Marvel September 2016 Solicitations

Posted by John Klein III on June 23, 2016
Posted in: Solicitations. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

http://www.newsarama.com/29801-marvel-comics-september-2016-solicitations.html

CIVIL WAR II #6 (OF 7)
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • DAVID MARQUEZ (A)
Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Variant Cover by Michael Cho
OLD MAN LOGAN VARIANT BY PHIL NOTO
B&W VIRGIN CONNECTING VARIANT G COVER BY KIM JONG GI
Sides have been drawn, battles have been fought, but it all comes down to this. Captain Marvel versus Iron Man over the future of the Marvel Universe, one of the biggest battles in Marvel history!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

Magik wasn’t in the second issue so there is a chance that I’m possibly done with this event. 

CIVIL WAR II: CHOOSING SIDES #6 (of 6)
DECLAN SHALVEY, CHELSEA CAIN, CHRISTINA STRAIN (W)
DECLAN SHALVEY, ALISON SAMPSON, SANA TAKEDA (A)
COVER BY CAMERON STEWART & DECLAN SHALVEY
VARIANT COVER BY TULA LOTAY
WARS END. DON’T THEY?
• As the conflict spreads across the globe, will both sides lay down their arms or keep fighting to the bitter end?
• Featuring Nick Fury, Jessica Jones and the White Fox!!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Once again, thanks for including the cast of the book – that way I know that I can skip this. 

CIVIL WAR II: X-MEN #4 (of 4)
CULLEN BUNN (W) • ANDREA BROCCARDO (A)
Cover by DAVID YARDIN
BLACK PANTHER 50th ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY BRITTNEY L. WILLIAMS
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• When a new Inhuman manifests the ability to profile the future, threatening to tip the scales of the Mutant/Inhuman conflict out of his favor, MAGNETO takes decisive action to safeguard the future of his people.
• But will his actions only make the future he fears most a reality?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

This reads like the first issue but if Magik is in it, I’m all for it. 

NEW AVENGERS #16
AL EWING (W) • PACO MEDINA (A)
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
CIVIL WAR II TIE-IN!
• The A.I.M. vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. W.H.I.S.P.E.R. war screams towards a heart-shredding climax!
• It’s a battle to the finish aboard a crashing Air Force One! And no matter who wins, Marvel-Earth will never be the same!
• WE BEG OF YOU, TRUE BELIEVER—DO NOT REVEAL THE SHOCKING TWISTS WITHIN THESE PAGES TO MAN OR BEAST!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Could this issue really be that great?  Magik was in the latest issue so maybe she’ll keep appearing.  She would fit in nicely with both Sunspot and Cannonball leading the team. 

INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #7
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • ALEX MALEEV (A/C)
CIVIL WAR II TIE-IN!
• In the middle of the events of Civil War, Tony finds out the truth about his parents and their connection to the history of the Marvel Universe.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Still with Tony’s parents?  They can’t be established Marvel characters, right?  This was another series that Magik showed up in but I imagine she’s done with guest appearances in this title and others. 

SQUADRON SUPREME #11
JAMES ROBINSON (W) • LEONARD KIRK (A)
Cover by ALEX GARNER
CIVIL WAR II TIE-IN!
• Thanks to the predictions of Ulysses, Warrior Woman now intends to resurrect Namor no matter the risk. To this end, she needs Reed Richards’ time machine, locked away in the Baxter Building…
• …And the Squadron Supreme and their new ally, the real Power Princess, will risk everything to stop her.
• Even if it means facing the current owner of the Baxter Building…Spider-Man!
• Meanwhile, Nighthawk remains missing—looking for information on Ulysses and the Civil War raging around them. The first step to a major event in the future of the Squadron!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I like how involved with the Marvel Universe this issue reads like. 

I’m typing this in Word, on the new Asus X205, and it is moving so fast – I’m loving this. 

SPIDER-WOMAN #11
DENNIS HOPELESS (W) • JAVIER RODRIGUEZ (A/C)
CIVIL WAR II TIE-IN!
• After the [REDACTED] in Civil War II, Jessica Drew has no choice but to put on her private investigator gloves and enter the fray.
• But with a baby at home, Jessica has to tread more carefully than ever…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Do we know who her baby daddy is?  Or do long time readers already know who it is? 

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #12
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • VALERIO SCHITI (A)
Cover by ARTHUR ADAMS
COSPLAY VARIANT COVER AVAILABLE
CIVIL WAR II TIE-IN!
• The Guardians’ allegiances are split right down the middle, and tensions have NEVER been higher!
• Will they be too busy fighting to guard the galaxy?
• Will that even matter if they can’t leave Earth?
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

Kitty is either Team Carol or Team Not Quill, right?  I’m on whatever side Kitty is on.   

ROCKET RACCOON & GROOT #9 & 10
NICK KOCHER (W) • Michael Walsh (A)
CoverS by DAVID LOPEZ
CIVIL WAR II TIE-INS!
• We don’t mean to be carpet-braggers, but you’ll have to (Ulysses S.) grant that these are the best issues of the entire event!
• When Rocket, Groot, and Gwenpool all go after the same bounty in Georgia, the results are antebellum-believable!
• Get-tysburg as many copies as you can!
32 PGS. (each)/Rated T …$3.99 (each)

I love this series tie-ing in with the American Civil War and not the current crossover.  That’s a fun write-up too. 

DEADPOOL #18
GERRY DUGGAN (W) • MIKE HAWTHORNE (A)
Cover by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
SECRET COMICS VARIANT COVER BY SCOTT KOBLISH
DEFENDERS VARIANT COVER BY Annie Wu
CIVIL WAR II TIE-IN!
• One thing everyone who knows Deadpool agrees on…
• …they’d really love to sock him one!
• You don’t need a vision to tell you Deadpool’s gonna screw up his life!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

Magik was in issue 14 but could she keep appearing, I doubt it. 

CIVIL WAR II: ULYSSES #2 (OF 3)
AL EWING (W) • Jefte Palo (A)
Cover by Francesco Francavilla
VARIANT COVER BY STEFANO CASSELLI
A CIVIL WAR II PREQUEL!
• Ulysses experiences one of his first terrifying visions.
• So why won’t Karnak help him prevent this disaster?
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

From Civil War II 1, Ulysses didn’t seem to have that much of an origin. 

THE VISION #11
TOM KING (W) • GABRIEL HERNANDEZ WALTA (A)
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
• The Avengers draw a line in the sand. They tell Vision he is not to cross this line. If he does, they will destroy him. “Remember,” they say. “You’re an Avenger. First. Always.” “Stay where you are,” they say. “Don’t cross the line,” they say. Vision nods. He tells them he understands.
• Then Vision crosses the line.
• The end is coming for the most critically acclaimed book of the year, and no one is safe. Don’t miss the issue everyone will be talking about.
• Also, hail Hydra.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

This does seem pretty interesting. 

MARVEL TSUM TSUM #2 (of 4)
JACOB CHABOT (W) • DAVID BALDEON (A)
Cover by CHRIS SAMNEE
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
MARVEL TSUM TSUM CLASSIFIED CONNECTING VARIANT B AVAILABLE
THE VILLAINOUS TSUM TSUMS MAKE THEIR PRESENCE KNOWN!
• Still learning about Earth, some of the Tsum Tsums take inspiration fromthe less noble superhumans…and cause about as much mayhem!
32 PGS./ALL AGES …$3.99

I was only recently able to add this series to my pull list, hopefully Marvel Database updates each issue in a timely matter. 

HOWARD THE DUCK #11
CHIP ZDARSKY (W) • JOE QUINONES (A/C)
LAST ISSUE VARIANT COVER BY CHIP ZDARSKY
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
DEFENDERS VARIANT COVER BY Jamal Campbell
• Join Chip (Zdarsky) and Joe (Quinones) as they say goodbye to Howard in a Very Special Issue that is still priced as a Regular Issue!
• Can Howard outwit fate? Can any of us? Or is the concept of predestination just shorthand for the near-infinite factors in play that are guided, at their core, by free will?
• Guest-starring Spider-Man, probably.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Can’t believe this series is ending and actually going to stay ended.  How many issues did Zdarsky write? 

DOCTOR STRANGE #12
JASON AARON (W) • CHRIS BACHALO (A/C)
DEFENDERS VARIANT COVER BY TBA
“BLOOD IN THE AETHER” STARTS NOW!
• After the Empirikul destroyed almost all the world’s magic and nearly killed Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme must try and build himself back up.
• Witness the return of BARON MORDO! But what effect did the Empirikul attack have on him?!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

This series has been so fantastic! 

