Previously in everyone’s favorite comic that perfectly mixes Quantum Leap with the X-Men – After defeating the Vampire King, the Exiles were leaping away, when he cast a spell on them. The team got separated, across various dimensions. Maybe this is a better mix of Sliders and X-Men, or a mix of all three. In the previous issue, Sasquatch and Morph ended up in a world where Wolverine had just escaped the Weapon X Program.
This issue, Nocturne and Sunfire are on the Earth from Exiles 20, 21 and 23. The world overrun by the Vi-Locks. The world wherein the Phanlax came to Earth, took over the heroes of the day and started going after everyone else.
12 Miles Outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. 9:47PM. Nocturne and Sunfire are in the middle of the desert, Mariko is exhausted and completely out of it.
It doesn’t take long before Nocturne realizes that they are not near their teammates. TJ shouts for everyone, except for Magik – and Sunfire notices that, immediately. Illyana is a tad intense for this team.
There is a fun moment when TJ realizes that Mariko is using alliteration. “Mensa member at the moment” and “terrific time to talk in tongue twisters.”
Nocturne can see in the dark, but the Vi-Locks come up from behind. Sunfire is able to get it together enough to fly them both out of harm’s way. Unfortunately, Mariko passes out, in mid-flight.
32 hours later. Mariko wakes up and sees TJ and Hank Pym (with a beard!). As they are catching her up, Mary Jane, who is Spider-Woman, jumps into the room. MJ and Mariko had quite the relationship in those few issues. They were not ever expecting to see each other, ever again.
9 Days later. Beast is explaining to TJ that she and Mariko are still emitting their unique signature, that makes them Exiles. Beast theorizes that the two of them could teleport away, at any time.
There is a half page ad for Smallville Season One, which was pretty decent. It got much better around seasons three and four. The other half is promoting David Mack’s Ruule, that I’ve never heard of. I couldn’t get into his Kabuki but I dug his Daredevil stints.
There is a nice scene of Mary Jane and Mariko, discussing when they knew they were lesbians. MJ was always gay, she believes, she had a huge crush on her first grade teacher, and never outgrew those feelings for ladies. Mariko was thirteen, she fell in love with her best friend, but she didn’t return her love. Friendship over.
12 Days Later. TJ and Mariko have joined the team – as if they are never leaving. The team is Thor, a green Juggernaut, Luke Cage as Iron Fist (we’ll see more of him in Exiles Then and Now), Rhino, Longshot and Iceman.
2 Days Later. TJ confronts Mariko about how close she is getting to MJ. She reminds Mariko about how, at one point, they will leap out of here. Which I completely get that Mariko knows that and is wanting to enjoy every minute of this, that she can. MJ overhears this, and starts to get sad.
4 Days Later. MJ and Mariko are in a movie theater, an empty theater. Mariko is trying to enjoy it but MJ is trying to get real. Both of them are going to be hurt, but Mariko doesn’t want to think about that one future day. When Mariko says that this is the happiest she has ever been, she means that. Her own timeline was a horrible place.
13 Days. $ Hours and 33 minutes later. MJ is not happy with a returning Captain America, who is super bossy. They are in the bathroom. MJ is about to shower and Mariko is coming her own hair. While listening to MJ, Marko disappears. MJ, once the bath has filled, comes out and sees the dropped brushed.
Issue ends with Beast confirming that they leaped or slid. Mary Jane and Mariko had 41 days together, maybe 42 days.
Is that 13 Hours film just now coming out? The way Hastings has been promoting it, since October, I thought the film was already coming out on DVD.
Hastings has also been advertising the 5th Wave film as well, which looks decent.
Eric Bana will be in The Finest Hours, always nice to see him acting.
Kung Fu Panda is only on its third film, I would have thought they were at four or five, by now.
February
The Choice has both Tom Welling and Alexandra Daddario – so that’s pretty awesome.
The Coen Brothers are back with – Hail, Caesar! It has a slew of A-Listers – George Clooney, Channing Tatum, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Jonah Hill, Dolph Lundgren and Clancy Brown. Of course, Frances McDormand is in it.
Price and Prejudice and Zombies is coming out – the trailer does look fun.
Deadpool, out on the 12th! Which we will be celebrating here on S&FwM!
How to be Single – features Dakota Johnson (nice that a studio is giving a chance to be in another film) and Alison Brie (all it takes to get me to watch a film is to put her in it – I’ll eventually get around to it).
Zoolander 2 looks to be pretty fun. I didn’t know Olivia Munn was suppose to be in it. I imagine, like the first one, it will be cameo heavy. I would like to see Billy Zane come back.
Triple 9, has Kate Winslet, Woody Harrleson, Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman – good to see her getting work already!) and Anthony Mackie.
March
Fun House is a bio-flick that has Tiny Fey and Alfred Molina.
