Remember When Comic Books and Fans Were Fun?

Now I have only been actively at this for a few weeks now but I have a few things to say about my recently ventures into community blogging.  I have been on one site, Comic Vine for about 2 years now and I love it there! Its a great community of supportive fans all giving and hearing ideas and commentary about the latest issues as well as old back issues.  Well since I have been trying to promote this site more, I have been going to other comic blog and forum sites to try and get my name and voice out there.

WHAT...A SHOCK TO MY SYSTEM. In the past few weeks I have discovered that not every comic book fan is as open minded as myself and my friends on the Vine.  As I have been interacting with other members of the community and trying to share my thoughts and views, I have been met with a lot of scrutiny and negative feedback.  Now I by no stretch of the imagination think that everyone needs to agree, and I welcome opposing opinions to challenge my own.  I feel that contrasting opinions are what keeps meaningful dialogue going and helps promote deeper thoughts on a topic, but people that just flat out think they are right and others are wrong are just such creative interactions.

When did comic books stop being fun?  Aren't these supposed to be our escape? our release?  I moved past just reading comics and into joining the greater community because I felt like my intense hobby really enriched my life and I wanted to share that with other who felt the same, not for random people to tell me that my opinion is wrong...I get enough of that crap at home :)

Of course this is mostly just one site (which I will not name out of courtesy and respect) but if this is how collectors are getting about their book, thrashing other ideas and hanging artists/writers out to dry, then it begs the question: why bother going online to forums? 

Marvel Anime Trailers

With the Japanese Marvel Animes coming to G4 soon, I wanted to give everyone a look at the trailers for each one.

X-men

Wolverine

Iron Man 

More Mutants! - Avengers: Children's Crusade

OH. MY. GOD!  Well there it is ladies and gents.  The pay off we have been waiting for since the Avengers first Disassembled all wrapped up in a neat little bow.  Now bare with me, we've got a lot to cover here and I don't want to move to quickly...

The Good - We got a few really wonderful moments in this issue.   First, last issue we got Cassie rejoicing the return of her father but in this issue we got to watch him swell with pride to hear not only that his daughter is a superhero but "a good one too".  I personally met Cassie and Scott Lang during their time with the Fantastic Four and always had a fondness for the family so to see them both so happy with love and pride really felt great to read.

There was also the back-to-back action of the double Hawkeyes.  Watching the two glib archers banter at each other in the midst of a very serious situation shows just how much Kate Bishop has earned the name with more then just her eagle eye.

The Bad - I have to say I am hard pressed to find any badness in this series.  The art is flawless and the story has literally left me with tears of excitement more then once.  If I had to have a complaint, it would probably be the bi-monthly release it has going for it.  Now I understand that to everyone else this is all but torture and I completely understand.  I've been using this time in between to build suspense and look forward to the next issue.  With the volumes and volumes of issues that pump out like clock-work every week, I will take a book who's only problem is a longer publication run any day.

And the Wanda - Lets be serious, she gets her own section.  Let me start by saying that I have loved the Scarlet Witch for as long as I have been reading comic books.  Her fiery hair, sassy attitude and "take no s***" personality grabbed me from almost day one.  But I am not someone who needs to see their favorite characters doing the right thing all the time or needs to have them always on the side of the angels.  I was floored by what they did with Wanda during House of M but I loved it all the same and my only concern afterwards was "Where the hell is she?".  Yes we had a few encounters with Beast, Hawkeye, and the Young Avengers but they were all very casual and didnt really tell us anything. 

Well here it all is.  She has her powers, her memories, and most importantly the guilt of murdering several of her teammates including her own husband;  its no wonder that the first thing she tries to do is kill herself.  Enter: Wiccan.  The agitator of this entire series.  When he flew up there to try and talk her down I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but watching the heartfelt scene they both find out the truth of their relationship had my eyes welling up.  It's ironic if you think about it, the entire cause of her meltdown was the realization about the truth of her children and now her salvation is the return to her of those same children (albeit in a bit older).

And who wouldn't understand Madrox's hesitance at putting Rictor at risk, but hearing Rictor talk about losing his connection to the earth its easy to see why he would risk anything.  I really enjoyed Shatterstar's concern over his boyfriend's well being especially since (I was just reading some old X-Force last night actually) in his early appearances he was completely indifferent to the safety of his comrades, even surprising himself the first time he saved Siryn over finishing a fight.

The Concern - This has been one of the best stories that Marvel has put in recent time and I am deathly afraid that, with 3 full issues left in this series, there is still too much time left for Wanda to just be back safe and sound and restoring mutants who want it.  Unfortunately, the "Children's Crusade" seems to be over and there's just enough page space left for them to take back everything they've done in the series.  So I am hopeful that in 6 months (yes thats right, 6 months) when the series ends we still have Wanda and Scott Lang but I worry for their safety.

My Weekly Pull List - 6/29/11

So today I'm adding a new weekly feature: My Weekly Pull List.  Much like on Mondays where I post that weeks releases, this will be what I am picking up for the week.  If I get surprised by anything else I didn't expect to get then I'll let you know later :)

Fear Itself: Black Widow #1
FF#5
Iron Age #1
Uncanny X-men #539
X-men: Prelude to Schism

Sort of a light week for me this week, but that's completely fine with me considering the way they've been killing us with Fear Itself tie-ins.

Hopefully today we will find out what the big menace that's approaching Utopia is...

UPDATE:  How on Earth-616 could I have forgotten Avengers: Children's Crusade!

Captain America : The First Avenger Trailer

Does Magneto's Powers Work on ALL Forms of Metal?

So we obviously know that his powers work on all the normal earth metals like iron, steel, bronze, etc.  And we know that he can manipulate his powers to create gravity fields around non-ferrous objects.  What about the fictional Marvel metals?  Some of them have special properties that could easily lend them to magnetic immunity.

