DJ Black Adam's Blog!!

Review: Marvel Comics "Secret Wars" issue 2 and DC Comics "Convergence" issue 3: SPOILIER ALERT

By: Richard Graves aka DJ Black Adam of House 17, NFP  

Now, back to what’s really important in life. COMICS. Recently Marvel and DC both decided to reboot their universes. It is the first time Marvel has actually done this, whereas DC started this trend back in the 1985 Crisis of Infinite Earths. COIE is a classic, it did tick off a few of the old golden age fans, and some silver age fans too, but it was a genuine attempt to get some serious continuity in the DC Universe, it took a few more years, but ultimately DC ended up with a pretty good order, that they kinda screwed up with “Infinite Crisis” but that is another rant for a different post. 

To the subjects at hand, Marvel Comic’s new “Secret Wars” and DC Comic’s “Convergence.” Let’s talk Marvel first.  

I have been reading the three Avengers titles that led directly to this change. I knew ultimately it would be the 616 (Regular) Marvel Universe verse the 1610 (Ultimate) Marvel Universe. Marvel systematically had their multiverse destroyed by the Beyonders (parents and such of the Beyonder from the original Secret Wars series of 1984.) While it seems quite implausible that these “Beyonders” could kill Galactus, the Celestials, Lord Order and Master Chaos, Eternity and most unbelievably the Living Tribunal. It is fascinating that of all the heroes fighting against this end, it is Doctor Doom who really brought the thunder to the Beyonders, albeit unsuccessfully, but Doom was the last man standing in a sense.  

Warning, metaphysical / theological rant: Here is something I found interesting. It is as if the Beyonders represent the creators or elders of Marvel; Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Jim Shooter, etc all the way up to the new editorial and creative teams. The whole Avengers storyline was like a lead up to the creative decision to reboot the Marvel universe as it manifested in the comics themselves. Who else could kill off the Living Tribunal but the people who created him? And who else in their creation, the Marvel Universe would dare stand against them, but Doom? (OK, yeah Hyperion and Thor did too, but with Thor that is to be expected, he wouldn’t be going out like no punk.)That would make the kid Beyonder in the original series more akin to the fans, playing with the Marvel Universe. But I digress, just speculating. 

To the review of Issue 2 of Secret Wars. Issue 1 was somewhat uneventful. We knew it was wrap, but seeing Doom’s final stand and Ultimate Stark and Shield against the 616 was entertaining, albeit went by too fast and could have been expanded a tad bit. The first thing Stark recognized, that in the Superhero department, the 1610 was well outclassed, but the tech of the 1610 gave them some sort of chance.  

Issue 2 is about the Thor Corps, and I mean A LOT of Thors, this is more than Beta Ray Bill, Dargo and Thunderstrike. We see some Thors from some “What Ifs” and other alternate timeline stories and some regular 616 stories on the cover. For example, we see Thor girl (Tarene), Storm as a Thor with her hammer Stormbringer, Beta Ray Bill and the female Thor as well as old King Thor. But when we get into the book, we see that this might not actually be the case.

It is sorta like a Green Lantern Corps thing with all kinds of folks from different realms being chosen worthy for a Hammer (i.e. ring) and Doom kinda like a Oan Guardian, but on this world, Doom is God (and apparently married to Sue Storm.) The most recent one to acquire a hammer is some elf kid from what was Avalon (yeah home of the Captain Britain Corps.)  

We find out that Doom runs this world, Doctor Strange is the Sheriff, Valeria Richards is some sort of Science council leader. We see Apocalypse, Madelyn Pryor, Mr. Sinister and others, all with lands but subject to Doom (I am actually glad to see this, because of all those damn X men stories like Age of Apocalypse, House of M, etc. where their baddies always punk Doom and all other non mutants.)  

