Daredevil #276 (January 1990)

Last time, we took a look at Daredevil #275 (December 1989). As part of the "Acts of Vengeance" event, Doctor Doom rebuilt the evil machine known as Ultron. Yep, Ultron. The robot that gave entire teams of Avengers pause, and set him against the Man Without Fear. At the time, Daredevil was hanging out with a couple members of the Inhuman Royal Family, a pair of civilians, and Number Nine. Number Nine was a young woman genetically altered to be "perfect". However, it led her to wonder who she is. Doom's rebuilt Ultron, the 13th incarnation of the killer robot, has a similar problem. Doom gave it the personalities of the previous 12 versions of itself, and as a result...Ultron's gone more wonkybonkers than usual.

While out on its Doom-programmed mission to kill Daredevil (as a way to prove something to the Kingpin), Ultron puzzled over who it was, when it encountered Number Nine. And then Daredevil and the Inhumans showed up to fight him. The three heroes got trounced. And that's how we got here. Let's take a look at Daredevil #276!

The cover is awesome! It's a John Romita Jr, and Al Williamson piece. You have Daredevil sitting on a pile of what is presumably dirt, holding up the head of Ultron on a stick, like the psychotic robot was executed and his head was put on a pike. The way Daredevil is hunched over and in shadow, it's like the battle was brutal and costly. Like he had to walk through hell to beat him. I also have to point out, I like the little corner indicator that indicates that this is an "Acts of Vengeance" tie-in. It's a great subtle way to indicate a tie-in, and it would be cool if it was brought back.

"The Hundred Heads of Ultron"
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Penciler: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Al Williamson
Colorist: Max Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with Ultron hefting Number Nine over his head, rating insanely. As insane robots do.

He takes her to a gigantic pile of Ultron heads. He rants and raves about how he has many conflicting voices in his head (Remember, this Ultron was supposed to be a combination of the previous twelve incarnations of the killer robot), and he wants perfection. He raves about how he's a False Man, and but still a man. He desires success in his goal. And once he climbs that pile of Ultron heads, he'll find his answers. Yeah, did I mention this Ultron is high up on the wonkybonkers scale right now?

Brandy Ash finds the beaten Daredevil, Karnak, and Gorgon. The three wake up, as they were only stunned. Gorgon realizes they were fighting Ultron. As in the Ultron that has been a pain to entire teams of Avengers. Karnak is not so worried, as even Ultron has a weakness. Remember, Karnak has the ability to find the weak spots of things. Skip Ash drives up, his truck armed to the teeth. Daredevil's found them thanks to his super-hearing. Nine's heartbeat is racing, and Ultron is loudly ranting. He takes off in Skip's truck, leaving his allies behind. Skip is furious because he just bought that truck.

Ultron walks up the pile of heads, a struggling Number Nine in his arms. Daredevil arrives, and Nine pleads with the mad robot to not hurt him.

Daredevil races up the improvised mountain, and Ultron tries to blast him. You know, Matt should consider working as a stunt double. There's no doubt a certain Avenger could help out with that.... Nine screams that she'll hate Ultron if he killed him. However, Ultron's programming demands he do so. Not to worry, Ultron has the perfect solution to that mental problem. He just rips out the circuit that tells him to kill Daredevil.

The mad robot keeps going up the pedestal, ranting about how Number Nine is perfect, and must be protected. However, she argues that she's not some jewel, she's a person. What he's doing is tyrannical. She wants to be seen as flawed, as imperfect. That gives her freedom. He compares his quest to a knight going on a quest. When they found what they were looking for, they vanished.

Daredevil is able to hear this (super-hearing, remember? Daredevil is blind, but his other four senses are very strong), and he figures that Ultron intends to kill Number Nine. It's not unreasonable to assume so. Ultron has no compunction about killing humans, so...yeah.

Nine tries to get Ultron to accept his flaws. She tells him to sort out the voices in his head, and listen to the good ones. Problem is...Ultron has no idea which voices are the "good" ones. Considering the vast majority of the voices are telling him to kill humanity, you can see the problem. He goes further around the bend and starts ripping off his head...while his neck circuitry takes a billy club.

Daredevil leaps up and gets Nine out of there, but gets a Mighty Backhand from the mad machine, sending him tumbling. Gorgon tries to ambush Ultron, but also suffers the same fate. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen whacks the insane robot with a stick. Karnak, using his ability to find the weak spot of things, kicks Ultron in the exposed circuitry in his chest. Like you needed that power to notice that weak spot, buddy. It weakens Ultron enough for Daredevil to decapitate him.

"Daredevil Wins. Fatality."

Ultron's headless body tumbles down the makeshift pile of Ultron heads. And with that, the battle is finished. The group look down on the body of the broken robot. Number Nine feels terrible. She saw something in Ultron. She saw a vulnerability in the mad mechanoid. She tells the others that needs to be alone for a while, so she'll join them at the farm later. She manages to find the right Ultron head (It's still a bit warm). The story ends with her vowing to find a way to revive him. There was a good voice inside of him somewhere, and she wants to hear it again. She'll hear it again one day. After all, it's their fate.

I enjoyed this story, mainly because it was a match-up we've never really seen before. It does seem kind of one-sided at first glance. Think about it. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen is a street-level vigilante with supersenses. Ultron is a robot that has managed to bring the fight to entire teams of Avengers. Daredevil should consider himself pretty lucky that A) He had some backup in Gorgon and Karnak and B) Ultron was not at his best.

Number Nine's hearing a good voice in Ultron actually makes some sense. Ultron's twelfth incarnation actually managed to overcome his hatred of humanity and be...rather pleasant. Also, Ultron's attempt to find himself a great parallel to Number Nine, who is also trying to find herself. Her desire to revive him does make sense when you keep this in mind.

I never really had any issue with John Romita Jr's art, but his take on Ultron does come off a bit awkward to me sometimes. It looks a bit stiff and ungainly. Otherwise that, I think he turns in some fine artwork.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you enjoyed it, spread it around! See you next time, when the DC Universe becomes Legendary...

Torchlight II Announcement Trailer, My Thoughts

In 2009, American video game developer Runic Games and Chinese publisher Perfect World gave the world the action-RPG hack-and-slash Torchlight. Torchlight was originally released for Microsoft Windows, but it would eventually come to the Xbox 360, Linux, and OS.

In the game, Torchlight is a mining town built on a vein of Ember, a mysterious ore that can be used to create magical weapons. Your character is recruited to find an alchemist who vanished in the mines. As you progress, you discover dark secrets about the magical ore. The game was praised for its art, music, and combat, but was criticized for its story.

I myself am familiar with Torchlight. I played the game on my Xbox. It was a lot of fun, but the endless dungeons started to bore me. In 2012, Runic Games released the sequel: Torchlight II, for Xbox 360 and various computer operating systems. The game continued the story from the previous game. Like its predecessor, it would get positively praised. But now this game is coming to the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch! Let's take a look!

Ooh, neat animation!

Ha ha, can you imagine seeing a pair of people wearing that armor playing Nintendo Switches together in real life?

Ha ha, they don't notice the town is going mad around them.

I always had fun with the combat in Torchlight. The weapons were cool, too.

FLYING SKULL!

Hey, pink unicorn.

A hero's work in never done. Very true in an RPG. Always more sidequests.

You can get the pink unicorn in the Switch version. Neat!

I have to admit, this is a unique video game trailer. I love the animation. I did enjoy the first game all those years ago, just the dungeons got ridiculous. I never felt I was getting anywhere or making any progress. I am hoping this game addresses that issue. I hope it was, because I want to play this game.

Thanks for reading this blog entry. If you enjoyed it, spread it around! See you next time!

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Trailer, My Thoughts

In 1999, Square Enix (Then just Square) released Final Fantasy VIII for the original PlayStation. The game told the tale of Squall Leonheart and a group of mercenaries known as SeeD. They end up having to fight in a war started by an evil sorceress from the far future named Ultimecia. Hailing from the far future, Ultimecia wishes to compress time because she's evil.

