This counts as an update

There is a lot going on in the comic world these days. A few good games came out recently, most notably Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe and Spider-man: Web of Shadows. The long awaited Watchmen movie is coming out this weekend, I think. Watchmen was one of the best things I ever read, comic wise. i think it may be a little over-rated, but it deserves most of the praise it gets, and the movies looks like it's going to be awesome, which is a big plus.

Both major Marvel universes are having big crossovers. The main universe is still reeling from the Secret Invasion crossover, and has moved into the highly debated Dark Reign period. I'm actually really liking the stories that are coming out of the whole Dark Reign thing, but I find it a little weird that the entire Marvel Universe seems to forget that Norman Osbourne has killed people, and seems to just accept him as the new leader of SHIELD. It's also kind of funny that SHIELD was renamed HAMMER and no one seems to think that's sinister or anything.

The Ultimate Universe, easily my favorite universe, is not faring too well. Ultimatum is billed as "the end of the Ultimate Universe", which may sound bad at first, but apparently it's just a huge continuity relaunch. Everything that happened thus far will still count, but major changes are expect to each team. I'll hold my judgement off until the entire story is over, which is apparently going to be longer than expected, because it was announced this week that Ultimatium 3 is going to be delayed. No suprise.

A LOT is going on in the DC Universe. Bruce wayne is gone, and there's a new Batman coming out soon; there's a big event going on in the Bat Books to determine who's going to be the next Batman. Green Latern has a really cool concept going on, too: a bunch of different colored Latern Corps.

So yeah. I'm getting really excited for Philadelphia Wizard World 09. This year I'm going to be more price conscience: last year I bought pretty much whatever caught my eye, but this year, I'm looking more for Ultimate comics and maybe a nice figure or too. But that's still a little over three months away.

Grand re-opening

Alright, so a year and a half later, I'm finally ready to start posting again.

Soon. Right now, I'm working on a Philosophy report.

I'll be covering...

-Ultimatium
-Secret Invasion
-Civil War
-Video games

And a few other topics, too.

Stay tunedsly. I'm serious this time.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #33

I told you, finally, I would update with a comic review, and here I am, with a review of Ultimate Fantastic Four number thirty three!
/Now, me and the Fantastic Four and not exactly on the best terms. Sure, I like them, but I find them...boring sometimes. Way too much cosmic junk going on for me. But I do love the Ultimate universe (there's something about it being written as a summer blockbuster that makes me fall in love with it), so it's even. Look at Sue Storm on the cover, though. What in the hell is tht outfit? I mean...is that even comfortable? And why is she so ripped? And why is the Thing completely covered in a...feminine looking jumper? And why does Reed look so young?! One answer, gents. You're in the ultimate universe now, bub.

Anyway, this story arc is an introduction to the Eternals, a group which, when summed up lightly, is made up of proto-humans who got experiments on and became these super-human guys who were a little hazy on the good or evil side. Think of it this way; Inhumans, without the asshole complex, or super-heroes that live forever.

Anyway, they come to earth looking for a seed of some sort, which for some reason means they have to have come to earth to shoot Reed Richards and drive around on these motorcycle things. I don't know, it's weird. Also, at one point, they control trees and make them bend and guard a path, which was actually kind of cool.

This was a pretty cool part; check out Reed's fantastic four biker get-up. Looks like he's a character in Star Wars or something. And Sue looks pretty much the same way, all duped up in that jacket. And another thing, why does Reed have to be so young? I know i mentioned this as a joke earlier, but damn! In 616 continuity, he's supposed to be like, a big brother, an example for all of the n00ber heroes who need guidance. In this comic, he's what? 20? Now I know that's just nitpicking, but still, something about it just didn't seem right. And I guess I'm a hypocrite, because I love the changes in Ultimate X-Men and hate them here. But still, something feels wrong about it, you know?

Anyway, the story picks up and gets interesting when Reed takes the machines the Eternals were riding back to his lab. The next morning, though, the Eternals bust down the door and decided, hey, it's a fightin' time!

I love the Ultimate Universe. I think Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men are by far some of my favorites things to read. However, I really just can not get into Ultimate Fantastic Four. I don't know why. But...it's just the facts.