London Has Fallen, an action movie, with Gerald Butler, Aaron Eckhart (who I haven’t seen in a while), Morgan Freeman and Jackie Earle Harley (nice that he’s coming back, again).
Me Before You, has Jenna Coleman, who really should be in more things.
Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups, starring Christian Bale and Natalie Portman – is finally coming out!
In time for Easter, is Ann Rice’s Christ the Lord, starring Sean Bean.
The final (maybe?) Divergent film – Allegiant – is coming out. I can finally buy my wife that box set. Except, it is Part One of Two, good grief Hollywood!
Midnight Special, a science fiction film – has Michael Shannon and Kirsten Dunst in it.
Batman v Superman comes out on the 25! I got some plans for posts to celebrate that film.
They are making a film based off of the life of Hank Williams, starring Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is getting a sequel.
April
Keeping Up with the Joneses, a title I thought wouldn’t get reused after the Demi Moore film – which wasn’t too bad. Gal Gadot is going to have quite the year! Isla Fisher is in it, which is nice as I haven’t seen her in a while, as well. Jon Hamm and Zach Galifianakis, means this is going to be pretty funny.
Green Room, a crime thriller, has both Patrick Stewart and Alia Shawkat – here’s hoping they have some scenes together!
Another Barbershop film? Good for that franchise, I wanted to watch Beauty Shop, as it has Kevin Bacon in it – but I haven’t yet.
Best Man Holiday is getting a sequel, Wedding. Taye Diggs and Morris Chestnut, pretty much everyone is back for the film.
Criminal, an action thriller has an amazing cast! Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice Eve, Gal Gadot (!) and Ryan Reynolds. Gadot’s role in Batman v Superman must not be that big, as she had a bunch of time to film these other roles.
Someone is trying to revive the Amityville franchise.
The (unneeded) live action version of the Jungle Book is coming. It has to be better than Alice in Wonderland, right? When will it be Dumbo or Little Mermaid’s turn?
The Huntsman sequel is coming, as well – hopefully Cedric Nicolas-Troyan didn’t ruin his marriage for this one.
Eddie the Eagle, based off of the life of the first man to compete at the Olympics in skiing for England. Hugh Jackman and Christopher Walken are in it, but neither of them are Eddie.
In the rein of New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day – we are finally getting . . . Mother’s Day! A slew of people are in this! Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Hilary Duff and Sarah Chalke (not sure why she doesn’t act more).
Nine Lives has Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Garner and the comeback kid – Christopher Walken.
Ratchet & Clank are getting a movie!?! That isn’t like ten years too late.
May
Captain America : Civil War out on the 6th! I have a plan to celebrate this film.
Going in Style, reunites Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.
Someone is making a Snowden biopic with a side of thriller. Oliver Stone is directing, so one is probably better off just Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be portraying Snowden, not sure if he will have the mole or not. Shailene Woodley will be in it, as well, as his girlfriend, I think I recognize the name from. Melissa Leo an Timothy Olyphant are in this, both have other films coming out so 2015 was a busy year for them to get work. Zachary Quinto is in this as is Nicholas Cage and Tom Wilkerson.
They really are going forward with the Angry Birds Movie, also a few years late. The trailer wasn’t that good, or at least, not in the direction I thought they were going to go in.
Neighbors 2, I should watch the first one as I do like Rose Byrne but I rarely see her films.
Shane Black as a new film, Nice Guys, starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe.
Alice Through the Looking Glass, it must have made enough money for a sequel – Tim Burton is not directing but Johnny Depp will be in it.
X-Men Apocalypse on the 27th! I got big plans for this film!
June
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel is out on the 3rd, I should come up with some sort of post for that day. I don’t think I used all of my ideas for when the first film came out.
Referring to sequels – Conjuring 2 comes out (I have no interest in it) but Now You See Me 2 finally comes after being teased. Looks like everyone is back for it and they included Daniel Radcliffe, in a fun casting choice.
Warcraft, based on the game, finally arrives too. Also, years too late.
After years of Ellen DeGeneres wanting it to happen, Finding Dory arrives.
Independence Day’s sequel also comes. I wonder why it didn’t get the July 4th slot? That seems like a missed opportunity. I bet Will Smith regrets not doing it now.
July
Steven Spielberg brings Roald Dahl’s classic (that I didn’t read) BFG to life.
Purge 3 also comes out, maybe we will get more answers to how that whole thing came together as that’s all I’m mostly curious about.
I didn’t even know Disney was making a life action Tarzan film! In an inspired piece of casting, Alexander Skarsgard (who I also don’t know why he isn’t cast in and for everything) is Tarzan, but this isn’t an origin story (praise for that!) but Tarzan has to come back to the Congo to broker a deal. Which seems odd but I like the idea of Tarzan, after living in London for years, getting to go back home.