The game's characters were rendered more realistically than in its predecessor. It was also the first Final Fantasy game to have a vocal piece as a main theme. The game would go on to be highly praised for its visuals and uniqueness. However, some of its gameplay was criticized. The game would make over $50 million (The game cost $16 million to make), a commercial success.

Over the years, the game would get ported to PC, and be available for PlayStation 3, PSP, and Vita. This allowed the game to sell over 9 million units. And now, the game is getting a remaster for Windows, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. Let's take a look at the trailer!

A Night at the Opera, anyone?

I can see why a remaster would take so long. Remember, the source code for this game was lost years ago. Yeah, Square Enix literally lost the source code for this game.

Squall's Gunblade is between awesome and ridiculous for me.

It's funny seeing a character from a Final Fantasy game wearing a cowboy hat. I don't know why.

Those are some big nunchucks.

Is that Cerberus? It's a three-headed dog. Well, dog-dragon thing.

Meteor to the face. That will hurt.

Swordfight!

I have to admit, I am surprised they're announcing a remaster of this game. Remember, the source code of this game is lost to the winds. That's incredible. They likely will have to rebuild this game from the ground up, as the source code is needed for a remaster. I can't imagine the amount of work that must take. The original version was made by about 180 people, so it's mindboggling the amount of manpower that rebuilding this game may need. Hopefully, they can pull it off, and give us a high-definition game that will be a joy for old and new players alike. I'll wait and see how it goes.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

The Mandalorian Trailer, My Thoughts

Five years after the Galactic Empire fell in Return of the Jedi, the galaxy is in chaos. It's a time where the lawless became the law. It was the time of bounty hunters and mercenaries. And among them...was the Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian is an upcoming TV series for the Disney+ streaming service, due to release in November. It tells the tale of the titular character's adventures in the outer reaches of the galaxy. What's a Mandalorian, you may ask? Well, they're a race of people in the Star Wars universe. You guys know of Boba Fett? Well, he's a Mandalorian.

The show will be run by Jon Favreau (You may know him for directing the first two Iron Man films. He also played Happy Hogan), and it boasts quite a cast: Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Nick Nolte, and even legendary German actor/director Werner Herzog. So, let's take a look at the trailer, revealed at the D23 Expo!

Wow, I bet some Stormtroopers are going to be wanting those helmets.

Oh, I bet those Stormtroopers regret not being able to aim.

That's a neat ship. And what a pretty planet.

"Ahhh, another day of bounty hunter, another dollar." Or...credits? Hey, what is the currency in the Star Wars universe?

I still am amazed they got Carl Weathers for this.

Oh look, they're flying over Dune! Watch out for sandworms!

When you're a bounty hunter, making a cool entrance is part of the job.

I think we just met some of the characters.

Heh. That Twi'lek must be lonely.

A bit of Western homage in those shots. Makes sense, I think Westerns were an influence on Star Wars.

"For the 500th time, I am NOT Boba Fett!"

Hey, IG-88! I remember him from Shadows of the Empire! That was a fun game! I hated him.

So, what is a Mexican Standoff called in the Star Wars universe? A Mandalorian Standoff?

"Bounty Hunting is a complicated profession." True, but you get to be your own boss.

I think he just broke the face of an Ood.

Huh. The Mandalorian has his own version of webshooters.

Hah. Dude in carbonite.

Well, I have to say, I am intrigued. I admit, I am a bit more of a...casual fan of Star Wars, mainly thanks to the Sequel Trilogy. I do want to watch this, as it seems like it will be quite good. I get a Western vibe to it, which is kind of neat.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

Daredevil #275 (December 1989)

The Man without Fear has swung by this blog before, mainly with my review of Daredevil #233 (August 1986). It would be the last issue of the influential Daredevil run by Frank Miller. After Miller departed the book, three fill-in issues were made. Steve Englehart (using the pseudonym John Harkness) was supposed to take over next, but lost the post after one issue thanks to a plot conflict with one of the fill-ins. Enter Ann Nocenti.

Nocenti was originally brought in to write a fill-in, but she stayed on the book for four-and-a-quarter years. This made her the series' longest regular writer. Nocenti had already cut her teeth writing for Marvel, having written stories for the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, Doctor Strange, and Star Wars. She also wrote the 1986 miniseries Beauty and the Beast (December 1984-June 1985), a miniseries that focused on the X-Men characters Dazzler and Beast. She also wrote the Longshot miniseries (September 1985-February 1986), which was the introduction of the titular character. Nocenti's run dealt with themes like feminism (which was a regular theme of her work), drug abuse, and nuclear proliferation. She also introduced Typhoid Mary to the Daredevil mythos. This would cause her to come into conflict with editors on occasion.

Before we begin, we also have to talk a bit about a crossover Marvel was doing at the time called "Acts of Vengeance". Going between December 1989 and February 1990 (and bringing in many of Marvel's books at the time), the crossover was basically an excuse to have Marvel's heroes face off against villains they normally didn't fight. For example, Moon Knight fighting Hydro-Man or the Fantastic Four fighting the Leader. Made for some interesting match-ups. Daredevil would be among the heroes brought into the Acts, as he finds himself battling one of Marvel's most dangerous villains: Ultron. So, how did that go down? Let's find out as we take a look at Daredevil #275!

The cover is pretty awesome. You go Ultron holding Daredevil by the neck while he is standing over the beaten bodies of Karnak and Gorgon. Behind them is a what looks like a bunch of Ultron heads on pikes. It's pretty macabre, and shows the insanity of Ultron rather well.

"False Man"
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Penciler: John Romita, Jr.
Inker: Al Williamson
Colorist: Max Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editors: Ralph Macchio, Mike Rockwitz
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with Doom holding up Ultron's head, like he thinks it will impress Reed Richards or something.

"Alas, poor Ultron. Doom knew him...not very well."

Doom rants about the Kingpin's ego always letting him get in the way of defeating Daredevil. As such, Doom will show him who is the better man, by using a robot to kill the Man without Fear. And he won't just use any robot. He'll use the robot that has given teams of Avengers trouble. No kill like overkill, I guess. Doom hasn't just got the body of Ultron, he's also got the mental systems of the previous twelve incarnations of the robot up to this point.

Doom has mixed them together to create the perfect new Ultron...Ultron 13. He places the head of the robot on the body, and activates it. Ultron is reborn, his first thoughts being that the Ultron minds are no one's servants. They serve themselves...against each other. As Doom gives him his orders, Ultron thinks about how flawed his creators have been.

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, Daredevil is chilling in a barn, where he notes that there's a lot of various different skulls there.

"If I could see, I would be rather uncomfortable right now."

Uh, Matt? You may want to run. That loooks like the lair of a psycho killer, man. Using his super-senses, he listens in on the happenings below.

We see two of the Inhumans, Karnak and Gorgon, alongside their faithful dog Lockjaw. They're with a man named Skip, who owns the farm. There was some strangeness going on with Skip's farm and Attilan, the Inhumans' home. The two are also looking for a child that is the heir to the Inhumans' throne. Likely Black Bolt and Medusa's kid Ahura. I think this was brought in as a leftover from an Inhumans story Nocenti wanted to do. She did write the Inhumans graphic novel a year earlier.

Daredevil feels like this whole thing is completely absurd. I don't blame him. I read the issues before this, and it's pretty crazy, ha ha. Matt finds himself feeling like he doesn't care about any of this, and wonders how he turned off his compassion.

Meanwhile, Ultron is making some extra weapons to fight Daredevil.

Page 159, Panel 2

Yup, he going to throw Ultron heads at Daredevil. Ultron finds himself thinking about Jocasta, his first attempt at a mate. He then laments that he himself is flawed, and all flawed creators must be destroyed. Meanwhile, Daredevil is preparing to leave. He realizes that he needs to be alone. Can't fix himself up if he's too busy helping others.

It's then that a blonde woman known only as Number Nine walks in with Gorgon. Yeah, there was whole weird story beforehand with Number Nine. It was weird. Basically, Nine was genetically programmed to be servile, the "perfect woman". A woman named Brandy (Skip's daughter) has been trying to teach her basic feminist principles, and it's left her a little unsure of herself. As I said, it was a weird story. Gorgon tries to point out that everyone is "programmed" in a way, by parents, by society, by status. And everyone struggles with it. Even Inhuman Royals.