Ultimately this chapter ends with the Cabal and the 1610 maker/Reed Richards getting off a life raft (as they apparently survived the implosion of creation in issue one) and effectively the Cabal led by Thanos kill one of the Thors. They then are told they are on Battleworld and we get a map of all the lands on it. I might stick the series out.

  

Convergence 6. OK, I bought the first 4 issues of this series and was sorely disappointed. Got a couple of companions I appreciated, particularly the one with Captain Marvel and the Marvel family and the Flash one, both were entertaining. I skipped issue 5, because it was in my opinion just stupid and looked like the series was gonna fizzle out just like the “Forever Evil” did. But just like Forever Evil, looks like it was just a lull. Now, I am miffed at DC because of the 52 re-launch, while the reboots of Superman and the Justice League were interesting, Earth 2 was the best thing that came from it. To me they seemed to just destroy that planet without utilizing the characters more and just telling some good stories instead of everything being a “cosmic” level event. But, alas, it was not to be.

While issue one was decent, we find that Brainiac has gathered many of the heroes and villains of the various stages of DC’s history, from alternate earths and timelines, placed them on a world in different cities and for some odd reason want to see them fight to the death. At first I assumed that this included the New 52 universe, so of course my first question was where the hell was the Spectre, the Guardians, the New gods, etc., anyone who would have kicked a hole into Braniac’s head. But alas, no show. We see that the Earth 2 heroes have survived (some of them, no Powergirl, Huntress Mr. Terrific or Dr. Fate) and are fighting who we think the bad guy is, Telos. Telos is the planet, created by Brainiac (or terraformed) and as the issues go we find that inside the world of Telos is Warlord’s home Skataris. Deimos ultimately supplants Brainiac as the “Villain” in the next few issues, after snatching all the time travelers (i.e. Degaton, Monarch, etc.) Telos eventually retreats and the game now becomes who supports Deimos (and those who don’t.)

Now to issue 6, why the Spectre or the Guardians or anyone else hasn’t intervened is shown, as we see the new 52 Justice League and Red Lanterns, looking at the Telos world as it starts pushing into their universe. You see the last Monitor, the Oan Guardians and Darksied for various reasons deciding not to intervene, Darksied saying that he really isn’t concerned about these events.

We see Deimos then repeating his offer “serve me and survive” to all the people kidnapped from across the history of DC Multiverses, they show the Earth 2 Crew (with Val Zod Superman, who I am liking more and more), Earth 3 Crime syndicate (looks like the 80’s version) Pre Crisis Supergirl and for some odd reason Deimos hasn’t realized that there is a Parallax style Hal Jordan (who obviously has enough juice to stomp Deimos or at least make him have a bad day.)

Obviously Deimos has stepped up his game, since he is keeping even Parallax Jordan from beating him down at the moment, not to mention it appears that there is a Kingdom Come Superman and perhaps a Silver age Superman on this planet.

Earth 2 heroes meet some pre new 52 Teen Titans (minus Nightwing, since we have Earth 2 Dick Grayson playing “Batman” around, no need for Nightwing to be around.) They help them fight the Extremists who run when another Superman, Flash and Red Arrow show up. This Superman is not pre 52 Superman as he says he has a wife and son, so I am not sure what version he is. The Flashes talk (The new young earth 2 Jay and a Flash that may be Wally) and they decide to round up everyone who will fight against Deimos.

So we get a powerful crew, You got a Superman (who I hope is Silver Age Superman, not the John Byrne reboot "I am not so powerful Superman", you will see why later.) We have a Supergirl that looks pre Crisis, which they will need and Val Zod Superman who could be gangsta if he ever just Zods up for a minute. You got a Batman in grey and blue, a few Flashes including Barry, Earth 2 Green Lantern (no not the Starheart, the new Earth 2 Green Lantern), Donna Troy, Ultra Boy, Starfire, Batgirl, Fastback (Yes from the Zoo Crew) and a few others. Then Deimos shows HIS crew, and it don’t look good for the heroes.

