Views of Alex

Surely if this was a 100% adaptation of the game it would get extremely dull and predictable? I liked the way it was told and how things were handled differently in the game/comic. If it was a straight copy, Spidey grabbing tokens would be dull?

Well then Bendis shouldn’t have writ it like he did. With whole new features or things getting dropped. It didn’t bother to answer Sable’s memory or Peter as Carnage. If you’re trying to make something fit into continuity then why make it so very different in places? I don’t want a 100% adaptation, like you said it would be dull. But maybe a panel or two that’s like the game so that we could have got through things quicker and wouldn’t be bogged down by problems.

Grabbing tokens would be dull though XD

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Stuart Immonen 

Fail.

If there was a word that was created to describe this trade it would be fail. If there were many words to describe it, they would be ‘Complete’, ‘Epic’ and ‘Utter’. All do great jobs at giving a quick idea why you shouldn’t buy this book. 

The premise makes it sound great, honestly it does.
”When Spidey’s most fearsome foe strikes, it looks bad for the outmatched web-slinger, but Silver Sable and her Wild Pack may turn the tide! Have they come to save Spider-Man or is their motive something more sinister? Plus: this story adapts, expands and incorporates the hit Ultimate Spider-Man video game (which Brian Michael Bendis just happened to co-write) into Ultimate Spider-Man continuity!” 

Awesome. Seeming as the game didn’t make much sense in continuity (Sable knowing Peter’s identity and then NOT knowing in Volume 15, Peter becoming Carnage), to see Bendis tying this all in together sounded great. Continuity is something great about comics. You can tell stories that go on and on and on and on. Much like that previous sentence. So continuity should be something that kept in check. So why did Bendis fail?

Because he doesn’t tie in together. Lets have an example. Midway through the game, Peter’s spider-sense goes crazy due to Venom being in the area. He jumps to the roof of the Museum they’re in and fights it out with Venom. In the comic book, Venom attacks Peter inside the Museum. What?  THAT DIDN’T. FREAKING. HAPPEN!

Another example is the whole “You have a hole in your butt” conversation between MJ and Peter. It’s funny stuff and got me laughing a couple of times but it doesn’t happen in the game. You get a few remarks and it’s done. Here it’s played out for laughs and has a whole page dedicated to Peter’s butt… hole. 

Now one of these two continuities is correct. What happens in the game or the comic book. I’m going to guess the comic book. It makes more sense and is Bendis’s baby here. So what does that make the game? If I recall, a big selling point was that the game was part of Ultimate Spider-Man continuity. So why have there been 3 arcs that have demolished what the game set up now.

Maybe I’m ranting too much. But I like continuity. It makes me happy. When I’m happy I give good grades. I’m giving this a 3/10 but I can’t be bothered to talk about the good things like Immonen’s art and how Gwen is reintroduced. Or the awesome scene where Eddie is telling his story to a stranger and then eats him. Or the fight between Venom/Peter and the Ultimate’s with Venom/Peter’s monologue. 

Oh damn it. 

Does this mean the wave of Spider-Man hate ends now? >.

On Dan Slott written stories maybe. I was just hating to hate recently but now I’m trying to take a positive outlet. So much that I gave 24/7 as a whole 5/10!

A very Supernatural Christmas

Dammit this was awesome. It was. I’ve held off on this episode since early November so I could watch it at Christmas. Not sad. At all.  And it was totally worth the wait.

It’s a fun little episode that mixes some extreme horror, some great family scenes and and that little Christmassy extra thrown in with a great load of humour. 

Perhaps the best scene was the ending where Sam and Dean gave their Christmas presents to one another. Sam got some Skins magazines from Dean and Dean received some fuel for the Impala and a chocolate bar. A brilliant scene which proved at heart what this show is about, the brothers relationship. Them getting to enjoy Christmas was a great source of happiness which they don’t get all that often. 

And them killing the Pagan Gods with a Christmas tree was hilariously silly. Humour was spread throughout this episode.

Oh you know what I say when I feel like swearing? Fudge!

You fudgin’ touch me again I’ll fudgin’ kill you

Brilliant. The episode had lines and scenes of this quality throughout. 

