Obligatory Ultron Blog

...what? You didn't see that coming? 

So yeah, I stayed up late and I had to walk home, but it was worth it. To me it wasn't a question of when I was going to see Avengers: Age of Ultron, it was more how and where. This watching was more for the sake of watching the film and being able to avoid spoilers and anything else that might ruin the moment and I am so glad to say the moment was incredible. But for everything I want to gush and gush about Age of Ultron I want to get some of the bad points out of the way. The film wasn't without flaws, but nothing that stopped from being absolute blast of a good time. And I will make this spoiler free, I think maybe by the end of the month people can spoiler talk about things if they want. This is the grace period.

Off the bat, if you don't know comics or haven't been watching all the Marvel movie, you will be lost watching this. What AOU does is ambitious and big, but if you don't know why you should care or even understand who is who, then you are going to have a good time. Or at the very least you will be confused. Secondly and this is strictly my opinion, for a movie with his name in the title, I wasn't entirely sold on Ultron. But that's me and I am going to explain just yet, I want you to go see it and see for yourself first, without reading anything on the character. And also it needs to be said, I know why they are there, but did there have to be so many in movie advertisements? I can feel movie critics collectivity scoff at this. Like I know why they are here, I just don't care much for them. 

So the good now. Comic book fans will absolutely love this movie, so many great scenes with all the different characters and probably some of the best action moments on screen out of all the Marvel movie so far or comic books movies in general. Mind blowing action all over the place, you will love it. And the twins, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, just awesome. I loved every moment we got to see these two in action, I wish we could have seen more of them but I guess I will have to wait for those deleted scenes on the Blu-Ray. And the Avengers were great as well, loved the back and forth between the characters, seeing the trinity of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor all interacting as the main corner stones of the team was great as well. And the movie leaves you wanting to see what is going to happen next, so Ant Man, you better have a whole lot of awesome. 

So at the end of the day, comic book fans go see this immediately! And let me know what you guys thought of the film, did you guys have a good time? Loved it? Hated it? It could happen, some people were born without a heart (I kid). But let me know what y'all thought about the latest Marvel event of the summer. I gotta get ready for Free Comic Book Day, out in Brampton tomorrow at Stadium Comics. So until then, I will see you guys later, keep chasing the storm! 

Editorial: Excelsior to the Nuts

Why do you do it Marvel?

You create some incredible characters, an amazing legacy, hire the best artist in the industry and even give us an incredibly detailed movie universe. And we thank you for it with tons and tons of our hard earned cash. No one needs to buy comic books, we want to buy comic books. So then, why are you so quick to give your loyal fan base a constant kick in the groin? The big dump you took on us this week was the big reveal in AXIS issue 7, with Magneto and his kids, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Apparently Marvel wanted to pull a Maury, because Magneto is not the father! Wait. What? Are you meaning to tell me that House of M means squat now? And what about Tommy (Speed) and Billy (Wiccan)? The Children's Crusade was one of my favourite stories Marvel ever released, the idea of these characters all coming together to create a family was a beautiful moment. So does that even matter anymore? At this point I am waiting for the kids to be revealed as an imaginary essence of Wanda's psyche, the knife is already in the heart, you might as well finish the job. And I am honestly puzzled as hell about this. Because Marvel is destroying a lot of comics in an effort to have all the movie rights back in their hands, but it is us, the loyal comic book fans who get to suffer for it.

So in an attempt to separate the twins from the X-Men universe, Marvel thought it would be great to have Magneto not their father and now we will find out the twins will possibly not be mutants. Because instead of House of M ending in self sacrifice, we will now have Wanda commit an absolute hate crime of pure genocide. Hurray. But why do all this? For the movies, duh. Because you can't have a guy who might be mildly interested in buying comics after watching Avengers 2, pick up the books and not understand how these two could be mutants but not be on an X-Men related team. Because his possible three dollars is worth more then all the Young Avengers fan base. Absolute horse shit. Who gives a fuck if the movies and comics are different worlds? In the ultimate universe they made the twins with hints of incest, but whatever it's another universe, they can do what they want. But not anymore, Marvel is going to try and create a prime universe. I am slicing my wrist with excitement. The idea of resetting all the books is an absolute nightmare. But think about all the new readers? What new readers? What about the loyal fan base that made you? When I started collecting comics for real I was about 12 maybe 13 years old, not sure, but my first book was Daredevil issue 323, part five of the Fall From Grace story. My point is, this wasn't Daredevil issue one. I really loved the DD episode in the Spider-man cartoon, the idea of a devil kicking ass and doing it while blind was so badass for my young mind, I wanted more of this guy. I started Daredevil in the 90's, it took me a few years to go back and find the classic work from Stan Lee, then the incredible work by Frank Miller and so forth. My point is no one was waiting on me to reset books so I could start on #1 and be able to understand what's going on, tons of comic book fans just started because they loved comics, the heroes and the villains and everything that comes with comic books. The fans who have dedicate so much are the people Marvel and DC Comics should be concerned about.