For some odd reason they are led by a Captain Marvel (SHAZAM) who seems to have the juvenile attitude of New 52 Billy Batson (which I can’t stand, DC just cannot seem to respect Billy, I really wish Marvel comics had gotten this license back in the day.) Why this Cap is evil, I speculate he is Kingdom Come Cap before the brainwashing of Lex Luthor was broken, but he definitely is not from Earth S, that’s for sure. To make it worse, you have a Black Adam (judging by his belt, from yet another universe). Flashpoint Wonder Woman, Superwoman from Earth 3 and looks like a Kingdom Come Wonder Woman. Bad enough huh? Nope. Damn Ultraman and Kingdom Come Superman (who we all know is powerful as hell by himself, which is why I hope that the Superman they have is a Silver Age one, pre Crisis Supergirl may not have enough power to roll on KC Supes.) Besides that you have Grodd, Jade for some odd reason a version of Huntress and Deathstroke and a version of Lex Luthor in the green and purple armor.

And we are left with a cliff hanger for the next issue.

Why Marvel has outpaced DC so seriously on film and television...

Marvel basically is kicking DC’s butt on the big screen and with the 1^st season of Daredevil on Netflix, Marvel has passed up everything DC has done on TV with the possible exception of the great work on the Flash. How did we even get to this point? 

DC took the lead early with film with the Christopher Reeve’s Superman and Superman II. Then of course the Tim Burton Batman and Batman Returns with Michael Keaton. Marvel struggled with some bad TV movies and some stupid licensing decisions, with the exception of the Wesley Snipes produced “Blade.” Then Spiderman and the X-Men, though not Marvel produced, brought the superhero movie game to a new level. DC did very well with the Christian Bale “Batman” run for the most part, but failed in their Superman revamps, and Man of Steel was mediocre. Now before Superman, Marvel released Iron Man and that changed everything.

DC did this to themselves by not see the writing on the wall Iron Man should have been a wakeup call especially with all the Easter eggs showing that they were going to tie this into a larger Marvel Universe, Marvel simply planned this out entirely too well, unlike allowing Hollywood to basically tamper with these legends and alienate comic fans in many cases they played to the comic fans yet told stories that a person who may not be a comic fan could actually enjoy involving their franchise characters, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk. Now DC is playing a game with catch up yet at the same time still trying to hold on to their paradigm of superhero movie making, and to top it off trying to do too much in one movie to catch up for years of miss steps. The saddest part about the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie is apparently the best thing about it is going to be Ben Affleck as Batman. Maybe I'm wrong but I think this film is going to fall short. Also DC being so dedicated to the idea of their Cinematic Universe not mixing with their television universe is also going to hurt them I don't think they have the time to be able to even get to a Justice League dark movie to link multiverses together in some type of crisis fashion, hopefully I am wrong.

Sentry MUST DIE!!!! (Spoilers a'plenty!)

 
Anybody following MARVEL COMICS: "Siege" Series? Hopefully all this "Civil War" and "Dark Reign" stuff will come to an end and regular ole comic STORY TELLING can return? Shesh, aside from the basic ridicules nature of Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) being this uber bad guy that can control Loki and Dr. Doom, we have to deal with the wannabe "Superman" (Super Boy Prime) SENTRY.

Marvel has had a few watered down Superman knock offs: Hyperion, Gladiator and now Sentry. Aside from the fact that I truly HATE the whole retconned "He's always been here" nature of Sentry, no one has written him well. Sure, we know, he has all the "Superman" powers, but a very unstable mind, which usually makes him useless in any real situation in the Marvel Universe. The best (but unsettling) portrayal of Sentry was in the Marvel Zombies books, which must have stuck with some of the writers, because in "Siege" Sentry goes a little berserk and literally rips ARES (late of Olympus) in half.Two problems here, just how powerful is Sentry, and just how weak are gods in the Marvel Universe? But more to the point, Marvel just destroyed a lot of work that went to making Ares interesting (sort of how DC destroyed all that Geoff Johns did with Black Adam) to have him killed by the uninteresting Sentry?

