New Comic Day June 27th 2012 Overview

Slightly more DC oriented this week, speaking of which, does anyone know if this Zero Month thing is them restarting again or if it's just going to be a selection of special zeroth issues? Let me know if you have any ideas.

Superman #10

Carrying on from the previous issue, "Anguish" isn't that interesting a character to be perfectly honest. Her powers are inexplicable, her body naturally allowing stuff to pass through it with out her control. Yet rain still hits her? Either way we see a little bit of what Supes is all about in this issue, that he has the ability to think and feel. Going beyond just being a super-powered wrecking ball.

We also gain a little more insight into the fact that Kal doesn't let on that he has a secret identity. A fact that I like, it builds on his intelligence. Lois and Jimmy are also built on quite nicely this issue. Jimmy wholeheartedly has faith in Superman and what he is. We also see Lois' ethical side. It's nice to know that she is a block-headed journalist who at least believes that a story should be true.

The art is good in this issue and overall it's not terrible.


Green Lantern: New Guardians #10

There is no denying that I am a fan of this comic. It's clearly for fan service still coming off of the success of Blackest Night, but honestly? Who the hell cares!

I'm a little anxious, it feels like there are some big sweeping changes going on in the Green Lantern world right now, and we have yet to see if they are for the better. Akrillo becoming the true 'Yellow Lantern' is a nice step forward, coming off of Sinestro's betrayl of his corps.

I'm a little worried about the direction they are taking the Blue Lantern Corps. though, it feels like they are going to do some serious harm to my favorite GL character (Saint Walker).

The story is, going strange places for me, but tied in with the fact that the art continues to be great? I still think that New Guardians is well worth picking up.

The Flash #10

This probably is the most difficult to like comic I got today. Even then it's not totally terrible. I just found the story for the most part to be quite boring. The Weather Wizard really doesn't feature as much as the cover tells us he will, even then he's not really a villain for this issue.

Maybe the comic is trying to be too fast paced? I don't know but nothing really seemed to happen. Worse still, Flash doesn't actually do what he sets out to do. He changes his mind randomly at the end.

The art is great in the issue, the scenes with Flash and the torrent of water are especially well drawn. I also especially like the cover of this issue.

Hopefully future issues will pick up better than this one though.



Justice League #10

I am truly in split minds about this issue. Which is never a good thing. Let me start with the art this time around. It's great, most of the time. In a couple of places I couldn't really tell exactly what I was supposed to be looking at. Especially towards the beginning.

The story is still interesting as a whole, a character who feels "betrayed" by the League on an almost religious scale. Graves has investigated many characters (not in the confines of the comic mind) to be able to find out as much as he can about them, weaknesses etc.

I will admit I liked the scene in which Cyborg claims "Batman trusts no one on this team." Superman's retort of "Batman trusts me." It just made my day. I have always been a Batman/Superman team-up fan. They are easily my two favorite heroes, especially if we are confining to DC.

Big problem with the comic this week though? I was immediately reminded of Cry for Justice with how lame the fight was! Prometheus flash-backs abound when each of our heroes is taken down in single panels.

The Shazam story continues to be great. With the incoming Shazam #0 I am curious to see if DC is starting from scratch again or simply going to begin a new volume. Regardless it continues to be a draw to the comic.

Amazing Spider-man #688

So here we have a prime example of how covers lie in modern comics. Of course we know that Spidey is not going to get munched on like that in the issue. Granted it's a cool cover and the art is pretty decent, but I remember the days when cover-artists didn't just mislead you.

This issue carries on almost directly off of Ends of the Earth, in a totally non-linear way. We open with Spidey fighting Lizard and the fight lasts the whole issue. Problem? None what-so-ever, the fight is intermingled with scenes from earlier in the day.

It is interesting that they are releasing a Lizard story this early to the movie. I understand it as a tie-in or promotional sales idea. People will pick up this comic after seeing the film. The thing I don't get though is why risk it when the Lizard in the comics is far more menacing and Lizard like than any of the images we have had released from the film?

Ah well, Spider-man continues to be cool and is still worth picking up!

