Cable and X-Force #1

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Next up is Cable and X-Force #1...  I wonder why Cable had to get top billing here?  Why not just X-Force?  Is Cable REALLY as big a name now as he used to be back in the day?  All the cancelled Cable comics would tend to say otherwise...  Eh, whatever, let's check this one out.

Cable and X-Force #1

Summary: This issue mainly follows two characters, Cable(duh) and... ugh...  Our Former Lord and Savior, Hope.  Cable is hanging out with Forge under a junkyard, where Forge is helping Cable deal with the fact that he no longer has the TO Virus.  Meanwhile, Hope has been trying to track Cable down, so she decides to find Domino, whose luck powers should help with the search...  So she can easily find Domino, a mercenary  whose life depends on NOT being found unless she wants to be, but can't find Cable...  Yup...  Cable heads to Dr. Nemesis, and enlists him to help, since he has experience working on the brain and as such may be able to help with Cable's current issues.  While taking Nemesis back to his base, Cable bumps into Hope, who bitches at him about being left behind before the two embrace.  However, Hope gets a glimpse of a ship being destroyed after aping Cable's powers, while Cable passes out.  After getting inside, Forge and Nemesis try to figure out what was wrong with Cable, while Domino and Hope... watch TV?!  Cable wakes up annoyed and Domino and Hope are surprised to see the scene from Cable's mind, the ship being destroyed, happening live on TV.

Thoughts: This comic was... okay, I guess.  It never really did anything for me.  I'm not a big fan of any of the characters(sure, I thought Cable was cool as a kid, but then I grew up), and I downright hate Hope.  Why couldn't SHE be getting killed off in Avengers Arena?!  Hope is such an empty, uninteresting character...  She was brought around for ONE reason(the idiotic Mutant Messiah!!!! thing) but that's over now, so can't she crawl under a rock and die now?  Other than that, this comic just was.  It wasn't awful, it wasn't great, it didn't leave me psyched for the next issue, it was just a way to spend 5 minutes or so.  Eh, hopefully we ditch Hope, add Colossus and get a good story going here.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

You see Cable in the bottom panel here? THAT'S how I feel whenever Our Former Lord and Savior Hope is in a comic I'm reading!!!

Amazing Spider-Man #700. Part 1!

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And this is the big one!  Both in story and in price...  Damn Marvel...  Anyway, this post will deal with the main story and the insanity that should bring us to Superior Spider-Man #1.  What will happen to Peter?  Who will be Superior Spder-Man?  Will Doc Ock get his ultimate revenge?  That's what we'll be finding out today.  On Saturday I'll review the back-up stories, but right now?  It's Spidey time.

Amazing Spider-Man #700(Final Issue):

Summary: This issue gets underway with Peter Parker(actually Otto Octavius), getting frisky with a surprised Mary Jane.  MJ seems fine with this, but is surprised that "Peter" was wearing the Spidey outfit underneath his clothes.  That angers "Peter" who starts to act more Otto than Peter, which alarms MJ.  Before things progress, "Peter" gets word that Doc Ock(actually the real Peter Parker, mind-switching is SO hard to write about!) had escaped from prison and realizes that he has to do something...  That something?  Catch a plane to Belgium, which would keep "Peter" away from "Ock" long enough for "Ock" to die...  Good plan!  Meanwhile, Trapster manages to get "Ock" up and running, but not before "Ock" nearly croaks.  After a pep talk from(who else!) the spirit of Uncle Ben, "Ock" is ready to fight back and reclaim his body.  His first step is to get that golden octo-bot that originally swapped his mind with Otto's, setting this chain of events into motion.  Back at the airport, "Peter" catches a news report where Mayor Jameson tears Dr. Octopus apart, stating that he was a loser who never accomplished anything.  That makes "Peter" pause and reconsider his initial plan to simply leave until "Ock" died.  Next up we head to the police station, where "Ock" tells his goons(Scorpion, Hydro-Man and Trapster) to hold the cops off while he steals the octo-bot, but makes sure to warn the goons not to harm the cops.  That makes Trapster leery of "Ock"...  "Ock" manages to snag the gold octo-bot, but is confronted by his... um, Peter's... um, his former girlfriend, Carlie.  "Ock" tries to reason with Carlie and tells her about the whole mind-switching thing and tries to explain that he was the real Peter Parker.  Carlie disregards that and figures Doc Ock had figured out who Spidey was so she shoots at him(!), but ends up getting struck with her own bullet when "Ock" makes the bullet ricochet off of his metal arms.  After seeing that Carlie would live, "Ock" collects his men and beats a hasty retreat.  From there, "Spider-Man"(actually Doc Ock in case you were wondering...) collects all of Peter Parker's friends and relatives and stores them together...  Dun dun dun!!!  "Ock" and Trapster begin working on the golden octo-bot, with "Ock" planning on reversing it to return his mind to it's rightful body.  Unfortunately, "Spidey" calls "Ock's" secret base and tells him that a) he had all of Peter Parker's friends and family in one place to keep them safe from him and b) that he had sent the cops to "Ock's" base, since he obviously knew where it was.  Running out of time, "Ock" sends Scorpion and Hydro-Man to deal with the cops while him and Trapster put the finishing touches on the octo-bot.  Before letting Hydro-Man and Scorpion go though, "Ock" once again warns them not to harm any of the police officers  something Trapster notes.  While working on the octo-bot, Trapster manages to figure out that it was a mind-swapping device(which fits SO well, because Trapster IS quite intelligent, something people tend to overlook), and figures that "Ock" was planning on swapping his dying mind with Trapster's body...  Close, but not quite.  With the octo-bot complete, "Ock" glues Trapster to the wall with his own gun and tells Scorpion and Hydro-Man that they were leaving.  The trio head to Avengers Tower, with "Ock" figuring if Trapster could figure out what the golden octo-bot really was, the geniuses on the Avengers(Iron Man, Hank Pym, Beast, etc) would surely know what it was and realize that Doc Ock had stolen Spidey's body.  However, "Spidey" is ahead of "Ock" again, as he's made sure he'd be the only one at Avengers Tower, having sent the Avengers after several octo-robots.  "Spidey" reveals to "Ock" that all of Peter Parker's loved ones were at the Tower before setting off the Tower's defense systems.  "Spidey" makes sure to announce that Mayor Jameson was there, stating exactly where he was, which leads to Hydro-Man and Scorpion rushing off to attack him, with "Spidey" telling "Ock" he'd make sure to save Peter's family and friends...  The Horizon Lab guys manage to take care of Hydro-Man, but have no answer for the enraged Scorpion.  Realizing that Scorpion wanted to kill him, Jameson tells the rest of the people in the room to run while Scorpion took him out.  Wanting to prolong Jameson's torment, Scorpion decides to go after Jameson's father and Aunt May first, which leads to "Spidey" attacking the villain, warning him away from her, much to his own surprise.  Scorpion takes a swipe at "Spidey", which only serves to piss him off, leading to Spidey punching Scorpion so hard that he literally knocks Scorpion's jaw clean off his head(!), much to Jameson's delight...  HA!!  "Ock" is appalled to see his body used in such a brutal manner, and grabs "Spidey" with his metal arms.  "Spidey" responds by shooting impact webbing at Glory Grant, Max Modell and Mary Jane.  Realizing that there was no other way to stop Doc Ock from wreaking terrible havoc with his body, "Ock" flings himself and "Spidey" out the window of the Tower, leading to the two of them free-falling to the pavement below.  "Spidey" manages to create a web-cushion underneath the two, saving them both.  However, "Ock" sends the golden octo-bot free to put his mind back where it belonged.  "Spidey" had planned for that eventuality and had coated his mask with Carbonadium plating!  Huh.  Game, set and match. I'd say...  "Spidey" knocks "Ock" to the ground and prepares to drop a car on him, ending "Ock"s" threat to him once and for all.  Before he can strike the killing blow though, the golden octo-bot begins to beam Peter Parker's memories to both "Spidey" and "Ock's" heads, forcing "Spidey" to live through every moment of Peter Parker's life.  Every success, every failure, everything.  Otto is surprised to see that even after everything he had done, Peter would still save his life because that's who he is, a hero.  And having lived through it all(kind of), Otto doesn't feel he can bear the weight of being such a hero.  A dying Peter tells him that he can, because with great power comes great responsibility, which resonates with Otto.  Otto promises Peter that he would look after all of his friends and would strive to be a worthy Spider-Man.  Upon hearing that, Doc Ock's body gives out and Peter Parker dies...  This issue ends with Otto Octavius declaring that he would use his genius and ambition to be a greater Spider-Man than Peter ever was, a Superior Spider-Man.