In the woods, Ultron has...gotten weird.

And here we see Ultron perfoming a ritual to summon Calculon, God of Microchips.

You know, Ann Nocenti went on to edit a magazine for pot smokers. I'm sure that it has nothing to do with this. Ultron decides to just wander off, questioning why he's going to kill Daredevil. After all, Daredevil is just a human. Ultron hates all of humanity, and Daredevil is just another human. So why just kill this one human? Ultron 13 has the voices of all the previous 12 incarnations in his head,
and it's leading him to wonder who 13 himself is. I smell a theme...

Number Nine goes out for a nice jog. On the run, she encounters all of Ultron's extra heads. She then runs into Ultron, who demands to know where Daredevil is. She screams that she never will, and tries to flee...only to get zapped by the mechanical menace. He discovers that she survived the blast...and is already healing up. Ultron thinks he's found her: his perfect, indestructible woman.

Gorgon and Karnak get ready to leave. After all, they got a lost kid to find. Brandy offers to help out, and she wonders if Daredevil will, too. It's not like they have to worry about Number Nine. Her creators think she's dead (again, crazy story), so she's safe.

Speaking of Number Nine, she and Ultron do some talking...while he takes her to show off his totally not wonkybonkers head display.

I guess you could say Ultron...lost his heads?

She tells him she has no idea who she is, and so does he. He admits that he is flawed, which doesn't bother Number Nine in the least. Ultron examines her, while his previous incarnations argue in his head over what to do with her. It seems his urge to kill is winning out (Makes sense, the majority of Ultron's incarnations were all about killing people), and Nine screams.

Daredevil hears it (He's got super-hearing), and goes to check it out. It leads the others to realize that Number Nine is missing. Ultron starts ranting about being a mockery of man, as humanity is flawed, and since humans created Ultron, he is flawed, too. He screams he must be destroyed, and so must his creators. Nine tries to talk him down. Gorgon and Daredevil take the fight to the robotic rogue.

Karnak tries to use his power to find the weak points in objects to break Ultron, but he angrily blasts the three off of him. The story ends with Ultron grabbing Number Nine. Yup, this is a two-parter.

This story is...alright, but it feels really weird. Keep in mind, it's continuing on another storyline that also was rather weird. At least, I felt it was weird. I admit, rereading this issue, I did feel a bit lost. I got the scans for this issue from Daredevil Epic Collection Vol. 14: Heart of Darkness. It had been a while since I read that trade, so I was a bit confused at first as to what is going on with the Inhumans, Skip, Brandy, and Number Nine. So, I'd recommend getting the trade to get the whole story.

The big thing about the story is the theme of being flawed. I did like the interactions between Number Nine and Ultron. They both were artificial beings in a way. Number Nine was created to be perfect, but she struggles to figure out who she is, and in a way...Ultron is as well. They were both intended to be "perfect", but have inherent flaws due to being created by flawed beings.

John Romita Jr. is a second-generation artist, his father John Romita Sr. was famous for his work on Spider-Man back in the 1960s. His art style is more gritty than his father's, and he seems a bit more..."blocky" for lack of a better term, a bit stiffer.

Nocenti's run on Daredevil, from what I read of it, does come off as different to the classic Miller stuff, but it brings plenty of weird. Again, if you want to give this story a read, track down Daredevil Epic Collection Vol. 14: Heart of Darkness. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you enjoyed it, spread it around! Next time, we'll see how the Man without Fear survived the Mad Mechanoid...

Astral Chain Trailer, My Thoughts

Since the last video game trailer I looked at was set in a post-apocalyptic world, I figured we'd take a look at the trailer for another game set in a different kind of post-apocalyptic world, this one with a bit of cyberpunk flavor to it. After a massive global disaster, the remains of humanity now reside in a megacity. It's the last remaining piece of civilization. Sadly, it means humanity is now more vulnerable to attack from beyond the stars than ever. The city's only hope is the police force's special task force, equipped with sentient weapons called Legions. This is the world...of Astral Chain.

Eh, your typical cyberpunk city. Gritty, no sun, lots of neon signs. Betting there's lots of crime and cyborgs, too. You could plop Rick Deckard or Motoko Kusanagi here, and they'd notice nothing odd.

Evidently, these extradimensional invaders are fond of Japanese culture. Look at that fire samurai!

This looks completely insane. But then again, it's not surprising. It's PlatinumGames. Look up Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising Revengeance.

So, you can capture the invader monsters and make them fight alongside you? It's like having a tag team match alongside your Pokémon!

Basically, you have to fight together with your Legion, making combo attacks to defeat the invaders. Again, it's PlatinumGames. Action/hack-and-slash stuff is kind of their specialty.

I kind of find it hilarious that the female cop's uniform has shorts. It is really that hot in this megacity?

Uh oh, she hacked the Matrix.

Hmm, so there may be a downside to the Legions?

Wheee, ride to freedom!

Those are some big freaking monsters.

I'm guessing that's one of the main villains? Maybe? Looks like a villain.

That dude's dead.

Well, this is...interesting. I'm not quite how your player character and the Legion are supposed to work together to make these combos. Maybe through quick-time events? I have no idea. PlatinumGames has made games that do look like fun (I want to play Bayonetta sometime), so I think this will be fun. The monster look neat, but the megacity does look like your standard cyberpunk dystopia. It's not the game's fault. Still, it looks like fun, and I'll give the demo a shot.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

RAD Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

Back in April, I took a look at the announcement trailer for the post-apocalyptic roguelike game called RAD. I remember thinking that the game looked like a lot of fun, and wanting to give it a try. Well, the launch trailer is here! That's right! RAD is here! Let's take a look!

How many games have used the Unreal Engine? I think RAD is the 5,834,623rd.

Loving the music and look. God, I wish that Farcry: Blood Dragon would be brought to the Switch.

The song is called "Remade Again" by David Earl. I want this game's soundtrack.

When in doubt, turn to teenagers. You see, if you're a teenager in something with an 80s aesthetic, you automatically have the ability to save the world.

One-eyed chicken meat can't be good. I can imagine it's rather...gamey. Like a three-eyed fish would likely taste.

His name is Blinky, in case you're wondering. It would be awesome if RAD homaged this wonderful little mutant fish.

I wonder if you can customize your avatar. Good customization is always fun.

I'm betting that Gas Mask ends up the villain.

Huh. You can mix mutations? That'll come in handy.

I love the idea of slowly restoring life to the wastelands.

Yeah, maybe meeting people while mutated is not the best idea.

The bosses look neat.

I think that's what you dying looks like.

Oh, you CAN customize your avatar! Awesome! I'm giving mine a glorious 80s rocker mullet!

I want that sword-wielding centaur mutant rearing up with the lightning to be made into a painting! That is AWESOME!

Well, this game looks like only one thing to me: Epic Personified. I want this. I want this game. I want this game bad. I want to play this game! Give me this game! I want to mutate into rad monsters and beat up other monsters with a baseball bat!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! And I am looking into other options to provide extra support for the blog! See you next time!

Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #8 (December 1984)

The Secret Wars rage on! Last time, we saw the debut of an all-new Spider-Woman, we saw Volcana make a devil's bargain, and the She-Hulk got the mother of all beatdowns! So, where are we going next with this? Will we learn more about our mysterious new heroine? Will Volcana end up regretting her deal with the Enchantress? Can the other heroes save She-Hulk? Will I stop asking stupid questions and get to the comic already? Can do! This is Marvel Super-Heroes: Secret Wars #8!

The cover of the comic, a Mike Zeck piece, has become pretty iconic. Front-and-center is the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, with his fancy new costume. It's kind of a funny cover to me because right behind him, you see the heroes and the villains of the story brawling in the background. It's like he's so distracted with admiring his new suit that he doesn't even notice the battle behind him. It's really funny. But seriously, it is a great cover.

"Invasion!"
Writer: Jim Shooter
Penciler: Mike Zeck
Inkers: John Beatty, Jack Abel, Mike Esposito
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with the heroes flying into action.

"Here they come to save the dayyyyy!"

