Saturday, August 13, 2011

I'll Be Right Back... - Review Fear Itself #5


Like many of the issues of this exhausting crossover, this book was kind of a mixed bag.  So let's breakit down shall we?

The Bad: Well let's start with the 5 page recap (6 if you count the actual recap at the beginning).  I mean did we really need to spend the first 5 pages of story showing that Steve is Cap again, Tony is drunk and begging with Odin for weapons, and Thor is getting the snot beat out of him by Hulk and Thing...we saw all this!  For all my bitching and moaning, I (and I suspect everyone else) am still buying all the issues in this storyline so did did we really need to read it again in the main book?  And I could do with a little less of Sin prattling on and on about killing Bucky Barnes in her half Asgardian speak.  Its getting to be a bit much wouldn't you agree?  But the thing that's at the top of my "The Bad" list today is Steve Rogers, only back as Captain America for minutes, giving up right in front of the troops he's supposed to be leading.  And this wasn't like when he gave up at the end of Civil War for the good of everyone else, no, this was, "Yeah I let Spider-man go home to see his family (which none of you have obviously) because, well honestly guys, there's no way were winning this one."  I'm sorry, but did I just hear that right?  Did Captain America, leader of National (and possibly World) Security just give up the fight in the of an actual Blitzkrieg?  UH NO! Epic Fail Marvel...

The Good: The Shattering of the shield? Awesome!  Yes I know its happened before and call me a fan boy but its intense and exciting EVERY TIME.  Also, the huge hold being blown through Thing by Mjolnir? WOW.  I know some people think that should have gone under "The Bad" but it was a stunning scene and led to possibly my favorite development in the issue...ACTUAL PLOT ADVANCEMENT.  For a few months now we have been watching the Worthy Ravage the entire world.  Not just a city or two like usual, but many of the world's major cities have been leveled or otherwise destroyed.  Now as exciting as that all can be, it all has to lead somewhere eventually right?  I mean we've got Sin taking down Washington and New York, while Grey Gargoyle takes down Paris, Juggernaut rampages across the entire country, and The Serpent himself floats a castle above it all, but whats actually happened or going to happen?  Well as Franklin uses his powers he heal Ben Grimm, revealing his powers to his Uncle, he also freed him from the possession of The Serpent.  Finally we might get some answers! Who knows what he might remember, but more importantly its the first time during this war that a Worthy has been actually stopped instead of moved.  I am hoping that the last two issues (and related tie-ins) really give us some answers because up until this issue its just been a lot of mindless carnage. 

As I keep saying I DO love this storyline, but its got gaping holes in the action that Marvel has chosen to replace with lots of pointless tie-ins.  Its nice to finally see some headway being made in the battle against the Worthy, and I look forward to seeing what Ben can bring to the table from his time as Angrir.  Unfortunately for me I think that the good stuff I saw in this issue was overshadowed by Cap and Spidey's HIGHLY uncharacteristic behavior.  I'm sorry but everyone in this battle has friends and family that they are worried sick about, that is no reason to run from the battlefield or vocally give up in front of the forces you are leading.  A very disappointing day for Captain America and Spider-man fans.

Friday, August 12, 2011

My Visit to Marvel!


Everyone has the person or place that they if/when they go, its like Mecca.  For movie buffs maybe its the Chinese Theatre in L.A. or the Walk of Fame.  For gamers, maybe they get weak in the knees for E3 or the Square-Enix headquarters.  Well for me, who thought they were above such star-struck nonsense, it turns out that my weakness, SURPRISE! is walking into the office of Marvel Comics earlier this week!  

This all started a few months back, some of you might remember me writing about how my friend got me thinking of how might I get more involved with the comic book community and industry.  Well that conversation and subsequent blog has led to all kinds of fun developments!  First and foremost of course is my blog site, GoldDustBoi's House of Ideas,, but I also started my eBay store, my Facebook fan site, and Twitter feed as well as regularly posting on as many boards as I can find.  I also, on a whim, decided to check out Marvel's job listings on their own website.  As it turns out they weren't hiring for anything I was qualified for, but they were looking for interns to work there for college credit.  What many people on this site might not know is that, in addition to my diligent comic book blogging, I have also been working hard to return to school and earn my business degree, and come this Fall I will be attending Fairleigh Dickinson University.  So, to me, this seemed like the perfect chance to combine my two passions into one and excel further in both.  After a few weeks, I heard back from the original House of Ideas to schedule an interview, and my hopes began to soar!  