Because recently this relationship has been a very poisonous one. You give us an incredible and unique series that a lot of us fall in love with, but since it doesn't make Avengers kind of money it's not worth keep it around. She-Hulk, Elektra and New Warriors are just to name a few, and these were series I really liked and enjoyed. New Warriors was a fresh new and young team of super heroes, it was extremely refreshing from the main stream super hero team. You finally had a place that made sense for Scarlet Spider and had Nova back on the team, what more do you need? Apparently to make sure it sells like bottled water in the desert. And don't get me started on Elektra. This is the best looking book in comics today. There, I said it. And it is hard to argue, Mike del Mundo doesn't just draw a comic about the red assassin, he brings it to life in jaw dropping panels, with dream like progression through each page, Elektra is one that I always look forward too. Seriously people, get Elektra now and just look at the incredible pages. Mike better be on a new book as soon as possible. And while I am on the subject of artist, a show of hands, who here has bought a new series because of a particular artist was going to be drawing it, only to find out three issues in that they have already changed the artist to someone else, hands up? Thought so. Who wouldn't be hyped to know Joe Mad would be drawing Inhumans or Coipel on X-Men. And damn it, they even got someone else to draw Rocket Raccoon! No offence to that artist, but I bought that book for Skottie Young art! He's my favourite artist, and I have been waiting since his New Warriors run to see him back on a Marvel super hero comic run. Seriously you can have Young draw any book and I would buy the crap out of it! Now listen Marvel, you can't keep doing that, give the people who they want, not what you think they want. You guys make enough money to pay the artist who we want to see and to give the up and coming guys their own books to show their skills as well. What Marvel is doing here is like setting up a concert where Metallica opens for the garage KISS tribute band, how do you think the crowd would handle that? And also listen to your fan base, because I know at times we can be extremely needy and confusing bunch, but listen, take the good and filter the nonsense. Not everyone is a crazy 40 year old who is legally married to a Jean Grey mannequin, you've got fans who want better comics that reflect this changing and different world that we live in today. And you know Marvel, you've done it right with characters like Kamala, the new Ms.Marvel or even with Prodigy, an openly bi sexual character. You've got Sam Wilson as the new Captain America and the new Thor is an absolute step in the right direction. So don't ruin all the good you do for a few more bucks from the movies! Those movies will make millions regardless of the comic universe, you don't have to force the two together, it doesn't make any sense. Please, do what is right for the loyal fan base that has always been and will be there.

So that's what I think, and I really hope someone at Marvel, even an intern or something takes the time and reads this, just hoping this will make some kind of noise. And I suggest everyone to let Marvel or DC Comics know how you feel about the current state of comics, by letting your opinions be known and/or by purchasing power, which many would say is the best way to go about it. But what do you guys think about everything that is going on? Let me know and let the big two know as well. That's all the time I've got for now, thank you for reading and keep chasing the storm! 

AXIS: Red Hot Onslaught...

Here we go again, the Marvel crossover event.

And it's strange because I didn't feel there was enough time from Original Sins to where we are now with AXIS, the massive Avengers & X-Men crossover that has been built up since the new Marvel Now series started with Uncanny Avengers. For those who don't know, a quick little synopsis here; with the power of Charles Xavier in his brain, the Red Skull has launched and attack on mutants throughout the globe, even opening re-education camps for mutants to be experimented, exploited and killed. After superhero mutants, Havok, Scarlet Witch and Rouge are captured they run into Magneto, who as well was captured. In a battle against the Red Skull, Magneto does the unthinkable and kills him, and in act of pure hatred a new being is born, the Red Onslaught. Like Onslaught...but red, mainly. Regardless it's bad news for the world and a challenge that only together can the Avengers and X-Men conquer. 

It is at this point where I need to layout a spoiler warning, this is more of a my thoughts on AXIS so far and not so much a review, because if you have been following the Uncanny Avengers story so far, it's a no brainier that you will be reading this. Hell every single Avengers, X-Men and Marvel fan in general should be reading this! So if you don't want any spoils, turn away now, you have been warned. 

So this is kind of a big deal and everything and it's really cool, but I just have one really big complaint about all this...

Okay, so Cyclops get possessed by the Phoenix Force and kills Professor X. Tragic. Sad. That I get. He gets taken down, they destroy the Phoenix and label Cyclops and his team criminals. Okay, that is debatable especially considering that practically every hero has dropped the ball once or twice, and everyone knows the Phoenix was involved, can you really blame the guy for wanting to save his race. But that's not my issue here. So here's the deal, in issue 1 of Uncanny Avengers we see Wolverine giving a big speech at Professor X funeral (...seriously though, how many funerals does this guy need?) and it's all fine and dandy, he gets a beautiful memorial and is buried. Then, at the end of this same issue, we see Red Skull with Xavier's dead body and holding his brain. What the hell? How does this even happen?! We know these kind of things can happen, we have seen clones and power stealing being done on plenty of dead comic book characters before, this isn't new. So cremation, why didn't it happen? Burn up his body, brain included and problem solved. If his ashes are in the ocean, then no one is going to desecrate his memory. Simple as that. If they did this, there would be no Red Onslaught to deal with in the first place. Maybe I am nit picking here or whatever, but Xavier has died so many times already, you think they would have learned. Or even having his body protected in the lower levels of the school or I don't know in highly guarded hero graveyard. Maybe it's because I saw this happen in Blackest Night with the dead body of Bruce Wayne, and even then I wondered how that was even possible? Why would you bury one the most paranoid people on the planet out in the open? Comics, am I right?