Thoughts: Wow, that was a swerve I didn't see coming!  I figured somebody was going to die here, and all of my instincts were telling me that somebody was going to be Jameson.  Well, and Doc Ock, but that goes without saying.  But yeah, I figured Jameson would be the guy to kick the bucket, NOT Peter Parker!!  So what did I think?  I thought this was a fantastic swerve and a strong comic book.  I'm sure Marvel fanboys the world over are slamming their heads into walls and ranting and raving, but honestly, does ANYBODY REALLY think this is the end of Peter Parker?  Come on.  The only real question here is, how long before Peter ends up coming back?  If anything, this is kind of like when Bruce Wayne broke his back and Jean Paul Valley took over as Batman.  I can only imagine how incensed the DC fanboys were back in the day, but we eventually got Bruce Wayne back.  Much like the Batman example, I figure Superior Spider-Man will end up being too brutal and will cross a line or two(as did Jean Paul), which will eventually lead to the Amazing Spider-Man returning to throw the pretender from his throne(as Bruce did).  The only real question is this; how does Peter come back?  There are a few ways if you really think about it...  My way sees Jackal realizing that Superior Spider-Man wasn't HIS Spider-Man, leading to him cloning a new body for Peter and shoving his memories into his skull via the golden octo-bot.  But there are tons of other ways Peter could return...  His brainwaves end up overriding Otto's and he gets his body back, his mind went to a cloned Otto Octavius body as per some forgotten plan Otto had in place, hell, there are dozens of ways a talented writer like Dan Slott can write himself out of this corner.  And anyway, I've seen comic characters come back from way worse than this!  So basically what I'm saying is take a breath, calm down and enjoy the story.  It was good!  Peter actually lost here!  Dr. Octopus got the huge victory!  That's something we haven't seen in what, like 50 years of Spider-Man comic books?  There was so much good here, Jameson's reaction to Otto destroying Scorpion, Otto seemingly reforming, Peter finally getting to rest, and other things I'm not even mentioning.  Hell, I'm super curious to see where things go from here.  What kind of a Spider-Man will Otto Octavius make?  Basically, don't think of this comic as the end of Peter Parker.  It's not.  It's simply the beginning of something new.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Game over, Peter...

Avenging Spider-Man #15.1

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Hey blog readers, just a warning, this of course includes spoilers to Amazing Spider-Man #700 so if you haven't read that, or X's review of the main story of that issue, please do so first before reading this, now let's get to the review!


Avenging Spider-Man #15.1
Summary: This issue starts the morning after Ock's big win, and he's quite content with himself as he's finally done what no one else could, he's beaten Spider-Man, he's killed Spider-Man, he's won. He basically explains how every time Peter used his tech against him, like controlling his Ock-bots and such, giving Doc Ock access to his mind and how he took his body with the Gold Ock-bot. He also says that in his final battle with Parker he saw what made Peter Parker him, a loving home and desires to do good, and he learned with Great Power comes Great Responsibility, more or less. From there we see Ock creating a new costume, new eye lenses that help show emotion through the mask and things of that nature. We also see him thinking about Mary Jane, and proclaiming that Parker is a fool. While out walking around New York, a criminal runs by after stealing from a store, and Ock says he's sworn to do good but petty theft is beneath him, when he surprises himself and sticks his arm out, clothes-lining the thief. He says it must be instinct, but I think that shows either Peter had an effect on Doc Ock, or Peter's consciousness may still be in there somewhere. After stopping at Horizon Labs, Ock decides to head to one of his many secret bases and come up with some designs and inventions there. He's ambushed by his own security system since they are tailor-made for him, just not him in Spider-Man's body. He's able to overcome his security systems but comes to the realization that no matter how often he ridiculed Spidey or said how much smarter he was than Spidey, Doctor Octopus always lost. He says he has to be better than that, better than what Doctor Octopus was. The issue comes to a close as we see the new Peter suiting up in his newly designed suit, claws and all, he says he's seen himself through Peter's lens now, and Otto Octavius' days of losing are over, as he's now the Superior Spider-Man.
 
Thoughts: And there you have it, the epilogue to ASM #700 and the Prologue to Superior Spider-Man #1. This issue started odd, it seemed like a step back since he was basically regretful for killing Peter at the end of ASM but he seemed happy he won here. But that was quickly rectified with his "instincts", him stopping that criminal was interesting because he didn't mean to, so clearly something is prompting him to, and that will be something to keep your eyes on. Other than that, most of this issue was just seeing Ock make a new suit and then realize that as good as he thought he was, Peter was better, and now he wants to be better than that, and he certainly has the tools with his mind in Peter's body. Also, Yost continues to surprise me, I wasn't a fan of his work when he worked for DC Comics but he's done an amazing job of making Scarlet Spider one of my favorite series and I'm interested in seeing how he writes Superior Spider-Man as he teams up/fights the X-Men, Captain America, and other Marvel Heroes and Villains, hopefully including Venom and Scarlet Spider. All in all this was a important issue that helped set the tone for a time where we don't have Peter Parker as Spider-Man (you know what I mean) in the 616 Universe or the Ultimate Universe.

Score: 8/10 

Peter: Thank you, fat hippy and bald kid. I will look in on you later.

Amazing Spider-Man #700. Part 2!

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This is my final review of the week, but not my final post of the week...  No, that will be the MAMMOTH Year End post JT and I are currently putting the finishing touches on.  So the faster I get through this issue, the sooner I can finish up the Year End post.  Let's see what the back-up stories from this comic are all about...

Amazing Spider-Man #700(Final Issue):

Summary: First up, we see the official proclamation making Sunday, October 14th, 2012 Spider-Man Day in New York City.  That's pretty cool, actually.  Next up is a story set in a future written by former Spidey scribe, JM DeMatteis.  The story apparently shows us an elderly Peter Parker(under an assumed name) trying to bond with his pain in the ass great-grandson.  Old Man Pete eventually wins the brat over by regaling him with some Spidey stories from Peter's past.  The punk doesn't necessarily believe his great-grandfather until the old man takes the kid out to do some web-slinging, ending this one.  Next up is a Black Cat story by Jen Van Meter and Stephanie Buscema.  Black Cat and Spidey want to have a romantic evening  but Spidey is called away to battle a giant robot.  The mayor sends the cops after Spidey(?), so Black Cat runs interference and distracts the cops so Spidey can concentrate on the robot.  Black Cat leads the cops on a wild goose chase and gets back home before Spidey, and the two get to have their date.  Next all 700 Spidey covers, followed by an extra, super-long letters page with responses from none other than Stan "The Man" Lee himself!  That's followed by a mess of creative team members talking about the first Spidey comic they read, and that warps this one up.

Thoughts: Amazing Spider-Man #692 this comic was not!  ASM #692 had a fantastic main story(one of my favorite single issues of 2012), and also had a phenomenal back-up.  This issue?  Yeah, not so much...  The two back up stories weren't very good...  Like, at all.  The first one had some nasty fat kid in it, and the second one was a bizarre Black Cat story...  The hell?!  The letters page was cool, as I am now, and will forever be a HUGE fan of Stan Lee, and I enjoyed reading about the creative staff discussing their first Spidey moment.  It's something I'm sure all of us comic fans could do with no problem.  For me, the first Spidey book I ever got my hands on was a back issue, Amazing Spider-Man #356.  It was the middle of a six part story, I had NO idea what the hell was going on, but yeah, I was bit by the Spidey bug from that point onward.  So there's my own Spidey memory.  Besides the letters page, I also enjoyed the cover gallery.  Those are always fun to look through.  But honestly?  For a comic that cost as much as this one did, I'd have hoped for a bit more...  Or hell, at least one good to great back-up story!  For all the back-up stuff, I'd give it a 5 out of 10 for a score.  I gave the main story a 9 out of 10, so if we average those two numbers out, we get the overall score for this entire comic book.  And that score is...