Bottom line, I hope THOR cleans his clock PERMANENTLY. I'm Just saying...The only thing I could think of that would be better is a Marvel / DC crossover where Superman beats Sentry down on general principle (Or Black Adam beats him down because Sentry is a whinner!)

Let's talk COMICS! Thor vs. Dr. DOOM!!!! (Spoilers all over!!)

OK Folks, its been a while since we have talked about the only thing that REALLY matters - COMICS!!!! (Yes, I know global warming and healthcare take a close second, but hey, we're talking about THOR and Dr. DOOM here!). Speaking of the god of thunder:

 

Short story, the Asgardians have moved to Dr. Doom's country. Thor had been exiled for killing his grand dad (by accident and of course with Loki's trickery involved), so Loki ended up tricking Balder into this move. A mortal (named William) who was in love with an Asgardian named Kelda went with them. He finds out that Loki is giving Doom Asgardians to use for his experiments to get their immortality (or long life) secrets for himself, in return Doom creates a special set of doombots to go after and kill Donald Blake (Thor's alter ego). A few Asgardian warriors working for Loki fight the mortal Bill and mortally wound him, he saves Balder's life before he dies, and warns Balder of Loki's trickery! Loki is captured, Kelda confronts Doom who captures her and rips out her heart to gain her power (Doom is portrayed as the EVIL that he is in this story, not the misunderstood monarch of the Byrne era). Balder and a few warriors confront Doom, Doom sends his newly made Asgardian zombies to fight them, then behind him appears THOR, so safe to say, next issue, Doom is going to get an Old school beat down. Sure, he'll put up a good fight, but he will be beat down! Just saying...

DJBA's Comic Review: "BLACKEST NIGHT"...or DC does ZOMBIES COSMIC STYLE!!! (Spoilers definitely follow!)

Geoff Johns strikes again. I love his writing, miss him on JSA (even though his ending for Black Adam left me at least a bit miffed), so I was looking forward to this Blackest Night Green Lantern crossover story. It is a bit disturbing, in a similar way I was disturbed by Marvel Zombies.

Here's the story thus far: BLACK HAND (former cheesey Green Lantern villain) is all of a sudden a very bad death obsessed guy. His back story has been retooled to make him like a kid from HBO's "Six Feet Under" miniseries with a little Thanos thrown in for good measure. Unlike Thanos who killed his own mom, Black Hand kills his whole family. Now that this has been established, the Black Rings start to coming (Will there be White Lanterns? Goes to reason).

Anyway, we go around the DC universe where everyone is mourning people that have been lost over the years, heros and villains alike, then Alfred notices that Bruce Wayne's grave has been robbed, we later find that Black Hand is walking around with Bruce's skull (which indicates to me not only will Batman come back, but somehow this mere human will kick the crap out of Black Hand and all the Black Lanterns, which in not only believeable but quite possible because...well...he's BATMAN!)

A reanimated Sue and Ralph Dibney kill Hawkman and Hawkgirl, a reanimated Jonn Jonn'z confronts Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, and whole lot of reanimated Green lanterns get ready to confront the GL corps.

Prior to these events, that one Guardian that got burned by the anti-monitor back in the Sinestro War goes all Marvel Zombie and bites a Guardian and rips out its heart, and just works over and apparently kills the rest of the Guardians which takes them off the board for this crisis. (Is it me or are the Guardians just the stupidest cosmic types this side of the Champion over at Marvel?)

So the question comes, who saves this day THIS time? Since unlike Marvel Zombies this happens in the main universe not an alternate reality somebody is going to have to save the day.