Ghostbusters comes out, and I should try to do something for that.
A new musical, La La Land, is coming and it reunites Emma Stone with Ryan Gosling (the Gos!) also JK Simmons is in it so I’m already sold!
Ice Age, a franchise I have yet to watch a full movie of, is back.
A new King Arthur movie is coming, with Charlie Hunnam in the lead – so he gets to rock his own accent. Eric Bana is in this too!
Stark Trek Beyond appears to keep being pushed back, a week at a time. I have a couple ideas to tie-in with this film’s release.
Another Bourne film is also coming, still not titled. Matt Damon is back and co-writing it as well.
August
Suicide Squad is out on the 5th but I don’t have any plans for it.
They are finally remaking Ben-Hur, a film I never had any interest in. Morgan Freeman is in a slew of films, this year.
Pete’s Dragon is being remade, which is a shame as the original is a classic. My wife loves that first one.
Sausage Party is Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s return to form. Not excited about Kristen Wiig being in it but I bet the film is still good.
Todd Phillips has a new film, Arms and the Dudes – starring Jonah Hill (who is also in Sausage Party).
September
We’re getting a new Bridget Jones movie! This time, Renee Zellweger has a baby with Colin Firth (I imagine). Does anyone know if she put on any of that sweet healthy weight? Last time I saw her, she was as thin as a door – which didn’t look attractive, at all.
Apparently there is a Popeye movie coming, but there isn’t even an active link.
A remake of Magnificent Seven is coming, which makes sense. That’s one of those movies, I’m surprised isn’t remade every ten years – with that year’s most popular actors. The names I recognize are – Denzel Washington (where has he been, since Flight?), Chris Pratt (of course), Ethan Hawke (a surprise) and Vincent D’Onofrio – who should get more work just from his turn as Kingpin!
October
The Accountant, an action thriller – has a great cast. Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick (so I’m already sold), Jeffrey Tambor, JK Simmons and John Lithgow.
Gambit is out on the 7th and I’ll be making October, Gambit Month here at S&FwM!
Ron Howard and Tom Hanks reunite for Inferno, making this a Dan Brown trilogy now. Felicity Jones – who I still only really know from Amazing Spider-Man 2 but she has rocketed to success after that film – and I can only imagine, not due to her work in that film as she was barely in it.
Ouija must have made money as it has a sequel.
Kate Beckinsale is back for another Underworld film. She must need a new car.
Tom Cruise is back as Jack Reacher, this time bringing Cobie Smulders, so now I’m interested.
November
Doctor Strange is out on the 4th and I’m going to be having Doctor Strange Month here at S&FwM!
The last relic of the 80s is finally getting a film – Trolls! Anna Kendrick is lending her voice to this animated film.
Harry Potter’s spin off – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – comes out, this time JK Rowling is co-writing the film. I haven’t heard much about the book, but a few peeps have asked about both the film and the book, at Hastings.
Michael Keaton will be portraying Ray Kroc (of McDonald’s fame) in The Founder, though I’m not sure why they are not going with a more McDonalds theme name. I get why they are not calling it “Kroc” but it seems odd. Nick Offerman and Patrick Wilson are also in this, as is Laura Dern.
December
The first Star Wars spin off film – Rogue One, comes out.
Assassin’s Creed, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, arrives. I’m all excited about the film, though I only played the first two games but they are pretty fun.
Jennifer Lawrence’s second film of the year comes out, Passengers – a science fiction drama piece that also has Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne in it.
Jumanji is getting a remake, so in one year, two Robin Williams’ films are being remade. Ideally, no one remakes Patch Adams – unless it is a truer adaption – which wouldn’t take much.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is going to be a Christmas movie – Hastings has been showing a trailer for it, for the longest time now. It strikes me as the X-Men but from the Ruins timeline – so I’m like two people who have had that thought, I bet. The trailer is so annoying, as the grandfather character is about to pick up the story when the grandson wants it told from the beginning. At the end, he wants to know when he can hear the rest – like, bitch, you were about to get more story before your dumb request! You bitch! Maybe I shouldn’t be so angry but Hastings airs it as much as they air Adele’s Hello video – which is a lot.
Thanks to Quirk Books for hosting the trailer.
It is for the book, as it was uploaded May 31, 2011 so the boy and grandfather shouldn’t be in the film – but it would be nice if they were – as I’m familiar with them now.
But I’m not wrong, am I? The boy wants more, he’s going to get more but then asks for a recap. Which I get, it is for our benefit but you watch this, once every twenty minutes, for four hours – over the course of two days – it wears on you.
Back in 1992, I was eight, my father had bought this game and the Spider-Man and Captain America in Doctor Doom’s Revenge.