Spider-men #2

Well I suppose if I was going to buy six comics today, one of them was bound to turn out badly. I gave Spider-men a break last issue because it was only starting out. I let it slide that the crossover didn't even begin until that last panel. Here? The cross-over is on, but there is no team up until the last panel again. I'm not even kidding. Nothing really happens.

The two Spideys fight for most of the issue. Miles annoys me because I still hate the Ultimate universe and this just fuels that. I don't like this kid being able to go toe-to-toe with my Spider-man, sorry. The kid is smaller, has fewer abilities it seems and has no common-sense.

Oh and having Peter call Miles' costume cooler? Black costume does not equal cooler. Oh, look at that it's written by Brian Michael Bendis, I wonder what else he works on. Oh Ultimate Spider-man?
Sorry my friend, but Peter is still cooler.

This is Marvel letting this guy just write his own personal fan-fiction in which his made up, lame version of Spider-man gets to meet the real one. In this fan-fiction this lame Spider-man suddenly is as good as/better than the real one. It's pretty lame writing to be honest. So far nothing has really happened. Who knows maybe we'll get lucky and Mysterio and Spider-man (the real one) will accidentally (on purpose) destroy the Ultimate universe? We can only hope...

Ebonrook Picks: Grandville

I thought it was time for a new article concept, and in 'Ebonrook Picks' I will be discussing some of my personal favorite comics, films, books and games. I will try to keep a weekly schedule, but this isn't a definite thing yet. If anything it's just an excuse to be able to discuss one of the best graphic novels I have ever read; Gradville by Bryan Talbot.

Bryan started working in comics in the late 1960s, and has worked with notable companies, authors and artist, including working with 2000AD's Judge Dredd, Sláine, Torquemada and Nemesis the Warlock (not counting Future Shocks!). He's worked with Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman too! On Sandman no less! He has worked on Batman, Hellblazer and Fables. So if you haven't read something by Bryan by now, you probably don't read comics.

Grandville is easily one of the best graphic novels I've read, and definitely my favorite of anything recent. Yes, that includes collected editions of comics such as Return of Bruce Wayne or All-Star Superman. Grandville and Talbot really do come up trumps. Part of Grandville's brilliance is the fact that its easy to understand but almost impossible to clearly define. Bryan even explains it in a small authors note. Explaining his many inspirations; J. J. Grandville, for which the story is named, the French caricaturist who could be blamed for the Furry Generation. Albert Robida a French science fiction illustrator from the 1800s. Arthur Conan Doyle, Rupert the Bear and Quentin Tarantino are all mentioned. Naturally so, as it is clear how much influence all of these elements had on Talbot's writing of Grandville. There is so much more though. More than a passing reference to the famous works of Hergé in characters such as the 'doughfaces' and more. Elements of Wells and Verne are strong felt. Historical and cultural points are used well to great strength. Language is spectacular, if not a little confusing.* What's more all of these ingredients are seamlessly mixed. If Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (another story that mixes many recognisable elements) were as an English Breakfast, then Grandville would be as Gâteau.

You see the English Breakfast is delicious. Everything you could ever want for breakfast is right there in heaped quantities is right there for the taking. The only thing is, you know exactly what is there, you know exactly what you're eating and you can see each ingredient all on it's own. Now for a lot of people (myself included) that can be a great thing. Many people want to be able to see exactly what they are getting, they like to play it safe like that and they don't like to take the risk. Too many extra calories is a dangerous thing for some people, after all!

Then there is Gâteau. You can't really always tell what you're getting with gâteau. You recognise many of the flavors, and you can sometimes see bits that you are positive you know. There are secrets in the gâteau, calories that you know you don't want, ingredients that you have never tasted before. Secret flavors and secret experiences. You aren't always sure what you are getting, but you take the risk because it all tastes so great together, and that sums up the great thing about Grandville. All of the elements, all of the ingredients, they come together perfectly for the experience of a lifetime!

It should be mentioned that there are clear elements, almost unsubtle elements, of inspiration taken from the War on Terror and the September 11 Attacks. Some people might take offence to that. Some people might take offence to how it is used in the story. My response to that is, grow up, this is fiction and if you have an issue with current or recent events being utilised in this way, you have enough issues that you probably shouldn't be reading comics. If you are capable of reading anything like that though, with out being "offended" for some one, then you will find it only adds to the depth and complexity of Grandville. 