Flashbacks were also nice to show the brothers when they were 15 years younger. Getting to see how Dean got his necklace was really nice and it’s touching that he still wears it to this day (see above picture). Sam crying after learning Santa wasn’t real and finding his Dad’s true job was heartbreaking.

I can’t think of a single flaw to this episode minus the gore. Seeing Sam’s fingernail ripped off had me quivering due to the pain. Then my arms shook when it was taken which was slightly strange. Dean’s tooth nearly getting clenched out was another moment like that but thankfully the doorbell rang. Thank you Joseph Henry. But I can’t mark that as bad, that’s just me being a girl.

In case you didn’t quite get what I was trying to say, the episode is great. It’s a very standalone episode (minus the references of this being Dean’s last Christmas due to his deal with the Crossroads Demon). I reccomend not only this episode, but will go to say it’s one of my favourite Supernatural episode’s I’ve watched (still got Seasons 5 and 6 to go though). 

Merry Christmas. Bah humbug.

Dan Slott told me I won the internet. Any bad things I’ve said about Brand New Day, I take them back.

Dammit, I wanted to like this. 

Mark Waid, Mike Mcone and Spidey VS Jameson. What can go wrong? 3 things. 

1) Aunt May. Having sex with Jameson SR. First off, Eww. I did not need to see that. Old people having sex. It’s disgusting and it should not be in my comic book. Images side aside, that is not Aunt May. She’s been in a relationship for two months and she’s already under the sheets with him. May wouldn’t do that. She’s a slow woman and I think she would take the relationship with great care and not start sleeping with her man within 2 months. And she doesn’t even talk about Ben to Peter when she had the chance.  If this was 4 months earlier, I’d say she was a Skrull.

2) New Vulture. He’s boring. I had to check back and see what his motives were. He’s going after the Mob. Because they did something to him. Do I get any clarification on what they did to him? Do I get to know why they did it to him? I don’t even get a name for the guy. And he spits acid. Really? 

“Hey fellow Mob members, lets attack this dude and give him the ability to spit acid that blinds people. That’ll show him not to mess with us again”   

Plus he’s randomly in the story. This could have been a great 3 part story if it focused on the Jameson Campaign, Aunt May and Jameson SR and then Spidey coming across some crooks where Norman was. He just seemed to be filler and a plot device to get to where Norman was. Which brings me to my next point…

3) Spidey has been antagonizing Jonah, not sleeping and been fighting New Vultures because of Osborn? It’s a (stupid) twist that comes completely out of left field minus one little reference that’s a throwaway line in the issue beforehand. Give us some more references, in the art perhaps. Have Spidey get thrown through a billboard with Norman’s face on it. Talk to Harry and let Harry mention his father. Something, other than just a one-liner. 

What I did like

The writing- Waid is a fantastic writer and he comes with some witty dialogue in this story. While he slipped up with the whole Osborn thing, for the most part it was good.
Art- Great stuff from Mckone and Kitson.
More development on Aunt May and Jameson SR- While I still don’t buy their sexual habits and May accepting the proposal quite so soon as she did, with the short scene in the park I grew to accept them. This shows what Waid can do as opposed to what something like Dan Slott can. 
Web Umbrella- Nuff said 

Reading this in the UK Reprints, it saddens me not to see the Quesada variants that were put out. Each of them look fantastic and are very cleverly done in terms of what’s on the cover and how it reflects what’s in the issue. Go take a look at them and figure out what I mean.

Overall it’s a very mediocre story. Art has no faults whatsoever, Mckone came out of his mothers womb with a pencil and a sketched version of Spider-Man. It looks fantastic. Writing is great too minus the Osborn inclusion. Story was ‘meh’ at best with several random elements thrown in which weren’t needed. An average of 5. I didn’t hate it, neither did I love it. 

Dammit, I wanted to like this. 

Mark Waid, Mike Mcone and Spidey VS Jameson. What can go wrong? 3 things. 

1) Aunt May. Having sex with Jameson SR. First off, Eww. I did not need to see that. Old people having sex. It’s disgusting and it should not be in my comic book. Images side aside, that is not Aunt May. She’s been in a relationship for two months and she’s already under the sheets with him. May wouldn’t do that. She’s a slow woman and I think she would take the relationship with great care and not start sleeping with her man within 2 months. And she doesn’t even talk about Ben to Peter when she had the chance.  If this was 4 months earlier, I’d say she was a Skrull.

