NB of the Week

Three Arcs.

Read It.

Love It.

Boobs of the Day

Mariska Hargitay
Anybody who knows anything knows that SVU is the only way to watch Law and Order, with Detectives Benson and Stabler being the main reasons why. My man-crush on Christopher Meloni not-withstanding, Hargitay is the real draw of those two. She's sexy and badass and I'll let her cuff me any day of the week.

NB of the Week

-START EVERY DAY OFF WITH A SPOIL AND GET IT OVER WITH-

First, a very special thank you to Marvel who it appears has finally started reading my letters and taking my advice and giving us the all nuded version of the Avengers. It's gonna be a sexy month.

Captain America #15
Written by Rick Remender
Drawn by Carlos Pacheco

The Iron Nail continues to watch Cap, Nuke and SHIELD as he informs others (mostly for us readers) of his plans to take down the West. As Cap and Fury Jr transport Nuke (who'd rather be called Frank) to a security base for questioning, Cap begins to help Frank see that he has been a pawn. That the war is over and that he was programmed by Weapon Minus to follow orders. He begins to see the errors in what he's done as they arrive to the mountain base in the Grand Canyon. Falcon and Cap go back to Brooklyn and they begin to talk about how things don't seem right. They believe somebody has a bigger game in mind and that smearing the name of America is just the start. Telling Cap to get some rest, Falcon heads back to help get answers from Nuke. As a SHIELD Agent, whose father was saved by Nuke back in the day, talks to him, trying to ease his mind and get some answers, we see the Iron Nail looking in as he grabs a remote of some kind, claiming that Fury's son has no idea what that base is housing before pushing the button on the remote. Light glows out from the head of Nuke as he screams and blows up him and the mountain base. As Fury Jr and newly arrived Falcon go flying into the chasm from the blast, we see inside the base as a large,
used-to-be-secured door is now blasted open. Out from the smoke, we get the premiere of the Psychedelic Super-Soldier himself, Dr. Mindbubble. Weapon Minus is in full swing and Captain America is about to meet it's first child.
Remender planted the seed of Mindbubble back in his Uncanny X-Force run, though it was just a statue that was destroyed during a fight. But the seeds are there. He's been building upon Grant Morrison's Weapon Plus/Minus premise for a while now and it's awesome to see it taking form. Remender has proven he can handle the long-term plots and handle them extremely well and I can't wait for this next storyline. Dr. Mindbubble may just become a new favorite.

NB of the Week

-SPOILS IS THE LIGHTNING, SPOILS IS THE MADNESS-

It was a smaller week and I was gonna run through the six books I got but after reading Daredevil, it was hard to not pick a favorite. So here's the latest chapter in the life and times of Matt Murdock:

Daredevil #35
Written by Mark Waid
Drawn by Chris Samnee

Daredevil has thwarted the plots of the Serpents a lot lately but they may have put him into a corner. After receiving a call about Foggy, Matt rushes to the hospital only to find a doctor has "saved" Foggy from his cancer with an illegal, experimental drug. Matt soon finds out that the Serpents are behind it. Why? One of the men there explains that though his son is a Serpent, he has been wrongly arrested for arson and the murder of many people involved. And they've done their homework. They have proof that Matt is Daredevil. They have studied him, his powers, his origins, his everything and they will use it all against him. He will be revealed as a liar, will be disbarred from law and his life will be over. Either Matt defends the man or it's all gone. Murdock decides to ask advice form Elektra as he finds he does his best thinking while moving (which in his life means sparing with her and fighting bad guys). She reminds him that she didn't become the best by having moves that people could ever predict. Taking her advice, Matt goes to trial. Bringing Kristen with him, he forgoes opening remarks and goes strait to testimony as she calls Matt to the stand. After Matt swears in under oath, Kristen asks him to state his name leaving us with a huge bombshell of an ending:
"My name is Daredevil."
Marvel has started relaunching every book they have and Daredevil was coming up. After one more issue, Waid will pen a digital series that leads into the new Daredevil book in which Murdock moves from Hell's Kitchen (I think to California) and has to start new. What better way than to out himself as Daredevil, thus taking from the Serpents what leverage they had and forcing himself into a new life? Waid has impressed me from the start of this series. I was uncertain if I was going to be buying the next one as the new start gave Marvel the reason they needed to start charging an extra dollar every issue but if this reveal stays and he's not tricking his way out, I may have to swallow that money and do it. Murdock admitting to lying all this time (in the comics, since he was outed in 1998) and having to leave everything behind could be a giant change for him and I want to be there for every step.

