who just got as ugly as Russell Brand?

this guy:

you and me both, Witchie

even back then, she was already c-raaaazyyyyyy.

semi-kind of victory

drive-by readings

Thor #614 (Marvel) "The Fine Print Part 4" Kieron Gillen Doug Braithwaite John Rauch Andy Troy June Chung Joe Sabino Mico Suayan/Laura Martin (cover)

what we learned: Loki's treachery is revealed! Thor realizes the breadth and width of his half-brother's machinations, and with Loki not in Hel's books, he'll have a devil of a time putting him down next time. well, no one's going to learn from this anyway. soon, they'll be back welcoming him with open arms and mugfuls of mead.
oh shit moment: Thor stabbing Kelda (relax, its because Loki put malware in her to break the Asgardians' morale and as an added bonus, assassinate Balder). also when Thor gets the Eir-Gram free and cuts down the Disir - that's mythic.
what's next: get ready for more action, 'cause here comes Matt Fraction!


sometimes, just sometimes, you still need violence against women.

monkey do

drive-by readings

Hit-Monkey #2 (Marvel) "Year of the Monkey, Part 2" Daniel Way Dalibor Talijic Jose Villarubia Joe Sabino

what we learned: Hit-Monkey crashes the wedding of General Kato's daughter, and manages to kill him, despite Bullseye hanging around. and being kicked by a horse.
oh shit moment:Bullseye kills a child just because. aren't you glad he's supposed to be dead by now?
what's next: Hit-Monkey vs Bullseye, Final Round!


if you think about it, Bullseye, he's actually your uncle.

ragin' asgardian

drive-by readings

The Rage of Thor (one shot) (Marvel) "The Rage of Thor" Peter Milligan Mico Suayan Matt Milla Joe Sabino

what we learned: Mico Suayan gets his shot at a companion piece to Thor #7-8 (drawn by The Awesomeness, Marko Djurdjevic). Thor, abandoning Asgard because of a frame-up (Loki, is that your hand in it?), lives as a warrior/farmer in Midgard but is forced to return to battle Surtur because of injuries to his dad Odin. eventually Thor has to temper his rage for being accused in the first place and grit his teeth at the normal Asgardian way of life - the three W's (warring, wining and wenching).
oh shit moment: Thor, despite his goody-two-shoes image, probably bedded a lot of women before Jane Foster. duh.
what's next: since the successful Straczynski reboot of 2007, i love the idea of Thor one-shots, and this should continue even if ever the main title gets cancelled (i said "if ever").


what, a Norse god with a conscience? perish the thought!

begging to be taken out of context

i mean, ummm, really? this couldn't be drawn in a different way?

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World War Hulks: Captain America & Wolverine #2

the devilish details

drive-by readings

Thor #612 (Marvel) "The Fine Print Part 2" Kieron Gillen Doug Braithwaite John Rauch Andy Troy Joe Sabino Mico Suayan/Laura Martin (cover)

what we learned: Thor and Tyr descend into Hela's (rented) realm to find out that they would need the Eir-Gram blade to control the Disir, and the blade has been placed in Mephisto's Hell. someone has to get it, and Tyr's not feeling up to the task (unmanly!). so, looks like Odin's favorite son is coming for the pickup.
oh shit moment: face-off between Thor and Mephisto. Thor just playing the grim-lipped god and holding back his anger. priceless.
what's next: will Thor ever know of Loki's deal with Mephisto? i want the Thunder God to beat it out of the devil.


"a simple request, Asgardian ... free tickets to your movie next year?"

z return of z baron

drive-by readings

Captain America #606 (Marvel) "No Escape, Part 1" Ed Brubaker Butch Guice Dean White Joe Caramagna Joe Sabino Marko Djurdjevic (cover)

to kick off the Heroic Age, Bucky Barnes is now firmly and officially the Captain America of these times. and with that ascension, snakes have come crawling out of the woodwork. a certain snake whose name starts with a Z. hey, how come this guy never bites it? its actually a failure for Steve Rogers himself, way back in the Mansion Siege. now Buck has to clean the mess up. interestingly, since this is Zemo Jr., and Buck's the younger Cap, then they should really become each other's mortal enemy and bitter rival.

knowing what we know in Jeff Parker's new Thunderbolts, Zemo already made his official appearance to the world, "recruiting" Luke Cage's team. and i'm a bit stunned to see the Fixer here helping out the Baron, considering its been established that he's switched sides a long time ago. true, he's been a Baron loyalist, but i'm a little sick of (comic) betrayals lately. why can't the bad guys be good for a change? also, why is the Wrecking Crew still on the streets after Siege?


i can take the Ghost being a sleeper, because that guy's just dirt. i assume he's been (re)planted into the Thunderbolts program, but then again what is Zemo's point, aside from the destruction of anyone wearing the Captain America uniform? he's nowhere near going to control the world as it is, and even if he had the Cosmic Cube, that's a hollow victory.