And we're back!

I've decided to kick start this whole blog once again. Why? Well, I have a lot less downtime in my life now, I read less comics, and I'm saving for an Xbox360, which means I have pretty much no money to buy new comics anymore.

BUT I'M DEDICATED. And plus, I miss writing in this blog. So I've decided to officially re-open Derek's Comic Extravaganza!

...starting tonight. Or maybe tomorrow. But I'll hopefully re-kickstart this baby in the next week. Am I promising daily updates? No, not at all. But hopefully it'll be...tri-weekly.

Over and out.

Spider-man Marvel Knights #8

Marvel Knights, it's a hell of an imprint. You know, it seems I always bask the comics before I review them; I don't really like X-Men, I don't like Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer is a weakling, ect. But I really, really like Spider-man. He's by far my favorite hero...in anything, DC, Marvel or otherwise.

But at first, i was a little wary about this comic. Why? Well, first of all, Marvel Knights seemed really...unappealing to me, back in the day. A new imprint, fah, it's just a sales push! Plus, this comic features, on it's cover, Venom, who had been at this point very whored out since his original debut. I mean, Carnage, Maximum Carnage, Toxin, Hybrid, Planet of the Symboites...there were a lot of things that were made from Venom just because he sold comic books. I mean, who doesn't love a dark version of Spider-man?

Anyway, this comic starts off right in the middle of a fight that started last issue. Venom, now under the control of Angelo Fortunato, is attacking Spidey in the middle of his High School reunion. Why doesn't Eddie Brock control Venom anymore? Well, he sold it, to the highest bidder. Donated the money to charity and everything. he's really a nice guy, despite all the mean, evil things he's done to Peter over the years.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Venom killed someone when he crashed the party? Well, he did, and Spider-man is mighty pissed off about that. They take the rumble to the showers of Peter's old High school, and Peter starts narrating the story with those little blue bubbles, just the way we like it. Peter is really pissed off at this whole thing, and so he's not holding back; it's a lot like that Back in Black arc that's going now. Anyway, there's this really good scene where this guy is trying to pick up MJ, and he tells her that he's Spider-man. Just as he finishes inviting her back to his place to see the "blue and red pajamas", the real Spider-man bursts through the wall, grappling with Venom, leaving our rather embarrassed friend to say, "Okay, now I just feel stupid". Ah, comic book humor. Gotta love it.

Anyway, the two combants just keep beating the crap out one another. Spidey has the upper hand, but Venom keeps with his attacks. This Venom is huge; two times bigger than the first one, and he knows all of Spider-man's moves. They continue the tumble into the street, and Spider-man has to save a few people from the evil Venom. He starts calling him names, though, and that's his ultimate card; picking on a young man.

Hell, Venom almost wins. He's so close he could, well, see it. But he messes up. Egged on by Spider-man's mocking, he loses faith in himself, and starts to doubt all his moves. He literally sikes himself out of killing Peter, completely. He flees. And you know what? The symbiote doesn't like a flee-er. Mid jump, the symboite pulls off of poor Angelo, who falls to his death.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the tragic tale of Marvel Knights 8. Thanks you.

My Favorite Comic Book Movies

I want to update, I really do, and I swear that I'll try really hard to get a few comic posts up this week.

But until then, how about something to tide ME over? My top 5 comic book movies.

5. X-Men
I only really had a few problems with this movie. For one, there weren't may actual X-Men in it. Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine (who isn't part of the team for most of the movie), Rogue (who played the Damsel in Distress role), and Jean Gray...as a DOCTOR!? But it was a good movie, espically the scenes with Magento and his Brotherhood. Toad was cool, Sabertooth was good...the train station fight is pretty wild. It's good enough to hit 5 on my list.

4. 300

A decent, recent flick, 300 was possibly the coolest movie experience I've ever seen. So much action, so many good one liners, it was the ultimate guy movie, and it had a pretty good story too. It helps that it was based off of historical events. Believe it or not, 300 is my second most-read-comic of all time, with the top spot being crowned by Watchmen.