After two arduous weeks (during which I had a difficult move from one apartment to another), the day of my interview arrived.  I got my "business casual" best on, paced around the apartment for a while, and headed to, what many of us consider, the Mecca.  As I arrived downstairs, I tried to keep as cool as I could as I told the security guard, "I'm here for an interview at Marvel Comics" and pretended not to notice him snickering at my sweaty nervous self.  When I got to the office and checked in with the receptionist my first feeling was, "I'm actually here!  Do Not Throw Up!".  Sitting down with my application (because even at Marvel you still need to fill out an application) the first thing I noticed was instead of the usual boring magazines, there was a rack of comic books on the wall.  I thumbed through them, nothing too special just random issues from the last 5 or 6 years, and wondered, if only for a second, if they would really notice one missing.  Quickly dismissing that, I waited not-so-patiently for my name to be called as I scanned every face that passed hoping to see some icon or another, but alas none graced my presence.  Then I saw two people coming out of the hallway and I caught jsut enough of their conversation to know that the young man was sending some sort of files to her later that day, and then the young woman came over to me.  My first thought at that exact moment is, "What files could he be sending her?  Should I have some sort of files to send her? Oh crap I am so out of my league here."

She led me through the hallway, which to me could have been a whirlwind, as I stared at walls lined with comics and memorabilia, much of which I own, but in the most pristine and preserved condition.  Now I know what "Mint Condition" means. As I looked around the office of people I noticed how happy and friendly everyone looked while they conversed, and got the genuine feeling that this was an exciting and fun place to be!  I was led into one of a row of conference rooms (each named after a Marvel Comics legend) and I got to talk with 3 people from the merchandising and promotions departments.  In the essence of privacy and non-disclosure I will not go into the details of the conversation, but they were each very open and inviting as they explained their various departments and needs to me.  As I talked with them, my nerves began to calm, partially because they seemed genuinely interested in my opinions and work experience but also because the more I heard they describe they job requirements, I realized I was not nearly as out of my depths as I thought before.  Then, at a key moment in the conversation, I found the perfect place to slip my own site into the conversation.  They are either the best actors in the world or they honestly seemed to light up at the idea that I had developed my own site.  They asked me what was on the site, and I had a chance to talk in detail about my site and my writing and everything I wanted to do with it all.  I asked if they wanted the web address and all 3 of them eagerly said yes and quickly jotted down the site's address (each giving a little chuckle at the site's name, to which i replied that I never expected to actually give it to anyone at Marvel Comics).  They thanked me for coming said I would hear in a few weeks about the internship, and it just felt to me like there was a really good buzz in the air and that this interview had gone really well.

The girl who had first fetched me now led me back, through the vertigo inducing Hallway of Mint, to the waiting area, home of the tempting comic rack, and she thanked me and shook my hand.  As I turned, I made a beeline right to the comic books again, never being one to have self control around comics, and I as reached out to grab just one she calls after me, "Oh those are free go ahead and take something!"  At that exact moment all the stomach control I had been mustering almost failed and (after giving myself a self-check), as nonchalantly as I could possibly be expected to at that point, grabbed a copy of New Warriors (Vol. 4) #12 that I knew I needed.  I quickly put it into my bag and stepped away as I knew I was not to be trusted at that point.   While I waited for the next interviewer to show up I just could not help myself and struck up a conversation with the receptionist.  I told her how exciting it was to just be there and she quickly said, "Oh do we have a fanboy?  This must be surreal for you."  The word had not occured to me in my dizzy state, but as she said it I realized she was right...This. Was. Surreal.