I enjoyed the Doom game as I could actually play it. The X-Men game, I feel like I just played until all of my people were dead and restarted it. I’m not sure if I was just too young, I didn’t have the instruction manual or was just too new to video games on the PC.
I didn’t know who any of the characters were. Shadowcat just had kicking and punching abilities and on the map, she could walk through walls. I couldn’t find any footage on YouTube of people playing her in the combat section but here is a video of the dungeon crawling portion.
Thanks to YouTuber wookiefable for hosting this video.
Here is a cool video of the beginning of the game :
Thanks to YouTuber xtcabandonware for hosting the video.
Apparently someone actually beat the game, so that was fun to discover this video :
Thanks to YouTuber WestheCrayon for hosting the video.
I wouldn’t mind being able to play this game.
Pretty decent line up of characters too!
It wasn’t until I was looking at these videos that I realize that this is an Alternate Universe version of the Fall of the Mutants, which is pretty cool concept for a game.
I had to add the Adi Granov variant to my wishlist as Hastings didn’t get the variant for this issue or Secret War Journal.
In this region of Battleworld (but it doesn’t have the Battleworld banner, for some reason), Limbo won Inferno instead of the X-Men. Now it is five years later.
Inferno : Year Four. Empire State Building. Colossus is Cyclops’ perfect soldier, all year long. But on the anniversary of the X-Men’s defeat, Colossus gets to lead a team into the Limbo controlled section of the realm and attempt to save Illyana.
On the fourth year, the X-Men got closer than they have ever been before. This level’s boss fight is with N’astiah — Silver-tongued demon lord. The X-Men on this mission are – Nightcrawler, Boomer, Cyclops, Jean, Beast and Colossus.
Jean uses her telekinesis to throw Cyclops at N’astiah. In a counter attack, N’Astiah deeply hurts Cyclops. This enrages Jean and it blows up the top of the building.
Colossus sees his younger sister, for the first time in four years. Instead of being a baby, she is still a teenager. Illyana plays sweet and innocent to get him closer and then she turns all types of evil.
Illyana converts to Darkchild, Illyana Raputin’s demon form, ruler of Inferno. In doing so, she twists Colossus’ dumb arm so much that it is no longer functional.
364 Days Later. (so the present day).
6am – Colossus has been awake and his girlfriend, Domino, is now waking up. I do enjoy the Colossus / Domino relationship, I’m glad that their relationship has survived into Secret Wars 2015.
6:01am – They talk about how tomorrow this the big day.
6:13am – They bone in the shower
6:48am – Colossus is reviewing his former paintings of his sister. Domino rather they used the room as a guest room or a gym.
7:23am – The couple go on patrol.
11:45am – They fight Inferno-infused Omega Red.
1:19pm – They chase down Pyro.
5:32pm – Boomer can’t wait for tomorrow.
11:11pm – Colossus has marked the day off.
3am – Colossus can’t sleep.
Inferno. Year Five. X-Headquarters. The couple, plus, Boomer, are excited about who the team and what supplies will they be bringing. The X-Men have learned that they need to combined magic with technology, if they are to ever stand a chance. Doctor Strange, Wiccan, Nico (of Runaways fame) and a fourth person, make up the magic side of the research time.
Colossus asks Beast about what tech they are bringing. Beast doesn’t know how to respond. Turns out, earlier, when the narration box states that Scott’s sacrifice was enough to set Jean off, they just meant his use of his legs. Scott, of course, is in a hoverchair, just like Professor X, but he gets to keep his hair. Scott says that last year’s price was too high and they are no longer going to do this. Which seems like a dick move, to not tell Colossus prior to this day.
Scott also mentions how he is the baron of the region, which I’m surprised it isn’t Magik. I imagine Doom can work easier with Scott.
Kitty, according to Marvel Database – but I agree it has to be her, but why she isn’t more interested in pursuing the rescue mission, or on the mission itself, is beyond me. Kitty tells Scott that is is a dick move and he agrees to allow Colossus to go, but he is on his own and with any other fools who want to go with him.
Later. Colossus, Domino, Boomer and Nightcrawler are in Inferno. Kurt had to come to get them in and out of the dome. They take out the first wave of demons, rather easily. Too easily as thousands of demons come at them. Boomer is killed by N’astirh – via arm through her chest.
Darkchild is thrilled to have Kurt, as a prisoner, as he can teleport. I imagine, since Limbo is a place on Earth, that Illyana can’t teleport as she can’t access the other dimension. Darkchild, her right hand demon and Kurt leave.
Colossus attempts to fight his way away from the demons. The day is lost but he won’t know by how much until it is too late. Domino starts being dog piled on by the demons.
The issue ends with Madelyn Pryor — Jean Grey Clone and Goblin Queen, arriving and has grabbed Domino. With her is Alex Summers — former X-Man, current Goblin Prince and Queen’s concubine. Which gives me an awesome Mutant X vibe, and I’m all for that.