Well we know from the classic X-men (Vol. 2) #25 that it works on adamantium, and I am pretty sure that it works fine on omnium since it is a ferrous alloy.

We also know that it works on that freaky Breakworld metal that Kitty Pryde was trapped in.

But does it work on Uru?  Yeah Magneto can't lift Thor's hammer, but can he grab in magnetically in midair?

What about Vibranium?  With its quasi-mystical properties, does it maybe have a some sort of immunity?

How about Magik and Pixie's Soul weapons and Magik's resultant armor?  Technically they are made of pieces from the girls souls, not metal from a hot forge so theres a very good chance that the magnetic fields don't apply to them.

There are probably instances of Uru and Vibranium being used against Magneto back in his old villain days and I will do some research into it, but I would really like to see the Limbo twins take on the Master of Magnetism if for no other reason then to see his face when his powers fail him against to little girls.  Until of course he finds the nearest most iron-filled boulder and sends it flying into them...

Excalibur...Not Such a Laughing Matter

There are many unsung heroes and series that have fallen by the wayside, either because they never caught mainstream popularity or they were caught short before they were given a proper chance.  Or in some cases, a series is not taken seriously because the general tone of it is simply too silly, this was the case with Excalibur (Vol. 1).  At first it seemed promising with super strong Captain Britain helming a British team with former X-men Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Phoenix, but it quickly degenerated into a farcical sit-com with recurring MarvelUK comedic villains like the Crazy Gang and the Technet which kept serious comic reader from taking this X-men spin-off too seriously.  

Now, I just recently completed my set of Excalibur (Vol. 1) and was able to read the entire original 70 issue run (before it became more X and less England).  And while I can say that yes the hilarity of the situations sometimes overwhelms the gravity of them, if you watch these issues really closely you can find some rather important events and stories in this limey bunch.

First and foremost, it brought a whole new selection of characters to introduce American readers to.  Following the trend started with Psylocke in New Mutants and Uncanny X-men, reader were treated to Captain Britain and his lady love, the empathic metamorph Meggan and their host of enemies including Gatecrasher, Technet, Crazy Gang, Sat-yr-9 as well as friends like Courtney Ross and the Queen's W.H.O.  Aside from these new characters to know and love, we also got to watch the agonizing recovery of Shadowcat and Nightcrawler after the events of the Mutant Massacre and the dramatic return of Phoenix (Rachel Summers) after she was kidnapped by Spiral months earlier in Uncanny X-men.

And speaking of the Phoenix, this volume is where we first got our first taste of the Phoenix Force's true nature and history.  It was here that we learned of the mages Necrom and Feron (whose visions gave the Phoenix the firebird form its keeps to this day).  We also learned the truth about how Rachel traveled physically from the future to our timeline as well as the Phoenix Force's effects on the universe around it.  

Last but certainly not least, Excalibur is where the Marvel Universe first got the designation as Earth-616.  Each Earth in the Multiverse is assigned a Captain Britain variation as its protector and in an issues of Excalibur, Omniversal Majestrix Opal Luna Saturnyne references Brian Braddock as Captain Britain of Earth-616, and this numerical reference has since been widely adopted online and by many (but not all) Marvel writers.

Easily written off as a joke book where they sent Kitty and Kurt to die for a while, the first 70 issue run of this comic book is truly a hidden gem and a definite should read for die hard X-fans.

Marvel Comics On-Sale 6/29/11

All-Winner's Squad Band Of Heroes #1 (Of 8)

Amazing Spider-Man #664

Avengers The Childrens Crusade #6 (Of 9)

Captain America America's Avenger #1

Captain America First Vengeance #4 (Of 4)

Captain America Rebirth #1 (One Shot)

Fear Itself Black Widow #1 (One Shot) (FI)

FF #5 (Mark Bagley Regular Cover)

FF #5 (Skottie Young 'I Am Captain America' Variant Cover)

Incredible Hulk And The Human Torch From The Marvel Vault #1 (One Shot)

Incredible Hulks Annual #1 (One Shot)

Iron Age #1 (Of 3)(Joe Jusko 'Captain Britain' Variant Cover) (IA)

Iron Age #1 (Of 3)(Lee Weeks 'Avengers' Regular Cover) (IA)

Marvel Universe Vs Wolverine #1 (Of 4)

Marvel Zombies Supreme #5 (Of 5)

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160 (Mark Bagley Spoiler Variant Cover)

Ultimate Comics X #5

Uncanny X-Men #539 (Dave Johnson 'I Am Captain America' Variant Cover)

Uncanny X-Men #539 (Simone Bianchi Regular Cover)

Venom #4 (Mike Del Mundo 'I Am Captain America' Variant Cover)

Venom #4 (Mike McKone Regular Cover)

Wolverine The Best There Is #7 (Bryan Hitch Regular Cover)

Wolverine The Best There Is #7 (Michael Kaluta 'I Am Captain America' Variant Cover)

X-Men Prelude To Schism #4 (Of 4) (S)

(FI) = Fear Itself
(IA) = Iron Age
(S) = Schism

Classic Catchphrases

Remember all the hilarious catchphrases your favorite characters used to use before comic writers took themselves too seriously?  I've compiled a great list of the best ones here, click the link below to take a look.

Classic Comic Book Character Catchphrases

Send any suggestions for phrases I've missed to golddustboi09@aol.com subject: Catchphrases.

Psych Profile: Scarlet Witch

So with Children's Crusade more then half over and Wanda with her memory returned, its time to take a look at her mental state.  Read the following letter to Commander Rogers, courtesy of the shrinks at Marvel.com

Psych Ward: The Scarlet Witch