Hulk #8 (Vol. 3) A Ranty Review.

Ok, so Hulk once upon a time would easily be considered one of (if not totally) my favorite heroes in all of the comic book industry. Like many thin geeky kids with slight anger issues, I always related to (and envied?) Bruce Banner. The idea that if he lost his cool he could hurt those around him, those he cared for. Yet at the same time, the idea that he did have to lose control to also save those he cared about. Truly it is one of the greatest comic book ideas of all time. So naturally now that I have finally resettled into my life, and I've started my reservations up again, The Incredible Hulk was one of the first ones I picked. Issue #7 Vol.3 being the first I managed to grab.

Issue #7 was great. I mean it is a little hard going for people like myself, who have been out of the loop a while. It does however cover a lot and brings new and returning readers up to date (mostly). So Banner and Hulk were separated, and Banner went mad. Becoming a archetypal mad scientist, Banner started to hunt the Hulk. So naturally big green hunts him down and, wait, he kills him?! Ok that I do not like. I am not totally opposed to character deaths. Except I have always maintained that at his heart the Hulk is gentle. He would not kill. Also, killing Banner seems, well, redundant. Especially in the over the top gory way they do it. Either way this issue isn't too awful and the art is amazingly well drawn. Too bad that it doesn't continue that way.

Check out that cover! Banner's dead, Punisher fighting the Hulk, Hulk looks pissed and the title "Stay Angry" can only mean good things! Too bad the title is a lie. The art suddenly changes from Portacio's artistic and realistic pencilings to Dillon's child like cartoon style. Hulk is bald, which he was in #7, but previously it was implied to be due to the Gamma explosion. In this Hulk barely is bigger than a man, he looks dumb with the bald head thanks to the art, and it gets worse. He does not fight the Punisher. In fact, this is a team up. What makes it worse is that the Punisher should definitely not be drawn in a cartoony style. Especially if you're going to have him torture some one.

To make matters worse, killing Banner off was entirely pointless and it hasn't been more than an issue yet! No Banner is alive and just as evil as ever (apparently remember that last time I got to read any he was still the good guy), and is some how part of Hulk again. "Stay Angry" relates to the switch around, no longer is Banner trying to not be Hulk, it is Hulk trying to not be Banner. I would say that is original, except that we know that Hulk always tried to stay as the Hulk once he was out. They always have been separate people. So this isn't original it's just back tracking. 

The closest we get to this cover is when Punisher shoots Hulk several times in the face, at Hulks request, after they've already teamed up for most of the issue. Yeah, the cover is a lie. The art makes it tacky, the story line is boring, and kind of insulting. If anything it makes the previous issue totally worthless. Why bother to kill Banner off in a gory, hideous way (designed only to shock of course) if you are only going to have him continue to be Hulk's big villain?

Overall this issue has put me off reading the Incredible Hulk. I may return to him one day in the future, but for now I am going to settle for reading the (surprisingly for me) better Red Hulk comics. I suggest that everyone do the same. Let us hope that one day the Incredible Hulk will return! 

Marvel: Avengers Alliance

Anyone who is at all interested in the Avengers, is also probably (even if it's only slightly) interested in gaming. So naturally they would be interested in the fact that the Avengers is one of the few comic book movies not to get a pre-film tie-in game.

Initially there was going to be one, created by THQ Australia, which got cancelled because THQ shut down that studio. Personally, I hope they're kicking themselves thanks to the box office of the Avengers movie. If you are interested, Kotaku has some interesting footage of the pre-alpha. Interestingly enough this game was going to be on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

I say 'interestingly enough' because there is now going to be an Avengers game released, by Ubisoft. Only on 360 on Wii U. Yeah, they've decided to drop what looked like a good and interesting game concept by THQ and go for gimmicky Kinect and Wii U stuff. Fun.

Regardless, there is a reasonably good (or at least addictive) Avengers game, that you can play right now. Right this very second in fact! For free! Marvel: Avengers Alliance!

Ok so it is a Facebook game. I will just wait a moment whilst you groan about that.

It's actually pretty good though. Yes there is the option to spend money, which probably does give you and advantage. I've only spent money once for this, and to be honest it was in a massive moment of stupid weakness. It was a special offer of $1 for 20 gold (normally $5 I think). Regardless. You can play this entire game for free, never having to spend money. Granted you might go slower than those who spend their whole pay check each month, but you're still going to be able to afford food after you play.