So regardless we got ourselves a massive and powerful psychic being in Red Onslaught which has sent the world in a frenzy of chaos and hate. The book starts off with the Avengers fighting each other during a mission to stop Plant Man, and quickly we get an update on Magneto and the other Uncanny Avengers fighting one and other. We see as well that somehow, Cyclops has been captured, which I don't think happened yet in Uncanny X-Men, but I could be wrong. As well as Quentin Quire and Genesis, which is basically Kid Apocalypse. But after a Summers brother fight, we see what we've been waiting for, the X-Men reunited. And not only that, we get a massive Marvel team up with every hero available taking it to the Red Onslaught, thanks to Iron Man creating a psychic disruptive device. Unfortunately for everyone, Iron Man also had thought of a contingency plan, a just in case any hero gets out of line, and Onslaught stole those thoughts and created some deadly hero eliminating Sentinels. Damn it Stark. 

So while not the best action yet, there is a lot of promise here. Will see what they do with all these characters though, how will the heroes defeat these Sentinels and the Red Onslaught? But I think the bigger questions are what's going to happen with the X-Men? What about Magneto? And what about Tony Stark, whose fear and paranoia may have gotten everyone killed. What kind of world is on the horizon? Luckily, we won't have to wait too long to find, we already got the next two issues out already. A change is coming, good times true believers! 

So yeah, stay tuned for part 2 and part 3 thoughts and comments coming up soon! If you are a reading AXIS as well, let me know what you think about all this? Do you agree or disagree? What are your thoughts on the current big crossover event from Marvel? Leave comments below and be sure to tell your friends about this page and all that other good stuff. Until then, keep chasing the storm. 

No Big Deal...

I am not saying these are old ideas but... 

Ugh, I hate talking about this kind of relevant and current news stuff. Mainly because everyone is talking and giving their opinions on it and I hate following the crowd, but at the same time, I do have my own opinions on these things as well and I should speak out. Especially on my little corner of speech here on Storm Watch, so with that out of the way, let's get started. So my fellow storm clouds, as you know Marvel dropped the massive spoiler news this week that in October we are going to be seeing some new faces behind our familiar heroes. Now I don't know which got more attention, but we have an all new female Thor and the mantle of Captain America will be taken over by the Falcon, so we will have a black Captain America. And someone is going to take over Tony Starks mind, I think, it is really hinted in the name Superior Iron Man. But that is speculation really at the end of the day. The world of Marvel and that of the Avengers will be a different one for sure. So what do I think of all this big news...?

Honestly, my first thought is, well that would have been an amazing reveal. Now that magic is lost for news and publicity. Is it worth it? Probably. They make news to bring in new readers, not this Chilean geek who goes to the comic book stores like it's church. And honestly, I get that. So while it sucks to have surprises revealed, it's not going to make me any less of a comic book fan.

So what of the characters and the new roles that have been presented...?

Thor: Why is this news? This already happened, years ago, Earth X anyone? (I review that book awhile back, click here for that review) Or even Thor Girl? And even the What If issue with Jane Foster had Mjolnir. This is something I have seen already, so it's not that big of a deal. I think it's awesome though, and she is going to be great to see kicking ass, a female character with such great power, it will be good for young female readers. As for me, I can't wait to see what kind of adventures she will be in, and also who it is holding the legendary hammer. 

Captain America: Patriot anyone? Or what about the entire point of the series, Truth: Red, White & Black. Again, having an African American male take the role of Captain America is not a new idea, so long time comic book fans shouldn't be surprised. However if Chris Evans is the limit of your Cap knowledge, well then yes, this would be a big deal to you. But I think this is going to be really good for the character of Sam Wilson, The Falcon, as the character has been around for a long time and only now is getting some good spotlight. So a big thumbs up to that. 

Iron Man: The fact that this one has not been spoiled completely makes this the most interesting of all the heroes at the moment. Everyone is assuming that Tony Stark will be taken over by something or someone, much like Spider-man was during the run of Superior Spider-man. So it will be interesting to see if Marvel is going to take this approach as well. But who knows, it could be anything or anyone under the armour, so only time will tell. I just hope this can stay a secret. 

So there you have it, my take on the current news of the upcoming new bold direction by Marvel comics. I am a really big Marvel fan, it currently takes up 75% of my new comics and I can't wait to see what they do with these characters. Although the bigger question is, when are we going to get a new Young Avengers book? Well that is my question at least. But what are you guys thinking, do you like these changes or did you want to see something bigger and bolder? Let me know in the comments below. And remember to like and tell your friends about this little blog here, trying to expand here and all that. Until then, keep it tuned here and keep chasing the storm.