I now realise that I haven't yet defined it, the plot, the art. It's so difficult to do with out giving away spoilers. I will however try. Grandville is a Science Fiction-Detective-Steampunk-Alternate History-Fantasy-Spy-Thriller in the mixed style of 19th century caricaturists, 20th century crime novelists and 21st century independent film directors. The art is lovingly crafted, with attention to detail being obvious panel after panel. The story and characters are carefully built, with strong motivations and personalities that extend beyond the confines of the pages. In being a multitude of things, it becomes one truly great thing. If you have never read Grandville then you really are missing out. If you enjoy Sci-Fi it's for you, if you enjoy English literature and classics, it's for you, if you enjoy Steampunk, it's for you. In general if you enjoy comics or reading, then really you have no excuse for not having picked up Grandville a long long time ago. I suggest you go grab your copy now. Be quick though, Bete Noir is incoming. In addition find Bryan's fanpage here.


*A note on the language. The dialog is very colloquially English (British), yet it is mentioned in story that English is a dead language. Meaning they are speaking French. I'm not up to date on my French, but I am almost sure that they don't really speak in the same way we do. I could be wrong though. It's not a complaint though, it just adds more to the character of the novel!

My New Comic Box W.I.P

So as much as I like looking through Previews, by the end of the month (not even that) it gets to be pretty useless and takes up a lot of space. So I got to thinking, many of us, or at least those who shop where I do, get Previews for free. So why not utilise that free catalog of images?

There are still a couple of white patches but I am please so far. Next month when I am sure there is nothing in Previews left of use I will add more to it. Eventually doing the whole box.

I am please overall so far, what do you guys think? A comicy box to contain my many comics. Opinions? Should I be "saving" my Previews? I personally think it's just a catalog. Are there people out there that save them like their comics? Enjoy guys!

Astonishing X-Men #51

Ok I am going to preface this again, because naturally people may start to discuss the whole Gay Wedding thing etc. I already said this in my weekly overview; I am straight, I am married, I love my wife. I also support the gay rights movement and their right to marry. I do however hate the term "Gay Wedding" because I believe that it should just be a wedding. I didn't get "Straight Married" after all. That being said I also believe that regardless of any negative points to this comic, supporters should demonstrate that support by buying the issue. Marvel have truly made me proud to be a comic book reader by demonstrating that they are forward thinking! Good job Marvel!



I should say that Astonishing X-Men are not my team, I do not regularly read them. Everything I am going to say is based purely on this one issue. If I seem to think the characters are behaving incorrectly when they are actually doing exactly as you would expect. Please do tell me.

We open with Northstar getting ready for the wedding, still in badages from his last fight one week ago. The first thing I have to say is, the art really flip flops in this comic. On the second page we get a close up of Northstar smiling saying "This is the happiest day of my life." The picture is just scary, I mean it kinda looks like he is forcing the smile, which he might be, but the eyes just look weird and the smile with that makes it creepy.

I will also say that it's interesting that they went the nervous route for Northstar. I can say that without a shadow of a doubt, public speaking makes me nervous, yet I was not even a little bit flittery on my wedding. Northstar is a superhero it's peculiar that they made him act nervous for his wedding. It seems a little odd, and a little forced but either way it doesn't detract from the overall theme.

What does detract is the flashback to the fight with Karma, just to force in a little bit of action. It feels totally crammed in and unnecessary. Also more bad facial art for Northstar, the panel in which he says "together" looks more constipated than anything. Rather unfortunate.

We continue the flash back with the scene of them healing later, this is a little more relevant as it shows us Kyle saying yes to the wedding. This flashback on it's own would of been better than having the fight for no reason. A slight expository caption "After Karma's betrayal.." would of been better.

