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DC Comics Review: Detective Comics #854
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: ***
Batman: Reborn continues in the pages of Detective Comics this week. Big changes have been happening in the world of Batman and one of those changes is that Batman will not be appearing in the pages of Detective Comics. Instead we have the new Batwoman Kate Kane flying solo in Detective Comics with Greg Rucka as writer and J.H. Williams as the new artist for the book. Batwoman is not a character that really grabbed me when she first appeared in the pages of 52.
According to Wikipedia, Barbara Gordon was originally supposed to return as Batgirl a while back, but wanting to be more diverse and continue to have a handicapped character, DC decided to bring back Batwoman instead. It seemed more like DC wanting to do a bunch of different things here: 1) Bring back a Silver Age character. 2) Bring in a new female character in the male dominated world of super-hero comics and 3) make her a lesbian to show even more diversity. I have no problem with any of these reasons, I just think DC mishandled her introduction to the DC Universe and didn’t give me a reason to care about this character. However with this first issue of her in Detective Comics, they’ve taken a good first step in giving me a reason to read stories about Batwoman.
With the prices of comic books going up, and being the father of two children and a mortgage to pay, comic books can be an expensive hobby to continue. So I have the various titles I collect on a very short leash. If after an issue or two I don’t find myself interested in the story anymore, the comic gets dropped from my pull list. This first story has a good beginning and its given me a reason to stick around.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Detective Comics #854
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Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Posted by Todd Matthy Categories: Action Figures, Movies, Reviews,
For the movie review, please go to Gear Live’s Film Crunch site and read it there! Thanks!
Face Front, True Believers! Back in the day, DC’s comics felt like they were put together in a giant office that might have resembled an insurance company or a tightly-packed Mad Men set. Think guys with buzzcuts, white shirts, ties and shiny shoes, occasionally having a cigarette while trying to create comic books for 12-year-olds. Marvel Comics presented themselves as the anti-DC: hipsters and cool cats who were tapped into the youth of today and their crazy scene, man.
One of the great things that Marvel did to cement its relationship with the fans and start building the mythology of the Marvel offices – the bullpen - as the original frat party for comics nerds was to get more personal. Stan Lee gave everyone snappy and with-it nicknames – Stan “The Man” Lee, Jack “The King” Kirby, “Darlin’” Dick Ayers, “Jolly” Solly Brodsky, “Our Pal” Sal Buscema, and dozens more. You can find a fairly complete list over at the Wikipedia.
(Comic book and TV writer Paul Cornell – Captain Britain and Doctor Who - recently collected a list of snappy nicknames for modern comics creators.)
In the 1967 Bullpen Bulletins page that ran in Marvel’s comics, then-fan Mark Evanier suggested some equally snappy “nicknames” in the form of honorary titles for Marvel fans. You can see that original page over here.
That letter sparked what became known as The Hallowed Ranks of Marveldom, a list of aspirational titles that ran on the letters pages in Marvel’s comics. Here’s the original list:
Click to continue reading MARVEL COMICS: REAL FRANTIC ONES 2009!
Gary: “It’s not so bad having five kids around here.”
Debra: “Gary, baby, we have six.”
Have you ever wanted to be responsible for getting a television series on the air? Now’s your chance, and it’s all thanks to the internets. And here’s the catch: it won’t cost you a dime! You hardly have to lift a finger and there’s absolutely no math involved.
Award-winning animation writer/producer Larry Swerdlove – he’s won a Daytime Emmy and the Humanitas Award so he’s two-up on me - and his pals have created a new live-action dramedy series called The Fosters about a mixed-race foster family and its trials and tribulations, both funny and heart-warming, emphasis on the funny.
The star, and one of the co-creators, is Gary Anthony Williams, who you might recognize from his roles on Malcolm In The Middle and Boston Legal. He’s also been a cartoon voice on The Boondocks. In The Fosters, he plays Gary Foster and his wife Debra is played by Sharon Battle (you might have seen her in the movie Loose Ends).
Paul is played by Phil LaMarr. He’s done a pile of cartoon voices, but you’ll recognize him immediately from MAD TV. Mitzy, the neighborhood pain, is played by Mindy Sterling who’s been on Chowder and Robot Chicken, but really we all know her as Frau Farbissina from all of the Austin Powers movies with Mike Myers.
And you can see a piece of The Fosters right now.
