My Favorites From 2011

On a personal level 2011 was a another tumultuous and hellish year for me.  However it was a great year for the various “geeks” trapped in my head.

Comic book Geek:

DC comics decided to relaunch their entire universe. The event mini series “Flashpoint” put an end to the previous DCU and jump started the new DCU or DCNU.   This was a ballsy move for DC and so far it has worked. At least as far as sales are concerned.  I will admit that as a whole I prefer the pre-flashpoint DCU to the new one. However, the wingnut in me was thrilled with the relaunched Nightwing book.  So far it has contained the best Nightwing stories I have read since the good old days when Chuck Dixon wrote the book back in the 90′s.  Another stand out book for me was Frankenstein Agent of SHADE.  It is just a fun comic book to read.  Frankenstein leads a team of monsters against crazy threats from other dimensions.  If you haven’t tried that book yet then you are missing out.

 

Marvel’s Ultimate line was on fire this year. Not only did Peter Parker in the Ultimate Universe die but a new Spider-Man emerged. Jonathan Hickman has written some great stuff in the Ultimates while Nick Spencer has scripted some amazing stories in X-Men.   In the main Marvel Universe Wolverine’s black ops team Uncanny X-force has also been a great read.

The only indie comic I got into this year was IDW’s Dungeons and Dragons comic. It translated everything I enjoyed about the game into a highly entertaining and well written comic.

Gaming Geek:

This year I drifted away from miniature gaming and back to tabletop role-playing.  The Heroes of Shadow book for 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons offered some great options for players.  It added several interesting classes like the Assassin, Vampire and Black Guard.  It also added some new races and some interesting options for the existing classes. Nethermancy anyone?

Movie Geek:

This was a great year to be a comic book fan as many of this past years best movies were pulled  from the pages of the funny books.  Thor is my “movie of the year”. I also loved Captain America and Cowboys and Aliens.

The movie Immortals made my greek mythology nerd happy and it also demonstrated how awesome over the top CGI gore can be.

Music Geek:

Some of my favorite bands released great albums this year. Opeth’s “Heritage” is amazing.  Evanescence rocks it on their new album. Amy Lee once again makes me wish that I had a vagina so that I could fully emote with her…Don’t tell anyone I said that.  On the Christian front Sleeping Giant put out a metalcore record with some crushing rifts and non seeker friendly lyrics. “Kingdom Days in an Evil Age” crushes compromise.   Becoming the Archetype’s “Celestial Completion”  proved once again that Christians can make excellent Proggessive death metal!

 

TV Geek A.K.A I can’t get a date so I watch:

To be honest it has been a while since I found a TV show that I get excited about watching. Like most people i’ll watch the occasional episode of one of the CSIs or NCISes to pass the time.  I don’t go out of my way to catch them though.  The show Person of Interest caught my interest. It has everything I love in it: drama, action, mystery and a compelling back story that is slowly unfolding throughout the series.  It helps that it stars two of my favorite actors: Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson. I have noticed a few other LOST alums popping up throughout the course of this show.

Now all of the geeks that are trapped inside of my brain have had their voice.   What have you guys enjoyed most this year?

Reviews!

This week was a light comic book week for me. The only books that came out that I normally get were Ultimate Comics Ultimates #4 and the second issue of the Legion of Super-Heroes Secret Origin mini-series. On a whim I picked up Avenging Spider-Man #1. For me this week belonged soundly to Marvel. Read on to find out why:

Legion Of Super-Heroes Secret Origin #2

This was the second issue of a “Secret Origins” mini series for the Legion written by Paul Levitz who is currently writing the Legion Of Super-Heroes ongoing book.  So far this has left me seriously underwhelmed.  In this issue the eccentric rich old guy bankrolling the Legion( RJ Brande) is the target of several assasination attempts. All of which are foiled by the Legion.  Levitz tried for some humor between Saturn Girl and Brande. Let’s just say that Levitz is not a comedian and move on.   The art is far from the eye candy that one expects from comic book artists.  It isn’t bad but it isn’t good either. It is bland. The inks and coloring on this book are bland as well. In fact there is nothing note-worthy about this comic at all. If you want to read a good Legion of Super-Heroes book than check out Legion Lost or Legion of Super-Heroes. Stay far away from “Secret Origin”.

Grade: 4 out of 10

Ultimate Comics Ultimates #4

The fourth issue of the Ultimates was a solid comic.  Esad Ribic’s excellent pencils perfectly potray the epic story that Jonathan Hickman is telling. The characters are expressive, the tech looks “cool” and Thor is pissed!  All of which makes for great storytelling.  The stakes are high for the Ultimates. I can’t wait until the next issue! This is worth a read.