DOCTOR STRANGE ANNUAL #1
KATHRYN IMMONEN & ROBBIE THOMPSON (W) • LEONARDO ROMERO (A)
Cover by W. Scott Forbes
VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY THEOTIS JONES
• Clea comes back into Doctor Strange’s life as he’s picking up the pieces from the worst beating he’s ever taken.
• Clea’s going to make that battle look like a walk in the park.
• Also in this issue… WHO ARE THE SORCERERS SUPREME?!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

Oh man, I just tweeted that we needed a Magik & the Sorcerers Supreme yesterday!  That’s pretty fast!

THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #12
RYAN NORTH (W) • ERICA HENDERSON (A/C)
COSPLAY VARIANT COVER AVAILABLE
• Everyone gets a week-long break from class, and Squirrel Girl is taking Nancy to visit her parents up in Canada! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG, RIGHT?
• Turns out, nothing! It’s a great trip and nothing of note happens and our comic is actually EXTREMELY DULL. Sorry everyone.
• No, just kidding! Our comic is actually SUPER AWESOME and things get real crazy real quick once a certain super-powered villain nobody has heard of for over a decade reappears!
• That’s right! This comic features mysteries AND Canadians AND camping, not to mention our ALREADY super-enticing focus on squirrel powers!
• Let’s see Howard the Duck promise you THAT.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

Oh man, this is how you write a solicitation! 

EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #14
JEFF LEMIRE (W) • VICTOR IBANEZ (A)
Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
• Nightcrawler and Iceman are scouring the globe for their teammate, Colossus, hoping to save him from the influence of Apocalypse…but it may be they’re the ones in need of rescue!
• Meanwhile, Storm and Magik run into trouble as they race across parallel dimensions in search of a missing young mutant…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Magik is guaranteed to be in this!  If I was Kurt and Bobby, I’ll let Colossus go.  He’ll come back when he’s ready.  

EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN ANNUAL #1
OLLIE MASTERS & BRANDON MONTCLARE (W)
CARLO BARBERI & ROSI KAMPE (A)
Cover by VICTOR IBANEZ
VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
NEW STORY ARC STARTS NOW!
• When the Terrigen Cloud threatens to wash over a prison and the warden refuses to protect its mutant inmates, the Extraordinary X-Men take matters into their own hands…and stage a PRISON BREAK!
• And when Moon Girl takes it upon herself to solve the Terrigen crisis, she may just find an unlikely ally…
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

Magik has to be in this one, right?  I look forward to finding out who this Moon Girl is.  Could Devil Dinosaur appear in this too? 

DEADPOOL ANNUAL #1
GERRY DUGGAN & BRIAN POSEHN (W) • SCOTT KOBLISH & MORE (A)
Cover by SCOTT KOBLISH
VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
• Discover…the secret, unearthed, never-before-viewed pilot…
• …of DEADPOOL AND HIS INSUFFERABLE PALS!
• Featuring…wait, Iceman and Firestar? This isn’t right…
40 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

Deadpool standing in for Spider-Man for a revisit of Amazing Friends, that sounds super fun! 

I’m glad these Star Wars comics are being cancelled, I have to delete like six pages worth of text to get to the trade collections. 

WOLVERINE: ORIGIN – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION HC
Written by BILL JEMAS, PAUL JENKINS, JOE QUESADA & KIERON GILLEN
Penciled by ANDY KUBERT & ADAM KUBERT
Cover by
The full story of Marvel’s most mystery-shrouded mutant, revealed at last! Long before he became an X-Man, before he was transformed by Weapon X, he was a boy named James Howlett. But what tragedy could strike that would set him on the path to becoming the ferocious Wolverine? Follow young James from a life of privilege and that fateful first “snikt,” through the devastating events that rip him from his family and ultimately drive him into the wilderness. There, in the snowy wilds of Canada, the feral young man now known as Logan will encounter another mutant very much like him, also torn between man and animal. One who could be his greatest ally — or his fiercest foe. For when Logan meets Victor Creed, a rivalry for the ages is born! Collecting ORIGIN #1-6 & ORIGIN II #1-5.
328 PGS./Parental Advisory …$34.99
ISBN: 978-1-302-90471-5
Trim size: oversized

$35 and they throw in the sequel series no one read?  What a deal! 

DEADPOOL: BEGINNINGS OMNIBUS HC
Written by ROB LIEFELD, FABIAN NICIEZA, JEPH LOEB, TOM BREVOORT, MIKE KANTEROVICH, MARK WAID, LARRY HAMA, ERIC STEPHENSON, JOHN OSTRANDER, JAMES FELDER, GLENN HERDLING, GREGORY WRIGHT, CHRIS GOLDEN, MARC ANDREYKO & MORE
Penciled by ROB LIEFELD, MARK PACELLA, GREG CAPULLO, ADAM POLLINA, PAT OLLIFFE, JOE MADUREIRA, GERALD DeCAIRE, BILL WYLIE, IAN CHURCHILL, PASQUAL FERRY, SCOTT KOLINS, PETE WOODS, MIKE GUSTOVICH, ISAAC CORDOVA, BEN HERRERA, WALTER McDANIEL & MORE
Cover by PETE WOODS
The Merc with a Mouth meets the Marvel Universe in this hardcover collecting every one of his appearances before his industry-changing ongoing series — and then some! Deadpool debuts as a thorn in Cable’s side, but soon starts rubbing shoulders with heroes everywhere — from Wolverine to Nomad! Hanging with the Heroes for Hire, secreting himself in the Defenders and battling the Avengers’ Black Knight, he’s a social animal! But there’s still time for solo shenanigans in Deadpool’s first two classic miniseries! Collecting NEW MUTANTS (1983) #98; X-FORCE (1991) #2, #11, #15, #47 and #56; NOMAD (1992) #4; DEADPOOL: THE CIRCLE CHASE #1-4; SECRET DEFENDERS #15-17; DEADPOOL (1994) #1-4; WOLVERINE (1988) #88 and #154-155; HEROES FOR HIRE (1997) #10-11; DEADPOOL TEAM-UP (1998) #1; and material from AVENGERS (1963) #366, SILVER SABLE & THE WILD PACK #23, and WOLVERINE ANNUAL ’95 and ’99.
768 PGS./Rated T …$100
ISBN: 978-1-302-90429-6
Trim size: oversized

Oh man, for $100 this sounds awesome! 

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE WARS HC
Written by DENNIS HOPELESS, JEFF LEMIRE & CULLEN BUNN
Penciled by MARK BAGLEY, HUMBERTO RAMOS, VICTOR IBAÑEZ, KEN LASHLEY & PACO MEDINA
Cover by PACO MEDINA
As mutantkind’s oldest enemy haunts the X-Men once again, three teams face war on multiple fronts, across different eras! The All-New X-Men are on a mission to write their own futures — especially Evan Sabahnur, destined to one day become Apocalypse! Trapped in Ancient Egypt, is he willing to escape his fate by changing the course of history? A thousand years from now, the Extraordinary X-Men are Homo superior’s last hope against Apocalypse — but his newest Horseman is one of their own! And the Uncanny X-Men are drawn into the fray when Archangel once again assumes the guise of Death. Does this mean Apocalypse is rising again in the present — or will Magneto’s team face a new kind of Genocide? Collecting ALL-NEW X-MEN (2015) #9-11, EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #8-12 and UNCANNY X-MEN (2016) #6-10.
336 PGS./Rated T+ …$50.00
ISBN: 978-1-302-90245-2
Trim size: oversized

I’ve only read the Extraordinary X-Men issues and those were super readable.  I’m not sure about the rest of it.  Probably not worth the whole $50, get it discounted! 

DOCTOR STRANGE VOL. 2: THE LAST DAYS OF MAGIC PREMIERE HC
Written by JASON AARON, GERRY DUGGAN & JAMES ROBINSON
Penciled by CHRIS BACHALO, LEONARDO ROMERO, DANILO BEYRUTH, MIKE PERKINS & MORE
Cover by CHRIS BACHALO
They’ve crossed the dimensions, purging each of all sorcery. Now the Empirikul are here. And with Earth’s Master of the Mystic Arts weakened beyond measure, is there any chance of stopping them? The Sorcerer is no longer Supreme, and he’ll find himself at the mercy of the Imperator! With his magic destroyed and his world on the brink of disaster, are there any more tricks left up Strange’s sleeves? Or failing that, how about some cool weapons? Plus: As the Empirikul wreak havoc on magic users across the Marvel Universe, discover Wong’s ultimate sacrifice, watch Brother Voodoo make a stand, and meet a new player just as she’s about to lose the game! Collecting DOCTOR STRANGE (2015) #6-10 and DOCTOR STRANGE: LAST DAYS OF MAGIC #1.
168 PGS./Rated T+ …$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9517-7
Trim size: standard

This is well worth $25! 

EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN VOL. 2: APOCALYPSE WARS TPB
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Penciled by VICTOR IBAÑEZ & HUMBERTO RAMOS
Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
Extraordinary adventures demand Extraordinary X-Men, and no frontier is too wild for this crew! While one team of X-Men stages a daring rescue mission in Weirdworld, the members of another delve deep into their own teammate’s psyche! Weird is nothing new for hardened mutants like Old Man Logan, Colossus, Iceman and Magik — but are Storm and Jean Grey prepared for what lies in the mind of Nightcrawler? Then, to save the present, the X-Men race into a perilous future ruled by an old — and we mean old — enemy. They’re mutantkind’s last hope, but can they outrun the immortal Apocalypse and his new Horsemen? Before you answer that, you should know: One of those Horsemen is a Venom-powered Wolverine! A battle for the ages is about to begin — but who will survive the Apocalypse Wars? Collecting EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #6-12.
160 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9935-9

I guess I would buy $20 for this but just barely. 

LEGENDARY STAR-LORD VOL. 4: OUT OF ORBIT TPB
Written by SAM HUMPHRIES with STAN LEE, ROY THOMAS, BILL MANTLO & JIM SHOOTER
Penciled by JAVIER GARRÓN with DON HECK, Will Robson, JOHN BUSCEMA & DAVE WENZEL
Cover by PACO MEDINA
Star-Lord and Star-Lady, sitting in a tree — no more! That’s right, the engagement of the galaxy is over! But Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde still have to share a ship…and work…and friends…and…yeesh. This is going to get awkward! Fortunately, they’re surrounded by caring, communicative teammates like…Drax…and Groot…and Rocket…hoo boy. But when their legendary breakup captures the Collector’s imagination, can Peter and Kitty put aside their differences and make it out of his clutches alive? It’s a cosmic conundrum that could make their split seem like a honeymoon! Plus: The Collector takes on the Avengers in three classic tales! Collecting STAR-LORD (2015) #6-8 and AVENGERS (1963) #28, #51 and #174.
128 PGS./Rated T …$15.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9625-9

I like how they are just tacking on the “Legendary” as this series gets back on track. 

SPIDER-MAN: THE COMPLETE CLONE SAGA EPIC BOOK 1 TPB (NEW PRINTING)
Written by J.M. DEMATTEIS, TERRY KAVANAGH, HOWARD MACKIE, TOM DEFALCO & TOM LYLE
Penciled by LIAM SHARP, JOHN ROMITA JR., STEVEN BUTLER, MARK BAGLEY, TOM LYLE, SAL BUSCEMA, RON LIM & PHIL GOSIER
Cover by RON LIM
Spider-Man’s clone is back — and the real Spidey is beside himself! Peter thought his clone was long dead, but where has Ben Reilly been for the last five years? Why has he returned? Is he Peter Parker’s dark side…or his better half? And does Miles Warren, the unbalanced Jackal, have anything to do with it? Everyone wants answers, and the cloaked killer Kaine is ready to rip them out of whoever has them! Plus: Venom and Vermin! Carnage and Chameleon! New allies, new enemies and a new crimefighting identity! No other Spider-storyline was as innovative or infamous as the 1990s Clone Saga, and you can follow it right from the start! Collecting SPIDER-MAN: THE LOST YEARS #0-3, WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (1985) #117-119, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #394, SPIDER-MAN (1990) #51-53, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) #217 and material from SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED (1993) #7.
424 PGS./Rated T …$34.99
ISBN: 978-1-302-90318-3

If this was a tad cheaper, I would be tempted.  I do love me some Scarlet Spider! 

THE MARVEL UNIVERSE ACCORDING TO HEMBECK TPB
Written by FRED HEMBECK, BILL MANTLO, STEVE SKEATES & MORE
Penciled by FRED HEMBECK & MORE
Cover by FRED HEMBECK
A riotous roundup of stories by one of comics’ funniest cartoonists! Fred Hembeck roasts the Fantastic Four, aided and abetted by the 1980s’ best artists — then singlehandedly destroys the Marvel Universe! And it’s wall-crawling wackiness times three with Spider-Man, Spider-Ham and young Petey Parker! Plus: Who loves Hembeck’s humorous hoodoo with Brother Voodoo? You do! But wait — there’s more! Packed with gags, guffaws and groaners, it’s a heaping helping of Hembeck hilarity you just have to have! Collecting PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #86; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN DIGITAL #11 and #16; MARVEL TALES (1964) #216-217, #224-226, #235, #248 and #250-252; PETEY #1; FANTASTIC FOUR ROAST; FRED HEMBECK DESTROYS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE; and FRED HEMBECK SELLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE — plus material from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #23; SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #9 and #11; WEB OF SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #5; UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN #1 and ANNUAL ’97; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #7; PETER PORKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-HAM #4; MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1990) #1; WHAT IF? (1977) #34; BUG #1; STAN LEE MEETS SPIDER-MAN; WHAT THE—?! #4; IRON MAN (1968) #112; CAPTAIN AMERICA (2005) #50 and various MARVEL AGE, COLLECTORS’ PREVIEW, DIRECTOR’S CUT and DAILY BUGLE strips.
304 PGS./Rated T+ …$34.99
ISBN: 978-1-302-90249-0

This is going to be a great read!  So many great stories!

. . .

This felt like a super light month!

Here is what I’m tempted to buy –

Civil War II 6       $5
Civil War II X-Men 4         $4
Guardians of the Galaxy 12           $4
Extraordinary X-Men 14 $4
Extraordinary X-Men Annual 1    $5

Five comics for a total of $22 comics, with five dollars off brings me to $17 – which I’m all for!

 

All New X-Men Volume Two Issue 1

Posted by John Klein III on June 22, 2016
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

All New X-Men V2 1

Writer Dennis Hopeless

Penciler Mark Bagley

Inker Andrew Hennessy

Color Nolan Woodard

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

I got this, just for Magik being on the cover.

All New X-Men V2 1 Recap

We start All New X-Men’s second era.  Secret Wars 2015 fixed alternate universes (except for Spider-Gwen’s) but not the time travel nonsense – so the Original Five X-Men, are still with us.  The four boys, are in this title.  They upgraded from Jean to All New Wolverine, X23.  Idie and Kid Apocalypse are also on this team.  The team, at this moment, are separated, having their own fun.

Vail, Colorado.  Wolverine (I’m just going to call her that) and Angel are enjoying skiing.  A sport, living here in Helena, Montana – I have no interest in.  Angel keeps saving her, even though she can take care of herself.  She annoys her but he’s trying to be a good boyfriend.  Not a respectful boyfriend but a good one.

Eastpoint, Florida.  Beast calls Angel.  Hank is watching Genesis (I really don’t like calling him – Kid Apocalypse – it is clunky and such a long name) rassle with an alligator.  There is going to be an upcoming Apocalypse crossover, so Genesis (real name, Evan) is most likely going to be important and soon.  Hank and Genesis are on there way to Austen, to pick up Bobby – then they will be heading to Warren and X23 in Veil.  Neither group has heard what Scott has been up too.

Of course, in eight months – they haven’t heard from him but now that we have caught up with them, they are going to hear from him.  Funny how that works.

Hank has set up a Cerebro, so that it isn’t dependent on a telepath to operate.  Once Scott blasts a dude, they should be able to find him.

Chicago, Illinois.  Scott has become quite the researcher.  There is a group of punk teenagers, known as – Ghosts of Cyclops – that are running around, making fools of themselves.  They arrive on scene, distract people and steal whatever they can carry – while wearing Cyclops’ mask – the one with the big red X where eyes should be.  Scott has track their movements and they should be arriving to the cafe that Scott is eating lunch at.

A cute blonde gal, Marla, starts talking to Scott.  She needs a picture with him, as her mother will freak out that she is in the city, by herself.  Everyone at the cafe gets hit by a truckload of water.  The six ghosts are all teenage mutants.  They are sloppy and untrained, which makes it easy for Scott to toss a few of them around.  He is so used to working within a group, that he leaves his blind side open and they press an attack.  While Scott is down, they run off.  The Ghosts of Cyclops, don’t have much experience with anyone standing up to them.

Scott picks up one of their wallets.  Marla runs over, super impressed with him.  She makes the fatal mistake of besmirching Cyclops’ name – going as far as to say why anyone would want to have Cyclops’ face (she means his mask) but this offends Scott.  He walks away like a sad sack.

Austin Texas.  Hank has caught up to Bobby, who is making a giant ice sculpture of the Thing.   Bobby hasn’t been laying low, he met a guy the other day and made an armadillo statue – the city loves Bobby.  How long can an ice sculpture last in Texas?  Austin is super mutant friendly, which more cities should be.

Hank and crew have been driving around in a trailer but it is bigger on the inside.