Click to continue reading THE FOSTERS: Help Put A TV Series On The Air!
Zack Whedon Pens Dr. Horrible Comic for Dark Horse
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Reviews, Dark Horse Comics,
As grueling as it is to wait week after week for Wednesday for come (sometimes longer, depending upon which comics you get), MySpace and Dark Horse teamed up to get you through it. What makes it even better is when writers like Zack Whedon present great Dr. Horrible comics like this month’s Penny: Keep Your Head Up.
Although I thoroughly enjoy anything with a Whedon attached to it, this comic ought to have some sort of warning label for it. Not only does the premise bring a frown to your face (centering around events in Penny’s life prior to her death), but the fact that everything Penny does for others makes you feel as if you have completely failed as a human being.
Despite having nearly gone through a few tissues, the comic is sweet and ends on a very cute note! You can find the comic at MySpace Dark Horse Presents.
Marvel Comics Review: Captain America # 600
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, Marvel Comics,
Rating: ****
This month’s “Captain America” hits the stands this week as the announcement is made that Steve Rogers is returning as Captain America in the mini-series “Captain America: Reborn”. As we all know Steve Rogers was shot and killed by a brainwashed Sharon Carter in “Captain America” (Vol.5) #25. Cap’s long thought dead partner James “Bucky” Buchanan Barnes assumed the role of Captain America in issue #34 of the same series. There are numerous stories in this extra-sized issue of #600, but it is the main story of the book that sets the table for “Reborn” and the return of Rogers as Captain America.
The main story takes place on the one year anniversary of Steve Rogers’ assassination and focuses on all of the supporting players that we’ve seen in Captain America life: Sharon Carter, Bucky, Falcon, Patriot, etc. The story goes from character-to-character and each one has their own little tale. Sharon is remembering the events of the day she pulled the trigger and she remembers handing the gun off to some man. Sharon enters the home of that man and discovers that like her, he was brainwashed on the day of the assassination. After shooting Steve, Sharon unconsciously handed the gun off to the man. She finds the gun and takes off.
One of the characters that is shown in this story is Rikki Barnes the female Bucky that Cap teamed up with during the “Heroes Reborn” series. She has traveled over to the 616 Marvel Universe and aligns herself Eli Bradley The Patriot from the Young Avengers. I like that Marvel has decided to bring this character over into the 616 universe, however things are getting a bit crowded with Cap’s supporting cast. Hopefully writer Ed Brubaker can juggle them all. Still I welcome the character and see potential. Maybe they can pair up Rikki and Eli in a relationship.
With the one year anniversary of Captain America’s assassination, the people of New York plan to gather to remember him with a vigil in Central Park. Falcon and the non-registered Avengers plan on attending the vigil which is threatened with being shut down by Norman Osborn’s HAMMER organization. Osborn doesn’t shut it down, but uses it instead to paint himself in a positive light with the public.
Click to continue reading Marvel Comics Review: Captain America # 600
Long before Boom! Kids turned Jim Henson’s Muppets into a rousing success of a comic book series, there was another Muppets comic. This one came from across the pond in England. It’s hard to think of anything related to The Muppets as forgotten, but there was a one-shot Muppets comic book back in 1979, 30 years ago.
Back then, The Muppet Show was in the middle of a five-year run on television when the British publishing company, Fontana, published The Comic Muppet Book in 1979. Written by Jenny Craven and illustrated by Graham Thompson (who would later do a comic book adaptation of the Terry Jones movie Erik The Viking), the book is thin, a mere 32 full color 8 1/2 x 11 pages, and wrapped inside a cardstock cover. It carried a UK cover price of 99p, and it was designed more for bookstores than newsstands and comic shops. Regardless of format and price, each page delivers the Muppet goodies.
Click to continue reading FORGOTTEN COMICS: THE MUPPETS by Jenny Craven and Graham Thompson
DC Comics Review: Batman Confidential # 30
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: *** 1/2*
This month’s issue of “Batman Confidential” is a big improvement from last month’s issue. Last month we got part one of a two part story entitled “Bad Cop” by Andrew Kreisberg and Scott McDaniel. This was a sequel to Kreisberg’s story which appeared in “Batman Confidential” earlier in the year. As I said, part one was a disappointment to me, but this issue ups the ante with a tense stand off between Jim Gordon and Bad Cop with Gordon’s daughter Barbara caught in the middle.