Grade: 8 out of 10.

Avenging Spider-Man #1

Finally we have Avenging Spider-Man #1. This comic is what so may other comics aren’t today. It is a fun read! This is going to be a team up book where Spidey teams up with different Marvel heroes to stop the bad guys from doing what bad guys normally do.  This first arc is a team up between Spider-Man and the Red Hulk.  Zeb Wells did a fanatstic job scripting this book. The humor is top notch as is the adventure.  To put it bluntly he made me interested in a story that has the Red Hulk in it. I hate the Red Hulk. I think his creation is one of the dumbest things Marvel has done in the last ten years. Yet I loved this comic! I even started to care about this Hulk. That my friends is good writing.   The reason I gave this book a chance is becuase it is drawn by one of my favorite artists Joe Madureira.  His art did not dissapoint.  The action and the characters are bueatifully pencilled.  If I were to recomend any comic book to someone right now it would be Avenging Spider-Man.  

Grade 10 out of 10

I had two great books from Marvel and one dud from DC this week. Marvel wins this week. 

 

Good Stuff In September

I am back. For some reason I feel compelled to keep this blog going. I tried to update earlier this month using a crappy laptop and let’s just say things didn’t work out. I hate that laptop. It will not be on my “good stuff in September” list.  So what did I enjoy this past month?  I’ll start with some of my favorite comics.

DC relaunched all of their books this past month and I picked up quite a few of them.  My favorite relaunch titles are a tie between Nightwing and Justice League International.  As a long time Wingnut seeing Dick back in action as a wiser and more competant Nightwing was a welcome sight.  The writer of this book gets Nightwing and truly seems to understand and love the character.  It seems that the days of having terrible writers on this book are long over.  Justice League International I picked up on a whim. After I read it I immediatly added it to my pull list.  In this comic the U.N decided that they want a Super hero team of their own that they can control. So they assemble a group of heroes and send them on their first mission.  It was a great read and I look forward to future issues.  

 

 

Honorable mention goes to Justice League Dark.  You can’t go wrong reading any Justice League book right now.  I have also enjoyed Marvel’s relaunch of their Ultimate Universe. All four of those books have been an excellent read and it is nice to be able to follow an entire universe.  I hope the Ultimate line stays small and streamlined. It is everything the Marvel universe isn’t right now.  The Ultimate U is entertaining and engaging.  In this universe we have new Spider-Man, an outlaw team of X-men and all sorts of insanity happening to the Ultimates.  Great stuff!

Finally, two bands I like put out great records. Sleeping Giant put out a record called “Kingdom Days in an Evil Age” .  It is no holds bar in your face Christian metalcore. This is the way more spiritual bands should approach their music. It is crushing and encouraging at the same time.

 Opeth also released a great record. It is a lot different from their past efforts and I think that is one of the reasons I love it so much.  It has more of a folk feel while remaining dark as ever.  The muscicianship on this album blows me away with each listen. In case for some reason you don’t know….. Opeth is not a Christian band. I listen to the music I like regardless of religious affiliation. They are just good ole heathen music….  I didn’t want someone to pick up “Heritage” and expect some awesome Jesus loving songs….

So that is what was good for me in September.  Next month is Halloween! I love this time of year.

The Summer of Death, Mayhem and Reboots!

For comic book fans this has been one insane summer so far. *Spoiler Alert*  First off we have the Fear Itself event in the Main marvel Universe. While I don’t think anyone knows where this story is headed( Sometimes I don’t think the writer knows where it is going) it has already shaken the Marvel U to its core with the death of Bucky Barnes. Who has been Captain America in the Marvel U for the past couple of years.  I for one loved Bucky as Cap and was sad to see him die…again.

 

 

This of course opens the door for Steve Rogers to be Captain America again. Just in time for the movie!

Then there is Marvel’s Ultimate universe where Peter Parker went to be with Uncle Ben.

 

This opens the door for Marvel to do what they love to do. Put out a brand new onslaught of first issue Ultimate books.  Just in time to compete with DCs big relaunch will I will talk about after the pics of the Relaunched Ultimate books. The big question remains ” Now that Peter is dead who will be Spider-Man in the Ultimate U?”