Algar University, Outside Chicago.  The ghosts recognize Scott, one doesn’t forget the dude who elbowed you in the face!  They follow him to the library.  Scott googles the kid’s name and the Internet provides him with everything.  Scott still can’t believe how far the world has come from the 60s (or 90s – whenever).

Mark Bagley, I should type, is amazing and I’m glad I’m able to read another issue of his again.

The guy, Austin Deprez, has found Scott.  Could we not get the city of Austin and a new character named, Austin, in the same issue?  Come on, Hopeless!  Deprez has the power to eject water from his throat – so that’s disgusting.  Deprez’s mutant name is, Thirst – it isn’t horrible.  The Ghosts have Scott on the ropes.  This old librarian tries to hit one of them with a chair.  Thirst is about to wail on him when Scott takes off his sweet red sunglasses.  With that, Scott blasts him some dudes!

This sets off the alarm for Hank’s Cerebro.  Hank opens the mini-fridge and the rumors are true – Hopeless has introduced a bamf, named Pickles – the team’s teleporter.

All of this blasting, and tired Scott and he collapses on the ground.  Sadly, he didn’t take out any of the ghosts, so they pick him up and leave.

Before they can get out of the library, the All New X-Men arrive!  Including Wolverine and Angel – who still has his Black Vortex upgraded powers.

Not really sure if I’ll be getting additional issues but this one was pretty good.

Idie did nothing this issue and I barely recognized her when she did talk.

Book Report : Marvel Age – Spider-Man and Kitty Pryde

Posted by John Klein III on June 21, 2016
Posted in: Books. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

kitty-pryde-down-with-monsters-todd-dezago-hardcover-cover-art

Down With The Monsters!

Inspiration Bill Mantlo & Ron Frenz

Script Todd Dezago

Pencils JonBoy Meyers

Inks Nathan Massengil & David Newborn

Colors Digital Rainbow

Letters Dave Sharpe

Cover by Randy Green, Rick Ketcham & Chris Sotomayor

Really, this is just a hardcover bound version of Marvel Age – Spider-Man Team-Up Issue Three.

Which in turn is based on the Marvel Team-Up Issue 135, hence the inspiration credit.  That issue was reprinted in Marvel Tales 245, though both are super affordable.

So I ordered this book for my son, Walker Dennis.  I thought it being close to twenty five dollars, that it would be made out of softer material – like a children’s book.  Instead it was a hardcover and direct copy of the comic I already own, minus the ads.  I had ordered it, so it was mine.  If he destroys it, at least we were able to read it to him as a bedtime story.

The book opens up with Peter Parker being bullied by Flash – a typical high school day for poor Peter.

I like the lesson from the narration caption – sometimes being a good guy means having to tolerate people.

He dons his Spider-Man costume.   A young girl steals another gal’s groceries and runs off.  Spider-Man gives chase, and everyone around thinks he is chasing her for her groceries.

She mumbles to herself that Callisto isn’t going to be happy, as she heads into the subway station.

Spider-Man follows her there, people still think he is harassing her.  A hand grabs her and Spider-Man doesn’t know what happened.

Turns out the Morlock, Sunder, grabbed her.  She is also the Morlock, Dreamer.  She casts a spell to make him think he is handsome and she runs off.

Next, we see Kitty Pryde in a modified version of her X-Men trainee uniform.  She is in the Danger Room, doing great, as Xavier, Storm and Wolverine watch.

Once the session is over, Xavier tells Kitty that it is bad enough that he is constantly putting her life in danger, he doesn’t want to deprive her of a proper childhood.  He has volunteered her babysitting services to the Michaels’ family.  If this is a friend of Xavier’s or an ad from Craigslist that Xavier found, who knows?  This family hasn’t been heard from since.

The Morlock Tunnels.  Callisto is walking around as Spider-Man crawls about.  She tells Ape and another Morlock to find Dreamer.  She instructs Sunder to take Leech and find Spider-Man.

Which they do!  Leech turns off Spider-Man’s powers and Sunder knocks him out.  I thought Leech’s power only worked on fellow mutants?

Kitty is babysitting the Michaels’ children.  They watch a scary movie involving mutants, but more like the monster type than the human type.

Kitty tells them to go to bed.  She reads them a story, but they are still afraid of mutants.  Kitty has to break it down for them that mutants are just people with extraordinary powers.

While reading to them, Dreamer comes crawling out of the ground – right outside the Michaels home.  Of course.

The Morlocks that are chasing Dreamer, see Kitty and the children.  Kitty can’t expose her secret so she lets them be taken.  Once she has a plan, she will risk anything to keep the children safe.

Sometime later, in the sewers.Dreamer shows that she can make cartoon monkeys.  Spider-Man is getting his powers back.  Dreamer and Kitty are going to help with the escape plan, as they both announce they are mutants.  The Michaels children are surprised, as they thought mutants were scary looking.

Shortly.  Kitty unlocks the door and Spider-Man takes it off its hinges – which alerts the rest of the Morlocks.  why she didn’t just walk them all outside, is beyond me.

Dreamer and the kids just motor off.  Leech arrives and shows Spider-Man and Kitty are shut down.  Dreamer and the kids come back, and the kids reveal they don’t find mutants scary anymore.  Issue ends with Calisto’s heart going three sizes bigger and everyone gets to go home.

A fun little story.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Four Issue 2

Posted by John Klein III on June 20, 2016
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Artist Valerio Schiti

Color Artist Richard Isanove

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

Cover by Art Adams & Jason Keith

I had to add the Kris Anka variant to my wishlist.

Issue opens with Hala’s reaction to having her home planet, Hala – the Kree’s homeworld.  I imagine she has another name, but it makes it a tad complicated that her name is the same name as her home planet.  I ‘get’ it is an homage but ooof, it isn’t great.  The Kree, it turns out, have been saving the galaxy for longer than anyone really knows.  I always think of the Kree as being slightly better than the Skrulls and slightly worst than the Shi’ar.  Also, that we wouldn’t have Inhumans, if it wasn’t for the Kree.

Hala would have been there, when the planet exploded (during Black Vortex) but the Supreme Intelligence sent her away, to the far reaches of the galaxy.  She is the last Accuser.

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2 StarKitty 1

She isn’t happy that Spartax survived (single-handedly by Kitty Pryde) and her planet didn’t.  So she is now on Spartax, to make them pay.

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2 StarKitty 2

StarPryde is the first Guardian to attempt to take Hala down.  Her phasing through Hala’s gun, didn’t short circuit it.

Groot is wounded, as he jumped in front of Quill – which I missed in the image before.  Quill reveals that the giant multi-page narration slash monologue, was spoken (thought?) in Kree-ian(?) so no one present knows Hala’s motivations.  Rocket understood everything and quickly states that she is mad that her homeworld was destroyed.

Drax yells a threat at Hala but Grimm has a fast way to say it . . .

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2 StarKitty 3

Look how impress Pryde is with her new teammate!  She does look good in that outfit.

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2 StarKitty 4

Hala isn’t getting up.

Grimm and Pryde have a great conversation about how it is okay for male hero characters to hit female villain characters, as someone has to stop the villain and genders shouldn’t come into the equation.  Pryde didn’t like that Grimm called Hala, a broad.  Which is one of my favorite words to describe a lady – as it sounds so old fashion but I have to stop using the term.  I don’t want to be sexist.

Rocket states that this reminds him of a dream he had, he’s having some deja vu.  Pryde didn’t realize he dreams or that raccoons dream.

The Royal Brigade shows up, which annoys Quill as his friend, Groot, took the hit that one of them should have taken for him.  Quill orders the brigade to aid to Groot and Gamora.  They are not sure if they can help Groot, he’s a tree – they don’t have tree doctors.

Quill wants Lady Hala locked up, the brigade tells him that they have the right to kill her on the spot.  I wonder if they actually could kill her?  Quill says no to that idea, he wants her to see the inside of a courtroom – which seems like an odd thing to want to see.  Are they going to go through the discovery process?  Then maybe mediation, after that?

Hala opens her eyes, so stuff is about to go down.

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2 StarKitty 5

Drax picks up the weapon Hala was using, he would like to keep the blaster staff thingie.  Pryde tells him to put it down.  The weapon, naturally and of course, goes off in his hands – causing a gigantic explosion.

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2 StarKitty 6

Pryde tries to phase through the lightning blasts but the energy waves still affect her.

The brigade, the idiots that they are, open fire on Drax – forgetting that he is a friend to their president.  He does drop the weapon.

Hala gets to her feet, holding the weapon now.

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2 StarKitty 7

Hala causes a multi-block explosion – so now everyone is down.

I do like the technique of not understanding her words.