The Return to Amazing... Hopefully

After a Previews cover was "leaked" last week, it has been confirmed by Marvel that The Amazing
Spider-Man title is returning along with Peter Parker. Bringing him back are long running creators Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos. Not made clear (or I could have just missed it) was the fate of SpOck as Superior. In case you didn't know, Doctor Octopus switched his mind with Peter as his body was dying. Afterwards, Pete's conscience had been trapped in his mind with Ock but Ock soon wiped the mind clear of Pete (seemingly) and began to live a new life as Peter inside Pete's body.
I am both annoyed and excited for this change to finally come (with another Amazing movie coming, it was inevitable that Pete was brought back).
On the plus side, SpOck has made some pretty significant changes to Pete's life. His job, his relationships and his education have all changed. He has changed the way people perceive Spider-Man (or at lest they should perceive him differently) from killing (yes, he did kill) to a more authoritative approach in patrolling his street (he now has himself linked to robot spiders that patrol everything and alert him of any trouble). All these things should make it pretty hard for Peter to adjust to being back. It's essentially become a new world that he'll come back to and I find that concept very intriguing. Peter Parker is a character that has gone through a lot of story but I've always felt his depth as a person has never been stretched. This could be the new start that could revitalize him and make him exciting once more.
On the negative side, I have never liked Superior Spider-Man. Getting past the One More Day crap that was forced, Amazing was still a decent title for the most part. Until the rotating cast of writers was cut down to just Slot. Slott started writing Pete as though he had no history. He was out of character, stories were thrown out that contradicted others and people became dumber to help advance the plot. And they didn't stop with Pete. As Superior, Ock has been nothing less than an annoying and became an asshole to everyone. The dude freaking killed somebody! And not once has another hero said "man, what the hell happened? Spider-Man was never like this."
So Peter Parker is coming back and people seem pleased. At the same point, people are pissed that Ock may be leaving. I'm more pissed that Dan Slott is still writing and that's the thing that is holding me back from really getting excited.

Clif-Notes: Lone Survivor

This one can be made short and sweet (as opposed to all my other reviews which are long and bitter): Go see Lone Survivor.
I think at this point, most people know the true-life plot behind the movie but I'll tell ya anyhows. After a single choice to either kill innocents or let them walk and potentially bring reinforcements back goes horribly wrong (guess which option they pick), Marcus Lutrell, Michael Murphy, Danny Dietz and Matt Axelson must fight for their lives in enemy territory. As the title reveals, three don't make it out alive but that doesn't change anything for the movie. It was fast-paced, exciting and very tense at points. There were a few parts in particular where the audience as a whole "oohed" and moaned and there were definitely some points that were a little bit hard to watch. The back end of it felt a little slow after the others died because you knew the last man was still making it out no matter what they threw at him but that wasn't the point. It was about choices and fighting for the brother next to you and those were loud and clear.
If you like war-type movies, this is right up your alley. If you have a hard time sitting through the grit and grime that comes with that, maybe not so much. I for one have started my 2014 Movies off to a great lead.

NB of the Week

Another small week brings about another run of the crops.

All-New X-Factor #1
Peter David returns to the Title of X-Factor but in a very different form. Having bought the name from Madrox, Serval Industries has made itself a superteam whose only purpose is to protect the company and it's interests. To start, that means stopping a group from experimenting on other mutants. Serval may claim to want to help people, but you already know ulterior motives are buried under it all.

Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man #3
Though the writing was great and the art was fantastic, this mini proved to be mostly unnecessary as not much with Galactus actually happened. Destruction everywhere and Miles' dad now knows he's Spider-Man (a big deal in itself but it doesn't help the Galactus story), but that's it. It ends leading into the main Cataclysm mini.

Earth 2 #19

On the Superman front, he reveals himself to the world as he uses the Washington Monument to destroy the White House. On the Batman front, his group find a hidden alien under the prison's floor. As they get to the secret room, they find a young boy (maybe teens). After he falls ill, Batman figures it's because of the Kryptonite he has. The boy is Kryptonian (Superboy?).

Cataclysm: the Ultimate Last Stand #3
Miles and Evil Reed (as they're calling him now that they are sending them to out Good Reed) enter the regular Marvel Universe and the Baxter Building to try and figure out how to stop Galactus. After Valeria walks in and realizes Evil Reed isn't her dad, she sends the two running back home. They didn't find what they wanted but Evil Reed, after seeing his other life and the daughter he doesn't have, begins to see the errors of his ways.

Savage Wolverine #14/#14.NOW/#1
Yes, all of those numbers are on the cover but this is the next issue and not a relaunch. Richard Isanove takes over as writer and artist for what may the best written story so far. Prohibition era Wolverine has friends that consider him family but what French mobsters (if there is such a thing) want his friends to shut down their store (which sells liquor) and they refuse, murder follows. And when friends of Wolverine are gunned down, the shit is about to hit the fan. Great, albeit cliched, story and amazing art. This was a great start to a new story in Wolverine's history.