2) New Vulture. He’s boring. I had to check back and see what his motives were. He’s going after the Mob. Because they did something to him. Do I get any clarification on what they did to him? Do I get to know why they did it to him? I don’t even get a name for the guy. And he spits acid. Really? 

“Hey fellow Mob members, lets attack this dude and give him the ability to spit acid that blinds people. That’ll show him not to mess with us again”   

Plus he’s randomly in the story. This could have been a great 3 part story if it focused on the Jameson Campaign, Aunt May and Jameson SR and then Spidey coming across some crooks where Norman was. He just seemed to be filler and a plot device to get to where Norman was. Which brings me to my next point…

3) Spidey has been antagonizing Jonah, not sleeping and been fighting New Vultures because of Osborn? It’s a (stupid) twist that comes completely out of left field minus one little reference that’s a throwaway line in the issue beforehand. Give us some more references, in the art perhaps. Have Spidey get thrown through a billboard with Norman’s face on it. Talk to Harry and let Harry mention his father. Something, other than just a one-liner. 

What I did like

The writing- Waid is a fantastic writer and he comes with some witty dialogue in this story. While he slipped up with the whole Osborn thing, for the most part it was good.
Art- Great stuff from Mckone and Kitson.
More development on Aunt May and Jameson SR- While I still don’t buy their sexual habits and May accepting the proposal quite so soon as she did, with the short scene in the park I grew to accept them. This shows what Waid can do as opposed to what something like Dan Slott can. 

Reading this in the UK Reprints, it saddens me not to see the Quesada variants that were put out. Each of them look fantastic and are very cleverly done in terms of what’s on the cover and how it reflects what’s in the issue. Go take a look at them and figure out what I mean.

Overall it’s a very mediocre story. Art has no faults whatsoever, Mckone came out of his mothers womb with a pencil and a sketched version of Spider-Man. It looks fantastic. Writing is great too minus the Osborn inclusion. Story was ‘meh’ at best with several random elements thrown in which weren’t needed. An average of 5. I didn’t hate it, neither did I love it. 

Venom was nice to and old man. Venom dressed up as Santa. Venom didn’t kill the crooks due to an old lady asking him not too. Venom kissed the old lady on the cheek. Venom swang off singing Christmas songs.

Oh god. 

Stunner VS Crime Master. Go. vote. now.! Now!

Ultimate Comics Avengers
Volume: 1
Issues 1-6
The Next Generation

Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Carlos Pacheco
Colorist: Danny Miki

WARNING: Spoilers aplenty in the review. 

Another reboot, another new series. The original writer of the Ultimates- Mark Millar as returned in his rightful place. Loeb, your work on DC is awesome (that’s what I’ve heard, I’ve never actually read the damn stuff) but you’re not needed here. Millar as the reigns. We’re good here.

And the reigns are instantly recognizable. Classic Millar, over-exaggeration in multiple places and the dialogue is full of insults and one-liners. Here describes a woman having to kill her husband with scissors

It took an hour and a lot of screaming but she finally put him out of her misery

Hmm, an hour? Really. Ok. I’m not buying it but it doesn’t detract from the story which is great. The inclusion of the Red Skull is something I’m surprised hasn’t happened already. Captain America has had a prominence in this title since Day 1 and the Red Skull has always been one of his major villains in the 616 universe (regular universe for you non-nerds).  The Red Skull being Cap’s son is a stroke of genius and originality. How he got his bloodied face and name is perhaps one of the most imaginative and downright sick idea’s I’ve ever seen. But it’s brilliant. 

To show this sick and twisted villain is artist Carlos Pacheco. Now I love his art, it looks great, it’s clear and dramatic in all the right places. I just don’t want him on this book. I want Bryan Hitch back. Can you imagine the above panel (and for anyone who has read the book) panels where you see the shadows of him knifing his face off, drawn by Hitch. It would have been insanely realistic. Maybe too realistic but still would have looked incredible. This is no fault on Pacheco, I love the guy’s work. I just want Hitchy back. If we can get Bagley to reunite with Bendis for this coming Ultimate Spider-Man event, we can get Hitch back for UCA!

