House of M

COVER BY: Esad Ribic
WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
PENCILS: Olivier Coipel
INKS: Tim Townsend
COLORED BY: Frank D'Armata
LETTERED BY: Chris Eliopoulos

I know it's been a while since I've done much writing, but truth be told, it's been a while since I've done much reading.

Tonight I decided to catch up on the House of M, and I must say I'm impressed.

I'm not buying any of the side stories. I know there are House of M: Spiderman, House of M: Iron Man, House of M: Fantastic Four, etc. I just get the main story, and so far I've just thought of it as fun.

Issue 5 changed that for me. Specifically the two or three pages that deal with Peter Parker. I don't want to get into the story, but he out of anyone had the best reaction to being shown the truth (with Scott Summers puking).

I hate to admit it, but I'm gaining a little respect for Spidy. Recent writers have done a good job of making him the whipping boy of the Marvel Universe. He's showing the pains of being a superhero (a side of comic books that interest me greatly).

House of M only has a couple more issues. I'm not expecting greatness, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it (unless it has a Identity Crisis crap-twist).

More reading and more writing to come.

Damn you DC

Thanks for ruining characters I loved.
Jerks.




And if this turns out to be a case of Superdickery, I'll be pissed.

Bend it like Bendis

I too have gone a long time without posting, so I'll add this.



New Avengers #4

COVER BY: David Finch
WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
PENCILS: David Finch
INKS: Danny Miki

Sometimes you pick up an issue on habit. It's been a while since I got New Avengers #3. I could remember the story, the characters, and twists. I knew I had to pick up New Avengers #4, but I wasn't really sure why.

Then I read it.

Now I know why.

This Bendis guy never fails to impress me. I remember looking at the roster for the new Avengers team and thinking it was just hype. They were putting together everyone who sold in the Marvel Universe. It was just a matter of time until this person showed up or here's that person doing his schtick. Yet the way Bendis moves his story, you realize that this isn't about who sells comics. It's just the story he had in his head, or at least he knows a story well enough that he can bring in mandated characters in such a way that makes you think that he doesn't compromise his story.

I know I'm being vague, but that's on purpose.

Keep going Bendis. Now I know why I'm picking up issue #5.

The Great Journey

I just finished Halo 2 and it feels like a great accomplishment.

The game itself wasn't that difficult. I played through on the normal setting. Heroic is supposed to be more of a challenge, and Legendary is said to be near impossible. I don't know if I'm going to try to go through it again any time soon. I'll probably stick to the online part of it now, but I wanted to finish the story.

And what a story it was.

I really loved the story from Halo. Video games (and first person shooters in particular) are notoriously short of story. Mostly it involves going from point A to point B, killing everything in your path and picking up some key cards on the way. The plots tend to be as deep as a short story written in a 13-year-old boy's wide ruled notebook.

Halo was different in so many ways. There was a war going on, but it's not your job to win it single handedly. Your enemy is about to set of a weapon of mass destruction, but they don't even know it. I liked it for the same reason I liked the game. It was simple, yet extremely detailed.

Halo 2 was everything a sequel should be. It took the elements of the first game and expanded on them. There wasn't much in the way of invention. But they went into great depth on almost all aspects of the first story.

Patrick has been talking lately about video games becoming an art form. I'll let him expand on his theories there if he chooses to. I agree that video games are reaching the point where something is going to happen. At some point in the foreseeable future, a corner will be turned. Right now, video games are mimicking action movies. Halo 2 stands out to me because it shows that video game makes have mastered the skills of filmic story telling. They have those tools under their belts. But video games need to find their own path. Trying to mimic movies, that's the best video games will ever be. A copy. Video games must learn to embrace their own strengths and limitations and become something of their own.

Movies were considered mindless entertainment, but they've had their Citizen Kane and Godfathers.

Television is the opium of the masses, but there has been Twin Peaks (Patrick's suggestion) and All in the Family.

Comic books were trash collected by preteen boys, but then came Watchmen and the Dark Knight Returns.

I'm sure that in my lifetime there will be a video game that can be counted as a piece of literature.

I can't wait to see it.

I'm a dork

I found this very funny.

Gonzo is dead

Hunter S. Thompson
July 18, 1937 - February 20, 2005

Green Lantern: Rebirth

Green Lantern: Rebirth
Issue #4 (of 6)
Written by Geoff Johns;
Art and cover by Ethan Van Sciver

I was so excited to get this comic last night, I sat in my car and read it by the dome light. I don't know how many other issues that I can say that about lately.

The book was disappointing and inspiring at the same time. I was expecting much more of an event in this issue. The last page I guess was supposed to be the issue's surprise, but given the title, you're already expecting it.

The one thing that really got me about this issue was the description of using Green Latern's ring. Oliver "Green Arrow" Queen takes a shot at Sinestro with the old piece of finger candy, ends up feeling completely drained and tired and asks Kyle Rayner if that's what happens when you force your will through it. Rayner's response: "Every time."

I like that. Just goes to show that not anyone could be the Green Lantern. The rings ended up on the fingers they did for a reason (though that does beg the question of Guy Gardner. I wish someone would come along and write him well again).

The one thing I disliked (and I'm going to have to spoil the ending on this, so you might not want to read further if you haven't finished the book) was as Hal Jordan returns from the dead (why do you think they called it Rebirth?) the white hair at his temples returned to Brown. Now I understand that they're trying to return Hal Jordan to his former glory, but the graying temples signified everything he'd gone through. Hell and back (literally). Let Hal be a little older and wiser as he returns to the DC Universe.

Now that I've written that, I'm suddenly curious as to how he's going to fit back into the Earth of Detective Comics. He's been gone for a while, and he was a huge villain right before he left.

Makes me eager to pick up the next issue and read it in my car.