The King's Man Trailer, My Thoughts

In 2012, Icon Comics (A Marvel Comics imprint for creator-owned titles) published a limited series called Kingsmen: The Secret Service. Written by Mark Millar with art by Dave Gibbons, the miniseries told the tale of Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, a young man brought in by his uncle Jack London to work for MI6. The miniseries would get sequels in 2017 and 2018: The Big Exit and The Red Diamond.

In 2015, a film adaptation was released, directed by Matthew Vaughn. The film was co-written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, and starred Taron Egerton as Eggsy. The adaptation was received with praise for the action, the acting, and the dark humor, but did get criticism for some of the violence and sexuality in the film. They were seen as a bit over the top. The film would get a sequel in 2017: Kingsman: The Golden Circle. And now it's getting a prequel, set in the time before World War I. Let's look at the trailer!

Well, this totally is not a meeting about making the world a better place.

Hey, Baron Zemo! Yeah, that's Daniel Bruhl. Nice to see him here.

Is that Paul Giamatti as the bearded guy.? Look a little like him...

Now that's a cool shot.

BOOM, shipshot.

Is that Edwin Starr's "War"? Huh. An odd choice for a film set just before World War I. But also, a bit...fitting?

The world is ruled by corruption and greed." Why does that statement feel so appropriate right now?

That's a lot of gold.

The fight scenes in this movie look like they will be awesome.

Is that dude Rasputin? Looks like the Mad Monk.

It IS Rasputin!

Is that a sword with a gun in it? That's kind of handy. If it's good enough for Linkara, it's good enough for me.

Oh, running out of knives. That'll suck.

And that will hurt.

Well, this movie looks like it will be a ton of fun! I've enjoyed the previous two Kingsmen movies, and I can't wait to see this one. I like that we'll learn the origins of the organization. The cast looks really cool, and I'm sure the fights will be spectacular.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourself and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay at home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask properly. See you next time!

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox Announcement Trailer, My Thoughts

In 1987, Nihon Falcom released the game Ys: The Vanishing Omens for the PC-8801 (A Japanese personal computer). Masaya Hashimoto was the game's designer, programmer, and director. The game's scenario was written by Tomoyoshi Miyzaki. The game told the tale of an adventurer named Adol Christin, who has to collect six magical books so he can save the land of Ys from the evils that have attacked it.

Over the next 33 years, the Ys series has had eight main games, a couple of spin-offs, and even a couple of spin-off game series. The main games have been ported to and remade for many systems over the years, from various computers to consoles and handhelds. And now, the latest game in the series, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, is coming to the Nintendo Switch! Let's take a look at the announcement trailer!

I really enjoyed playing Ys VIII on my Switch...until I got stuck. I was hyped to play it and I did enjoy it...until I got stuck. That annoyed me.

Run, Adol! Run to glory!

Ouch. Could've been worse, Adol. Could've ended up taking that green energy blast in the face.

Adol looks like he stepped right out of a Castlevania game. He's going to meet Dracula, and the vampire's going to go on about men being miserable piles of secrets, isn't he?

I bet at least one of Adol's new companions got into the monster summoning business just so they could wear the crazy outfits.

The Prison City. Is it actually called "Prison City", or is it a nickname, like the Big Apple for New York City? How does a prison city work? How are taxes collected? Are there like different neighborhoods for different criminals?

You don't scare me, giant crab! I'M THE MOOD FOR SOME SEAFOOD DINNER!

Those monsters are some ugly mothers.

I just realized something. Monstrum Nox means "Monster Night" in Latin, I think. That's pretty clever.

Well, call me excited. I enjoyed the last Ys game I played, and I can't wait for this one. It looks really cool, and I'm all up for some monster slaying in an RPG. Bring it on!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourself, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands, and please wear a mask. Please. See you next time!

Alpha Flight #7 (February 1984)

Last June, in honor of Pride Month, I took a look at Uncanny X-Men #121 (May 1979). It was a notable issue because it the first full appearance of Marvel's first LGBT character: The Canadian super-fast former skier-turned-superhero Jean-Paul "Northstar" Beaubier. I would go on to review the first issue of Alpha Flight's first on-going series afterwards. And since Pride Month has come around again, I thought it would be neat to look at a comic that delved into the past of Northstar a little bit. As such, let's take a look at Alpha Flight #7!