After a few minutes of waiting my next meeting approached, the intern coordinator.  This part of the process actually made me much more nervous then the first because, since I had not technically started college again and did not have all the information about internships at FDU, this was the part I had the least knowledge in regard to.  But alas! This is Marvel Comics people!  This woman made feel just as welcome and at ease as the first 3 and our conversation proceeded very smoothly.  Again, in keeping with privacy I can not reveal the minutia of the conversation, but trust when I say she had all the answers I wanted to hear about my concerns and seemed very pleased with me and my answers regarding my future plans.  This meeting was much shorter then the first, but still left me with that same satisfied feeling of success afterwards.  She led me through one last trip through the dizzying Hallway to the waiting area (where she collected my visitor's badge much to my disappointment), and thanked me for coming in.  As I turned around to leave, feeling the rush of excitement welling up, the receptionist who greeted me gave me a large warm smile and wished me a good day.  I walked through the door as calmly as I could, walked to the elevator and patiently waited for the doors to close.  At that point all bets were off.  I sincerely hope that the cameras in that elevator do not have sound because the moment the elevator doors closed I began to lose all the composure I had been using for the last hour.  Had anyone been listening they would have heard my crazy cried and jeers of joy as I rode down the elevator.  By the time the doors opened, I pulled it together and walked as calmly out of the elevator as I had walked into it, and as I walked past the security guard again I wondered if he could tell how excited I still was or maybe he just knew that it had that effect on anyone who visits.  But its probably just me...

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

My Weekly Pull List - 8/10/11



Here's my weekly pull list for 8/10/11.  I think everyone know how excited I am about the Dark Phoenix cover for Iron Age #3

Alpha Flight #3 (Of 8) FI
Black Panther The Man Without Fear #522 FI
Fear Itself #5 (Of 7) FI
Fear Itself Uncanny X-Force #2 (Of 3) FI
Ghost Rider #2 FI
Iron Age #3 (Of 3) (Jelena Djurdjevic Variant Cover) IA
New Avengers #15 FI
New Mutants #29 FI
Vengeance #2 (Of 6)
X-Men #15.1
X-Men Legacy #253

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Marvel Comics On-Sale 8/10/11



Here's the list of Marvel Comics releases for the week of August 10th.  We're starting to come into the home stretch of Fear Itself.  Iron Age continues! And X-men (Vol. 3) gets a point 1.
All-Winners Squad Band Of Heroes #3 (Of 8)
Alpha Flight #3 (Of 8) FI
Alpha Flight #3 (Of 8) (Dale Eaglesham Variant Cover)  FI
Amazing Spider-Man #667 SI
Amazing Spider-Man #667 (Gabrielle Dell’Otto Variant Cover) SI
Amazing Spider-Man #667 (Stephanie Hans FF Anniversary Variant Cover) SI
Anita Blake Circus Of The Damned The Ingenue #5 (Of 5)
Black Panther The Man Without Fear #522 FI
Criminal The Last Of The Innocent #3 (Of 4)
Daken Dark Wolverine #12
Deadpool #41
Fear Itself #5 (Of 7) FI
Fear Itself #5 (Of 7) (Billy Tan Variant Cover) FI
Fear Itself #5 (Of 7) (Stuart Immonen Variant Cover) FI
Fear Itself Fellowship Of Fear #1 (One Shot) FI
Fear Itself Uncanny X-Force #2 (Of 3) FI
Ghost Rider #2 FI
Incredible Hulks #634
Iron Age #3 (Of 3) (Jelena Djurdjevic Variant Cover) IA
Iron Age #3 (Of 3) (Phil Jimenez Variant Cover) IA
New Avengers #15 FI
New Mutants #29 FI
Punisher Moon Knight & Daredevil The Big Shots
PunisherMAX #16
Spider-Island Cloak And Dagger #1 (Of 3) SI
Spider-Island Deadly Foes #1 (One Shot) SI
Stand The Night Has Come #1 (Of 6)
Super Heroes #17 (Marvel Adventures)
Supreme Power #3 (Of 4)
Ultimate Comics Fallout #5 (Of 6)
Ultimate Comics Fallout #5 (Of 6) (Marko Djurdjevic Variant Cover)
Vengeance #2 (Of 6)
Wolverine Punisher And Ghost Rider Official Index To The Marvel Universe #1
X-Men #15.1
X-Men Legacy #253

FI = Fear Itself
IA = Iron Age
SI = Spider Island

Note: I realize that Vengeance #2 was listed for last week also.  I found it listed as being released on both weeks so just in case I am posting it twice.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

A Set 20 Years in the Making


So back in 1993 when I was about 13 years old, I was getting into the full swing of my comic collection.  I was collecting the "Death of Superman" storyline, and two weeks before the much anticipated death I was grounded.  Due to some (imaginary, I'm sure) crime I was grounded indefinitely by my mother and my comics were confiscated.  And I missed the last two parts, Superman: the Man of Steel #19 and the tragic Superman #75.