This version of Spider-Man seems to have picked up his costume at the local Hot Topic…

The biggest news for me as A hardcore DC fan was that after the “Flashpoint” event the DCU will be relaunched. 52 first issues all coming out in September. Either DC is really Brave or really Bold….Pun intended.  Flashpoint has been awesome so far and I look forward to some of the new books that DC will put out in September. The only part that bothers me is that there will be no JSA. Where did the old codger heroes end up? Maybe back on Earth 2? I guess we will find out at some point this fall.

Now for some pictures of some of the first issues hitting stores this September and also some of the costume redesigns.

I think that Africa needs a Bat person…

The Legion of Superheroes looks pretty much the same to me.

 

 

One thing I like about DC’s relaunch is that they will also have the comics available for sale digitally on the day the book hits stores.  As someone who for the longest time lived far away from a comic shop I can see the value in this. I hope that DC is able to expand their audience through this. As for me….well I like holding the comic book in my hand BUT for some event books I might go digital.

To me though half the fun of reading comics is seeing your collection grow. It is fun to end up with entire runs of one’s favorite long lived or short lived series.

Also as a comic book fan I know what I will be buying this fall and what I will not give a second thought too.  I only have so much money to spend on books after all.  DC and Marvel are both giving me a lot of great choices this fall.  I am curious to see how the new Ultimate books will be and how many of DC’s 52 titles survive until next year. It will also be interesting to see if the comic book buying public ends up liking a different set of titles than the digital buyers.

How will this change comics?  I don’t think anyone knows.

The Reboot is officially a Hit With Me

DC Entertainment has released a lot of new info regarding September’s reboot.  I have gone from skeptical to excited for this.  The announcement that Nightwing will be back was a huge boost for me. His new outfit is sleek!

While I have enjoyed seeing Grayson as Batman I think that we all knew deep down that DC really only has one Batman and that is Bruce Wayne.   So far the DC books I will be picking up in September are Nightwing, Green Arrow, Justice League, and Frankenstein Agent of Shade.

If these books turn out to be as good as the cover artwork then this relaunch will be the best thing that DC has done since 1985.  

 

The DCU reboo….err vamp

Last week DC entertainment confirmed that following the current event comic “Flashpoint” the DC universe would be “revamped” and “different”.  Fans will see new creative teams on several books, a few updated costume designs, and DC is relaunching their entire line of books at issue number ones.  In fact from what I have been reading everywhere DC is going to launch 52 new titles in September. My first reaction to the news was a loud “noooo!” After which I contemplated dropping all of my DC books except Flashpoint until the September relaunch. Well I didn’t drop my DC books and after thinking on it I decided that there were a few good things that could come out of this relaunch.   First off a new Justice League America series will be written by DC superstar writer Geoff Johns with Jim Lee on art.  What fan wouldn’t want to read a book with that team on it?!   Plus Geoff is also DC’s creative director so hopefully this book won’t suffer from the editorial nonsense that has harmed it in the past.  No one at DC is going to tell Geoff how to write a comic book. If they try they should be tossed out of a window.

From what info they have released so far I think that I will once again have a readable Green Arrow book to follow.  I love GA but I haven’t really enjoyed his book since back when Judd Winnick was writing it.  I also didn’t like last years relaunch with him becoming protector of the star city crazy forest during Brightest Day. I like him best as a crime fighter with a bow and a big mouth. JT Krul will be penning this series. I have enjoyed everything I have read by him so I am optimistic about this series.

I have a friend that is a huge Aquaman fan. So I am happy for him that a new Aquaman series written by Geoff Johns the awesome will launch in September.

Despite the good that could come out of it I do have a few questions about this move:

1- What will become of Dick Grayson? Will he be de-aged back into Robin? If so what becomes of Tim, Damien and Jason?

2-  Is it wise to relaunch 52 comics  in one month?  So far of the ones i’ve seen mentioned I know for sure that I will read JLA, Green Arrow and Teen Titans.

3- Are the stories I am currently reading useless or will they become events of an alternate universe where Dick and Bruce are Batman? etc.

One thing is for sure about this. It is a ballsy move on the part of DC.  I am just wondering how many of the 52 titles will be able to find an audience.  I suppose that only time will tell and hopefully some things will get clearer the closer we get to the last week in August… When the final issue of Flashpoint drops and nukes the entire DCU.

On a side note Flashpoint is really good.  Read it. Now.

 

 

Labyrinth Lord..Sometimes Simple is Better

Does anyone remember when pen and paper role playing games weren’t lame games about “touchy feely” vampires ? Does anyone remember when one could generate a character without having to agonize over hundreds of different feats and mathematical equations?