This series seems to be about the darker aspects of Battleworld, and i’m all for that. I can only imagine that Magik keeps playing a major role in the series, so I imagine I will be getting all of the issues and I can’t wait!
Whenever I see this statue, I think about the move from Arizona to Montana. This was my only request if I agreed to move to a completely different statue and take our chances, I really wanted to own this.
This is also the last statue slash high ticket item I’ve bought that is comic book related.
I like how much older Kitty looks with this statue, she looks like she is in her mid-twenties and really for battle. I also like the touch with the Ogun mask, an important part of her character growth, once the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine miniseries concluded, she was a completely different person. Gone was the innocent young girl and now she was a harden trained ninja.
I don’t have much experience with Shang-Chi. I’ve read the few appearances he had when he was on the Marvel Knights team and I’ve read the various team-ups he has had with Spider-Man over the years. And now, this series.
Issue opens with some world building, to explain how we got here. Which is nice that Doctor Doom saw fit to include thousands of years of back story, for this region of Battleworld called – K’un Lun. All of the Great Masters went to war. Every school was represented – Red Hand, Panther Clan, House of the Jade Tiger, and the poor bastard from the Spider Cult, is it worth being included if it is only to be insulted? I imagine some Spider-Fan would have been offended if the Spider Cult was left out.
The battle boiled down to Ten Rings (which makes me think of the Mandarin) and the Iron Fist – who we should mostly associate K’un Lun with. The two Masters practically destroy the region. They decided to make a truce. They created a tournament called, Thirteen Chambers, the winner will rule K’un Lun. Shang-Chi’s father – Zheng Zu – has been the ruler for a hundred years. The next tournament of Thirteen Chambers is about to begin.
We start the present day story with a very drunk, Shang-Chi, in the park with his dog. This Shang-Chi is a very funny drunk.
Three goons from the Ten Rings arrive to escort Shang-Chi out of the park. Shang-Chi jokes that they are trying to get rid of the dog. They threaten to burn the pet and Shang-Chi jokes that he is the pet to the dog. A bald young lady witnesses the commotion. As she watches, Shang-Chi starts taking out the goons so easily. Even drunk, he makes short work of them.
The lady runs off to tell Callisto what she was watching. Callisto calls the young lady, Kitten, so we know this is the Shadowcat – which makes sense as we’ve seen from the promo piece –
Kitten tells Callisto that someone is finally fighting back.
The goons finally recognize him as Shang-Chi. The audience can’t believe he has return! We see a very pale fellow, who is Caliban. Caliban reveals all of Shang-Chi’s nicknames or titles – The Rising Spirit / Son of Emperor Zheng Zu / Seven-Time Winner of the Dragon Cup. He is cut off after saying, “Nine-Time Winner of” so we don’t learn that one. He does finish with the reason why no one has seen Shang-Chi for a while. He is wanted for the murder of Lord Tuan, Great Master of the Iron Fist.
Shangi-Chi knocks down the goons.
The goons start getting up, and Shang-Chi asks them to stay down. He tells them that he is no longer a killing man, so now he has a weakness and they press him on it. Just then, this region’s X-Men (I’m not sure what they are going to be called here) show up to even the score. Lockheed is the dragon in green! I rather he was purple but I guess green is a more traditional color for dragons.
This page, we get Callisto calling him by his name in this region, Lock. Which is all the confirmation I need. You can add this character to your favorite list over at comicbookdb!
Lock surrounds the goons with high flames as the heroes make their escape. Callisto tells Shang-Chi that they are outcasts, which works for who the X-Men are. Outcasts and rejects, which also works for the Morlocks. They all go inside a statue to their secret hideaway.
The goons try to catch up and once they realize that they lost Shang-Chi, they know they will have to beg for sweet mercy.
Temple of the Ten Rings. Great Master Zheng Zu recruits a Laughing Skull.
The Halls of the Red Hand. Red Sai is also recruited.
The Citadel of Emperor Zheng Zu. The Emperor is not happy that his son has returned to K’un Lun. Iron Fist is okay if Laughing Skull and Red Sai kill Shang-Chi’s accomplices but he wants the honor of killing Shang-Chi, as he killed Iron Fist’s Master.
Hopefully we keep getting lots more of Kitten and Lock throughout this series.
With the fourth volume of Guardians of the Galaxy, Kitty Pryde has joined the team. She is their new Star Lord. Leading the team is Rocket Raccoon. Along for the ride are old standards – Groot, Drax and Agent Venom. Fellow new face to the team is Ben Grimm!
Peter Quill, old Star Lord and new President of Spartax, is still an honorary member as is Gamora. Time will tell when these two rejoin the team, on an official basis.
