#63 - Secret Empire (part 3)

OK, I’ve had a nice rest, let’s get back to it.

#61 - Secret Empire (part 2)

OK, let’s continue our look at Secret Empire. If you want to know what happened so far, go back and read my last review you lazy f*ckers!

Too far? That’s what this comic makes me.

#60 - Secret Empire (part 1)

You may remember a while back, I covered Steve Rogers: Captain America. Written by Nick Spencer, it featured a revelation: that in bringing Cap back from being aged, the cosmic cube (Kobik) messed with reality and made him HYDRA, thinking that was for the best or something. I dropped the book after 4 issues because of its pacing, which was far too slow for my liking, but then we come to what it was all building up to, Secret Empire

Secret Empire was not a smash for Marvel sales wise with numbers dropping well below what is normal for an event comic. Why is that? Well, I’m not covering 13 issues in 1 go, especially when it’s of this sh*t, so I’ll be doing it in 3 parts making this my first and hopefully only multi-part review. Let’s take a look at Secret Empire

We’ll be looking at #0, the Free Comic Book day issue, and #1-3

Marvel Month - Mini Review - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

May I introduce the 2 best directors in the MCU right now: The Russo Brothers

And next up is their debut in the MCU. Captain America: Winter Soldier

Released in early 2014, Captain America: Winter Soldier was very successful, earning $700m on the $177m budget and an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Does it still work? Here are my thoughts:

Marvel Month - Mini Review - The Avengers/Avengers Assemble

Next up in Marvel Month, it’s Time for Avengers assemble

I’ve already done a review of that, and a lot of my complaints still stand is it goes into *sigh* its 4^th season, that said I have seen improvements. But this time we’re looking at the other Avengers Assemble

Known as The Avengers in the US, the title was changed to not be mistaken for the British The Avengers, the Nostalgia Critic did his review on that and I have no unique perspective to cover it as I’ve never seen it, it’s a little before my time.

But Avengers Assemble was a massive gamble for Marvel, with a hefty $220m budget, a large cast and the pressure of being that movie everything was all building up to, this movie blew everyone away, meeting their expectations and of course, for Disney, who had recently acquired Marvel, made over $1bn at the box office, $1.5bn to be more precise. This is also the first Marvel movie I ever watched, at the cinema with my soon-to-be uni housemates.

But 2012 was a way away, does it still hold up, let’s take a closer look.

Marvel Month - Mini Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America is my favourite Marvel character, there, I said it, happy? I suppose this is mostly down to Brian Bloom in Earth’s Mightiest Heroes who gave the character exactly what he needed, to say cheesy lines, but in a way that is inspiring. Chris Evans also helped with that appeal. I will say that his portrayal of the Human Torch in the Fantastic 4 movies is cringe-worthy at best, but I’d chock that down to the writer.

So, how does his first movie hold up? Let’s take a look.

4 issue Test #30 - Captain America: Steve Rogers

It was only a matter of time before we got to this one, although it took nearly 2 weeks for the final issue to arrive. This comic eared significant controversy over things I’ll discuss in depth. Nick Spencer does not strike me as an idiot, but it would be idiotic to assume this twist could escape controversy. For many outside of comics, Steve Rogers is Captain America so him coming back and reclaiming the mantle was inevitable and it happened during the Assault on Pleasant Hill crossover. A lot of the crossover did help set up this title, but I’ll give details as they happen. Let’s take a look and see if this infamous book offers something to soothe the burn.

4 issue test #25 - Daredevil

Well, I really enjoyed the Neflix series, so why not pick up the new comic and see what happens? Let’s see what happens.

4 Issue Test #18 - Uncanny Avengers

Now if there’s one facet of the Marvel Universe they’ve expanded since Secret Wars, it’s the Avengers, there are 6 different Avengers titles out there, each with a unique roster. Those titles are: All New All Different Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, New Avengers, The Ultimates, Squadron Supreme and A-Force. I’m going to be looking at Uncanny Avengers and All New All Different Avengers. I’m picking up more than enough Marvel titles for this to suffice.

So, I suppose I’d better mention the cast of this book. Steve Rogers: Former Captain America, he’s not an active hero in this book. The Human Torch, former member of the Fantastic 4, but with the Richards family no longer present thanks to Secret Wars and Ben Grimm chumming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, he’s in this title. Filling our quota for mutants (the Uncanny Avengers aka the Unity Division was initially a route to peace between mutants and humans) we have the power absorber Rogue and the merc with the mouth Deadpool. In the magic-users’ category, we have Doctor Voodoo. I don’t know who he is. In the Inhumans category we have Synapse, I have no f*cking clue who she is and Quicksilver, who was retconned into being an inhuman to screw over Fox.

Before we begin in earnest, I think it also fair to look at Uncanny Avengers Annual #1. I’ll be brief, it’s rare that a series will get an issue this early in its run. But there’s a reason for it here: it’s a marketing gimmick to get people interested in the Scarlet Witch comic. Bear in mind, Scarlet Witch is not a member of the Uncanny Avengers. In fact this story centres around magic users and barely features them. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS! With that said, let’s dig into the real content.

4 Issue Test #16 - Deadpool

Marvel’s universe has changed, its entire line is being slowly relaunched (I know, this is about the 10^th time now) and I figured it’s time for me to properly embrace the Marvel line and take a look at a few of their new series. And by a few we’ll be looking at titles for 4 of the next 5 months.

We start with the Merc with the mouth himself, Deadpool. Created as in intentional ripoff of Teen Titan’s Deathstroke. Wade Wilson was eventually differentiated from Slade with a few elements of character and back story. He was a part of the Weapon X programme, the same scheme that gave Wolverine his powers and was given regenerative powers from it. The problem is he had cancer and the treatment regenerates his cancer as well as his normal cells.