I miss the good old days of using my brain in a dungeon instead of just making a search or perception check.   When I actually had to tell the DM where I was looking.  I also miss the feeling that insidious painful death could be around any corner. No healing surges or negative HP I could fall back on.  Zero meant dead.   Well thankfully goblinoid games have given me what I have been searching for. A game called Labyrinth Lord.

Labyrinth Lord is what is called by gamers a “retro clone”. Meaning that its rules and stats are heavily based off of the original Dungeons and Dragons of the 80s. Labyrinth Lord is the basic Dungeons and Dragons of the 80s reborn.   The book is laid out beautifully and it captures the simplicity that is missing from virtually every modern RPG.  I made 3 characters the other night in an hour. Compare that to the one character I can make for Pathfinder or 4e in an hour to two hours.  The class options are simple you can play a Magic User, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Fighter or Cleric.  You don’t have to agonize for hours or over what feats or powers to buff up your character with. You can roll him up and then plunge into the adventure. This game is great for super busy adults that don’t have a lot of time to write up adventures or generate characters. Sometimes it is nice to just get together and have fun.

The combat system is straightforward and easy to understand. Yes you read that right. I would much rather have THAC0 then the overly complex system that Pathfinder and 4e have.  The DM doesn’t have to know all the modifiers for different situations he can just run combat without letting it get bogged down in number crunching.  I have seen that happen WAY to often for my liking. Also there isn’t much to rules lawyer here. So the endless rules debates won’t bog down a campaign.

Perhaps I am just an old geek bastard that prefers having fun over equations or working out my emotional issues through a self proclaimed world of Dorkness I mean err darkness.  I’ll work out my issues when my dwarf buries his axe into the face of an approaching orc.

You can find out more about Labyrinth Lord and the products that are associated with it at goblinoidgames.com. I am going to post a link to their site under the “link” section of this blog.

Another good thing about this game is that it is affordable. You don’t have to shell out a hill giant arm and an ogre leg for 3 to 7 core books. One book has all you need to play.   Wow..simple and affordable. Who would have thought that such a game would be out there?

Fear Itself Review

I’ll confess that I am not a big fan of event comics.  In the past 10 years the only ones that I have enjoyed have been Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night and Civil War.   When it comes to event comics I normally know better than to buy into Marvel’s hype machine and pick up a book like this. Still, the interviews with writer Matt Fraction intrigued me.   Even though it was Fraction’s horrible writing that made me drop Thor.  I figured that he is a “hit and miss” writer for me since I enjoyed what I read of his Iron Man run.

Fear Itself is a giant miss.  The story moves at a snail’s pace. Halfway through this comic I started flipping ahead wondering how much longer this comic was going to lacerate my brain.   The worst part of this book was the scene where the family in Broxton Oklahoma have to leave their home behind because they couldn’t pay their mortgage.  What could have been an emotional scene that added to the overall narrative came off like a third grader trying to put political commentary into an episode of Power Rangers.  This is just one example of how this book is an utter failure.

The art in this comic is hit and miss. Some of the pages look great while others don’t seem to have been inked well.    The scenes with a large cast of characters are eye sores .  A lot of the characters have less definition and detail then I would expect.

With ” Fear Itself” Marvel has once again shown that they cannot put out a good event book.  I will be avoiding future issues of this.

Rating:  2 out of 10

 

My Pulls For 2-16-11

Three comics landed in my box at my Local comic shop this week- Justice League of America #54, Uncanny X-Force #5, and Dungeons and Dragons #4. So how were they? I’m glad you asked….

 

 

Justice League has become the DC book I most look forward to reading every month.  This month’s issue once again kept me wanting more. This is a great “jumping on” point for people that haven’t been following this book. It gives you a brief look at what the JLA has been up to the last couple of months and then it jumps right into the new arc which sees the return of Eclipso.  The focus of this book is Eclipso as he gathers minions for a nefarious plot that has yet to be revealed.  The dialogue between the possessed host and Eclipso not only keeps the story moving forward but it also serves as a great introduction to the motives and origin of the villain.  The art is the best i’ve seen in this book. Rapmunds  inks perfectly compliment Booth’s pencils which creates visually captivating panels that guide your eyes through this brilliant issue.  This was my favorite book of the week.

Uncanny X-Force is the only main Marvel universe book that I am reading right now.  In fact this is the only “X” comic that I have ever had any interest in. I picked up the first issue on a whim and it continues to be a great read. Rick Remender begins a new arc in this issue. It also deals with the ramifications of something that happened at the end of the last issue. Great character work, great artwork, and great stories keep this book on my subscription list. This is THE marvel book that everyone should be reading.