The cover is pretty cool. A John Byrne piece, it depicts a smirking Aurora standing over a fallen man. Her pose and facial expression show menace, hinting she's the reason why the man is in the state he's in. It could also imply that she's not quite done yet, hence the captions. The only complaint is that the cover is misleading. An event like this happens in the actual comic, but it's not quite the big dea lthe cover portrays it as.

"The Importance of Being Deadly"
Writer: John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: John Byrne
Colorist: Andy Yanchus
Letterer: Michael Higgins
Editor: Denny O'Neil (RIP), Linda Grant

The story begins with Jean-Paul Beaubier watching his sister Jeanne-Marie emerge from a psychologist's office in Montreal.

Jean-Paul asks how it went, and Jeanne-Marie basically tells him "It's fine, I'm okay." However, the doc wants to talk to the skier-turned-mutant superhero in private. The doc hasn't been able to find anything mentally wrong with the schoolteacher, much to Jean-Paul's chagrin. Although to be fair, he's only had one meeting with her. Northstar knows Jeanne-Marie has a split personality, but fears he can't confess it unless he admits that they're members of Alpha Flight. Dude, you and your sister don't even wear masks! Also, Alpha Flight was created by the Canadian government. Wouldn't they have a psychologist on staff for stuff like this?

Anyway, with that a bit of a bust, Jean-Paul decides to treat his beloved sister to lunch. And he happens to know a great place to eat. There's a little restaurant owned by an old friend of Northstar: a monsieur Raymonde Belmonde.

Belmonde was a man who helped the superfast mutant through some...rough times in his life. A mugger snatches and tries to make off with Jeanne-Marie's purse, but Aurora manages to easily catch up with him.

Unlike the shy and timid Jeanne-Marie, the confident Aurora has no issue mouthing off the thief...and knocking out some of his teeth at super-speed. The two take the thief to the cop to get him incarcerated. However, it turns out someone had paid his bail. The thief works for a man known as Ernest St. Ives, aka "Deadly Ernest". Ernest is a known criminal mastermind in town, but they've never really been able to get any charges on him that stuck.

It's also believed that St. Ives has connection to the American Maggia, the Marvel Universe's version of the Mafia. You may know of them from my review of Avengers #31 (August 2000). Montreal in real-life does have some Mafia connections, so I can imagine that's what inspired Byrne here. It's here that we finally get to meet Northstar's old friend and mentor.

Northstar finds it odd that Belmonde's restaurant is so empty. After all, it's the lunch hour. It should be bustling with activity. Belmonde hints that St. Ives is responsible for this, but someone else reminds him its none of the Beaubier twins' concern.

Meet Danielle, Raymonde's daughter. Jean-Paul is shocked by this revelation. After all, he's known Raymonde for years...and the older man never told him he had any children. Well, that's because she only just returned to his life. Her mother had passed away a couple months ago, and she's been living with him ever since. She's a student at McGill University. Aurora is more interested in St. Ives. It turns out that St. Ives has been using local hoodlums to scare off anyone who wants to eat at Belmonde's restaurant. But why would a crimelord bother a restauranteur?

Well, we get to find out why. A pair of bodyguards enter the restaurant and grab Raymonde...and Aurora. They take the two to a waiting limousine. The presence of the vehicle seems to cause a chill in the street, like death was occupying it in a way. Raymonde tells Ernest that his café is not for sale.

Ernest takes off his glove, saying that he had offered Raymonde a gift. If Ernest owned the business, Raymonde could retire. Spend time with grandchildren. Enjoy his twilight years. But since Raymonde won't sell, Ernest has no choice. The crime boss reaches out...and touches the restauranteur's face.

Like the X-Men's Rogue, Ernest St. Ives has a toxic touch. Raymonde collapses dead in front of a horrified Northstar and Danielle. St. Ives takes Aurora hostage and drives off. Northstar is horrified. It can be interpreted here that not only was Raymonde the first person that Jean-Paul confided the fact he was a mutant to, he was also the first person that Jean-Paul came out as gay to. The story ends with the former skiing star vowing that the corpulent crimelord will die by his hand.

The scene shifts to the newly-constructed Southbrook Mall in Winnipeg. A man there is holding public chess matches against anyone who wants to play the Game of Kings. But, it's time for him to have some lunch.