The grounding didn't last and I was able to track down the opening pieces for Funeral of a Friend and then collected the rest of that storyline and the following Reign of the Supermen.  However, I for whatever reason just never got around to getting those last two issues.  Someone bought me the trade of the whole storyline so I got to read it a year after it happened so I knew how it went, and it never occurred to me to even bother tracking it down.

Well last October at the New York Comic-Con I was browsing through a bin of $1 comics and happened upon a great copy of Man of Steel #18 so clearly I picked it up (I mean who can resist a cheap comic you KNOW you don't have), and then went about my buying rampage.

Well just today when I picked up this week's comics, I'm a little behind since the move, I took a sweep through the 50 cent boxes at my local comic store, A & S Comics in Teaneck, NJ, I found a copy of my long anticipated Superman #75.  And the set was complete!

Now clearly it wasn't wrapped in its black polybagged with the armband (but was still in excellent condition), and if I really wanted that I would drop $15 on a copy online. However, I can finally say, 18 year later, that I have the complete storyline, and my followers no how particular I get about having full sets of stuff (now a days I won't even read a story until I have all the parts) so to me this is a huge deal for a great price!

The Woman Behind the Man - Review Fear Itself: Wolverine #2


As you all know, I am not a huge fan of these extraneous crossover tie-ins and I feel like a lot of them are just pointless attempts to get more money out of us by slapping a banner on a comic that you wouldn’t normally buy in hopes that us completionists will want the whole storyline.  What might surprise everyone is that I, with all my mutant obsession and infatuation, am not at all into Wolverine (much like I am not into Deadpool).   I see no reason that he needs to be on four teams, have two or three solo books at a time AND a Fear Itself solo tie-in series.  

After reading the first issue of Fear Itself: Wolverine, I felt that once again it was another stupid story that’s hardly connected to the main storyline at all…and I was right.  The entire Sutton storyline has barely anything to do with the actual Fear Itself storyline except for the fact that they mention the Worthy hammers and the convenient distraction they provided for the various other battles we are hearing about (like MODOK in Hulk or that crap over in Fear Itself: Deadpool).  But that’s not the important part of this issue…

I honestly couldn’t care less what Wolverine is up to in this issue.  This issue’s shining star wasn’t Logan, it was his new squeeze Melita Garner.  For those of you just tuning into comic in the last few years, Logan’s past loves have included Weapon X victim Silver Fox, Madame Hydra Viper, Yashida Clan leader Mariko Yashida, Phoenix Force host Jean Grey, and the Ronin Samurai Yukio.  So by comparison, as Pete Wisdom so sweetly pointed out, Melita being “just a reporter” does seem a bit tame…or is she?  It’s really easy to run into a warzone with a healing factor, a cosmic entity backing you or years of ninja and samurai training, but its takes considerably more courage and nerve to jump into a city gone mad with nothing but your wits and a twitter.  Armed with a big mouth and a neural disruptor ray given to her by her “sweetie”, as she called him, she jumps right into the middle of a rioting crowd and DEMANDS that everyone stops their crap and go inside until SHE says so, all the while tweeting to her followers to try and give anyone reading SOME glimmer of hope during all the madness.

Let me be clear, I don’t give a rat’s ass about Wolverine being strapped to a warhead and I’m certainly not going to start buying any of Wolvie’s monthly books.  BUT.  As of this issue I am very glad I bought this series, despite it having nothing to do with Fear Itself, and thrilled to have met Logan’s latest squeeze Melita Garner.  She’s clearly an amazing character and she saved this series managed to take it from one of the worst Fear Itself books and put it far above that OTHER piece of garbage, FI: Deadpool.  Thanks Girl!