Kreisberg is kind of creating his own separate Bat-Universe that I wouldn’t mind seeing continue. In his first story he brilliantly told the story of the first time Batman brought the Joker into Gotham PD for booking. I’d like to see some other “first” stories that he could write. Has there been a Jason Todd Year One yet? I think Kreisberg could do some great stuff with Jason.
In the last issue the former police officer Geoff Shancoe had escaped from Arkham and assumed the identity of the villain Bad Cop. He’s angry about the death of his wife at the hands of the Joker and takes it out on rookie cops at the Gotham Police Academy where Montoya is located. Both Batman and Shancoe’s former partner confront him. Bad Cop wants to die. He’s too distraught to want to live after everything that has happened and figured by committing a viscous crime he could get killed in the process. Neither Batman or Shancoe’s former partner oblige him of his wishes. So Bad Cop goes another route.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Batman Confidential # 30
DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #3
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: ***
Barry Allen is back from the dead. He’s returned to his old life as the Flash, but just as he begins his new life, strange things have begun happening. In the last two issues we’ve seen that when ever Barry touches a speedster, they either die or are hit with excruciating pain. At the end of issue two, Barry has become the new Black Flash which is a sort of angel of death for the speedsters of the DC Universe. And that’s where we are right now in the story of “The Flash: Rebirth”.
I’m enjoying this series so far. It’s not been the best Flash storyline I’ve ever read, but its a good story by Geoff Johns and amazing artwork by Ethan Van Sciver. I like that Johns is bringing in just about everything that has to do with the Flash. I love the Flash’s history and think he has one of the best rogues gallery in comics. This issue opens up with a mysterious assailant going after the Flash villain Abra Kadabra. We don’t see the assailant, but he or she says to Kadabra that, “There isn’t room in this century for the both of us.” The assailant then yells the phrase abra kadabra and then proceeds to burn Abra Kadabra himself.
We then see Liberty Belle and Hourman at the JSA headquarters discussing her parents Johnny Quick and the original Liberty Belle. An explosion happens and we see Johnny Quick calling out to Barry not to hurt Jesse (the current Liberty Belle). Why? Johnny is dead and was absorbed into the Speed Force. Does he think Barry will hurt Jesse and the others on purpose?
We then go to Barry who is being held in a containment field while the JLA and JSA try to help him. The Black Flash entity is taking over Barry and he asks Green Lantern to take him away from everyone as it seems that he can’t control it. Barry decides to then give up and run back to the Speed Force to save everyone from himself. As he runs away we get the return of the classic plot line of the Superman/Flash race as Superman runs after Barry to try and convince him to stick around so they can help him. But Barry proves himself to be the fastest man alive and out runs Superman as he begins racing through time.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #3
Gear Live Turns 5, gets to wear big boy pants!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Announcements, Smartphones, Features, Handhelds,
Whoa! Gear Live is now five years old—can you believe that? I sure can’t. It seems like it was just yesterday that I started up this little blog, to share my thoughts on consumer electronics in my spare time, and eventually getting a friend to help me post some news. Before we knew it, this become my full-time gig, and we were adding writers, and sections, left and right. Today, Gear Live has over 20,000 articles spread across our various sections, headed up by some of the best writers in the blogging game. We’ve got video shows, giveaways, and a social network that we are building as well. Regardless of how many things we’ve got going on from the past, we will always have some neat tricks up our collective sleeves in the future.
So how are we celebrating? Well, how about if we gave you presents? Since it’s our fifth birthday, we decided we would give away five Mophie Juice Pack Airs. After all, people are all over the iPhone 3G S if our numbers are correct (they are,) and what better way to celebrate than by doubling the battery life of your iPhone 3G or 3G S?
How do you enter? Simple. Just leave a reply in our ‘Gear Live Turns 5’ forum thread, letting us know what your favorite Gear Live story of all time happens to be. It can be a text update, or one of our videos. Just leave a link and tell us why you liked it. Once you’ve done that, head on over to Twitter and tweet the following:
“@gearlive Turns 5, and I just entered to win a Mophie Juice Pack Air! http://bit.ly/mophie-air” (Click here to tweet this now)
We will choose five random entries as our winners, and they’ll receive the Mophie Juice Pack Air for their troubles. Why should you want one? Check out our Mophie Juice Pack Air review. Now to start comparing kindergarten programs…
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