Finally, we have the fourth issue of the new Dungeons and Dragons comic from IDW.  What I love most about this comic is that it truly captures the feel of the game.   I could totally see some of this stuff happening during a tabletop session of D and D.  So far it has been a wild ride for the adventuring party that is featured in this book. They’ve braved Zombies, Orcs, and traps to get to the bottom of the Shadowplague.  I am looking forward to the conclusion of this arc next issue.  This book continues to have a perfect mix of comedy,action and drama.  Another great comic worth picking up if you have a few extra gp handy.

Overall this was a good week for me. I loved all of the books I picked up. It was difficult for me to decide which one was my favorite. Justice League only slightly won out over the other two.

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition Thoughts and Complaints

Dungeons and Dragons has been entertaining nerds since it first came out in the early seventies. It has seen many changes over the years and ownership of the game has traded hands at least once. It is currently owned by Wizards of the Coast.  Wizards is owned by Hasbro.

Two years ago Wizards put out the fourth edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game. Claiming it to be the “best” edition yet.  What fourth edition actually did was split D and D enthusiasts into two groups. One group decided they didn’t like 4th and they either stuck with an earlier edition or went with Pathfinder. Pathfinder is an updated version of third edition Dungeons and Dragons that i’ll talk about in a future article.

So how is 4th really? Does it deserve all of the fan backlash it has received? Is it a worthless edition of D and D?

For a while I wouldn’t go near 4th edition. I figured it was just a lame watered down version of the earlier games.   Recently Wizards decided to put out a “red box”. An earlier edition of D and D that I grew up with also had a red box. So nostalgia got the better of me and I decided to pick it up and give 4th a chance.  

As I read through the materials provided I found myself enjoying and appreciating what they did with the game.  Many have called 4th edition a tabletop MMO and I think that is a partly accurate description. The classes are given strategic designations and each one has a specific part to play during a combat encounter.  What people fail to realize is that to a certain extent past editions have had that in the party dynamic. All 4th did was identify what class works best where.

Another aspect of the game I liked was the way they handled magic this time around. Gone is the annoying spells per day system. It has been replaced by a variety of Arcane “powers”. In fact feats are a completely different beast in 4e. All classes get powers from either the martial, arcane or divine source. Some powers can be used as often as one wants while others can only be used once a day or once an encounter. I like this better for magic users especially. They can now cast Magic Missile at will and as many times as they want. As opposed to casting it once a day and then they somehow forget the spell and have to rememorize it.  I have always hated that about earlier edition Magic users. It never made any sense to me.  The same goes for Divine casters.  I’d much rather have fewer unlimited spells to cast than 20 spells that I can only cast once or twice day a piece.

The combat system for 4th is very detailed yet easy to learn at the same time.  Like its predecessor it makes heavy use of miniatures for combat.

My main beef with both 3rd and 4th edition is that if you want to run combat correctly you need minis and a battle map. The minis aren’t cheap either. Recently Wizards has been releasing cardboard cut outs of monsters and heroes with its boxed sets. It seems like they are getting the idea that expensive books and expensive minis has hurt their sales. Of course with Hasbro owning D and D now it makes a certain amount of sense that they would want to sell more than D and D books.  I always preferred having the action described to me and picturing it in my head to using minis.  I do see the advantage to having them though.  With 3rd edition you could fudge your way out of using minis. With 4th there is no way to run combat without them. The combat system is to involved for that.

Despite its problems and my minor beefs with it I believe that 4th edition is the best game for new gamers.  The concepts behind MMOs will help people familiar with those to be able to understand it and play it faster. Even if someone has never played an RPG of any kind in their life they could pick up the red box and know enough to get a group going in a very short amount of time.

Second and third edition both required hours of studying the rules to truly understand it. 4th not so much. For some the simplicity of the system keeps them away. For others it is an open door to an evening of excitement.

One thing to keep in mind is that fourth edition is completely different than previous editions in a lot of ways.   They cut away a lot of the fat that 3rd edition had with its gobs and gobs of supplementary material and rules.  I hope that with 4th they keep it reigned in.

My final thought on 4th is that if you prefer complexity to simplicity than go with Pathfinder or stick with 3rd.   If you just want a simple game to get into than try 4th.  Be warned though that 4th edition material and 3rd is NOT compatible.

I am not knocking Pathfinder though. It is a great game for long time D and D enthusiasts and i’ll talk more about it next time.