Guardians of the Galaxy V4 2 StarKitty 8

Hala walks over to Quill (nice that he landed near Pryde) and picks him up – by the neck!

Hala starts speaking English, as she reveals that she knows who he is.  She wants to destroy his world, before killing him.  Since he has two worlds, she’s going to destroy Spartax AND Earth!  Good luck with that second one, lady!

Quill finally wakes up, in a shuttle floating away from Spartax.

The issue ends with Spartax surrounded by a force field.  I imagine, she doesn’t win – or if she does, that the Guardians were also taken off planet.

Next issue’s cover promises Gamora v Drax, I suppose there can only be the one green team member – which is odd as they have been teammates for years now.  Is it racist to say that they are both green?  Should I be viewing them as just people?

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2

Posted by John Klein III on June 19, 2016
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2

Writer Chris Claremont

Artist Allen Milgrom

Letterer Tom Orzechowski

Colorist Glynis Wein

Cover Date4d December 1984

We’re celebrating Father’s Day with Kitty Pryde’s more infamous parent – Carmen Pryde!

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2 Carmen Pryde 1

Issue opens with Kitty surprising her father, in Japan!  She just overheard that her father is in cahoots with the Yakuza.  It isn’t great, for either Pryde.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2 Carmen Pryde 2

Mr. Shigematsu, the main boss, wants to know how Kitty got all the way up to his penthouse.  Shigematsu isn’t impress with the Prydes.  Shigematsu sends his goons after Kitty but she throws a chair at them.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2 Carmen Pryde 3

Kitty jumps over the goons and throws herself at the old man, as she flees.

Carmen wants to explain, but it is exactly what it looks like.  He isn’t an informant for the United States government.

The old man wants Ogun to go after Kitty, Ogun is happy to do so, he has a whole plan.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2 Carmen Pryde 4

Carmen hears Kitty’s name, in-between some Japanese.  He doesn’t want a guy like Ogun anywhere near his daughter.  He tries to stop Ogun but learns quickly how out of his league he is.

Poor Kitty, when we catch up to her, her entire world has spun upside down.  She’s crying, and lost in a foreign city.

There is an ad for the Saturday morning line up on CBS.  Richard Pryor is front and center, which caused me pause.  He’s promoting Pryor’s Place, a cartoon I never heard of.  Muppet Babies is the only cartoon I saw, of this batch.  Supercade (with Quebert, Space Ace, Kangaroo and Donkey Kong). Dungeon & Dragons, Pole Position and the Get Along Gang.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2 Ogun 1

Ogun catches up with Kitty and knocks her out with some mouth gas.  We know Ogun is seriously messed up, as he clearly had that mask for a while.

We see Logan going through an airport metal detector.  We learn he has a special medical card that explains that he has metal on his bones.

Kitty wakes up, in a standing position under a spotlight.  The next several pages are pretty messed up as we see Ogun break Kitty down, both mentally and physically.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2 Ogun 2

We’ve given Kitty’s inner-monolgue and it is terrifying!  She’s so hopeless during all of this.  Ogun cuts off her long hair and sheds her shirt.

Kitty puts on a brave face, and Ogun recognizes her strength.  He starts rebuilding her, with training and a new philosophy.  Kitty begins her ninja training, by her first ninja master.

NBC’s Saturday morning cartoons gets two pages – Snorks, Pink Panther and Sons, Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Kidd Video, Mister T, Going Bananas, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends; and One to Grow On will appear five times, wherein celebrities give advice.  I’m pretty sure I only saw Snorks, Smurfs and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

This entire sequence is pretty quick, in reality but it feels like forever as we see Kitty go from infant to pre-teen to her current older teenager.  She goes from a white outfit to a sweet black outfit and dons the Ogun mask to top the entire thing.

Tokyo.  Shigematsu is in his office, as someone is attempting to break in.  The goons open fire but Wolverine makes short work of them all.  The old man doesn’t know where Kitty is, so he isn’t very helpful to Wolverine.

The Bullpen Bulletins mentions the passing of Sol Brodsky.  The Hype Box promotes Iceman 1 and Beauty and the Beast 1.  Some of the issues coming out are –
New Mutants 22
Secret Wars 6
Iceman 1
Beauty and the Beast 1
Power Pack 6
Alpha Flight 17
Captain America 300
ROM Annual 3
X-Men 188
ROM 61
Avengers 250
Thor 350
Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2
X-Men Annual 6
Doctor Who 3
Marvel Age 21

Ogun is called, that Wolverine is on his way.   He knows all about Logan, and knows the perfect way to hurt him.

Cut to Kitty, still wearing the mask, defeating a bunch of ninja goons.  Issue ends with Ogun telling Kitty to kill Wolverine, and she’s all for doing that.

We probably won’t review the third issue until next year, but maybe not.

Such a great series, loads happening and it is only the second issue.

Wolverine Volume Two Issue 70

Posted by John Klein III on June 18, 2016
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Wolverine V3 70

Writer Mark Millar

Penciler Steve McNiven

Inker Dexter Vines
Mark Morales (Pages 15 & 16)

Colorist Morry Hollowell
Justin Ponsor (Pages 15 & 16)

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

Old Man Logan, Part Five of Eight

Cover Dated February 2009

This is the only chapter of this famous story, as it is the big reveal of why Old Man Logan quit being Wolverine.

Wolverine 70 Recap

Here is what happened before.  50 years ago, the villains won and America was divided.  The Wolverine is dead, his claws haven’t been popped, since that eventful day.  Logan has been leaving in Sacramento, with his wife and family.

May I say, that I’m a huge sucker for fictional maps?  I love just looking at them, at the landmarks that the map maker deems important.  Then I look at where Yuma, Arizona is – here it is in the Kingdom of the Kingpin (formerly the Domain of Magneto).  The names of cities hold so much potential story and history.  Montana falls in the vast unclaimed area, the Wastleland, I believe they call it in this title.

Logan was living in Hulkland.  To the right of the Wasteland, is Doom’s Lair, next is Clyde’s Pit and lastly, is The President’s Quarter.  Certain villains have cities, along the path that Logan is now taking.

I’m getting ahead of the recap.  Logan is a farmer, and the grandchildren of the Hulk, want Logan’s rent but he is pretty behind.

Clint Barton, the now blind archer – wants his old friend to cross the country with him.  Logan agrees, as long as he doesn’t have to get involved with any violence.  They are heading to New Babylon, which is in The President’s Quarter.  What is in the package, that Clint has to deliver, is another mystery of the storyline.

They have met Moloids and clone tyrannosaurs, they are currently being stalked by the venom symbiote.  At the end of last issue, Logan agrees to tell Clint what happened that day.

Now we are at this issue.

Back in the day, most likely a Tuesday – Jubilee tells Wolverine that every hero team is sending out a distress signal.  The villains are rising up.  There is a huge explosion, and it is on!

There is an ad for the Honda Fit, it breaks up my comic and this review.

Wolverine 70 Kitty Pryde

Now, we get to the panel that got me to buy the issue.  That brunette, in the third panel – telling everyone to get to the evacuation tunnels, that has to be Kitty Pryde, right?  It is her or X23 but I say, X23 would be popping her claws and heading towards the attack.  Kitty would hang back, and make sure the students were okay.  There are not that many brunette X-Women, and not that many with a modest breast size.  Sorry but in a world of Double Ds and larger, normal breasts stand out.

Marvel Database use to list Shadowcat, as being in the issue but I imagine now they don’t list either lady, as there is no way to prove which one it is.  Unless Millar and McNiven have revealed the script for the issue or have been asked.  I say it is Kitty and thus, I own this issue.

There is another panel, that she could be in, later but we’ll get to that one.

comicbookdb has Shadowcat listed for the issue, so they are with me, on this.

http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=157230

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Wolverine_Vol_3_70

Wolverine V3 70 Dead Villains 1

Wolverine starts to defend the Mansion, by himself.  One would think that the other X-Men will eventually step up.  He’s taking the charge, by himself.

Wolverine kills Doctor Octopus and Klaw, so fast.  Too fast!  Next is Stryfe!

Wolverine V3 70 Dead Villains 2

Then it is these two no names.  Is that suppose to be Demogoblin?

Wolverine slices Silver Samurai’s head, clear off!

After that, he starts asking where everybody is.

Wolverine V3 70 Dead Villains 3

Two students are not sure and Wolverine tells them to get the heck out!

Wolverine then, somehow, slashes Blob but he is so focused on murder, that nothing is sinking in.

Sabretooth and Mister Sinister enter the fray and Wolverine punches Sinister to his face!  Has that ever worked, to the extent that blood comes out of his face?

Wolverine V3 70 Dead Villains 4

Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike go down.  As do Omega Red, Absorbing Man and Scorpion.  Shocker even tries to do it. as if Wolverine would be easier to kill now that he has killed thirteen other villains.