Aside from Batman, we know the Spectre will somehow be minimized since it can't be THAT easy (though it should). Superman doesn't do too well in these situations. The new Dr. Fate is too inexperienced especially with no Nabu. The wizard SHAZAM is back, but apparently half crazy and completely stupid. Who even understands what's going on with the so-called "new" NEW gods? Seems like every colored ring is useless. Oughta be interesting. If anyone other than Johns was writing this I'd wait for the trade, but I will keep up with this main event. BTW, I think the villian behind this is NEKRON.

Disney finally gets around to a "Black" Princess, albeit with a non-BLACK Prince? Simply Amazing...

...but why am I NOT surprised. First let me state, that I am not in opposition to interracial relationships (even though I don't subscribe to the science fiction of race, as there is really no such thing, I do acknowledge that I live in a world were the sociological construct of race is real and something I must accept in m,y day to day functions in this reality). Love is love, you find it where you do, and you embrace it while you can I say. Here is a LINK to a Story regarding the issue. After all these years though, I am GLAD that Disney is showing a Black Princess.

That being said, what the hell is up with Disney's selection of a non-Black prince for the "Frog Princess Movie" which finally stars a Black princess? I was a bit miffed at Disney's “Cinderella” with Whitney Houston and Brandy where the prince was Asian. Sure, no problem with interracial relationships, but can we show some regular ole BLACK ones before we get there? And before anyone goes off on me, I said the same thing to the people at Marvel Comics back when Luke Cage (Power-man) got paired with Jessica Jones (white female super hero) and when DC Comics had John Stewart (the Black GREEN LANTERN) with Hawkwoman (another White female super hero).

Sure, Hollywood types claim that if you have a Black protagonist with a Black love interest you have a (gasp) "Black Movie". Was Mulan considered an "Asian" movie, thereby a movie that "White" people wouldn't go see because both she and her love interest were Asian?

Was Aladdin considered an "Arab" movie thereby a movie that "White" people wouldn't go see because both Jazmin and Aladdin were Arab?   

The fact that this "it would be a BLACK movie" is offered as a defense for Disney not having a Black prince for their first Black princess is only more telling of the problem, the fact that the media and entertainment industries have some type of irrational fear of showing Black people in a love relationships. A sex one? No problem, a "Love" one, with an actually Black male who isn't a pimp, thug or gangsta and a Black female who isn't a crack whore needing to be rescued, single mom, etc., etc. Now to the more pressing question, WHY THE HELL WERE WE WAITING FOR DISNEY TO DO SOMETHING THAT A BLACK DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, etc. could have done A LONG TIME AGO?

Not naming any names Oprah, Denzel, Spike Lee, etc, etc., BUT why were we waiting for Disney to represent us in the first place? In any case, none of my four Black Princes will be watching that movie, for the same reason I never let them watch "Save the Last Dance" and movies of that ilk, I'd prefer that they see Black men honoring and respecting and loving Black women, until Hollywood can reflect that, I will generally avoid their "Black men chasing white women" / "Black women being rescued by non-Black men" productions...Thank God we have the real thing in the WHITE HOUSE  , so maybe I'll give Disney a break...Naw..Just saying....

Let's talk about the only two things that really matter....Marvel and DC!!! DJ Black Adam's Comic ROUND UP: "War of Kings" / "JSA" (spoilers ahead!)

Darkhawk: "War of Kings"? Yep. Darkhawk, a character I took just a little bit more seriously than Snapper Carr or Jimmy Olsen, seems like the Darkhawk has man-ed up (or will be manning up, having to get between Gladiator and Black Bolt can do that to ya). I don't know how many of you remember "Skyracker" from Image Comic's "Heavy Mettle" who once fought against and later as comrades of Rob Leifield's "Supreme) (which was good until about issue 10 and Alan Moore's "Supreme is WAAYYYY over rated BTW). Anyway, the new direction of Darkhawk seems to be similar to how that guy looked and fought.