This is Alec Thorne, aka Smart Alec. Once a member of Gamma Flight, he had created a special helmet that allowed him boosted intellect and increased perceptive abilities. But thanks to the Canadian government shutting down the Flight programs (As shown in Alpha Flight #1), Alec's been left to do mental stunts like the public chess game. And he hates it. He's smarter than everyone else in that mall put together, yet he's reduced to tricks like this. However, things may be looking up for him.

This woman, a Miss Delphine Courtney (with that haircut), has an offer for Alec. One that he finds too appealing to turn down. There's also a second story included with this issue.

"Origins of Alpha Flight: Let a Child Be Born"
Writer: John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: John Byrne
Colorist: Andy Yanchus
Letterer: Michael Higgins
Editors: Denny O'Neil (RIP), Linda Grant

We next travel to an archaeological dig above the Arctic Circle, 15 years in the past. One of the people working at the dig, a Richard Easton, finds a strange metal headband.

That night, Easton tries to sleep. However, he hears strange voices calling to him to put on the headband. When he does...

Easton gets visited by the gods of Inuit myth, particularly Nelvanna, goddess of the Northern Lights. As I said in my review of Alpha Flight #1, I don't think there was an actual goddess named Nelvanns in Inuit myth. She was likely inspired by a Golden Age Canadian heroine. Nelvanna is given the form of a beautiful blonde woman.

Why is she doing this? Well, there are great evils coming in the future, and humanity needs a champion to face them. Nelvanna and Easton can create the future champion by...hopping off the good foot and doing the bad thing, as Austin Powers would say.

After what seemed to be one night, Easton returns. He's a bit confused, but he's found by a couple of his fellow dig workers. Easton wonders what happened to the dig, as it's all covered up. It's been nine years since he took his little trip. Easton's mind then unravels, fleeing into the harsh Canadian wilderness. Yeah, remember the crazy guy that summoned Tundra in issue #1? That was Easton.

A year passes, and a certain Tsuut'ina shaman has arrived. Michael Twoyoungmen was attracted here by the strong mystical forces permeating the area. He conjures up Nelvanna, who is ready to birth the child she conceived with Easton. With his help, the birth is successful. The story ends with Michael holding a little blonde baby demi-goddess in his arms, the future Snowbird.

Remember when Nelvanna was given the form of a blonde woman earlier? I think this was meant to explain why despite Snowbird being the daughter of an Inuit goddess, she looked like a white woman.

This comic was pretty good. It was really cool that we got a bit of a window into the past of Northstar, a peek of the experiences he had that helped mold him into the man he is today. I would have loved to have learned more about him and Raymonde together. I can imagine that maybe Jean-Paul's first job was working at Raymonde's restaurant. The Marvel Appendix's entry on Raymonde interpreted their relationship as maybe they were lovers at one point. Personally, I found that rather...squicky. Northstar was presumably very young, likely in his early-to-mid teens when he and Raymonde met, and Raymonde is clearly two/three decades older than Jean-Paul. Yeah, you can imagine why that's...yeah. The story implies that maybe Raymonde himself was a member of the LGBTQ+ community as well, considering his dialogue.

I also enjoyed the backup tales, particularly the one depicting the origin of Snowbird. However, I realized something from this. The story was set fifteen years before "the present". Easton spent nine years in Nelvanna's company (although from his perspective, it was one night). A year later, Narya was born. Do the math. Snowbird would have been five years old in "the present". Demi-god genetics are weird.

John Byrne turns in some great artwork for this issue. One detail I thought was pretty clever was in the beginning. He showed the visual difference between Jeanne-Marie and Aurora with their clothing and hair. Jeanne-Marie's hair is slicked back and she looks proper and buttoned up. When she switches to Aurora, her hair is a bit wilder (eventually undone), and her shirt is unbuttoned, showing a bit of skin. A good visual way to show how different the two personalities are, character-wise.

If you want to read this for yourself, hunt down the 2007 trade paperback Alpha Flight Classic Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay home, stay healthy, wash your hands often, and please wear a mask. Join me next time, when we look at a most...unusual superteam...

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, everyone!

I hope this day brings all the dad, step-dads, every kind of dad out there enjoys this day, and it brings you nothing but joy!

Wonder Woman #217 (May 1975)

It's that time again! It's time to join DC's resident Amazing Amazon as she undergoes her Twelve Labors! Last month, we joined Black Canary as she chronicled Wonder Woman's stopping a billionaire from stepping foot on her home island. Now, the chronicling duties go to Green Arrow, as he introduces us to a mind-bending story of madness! Let's look at Wonder Woman #217!