So great that McNiven got to draw this assortment of villains.  When would he be able to draw Scorpion or Shocker, before this?

There is a double page ad for Spider-Man : Web of Shadows, a game I wanted to play, when it came out.  I recall it didn’t get great reviews.

Wolverine V3 70 Dead Villains 5

The only villain to really put up a fight, is the last one – Bullseye!  They fight for 90 minutes, taking pieces out of each other.

Wolverine straight up thrusts his claws through Bullseye’s chest.

I’m not sure if what is making all of this is possible, was just wearing off or if it was due to Bullseye being the last, but the fog starts to lift over Wolverine’s eyes.  Bullseye calls Wolverine, friend, and this startles Wolverine.

Wolverine is holding Jubilee’s body!  She was Bullseye!  How she was able to withstand a 90 minute fight with Wolverine, is beyond me – much less take chunks out of him.  OR! Even being able to survive one slash of his claws.

Wolverine V3 70 Mysterio Explantation

Turns out, the villains big plan to take the X-Men off the board, was to get the big ol’ dumb Wolverine to do it for them!

I like Mysterio, who is clearly a hologram – giving Wolverine shit for thinking that he could have taken out all of these named villains.

I’m surprised no one has ever had Wolverine face off with Mysterio, after this issue came out – but Mysterio has been off the board, for a while now.  Last I read him, he was involved in Spider-Men, as Mysterio was also, Ultimate Mysterio!

Wolverine 70 Dead X-Men

Wolverine straight up murdered these X-Men!  Gambit, Iceman, Havok (who was Stryfe, as he has no head!).  Colossus, with who I thought was Shadowcat – on his chest but that is clearly Psylocke with her costume (butt sticking out, and all) and the purple tint to her hair.  Cannonball, Storm, Longshot, Beast, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Polaris and even Forge is dead!

Wolverine V3 70 Sad Old Man Logan

We cut to the present and Clint is being a good guy, not judging Old Man Logan for something he is clearly still broken by and it was fifty years ago.

Mysterio was so good that he could even affect the way Wolverine’s senses worked.

After Wolverine killed the X-Men, Logan walked away and kept on walking, for weeks, maybe even months.  Logan decided to kill Wolverine, so he put his head on a railroad track and let a train run it over.  He survived as, of course he did.

There is a hint of what happened to the other heroes, there was a giant battle in Vegas where the heroes fought the villains – and clearly lost.

There is an ad for Bendis / Deodato’s Dark Avengers, a pretty great title in a fun era of Marvel Comics.  I only read issue eight, which was written by Fraction and what part of the Utopia crossover.  Luke Ross was the penciler, so I don’t even own any issues with the main creative team.

Old Man Logan uses this story to emphasis why he doesn’t want to be a fighter, he uses his hands as a farmer.

Dwight’s Toll.  I really like the choice to have a light page, after the bulk of this issue being so heavy on death.  Dwight is a teenager (or maybe a twelve year old boy) who has an Ant-Man helmet.  The kid only wants people to pay him eighty cents, to cross the bridge.  For those who don’t pay – and many don’t, as we can tell from the view from below the bridge – get killed by a million ants.  I do like the idea of this kid, knowing he has picked a silly amount for a toll so he gets to get his fair share of stupid kills but for those who know him (like Clint) they know to take the toll very seriously.

Doom’s Head, Illinois.  Clint apologizes to Old Man Logan, for bringing him on this trip, where hazards are everywhere.

Issue ends with a giant T-Rex, with the Anti-Venom symbiote.

What an intense issue!

Asus X205

Posted by John Klein III on June 17, 2016
Posted in: Websites. Leave a comment

Asus X205 mine

My awesome wife let me buy a new laptop!  After doing some research on what was available in town, I bought an Asus X205 from Walmart.

Asus X205 Walmart

So far, I’ve had this for a few days now and I’ve been really enjoying it.

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/asus-eeebook-x205ta

The above was the link that secured the purchase for me.  At first, I thought this was going to cost $195 but it turn out to be $135 so it was a perfect buy for me.

The only issue I’ve had thus far, is that – with the touchpad – I keep zooming into the screen, which I never want.  I’ve since learn how to undo it but I need to watch to make sure I stop doing it.

Extraordinary X-Men 2

Posted by John Klein III on June 16, 2016
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Extraordinary X-Men 2

Writer Jeff Lemire

Penciler Humberto Ramos

Inker Victor Olazaba

Colorist Edgar Delgado

Letter VC’s Joe Caramagna

I had to add Kevin Wada’s variant cover to my Wishlist.

Extraordinary X-Men 2 Magik 1

Amsterdam.  Cerebra confirmed that this is where the Rasputins can find Nightcrawler.  I like their fun banter, also the explanation of why Illyana never teleports people to the exact location (or makes a second teleport, once they know where they need to be).  They see a puddle of blood and knock the door down.

Is that really Kurt’s tail on the ground!?!  Can he grow another one of those?  That’s a major physical change!

Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada.  Storm and Iceman confront Old Man Logan.  Bobby doesn’t waste any time asking about how Wolverine got so old.  Before he will answer that question, he wants to know why these two knuckleheads are flying around in a Sentinel.  Storm explains that Forge created Cerebra (inside a Sentinel, for some unexplained reason).  Storm hints that the mutant race’s downsizing.  Cerebra apparently can talk and has a personality, this could be interesting.

Old Man Logan explains that he was in a few places, before coming here – the only hint of Secret Wars 2015, I imagine we are going to get, for a while.  We see flashbacks of dead Storm and Iceman, from Wolverine 70, that made me reread that issue.  I was resisting the review for that issue, as I figured it would be the basis of the third Wolverine film but it is now time to review the issue.  That’ll come in a few days.

Storm is wearing a classic 80s costume, which is what made me reread Wolverine 70, as I wasn’t sure if she was in that outfit.  She’s in something like resembles a one piece black bathing suit, so Ramos got that right, from the very brief glimpse we see of Storm.

We get a pretty decent summary of the original Millar / McNiven Old Man Logan storyline – the villains rose up, took over and left the world a Wasteland.  At least, the aspect of the series that I was interested in.

Iceman’s flippant “of course this involves time travel” is pretty funny.  We have the Original Five X-Men, from the past, and now, an Old Man Logan, from the future.  Are we heading towards another Battle of the Atom?  Let’s hope not!

We see a dead Iceman, in a flashforward, who I couldn’t identify in issue 70 of Wolverine.  Old Man Logan has never heard of the Terrigen Mist or M-Pox.

Old Man Logan turns down Storm’s offer for help.  She states, in no uncertain terms, that Cyclops is dead.  Which, is like solving a mystery with another giant mystery.

I completely get Old Man Logan not wanting to explain to these youngsters, why he doesn’t want to stand around them.

Brooklyn.  Jean is dating this guy, Chris.  She makes light about how Hank and Scott, didn’t work out.  She goes as far as to say that kissing Hank was like kissing her brother.  Which seems super awkward, as Bendis was setting up the whole Jean and Hank relationship in Uncanny X-Men 600.  I suppose it is an easy way to show the passage of time, having the couple break up.  Jean likes kissing Chris.  They start walking out of the restaurant when Jean hears a psychic yell for help.

These three dumb flatscans are kicking this dude who looks like that Flower Dress gal from Agents of SHIELD, once she was exposed to the mists.

Jean yells at them to get away, but one of the jerks states that he is afraid of his little girl may get the M-Pox disease.

Chris makes the huge mistake of using the “mutie” term and Jean reveals that she is a mutant – in a big way.  She knocks the three jerks to the ground and away some distance.

Chris is disgusted that he kissed her, he may get the disease now.  In a very great twist, the mutant stands up, also freaked out, as he is an Inhuman and runs away scared.  What an interesting take on an old plot.  Also, a great way to show that one rather be an Inhuman than a mutant.

Extraordinary X-Men 2 Magik 2

X-Haven.  The Workshop.  We get our first glimpse of X-Haven, at least, Forge’s workshop.  He confirms to Illyana, that Nightcrawler should be right below them.  He does warn that there are other mutant signatures.

Manhattan.  Illyana sends Kurt’s tail to Forge, so that explains how that will be corrected.

In, what I hope continues to be a running gag, Colossus is dismayed as the sewer entrance is too small for him.  The big Russian is starting to have size issues.

Extraordinary X-Men 2 Magik 3

For once, an X-Man complains about being in the sewers!  The smell and the water, must be gross to deal with.

They are attacked by green ghost dragon thingies.

X-Haven.  Storm, Iceman and Cerebra return.  Storm doesn’t like how Magik hasn’t returned yet.  Bobby hints that where they are, it isn’t good for Magik to not be there, for long.  Storm’s instincts really should have kicked in and they should have gone right to Manhattan and checked in on the siblings.