100 Bullets: Brother Lono #7
Speaking of shit hitting the fan, if there's one thing you don't want to do to a character in Azzarello's 100 Bullets, it's piss them off. In this issue's case, that also includes torturing Lono (with such tactics as peppers in the eyes and pulling fingernails). Second to last issue and I can't wait to see how bloody it all ends and I can't wait to count the bodies Lono leaves behind.

Boobs of the Day

Signed Chest Woman
Back in 1996, I was thirteen and just into the early start of my long love for boobs and thanks to Adam Sandler, I got some very memorable ones. Her real name is Jessica Gunn and she did nothing else since Gilmore but her perfect cleavage will live forever.

NB of the Week

Holidays have come and gone and with it come the messed up reading schedule. Not many this week so it's late but here's the run down:

New Avengers #13

The Illuminati of another dimension find out that it's no use fighting as faceless beings destroy them all so that they can have their world. Our Illuminati use Reed's bridge (from Hickman's Fantastic Four run) in order to begin watching other dimensions to try and figure things out better. Not much progression at all but amazing story and amazing art.

Savage Wolverine #13
Madripoor has a lot of poachers who are killing for fur and ivory and Wolverine doesn't like it. Because he's an animal himself and can talk to elephants... What the hell was with this story? Wolverine tells us that killing animals is bad. Great. Thank you for wasting two issues in order to convey an after-school special.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #9
The Masters and King Randor fight for their lives in the ring of Dreams of the Underworld (think the rings of Hell in Dante's Inferno but less scary for the kids). As the realm turns more against them, Teela. Stratos and Moss Man are eaten and sent to the next ring, Earth. Sadly, that was about all that happened. Too slow for my liking but I don't care. He-Man is still the shit.

Superman Unchained #5
Surprise, Wraith has seemingly turned on Superman... I plan on rereading this after it's finally done. Maybe then I'll get a story and understand why I'm paying for this.

Artifacts #33

Guest writer and artist take over this issue (and the next, though by a new pair) as Tom Judge solves a long running killing spree. The man used magic to make his victims the keys on a piano so that they would sing his song for every new victim he made play. Nothing brilliant but the creative team are newbies who won a talent contest and it was pretty good for a first go.

Trailer Watch: Transcendence

To be perfectly frank, I had never heard of this movie until the last few days. I probably heard or read some things on it at its start but nothing comes to mind. That being said, this looks pretty cool and I'm in.

NB of the Week

-I AM THE ONE WHO SPOILS.-

Switching things up a little, I wanted to further sell the amazing title that is Saga. This week saw the release of issue 17 and it's ridiculous how brilliant each issue gets. If I haven't filled you in before (and I speak a lot so it's possible to have forgotten), here's the jist:
Marko and Alana are from two different species who are at war. They have fallen in love and have sired a daughter, making a lot of people angry and wanting them dead. Alana was in the military and she is the one who helped Marko escape, branding her a traitor along the way (though Marko breeding with her has also put a sentence on his head). The two are on the run with their newborn daughter, making friends with a ghost girl who has become something of a nanny to Hazel (their daughter), mercenaries are on their trail with cat's that tell if you're lying, trees that are rocket ships, princes who are robots and dream about weird sex (which we get to see on their tv heads). This book has been described as a combination of Star Wars, Romeo and Juliet, Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones and I'd actually say that's a very good description. It's scifi love mixed with magic and fantasy and odd sex (that the Thrones connection, if ya didn't know) and I truly believe it is the best written comic being published today. The art of Fiona Staples, whom I never even heard of before this book, is an absolute perfect match to what Brian K Vaughan writes and I would argue that her art is the most complimentary art to a story out of everything published today as well.
Vaughan and Staples have created a masterpiece of a book. Almost two years of story and everything just keeps getting better. Every book has a slow point. Every story and character has a point where things are just not as good as the last. Not to say it's bad but that it loses it's excitement and flavor for a bit. Saga has lost nothing. Every issue makes you want more. Every death brings a tear. Every kiss brings a smile. It plays on your emotions in every direction and I can't wait for more after every read. There is some really good stories being told in the comic world but in my book, nothing is better than Saga. This is a title that I absolutely recommend to anybody who wants a smart, mature, eloquent story that makes you forget you're paying 2.99 for a comic book.

Trailer Watch: 22 Jump Street

If you haven't seen this yet, you need to. If you have seen this yet, watch it again.
Naughty language is in this red band trailer. Please be careful and responsible.