Score: 7 out of 10.

Okay then...

Justice League #15

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Hey guys and gals, JT here with the last review of 2012 here at the X-Man Comic Blog. I know, weird right? Anyway, this review is gonna be a bit quick so I still have time to finish up the super mega boffo fun-time year end awards that myself and X are working on, so let's jump into this shall we?



Justice League #15

Summary: This issue focused on the U.S.S. Mabus, a hip that lost contact during a routine missile test into a supposedly empty ocean. Vic's dad calls him and asks him and the League to look into things when The Watchtower loses power for some reason. In Gotham, Aquaman helps Batman stop some of the Scarecrow's goons and explains the fish aren't listening to him and are swimming away from the Northeastern seaboard, so something must be wrong. Mera shows up to help Batman and Awuaman, and Bats mentions the U.S.S. Mabus, which Aquaman was unaware of. Meanwhile, Clark and Diana having a dinner date, with him telling her about his secret identity and how he uses the glasses to blend in, then gives Diana a pair and the two blend in well on their date, until a huge wave and an aircraft carrier get washed into Metropolis. Supes and Wondy spring into action, and Superman doesn't notice Lois is in danger, so she's jealous AND almost dies, HA!, when she's saved by Vulko, an Atlantean looking for Aquaman. In Gotham, Batman and Aquaman are waiting as Cyborg says the next wave is headed towards Gotham, causing Aquaman to say that Atlantis is declaring war with the Atlantean War plans, and he knows because he wrote them.
 
Thoughts: This was a very odd issue for me, I know it served to set things up for Aquaman but it made the League seem very... weak. I mean a giant wave came and it had to kill a ton of people in Metropolis since Superman and Wonder Woman were preoccupied with the carrier. I mean... in one panel WW says there are people in the streets who need their help, the NEXT PAGE, Vulko jumps out of the water with Lois, and Superman and Wonder Woman go talk to Lois... they NEVER GO SAVE THE PEOPLE!!!! But that aside this was basically just a set up issue so I won't judge it too harshly. The back-up with SHAZAM was actually the best part of this comic...so it still perplexes me he doesn't have his own series...

Score: 6/10 

Wonder Woman: What is it?
Superman: It's a job for us.

Scarlet Spider #12

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Hola X-Maniacs, JT here with my final review of the comic week, Scarlet Spider #12. I was set to review ASM 699.1 but I wasn't aware it was basically an issue to hype the upcoming Morbius series, and while the issue was fine, I figured I'd rather review Scarlet Spider's first issue post-Minimum Carnage, now let's get to it!

Scarlet Spider #12

Summary: This issues starts off with a group of people who plan to steal some very valuable diamonds that are being held in a vault at the Four Seasons Hotel for some reason. From there we see Kaine, drunk as hell, trying to leave but Aracely is blocking the door way and holding a swear jar, demanding he puts in two dollars for swearing, but Kaine is determined to leave and go to Mexico after what he dealt with during Minimum Carnage, at least, until he passes out, after only three beers! I guess clones have a low alcohol tolerance. As Aracely and Wally pull Kaine over to the couch,  Donald answers the door and is confronted by Hotel Employee Courtney Johnson, who says she needs Kaine to check out, because a Belgian Ambassador has had the Presidential Suite booked for months and they need Kaine to vacate the room. Meanwhile in the lobby, a bunch of men wielding guns and dressed like Santa Claus tell everyone to get down on the ground. Kaine's friend, and hotel employee, Annabelle calls up to Kaine's room, interrupting the conversation between Wally, Donald and Aracely, when they say they really don't know anything about Kaine, and Aracely says they know everything. Interesting. When the phone rings, Aracely says it's Annabelle, she's scared, and Donald answers and confirms what Aracely somehow already knew. Wally grabs his gun and heads down to the lobby and Aracely follows after him, leaving Wally to try to wake up a passed out Kaine. Downstairs, one of the Santa's grabs Annabelle as a hostage, but she tells them if they want the big bucks, they should rob the man in the Presidential Suite. Back in Kaine's room, Donald pours him coffee and tries to wake him up, but a half-conscious Kaine just mutters that he's no hero, just a killing machine. In the lobby, Wally takes down one of the Santa's, but the others open fire, whereas Aracely walks up to one and tells him he's afraid, and he falls on the ground, screaming. Back with Kaine, he's now conscious and tells Donald how he's no good and how he's killed people and so many have died due to him. Donald retorts that Kaine has saved a ton of people, including himself and Aracely, and that Kaine is rough around the edges, but that's the kind of hero Houston needs. The pep talk is cut short when a Santa wielding a gun and holding Annabelle in a headlock bursts through the door, leading to Kaine beating the hell out of him, and suiting up, then beating up the Santa's in the lobby as well. When the hotel employee asks what they can do to repay Scarlet Spider for saving them and saving the hotel millions, Aracely whispers to Kaine "No Belgians Allowed", obviously so he doesn't get kicked out of his room. A confused Kaine says, he doesn't want Belgians allowed at the hotel to which they agree, perplexed. From there we see Kaine, finally feeling at home, while on the roof with Aracely, Donald, Wally and Annabelle. From there we see a letter arrive at the front desk for K. Parker, but the Woman at the front desk says they don't have a Parker registered there, as we see the envelope from J. Carpenter, aka. Madame Web Julia Carpenter as this issue ends.
 
Thoughts: First things first, awesome cover, it looks like a movie poster or something. Secondly, I'm loving Aracely. She's funny and she still has a lot we don't know about her, even a year later. She's clearly some kind of telepath but she can make others feel emotions too. Add that with the hilarious scenes of her telling Kaine to pay up for the Swear Jar and to say no Belgians, and she's quickly becoming one of my favorite supporting characters. I am curious to see what Madame Web's letter to Kaine was though, was she warning him about Doc Ock's plan? Was she trying to get him to return to New York? That's going to bother me, haha. But I enjoyed this issue, Kaine finally feeling like he has a home and having friends is a great step in the right direction for him, and Christ Yost, a man who's writing I didn't care for a year ago, has made me a fan thanks to his great job on this series. This is probably my favorite Spider title besides the main book, and that's saying something considering how many there are!

Score: 8/10 

Scarlet Spider: Uh, no Belgians. Don't let any Belgians stay here. Ever.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #18

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Hey blog fans, JT here for day numero dos of X-Man's Comic Blog, starring JT! Today's review is the latest issue of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. After the last issue Miles was left along in a desert, trying to make his way back home. Same thing happened to Aquaman a year ago, anyway, let's get to it shall we?


Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #18

Summary: In this issue, Miles wanders the desert until he runs into Giant Woman, who proceeds to lay the smackdown on him. Miles, not wanting to hit a girl since he knows his mom wouldn't like it, eventually decides he has no choice and lays out Giant Woman. Miles, a teenage boy, lands on the stomach of a knocked out giant woman, and before things can get weird (teenage boy, giant woman, very close to... her upper mountains), Spider-Woman shows up with a few army guys and they save Miles, as Spider-Woman is proud of him, hailing him as the guy that saved President Captain America, which he did in the last issue and has now become big news, She takes him back to the city, telling him he needs more training but she's proud of him, and he should go home to his family, and she says she's very jealous that he has the chance to do that. Miles asks about her, and she says she promises to tell him some day, but not today. Back with Miles' parents, his dad tells his wife what happened with S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA, and how HYDRA murdered the SHIELD agents in front of him then gave him a gun and offered him a spot. Apparently, Jefferson then killed the HYDRA agents, and since people saw, he ran home, so now he's afraid he may have ruined his families lives. Miles' mom is shocked, but still curious where Miles is, so they head to Ganke's house and ask him. Before Ganke can answer, Miles shows up, saying he was held by SHIELD at location until they deemed it safe enough for him to leave. Miles mom hugs him and Miles asks his dad if he's okay. Miles' mother says he's had a big day, and he fought some terrorists. Miles says how cool that is, as Jefferson looks worried and the issue ends.
 