Issue opens with the Punisher preparing to kill every costumed fool in this new Battleworld.
Great use of the page break to keep the two worlds’ heroes apart. The left side has Magik and the right side has Ultimate Shadowcat, so this is on! There are a lot more heroes on the left, as there isn’t that many heroes left alive on the right.
This is our first look at seeing what the Manhattan region looks like, of Battleworld. I do enjoy looking at a fictional map. There are two Baxter Buildings. Bold to not go with 4a & 4b or rather, 4P and 4U.
Unfortunately, that two page sequence above is the only reason why I own this issue.
Three Weeks Ago. Proper Spider-Man is swinging along. He comes across the Ultimate Serpent Squad. He gets help from the All New Ultimates, minus Shadowcat. Since the image above has her in her all white uniform, I take it that Bendis is back to ignoring the All New Ultimates title written by Fiffe. Bendis used this team of characters a lot in the Miles Morales comic, so he knows them rather well. He typically writes Shadowcat like how Wood did in Ultimate Comics X-Men, when Bendis had a chance to write her in both Catacylsm and the arc where the All New X-Men visited the Ultimate X-Men.
Black Widow, the female clone of Ultimate Peter Parker, talks to Spider-Man, who is still very uncomfortable with her existence. There is some vague reference to the miniseries, Spider-Men.
The All New Ultimates are insulted that they have not been invited to the big meeting that Spider-Man is going to.
The Triskelion. Headquarters and home of the Ultimates, the US-sanctioned superhuman task force create by Nick Fury and SHIELD.
At this meeting is – Ultimate Fury / Ultimate Tony / Ultimate Human Torch / Proper Tony / Ultimate Hawkeye / Proper Hawkeye / Proper Black Widow / Proper Doc Green / Proper Scarlet Witch / Proper Emma Frost, back in white / Proper Cyclops / Proper Storm / Proper Spider-Man
So the only ones I have to do the universe tag for will be the Iron Men and Hawkeyes – which is pretty handy. I thought Cyclops was seen in the Proper Life Raft in Secret Wars 2015’s first issue? The same for Spider-Man.
The Two Iron Men talk to each other and it is then that I noticed the awesome choice, that I can only imagine should be credited to Petit. The Proper characters speak in all caps and the Ultimate characters speak in proper capitalization. Which is an awesome way to distinction the two universes’ characters. I read somewhere, after I noticed it, that this practice was first used in Spider-Men but I just checked Spider-Men 4 (the only issue of the mini that I own) and Proper Spider-Man is speaking in the Ultimate capitalization so that person got it wrong with that comment. I really do enjoy that decision and glad someone had thought about it.
Here, is isn’t that big of a deal, as Proper Tony is in his red and yellow Iron Man suit and Ultimate Tony is both drinking and out of armor. I’m not sure why Proper Tony isn’t in his white Superior Iron Man suit but Emma is back in white, so maybe they all reverted to their last big change. Except Doc Green is in his current look. I’m not sure. Proper Tony is disgusted with Ultimate Tony is drinking alcohol.
Spider-Man taps on the window and Fury lets him in. Spider-Man is freaking out as everyone knows his name, as when Ultimate Peter died, they plastered his name all over the newspapers. So the Ultimate heroes know his name and Emma knows his name. He then, mistakenly, says his name – so now everyone knows his name.
Proper Tony accuses Ultimate Tony of causing all of this, with his research into the dimensional rift. Which we have seen now in Spider-Men and the Ultimate / All New crossover. I wish that arc had a handy name. I like, that in the flashback, we see the S symbol from that crossover.
Scarlet Witch wants to know what Doom has instructed Fury to tell them, I guess Fury is the head of this shared region. Fury wants to find a way to put everything back to the way it was. Spider-Man wonders if there even is anything to go back to.
The Proper Heroes are going to keep working on Doc Green’s virtual reality simulation program. The Ultimate heroes are going to keep working on dimensional solutions. Fury stresses that Doom cannot find out about any of this.
Issue ends with Ultimate Hawkeye telling Fury that Doom has discovered their plans as the final page, the Battleworld Police Force aka The Thor Corp. All of them came out for this, including – Thor Groot (Thoort?), Throg, Destroyer Thor, Thor Storm, Beta Ray Bill, and two proper looking male Thors.
Issue two promises to have the Ultimate Hulk fight Doc Green!
The famous Kitty Pryde and Colossus have sex issue! Before that, this stuff happens!
Issue opens with Scott’s memory of Uncanny X-Men 132, where Phoenix holds back Scott’s optic blasts and then they make sweet sweet love, like one does with a cosmic entity, in New Mexico.
This entire flashback sequence is Emma’s attempt to take Scott off the board. To make matters, more hurtful, she turns Scott into Logan and we are treated to Logan and Emma kissing.