Dawkhawk meets another person who has a suit like his and finds out he is part of something bigger, and has to learn how to use his suit properly, as he and the alien go to the "War of Kings" frontline, this ought to be good.

War of Kings 1 and 2:    Utterly fast passed and fun. As we knew Emperor Vulcan of the Shi'ar has his eyes on the now lead by the Inhuman's - Kree Empire.

He sends an expeditionary force, destroys all kinds of Kree worlds with "Nega Bombs" and has the elite Imperial Guard attack the wedding of Ronan the Accuser and Crystal of the Inhumans. Man, I thought Black Bolt was FINALLY going to be the guy to kick Gladiator's butt, however; the element of surprise caused the Imperial Guard to beat the heck out of Ronan the Accuser and a few other Inhumans, and Gladiator cheated when fighting Black Bolt.

At the end the Inhumans vow revenge on the Shiar, and next issue they get some pay back (though Lliandra was captured---yet again---) by the Imperial Guard and Vulcan. The Inhumans use their Black Bolt powered weapons and wipe out part of the Shi'ar fleet (Why Vulcan is surprised, I don't know, you'd think the guy would know Black Bolt ain't no joke). SIDEBAR: Gladiator and his loyalty to the crown is really working my nerves, I wish Black Adam was in the Marvel Universe for a week just to kick Gladiators butt!. Speaking of my name sake...

JSA 25. Good, yet disappointing on a few levels. One, the wizard SHAZAM is almost as silly as the Spectre with what he chooses to do. He can take Captain Marvel's power, a guy who did everything the wizard asks, BUT he can't take away Black Adam's? He makes Adrianna (Isis) a statue after ALL she went through? Geoff Johns is a great, let me take that back, an INCREDIBLE writer, but there are always these unnecessary inconsistences. Further, has anyone explained to the JSA what happed to Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman in Biayla? When is it going to come out WHY black Adam killed the Death Horseman zombified Biaylians? Further, the destruction of the character Black Adam is utterly ridicules and unessecary. Johns made good with the anti-hero thing, instead of DC playing the DOOM / Namor angle, they screwed it up, and bad. Cannibalism in the silly mini serie "Dark Age", unessecary and uncharacterist deaths of multiple Teen Titans in "WWIII" and "52" silly, and not like Johns had initially wrote him. Guess their whole "nobody good kills anybody" schtick just makes them HAVE to screw up Black Adam. Folks, tell John's and the folks at DC I'm available for a 12-36 issue RUN on JSA or a Black Adam book!

DJ Black Adam - "Let’s Talk Comics" – Justice Society of America 23, Final Crisis 7 (spoiler warning)

JSA 23:

First, let me state for the record how much I HATE Alex Ross’s version of “Black Adam”, lets get off the old withered look and get with the program, sheesh. Anyway, Isis has been leading Black Adam to where Faust has had her captive (and there is an allusion to the fact that Faust may have been sexually molesting / rapeing Isis in her comatose state).

Black Adam shows up, and you know what comes next. However, before Adam can kill Faust, Isis says she wants Faust castrated, so it appears that Isis has now adopted Black Adams’s worldview!

The JSA suspends Hawkman who quits, and discussed other team members to suspend, when Atom Smasher shows up to warn the JSA that Faust showed up a few cards short of a deck at Dr. Fate’s tower, of course they decide to head out to deal with Black Adam.

Meanwhile at the Rock of Eternity, Billy is sitting around bored when Isis shows up, Billy is surprised she is alive (which leads me to why can’t Billy as “MARVEL” ever tell what’s going on in the magic world? Isis was revived, he didn’t know, Mary was being seduced by Darksied, he “couldn’t do anything”, really pathetic and bad writing).

Anyway, Isis throws the whammy on Billy and he is transported back to Fawcett City WITHOUT his power. The JSA show up and find out Billy is in fact Captain Marvel. Meanwhile, Mary Marvel shows up I guess signing up with Black Adam. All I can say, is I hope this gets better (BTW, someone tell the people at DC to let ME write Black Adam?).