Thoughts: This was a interesting issue. It was cool seeing Miles fight Giant Woman, and I laughed at his comments on him finding I kind of got to fight a giant woman, as well as him staring at her breasts when he knocked her out... I mean he's a teenager, what teenage boy WOULDN'T have done that?! The stuff with Miles' dad is weird though, it has to go somewhere, I'd imagine maybe he's lying and he did join HYDRA? Either way, I'm slightly interested now. I do like the relation between Miles and Jessica Drew, and now that she's not standing over him saying how inept he is over and over, I'm looking forward to seeing how she takes over as his mentor.

Score: 7.5/10 

Giant Woman: I think it's Spider-Man. He's not what you think he'd be at all...
Miles (thinking): Whatever, racist. Or she's talking about that I'm a kid.

Hawkeye #6

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Hey Todd Squad, JT with my third review of the week, everyone's favorite archer (especially since DC took Ollie and gave us a generic, boring, wanna-be Clint Barton) Hawkeye! Hawkeye's been amazing lately so enough of this intro, let's get to the review!


Hawkeye #6
Summary: This issue time jumps around a bit, so if ya read it, make sure you pay attention or you'll be confused. The gist of the story Clint needs to get the cable fixed, because the Dish is malfunctioning for a tenant due to an arrow being in it, thanks to Clint, and her kids want to watch some annual Christmas special. The cable guy refuses to fix it because it's on a fire escape, it's snowing, and he's fat, outta shape and lazy...his words, not mine. Also Clint is confronted by the "Bro's" from a few issues back, and they're pissed at Clint for buying the building he lives in, getting the boss' wife out of town, and other Broski type reasons of enragement, so they jump Clint, take him to an abandoned building, telling him he has 24 hours to get out of town or they'll kill everyone in his building. Clint decides to leave, and has a bow sent to Kate by one of his tenants that happens to be a bike messenger. Before he can leave town, Kate comes to him and tells him he needs to stop trying to leave, he's a hero and he needs to act like it. Clint takes her advice and takes the Bro's on, which we don't see, but he clearly won since he is still there later, allowing the Tenant and her kids to watch the holiday specials with him, as the issue comes to a close.
 
Thoughts: This was a filler issue, and a holiday issue. Yet, it was still really good. I laughed a lot throughout this issue, the scenes with Stark, the "Hawkguy" scene, and the Bro's... just them saying "Bro" and "Futz" cracks me up. But this was also a great issue because it showed how vital Kate is to Clint, who was willing to pack up to keep everyone safe, but was willing to fight to maintain their safety, thanks to a few words from Kate. All in all, this was an issue you can miss, but if you did pick it up, you're guaranteed to enjoy it.

Score: 8.5/10 

Tenant: Don't gotta pretend you ain't Hawkguy 'round us, Hawkguy.

Scarlet Spider #12.1

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Hey guys and gals, JT here with my fourth review of the week... I know right? Some kind of Christmas Miracle. Anyway, after the last awesome issue of Scarlet Spider, I couldn't skip reviewing this .1 issue, hell Kaine may be my favorite Spider character besides Pe...Ot..um... Amazi...Superi...the guy in New York!


Scarlet Spider #12.1
Summary: This issue centers on Kaine, now having found a nice life in Houston, dealing with his transition from a evil murderer to the Hero of Houston. He soon gets word that someone else has been using his old calling card, the Mark of Kaine, when he would basically grab their face and use his adhesive skin to rip the flesh off of their faces. What's worse is, he finds out via the body of a dead girl that's apparently a slave, as the slave trading is still very active in Houston. Kaine spends days looking for clues on who's behind the slave trade and finally comes across Mark Tomanaga a.k.a. The Mark, the man that killed the fourteen year old slave that Kaine found dead and marked. Kaine tells The Mark he's there to end his business, but The Mark says it's not just his business, and suddenly The Hand (?!) drop down and attack Scarlet Spider. Kaine has a bit of trouble, since unlike Peter, he has no Spider Sense, but manages to take down The Hand. The Mark uses this as his chance to attack, and surprisingly, he takes it to Kaine, but the fight is interrupted by a man in the suit and Bruiser, a giant Juggernaut like man wearing green. Scarlet Spider tries to take him on but only manages to hurt his hand. The man in the suit, known as the Arranger, says he's the Bruiser's handler as well as the Ruler of The Hand, which Kaine doesn't buy. He says he was sent by The Kingpin to deliver a message to The Mark, and The Bruiser swiftly snaps The Mark's neck. The Arranger says The Kingpin will be taking direct control of The Hand's businesses in Houston, and they tell Scarlet Spider to stay out of Kingpin's way, which obviously doesn't go over well with Kaine. The issue ends with Kaine deciding that with Great Power comes the ability to stop people like him, or how he used to be, and that's what he plans on doing,
 
Thoughts: This was a fun .1 issue. Suprisingly it wasn't just filler, i mean it was but it set up that Kingpin has business in Houston and he will be clashing with Kaine soon. Between him, the Kraven's, and that big galoot from the first issue that kidnapped Aracely way back then, Kaine is getting an interesting Rogue's gallery. I also liked how Kaine is still curious on how his friends will view him if they learn about his past, that will be an interesting road to go down if he ever tells them the kind of guy he used to be. All in all this was a nice .1 issue that had more character development and set up some stories, instead of just focusing on building for another series, like a few .1's have done in recent years.

Score: 8/10 

Scarlet Spider: With great power also comes the ability to rain down hell on those who prey on the weak, people who couldn't fight the monsters.

New Comic Day! December 26th edition.

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We are heading towards the end of the year, which means the 5th annual Untitled X's (and JT's) Year End Awards Post!!!  So huzzah to that.  And hey, it's Wednesday, which means it's time for another edition of New Comic Day, and yes, we have to give a huzzah for that as well!  I am the recently returned X, who needs to thank JT for picking up my slack last week.  I'll probably have one more bad week coming up soon, which means I'll be leaning on JT once more, and then I should be good to go, hopefully for the rest of my life.  But that's still a few weeks away and I have a few things to talk about before then.  First order of business...  JT and I have been discussing things happening here at the blog our past few conversations and have decided to make some small changes to the way things work.  Most of you won't notice anything, so no worries, but after the recent spoiler garbage, it was time to make a slight change...  Secondly, and more importantly, the year end post!  That will be up, posted and ready to go on December 31st at 8PM.  So the same time I post all of my reviews.  JT and I aren't gonna post anything on January 1st, so there's plenty of time to check that out.  I always have a blast typing that post, and with JT here this year, it should be that much better.  Okay, with the housekeeping out of the way, on to this week and the comic books I'll be picking up...  Amazing Spider-Man #700, Avenging Spider-Man #15.1, Deathmatch #1.  And that's it?!?  What the HELL is THAT?!?  Wow...  I'll be reviewing Spidey #700 this week, in two posts.  Thursday I'll take on the main story, and on Saturday I'll tackle the back-up stories.  So Thursday and Saturday are my review days(with Monday being the Year Ender) this week.  Annnnnnd that'll do it.  We've covered a lot here, and I think it's time for JT to put in his two cents for the week.  As for me?  X out!  That's right, X out, MY saying!  Damn that thieving JT!!!

Thanks for that super post X and I'm glad you're feeling better buddy, and I'm glad to help pick up the slack here. Now that the best has been saved for last, it's JT Time. As X said the Fifth Annual unnamed awards are coming up, and I'm excited to be apart of them for the first time ever, so be sure to come check those out on the last day of the year. Since X hit all the major points I'll just jump to my reviews for this week. I plan on picking up Amazing Spider-Man #700, Avenging Spider-Man #15.1, Justice League #15 and Deathmatch #1. My two review days this week are Friday and Sunday, and I'll be reviewing Avenging Spider-Man on Friday and Justice League on Sunday. But that's it for me, I'll be back Friday with my first review of the week, so until next time, JT out! Yes... I'm STILL saying it, do something sucka!

Walking Dead #105

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Last review for ol' X this week, and it's the always good Walking Dead.  Let's get to it.