“Logan” pushes Emma away and claw punches her but silly Scott, he no have claws! Which he will throw back in her fact, in issue 17. Well, not her face but Perfection’s face – but he doesn’t know that then.
Meanwhile, Piotr and Kitty are up to no good and we see Kitty phase through the floor.
We learn that she was receiving oral sex (good job Piotr!) whens he phased through the floor. Either Wisdom never did that or she kept herself in control.
Over with Scott and Emma. Emma is taking Scott apart, piece by piece. She is now attacking his leadership skills and his original leadership position. Jean was Xavier’s favorite, Beast was a genius and good with people, Angel was so good looking and Bobby was funny, I guess. Emma claims that Scott had nothing else, so that is why Xavier picked him for leader.
Does Emma and Scott ever talk about these scenes, once they are on the other side of it?
Scott tries to shut it down. Emma tries to claim that she is trying to get to the root of who Scott is.
Emma points out that the one time Scott had to fight for leadership, in the legendary Uncanny X-Men 201, he lost to a powerless Storm.
Emma segues this into the topic of Scott not having any control.
SWORD Peak Station. Brand, Sydren and the other dude are discussing the result of which X-Man is going to destroy Breakworld. They know who it is but we are not shown which X-Man it is, yet.
Back to Emma and Scott. She has taken Scott to his “Bug Room” a concept that Grant Morrison / Cassandra Nova came up with, where you see your essential. Scott’s is three giant cockroaches. She goes over Scott’s brief origin, that he hit his head once he landed from the burning plane, along with his brother, Alex.
Daily Bugle news page. Adventure Starts Here – Civil War 1 of 7, MC2 Last Planet Standing 1 of 4, X-Men Fairy Tales 1 of 4 (not very good). New Beginnings – Wolverine 42 / She-Hulk 8, both tie-ins to Civil War. Ultimate Fantastic Four 30, return of Doctor Van Damme, Ultimate Spider-Man 95, introducing Ultimate Morbius and Exiles 81, visiting Heroes Reborn slash Counter-Earth. What Are You Doing Here, guest appearances – Incredible Hulk 95 – Silver Surfer / Ms. Marvel 3 – Fantastic Four and Cable / Deadpool 28 – Domino. Can’t Miss Moments, anniversaries and climatic battles! – Fantastic Four : Death in the Family one-shot – death of Invisible Woman? Yes but not our Susan. Sensational Spider-Man 26 – guest artist, Clayton Crain. Spider-Girl 97, the return of the original Hobgoblin!
We get a never before scene, that I know of, of a young Scott sitting in a bed. Young Scott is deciding that he will forever be in control of his power, so he made sure that he wouldn’t be. I guess?
In the morning. Logan is eating cereal and he split a little milk.
Kitty and Piotr come into the room and Logan instantly knows that they have boned. Which is super awkward that he even addresses it. The two of them don’t really play it off well. Was Logan always sniffing her, in the mornings?
Beast, in his lab, is confronted by Cassandra Nova.
Issue ends with Scott, with his brown eyes open, but no optic blasts.
Mails to Astonish – Letters from – John Cribbs / Adrian J. Watts of Melbourne, Australia and Brent Hand of Fort Worth, TX.
There is a blurb for all of the X-Titles that shipped in April 2006 – Astonishing X-Men 14 / Uncanny X-Men 472 / Sentinel Squad O*N*E 4 / X-Men 198 4 / X-Men Deadly Genesis 6 / Cable/Deadpool 27 / New Excalibur 6 / Wolverine Origins 1 / X-Men The End Book Three 4, As the Shi’Ar burn, Kitty awaits the election results in Chicago! (Man, Kitty just sounds lazy). Storm 3 / New X-Men 25 / X-Men Unlimited 4 / X-Men Apocalypse/Dracula 3 / Exiles 79 / Wolverine 41 / X-Factor 6 / Nextwave 4 (since when is that considered an X-Title?) and X-Men 185.
With this, we end our short revisit to Astonishing X-Men. We’ll get to the rest of the issues, eventually.
I really adore the Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoon that went from 1983 – 1990. I was surprised to see a lack of “Best Of” websites for the show.
I keep thinking about how great it would have been, if the creators – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr, his son (Jr) and Junior’s wife, Janice Karman (who created the Chipettes!) had paired up the Chipmunks and the Chipettes, not by archtypes but with different pairings.
For anyone who doesn’t know, the proper pairings are –
Alvin – Brittany
Simon – Jeanette
Theodore – Eleanor
Imagine, instead, if we had
Theodore – Brittany
Alvin – Jeanette
Simon – Eleanor
Simon and Eleanor may be the boring or normal pair there but I like the idea of Theodore and Brittany together, as I imagine that they will bring out different aspects of each other. Instead, as of now, the traditional pairings are just putting up a mirror to each other and that is working.