Bobby really is the comic relief that this title needs.  He notices Kurt’s tail, another signed that clearly what is happening in Manhattan, isn’t ideal.  Bobby freezes Kurt’s tail.

Forge checks in on Cerebra, whose feelings are hurt by Old Man Logan’s comment to her, to “zip it.”  Forge is also told that there is a Logan, around, there is no time to explain further.  So from Forge’s point of view, Storm failed two different recruiting agendas.

Extraordinary X-Men 2 Magik 4

Magik can tell the dragons are not real.  Colossus and her are doing well against the two mysterious villains, from the last issue.

Extraordinary X-Men 2 Magik 5

We get a narration box sequence of Storm talking about how Xavier’s dream may be dead (again).

We see who the mysterious boss of the three sewer peeps . . . Mister Sinister!  Who is willing to set aside his obsession with the Summers blood, to experiment with the Rasputin bloodline.

Am I excited to be reading another Sinister storyline?  Not really but maybe this will be the time where I find him to be interesting.

Extraordinary X-Men 2 Magik 6

I was thinking this may be the first time that Magik has seen Sinister but Gillen’s entire Uncanny run (the second volume) he had fought the Phoenix Five, so she definitely should have shared at least, one panel together.  Though I am getting the sense memory of her being outside the castle, so she didn’t actually fight him.  It is funny, that, the two of them had major storylines in Inferno, but didn’t crossover in that, er, crossover.

Sinister, the jerk that he is, throws Magik’s flippin’ head into a wall!  Causing her to be knocked out.

X-Haven, not coincidentally,starts to shakes.  This is, because . . . X-Haven is in Limbo, ya’ll!  So in the eight months, Illyana removed Limbo from within herself and have placed the mutants there.  Since Magik isn’t keeping the demons at bay, they start hording onto X-Haven.

Manitoba, Canada.  Old Man Logan is trying to forget his woes, via drinking and supporting a small business.  Jean starts chatting with him, telepathically.

Extraordinary X-Men 2 Magik Dead

She knows his secret, as of course she would read his mind – without his permission.  So Lemire definitely has her character down – she is the worst.

Jean is in front of his trailer, and wants him – as it is cold outside.  Old Man Logan is glad that she was already dead, as that meant he didn’t kill her.  Our Wolverine, did end up killing our Jean, a couple times – during Morrison’s run, but that was knowing she would come right back from the dead.

A pretty great second issue!

Big Brother 18 – Cast of Twelve

Posted by John Klein III on June 15, 2016
Posted in: Reality Television, Websites. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

We got Jeff Schroeder interviewing the 12 new houseguests of Big Brother 18!

I’ll go in the number of they were on CBS All Access.  I have never really watched these so I’m hoping they are at least entertaining.  We may not make it through all of them.

  1. Corey – Realtor from Dallas.

He’s a baseball coach, he’s not a superfan.  He’s single.  He’s not looking for love, maybe some light flirting.  Jeff finds him good looking so maybe he is, Jeff would know.  He has a dog and roommates, three or four guys.  He names them, probably was asked to by his roomies. He’s a nice guy.  He likes to pay it forward.  Jeff likes to really hit the same notes.  There are 12 eggs and 12 people take an egg, and there is one left, how is that possible?  I guess Corey got the question right.    Two night premiere!  We like him.  My wife loves Netflix’s Bloodlines, I need to watch it one of these days.  She’s a big Friday Night Lights gal too.

2.  Bronte – math student from San Diego.

Her name is like Charlotte Bronte, a famous writer – from what my wife is saying.  She’s bad with math in her head.  She got 9*9 wrong but Jeff knew the answer.  She’s good with intervals.  She’s a new fan, and she’s single.  She’s cool with flirting.  She wants to set up some showmances.  She wants the money.  She wants her doctorate.  She’s going to use behavioral science.  She explains outliers to Jeff.  She namechecks Vanessa.  She doesn’t answer Jeff’s songs on the radio question well.  It is an odd one.  We like her too.  The Diary Room doesn’t look so bad, blue background with the red couch.

3.  Jozea – celebrity make up artist from New York City.

My wife thinks Jozea is cute.  He’s not one to tell stories about celebrity clients.  He doesn’t know the fighter, Jozea, that’s how Jeff knows the name.  He watched the latest season.  He is single.  He’s going to be true to himself.  Jeff thinks Jozea looks amazing.  The last time he cried was when someone ate his food from Puerto Rico.  He knows how to cook.  Jozea is wearing a sweet hat.  Jeff is good with the plugs.  The live feeds come on once the first episode airs – which is odd if they stick to the previous two seasons where Production reveals half of the house, per episode.

4.  Paulie – entertainment entrepreneur from New Jersey.

Paulie is BB16’s Cody’s brother!  Paulie seems to be more Jersey than Cody was.  He has the same tattoo that Cody has, but I didn’t realize Cody had a tattoo.  Paulie is part of the other twist of the season.  Who is the other relative?  He wants to match Cody’s social game.  Cody was not one of the best social players of all time.  Both Jeff and Paulie are wearing pink shirts.  My wife just bought me my first pink shirt, so now I can be a real man.  There’s a second camera in the room, one pointed at Jeff!  Paulie has a long answer to Jeff’s “be a winner who is hated or a loser who is loved.”

5.  Victor – gym manager from New Orleans.

Victor has managing skills and a financial degree.  I hope he’s a better player than Renny.  He’s Puerto Rican.  He’s not a super fan but he’s seen lots of seasons.  Jeff says Victor is in great shape.  He manages 14 people at the gym.  He’s a triple threat.  He’s good with naps too.  He’s single and okay with flirting and having a showmance.  He references BB16’s Cody – which is funny.  Just don’t flirt with a married woman, as America will turn on you so fast!  He’s not much of a runner.  He knows how to cook.  We like him too.   That felt like a fast interview.

6.  Paul – clothing entrepreneur from Los Angeles.

There’s going to be two Pauls and both of them are entrepreneurs!?!  Crazy!  Paul has a Donny style beard but so much younger.  He seems to be a super fan.  He seems pretty laid back and easy going.  He’s smooth as ice.  He’s going to be one guy in the house and another guy in the Diary Room.  He doesn’t have feathers as they got ruffled so much.  I sort of like this guy.  He will be willing to shave his beard to win but not during the first weeks.  Jeff would wear Paul’s beard.  Jeff, every Friday, will have his own After Hours show – I’m totally watching that.  He’s single, for the past few months.  Paul thinks it is okay for vegetarians to wear Davy Crocket fake fur hat.   Jeff asks – Y-E-S spells yes what does E-Y-E-S spell and he gets it right, after a thought.  My wife likes him too.

Half way there!

7.  Bridgette – traveling ER nurse from Fresno.

She didn’t have to travel to far for this.  She’s a big fan, watching the previous three seasons.  She didn’t realize she was in the Diary Room.  The Production path there must be confusing.  She is single but left behind her cat – Hercules.  She has a boyfriend!  They’re in a good place.  She can’t help that she is charming – I like her.  She thinks she’s going to be great at this.  She’s a bad liar.  It is 9:30pm and my wife is falling asleep.  I’ll keep on watching these.  She likes to put her fist under her chin, trying to charm Jeff.  She never thought about America would hate her.  She thinks the live feeders will love her.  Finally notice the title card, the show will air Wednesday / Thursday / Sunday.  So expect posts on Thursday / Friday / Monday – ideally.

8.  Tiffany – high school math teacher from West Palm.

Two players with math backgrounds!?!  Her sister is Vanessa from BB18, hopefully she’s better than her poker playing sister.  I guess that means Vanessa isn’t going to be one of the coaches.  She’s a big Big Brother fan.  She likes 10, 12 & 13.  Jeff is trying to get her to say she’s Vanessa’s sister.  She sounds just like Vanessa.  Jeff had to work so hard to get her to admit it.  She’s not going to volunteer that information, which she already has that goal in her head.  She is going to be less emotional, as Vanessa regrets how emotional she was.  Hopefully Audrey is not one of the coaches, either.  She’s going to have a hard time throwing a competition.  I’ve typed it once, I’ve typed it several times – never throw competitions!  She has tattoos too.  She started her own business, SAT prep for students.  Being on the show is up there with her greatest experiences.

9.  Michelle – recent graduate from Detroit

The first super fan!  They made a new Prius commercial.  My wife is going to bed but I’m still committed!  She’s close to becoming a dietitian, she just needs to complete the license or something.  She even watches the International Big Brothers!  If I can watch those shows, I would.  She is leaving behind her family and her dog.  Her sister is 16 years old that day.  She’s not going to be one of those awkward or serious super fans, she’s going to be a fun super fan.  Becoming a dietitian is her greatest life achievement.  She’s okay with being hated if she is the winner.  She is going to miss watching the live feeds which is funny.  The live feeds actually go live on Thursday, not Wednesday.  That makes more sense.