The cover is a Mike Grell piece, and it's pretty cool. The main event is the villain of the story himself trying to drown Wonder Woman in a bowl of...pudding? Water? And Ollie of course has to make a bad joke about Wondy being in the soup. Time and place, Arrow. There's also a couple of teases for backup tales that I can't look at because they weren't collected in the trade. The one with Wonder Woman fighting a pterodactyl looks cool.

"The Day Time Broke Loose!"
Writer: Elliot S! Maggin
Penciler: Dick Dillin
Inker: Vince Colletta
Colorist: Unknown
Letterer: Unknown
Editor: Julius Schwartz

The story begins with Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, seemingly going nuts.

He witnessed Wonder Woman's latest labor...and he's wondering if that was all nothing more than a hallucination prompted by madness. Let's hear his tale and find out, shall we?

It started with a visit. Ollie Queen went down to the UN, where Diana was attending a general assembly in her civilian identity. He spots the Amazon getting a note from a messenger. The Emerald Archer follows her, only to find...

"Whaddaya mean Wondy couldn't tell that was a cosplayer?!" Yeah. Somehow there are two Green Arrows. However, this other Green Arrow makes a mistake. He believes that Diana Prince is actually Supergirl, and he wants her to save some people from a volcano. A confused Diana watches him take out a rubber-tipped arrow. He wants Diana to melt it with her heat vision to show she's the Girl of Steel. However, Diana can't, because she's not Supergirl, so she does not have heat vision.

To her surprise, the rubber on the arrow seemingly melts itself, "Green Arrow" claiming that she did it with her heat vision. Yeah, Diana should just judo chop this guy right now.

A confused Diana uses her lasso to quick-change into Wonder Woman, but she's not the only one doing the whole 'quick-change' act today.

Yup, Diana should have judo-chopped that guy. The imposter Green Arrow switches into a cop disguise and tells Diana that he saw "Green Arrow" running down the hall. Ollie had tried to follow Diana and "Green Arrow" on another elevator, but he found himself seemingly brought through time to the era of knights and dragons: The Medieval Age.

"Huh. I didn't know they were filming a new Robin Hood movie here."

The knights shoot at Ollie with their crossbows, but the archer notices that one of them is talking like a stereotypical Western cowboy. It turns out that Ollie wasn't transported through time, just trapped in an illusion. Everyone on the floor Ollie ended up on is also trapped. They were the knights Ollie was fighting. The scene shifts to pirate ships, to Ancient Rome, even the Old West! Ollie ends up falling out of the building and just narrowly ends up becoming the Green Street Pizza.

Diana sees the diplomats and employees brawling in the halls, and she realizes that there's only one vile villain behind this insanity.

Meet the Duke of Deception! He's one of Wondy's oldest, and arguably Wonder Woman's very first supervillain, first appearing all the way back in Wonder Woman #2 (Fall 1942). The Duke is a demigod who's whole specialty is, naturally, deceit, manipulation, and deception. He pulls off his lies with the aid of his ability to create realistic illusions. The Duke often worked under Ares. Considering his links to him, he can be arguably considered the DC Universe's version of Dolos, Greco-Roman myth's embodiment of guile and trickery.

Ollie witnesses Wonder Woman leaping out of the building and using her lasso to get herself to her Invisible Jet. He goes back inside the building, I have no idea why, but finds himself in prehistoric times as a caveman facing a mammoth. The Duke of Deception reveals himself to Diana, bragging that his powers had grown since they last faced off.

Meanwhile, Ollie fights the giant mammoth, only to realize he was still in the United Nations' lobby, and he shot a giant timepiece. Diana heads to the top floor of the UN building, as the Duke said he'd meet her there. And his illusion powers ensured that he'd have some imaginary guests meeting her.

Gotta hand it to the Duke of Deception, man knows how to set a scene. Diana catches the Duke with her lasso. She uses it to make the Duke dispel his illusions. However, the Duke is well-aware of the Amazon's magic lasso and its abilities, so in a bit of clever misdirection, he reveals that the "Duke" that Wondy caught with her lasso was an illusion.

The real Duke was disguised as one of the monsters, and he manages to take advantage of Diana's distraction by grabbing her lasso and tying her hands together. At time, Wonder Woman had this big weakness: she would lose her powers if her wrists were bound by a man. Meanwhile, Ollie had changed out of his Green Arrow costume and back into his civilian togs when he finds himself in a Roman-style Colosseum-esque arena, and Wondy chained up.