They arrive at the Doombase, but Reed Richards is suspicious. Surely, Doctor Doom would have noticed there were there by now. Why hasn't he sent a force to intercept them? The other heroes don't care, they just want to fight.

Inside the Fortress, the Enchantress is basically drinking herself senseless. She laments how she wasn't able to get Thor to kiss her in issues 3 and 4, which would have gotten him under her power. Yeah, Amora is rather obsessed with Thor. She hears the din of the heroes charging in, but she's too plastered to really do anything. Man, that Asgardian mead must pack a punch. Volcana is watching over the injured Molecule Man while he recovers from the wounds Wolverine gave him in issue 6.

She also hears the sound of battle, and Volcana vows to make sure no one can get to him, especially Wolverine. Good luck, lady. You're a rookie supervillain, and he's got a century of combat experience. In Doombase's dungeon, Klaw frees the Lizard. He can't stand seeing him cooped up, as he was trapped once in a ship, and it made him a bit crazy.

Elsewhere, She-Hulk is taking a heck of a beating, but Absorbing Man picks up the sound of Thor's hammer. They go to engage, but not before Doctor Octopus seemingly finishes off She-Hulk.

"BAH GAWD ALMIGHTY! THAT KILLED HER! AS GAWD AS MAH WITNESS, SHE IS BROKEN IN HALF!"

Doctor Doom stumbles out of his quarters, looking a bit worse for wear. Well, he did barge into Galactus's ship uninvited, so no surprise he'd get a cosmic boot out of the ship. Monica Rambeau goes to search for the She-Hulk, as she can take the form of a beam of light, which will allow her to cover the area much faster. The Wrecker tries to bash Iron Man with his enchanted crowbar, but ends up getting a repulsor to the face. The heroes and villains brawl in the Doombase, where the new Spider-Woman gets to show her stuff.

"Judo THROW!"

Hawkeye is able to wound Piledriver by firing an arrow at close range. Hulk bursts through a wall like a gamma radiation-powered Kool-Aid Man to find the Enchantress. Evidently she's sobered up quick as she uses her seductive powers to knock the Jade Giant cold. She tries the same trick on Captain America, but ends up getting a faceful of his Mighty Shield.

Titania tries to shove a 40-ton metal beam down on the heroes' heads, but is stopped by Spider-Man. She tries to attack him, while ranting about how she used to be the one who got picked on, but now can do the beating up. Yeah, basically Titania is your victim of bullying who ends up becoming a bully themselves. Hawkeye and Ben Grimm (who turned back into his human form during the battle), encounter Klaw and the Lizard.

Mister Fantastic and Iron Man, accompanied by Thor and Spider-Woman, find Molecule Man and Volcana. Volcana tries to blast them, but Iron Man is able to power everyone through...heavily damaging his armor in the process. Molecule Man creates a transparent air shield to protect himself and Volcana. However, Monica Rambeau is able to go through it in the form of light (The shield is transparent, so light can get through it).

The energy transformer has Molecule Man in a headlock, which makes Volcana freak out. She agrees to surrender. Meanwhile, Titania is not doing so well against Spider-Man. Remember, Titania may have the wall-crawler beat on raw power, but Spider-Man has been fighting supervillains since he was a teenager. His speed, agility, and Spider-Sense allow him to dodge the powerhouse, as well as lay some quick blows of his own. The entire time, he also taunts Titania about how she still is the "whining little wimpette" she always was. The battle ends with Spidey tossing her out of Doombase.

"This ain't faiiiiiiiir...!"

This would have an effect on Titania for a while afterwards, as future stories established this battle gave her a phobia of Spider-Man that would last for a long time. Cap and the Human Torch encounter Ultron. Torch tries to melt him, but he can't generate enough heat to melt the mad machine's adamantium body. Cap encourages Torch to use his Nova Flame (a giant blast of heat that tends to weaken the Torch). Desptie the power of the Nova Flame, it didn't damage Ultron's body. It did manage to damage his circuitry, so it wasn't a failure. Cap finds Doctor Doom, but the Latverian tyrant is clearly really out of it.

"Ugh, why does Doom keep falling for drinking contests with Richards?!"

"Why does Doom keep falling for drinking contests with Richards?" Mr. Fantastic, Spider-Man, and the Hulk manage to find Ben Grimm and Hawkeye. Thankfully, they were able to pacify the two villains...by playing patty-cake with the looney Klaw. It's hilarious. Monica finds She-Hulk, battered and bleeding. With the battle over, and the Doombase taken, Reed Richards takes the wounded to the infirmary. It was lucky that Monica found the Gamma Glamazon when she did. Much longer, and She-Hulk would have been dead...like the Wasp. The uninjured villains are locked in the dungeon.

Back in Zsaji's village, Colossus is carrying her to her home. She's very weak, like the life was drained right out of her. The Russian mutant spots the bottle of mind-linking vapors that Johnny Storm had used in an earlier issue. He uses the vapors, and he's able to discover why Zsaji is in such bad shape...she used her healing power to wake the Wasp up. Turns out she wasn't quite dead. Just in a sort of stasis...that Zsaji got her out of. Okay.

Yeah, she took a laser blast to the chest. How do you end up in STASIS from that?! It was shown, ON-PANEL, that she was BLASTED IN THE CHEST! Also, did the heroes just leave Colossus behind? I know he was injured and all, but they at the very least tell him where they were going and they would pick him up later? Anyway, she wakes up in the Doombase (Monica and Hawkeye had retrieved her body earlier so they could give it a proper burial), and she has her priorities in order.

Janet van Dyne is a believer in the phrase "Leave a good-looking corpse."

"Janet Van Dyne is a real believer in the phrase 'leave a good-looking corpse'" That's our Janet. Elsewhere, the X-Men and Magneto are monitoring Galactus. The Master of Magnetism believes that maybe Galactus is not actually going to eat the planet, but has something else in mind. They don't get a lot of time to debate this, as Cyclops spots something.

Meanwhile, Reed Richards is repairing Iron Man's armor, and discovers that it's not Tony Stark underneath the suit. Yeah, retcons can actually explain this. New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (May 2006) revealed that Reed had known about Tony Stark being the original Iron Man. Iron Man: Legacy #6 (November 2010) revealed that the other members were well aware of Stark's struggles with the bottle at the time, so it was likely Reed was already aware Jim Rhodes had taken up the suit.

Elsewhere, Spider-Man spots Thor and the Hulk emerging from a room, Thor's costume repaired. Spidey's suit got torn up during the brawl with the villains, so he needs some repairs. He goes to one of the devices, concentrates...and a strange black ball appears. He picks up the ball...and it flows over him.

Yup, this is the first appearance of what would be known as "The Black Costume". It would also become half of Venom in the future. Spidey is a bit confused by the design, but figures he was subconsciously thinking of the new Spider-Woman who just showed up. He then feels an earthquake. The story ends with Professor Xavier telepathically alerting the heroes: Galactus has begun his consumption of Battleworld.

This comic was...alright. I would have liked to have learned a bit more about the new Spider-Woman in this issue, like where she came from or how she got her powers. Yes, those would be revealed in future stories, but a bit of hinting here would have been nice. Also, it would have been nice to see Hulk lament the condition of She-Hulk. They are family, after all. Wasp's return from the grave was also kind of ridiculous. We saw her get blasted in the chest. How was she in stasis from that?!

The big positive was the action. There was plenty of it in this comic. It was a big ol' brawl, and I enjoyed that. I got a good chuckle from how Ben Grimm and Hawkeye dealt with Lizard and Klaw. That was pretty funny. So was drunk Enchantress. Also, Spider-Man's black costume is really neat and slick, even though Julia Carpenter used the design first. I can't imagine that anyone in 1984 thought that the costume would eventually end up becoming one of Spider-Man's most popular villains/anti-hero allies ever. And speaking of Spider-Man, his battle with Titania was awesome, too. I like how it was shown that his experience, speed, and agility (as well as his knack for running his mouth) was able to overcome Titania's raw power.

It's an action-packed issue, and I did enjoy it, despite the deus ex machina with the Wasp. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, please spread it around! Join me next time, as Daredevil battles Ultron...