This is Jeff’s first time doing this, right?  I would have watched these before as they are not as terrible as I was lead to believe.  I recall being tempted to in the past but all of the images looked like it was in a room with way too much yellow light and poor camera angles.  Maybe two seasons ago?

10.  Glenn – mobile dog groomer from the Bronx

Another guy wearing a pink shirt.  He seems to be the oldest guy on the show, maybe in his 40s.  He has a fiance and a nine year old daughter.  Jeff is getting married to Jordan!  Glenn has had a long engagement, me too Glenn!  He’s willing to flirt – which I wouldn’t be willing to do.  His greatest strength is that he can blend in, even if he is older than the rest of the house.  He already knows that he is the odd man out.  His mouth may be his greatest weakness.  Would you rather go out first or third, as neither wins any money.  Glenn would rather go third, he doesn’t want to come in second either.  The last time he cried was during one of the rounds of questions for this season.  He cried while telling a story about his daughter.  First parent on this season.   July 1st is Jeff’s first show on CBS All Access.

11.  Natalie – non-profit event coordinator from New York.

She likes pink and glitter and wants an all girl alliance – something that has yet to ever fully happen.  She’s from Venezuela.  She didn’t realize she was in the real Diary Room.  She doesn’t watch much tv.  She watched the previous three seasons, which I’m going to take that means the past three seasons were options while in sequester.  She wants an allowance and an alliance, she seems fun.  She has some alliance names in mind already.  She’s super single, single as a Pringle.   If she can tweet anyone living or dead, she would tweet her aunt who was her best friend.  I heard “let it rip, tater chip” which was a new one.  I like how Jeff and Natalie getting into the conversation about the phrase.  Natalie isn’t willing to sleep around, which is a good philosophy.

12.  Zakiyah – preschool teacher from Charlotte.

She’s willing to be in a showmance.  Last interview, these went pretty quickly.  I wish our tv wouldn’t be super loud for the 20 second ad but quite for the 5 minute video.  Going from 25 volume to 65 volume but we have fans blaring too.  She’s a huge fan.  She’s single.  She wants to be up there with Jeff and Jordan it happened once and I doubt it would ever happen again.  Her mouth might be one of her downfalls.  She’s hoping there will be no twins or evil exes.

That’s the twelve, we just don’t know who the missing four are for the total 16 players.  Those missing four are most likely the returning coaches, if those rumors are for real.

They do seem to be a fun cast.

I was going to check out some other sites recaps of the cast but I feel like I’m good on that front.  Getting so excited about this season now that the cast doesn’t suck!  Now I wish there was no returnees and we just got a proper cast of 16 house guests, I would be okay with the two siblings as being the only “twist” of the season – from a casting stand point.

Wikipedia has their ages and hometowns –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_18_(U.S.)

23 to 50, is the age ranges.

I couldn’t sleep as I kept thinking about adding the links to the websites we really like – who commit so much more of their lives to bring everyone some quality Big Brother 18 content!

http://www.hamsterwatch.com/

http://big-brother-18-blog.blogspot.com/

http://bigbrothernetwork.com/

http://survivorsucks.yuku.com/forum/view/id/74#.V2DhidfIa-c

I’ll update with any new websites that I find in my recap posts.  If you find a good website that has images for BB18, please let me know.  Thanks!

Such great websites that I hope I can at least measure up to one of these seasons.

I like how there are no stand out “hot” girls this season, sort of like season ten.  Attractive, sure, but none that look like their modeling agency paid Big Brother to get free promotion.

Hamster Watch’s guest as the returning Coaches are –
BB14 Frank Eudy
BB16 Nicole Franzel
BB17 James Huling
BB17 Da’Vonne Rogers

We did not like Frank his season, but he fills Ian’s role of a house guest from the original Coaches season.  Nicole and Michelle should get along, unless they are too similar to each other.  James makes sense as he was quite the character, though Bridgettte may have to stay away from him.  Da’Vonne was also a character last season and left too early in some people’s opinions.  I didn’t mind her exit but she’s better than Audrey and Vanessa, that’s for dman sure.  I’ll be okay with these four.

. . .

We’ve been making our way through RetroBig Brother, we are on Dan’s first season 10×16 now.  Libra just went home and Renny is the new HoH.

Drax 1

Posted by John Klein III on June 14, 2016
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Drax 1

Writers CM Punk & Cullen Bunn

Artist Scott Hepburn

Color Artist Matt Milla

Letterer & Production VC’s Clayton Cowles

I figured I would be buying a few issues of these Guardians of the Galaxy spinoff titles but I wasn’t expecting to be buying a first issue, that’s pretty quick.

Drax 1 Recap

I’m surprised that CM Punk is using his wrestling monikers.  I recall reading an article, way back in the day, that whenever Dwayne Johnson is credited as “The Rock” that Vince McMahon gets a cut of some of the movie’s revenue.

CM Punk, retired, and isn’t associated with WWE – at all – so I’m not even sure how that works.  He probably has been using “CM Punk” for the past fifteen years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CM_Punk

He’s with UFC now.

Like most of the Guardians, I don’t really have much connection to them, until Bendis started writing the title.  Which I know annoys the Abnett Lanning crowd.  Batista, another WWE wrestler, did a great job portraying the character, in the film – as far as I know.  I know Drax isn’t that dumb of a character, but it felt right.

Drax 1 Kitty 1

Issue opens with the Guardians fighting some aliens, which is how I imagine I’m going to get treated to these issues.

The entire creative team does a great job of handling the new Star Lord, Kitty Pryde.

I do like how, in eight months, Agent Venom is already tired of hearing Ben Grimm shout “It’s Clobbering Time!”  Makes me wonder how much Johnny Storm got tired of it.  But, if he didn’t say it, I’m sure the members of the Fantastic Four would either miss it or wonder why he didn’t say it.

Groot’s “I am Groot” quickly followed by Flash’s “This is hell, isn’t it” must be how television characters feel when they are surrounded by multiple other characters, that have catch phrases.

Rocket is about to ambushed, and with a page turn, we get what will most likely be the tone for this title – Drax just rips the alien in two.  Blood and entrails scatter about the room.  Which isn’t what I read comics for but I know there is an audience for it.  Rocket brings up the great point, about how blood is hard to get out of fur.

The Guardians are there, to prevent a bomb from exploding.

Drax 1 Kitty 2

The rest of the aliens turn to Drax, as he is permanently taking out their elk, and he starts tearing into them, as well.

Look at the disgust on the faces of his fellow teammates!

Drax 1 Kitty 3

They get to the bomb, Rocket and Groot know a place where they can dismantle it.

We get the scene that makes me wonder if the Guardians are spread too thin.  Like the logistics are throwing me off.  Will their main title, be only for the big adventures that forces them to come back as a team?  Which makes sense but does that mean some of them, won’t make it to the big adventure?  Or will their main title have to have throw away lines regarding their solo titles?

Grimm and Venom are going to get a drink from a space station that has Irish liquor, proving how much influence Earthlings are having in outer space.

Kitty just gives the “until next time,” leaving Drax without a friend.

Drax 1 Kitty 4

Not hearing what Kitty is up to, Drax tries to join her with her plans.  She is doing “girl stuff” which makes me realize that she’s the only member that doesn’t have a solo title announced.  That seems sexist to me, but also, she’s the best character of the batch, so it makes some sense to keep her isolated to the big title and guest appearances in the spin off titles.  Now that I wrote that, Grimm doesn’t have a solo title, so maybe racist is the term to throw about?  Probably more a Bendis call than scheduling, but who knows.

Grimm and Thompson’s side ship doesn’t have room for a third, so Drax can’t join them.

Drax, defaulting to his main goal – decides he will go kill Thanos.  Rocket is going to lend Drax a barely functioning spaceship.  Whiling flying, who knows if he even knows where to start looking for Thanos – another ship tries to board his ship.  They see that the ship is barely held together by string, so they keep flying away.

The ship starts falling apart so Drax has to crash land on a moon.  Space problems.  After trekking for some time, on a desert looking planet, he comes across a bar.  He’s looking for a mechanic.  Who he does find, is Terrax!  Who I mostly only know from his time as a Herald of Galactus.

Not a bad issue, and I’m super cool with just buying the first issue of storylines but I doubt I’ll be following this series.  Unless Drax wishes he had a teammate with him (and name checks Kitty) but  I doubt the spinoffs titles are going to have storylines that end with the team showing up and resolving the situation.