Then we get to the wedding and that's when things start going down hill. I've already said I don't really agree with making a superhero nervous, but that's fine, it's an ok move just an odd one in my opinion. Then we have Warbird declare matter-of-factly that she doesn't recognise the validity of the ceremony, that she won't attend. A few people have suggested to me that this is because she is Shi'ar, that they may just not view any wedding as valid. Ok that might be true, but the big issue I have with her attitude is that Northstar says, and I quote; "Stay. Please stay. As my friend and teammate." The Shi'ar are a warrior culture, Warbird is an X-man. You'd think somewhere in that dense honor code warrior culture's have there is something about not acting like a dick on you're friends important days. She simply ignores his held out hand and walks away.

Yet, arguably she could be acting in character, as stated above. I mean it leads into Logan giving genuinely good advice. The one character I could of seen acting like a dick at a wedding, any wedding gay or otherwise, and he's probably one of the few characters who doesn't. Beast isn't really being a douche about anything, he's just being fastidious, but when you consider that Aurora, Northstar's sister, starts giving "you can just leave now" advice? Logan winds up being the only kind-hearted good guy there!

We do get some touching scenes between Kyle and Northstar though, where we find Kyle isn't nervous. Seriously good stuff, the art is a little weird here and there but by this point I figure that Northstar just doesn't have bones underneath his face anymore. We also see some better stuff in the background than in the front. Maybe it is a satire on the two polarisations, the anti movement forcing their way to the forefront, being lound and vocal, the pro movement being quiet and respectful in the background. Essentially Marvel might be saying bigots shout loudest.

Yet I doubt it's that clever, it still is nice to see some nice stuff in the background though, like Iceman making sculptures for them.

Then we hit the stuff that really, really bugs me. Puck and Havok. A guy who is 3' after being 6' and a Mutant. Ok maybe Puck could be a bigot, but Havok? It makes no sense to me to have any mutant be homophobic, even slightly. It goes against everything that the Mutants and the X-men stand for. Seriously going to go this route with them? It's just ridiculous.

All ends well though, they are happily married, people are having fun and dancing. Wolverine flirts with Storm, because she is married, yeah that's back to normal for him. Oh and then Wolverine explodes.

Wait...

Yeah it ends on Wolverine's stomach exploding. Implied that it is Karma's doing. Interested to know how, regardless he's not dead.

Side note, glad to know that Wolverine can take time out of hunting down Hope and the Phoenix Five to attend the wedding. Glad to know Puck can jump back into his superhero outfit to attend a wedding even if he's in south america, in hospital, after fighting Mayan Gods. Continuity eh?

Honestly, this comic sucks, not because of the subject matter, but because of the art and how the subject is handled. Characters act strange, they are drawn worse than strange and it feels like the wedding of the pod people more than Kyle and Northstar. Regardless I would recommend buying this small piece of Comic History. The first "Gay Wedding" (sigh) in comics is not something to be missed! Be forward thinking and buy it.

New Comic Day June 20th 2012 Overview

The overview for my reservations this week. May contain minor spoilers. Certain issues will be reviewed in detail shortly.


Avengers vs X-Men #6
The battle continues in AvX Round 6, but it takes a turn for the peculiar. After last issue when the Phoenix Force splintered into the Phoenix Five; Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik and Namor, there were a lot of excited short gasps. So many questions were raised. Were they answered? Not really.

It's not secret that I am siding with the Avengers in this fight. I always considered myself and X-man (for reasons explained shortly), and for some reason I just can not believe that Scott would be so, so freaking careless. Yes ok there is an issue saying that now but still he risked everything, every living thing in the world, just for a couple of hundred. He would never have attempted to sacrifice the majority for the minority in the past. Yes he's been through a lot, that doesn't mean he's right, that mean's he's now a super villain. The issue makes you doubt that the Avengers are the good guys until the end. Granted subtle hints and Phoenixclops anger issues pop up occasionally and their general disposition towards people. Yet the Avengers act on impulse and attack purely because they were fighting to begin with. Beast and Black Panther are the only two Avengers who stop to think about it.
Oh and the question of Cyttorak and Colossus? Ignored here and in Uncanny. I guess we're going to have to wait if he continues to be the Juggernaut. Also, I won't lie, I do not wait with baited breath for what I am sure will be a steady stream of character deaths starting next issue.