3. Batman Begins
This is the only DC movie on my list...which really says something about the state of DC movies. I'm not the greatest Bat-fan, but I can enjoy a good movie. Plus, the sequel looks really good, so...pretty much, if it can start a franchise, keep me entertained AND have the dude that played Qui-Gon in it, it's gold in my book.

2. Spider-man

I know a lot of people like the sequel over the first one, but honestly I like the first Spider-man about it. It's just...more...campy, which is a word I hate, but it is I like having Peter as a young high-schooler and not an emo college student. And this movie pretty much single handely led to the ultimate universe. So that's good too.

1. X2: X-men United


The popular opinion gets the nod from me. Let's see...the story is great, it has Nightcrawler, it has Colossus, it has Lady Deathstrike...this movie really has it all. I watch it a lot, and I gotta say it is one hell of a movie.

So there it is, my list of the 5 best comic films. No real surprises, I'm guessing. Look forward to some real updates soon!

Astonishing X-Men v.3 #14

So let's just get this out there; I am not really a huge X-Men fan. It's not that I hate mutants or anything, it's just...I never really find them interesting. I'll take Spider-man and Daredevil over Cyclops and Wolverine any day. So on it's a rare day when I get a X-Men comic. Well, except Ultimate X-Men. I mostly get that in trade format though. It helped that my High School library had the first...8. ANYWAY.

This is a pretty weird comic in itself. It takes place towards the end of a story arc which pits the X-Men against a new version of the Hellfire Club, which is a group of assholes who always for some reason hassle the X-Men's groins. I never really understood the point of this super-evil super group, who, instead of being evil, play chess. This group is made up of Cassandra Nova (What a clever name!), Emma Frost, Perfection, and some other losers that are pretty much thrown in the be there.

This issue doesn't really have much of the bad guys, though. it really focuses more on Cyclops, who is being mentally raped by Ema Frost. Seriously, she tries everything. She even turns herself into Jean Grey to try to get in his pants. Women. Talk about crazy. They keep on chatting it up, and at one point Emma turns Scott into Wolverine while they're making out. This prompts him to call her a "sick bitch", which isn't really helping the situation really. I mean, come on Cyclops! If some crazy chick is turning you into things while attempting to make love to you, maybe calling her a sick bitch isn't the best idea. Maybe...leaving the room or something. But no, instead they start fighting, and more name calling flys...it's really not that good of a scene. Plus, all of this Emma Frost talk really got me thinking about the "white queen"; she is pretty ugly. I know she's supossed to be like, a hot plastic girl, but damn! At least leave something real! She looks like a cross between Jessica Drew, a silver sharpie and Paris Hilton. And her outfit is a little...out there.

Anyway, we take a short break from the hot Scott on Emma action and we get to see some comedy. Shadowcat, the little sister of the X-Men, falls naked from the ceiling, apparently coming from Colossus' room. I know, it sounds way perverted but it's actually funny. I mean, i didn't laugh out loud, but I probably chortled or something. Chortled, that's a funny word. Anyway, she runs back up the stairs, through the mansion, in just a bed sheet, mind you. She runs back and makes some joke to Colossus that makes me wonder why this isn't a MAX imprint comic. Ah, just kidding, it's pretty much harmless.

We then get lucky enough to visit back with Scott, who is still in the middle of his apparent lovers spat with Emma. She's still being a bitch to him; questioning why he was the leader when there were other people who would have been a better choice, pointing out that he wasn't the best looking member of the original X-Men, yadda yadda. Her ramblings even give us a cool shot of Storm with a mohawk. How awesome is that?! She EVENTUALLY gets to her point, that Xavier felt sorry for Scott because he's the only guy on the team who didn't have a "thing", so he was made leader. Which could be true, hey, who knows.

Then the comic takes this weird twist and shows a scene of bugs, space and some annoying red shit. I guess, if I had read the whole series thus far, it would have made a bunch more sense, but...I was in the dark.

HOWEVER! Quite possibly the funniest thing in the book comes at the very end, when Kitty and Colossus show up together and Logan happens to be there:
'Bout time indeed.