Pokemon Sword and Shield Team/Rivals Trailer, My Thoughts

We've been learning a lot about the newest Pokémon games, Sword and Shield lately. We've learned about some of the new Pokémon occupying the region of Galar, some of the new Gym Leaders, but there are some questions that have been left unanswered. Will our characters be dealing with any regular rivals? Will there be a new team of bad guys for us to worry about? Well, those questions are going to be answered! Let's take a look at the Pokémon Sword/Shield Team and Rivals trailer!

Sun and Moon started a new tradition with Pokémon games: Certain Pokémon have unique variations in certain areas. These variants often have different appearances and slight type alterations from the "original". For example, in previous Pokémon games, Meowth was a Normal-type Pokémon. In Alola, the region that Sun and Moon/UltraSun and UltraMoon was set in, wild Meowth are Dark-type, and look a bit different.

See? Classic Meowth on the left and Alolan Meowth on the right. The same Pokémon, just a bit different. And Galar is continuing that tradition.

Oh my God, Galarian Weezing is hilarious! I love this variant! I especially love its design! The top hat smokestacks, the green cloud facial hair, it's beautiful! It's absolutely beautiful!

Zigzagoon is getting a glam rock makeover in Galar! It looks neat. And naturally, its evolved form Linoone gets the glam rock look. Looks awesome.

Well...this is a first. Evidently, in Galar, Linoone can evolve further into Obstagoon. You cannot tell me that that thing was not inspired by Kiss. Seriously, that's Gene Simmons if he was a Pokémon!

And now we're going to learn about yet another new Pokémon! This one has the ability to change forms. There have been Pokémon that have this ability to take on different forms, like Deoxys. Form changing is not quite like regular Pokémon evolution. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's not like regular Pokémon evolution. Morpeko here is one such Pokémon.

Evidently, its form changes based on whether its hungry or not. That's an interesting take on a form change. And is it just me, or does Morpeko look like a mutant Pikachu?

And what's a Pokémon game without rivals, huh? Well, meet your rival for Galar! His name is Bede, and he seems like a jerk. Hmm, over the years, Pokémon games have shown the rivals having friendlier relationships with the player character. Is this one going back to the roots a bit with having a possibly meaner rival? And then there's Marnie, who looks like a punk rocker. Hey, maybe the two could be different kinds of rivals, with Bede being the meaner rival and Marnie being the nicer one? That would be cool.

And of course, a bad guy team. Another old Pokémon tradition continues on! Meet Team Yell, who are basically obnoxious fans. Pokémon bad guy teams over the years have been modeled on organized crime and cults, so having them modeled on a obnoxious fandom is a new one. Since Galar is based on the UK, I like to imagine that these guys may be slightly inspired by soccer hooligans a bit.

Well, I'm liking what I see so far. I think there well be more Galarian variants that have yet to be revealed, and Team Yell is hilarious. I'm hoping we do learn a bit more about Bede and Marnie down the line.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

1917 Trailer, My Thoughts

Sam Mendes is a British director of movies. He's directed American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, and two films in the James Bond franchise: Skyfall and Spectre. He's actually the first director since John Glen to direct two Bond films back-to-back. He is also the grandson of Alfred Hubert Mendes, a novelist and veteran of World War I, the War to End All Wars. The elder Mendes's service in the war would inspire Sam Mendes's latest cinematic creation: 1917. He produced and co-wrote the movie with Krysty Wilson-Cairns.

1917 tells the tale of a pair of British soldiers: Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman). They have been given a rather impossible mission, should they choose to accept it. They have to get a message across enemy territory that will stop an attack that will doom 1600 British soldiers. Time is of the essence on this one, as the attack will happen the next day. The mission is also a personal one for Blake, as his brother is one of those soldiers whose life is unknowingly in danger...well, as dangerous as war can get. So, let's take a look at the trailer for 1917!

Explosions going off behind you is a good reason to run.

This bit with the Doughboys in the trench has a real horror film vibe. I'm expecting some kind of monster to attack them.

If this were a horror film, the monster would get that guy who found the photograph.

Yeah, those guys are totally dead.

Man, Schofield and Blake could really use Wonder Woman's help right now.

Good thing for Schofield and Blake those soldiers learned to shoot at the Imperial Marksmanship Academy.

In Apocalypse Now, the choices were fighting or surfing. In this film, you either fight or swim in dead bodies.

Hey, Benedict Cumberbatch!

You dolt! The soldiers are going THAT way!

Spend Christmas watching a film about war.

Well, this seems rather interesting. The cast includes people like Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Strong, whom I have enjoyed in other films, and I also enjoyed Skyfall, so I think I'll give this a shot. It sounds like a good movie.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

Text Play: Pokemon Mega Adventure #23

Welome back to the Akiba region! This is entry number 23 in my Text Play of Pokémon Mega Adventure!

Last time, I finally...FINALLY...FINALLY managed to conquer the hellscape that was Mt. Snarlet. Man, you have no idea how good it felt to escape that place. It was one of the worst obstacles I ever had to face in a Pokémon game, official or otherwise. I hated that mountain so much, and I am happy to finally have it behind me.

With Mt. Snarlet behind us, we've arrived at Dragnar City. The first thing you notice about the city is that it's rainy. Very rainy.  It's kind of funny, because if you talk to the people here, they'll stat talking about how "refreshing" the city is. I'm guessing the rest of Akiba has a generally hot and humid climate if wind and rain is seen as "refreshing". The thing that sucks, though? When the rain ends, it feels muggy all over again. I should know.

Another thing I noticed was that you can't go into any of the buildings. I'm guessing the people in this town got a case of genre savvy and finally got locks for their doors. There's not much here in this place, but I did find the last Gym.

There's a Charizard on the roof! That's neat. I learned from people in town that Dragnar City got its name because many trainers here work with Dragon-type Pokémon. Which have few weaknesses. Lovely.

However, it does make it kind of funny that there is a Charizard on the roof. Charizard is not a Dragon-type. It's a Fire/Flying type. It looks like a dragon, so maybe that's why it's there? Can't enter the Gym at the moment, though. I'm guessing the leader, whoever it is, is out at the moment. All there's left to do is visit the hotel.

Yup, the Dragnar City Hotel. Unfortunately, you can't explore that at the moment, either. There's a guard in front of the stairwell, and the elevator doesn't work unless you have a card. I tried to ask for one at the front desk, but nope. There's not a lot to do in this place at the moment...and I think I know why.

Say hello to Prime Tower. Yes, as in the likely headquarters of Team Prime. Their trainers are tough, but their leaders are pretty darn dumb. I mean, at least Team Rocket tried to hide themselves, and Giovanni had an actual Gym he could use to hide his operations. Sheesh.

Brendan is standing in front of the Tower. I wonder what he's doing there? He explains to me that the Tower is locked up at the moment. It's because Ash cleared Team Prime out. They're pretty much gone now. A bit anti-climatic, if you ask me. Despite this, the Boss of Team Prime has vanished. Nobody has any idea where he went off to. Oh, I think I may have an idea...

Anyway, Brendan isn't just here to chat with me and give exposition. He wants to see how much stronger I have grown as a Trainer since we last met. Alright, let's rock and roll. Battle time!

His first Pokémon was a Swellow. My Luxray roasted that turkey. You know, it's funny they haven't come up with a Pokémon inspired by a turkey yet. Maybe Galar will get one. He next sent out Palossand, but my Venusaur took care of it. Venusaur was the MVP of this battle, taking out three of Brendan's Pokémon single-handedly. Brendan's Swampert fell to it next. Even Mega Evolving couldn't save it. Brendan's Wailord also suffered the same fate. His final Pokémon was a Raichu. I sent out Moguera the Garchomp against it. Moguera wrecked it.

Despite Brendan being beaten, I still was unable to enter Prime Tower. I guess it does make a bizarre form of sense, really. Since Team Prime is basically gone, there's no reason to really explore the Tower, but at the same time...I'm still kind of sad. As I said, this does feel a bit anti-climactic. I kind of expected a big final battle against the Boss at the Prime Tower. Maybe even a double battle teaming with the Dragnar Gym leader! That would have been awesome!