NB of the Week

Montezuma's Revenge!

Justice League #25

DC continues to tell a few good stories as their whole line suffers from Dick Editor Syndrome. This one kinds falls in the middle. Essentially all we get here is Owlman telling Nightwing that he wants to stop Ultraman from enslaving all of humanity. Nightwing chooses the lesser of the two evils and says he'll help Owlman. All while Superwoman just happens to be listening. (amazing variant cover shown)

Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man #2
Galactus has destroyed New Jersey (not much loss there) and it's up to Spidey and his gang to try and stop him. Only not in this issue. Cloak and Dagger get close and try to shoot light in his eye but that's about it. Big ending, though, as Miles reveals himself as Spider-Man to his father, not wanting to hide anything from him if this may be their final moments together.

Cataclysm: Ultimates #2
Down on the street level of the Galactus fight, Fury and his Commandos are going against the Gah Lak Tus swarm, which is turning all it touches into part of it's hive mind. After some great fighting, that includes Hulk, Abigail Brand, Emil Blonsky, Stature and Punisher. Fury, Dum Dum and Danny Ketch are left with no choice but to flee. All Seems lost as this mini has become the darkest and most bleak of all 4 Cataclysm minis.

Captain America #14
Cap and Falcon are left fighting Nuke and, no surprise, defeat them. Falcon has to stop Cap from crossing the line (I assume playing on how dark the last 10 years in Dimension Z have been) and Falcon, after letting a photographer leave with her camera intact, finds that she published those photos, claiming America was part of Nuke's murdering the whole time. Things look bleak in Cap's world right now.

Astro City #7
After some female villains are stopped and captured, they reveal to all that they have been working for the hero Winged Victory the whole time. As a strong feminist, Victory vows to stop these lies on her own. Problem is that her powers come from the strength of females so with her loyalty in doubt, she may be stripped of her power. Not to mention the Confessor is now on the trail. Great old Astro City just as it should be.

Trailers Watch

Two awesome trailers were released in the last day. The first was Jupiter Ascending by the Wachowski Siblings. It visually looks amazing, as they always do. My only problem is that I'm not quite sold in Tatum and Kunis being stars  of a scifi action movie. But it looks damn amazing

 The Next is the teaser for the new Godzilla. I've been a pretty big Godzilla fan for a while and can't wait for this one. It's just a teaser so there's not much but it's enough to get my excitement going.

 

(Late)NB of the Week

-YOU THINK I'M NOT SPOILS JUST BECAUSE I CARRY A RABBIT?-

Much like last week, I had two comics that left me wanting more for one specific reason: jaw-dropped ending. The first comic I'll definitely spoil the ending to while the second I'll leave much more open.

DC Universe vs. Masters of the Universe #3 (of 6)
Written by Keith Giffen/Tony Bedard
Drawn by Dexter Soy/Derlis Santacruz/Andres Ponce

Skeletor is now all souped-up and trying to steal magic from the DCUniverse. Last issue, He-Man stabbed Superman clean through the chest as he and the League had been taken over and attacking the Masters. Evil-Lyn high-tails herself and the Masters out of there before anybody else can overreact, leaving the League lost and wondering how to stop their new foes. Shortly after, Man-At-Arms and other Masters arrive in the DC looking for Adam and the others, which of course leads to another fight. We end the issue back with Skeletor, giving the villain monologue and revealing his new, powerful master... Dark Orko. Shoulda been nicer to the little guy.
In theory, it's a little lame and worn out to turn a hero bad and turn on the other heroes but I could care less. This is fraking Orko and he looks evil and pissed and I can't wait to see what actually happens with this story.

Inhumanity #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Drawn by Olivier w/ Yu and Weaver

I won't say anything about the big ending but it's a whopper. After the events of Infinity, Black Bolt has released the Terrigen Wave across the globe, seemingly killing himself to so. As Karnak explains to the other characters, at the dawn of civilization, the Inhumans were created. From there, a portion left the city, wanting to live a different life than what was given. Hundreds of thousands of years later, Inhuman DNA has been spread and moved throughout the world and bred into the human race. What the Terrigen Wave did was unlock that code in all those descendants, creating a new breed of Inhuman, in the hopes of hiding Thanos's son from Thanos himself (which is what Infinity was partially about). What all this leads to in this issue is a big death and a lot of unanswered questions that make me want to read wherever it is that Fraction is going to take the Inhumans in the new ongoing series (that was pushed back to April, gosh-darn-it). This issue was pretty heavy in dialogue as it's a lot of back-story and explaining but it's totally worth it. If you have any interest in the Inhumans, now is the time to start following.