Walking Dead #105

Summary: So last issue Carl killed a bunch of Saviors but ended up getting captured by an amused Negan, who thought the whole, killing a whole shit-ton of his men thing was a bad-ass move on Carl's part.  With that, Negan takes Carl around the Savior's encampment and shows him the sights and sounds.  He makes Carl take the bandaging off his face and is horrified to see what was underneath, and then makes Carl sing a song to him and Lucille...  His baseball bat.  Also important to note is that Negan's baseball bat does not have female genitalia   Anywho, Carl gets to meet all of Negan's wives and sees what happens to Negan's wives when they cheat on him, the man they cheated with ends up getting half his face melted with an iron.  And that's the gist of this one, as it ends with Negan trying to figure out what to do with Carl.

Thoughts: Yes, Negan is a monumental psychotic asshole.  That's the main thing we learn from this issue.  We also see what was under Carl's bandaging for the first time since he was shot and it is a gruesome sight.  I have to say, I really don't give Charlie Adlard enough credit for the work he does on this comic.  So I think I will now.  He does a great job with the art on this comic.  There, done.  This was a TOUGH issue to score, actually...  I'm sure I mentioned the way I score a comic book before, but I'll get into it again.  Usually when I read a comic, once I close the back cover I'll have a score in mind.  I'll usually think on the number for about a minute, adjust it up or down a 1/2 point or so, and presto, instant score.  After I closed this issue up, no number was forthcoming...  Which is very unusual...  Even now, as I write the final words of this post, I'm STILL not sure what to do score-wise with this issue...  It was a good comic, it furthered the story, or at least furthered Negan as crazy and kind of softened Carl's character a bit, so I guess it was more about character development than story...  Actually, this issue actually reminded me(us?) that Carl IS still just a kid.  That was really nice to see and is something that I know I oftentimes forget.  And the art was solid as always...  Huh...  Um, for a score let's go with a...

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Man is Negan's death going to be satisfying as hell...  I really hope it's drawn out and gruesome myself.

New Comic Day! December 19th edition

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Hey guys and gals, JT here with this week's New Comic Day post! Before we jump into it, just wanna let you guys know that the blog is my hands this weeks. Without getting into specifics, X is having some health problems, so while he tries to heal up and feel better, I told him I'd take over and give him the week off. So, that said, get well soon amigo! Now with that taken care of, let's check out my comic haul for the week, shall we? I picked up Idolized #4, Green Lantern #15, Nightwing #15 (only for Death of the Family!) Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 (See Nightwing), Saga #8, All New X-Men #4, Avengers Arena #2, Hawkeye #6, Scarlet Spider #12.1, Thor: God of Thunder #3, Thunderbolts 2, and Ultimate Spider-Man #18. Wooooo! That's a total of 12 comics for me, and if ya think THAT'S bad, X said he has 24 this week... Well, let's see, I'm not gonna promise a review everyday, but I will promise at least three, anything more than that is a bonus! I will review All New X-Men #4, Ultimate Spider-Man #18 and Hawkeye #6, if I do more, those may be abridged reviews but I doubt you guys mind. So, expect those reviews starting Thursday, until then, this is JT, signi...nah, screw that, since he's gone this week, I'm stealing it. JT out!

All New X-Men #4

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Hola comic readers, JT here with the first review of the week, and it's All New X-Men! With Cyclops and Magneto coming face to face with the Original Five, how will he react? How will they react? Let's find out right now!
All New X-Men #4
Summary: This issues starts where we left off, with the Original Five confronting Magneto and Cyclops. Cyclops of course thinks they must be clones or some kind of mind trick, but eventually confirms it's the real Original Five. Jean's psychic abilities kick in and she breaks down, after hearing Present Scott's thoughts about her, and how beautiful she is. She blasts Cyclops away, and knocks off his visor, which causes his new, erratic Optic Blasts to shoot wildly. Past Cyclops blasts Current Cyclops and their optic blasts explode, knocking one another back. The Original Five attack but Magneto has Magik pull them out via portal. The New Mutant that Scott and Magneto came to recruit is left confused after the impromptu fight, as someone films him, saying he's gonna be rock star famous now. Back at Weapon X, the two New Mutants talk about their powers and they agree to become new best friends... maybe a romance will stem from that? Anyway, Cyclops, Magik and Magneto show up, and Scott storms off immediately. Emma and Magik ask Magneto what happened, and Magneto says the Original X-Men showed up, and asks Emma if she had anything to do with it. Emma asks if he's going crazy again. Magik asks if they got the new mutant and Magneto storms off, leaving Magik to take that as a no. Back with the O5, Jean regains consciousness but is quickly overwhelmed by hearing everyone's thoughts. She manages to control her powers long enough for the gang to discuss what to do next, and Hank wants to head back to the Jean Grey school and check on his future self. Outside of Weapon X, Emma approaches Scott, telling him she had nothing to do with this, but who has the means and wherewithal to bring them back from the past to see him? Cyclops answers "Hank McCoy", but wonders why he would do this to him. Emma says because Cyclops killed Charles Xavier and this is Hank's way of punishing him. Back at the Jean Grey school, Wolverine and Storm argue over going after the O5, but they then show up and Hank tells them he needs to see his future self, he has an idea on how to help, and also demands the files from his second transformation. Beast wakes up in time to see Hank trying to help, but the issue comes to a close as Beast starts to go into cardiac arrest.

Thoughts: FINALLY! We got to see Cyclops run into the Original Five, AND he had Magneto with him! I loved all of this, Cyclops thinking it was a telepath or a shifter messing with him, then being entranced by Jean, and her being basically disgusted at the sight of him. I also loved the fact that both her and Magneto suspected Emma may be involved, but the best thing was Emma's pure disdain at Jean Grey being back, Emma is quickly becoming my favorite character of this series. I'm also curious as to if past Scott picked up how out of control present Scott is with his powers and if anything will come of that. All in all, this was another strong issue, we got the first confrontation, we got some info on the New Mutants, and a cliffhanger with Beast that I doubt will amount to anything in the next issue.

Score: 9/10 

Emma Frost: Jean Grey. That's all I need.

Mimosa House of Secrets Giant Edition 1

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This is House of Secrets Giant Edition 1, published by Mimosa (SA Magazine Co) +/- 1963-1964.
It reprints the cover and the following 3 stories from DC Comics' House of Secrets 60 (1963):
"Captive of the Cat Curse"
"The Box of Four Fears"
"The Terrible Prophecies of the Tattooed Man"
Also reprinted is the following story from DC Comics' House of Secrets 4 (1957):
"The House of Human Cards"
Also reprinted are the following 2 stories from DC Comics' House of Secrets 3 (1957):
"The Three Prophecies"
"The Mystery of the Martian Menu"
 48 pages, colour cover, black-and-white interior pages (259x179mm).

 Here is the cover of issue 1 and DC Comics' original cover:
 See Also:
Mimosa Comics

Supercomix Superman 40

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Thanks to Supercomix Collector Ravi for these great scans of Superman 40 of the South African reprint series.
Contact Me or Ravi if you have any Supercomix for sale:
NaidooRavie@elec.durban.gov.za

Cover of Issue 40 and DC Comics' original cover of Superman 355 from 1981:
 John Campbell Le Fevre Poster and House ad for Tom & Jerry:
 House ads for Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck:
 See Also:
Supercomix Superman

Thor: God of Thunder #2

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Last review of the week, and it's going to be Thor.  It was either this one or FF, but since I did review the first issue of Thor at the forum(and nobody really seemed too keen on an FF review), here we are.  Let's see what Jason Aaron gives us this issue.

Thor: God of Thunder #2

Summary: This issue follows a younger Thor, one who went around Earth with the vikings, warring upon the enemies of the vikings and their gods.  During one fateful battle though, the gods Thor was supposed to fight on the battlefield showed up dead, leaving young Thor curious as to what could have killed the two.  Thor heads up into the clouds and gets his answer, some bizarre god-killing creature.  The god-killer and Thor battle, and the god-killer ends up gaining the upper hand on Thor, and is preparing to strike the deathblow.  However, the god-killer makes the mistake of asking what Thor was the god of, and Thor responds by striking the god-killer down with a massive blast of lightning.  Thor ends up unconscious on the ground, while the god-killer is nowhere to be found.  Back in the present, Thor manages to defeat the god-killer's construct, and promises to avenge the deaths of the gods the god-killer had recently killed.