The wikipedia page refers to the game as a "Turn Based Social Game." Whilst that is accurate, I have considered it more of a "Semi-multiplayer Action RPG." In some ways it reminds me of a watered down Final Fantasy game. There is a storyline, and although it's not that deep, it isn't insultingly poor to the material either. It does a decent job of coming up with a reason for you to be constantly seeing these different characters.

The graphics are pretty decent, you can tell who each character is, and there are alot of characters. Which, is probably the biggest real issue. You'll want them. I have been playing since just before Avengers came out here in the US. I only just got Hulk. Granted I have a handful of characters, I could of gotten him sooner if I really waited. Except that you start realising that you need other characters. Different "classes" etc, and that one you're waiting for probably won't be as useful as this one that you don't really care about. Except you can spend money to help with that.

Characters are purchased with Command Points. Command Points aren't too hard to come by in game, you can get them as drops from bosses, and the boss reward has a chance of being Command Points too. Of course, it's easier to just by Gold. Gold is, well inexpensive really, but still more expensive than free. One Gold can be exchanged for two Command Points. So Hulk who costs ninety, suddenly is quicker to get. 

The game also creates a decent reason to replay, not by simply making you need to grind to continue. Instead it rates the mission out of five stars. Each time you play it you add your score on. So instead of having to try from zero each time, you actually build up to five stars. Each star weilds a different prize, which you get regardless of if you over shoot it. So if you get two stars straight away, you get both one and two star prizes. Four stars gets you a Gold, five stars gets you five Command Points.

There are extensive walkthrough and guides available, such as The Marvel: Avengers Alliance Wikia which gives great ideas such as how to beat certain bosses, or how to improve on getting your Command Points.

Overall, for a free game, it does Marvel justice, and is a great thing to play in your down time. It's also a great thing to fill the void before the (probably terrible) Avengers game comes out for Kinect, or the free Marvel Universe MMO comes out. I really recommend trying Marvel: Avengers Alliance!

Avengers vs X-Men #0

It is a little late in the day to star reviewing Avengers vs X-Men, especially one issue at a time. I am however going to begin my binge into comics with the still running Avengers vs X-Men event. I am going to review each issue one by one, I may even crack into one or two tie-ins though I rarely bother with them. A quick bit of background on myself first though.

 I used to be more of a DC than a Marvel, focusing almost entirely on Batman, Superman, Green Lantern etc. Then one day something awful happened, something I will never understand or comprehend. DC decided that all the history I knew and loved didn't happen anymore. Then, as any spurned lover, I found refuge in the arms of another.

Though that wasn't really straight away. Occasionally I would pick up the occasionally Marvel graphic novel/trade paper back. Civil War is one of my favorite story arcs of any comic company ever. Where I used to live in the UK did not have the greatest comic book shop. In fact it didn't have one, I had to travel to the next city to find one and that still wasn't the best. Extortionate prices to make sure I could keep up to date. So, I am largely out of the loop. I tried to stay in it as best I could, but from what I can gather I missed a lot. I only knew about Red Hulk through passing, and with out reading him assumed I'd hate his cheesy, paint by numbers soul. Now I get every one of his issues. I totally missed out on Fear Itself, but fully intend to get the collected edition and review that at some point. I tell you this because, as a fan of comics, it feel really weird taking the sizable break I took. When I got issue #0 of AvsX I also just so happened to get #1 - #4 as well. So I really entered the game pretty late on this one. I haven't been able to read comics for over a year because of a lot of reasons (which you know about if you kept up with me here or on twitter) such as moving country. So, my take on AvsX might be one that you don't expect. I know that my friends in the comic store here really disagree with me. My opinions might be 'old school' when it comes to some of these characters. Especially seeing as I have missed some of their development for well over a year. So I will try to keep up, otherwise please, do feel free to explain bit's to me if I get them totally wrong. Either way let's begin with Avengers vs X-Men #0. (I promise the intro for the next issue won't be this long).

And straight away I prove that I have been out of the loop longer than I thought. I had to wikipedia Hope Summers, and wow, I missed some big stuff. I won't really comment on what I haven't read, but by the sounds of it, there is quite the sh*t-storm surrounding her Scarlet and the mutants. Scarlet I do recognise but even then I quickly find out that there is stuff I haven't seen. The opening fight between M.O.D.O.K and Scarlet Witch (later joined by Ms. Marvel and Spider-woman) is actually pretty awesome. Scarlet doesn't seem as overpowered as she has done for me in the past, and M.O.D.O.K is treated with dignity and respect instead of just being for comic relief. Granted he's not treated as dangerous though. I have got to say, I keep saying M.O.D.O.K he only looks a little like the guy I know, so if it turns out this is a new one, feel free to let me know!