But no. You don't. Makes all those battles against Team Prime seem a bit pointless from a story perspective. Yeah, from a gameplay perspective, you get to make your Pokémon a bit stronger, but it contributes nothing to the story. Anyway, the last major feature of Dragnar City is a bridge in town, with a guard nearby.

It's the bridge leading to Victory Road, which I need all eight badges to enter. Which is hilarious. Remember entry number 17 in this Text Play journey? According to my Trainer Card, I have all eight badges already thanks to the events in that entry. I figured it was a glitch. So, let's just get to the Gym. It's a bizarre Gym as there are no other trainers to battle.

You just walk right in and challenge the Leader...who is the Boss of Team Prime.

It's also here we finally learn his name: Goronda. Things like this have gotten me wondering if this game started as a fan remake of Red and Blue. Also, the Gym is a short walk from the Prime Tower. You'd think someone would have noticed him fleeing the Tower to the Gym...unless there was a secret passage between the Gym and the Tower. Unfortunately, since the Tower is accessible, we may never know.

Goronda may have been one of the toughest Pokémon trainers in this game. He loves throwing Full Restores and Hyper Potions at his Pokémon just when you're about to beat them. Goronda claims that he's working for another Organization that wants to create a new world in another Region. Wait, is he working for Cyrus? How have his activities helped Cyrus?! This makes no sense! Anyway, battle time!

This was Moguera's time to shine! Remember when I said that Dragon-types have few weaknesses? Well, turns out Dragon can hurt Dragon. And my Garchomp is Dragon/Ground. Goronda had his own Garchomp, which packed Mega Evolution, but it was no good. After the win, he actually congratulated me, and gave me the Dragon Badge and TM02 (Dragon Claw). Yeah! So, I finally truly have all eight badges! On to Victory Road! Over the bridge, and through the cave, and we're there! Or so I thought. It's Route 16.

The item in the screenshot is a Max Revive. It's right near the cave entrance to Route 16. There's also another bug in the game. I needed to train up my Primarina, as it was many levels behind the rest of my team. But I could not go back to Mt. Snarlet. I was worried at first, but thankfully, Route 16 has wild Pokémon and Trainers to fight. 

I battled a Gentleman on the route who had an Aggron capable of Mega Evolution as his only Pokémon. After I defeated him, he lamented he was too old to be a Champion. Dude, you're not too old. You just need to get more Pokémon. The route ended with Vaclav Town. Vaclav Town claims to be a place where Trainers can get prepared for Victory Road and the Pokémon League. However, it doesn't seem like that. It's a very small town, and the only thing that resembles a Pokemart is a Trainer Goods shop, but I can't get into it. It's got a line in front of it, and I have no idea how to change that. So, I have to go back to Dragnar City for supplies. Lovely. There is also a Trading House here, but I can't seem to get it to work. The town does contain the entrance for Victory Road.

Yeah, this game needed some proofreading. I did battle a couple trainers on the Road. One was primarily a Bug-type Trainer named Honda. My Incineroar took care of his Scyther and Pinsir. His Pinsir even managed to Mega Evolve, but it was no help, ha ha! His Volcarona fell to my Garchomp. Incineroar took care of his Scizor. Mega Evolution is a joke in this game. That, or my Pokémon are many levels higher.

Another is an exhausted Hiker named Cerano. His first Pokémon was an Aggron. My Incineroar easily took care of it with one burst of Flamethrower. His second Pokémon was a Golem...which was beaten by my Venusaur. His final Pokémon was a Camerupt that could Mega Evolve. Still fell to my Garchomp.

There's a third trainer on this route, a Bird Keeper named Arkar. He uses birds. Time for Thundra the Luxray to shine! She took down his Swellow. Biollantus the Venusaur took down his Aerodactyl, after it clobbered my Butterfree. Arker next brought out his Pidgeot, which could Mega Evolve. It managed to hurt Thundra, but she still won out. His final Pokémon was a Braviary, but one blast of Discharge from Thundra took it down. After the battle, he asked if Mega Evolution was awesome. I wouldn't know. I don't think I've ever used it, and his Mega Evolving his Pidgeot didn't help out much.

I continued ahead, and guess who was waiting at the end.

Yup, ol' Ash Ketchum himself. He wanted to have one last battle before I entered Victory Road. I obliged him, if only because I wanted to go ahead. His first Pokémon was a Hawlucha. My Luxray took care of it. Next, he brought out Goodra. My Garchomp beat it with one Dragon Claw. His third Pokémon was a Greninja. It beat my Luxray, but because it lost HP with attacks, it took itself out as well. His fourth Pokémon was a Noivern. Garchomp took care of it. Did I mention Garchomp is a beast? I love my Garchomp. His fifth Pokémon? Talonflame. Garchomp destroyed it. And he also finished off Ash's Pikachu, allowing the battle to be won. Yup, Moguera the Garchomp was the MVP here.

And with that...that's it. No obstacles left. Nothing between me and the Elite Four. Yes, this game has an Elite Four. Naturally, you got to beat them to face the Champion. They're located in this building here.

It's a nice-looking building. Inside is an area that has a shop and a place to heal up your Pokémon. It's an opportunity to make absolutely certain you're ready to go before you engage the Elite Four. You see, in Pokémon games, you have to fight the Elite Four one after the other. No rest, no going to the Pokémon Center to heal after every battle. You have to make sure your Pokémon are very powerful, and you have plenty of supplies to keep them in fighting shape.

Which is something I'm going to have to do. Next time, I'm going to engage the Elite Four, and the Champion...after I do a ton of grinding. Wish me luck on that.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

Pokémon Obtained:
(Victory Road)
- Medicham
- Absol (Already obtained)
- Amoonguss
- Skuntank
- Houndoom
- Lycanroc
- Diggersby
- Camerupt (Encountered)
- Ditto (Encountered)
- Bouffalant
- Lickilicky

Movie Review: Hobbs and Shaw (2019)

Since 2001, the Fast and the Furious franchise has thrilled audiences and made Universal Pictures a butt-load of money. The film is the first spin-off of the long-running franchise. So, did it race to an epic finish, or did it crash and burn? Let's find out!

In the film, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) must join forces to stop a cybernetically-enhanced self-proclaimed "Black Superman" named Brixton (Idris Elba) from releasing an artificial virus that could decimate the population of the world. Making things difficult is the two's hatred for each other and the involvement of Deckard's sister, MI6 agent Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby), who is targeted by Brixton.

The film's big flaw in my opinion is that the film can be a bit...one-note at times. Brixton is a rather standard villain, nothing really unique about him. He was entertaining, though. I'll give him that. But the film did have its fair share of positives. I liked the delving into Deckard Shaw and Luke Hobbs's pasts. I also really enjoyed the banter between Shaw and Hobbs. I really want a sequel for these two, as they have great chemistry. The action was incredible and exciting. And the final battle was pretty cool.

Family is a bit of a theme of the franchise, and it continues on in this film, with the Shaw siblings teaming up, and Hobbs reuniting with his estranged family. I like that they continued that theme with this. I also enjoyed Hattie Shaw in action. Vanessa Kirby was really enjoyable. I want to see more of her.

The film is a bit cliché, but it's still a ton of fun. It's not overly serious, it's just the type of film when you want to turn off your brain for a couple of hours. It's surprisingly packed, and it has some crazy stuff that may not fit in a "mainline" Fast and the Furious movie. There were a couple great surprise cameos in them,   I'm not going to spoil them. I do recommend this film if you want some enjoyable action.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! And I'll see you next time!

Pokemon Sword and Shield Gigantamax Trailer, My Thoughts

Back in July, I looked at the Nintendo Direct for Pokémon Sword and Shield. It was in this Direct that we got to learn about a unique new mechanic for the game: Dynamax. Basically, your Pokémon get really big for three turns, and you can do a TON of damage during that time...if you time it right.

Well, a new trailer is out that reveals more about the UK-inspired region called Galar, as well as a further layer of Dynamaxing. Let's take a look!

Wait, is playing soccer going to be a thing in this game? I mean, it makes sense. Soccer is big in the UK (they call that 'football' over there), after all.