Final Crisis 7:

Superman (and Supermen) save the day. DC, get off of the Kal-El “messiah” scthick already….

Let’s talk comics! (some spoilers) Dark Reign, Final Crisis, Justice Society, Nova and War of Kings

Dark Reign: 

Coming off the heals of the “Secret Invasion” story line, Marvel (keeping up with DC) has come up with yet another unnecessary but very profitable mega company crossover event: “Dark Reign”. After the Skrulls have been defeated, of course mostly because of Thor, for some odd reason, ignoring the many years of good service for the Marvel Universe the Avengers and Iron Man have done, Tony Stark gets fired from SHIELD and someone who has killed Gwen Stacey, other innocent people, and has tried to kill Spiderman for the last 30 plus years: “Harry Osborn AKA The Green Goblin” is now put in charge of Global Security and all Avengers franchisees?

This presupposition is already bad enough but wait there’s MORE! The Green Goblin, who gets his butt kicked by Spiderman frequently, punks the collective likes of Dr. Doom, Loki, The Sub-Mariner, the White Queen and the Red Hood and demands they “Get in line”?

Even if he had Thanos as back up, he’d still be in trouble dealing with DOOM alone. We’ll see if this gets any better…

Final Crisis:   

Sucks so much, I can’t even read it for free at the Comic Shop…

Justice Society of America:  

Has been Great, Gog has finally showed his true colors and turned against the heros for not “worshipping” him. He did some pretty cruels stuff to those guys, it will be interesting to see what happens with this “Third World” god since I guess the “Fifth World” gods have arrived in “Final Crisis”.

Looks like next issue Earth 22 (Kingdom Come) Superman is heading home, unfortunately for the JSA, because in a few weeks BLACK ADAM returns, and a not too happy Black Adam at that. I can only hope the character is written properly by Johns and doesn’t kill any Teen Titans or countries for this run….

Nova: 

Still good, last issue was a throwaway though, Nova hanging out with Justice and Firestar reminiscing about the days of actually GOOD STORIES THAT WEREN’T MEGA COMPANY CROSS OVERS….anyway, the Nova Corps seems here to stay, wonder how this will tie into Dark reign and War of King, speaking of...

War of Kings: Vulcan

I enjoyed the X-Men for the first time in since Clairemont, Byrne and Austin with the Vulcan storyline from Uncanny X-Men, Seeing Gladiator from the Imperial Guard getting a beat down is always refreshing.

This storyline has given me much respect for the characters of Havoc and Polaris and even for Rachel Grey as Phoenix.

Well it looks like Vulcan’s activities in the Shiar Empire will finally be noticed by the rest of the Marvel universe (as the Shair didn’t notice that Annihilation story line or the Phalanx Story line).

Hopefully Vulcan gets the beat down HE deserves in the next few months (looks like by Black Bolt or Nova, Black Bolt deserves some redemption...) 

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (any game that lets me say SHAZAM is a great game in my opinion)!

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (commonly abbreviated as MK vs. DCU or just MK vs. DC) is a crossover fighting game from Midway Games in the Mortal Kombat series, which was released on November 16, 2008. The game contains characters from both the Mortal Kombat franchise and the DC Comics Universe. The game's story was written by comic writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray.

This game is the bomb! I was slightly disappointed at the latest MK game (Armageddon), it was good, loved being able to make characters, but games like Soul Caliber IV and Tekken 5 were much more interesting.

Nonetheless Mortal Kombat made a hit with this one, at least for part time gamers and comic fanatics like myself. The back story is great, and Captain Marvel, Flash and Green Lantern are on the game (of course I always pick Captain Marvel!!!). The most fun I had was being Captain Marvel while my sons take turns beating me down with Superman (they did let me win a couple of times, just to make me feel good).