Simon – Brittany
Theodore – Jeanette
Alvin – Eleanor
Isn’t a bad pairing, except now, Theodore & Jeanette are the normal pair. I guess I’m all about the energetic and the lovable members being paired and the smart characters are throwing me off. Though Jeanette and Alvin together, could be fun.
I’m a much bigger fan of the later episodes, with the change of the art direction, than the earlier ones. Also, making this list, I realize that I (apparently) am a big fan of when they parodied other shows.
What brought on all of these Chipmunk related thoughts? I keep trying to put Walker Dennis in front of music that I think he would like and that I haven’t listen to a thousand times. Then I remembered my love for the Chipmunks and threw up the best song from the film, The Chipmunk Adventure –
The Girls / Boys of Rock n Roll song!
Thanks to YouTuber Loren Sylvester for hosting this video!
Also great? That YouTuber hipped me to this –
Thanks to YouTuber Stuart Danaher for hosting this video!
It is crazy faithful to the original, seen above. It also looks like a lot of fun!
Here is my list of my favorite episodes of Alvin and the Chipmunks, in no real particular order, so I went with production order, according to this website –
Here are my Top 25 Episodes! I had a hard time hitting 25, 17 was easy but I figured a round number would be great and then I thought about going for 25 – but that would fill the list with just also rans and such.
YouTube doesn’t have all of these so I’m only able to provide the ones that I could find. When I couldn’t find the episode, I provided the handy link from the excellent Munkapedia website.
I had more videos but each time they go up, they are forced back down.
I’ve always liked this episode for how it shows that Alvin really does like Brittany and it isn’t just that they are both chipmunks and are the leaders of their own bands, is the reason why he likes her. Him having to woo her is terrific.
Homage to Miami Vice, though I didn’t know that at the time. I liked how rugged Alvin is in this episode. The cast really get into their side roles too.
This one took a while to figure out which episode it was. One of my favorite Dave centric episodes, as I sort of like learning about the man who discovered the Chipmunks. I couldn’t remember how they went back in time, who would have thought it was with the aid of a merry-go-round?
A homage to the Breakfast Club but I never really view it as such. It is a far better mystery Roshomon concept, so to dismiss it as a simple homage, I feel is a disservice. Probably my favorite episode of the series.
This is one of those that I remember fondly as Simon tries to get Theodore to remember history, through the use of food. I want to say this helped me remember key dates and such but really, the stuff Theodore is trying to remember, is pretty simple facts.
Great use of continuity and clips from previous episodes. The whole “We’re bigger than Mickey Mouse” line is pretty awesome, homaging John Lennon’s belief that the Beatles have surpassed Jesus Christ’s fame.
A homage to Charlie’s Angels, which I would have known at the time but I never watched that show. I saw the two films but they are only okay. Another great use of the characters in other roles, and the Chipettes really come off well, as they are the focus of the episode. Eleanor’s fear of high heels has stuck with me to this day.
One of those that I added to the list to get to 25. I mostly remember the episode fondly and how the stakes were pretty high. Is it just me, or does the in-universe reality of the Chipmunks not make any sense. They are suppose to be mega-successful rock group. I can see their high school, just being cool with it but then we get episodes where they worry about money and such. Like, couldn’t Dave just bail them out of the problem with a little cash? I get that their earnings may be placed in a trust account, which probably explains Alvin’s get-rich schemes, so that he can get more money now – but couldn’t they access that money for emergencies?
I like this episode, as it shows that Dave may not want to go down in history as a producer or a stage dad, he wants to see if he can make the cut on his own.
I always think of these as one episode but for the sake of the list, I made it two (so that I could get to 25 episodes). The Chipmunks finally meet their mother! I love the emotional balance beam the special walks. Poor Dave is afraid of losing his boys. Poor Vinny, can’t keep her boys as they are city chipmunks and are use to a certain way of life. Poor Chipmunks, having to realize that they can’t live in the woods with their mother. The sequel, essentially, just proves why she can’t live with them in the city.
This is probably the episode I reference to, the most. So that probably makes it my second favorite episode. The Chipmunks to Berlin, and it is eleven months before it will come down – which I can only imagine that they wrote and created the episode probably a year and a half before Germany becomes one country again. This episode gets pretty real. Shame that it ends with the adventure being an imaginary tale.
Chipmunks Go to the Movies
Every episode of this season is a homage to a known film property.
I don’t really recall this, I must have stopped watching at some point, but I love the idea of how much this is like a comic book plot. The Chipmunks of the 90s meet their original counterparts from the 1950s.
That’s my list, the Top 25 episodes of the series!
Just due to me wanting to add this somewhere in the blog –
Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue
Thanks to YouTuber Ryan Willey for hosting the video!
Shadow and Flame with Magik 