Who is that guy?

Meet another new Pokémon: Alcremie. We've seen Pokémon based on ice cream cones, why not a Pokémon based on whipped cream?

Yamper is adorable. Again, it makes sense they'd make a corgi-based Pokémon for a region based on the UK. Queen Elizabeth II loves her corgis. If it has an evolution, I hope it's based on a bulldog.

Rolycoly looks like it could be a pre-evolution of Geodude. I hope it evolves into a walking volcano.

Duraludon looks like something you build to fight Godzilla.

People have made jokes about Tyranitar looking like Godzilla, I would not be surprised if Mecha-Godzilla inspired this one. I don't think I've ever seen a Steel/Dragon combination before. But then again, there's nearly 1000 Pokémon now, I could be wrong. It's a cool-looking Pokémon, though.

I'm guessing Chairman Rose there is the big boss of the Gyms in the region. I hope they don't pull a Lusamine with him. I also imagine Oleana has a Russian accent and always sounds freakin' bored.

And we meet two of the Gym leaders of the games, the Fighting-type specialist Bea and the Ghost-type specialist Allister. I like that their designs portray them as almost like members of a sports team, but with unique designs that let them show a bit of individuality. The little details like Allister's mask and sleeves. The Gym Leaders were replaced with Trials in Sun/Moon/UltraSun/UltraMoon, so maybe they're trying to do something a little different with the Gym Leaders here as well? I like the idea of Gym Leaders here in Galar being more like a sports team.

As I said earlier, Dynamax has another layer: Gigantamax. I wonder if a Pokémon has to be Dynamaxed in order to reach Gigantamax form. Like Mega Evolution, Pokémon that undergo this process change their appearance. I've heard that this is the replacement for Mega Evolution...and it has angered some fans. I personally don't mind, as I have never really used Mega Evolution in my Pokémon gaming. It's no big loss to me. I'm sad for the people who did like it, but personally, I never cared.

A Dynamaxed Alcremie turns into a giant wedding cake. Oh, I sense tragedy if it ever finds itself battling a Snorlax...

Giantamaxed Drednaw and Corviknight look AWESOME.

I am so excited for these games! I really am! I think the new Pokémon are really neat, and I can't wait to battle these new Gym Leaders. I am also quite curious about Chairman Rose and Oleana. I think this will be a ton of fun!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

Iron Man #225 (December 1987)

The 1980s seemed to be a bit of a Golden Era for the Golden Avenger. True, he didn't have the mainstream popularity he does now thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but his comic was doing rather well, quality-wise. It was because of people like David Michelinie, Bob Layton, John Romita Jr., Mark D. Bright, and Barry Windsor-Smith. They helped craft stories that still had an effect on the Armored Avenger today, including "Doomquest" and the story we're going to look at the beginning of here: Armor Wars.

Known as "Stark Wars" in the issues themselves, Armor Wars got its name because it was advertised in other Marvel books at the time with full-page ads stating "THE ARMOR WAR BEGINS IN IRON MAN #225". Also, I like to think the name stuck because it sounds cool.

This story came about because of a dinner at an Italian restaurant. No, really. David Michelinie was having a dinner at an Italian restaurant with Jim Shooter (then Editor-in-Chief at Marvel), Bob Mackie (who was the editor of the Iron Man book at the time), and Bob Layton. Layton was expressing a bit of frustration. You see, the creatives felt that they were putting some pretty good work on the genius billionaire play philanthropist's comic, but the book was not getting any actual attention on it. Jim Shooter said they needed a big story. Give him a big story, and he'll push it.

Shooter himself came up with the basic idea: What if the technology that Tony Stark used in his mighty suit of armor ended up in the hands of his enemies? How would Tony Stark feel about that. The idea was a hit, and everyone at that table started contributing ideas. It not only allowed a reduction of the armor-wearing characters in the Marvel Universe, but also explored the emotional conflicts of one of the original Avengers.

Armor Wars would go down as an important and beloved Iron Man storyline that still has effects on the Marvel Universe today. It would be adapted in the various Iron Man animated series, and elements of it would be used in Iron Man 2. It would also get a sequel, but that's for another time.So with that out of the way, let's take a look at Iron Man #225!

The cover is pretty neat. I have to say, I love that old Iron Man masthead logo. The big angular letters with the rivets on them, it just says Iron Man. You got Iron Man standing front-and-center, with the heads of various armor-wearing villains behind him. It gives the impression that the man in the suit is tormented, that these villains are haunting him. It's great!

"Stark Wars, Chapter I"
Writers: David Michelinie, Bob Layton
Penciler: Mark Bright
Inker: Bob Layton
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with what looks like Iron Man (clad in the Silver Centurion armor, one of my favorite Iron Man suits) dodging some missiles.

Tony Stark uses his thrusters to make the missiles collide with each other. However, they had friends. But that's not a problem for the Armored Avenger. He uses some magnetic tractor beams to make them collide with each other and explode. One final missile comes at Tony Stark, but he deals with it by giving it a Mighty Punch.

Iron Man lands near a general, who is very impressed. This whole thing was a practice run for an Open House charity event the Army is holding with Stark Enterprises. Tony heads back to a van he's using as a mobile HQ. James "Rhodey" Rhodes is inside, looking over a new warning system Stark developed. He believes the Pentagon will be very impressed with it. That's a good thing, as Stark Enterprises needs this contract. Defense contracts can be hard to come by when you decide to no longer produce munitions.

After Stark deals with the business with the general, he decides to make it up to Shannon Sinclair (a woman who watched over the practice with them) by offering to take her for a nice seafood lunch. He knows a place that makes great Alaskan king crab, best in the world! Shannon agrees to it, asking where that place is. Nome, Alaska. No kidding, Tony is going to fly Shannon all the way to Alaska for seafood lunch.

Two days later, Stark is back in his company's headquarters in Los Angeles. He's examining the armor of a villain once known as Force. Force was an armored mercenary named Clayton "Clay" Wilson. He used an advanced suit of Iron Man-esque suit of armor equipped with a powerful forcefield during his merc work. However, in Iron Man #223-224 (October-November 1987), Wilson gave up the mercenary work and reformed. Stark's only just now had the time to actually examine the suit. He's been rather curious as to how Force and other criminals got such impressive tech. He makes a shocking discovery. A discovery so shocking, it makes Stark angrily trash the lab.

Luckily, Jim Rhodes was able to calm the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist down. So, what got Stark freaked out? Well, it turns out that some of the tech in Force's old armor...was Stark's own. Somehow, someone managed to steal Stark's tech and use it to create Force's armor. Sounds like something the Spymaster could pull off. You see, Stark never bothered to patent the Iron Man suit's tech, as he feared it could be used to expose his secret identity as the Golden Avenger.

Tony feels that because of this, all the harm Force caused was his fault. And Force may not have been the only villain that benefitted from the stolen tech. Rhodes tries to mollify Tony. After all, they chose to use the stolen tech. But it does little to help. Stark ran a query in the West Coast Avengers database for criminals who could have benefitted from the use of the stolen Stark armor tech. And it's quite a list.

That's quite a list of villains. Although I can't imagine Doctor Doom being that receptive to using tech from someone else's armor. Considering how big his ego is, I can imagine him laughing off Stark as an inferior armor-maker. Yeah, they brawled during that whole Doomquest thing, but I can't see Doom having a lot of respect for Stark as an armor-maker.

Rhodes tries to convince Tony to be sure all these villains are actually using Stark Tech in their suits before he does anything. As they leave, Marcy Pearson (Stark's Public Relations Chief) reminds them of the Army Open House demonstration. Stark tells her he'll have to cancel, as something came up. Rhodes tells her he'll try to convince him to do it, and gives her a kiss on the cheek. The two had a bit of a thing at the time.

The scene shifts to a company called Barstow Electronics, which is a division of Stark Enterprises. Working there is one Carl Walker...aka Clay Wilson, the former Force. Stark gave him a new job and identity there after he reformed (Also, Justin Hammer still has a contract out on Wilson). He's summoned to Stark's office, as he wants to know where Clay got the armor. He explains that he developed the prototypes of the armor, but Stark deduces Justin Hammer was the one who provided the stolen Stark tech.