Butch Guice is now handling full art chores, providing a seamless transition from when he was inking Luke Ross. not sure if i'm really sold on the art work though. maybe i just miss Michael Lark.

snaps: Iron Man/Thor - FCBD

... where we find the two reconciled friends bonding, just like the old days. some rich folks want to be literally be above you peons, so they just upped and built McMansions on the moon, which of course runs counter to Thor's motto and Stark's new mantra. yep, that country mile is technically no longer a mile. just stop being a jerk once in a while, Tones.

hey, is that a dig on Obama? he's not socializing moon residency, ok?


i wonder if Amadeus Cho will be content with being #7.


oh, you're quoting your Asgardian pal now, are you? (as for me, i am intellectually embarrassed ...)


since when did Pepper get Pym Particle-d?


this is the only solution for fat cats and pigs in our society - send them away.


don't knock it. it comes in mead flavor as well as Asgardian beef.


of course you're not. you're from Oklahoma.

seriously, why would Tony be surprised Thor's talking through the vacuum of space? haven't been they around too long already?

also: how does Tony have the time to build these things?

snaps: Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers #1

... where we get a glimpse of untold WWII action, where an as-yet unnamed black soldier gets a front-row seat as a member of Nick Fury's Howling Hooters Commandos and witnessing the first meeting between Captain America (circa triangular shield) and the Black Panther (circa T'Chaka, i'd say). and with those nasty/stupid Nazis lurking in the background, waiting to steal Wakandan vibranium, this could be an exciting story, indeed! and who's that guy with a red face and looking like it was peeled off?

could it be that girls in skimpy orange and white uniforms be a problem for the Nazi war machine??


it's understandable the Fuhrer could be so agitated and confused. remember that time he really lost it when he tried to use Windows Vista?


at that time, Cap wasn't too worried about hygiene. i mean, try fighting Nazis, hello?


its black, its white, yeah yeah yeah.


tell that to Ms. Teen South Carolina!!!


Rumble in the Jungle (the Original) - only $49.99 on Pay-Per-View!!!

Deadpool, spiders and monkeys, oh my!

with the arrival of Hitman Monkey on the scene, the Marvel Universe is about to be turned upside down. well, at least for Spidey and Deadpool.

in a nutshell, if you missed the simian assassin's origin, suffice it to say he learned from a great killer. combine with natural monkey agility and survival skills, you probably have one of the better assassins in history. and now he's out to wipe out the competition. hey, Wade, look out!!

if this isn't made into a movie, i'm going to stage a protest march. ok, can we have him at least in the 3rd Spider-Man movie after the reboot? or in the Deadpool solo film?

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Deadpool #20

and ..... he's dead.

and this is why it takes too long for the X-Men to eliminate their enemies. longtime loser and '90s hair model/spoiled brat Matsu'o Tsurayaba finally bites the dust, way past his expiry date. and to think Wolverine doesn't want him dead and tortures him every single year for killing his wife Mariko. huh - really?? i didn't see him in this state when he was hassling our mutants back in the '90s. so Wolverine only thought about it thereafter, like when Matsu'o went from B-list to D-list?

same day every year? really? what about that time when he actually became a Hand assassin?


apparently, this is the alternate ending of Edward vs Bella, The Twilight Chronicles


c'mon, Matsu'o, say the "z". you're almost there. Utz! Utz!


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Psylocke #4

snaps: Ultimate Armor Wars #4

... where Tony discovers what a bitch the crazies in your family can be. and how unlucky he is in relationships. and how effective he is even when fighting in his underwear (just like Moon Knight). great job and twist by Warren Ellis.

then there was time Master Chief saved Tony's keister.


damn, old people just won't die.


hey, Tones ... doesn't she remind you of someone?


what are the odds that this tech-killing machine came from 616? hmmmmm ....


so, how the hell are you gonna get out of that chair now that everyone's dead, smart guy?

back to the future

drive-by readings

Avengers vs Agents of Atlas #1 (Marvel) "Earth's Mightiest Super Heroes"/"Defender of the Deep" Jeff Parker Gabriel Hardman Elizabeth Breitweiser Tom Orzechowki Takeshi Miyazawa Chris Sotomayor Joe Sabino Humberto Ramos/Ed Delgado (cover) we had them teaming up with the X-Men, now we get them with the Avengers. everyone's favorite retro team gets lots of guest bookings (now also appearing in Thunderbolts), despite the cancellation of their book. i was thinking this was going to be a time travel thing considering the cover. as it turns out, it is but in reverse: a time/space anomaly has converted the present day (real) Avengers into their '60s incarnation, giving them the opportunity to catch up with old times with the Atlas people. it may be similar to Avengers/Invaders but i assume Jeff Parker has tricks to wow us. there's also a backup story that would serve as a lesson to kids who intend to take up whale-hunting as a career.

life is never fair

in Psylocke #3, we finally learn Matsu'o Tsurayaba's secret - he's become Mason Verger. what, all that Hand money and they didn't even bother to fix you up?? i suggest place a call to 1-800-DAREDEVL.

and who is responsible for this dastardly deed?