Thoughts: I have to say, Marvel has been hitting it out of the park(for the most part) with their Marvel Now! titles.  I enjoyed the first issue of this series, but the jumping back and forth in time kind of took me out of the story a bit.  This issue rectified that by focusing solely on Thor from the past, and showing us his entire battle with the god-killer.  The battle was great, the lead-up to the battle was great(as we saw a younger, more brash and cocky God of Thunder , and Thor's thoughts during the battle were great.  I have to say, I had no major complaints about this one and am intrigued to see what happens when Thor and the god-killer face off again in the present.

Score: 9 out of 10.

It's not every day Thor gets a beating like THAT!

New Comic Day! December 5th edition

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Hey comic crew, JT here with this week's New Comic Day post! This week I actually have a pretty decent haul of comics, so let's jump right into them, shall we? This week I picked up Detective Comics #15, Earth 2 #7, Smallville Season 11 #8, Invincible #98, All New X-Men #3 (again already?!) Amazing Spider-Man #699, Avengers #1, Hawkeye #5 and Thunderbolts #1! This week, I plan on reviewing All New X-Men #3, Amazing Spider-Man #699 (the last one I'll review since X gets #700) and lastly, Invincible #98! My review days are Friday, Sunday and Tuesday, so expect to see my reviews then. And that's it for me, now to hand things over to my buddy X.

Oh snap, I'm getting Spidey #700?!  I'll have to send JT an Xmas present or something now!  Anyway, happy NCD folks!  I am the smarter and better looking blogger around these parts, the man known only as X.  And here are the comics I'll be picking up this week...  Hypernaturals #6, Stormwatch #15, Invincible #98, All New X-Men #3, Amazing Spider-Man #699, Avengers #1, Avenging Spider-Man #15(maybe...), Hawkeye #5, Iron Man #3, Punisher Warzone #2, Ultimates #18.1, Thunderbolts #1 & X-Factor #248...  Hey, those are some pretty good books there!  I'm kind of spoiled for choice when it comes to what to review...  I guess I'll go with Hawkeye #5, Thunderbolts #1 and Avengers #1.  My reviews will be up on Thursday, Saturday and Monday.  As for the first review of the week, I'm currently leaning towards Thunderbolts since I figure I'll enjoy it more, but I may just do Avengers first to get it out of the way...  Needless to say, I am not a big fan of new Avengers scribe Jonathan Hickman...  But yeah, one of those two books will get the Thursday review.  And that's that.  Until next time, X out.

Avengers Arena #1

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First review of the week is the spiritual successor to my favorite comic series of 2011, Avengers Academy.  I am SO worried about this comic and what I think will happen in it, but I'll go into this with an open mind.....

Avengers Arena #1

Summary: Okay, this review isn't gonna be that hard to punch out because it was simplistic and we all pretty much knew what was gonna happen going in.  Arcade(yes, the super-lame, disco-dressing, 1970's villain), has managed to kidnap 16 teenage super-heroes, including several who were with the Avengers Academy because, apparently, the Avengers have NO security to speak of.  Arcade tells the kids he'd give them food/water/medicine, but that they had to kill each other to get it.  The kids attack him, but Arcade shows off god-like powers and defeats all of them with ease.  Which naturally points to that being one of Arcade's robots, but goddamn, that's one strong-ass robot!  After Arcade proves that nobody can beat him, he tells them to choose the weakest link to serve as the first death.  Hazmat has enough of Arcade's talking(You and me both, Hazmat...  You and me both...) and attacks him, so Arcade decides to make her the first victim.  Mettle, Hazmat's boyfriend, steps forward and tells Arcade he was the weakest link, so Arcade makes him explode, ending this issue.

Thoughts: Okay, first off, JT is gonna HATE this comic!!!  Mettle was his favorite character in Avengers Academy.  I texted him after I read this issue and warned him not to read it and his reply was, "Mettle died, didn't he..."  So yeah.  Sucks for him and the rest of us Avengers Academy fans.  Luckily for me, my two favorite Avengers Academy kids(Striker and Finesse) aren't in this title, so I can breathe easier.  As for Mettle, I'm going to cross my fingers and hold out hope that he's still alive.  It's Arcade.  It HAD to be an illusion, right?  I mean he can't have the power to snap his fingers and make Mettle explode, or he'd have done that to Colossus years ago!  That's what I'm going with right now though.  That a lot of this is smoke and mirrors.  Illusions.  Special effects.  But then again, Arcade DID teleport people THROUGH a defense system that Jocasta, and probably Hank Pym and Tony Stark had a hand in building, so who knows.  At the end of the day(and the end of this post!), this series was basically what I expected it to be.  A dumb premise and a "shocking" death.  It's still Arcade doing stuff he shouldn't be able to do.  I mean was the Collector not available as a villain or something?!  On top of that, what the HELL was with X-23!?  She just STANDS there and does NOTHING while Arcade is murdering her teammate?!  I'll tell you this, if Wolverine was there, there's NO WAY he'd stand there and let somebody else sacrifice themselves.  And there is reason #5,614 why I can't stand X-23.  I'll keep reading this series, mainly out of loyalty to some of the characters.  But as the deaths mount, my interest will wane and I can easily see this as a book that gets dropped down the road(if it lasts that long).  I'm extremely curious to see what other fans of Avengers Academy think because we were a VERY loyal bunch of fans.  I can't imagine THIS issue went down very well with most of them...

Score: 6 out of 10.

So in a Universe with Dr. Doom, Magneto, Green Goblin, Apocalypse, Kang, Ultron, Sinister, and a ton of other great villains, this book picks...  Arcade...  Fail.

Batman #15

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Hey comic readers, JT here with my first review of the week, continuing "Death of the Family", starting with Batman #15. Tomorrow, I'll have a review up for Batman and Robin #15, which is also apart of the "Death of the Family" banner, but first things first, let's see how Batman deals with the news that Joker lays on him, that he "knows who he is".

Batman #15


Summary: We pick up where we left off with Batman and Joker on the bridge, when Bullock and the GCPD show up. Bats tells them to fall back, but of course they don't listen, which leads to Joker's men, who were hiding in trees, to fire upon the GCPD with rocket launchers, and we can actually see through the masks their wearing that his men don't look too happy about it, which was great foreshadowing. Batman breaks free and runs through an explosion, which burns away some of his armor, and takes Joker down with a huge punch, before asking him where Wayne's butler is. Turns out when Bats punched Joker with his glove-less fist, Joker got some toxin onto his skin, which causes Bats to get weakened, and Joker kicks him off the bridge. Bruce awakes later, surrounded by the four Robins and Babs, as they tell him the rescued Alfred and caught Joker while Bruce was out, as Joker walks in, wearing Alfred's face and swinging an axe when Bruce wakes up for real. surrounded by Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Batgirl and Robin. The gang tell Bruce they need to talk, whereas Jason demands answers. Babs asks if its true that Joker knows who they are, but Bruce says it isn't true. Tim asks about him taking Alfred, but Bruce gives the same explanation that he just took Wayne's butler, he doesn't know. Nightwing explains that he freed Raya, an enemy of Grayson, not Nightwing, and Babs says he came after her mother. Tim asks what's the secret Joker says Batman is keeping from them, and Batman basically says one night after stopping Joker, before he'd taken on any Robins, after fighting The Joker and knocking him into the Gotham Bay, he never found him. After driving back to the cave in the Batboat, the next morning he found a Joker playing card in the cave next to the boat. Batman believes it must have been stuck to the boat or something, as he never found any traces to show that Joker had been in the cave, The former sidekicks think this means Joker has known Bruce is Batman for a while, and could easily figure out who they are over association, but Bruce is adamant he doesn't know, he just wants to cause dissension in the ranks, but Nightwing says Bruce is doing his job for him and that he should've told them about the card. Bruce tells them not to get involved, and to leave Joker to him. From there, Batman uses his resources to see who bought the pre-paid phone Joker used to call his men for the bridge attack, and discovers ir was a man named Dylan McDyre, who works at Arkham Asylum. Batman crashes into his window during family dinner and demands answers, and finds out that Joker had been watching the Arkham Guards for a week, threatening to kill their families if they talked. Turns out Joker has somehow taken Arkham Asylum hostage, and made the guards go home and pretend nothing happened, then come abck to work each day or he'd kill their families, he made them prepare the Asylum for something, calling it Batman's castle. The issue comes to a close as Batman arrives at Arkham Asylum and steps inside.