Uncanny X-Men #14
This AvsX tie-in issue, doesn't really tie-in. It follows Mr. Sinister in his underground kingdom, with his own civilization. "Sinister London" is quite awesome, some how Steampunk and Cyberpunk all at the same time. It really is enjoyable to read. Despite this, I feel like the "tie-in" element, Sinister's discussion on how he will defeat the Phoenix, won't actually come to fruition. I feel that this was more a set up for Uncanny X-men later on and not really to do with AvsX. I could be proven wrong, I just doubt Sinister will show up in the main arc and save the day.

Overall though, I did enjoy the comic, the art was great and the story fun. Plus I am a big Mister Sinister fan. Of course being British I have a soft spot for genetic super-geniuses from England in my comics.


Astonishing X-Men #51
My first and only issue of Astonishing X-Men. Comic book history was made yesterday in this issue. It features the wedding of Jean-Paul "Northstar" Beaubier and his boyfriend, Kyle Jinadu. I should now clarify this will be my only issue of Astonishing X-Men because I read Uncanny, not because of the wedding.

I bought the issue to show my support for Marvel having the guts to make this move. Yes we all know DC made Alan Scott gay, but going ahead and doing the wedding was a great move and shows true support. We can't get away with out discussing my opinion on this so before I get onto the comic itself I will say; I am straight, I am married and I love my wife. I however totally support "gay weddings." I do however hate the term, I think there shouldn't be an issue and that it should just be a wedding. People should marry who they want when they want. That is all I will say.

This issue will get a big review soon so I won't say too much, but overall it's not awful but it feels like there are some major problems with it. Still if you are a supporter of the wedding buy it regardless of flaws!


Hulk #54
Ah Red Hulk, you are so peculiar. This issue starts off surprisingly slow from last issue. Luckily it does pick up about half way. This Mayan thing is a bit weird. They are claiming they are gods, they seem to have the ability to travel around the world and imply that they are going to take over the world. Are they about to suggest that they used to rule the world? That wouldn't fit with world history would it? I mean there are parallels between Greek and Roman gods, but are there any between the western classical period and the Mayan gods?

One major issue I have with this is the Mayan names, they are seemingly authentic but because of that they are very hard to pronounce and therefore become easily forgotten. Another big problem is the art on two of the Mayans. One is some sort of "Nature God" who is very tree like, it's hard to make head nor tail of where he is but it's not as bad as what can only be described as the Balrog God. "Shadow and Flame" work good as an idea, but when drawn on big full page spreads, two next to each other, it makes it hard to really look at. In fact I almost read it as a double page spread until I noticed the art didn't line up properly.

Overall though, the story is still interesting enough for me to still want to see what happens next. Granted that is because Red Hulk just kick's major (Mayan) ass!

Stay tuned for more detailed reviews, especially of Astonishing X-Men #51.

Bruce Wayne, Private Eye (Arkham Horror)

Getting back into Arkham Horror but maintaining my very comicy theme on my blog, allow me to introduce Bruce Wayne Private Eye. From the Return of Bruce Wayne, he's falling through time and he's landed in Arkham. Can the Dark Knight prevent the eldritch horrors from destroying the world? We can only hope!

You can get the full size character sheet here and the full size character marker here. He hasn't been play tested yet. To be honest I doubt he will work well as a character. He might be a bit over powered, but he is Batman. I feel like he should be even more overpowered. Though Strange Eons plastered "Unbalanced" when you do that hehe.

Series 5 Avatars

I fully intend to review the latest episodes before the next one.
For now though I think it would be interesting to share some avatars I have made from Series 5.

The Eleventh Hour







The Beast Below





That should do for now until I write up some reviews.

Victory of the Daleks (And Series 5 thus far...)

As I did not decide to make this blog pre-series 5. Unfortunately I am of course running late with the inital reviews. This first review will cover The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below and Victory of the Daleks and my over all thoughts on the series thus far.