Lots of new things are brought to the front also. Including Tony Stark’s brother. Who is a jerk. One of his quotes being…

Small talk with me should always be booked at least two months in advance

Yeah. Over-exaggeration makes it’s appearance again. Tony makes a very limited appearance in this volume, we never get to see him and his brother meet . When this day comes however, I look forward to it. 

However, I have a complaint, like UCSM, it’s in the final issue. Part of me thinks that maybe the guys plotting these issues decided to make all 5 issues stand out and then sink on the final hurdle. Here we get an awesome scene of Cap impaling the Red Skull with a plane. A PLANE! Unfortunately, in that sentence I was not allowed to use the world ‘killed’. Because this happened…

Waaaaht? He gets shot in the head when on the brink of death? By a nobody? Just before this we got sympathy for the Skull (which all in all, didn’t make all that much sense). He got such a lame death. Getting killed by his father, stabbed by a freaking plane, that would have been a way to have gone out. When I die, I want to be stabbed by a plane.

Overall, this is great stuff. It looks nice, it’s Millar as you know him and some of the originality he brings is genius. Minus your anti-climatic conclusion and you have a near perfect first volume which is 10x better than Ultimates 3. But Millar could have written a story where the team face off against a piece of shit and it would have been better than Ultimates 3.
8/10 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
Volume: 1
Issues: 1-6
The New World according to Peter Parker

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: David Lafuente
Colorist: Justin Ponsor

This review contains spoilers. Be warned. 

An incredibly positive start to the new series after an end to one of the best comic books of the last decade. It’s Bendis so quality is pretty much promised. The Ultimate world is where Bendis shines. Bendis dialogue fits perfectly here, it’s quick, fast and slang words are prominent. All fit for a teenager, not Dr Strange over in New Avengers world. There are some hilarious quotes to be had, especially an argument between Peter’s manager and Peter where they argue over wearing the hat that is part of his dress uniform in the fast food place where Peter works.  

“It gives me hat hair”- Peter Parker

Gone with this new volume is Stuart Immonen whose art I was never really fond of. Here we get David Lafuente who has an awesome surname. And he has awesome art too. It looks similar to both Bagley and Immonen’s art and it looks pretty damn good. His Spider-Man in particular, if you can ignore the balloon head that is. Look at it, it’s so… round… And Peter Parker’s hair. It’s incredibly long. I’m not quite sure if that’s an art or writing due to MINI SPOILERS: it being a concern in the next arc but it’s freakishly long. 

One thing I applaud Bendis one is the end of the first issue. Mysterio appears and within minutes kills the Kingpin. Yeah, that same Kingpin who’s been around since Issue 9 and been one of the leading villains in the entire Ultimate Spider-Man series. Dead, gone, just like that. Mysterio has made his mark and shown that he is a force to be reckoned with. Bravo to Bendis for setting Mysterio up like this and killing off the Kingpin. And Ultimate Mysterio? He looks bad-ass. 

My one negative, it’s final issue. A giant robot attacks Peter in the high school. Really? It reminded me of Amazing Spider-Man 8 where the Living Brain Robot attacks Spider-Man in the school. For such a great 5 issues it was disheartening to see this end on a poor note. The final pages were great though and very Nolan-esque with a huge explosion. 

Overall, I highly reccomend this. You don’t need great knowledge of the previous series, just aptly named Ultimate Spider-Man but to not read those would be a great disservice as they are all awesome. After the crap that was Ultimatum, the Ultimate universe is back to greatness again. 8.5/10 

Companions

Written by Sholly Fisch.
Art by Robert Brown and Joshua Hood 

A sweet short start to these 12 Days. Its the first Christmas since the Death of Aunt May and Willie Lumpkin goes to visit her grave. After much heartfelt talk and a small chase after a rose, the short story ends as Willie meets a new friend, Doreen.

Awww, it was nice. Art was excellent by Brown and Hood, clear and fit the Christmas style with bright colours. A few panels could be done as a nice Christmas card. Writing was good also and you could feel Willie’s emotion as he lamented about May. Him meeting Doreen was sweet too and the final panel with May watching over them was great.

But she wasn’t actually dead at this point so this issue just makes me want to punch Howard Mackie in the face for ruining that final panel. Bah humbug.

At £45, all 7 Seasons of The Shield are look incredibly tempting…