For the back-up, we see The Riddler in his cell, basically quizzing his guard when a few other guards come by, carrying a horse. They slip and fall with the horse, and it lands on one of the man's legs. Joker walks up, saying they need to be more careful and go get another horse because this one is ruined, and shoots it in the head, he then says that Guard is ruined too, and shoots him in the head as well. Joker then turns his attention towards The Riddler, saying how Riddler is one of Batman's greatest foes because he's always sharpening his greatest weapon, his mind, and if Riddler didn't leave Bats clues he would never catch him. He wants Riddler to join his "party" but makes him work for it, putting some Joker toxin in Riddler's cell, making Riddler free himself to prove he still has "it". Riddler frees himself and Joker welcomes him  to the festivities, and even offers to show Riddler his plans to see if he can guess what Joker has planned. Surprisingly, Riddler is stumped, but Joker says it's only for him and Batman to understand, as the back up story ends.
 
Thoughts: This was a great issue. I mean, to say Scott Snyder has been crushing it is an understatement. I loved the scene on the bridge, the foreshadowing of Joker's guards, which I didn't catch until my re-read for this review, and the awesome scene with Joker wearing Alfred's face, which was just great. I always love seeing the whole group together, and this was the first time we had all four Robins and Batgirl all in once place if I'm not mistaken, it may have happened during Court of Owls. And anytime Jason is written by someone not Scott Lobdell, I consider that a huge plus. If I had any problems here, it would be the way Babs seemed to be so calm, I mean one second she's asking Bruce if it's true.. then she says he came after her mother. Anyone that read those Batgirl issues knows he knows that's her mom... so why even ask if he knows the truth? That bothered me a bit, but the seeds were planted for Riddler to take the villain role in the next arc, and I'm still curious about what Joker has in the little book he flashed in issue 14, all in all this was a great story that continues to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Score: 9.5/10 

Damian: What would you have us do, stay here in the cave?
Jason: Pfft. Like it's secure
Bruce: It's secure.
Jason: Tell that to Alfred.

Batman and Robin #15

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Hey Guys and Gals, JT here for a second day in a row, continuing the "Death of The Family" festivities, this time with Robin taking center stage. With Bruce obviously wanting to keep his son away from this new, even more psychotic Joker, let's see what happens when they finally meet again.


Batman and Robin #15

Summary: This issue does a great job of picking up where Batman #15 left off, with Damian talking to Titus about how Damian's the only one that sided with Bruce during the spat in the last issue, and "The Wing, Reds and the Girl" act as if they've never had anything happen on their watch. Damian decides to look for clues with Titus, and Titus sniffs out some urine left behind and Damian tests the urine, which comes up as Hyena urine, causing Damian to get in his work clothes and head to the Gotham Zoo. When Robin gets there to inspect the Hyena exhibit, someone unlocks the cages electrically and the Hyenas attack Robin. Damian takes them out but was bitten by one, and they apparently had a mild Joker Toxin on them, which knocks Robin out, causing him to fall through the roof of the aviary. When he regains consciousness, Joker is hanging over him, wearing his face upside down, which is a hell of a creepy visual. Joker flips down and taunts Robin, saying how he used a more mild Toxin this time, so Robin wouldn't be stiff as a board, like last time, when Robin hit Joker with a crowbar. Joker restrains Robin from the ceiling while walking among a ton of dead birds and such, then shows Damian a video of him torturing Alfred, to which Damian says he's going to break a solemn promise, he's going to kill The Joker. Joker doesn't seemed worried in the least, and continues to say that Robin, Nightwing and the rest are simply holding Batman back from his full potential, as now he has to worry about a ten year old while he's out trying to be the best Batman he can be. Their a burden and Batman is tired of having to watch over them, being run ragged, and he's there to make sure they don't use him all up and there's none left for Joker. But Jokes says he's a horrible guest and he hasn't even offered any food to his poor, starving Robin. He pulls a rope and drops a ton of Beetles, Earthworms, Caterpillars and the like for Robin. Damian frees himself and heads for Joker as Joker exits the cage they were in, locking Robin in. Robin says he isn't afraid of Joker, and Joker says he knows, Batman's biggest fear is being responsible for the death of Robin, and Robin's biggest fear is being responsible for the death of Batman. As he says this, the bugs all come together and form Batman somehow, ready to attack Robin, as this issue closes.
 
Thoughts: Man.... this was fantastic. You wouldn't think the guy with the least amount of history with Joker would have such a strong tie-in issue. That's a testament to the great job Tomasi did here, I especially loved the fact he mentioned Joker's last run in, which happened back with Dick was Batman. Also, Patrick Gleason may have succeeded, or is at least tying with Capullo for the creepiest Joker so far, because him wearing his face upside down was an excellent touch, but it came off like a mask here more than a face, which makes sense. It's been detached, and now he's been wearing it, it's obviously falling apart, decaying and such, so when it finally DOES come off and we see his face (in the main series, no doubt) It's going to be deliciously gruesome. That stuff aside, the ending lost me, I mean, I know this is Gotham and everything but the bugs turning into Batman...how did that happen? Someone please explain to me, is he confused due to Fear Toxin or something? That aside, I really enjoyed this issue.

Score: 8.5/10 

The Joker: Don't you see--You're the Batman's burden. He's tired of holding all of you--propping you up!

Avengers #1

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So, Jonathan Hickman...  Truth be told, I dropped the Fantastic Four and Ultimates comics because I just couldn't take his Morrison-esque writing style.  Hopefully him getting away from Reed Richards who seems to be a huge crutch for Hickman) will make this a more enjoyable read for me.

Avengers #1

Summary: Some random villain named Ex Nihilo decides to make Mars a lush planet with new lifeforms.  He's joined by some woman named Abyss and a robot named Aleph.  Before starting his terraforming of Mars, he randomly blasts Earth with some terraforming bombs, which naturally brings the Avengers(the movie version in this case) to Mars.  The villains easily defeat the Avengers and Ex Nihilo drops Captain America back on Earth, just because, I guess.  Cap, recalling an earlier conversation with Iron Man about making the Avengers larger, puts out a call to all sorts of obscure heroes because nowadays everybody gets to be an Avenger.  And a slew of random characters show up answering Cap's call, ending this one.

Thoughts:  Well, this was what I feared...  Hickman seems like he wants to be Grant Morrison, but he actually makes LESS sense than Morrison!!!  It's awful.  After reading this issue, I'll be dropping new Avengers from my pull list(before it even releases!) and will put the series on a VERY short leash.  I have a terrible feeling within a few months the unthinkable will happen and I'll be longing for the simpler days of Bendis as the Avengers writer...  Naturally, if you were a fan of Hickman's work on Fantastic Four and FF, I have no doubt you'll enjoy this, because he's moving in the same direction here.  If not?  Good luck...

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

Avengers Assemble!

New Comic Day! December 12th edition.

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Hey there X-Maniacs, X here to welcome you to this week's New Comic Day post.  We are rapidly approaching the end of 2012, which means it's almost time for the FIFTH annual X's Untitled Year End Awards post!  This year with 100% more JT!  I can't believe this is gonna be the fifth year end awards post I've done...  I've been doing this blog for almost half a decade!!!  Crazy...  Expect some more on the year end post in the coming days/weeks.  But that's for later.  Right now it's time to see what I'll be picking up at the comic shop in a few...  Batman #15, Grifter #15, Superboy #15, Team 7 #3, Clone #2, Walking Dead #105, Amazing Spider-Man #699.1, Avengers Arena #1, Cable and X-Force #1, Dark Avengers #184, Fantastic Four #2, Iron Man #4, Ultimate X-Men #20, Winter Soldier #13, Scarlet Spider #12...  So a few books higher than what I usually take home in a week...  I will say one thing, since when did Marvel switch from the whole bi-monthly thing to putting books out on a weekly basis?!  First All-New X-Men last week, now Iron Man!?  Please Marvel, it's right around Christmastime!  I need SOME money for gifts!  The three books I'll be reviewing this week will be Avengers Arena #1(PLEASE don't suck.  Even though I'm sure you will...), Cable and X-Force #1 and Walking Dead #105.  I'll probably do them in that order, with my review days being Friday, Sunday and Tuesday this week.  And that's it for me.  Next up is that lovable little scamp JT and his comics for the week.  Until next time, X out.

