs of fire. yeah this issue was indeed fun and I'm digging miles better now that the plots moving forward more. There's not really much to talk about this issue as it was mostly the death and funeral from different perspectives. Though it was hella cool and funny that miles has gained an inner monologue now that he's spider-man. Gid book go buy it !

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

It's pish.

comic book quickies 09/11/11

Just DC stuff this week. Last time I checked marvel was still in the corner cutting itself.

ACTION COMICS #3

Written by Grant Morrison art by Rags Morales and Gene Ha

Well this issue is partially a flashback to the destruction of cripton by brainiac and then the fall out from young supermans brash actions in the present. The first parts very very space comic-ish see I knew what was going on the hoal time but funked if I understood a word of it. The second part I just found weird yeah I know the world has just met superman and doesn't know what to make of him yet but its just damn weird seeing people hate on superman. Hes superman! The living legend! Its like seeing people hate on captain America. We just don't count civil war. Its still a fun comic but the drop off in awesomeness since issue one is noticeable.

DETECTIVE COMICS #3

written and art by Tony S. Daniel

So for the first two issues iv been crediting the inker as this books artist. My bad. To be fair though in all the 3 months of the rebootaverse and the two months leading up to it we here at team mad hatten have never once bantered about detective comics art. Not saying its bad or anything it fits the tone of the book quite nicely. So the cliffhangers don't matter for crap. Literally last months was resolved at the top of this months page one. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, it kinda makes it feel like 60s tv batman ware in every episode it looks like its the end for batman but it never is with bats resolving the problem within the first few moments of the next episode. That's not quite the case here but the feelings the same. This issue was still pretty action packed and horrible stuff still keeps happening around batman mainly caused by new villain the doll maker who's your standard flesh mask wareing meat loving bad dude. Detective comics is defiantly the B batman book of the new 52 with batman being the A book and batman and robin fighting it out with the dark night for the C and D slots. Still go read it though its plenty fun.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #3

written by Dan Jurgens art Aaron Lopresti

Its an 80s comic all right. But a fun 80s comic from one of those very few fun years in 80s and not form one of those dark years which if we're being honest was most of the decade. Though comics can be weird with that kind of thing like the 90's were a glorious decade that was made of fire and light but it was dark age for the comics industry. So the JLI slit up into two man teams to investigate the giant robots that have popped up all across the world. Hmm two man teams ...suspiciously like BUDDY COPS !. Ahh yes buddy cops truly isn't that just the greatest format in the history of fiction ! It just works so well and can be applied to so menny things. Batman and booster gold make work the best here and we get another instance of batman totally supporting booster, in the old verse booster was always seen as a screw up or second rate hero but for some reason batman no matter how bad it looked always had boosters back and its nice to see that carry's over into the rebootaverse. With the buddy cop format it means that some members of the team like ice and fire get more character development than they did in the first two issues. Plus giant robots are always cools.

RED LANTERNS #3

written by Peter Milligan art by Ed Benes

See its ok. Nothing really wrong with it but nothing really to shout about. This issue is aboot the red lantern bleez. Atrocitus basically wanted someone to banter with other that his dead best bud crona so he gave blezz ZA POWER TO UNDERSTAND. So he made a Starscream for himself. way to go there big guy. Bleez has a tragic back story of course but I feel like it was more fun when she was just pure rage now we just have to wait for her sudden but inevitable betrayal. See I want to like red lanterns, there red ! What's not to like about that ? But its been kinda grim so far and a wee bit 90s. The arts still lefeild-ish but a better lifeld than lifeild. Which is nice. All so there's hints of putting a team together and that's always fun.

The late comic book quickies 3/11/11

I remember the days when comics were meh. Those were the days. Bright shining days that never ended. Days when the world was young and full of fun. Sure there's still some meh comics out there but the weeks themselves have been solid for months now. Bloody DC. I remember the days when I could call most comics filler. Long lost days now. Gone to the broken abyss of summertime.

THE FLASH #2

Written by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato art by Francis Manapul

Holly hell yes. This is just what I want from a flash comic. See the way I see the flash is the version from the justice league cartoon, meaning I see him as the fun member of the team. Now I know that's somewhat the wrong way to see him but I dini care. To me the flash is fun and not the slightly emo guy form just before and during flashpoint. Its not like he's a plucky comic relief hero or anything he's just fun to read. Now we had our doubt's coming into this book what with the artist both drawing and writing it but damn have we been proved wrong so far. Basically the art makes this book and it'll be shame when and if there is B artist issue. Best art of the new 52 ? ill have to think about that.

 

AQUAMAN #2

written by Geoff Johns art by Ivan Reis

This was pretty gid just a wee bit shot is all. The comic starts with cthulhu putties eating dude's on a boat. That's not so bad but we then see a kid and his mum waiting for the boat at the docks ware we find out that its his dads boat. Harsh man. That kids all 1950s wide eyed gee mister type and now his dads dead and from the looks of it the kid and his mum are dead too. Brutal stuff. The comics still trying to make Aquaman awesome but it'll take some time and its not quite as hevey on the hoal the world thinks Aquaman sucks thing but its still present. So not as good as issue one and it maybe could have been if it had another genius panel of Aquaman standing over a treasure chest like the first did but its still a fun read if a little short.

GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #2

written by Brain Tony Bedard art by Tyler Kirkham

Crazy guardians man! They totally just attack kyle for having other power rings and have brain washed ganthet to be a proper guardian again. They so crazy. So the ranger team hasn't properly formed yet but its getting there. The teams still at the fighting each other stage but its only issue 2 and the plots moving along at a fair pace, kyle's totally the red ranger but it'll be cool to see ware the other lanterns fit in to the team and how a yellow lantern can be on the team at all, spose that's not a big issue though as space Hitler is currently a green lantern again. it'll be interesting to see ware this book go's and what it dose to the main lantern status quo and even if it lasts at all. The arts fairly nice but it dose still suffer a bit for being generic lantern art.

 

TEEN TITANS #2

written by Scott Lobdell art by Brett Booth

Yeah stuff happened this issue and I might talk about that latter but I will always remember this as the comic ware superboy executes a GENDO POSE. Its a splash page and his only appearance in the comic. Yeah he's totally shinji boy. The comics aboot Tim drake putting a team together and that's always fun. The one thing I found weird with this issue is that Tim speaks like a teenager, not the weirdest thing in the world I know but I would have thought batman would have beaten that out of him by now and it feels a wee bit disconnected from issue one ware Tim was a bit more batman-ish but that might just be my imagination.

FF #11

written by Jonathan Hickman art by Barry Kitson

I bring terrible news. You might be wanting to sit down for this one. Doctor Doom dose not appear this issue. Cuts deep don't it? Dropped the ball on this one marvel Dooms the only reason to buy FF. He's Doom do I really have to go into detail on this one ? Last issue ware he was made a slave buy alternate universe reed Richards and I was ok with that as I thought well there just going to be building up to something cool with it but its not cool to not have him in an issue at all! HE'S THE HAERT AND SOUL OF THE TEAM! Basically this books just a massive pile up of villain plots that are probably all going to be solve in issue 600 whenever that's out but I might not get that depending on the price. Well done marvel.

BITS AND BOBS #1

Here's a little feature for all those things I watch or read that don't get reviews but still deserved to get talked aboot.

ONE PIECE VOL 9. 10. 11

Oh the EMOTIO ! That's what One Piece does best, it makes you feel! Makes you shed manly tears for a boat! See the air itself is SUPERCHARGED with emotion. Now I dini mean with angst or with emo but with pure awesomeness. Pure HOTBLOODED AWESOMENESS. We all know what One Piece is and that it's the best of the big three shonen. Don't deny it you know it to be true. These volumes deal with nami's tear jerker back story with the fish man pirate captain Arlong. It makes want to see Luffy beat the crap out of Arlong and it damn well delivers. AWESOMELY.

BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHT

Six anime stories aboot Batman but the first story is 3 stories. So this has been out a fair while but this was my first time seeing it. It's just like the animatrix but for Batman. It was pretty fun sorta not linked stories that are actually linked that don't fit into the Nolan-verse but might actually do. And robot Batman makes an appearance which is always nice to see.

EUREKA SEVEN : GOOD NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT, YOUNG LOVERS. THE MOVIE

See that's a hell of a title. That's a title just crazy enough to work. Sadly that's all I want to remember aboot this film. See I was hyped aboot this film. Not hyped enough to buy it for £14.99 when it first came oot but hyped enough to but it for a fiver in the sale. Thank funk I did cuz this sucked man and it saddens to say that. Yeah I was kind of expecting it too but it still hurts dudes, it hurts me deep in my manly heart. See Eureka Seven is an anime that's basically aboot sky surfing mecha and eventually Johnny Yong Bosch saving the world with the power of love. This movie is set in an alternate continuity and its kinda a clip show. I say kinda. It reuses old animation to tell a new story. See I could get behind that sort of thing but this story was just not worth it. People die man. Yeah in this movie they were a bit shady but they were real cool dudes in the TVshow. It's sorta grim too and I didn't leave it feeling happy. :(

PRINCESS MONONOKE

So I picked this up from Gamestation which was odd. This was mighty awesome, pretty much what you want from a Ghibli film. I've seen bits and pieces of it before but this was the first time I've seen it all the way through. So how the HELL is this a PG rated film? The sheer amount of limbs that are lost! It's like the people are made of plasticine. And vast seas of blood! Well maybe not that much blood but still. The hero was a damn bad ass but unfortunately I don't remember his name so I'm just going to refer to him as the hero. So the hero is cursed and is all walking the earth to find a cure before he dies getting involved in a war between animal gods and humans along the way. The whole thing is pretty grey in that that both the humans and the gods have some pretty cool dudes on both sides and no-one's that evil. Not my favourite Ghibli film I'veseen so far but still a damn fine film. Really gotta love Ghibli films dudes they're like proper film films.

GREEN LANTERN THE MOVIE

I didn't think it was that bad. Really I had fun watching it. Was the CGI suit really that bad? I didn't think so. Remember when Hal Jordan killed those 3 guys by punching them through a brick wall when he first used the ring? Cuz he totally killed those 3 guys by punching them though a brick wall. Not really that gid film anyway but I don't think it was as bad as everybody else thinks it was.