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Showing posts from 2018

Collected Comic Review - Aquaman and The Others TPB Vol. 1-2

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Aquaman and The Others: Vol. 1 - Legacy of Gold - Collecting Aquaman (2011) #20 and Annual 1, and Aquaman and the Others (2014) #1-5. Aquaman and The Others: Vol. 2 - Alignment Earth - Collecting Aquaman and the Others (2014) #6-11, Aquaman: Futures End (2014) #1, Aquaman and the Others: Futures End (2014) #1. Believe it or not, for about a year during DC's New 52 era, there was a second monthly Aquaman title called Aquaman and The Others.  I don't claim to be an Aquaman historian, but I'm pretty sure that at no other point has DC released multiple, monthly Aquaman titles.  I remember trying to keep up with the title digitally when it first came out, only making it through a handful of issues before falling behind, eventually forgetting about it completely.  It wasn't until I read through the  Aquaman by Geoff Johns Omnibus  a week ago that I remembered this titled had existed.  With my interest piqued once again, I tracked down the two trade paperback volumes (t

Collected Comic Review - Aquaman by Peter David Book One

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Aquaman by Peter David Book One - Collecting Aquaman: Time and Tide (1993) #1-4, and Aquaman (1994) #0-8. I've clearly been on an Aquaman kick lately, having really enjoyed both the Aquaman by Geoff Johns Omnibus and the Jason Momoa/Amber Heard-led live-action film .  I figured, what better time than now to check out another of DC's classic runs: Peter David's Aquaman.  Fortunately, this run is currently being collected by DC in thick trade paperbacks.  Unfortunately for newcomers to this material such as myself, only the two books have been released thus far (with a third solicited for the fall of 2019).  Judging by the length of David's run, a fourth volume should complete this series collecting his work on the title.  I may have gotten sucked into this era of Aquaman, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to finish David's Aquaman for another year or two.  In hindsight, I may not have picked the best time to dive into this run after all! Aquaman

Film Review - Aquaman

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Aquaman (2018), PG-13, 2h 23 min - Live action DC films have had a very spotty track record over the last few years.  Previously, last year's  Wonder Woman  had really been the only one that had been well received.  I personally feel that Aquaman will be the second.  The funny thing is, it has more than a couple similarities with Wonder Woman: an outside the box director for a big, superhero film (in this case horror/thriller aficionado James Wan), a lead actor who didn't necessarily seem right when first announced (Jason Momoa), and a script/story that was allowed to stand on its own as opposed to being shoe horned into some greater, expanded universe plan.  I certainly don't mean to bash any of the other DCEU films (I probably enjoyed them more than most, even considering their downfalls), but I have always felt like WB/DC rushed the expanded universe concept in an attempt to catch up with the record breaking Marvel Cinematic Universe.  As a result, the DC characters w

Collected Comic Review - Aquaman by Geoff Johns Omnibus

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Aquaman by Geoff Johns Omnibus - Collecting Aquaman (2011) #0-19, 21-25 (including 23.1 and 23.2), and Justice League (2011) #15-17. Daredevil may be my favorite comic book character, but you'd be hard pressed to find a hardcover collection that I have looked forward to more than this volume, the Aquaman by Geoff Johns Omnibus.  It is a book that, over the last four years, has had three solicitations and two cancellations.  Fortunately, the third time was the charm as DC finally saw fit to make this collection a reality in conjunction with the live-action Aquaman film hitting theaters this week. Prior to this run, I had never read any Aquaman.  Honestly, I hadn't really had any interest in the character either.  But that all changed when DC announced their New 52 initiative: a reboot of their entire comic book universe in an effort to be more new reader friendly.  Aquaman launched with the creative team of Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis: a combo that had produced a good chunk

Collected Comic Review - Green Arrow by Mike Grell

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Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters  - Collecting Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (1987) #1-3. Green Arrow: Vol. 1 - Hunter's Moon - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #1-6. Green Arrow: Vol. 2 - Here There Be Dragons - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #7-12. Green Arrow: Vol. 3 - The Trial of Oliver Queen - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #13-20. Green Arrow: Vol. 4 - Blood of the Dragon - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #21-28. Green Arrow: Vol. 5 - The Black Arrow - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #29-38. Green Arrow: Vol. 6 - Last Action Hero - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #39-50. Green Arrow: Vol. 7 - Homecoming - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #51-62. Green Arrow: Vol. 8 - The Hunt for the Red Dragon - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #63-72. Green Arrow: Vol. 9 - Old Tricks - Collecting Green Arrow (1988) #73-80, and Green Arrow: The Wonder Year (1993) #1-4. Shado: Song of the Dragon (1992) #1-4   - loose issues (not collected). Over the last couple of years, I have been

Collected Comic Review - Thor: Heroes Return Omnibus Vol. 1

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Thor: Heroes Return Omnibus Vol. 1 - Collecting Thor (1998) #1-35, Annual 1999, Annual 2000, Iron Man (1998) #21-22, Juggernaut (1999) #1, Peter Parker, Spider-Man (1999) #2, 11, and Silver Surfer/Thor (1998) #1.  I picked this omnibus up last year when it was first released based primarily upon a good recommendation from a friend of mine, but also because Thor has become one of my favorite Marvel characters over the last few years.  I was actually in the middle of reading the Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus when this arrived, and as epic as that was, it was a lot of Thor and I needed a bit of a break.  So now, almost a year later, I finally got around to tackling this first volume of Thor from the Heroes Return era. Thor (1998) #1 (Romita, Jr.) Heroes Return marked Marvel's line-wide reboot after their Heroes Reborn experiment that saw their biggest properties optioned out to the creative studios of Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld in an effort to breath new life into them an

Collected Comic Review - My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies

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My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies  - Collecting the My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies (2018) Original Graphic Novel. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have long been one of the preeminent comic book creative teams.  They have been collaborators for nearly twenty years now, and even then My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies signifies a first for the duo: it is their first foray into the use of the original graphic novel (OGN) format.  The OGN format may be something new from the creative team's bag of tricks, but it will feel quite familiar to long time fans as it is set within their popular Criminal universe (which they will be returning to after a number of years with a new monthly series in 2019). Artwork by Sean Phillips/Jacob Phillips The central character for My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies is Ellie.  She reluctantly goes through the day to day motions while attending a rehab facility she doesn't feel she belongs in.  Ellie has a glorified outlook on drugs and