Thanks for that awesome introduction X, I am that lovable scamp that is JT and this is my half of the NCD post! Like X said, the Year End Awards, or X-apalooza...as no one refers to it are rapidly approaching, and for the first time ever, I'll be contributing, which is pretty awesome considering I just happened to find this blog by pure chance about three years ago, now I'm a co-contributor and X is one of my best friends, zany eh? Anyway, this week's comic haul for me includes Batman #15, Batman and Robin #15, Walking Dead #105, Amazing Spider-Man #699.1, Avengers Arena #1, Iron Man #4, and Scarlet Spider #12. So with seven books, and X already reviewing two of them, you can expect me to review Batman, Batman and Robin and Amazing Spider-Man #699.1! My review days are Thursday, Saturday and Monday, and you can expect Batman #15's review this Thursday. Now, that's it for me, until next time, this is JT, signing off!

Mimosa Blackhawk Giant Edition 3

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This is Blackhawk Giant Edition 3, published by Mimosa (SA Magazine Co) +/- 1963-1964.
It reprints the cover and the following 2 stories from DC Comics' Blackhawk 186 (1963):
"The Super Blackhawks of the Secret Dimension"
"The Riddle of the four clues"
Also reprinted is the following 2 stories from DC Comics' Blackhawk 109 (1957):
"The Avalanche King"
"The Raid on Blackhawk Island"
 48 pages, colour cover, black-and-white interior pages (259x179mm).

 Here is the cover of issue 3 and DC Comics' original cover:
 See Also:
Mimosa Comics
Mimosa Blackhawk Giant Edition Series

Atlas Publications 77 Sunset Strip 3

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77 Sunset Strip was a US Television series from 1957-1964. Dell and Gold Key produced comic books based on this series, from 1960-1963.
Comics Series creators:
Writers: Eric Friewald (who also wrote for the show)
Artists: Alex Toth, Russ Manning.

This is South African Reprint Atlas Publications 77 Sunset Strip 3 from 1963. 

Cover of issue 3 and the original cover of  77 Sunset Strip Dell Four-Color Series #1263 from 1961:
 See Also:
Atlas Publications

Unlimited Comics The Amazing Spider-Man 1

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Thanks to Supercomix & Unlimited Comics Collector Ravi for these scans of the Unlimited Comics The Amazing Spider-Man 1 from 1983.
Contact Me or Ravi if you have any similar titles for sale:
NaidooRavie@elec.durban.gov.za

Cover of issue 1 and Marvel Comics' Original Cover of The Amazing Spider-Man 210:
 Ads - ET Atari game:
 Ads - Star Trek board game and Superhero T-Shirts:
 Subscription ads:
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Unlimited Comics
Supercomix Spiderman

Amazing Spider-Man #699

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Hey everyone, JT here, the quicker, better talking, better blogging, better LOOKING, all around just better blogger. And, now that my grand introduction is out of the way, let's get to the reviewing shall we? Today's review is the third to last issue of Amazing Spider-Man (thanks to 699.1) and after the huge revelations of #698, let's see how things worked out for... Doc Ock in this issue.

Amazing Spider-Man #699

Summary: We start things off with Peter dying in Dock Ock's body, but luckily the doctor's on the raft save him due to their Hippocratic oath, but make it known they aren't happy about doing so. From there, Peter frantically thinks of a way he can get his body back, but not before thinking of all the evil that Otto can do as him, not only as Spidey but as Peter Parker as well. He then realizes that since Otto has his memories, he may be able to get Otto's memories as well. Turns out he's right, and after living through a backhand Otto took from his dad as a child, and a horrible memory that involved Otto, Aunt May, and pre-wedding...festivities, Peter finds what he's looking for, how Doc Ock got into his mind. Turns out when Peter used he helmet that Doc Ock used to control his Ock-Bots, most recently in Ends of the Earth, he was giving Doc access to his mind, and he used the last bits of his time to make a Gold Ockbot (which we'd seen, and which Madame Web warned Peter about a few issues ago) to inject Spidey for the switch, which it did after the Hobgoblin fight, when Pete's Spider-Sense was still on the fritz. Peter uses Doc Ock's mind to get the Gold Ockbot moving again and manages to get it to a computer where he basically offers six million dollars to people who can help him break out of the Raft, a risky idea but the only way Peter can escape. While he does this, the Lizard tells Doctor Octopus, since he's supposed to die soon anyway, that he's actually found a cure, and he's Curt Conners in the Lizard's body, fulfilling his penance, but he needed to tell someone, so who better than the dying man? Peter's gambit pays off when Hydro-Man, Scorpion and The Trapster (Formerly known as Paste-Pot Pete) show up and break Doctor Octopus out, hooking him up to a portable life support machine that The Trapster made. They then ask Ock who's next, as the plan is to break out two more people, thus making a new Sinister Six. Alistair Smythe and Morbius plead to be released by Peter (as Ock) says no one else is broken out, but he offers the Lizard a chance, who of course turns him down, now that Connors is in control. The...um... Fearful Four I guess, escape from the Raft via a portal and the issue ends as Doctor Octopus says they need to catch Spider-Man, and they need him alive.

Thoughts: Slott does it again! The last issue of Spidey was genius, we got a full issue of Otto as Peter, now we got to see Peter as Otto and how he dealt with the situation. The thing I love most is that there's a time limit now, Peter doesn't have long to try to get his body back, and that's the interesting thing. The fact he had to rely on villains to break him out shows how bad things have gotten for Peter, hell, even Paste Pot Pete was there! Also, I loved that Slott mentioned their meeting, which took place in the excellent Human Torch/Amazing Spider-Man mini-series he wrote. Another interesting thing about this issue, the whole Connors/Lizard thing... I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Superior Spider-Man has claws for scaling walls... maybe there's a relation there with The Lizard controlled Connors? Once again Slott gave us an issue where he answered questions and made us ask even more, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.It was as good as the last issue, but it was damn close.

Score: 9/10 

Doc Ock (Peter): Dear lord, my life in the hands of Paste-Pot Pete. How does this get any worse?

Thunderbolts #1

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Unlike Avengers #1, this is a book I'm actually looking forward to.  Dan Way as the writer, and an interesting bunch of characters here.  I'm not sure how a character like the Punisher will work in this book, but removing character logic, this line-up looks sweet!  Let's delve into things and see what we've got.

Thunderbolts #1

Summary: We kick off with Punisher, having been captured in a warehouse, being met by Thunderbolt Ross(the Red Hulk).  Ross wants the Punisher to join a team he was putting together, a team that understood that you couldn't simply lock criminals away, you had to cut them out of society.  From there, we see Ross approaching Venom, Deadpool(who does have a history of enlisting in government projects), and Elektra.  Back with Punisher, Ross tells him that there were about 400 mobsters heading to his location and that he had to decide quickly.  Ross offers Punisher an escape route, but since it's Punisher, he wants to confront and kill the mass of mobsters heading his way.  With that, Ross Hulks out and the two decimate the mobsters, ending this issue.

Thoughts:  Now this?  This was SO much better than Avengers!  The story made sense, it was a fast, easy read, in other words, it was everything Avengers wasn't.  I really don't have a huge attachment to Hulk, or the Hulk-related characters(with the exception of She-Hulk), and as such have never had a problem with Ross as the Red Hulk.  My one complaint would have been that he wasn't Avengers material(which is kind of a moot point now since EVERYBODY is Avengers material nowadays apparently), but this?  Ross leading a group of soldiers and mercenaries against villains?  This is the perfect spot for him.  Even Punisher joining made sense...  Or at least as much sense as Punisher on any team COULD make sense.  I still don't see Punisher working with the likes of Elektra and Deadpool, but the soldier in him may be willing to listen to Ross...  For a time.  Anyway, I think this book could be a HUGE sleeper title, and I look forward to seeing how long it takes before Punisher is trying to kill his teammates.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Gah!  Mimes...