So after beating up M.O.D.O.K and Aim, Ms. Marvel and Spider-woman invite a reluctant remorseful Scarlet Witch back to the Avengers Mansion. I can only assume that this is all tied in to the event in which most of the Mutants were removed. Again that is one I missed, so I don't know how she acted through out that. Scarlet here however seems legitimately remorseful, whether this is because of what she did or the fact that she is shunned by her friends for it. I cannot be certain. Then again I could be completely wrong about all of this, did she do something else that was "really really bad" that I didn't hear about? Either way Ms. Marvel and Spider-woman both seem ok with her coming back. So after a little convincing she does.

Of course, this is short lived when Vision, who I will admit I have never liked, basically throws her out. Now at first I thought that this was because of the mutant events again, but when I looked it up it is apparently because of stuff that happened years ago to do with her manipulating him etc. Is it me or has their relationship been a waste of ink since the beginning? I swear they have never moved beyond this point and evolved. Also, the way Vision reacts is, well, douchey. On a side note, the Ms. Marvel I remember also had a temper on her and I'm surprised she doesn't give Vision a hard punch to the head. Also I had to get flat out told that the Avengers Mansion is no longer Tony's own, because I did think it was weird that Tony didn't just override Vision saying something along the lines of "my house my rules." Regardless, this scene is a bit of a pain, mostly because I dislike Vision, but also because it feels weird. I mean if Vision is really reacting like this because of stuff that happened that long ago - get over it! If it is because of something she did more recently, ok but then why do her friends not just tell him to go to hell? This scene just feels, weird, and (jumping ahead) considering that Scarlet I haven't seen really in the next 4 issues, feels pointless.

So after Ms. Marvel carries Scarlet Witch away crying we cut to Utopia where Hope is planning on running away and Cyclops tries to stop her. This is where it gets really hard, it's lucky I have ANY background in comics and the know how to research this because anyone just coming into comics, kids basing their knowledge on the cartoon or movies for example? They are going to be so lost! Utopia? This really is the first I've seen it, but sounds to me like Scott has gone in the opposite direction that Xavier ever wanted. Let's not get into that though sticking with the comic, it's worth remembering that I haven't read a lot in a while and this is the first time I have ever seen Hope. 

A lot of (and lucky for me) expository dialog to tell me that Hope is the mutant messiah. I have no idea what to think of this. Honestly, it sounds daft, and I really hope that this turns out to be a mistake. That she isn't some messiah and that Scott has to learn the hard way not to rely on prophecy. I will really get into why soon. So they argue a little bit about how she can look after her self (apparently raised by Cable in the future, lucky her) and she uses Cyclops' eye beams against him before flying away with a jet pack. 

So far so good, emphatic powers when it comes to mutants, wants to fly off to use her powers for good. Sounds like a good character oh wait;

Let's just let go of the jet pack mid flight, that's safe, that's what good guys do, randomly endanger people. Ok yeah the thing harmlessly hits a wall, but trust me, this is just a hint of what she is like! So there is a bank heist going on, the Serpent Society is up for a cameo! To be honest, M.O.D.O.K is treated better. So yeah it's a nicely done little fight sequence where Hope takes down them all. Except; she nearly beats them to death! Half a page is devoted to her headbutting Anaconda, which is treated brutally. Oh and if you didn't think this girl, the mutant messiah was psychotic already, she cuts off Bushmaster's arms! This is of course, with out knowing they were cybernetic! In fact, it's implied she would of killed them all if it wasn't for the fact that Cyclops shows up to stop her. 

This is issue #0 and already I am siding with the Avengers! That is saying something, because I personally have always sided with the X-Men, like many nerds I always felt alone at school and still often do. Especially now that I live in another country away from my family. The X-Men are meant to be the group I can relate to. Now they just seem militant and, well, plain evil. These just aren't the X-Men anymore to me. So let's hope they redeem themselves soon, or otherwise I'm going to be back Captain America's shield all the way to Cyclops' face! 

Though, it is well written, and although I dislike Vision, and the X-Men feel like the bad guys, the story did get me enthralled. Of course this is just a prologue issue, the story begins in #1 which we will review soon. The art is also amazing and the issue is worthy of reading for that alone. Avengers vs X-Men is shaping up to be one of the most fun events in comic history. Let's hope it continues that way.