Tony realizes that since the Force armor wasn't as powerful as his then state-of-the-art Silver Centurion armor, Hammer must have obtained the tech back when Tony had his company back in Long Island, New York. But it still leaves one question: How did Hammer get the tech in the first place? Rhodes suggests he do something to take his mind off it, like a certain charity Open House demonstration that Iron Man was supposed to be at? Tony is reluctant, but realizes Rhodey is right.

At the demonstration, the Army shows off their new tank: The SP-4 Turbo-Tank, aka...

I love this tank. It looks...rather Cybertronian in a way. Maybe Cybertronian tech was used to build it. It's not completely implausible. Spider-Man met the Robots in Disguise in The Transformers #3 (January 1985), and the New Avengers would also meet them in 2007. The tank shows off its strength by towing a cart carrying a massive pile of scrap metal. The speaker explains that the tank is one of the safest on Earth for its driver...because it has no driver. It's remotely controlled. So, it's a drone.

Iron Man arrives as part of the demonstration. His wrists are chained to a pair of the tanks, and they drive off, attempting to pull him apart.

However, Tony's mind is not on the demonstration. He thinks back on his origins, joining the Avengers, his solo adventures...and he feels like it was all for nothing. His technology, which he created to help others, was stolen and twisted to harm people. It makes Stark feel helpless...and angry. He yanks on the chains harder than he intended.

The crowd loves the show, but the general is not too happy. The next day, Marcy Pearson is briefing Tony about it. Tony's stunt has become a bit of a PR nightmare, as they're trying to absolve Stark Enterprises without implicating the military. Tony decides that he needs a break. Hey, maybe he should go see a movie. And that he does.

He finds a date to a new movie called "Dark Angel". Evidently it is a bit of a controversial film because of its realistic portrayal of terrorism. Huh. I had no idea that a film about an alien drug dealer was considered a "realistic portrayal of terrorism". Well, considering that it's the Marvel Universe... Anyway, Tony grows increasingly uncomfortable over the course of the film. He leaves the movie to take the long walk home.

Tony Stark is not the only one having troubles. So is Jim Rhodes. Iron Man's troubles tend to end up his, as well. And he has a jerk neighbor who messes around with his Pontiac Firebird all the time.

Tony Stark has trouble sleeping, and he has to make a call. The receiver is Clay Wilson. Tony wants to know one thing: How many people did Clay kill as Force? Clay refuses to answer because that part of his life is over. Tony is clearly haunted by the stolen tech. The next day, he and Rhodes are going to do a little thievery. Rhodey thinks Tony is crazy, but as far as Tony is concerned, he has no other choice. If he goes to the cops, he might tip Hammer off that he's Iron Man, and Hammer would find a way to get rid of any evidence of his thieving of Stark's tech.

As such, Stark is forced to go a little bit...extra-legal in his maneuvering. He and Rhodey head to Accutech Research and Development, another company that's part of Stark Enterprises. There worked an employee named Abe Zimmer. The man's a big computer expert, and master hacker. Stark helped him out in Iron Man #219 (June 1987), and he's eager to return the favor. He is able to find a company called "Transcorp", which Hammer used as a front for his operations on the West Coast. Zimmer can hack into the company's mainframe, but he's going to need some additional help. Stark knows just the man for it.

Since his days working for Stark in Long Island, one Scott Lang has started his own company called "Electrolang". Tony tries to hire him, but Scott is reluctant. It's understandable. He's an ex-con. He can't afford to be involved in something that may end up breaking the law. Tony is able to convince him by assuring him every precaution will be taken, and he'll buy a store for Scott to use in his new business. As he leaves, Tony admits to Rhodey he feels rotten about this.

That night, the plan is executed. Iron Man is in the sky, ready to provide his distraction. And Scott Lang, the Ant-Man, is heading inside the building's electronic systems. He encounters some automatic pest control, but it's not an issue for him. And he finds his target.

At the right time, Iron Man slams into the building, making it shake. Scott then fiddles with the chip. Zimmer finally works his hacking magic. The guards inside notice the hacking attempt and shut the computers off. However, Abe was able to get most of the files, which he gives to Stark in the form of a disk. Stark opens the disk and discovers that it wasn't Hammer that stole his armor tech.

It was the Spymaster that did it. I knew it! Hammer just bought the tech from him. The files also reveal some other important information: The villains that Hammer gave the tech to, including the Beetle, the Crimson Dynamo, and even more obscure villains like the Raiders and Professor Power. His targets set, Stark is on the attack.

The next day, Stark tells his legal experts to find a way to get his tech back. While they do that, he's also going to take care of business as only a rich man with an armored combat suit can. That night, one Wilbur Day, aka Stilt-Man, is robbing an office building...wile seven stories in the air.

Look at him in his silvery suit. Iron Man punches one of his elongated legs, but it doesn't knock him over. Stilt-Man tries to stomp on the Armored Avenger, but Iron Man just knocks him over. Stilt-Man tries to flee, but Iron man just knocks him down with his own extended leg, and then applies a little invention to the criminal's suit.

It's called a negator pack. It's a device that neutralizes the Starktech in Stilt-Man's suit, rendering it useless. The crusade is starting well, but it quickly hits a roadblock. Remember when Ant-Man and Abe Zimmer did their little hi-tech heist? Well, the judge said that the evidence they maintained was inadmissible in a court case because it was obtained illegally. Whoops. Stark tells his legal expert to keep on it, and so will he.

We next go to a soldier of fortune convention. Basically Merc-Con. We focus on one Brendon Doyle, a Scottish merc who just won the Automatic Weapons Competition three years in a row. He heads to his room, where Iron Man is waiting for him. You see, Doyle tends to use a suit of armor in his work, where he's known as Mauler. Tony wants the suit. And hilariously, Doyle's like, "Okay, here you go."

It's great! He literally just hands Tony the Mauler suit. But again, he's not too worried. He couldn't fight Iron Man (nobody paid him to), and he can always steal another suit. A week later, Tony heads to a tanning salon. No, he's not going to get tanned, the Controller has been spotted in the area. Stark has a gadget that detects the rogue Starktech, and it's being used here. Stark bursts in, and finds a woman about to have one of the villain's control disks attached to her. A group of controlled tan-worshippers show up.

Tony gets his suit on and the egotistical villain commands his army of yuppies to attack the Golden Avenger. They swarm Stark, who tries to get his way out without hurting the people. They are just innocent victims of the Controller after all. The Controller leaps at Stark, but ends up crushing one of his victims in the process.

The young man's death enrages Stark. He tackles the Controller and sends him flying into a beach. Tony then proceeds to Mighty Punch him repeatedly. In his rage, he doesn't notice that the beachgoers are also under the Controller's power, and they swarm him. Tony acts fast, and slaps a negator pack on the Controller's suit. It fires the Starktech in the suit, and presumably somehow frees the people under his control.

Three days later, Stark's lawyer has good news! He and his team made a case for the theft of his tech being a civil rights violation. And also, they may be able to secure the rights to future use of his armor's tech. They were also able to get a date for the hearing: August 12, 1989. Remember, this comic is from 1987. Yeah. Two years. Stark is understandably furious. In those two years, how much carnage could be caused because of the rogue Starktech? The lawyer says that considering the backlog of court cases, they were pretty lucky to get this date. But he's told to get out of the office.

Tony's out of patience. The law takes time, and time is something he does not have. There are still villains out there using the rogue Starktech. He's got to take matters into his own hands. Let the Armor Wars begin.

This comic was really good. When it comes to Tony Stark, this comic does highlight another major part of his character. People know about the snarkiness and the arrogance (not to mention the alcoholism), but there's another big part of his character: His guilt complex. It's not hard to see where that comes from. Tony Stark is someone who sees himself as a good noble man, and seeing his inventions being corrupted and used for evil, well...he's naturally going to blame himself.

Mark D. Bright turns in some fine art. Characters are expressive, and I love the way he draws technology. It's great stuff.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend checking out the 2007 trade paperback The Invincible Iron Man: Armor Wars. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time, when the Secret Wars rage on...