The Eleventh Hour

A new doctor and he wrecks the TARDIS almost immediately. Great. Not a brilliant first impression is it? Well it is, as the opening does manage to have an almost swashbuckling feel to it. It is very adventure movie. Some may argue that is a bad thing. I do think it was rather fun though. We have him crash land in a little girls garden, and after strange events that include Fish Custard we begin to investigate a peculiar crack in the girls bedroom wall. A crack it turns out in space and time. After swinging the door all the way around to close it, so to speak, the Doctor closes the crack in the wall so that nothing can come through once again.

Except something already has. Prisoner 0. After some rather cool spooky/creepy/tension building moments, especially in the corner of the eye, the rather distracted Doctor has to save his TARDIS before it leaves with out him. Claiming to take five minutes. Naturally when he returns there is no little girl. It has been 12 years and the little girl is now a non-hooker who kisses people for money. Oh and wears short skirts that he has to readjust after ever running sequence. Not that it is a particularly bad thing to have an assistant with sex appeal. Just when it is made to be obvious why. Next time she will be a page 3 girl who doesn't wear a top 60% of the time. Either way the guards of Prisoner 0 decide to come and take him away, or blow up the Earth. So naturally the Doctor does this along the way losing his sonic screwdriver. After defeating Prisoner 0 and telling the Atraxi how awesome he is, the Doctor runs off to his TARDIS. After a short trip, that unfortunately takes 2 years the Doctor returns to take Amy with him. Here we finally see the new TARDIS and unlike The Visitation a new Sonic Screwdriver.

Over all not an awful episode for an introductionary purpose. The Doctor seems fun, the assistant seems, ok. Setting up well it seems.

The Beast Below

I must say that this episode was 80% briliant 20% awful. It starts off so well. Introducing us further into the new Doctor. Who acts rather brilliantly. Already trying to make the character his own, very different to Tennant's Doctor. This Doctor seems to play it much more cerebral which is a great deal of fun. The story is rather cool for a long while. The tension is there, there is some creepy element. Unfortunately it seems to cut itself short, and ends rather anti-climatically. For starters, the Doctor does not save the day, Amy does. This is rather a down point, as I personally feel the Doctor should be the person solving the logic puzzles, not the Kiss-o-gram. We do see the Doctor get angry here which is a brilliant, as I always did prefer it when the Doctor wasn't constantly luvvy-dubby with his assistants. The classic ones could take a stern talking to, so there is no reason these ones can't. Over all this episode is watchable, and alot of it is fun. Just don't expect the ending to keep you happy.


Victory of the Daleks

The latest episode has seems to have a received a rather mixed response from everybody this time around. Most people loved the previous two episodes, with only a few who did not. This time it seems that there are a lot more haters. Though I doubt it is enough to cause cancellation. I do think that it is enough for me to go, what are you talking about?
This episode is by no means a bad one, in fact I adored it. It felt a great deal more Doctor Who to me than the new series has a tendency to. It was silly in places yes, but you have to watch the classic series before you comment. Spitfires in space? I loved that. The Daleks serving tea? Brililant! The problem people are having really? The NEW Daleks. You know what? I like them. For starters they weren't all wiped out by Desus Ex Machina for the first time in nearly five years. I would say that makes them pretty good.
The story was also pretty cool, an interesting way of writing them back in, and an even better way of characterising the Doctor whilst doing it. His reaction is one of extreme prejudice to the extent that Churchill and Amy assume that he is just acting daft! Amy even tries chatting with one. How bad is that for the Dalek? Either way it is all a cunning plan to make the Doctor prove the their own computer that they are Daleks. All so they can make these new pure Daleks, instead of those god awful human-hybrids RTD came up with. Naturally ala the Renegade/Imperial days, they destroyed the older Daleks poste haste.
The episode also is full of rather brilliant moments, the Doctors minor flip out at the Daleks, the use of a jammy dodger. Even the Iron Man bomb at the end was cool. Yet the over arching brilliance of the episode? The fact the Daleks actually win. They get away, they survive to come back in full force later as a new Dalek empire.

The episode overall I think is the best so far. I know alot disagree with me, but never mind that. The series itself seems to be picking up nicely. The new Doctor is alot of fun, and even his assistant has her moments. I look forward to the next episode with great anticipation.

Victory of the Daleks Avatars

To go with the newest episode, some more avatars. Enjoy!