Daken gets to chop up Frank Castle, while Wolverine only skewers a former D, now Z list villain. we'd all love to see Logan slice and dice Norman Osborn, but that would be too easy now, wouldn't it, Marvel?

basically, what this shows is that Wolverine may be excellent in killing foot soldiers, run-of-the-mill ninjas and expendable aliens, but not any of the upper-tier supervillains. it took him like a hundred years before he killed Sabretooth. and he even whiffed on Mystique.

Thor needs a spell-checker

the Karate Kid needs to have his annual eye checkup. wait, its not that Ralph Macchio.


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Thor #605

viva Zapata!

drive-by readings

Deadpool Team Up #898 (Marvel) "Bring Me The Head of Mickey Dobbs" Mike Benson Carlo Barberi Juan Vlasco Marte Gracia Joe Sabino Humberto Ramos/Edgard Delgado (cover)

hate to use a cliche, but if you really have to read one book this month, well ... this is it.

ok, that may be too much praise, but very few books keep me really entertained these days, and those that barely do the job, i try to make fun of. am surprised considering Deadpool has turned into the new Wolverine (rivaling him for most appearances in the Marvel U every month), that a revived 'Pool series with the issue number counting down would be a lot more interesting that any regular 'Pool ongoing series.

the #899 opener written by Fred Van Lente was funny, but this second, by Mike Benson, is really hilarious. combining the irreverent hitmen-slash-luchadores the Zapata Brothers (from his solid Moon Knight-in-Mexico run) with immortal-assassin-slash-buffoon Deadpool ... well, the possibilities are endless. Deadpool takes a job off another hitman who tries to whack him - deliver a head to certain people for eight figures (we keep forgetting the 'mercenary' part of 'Pool as he's been a fixture in the Marvel U for awhile now - battling aliens, fighting with Spiderman & the Punisher, hanging with Cable and the X-Men, etc.). the Zapata Brothers take his bounty but run afoul of their subcontractors. 'Pool tracks the Brothers down, and what do you know? turns out they run the Mexican branch of the Deadpool Fans Club! and this only means one thing .... TEAM-UP!

Benson hits nice touches with the smartass Zapata Brothers that resonate with me like iPhone vs Blackberry debates and their musical tastes. (i love Oingo Boingo, and i love the Pet Shop Boys up to circa Behavior, ok? so sue me.) its quite fitting that characters can be created out of modern luchadores (thank you, Jack Black) that cater well to the Facebook and Twitter crowd (and they even talk like them, with the educated Latin American twinge, minus the hellish frequency of the "like" expression and the upward inflection). and the look on their faces when 'Pool reveals that they whacked their idol with a shovel - precious. and the funny lines aren't forced at all and play with the fourth-wall-breaking thing ("i got a Bowen Bust of your head!").

now, now, before Joe Quesada or Dan Buckley reads this (chances: nil and nada, and nil just left town), let's not go crazy and clamor for a Zapata Brothers solo series. that might be a good idea in the short term, but would water down the characters and burn everybody out, especially in the hands of some writer who won't hit the right notes. i prefer to read them from time to time, OR maybe in a consistent team up with Deadpool, since they got the chemistry going already. but if they are gonna do this, can we please have Humberto Ramos doing the interiors too?

snaps: Thor Giant-Size Finale

... where we come "Full Circle" and do facepalms because we knew right from the start that Loki was going to pull this kind of shit eventually. why can't the Asgardians see that?


1) bowling ball headgear is hot in Asgard right now.


2) and also, pay-per-view. especially those that star Volstagg.


3) DoomBots have harddrive wipes a la cyanide pills. awesome!


4) Bill Killed! (i just wanted to say that. sue me.)


5) and that image will be burned in my memory for 72 hours at least. argh.

snaps: Deadpool #17

thoughts from Deadpool #17 ...

1) this is why flatscans must die. they're dumb and cause angina.


2) Domino and Emma got facial surgery from Deadpool's doctor


3) doesn't he shoot beams out of his ass too?


4) no telepathy link means X-Men must look like douchebags. minus bluetooth.


5) Logan, Jean Grey (Scott's wife), Domino (Scott's son's ex-gf): you do the math. next up: either Rachel or Hope Summers. don't say i didn't warn ya.