Somewhere, William Moulton Marston is smiling.

The Arrow is in a cage alongside Tracy Morgan (Diana's boss at the Crisis Bureau), and several ambassadors. The Duke of Deception has invited them to a special occasion: The Execution of Wonder Woman. He creates an illusion of Robin Hood's Merry Men, who stand in a circle around Wondy, and aim their bows. Unusually, Wonder Woman is able to easily block the arrows with her bracelets and leap out of the archers' circle.

"But wait a minute!" You may ask. "Doesn't Wonder Woman lose her powers if her wrists are bound by a man?" Well, yes. But the whole 'bullets-and-bracelets' think could be argued is more of a skill than an actual superpower. Her bracelets are indestructible, and her wrists being bound don't change that. I can imagine that Wonder Woman can still keep her powers if she's bound by her own lasso. She tries to catch him again, but uses his misdirection powers to escape again. The Duke decides that if a firing squad won't work, he'll try another tactic.

"The Duke's been binging Grey's Anatomy again."

So, how does ol' Dukey plan to finish off the Amazing Amazon? Well, he plans to cut her open with a scalpel. You see, the Duke's illusions can be very convincing. They can even fool Wonder Woman herself. He's literally going to use mind-over-matter to make Wonder Woman die. Wonder Woman decides, "Hey, this guy likes to play mind games? Well, so can I!"

She tells him he's doing this to overcompensate. The Duke had failed as Ares's lackey in the past, and this whole thing is just him trying to get back in the God of War's good graces. He tells Wondy to shut up, but her words clearly got to him. His concentration fades, allowing Diana to escape. The Duke tries to flee, but Wonder Woman is able to catch him with her lasso. Third time's the charm, indeed.

It's then we learn exactly what the Duke was up to. You see, he was hoping to use his illusion powers to drive the delegates insane to hopefully plunge the world into war. He hoped this would make Mars bow down to him. Guess Wondy was more dead-on than she thought. The Amazon is naturally infuriated as a world war is rather devastating. We've seen that twice. So, she takes him...somewhere. She doesn't say exactly where, she just says she's taking him somewhere where Aphrodite can deal with him. I have no idea.

It's then we flash forward to the present. What was going on with Ollie Queen? Well, Batman had put him under hypnosis as a security measure. It was a way to prove that Ollie was not the Duke of Deception disguising himself. If he was lying about being Ollie Queen, then he would have been discovered to have been lying by a polygraph. Uh, Bruce? Polygraphs have not been shown to be the best way to detect whether someone is lying. And the Duke of Deception's whole schtick is being able to lie and manipulate. He of all beings could beat a polygraph test!

To me, this is one of the better stories here. Like issue #216, I felt there was some real potential here. A villain with the power to create very convincing illusions, in an influential place like the United Nations, who plans to use said powers to cause World War III? That's some scary stuff. I did think the whole bit with Green Arrow being put under hypnosis was a bit...strange. I get what it was going for, but it felt a bit...off to me. I can't really explain it.

Also, I have to say that that this is the first time I've read a comic with the Duke of Deception, and to be honest...I think he's a villain with some real potential. I'm surprised the character hasn't made a major reappearance in Wondy's books over the last few years, considering his whole thing is lies and fakery. I mean, considering what's been going on the last few years, now would be a great time to revive the character.

Dick Dillin does some good art here. However, I have noticed over the course of this storyline was that there have been multiple artists on the book. Don't get me wrong, some good artists have worked on the Labors. Curt Swan, John Rosenberger, Irv Novick...I just wonder why they couldn't keep a consistent artist for this. It would have helped the Labors get some visual consistency. Did DC really not care about Wondy's book that much in the early 1970s? This was probably just before the TV series started up, so maybe better times were ahead for Wondy in the books. I don't know.

If you want to read this one for yourself, I suggest hunting down the 2012 trade paperback Wonder Woman: The Twelve Labors. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it to your friends and loved ones! Take care of yourselves, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, and wash your hands often! Join me next time, as in honor of Pride Month, we look at a comic that delves a bit into the past of one of Marvel's preeminent gay characters... 

New Pokemon Snap Announcement Trailer, My Thoughts

In 1999, Nintendo published the HAL Laboratory/Pax Softnica-developed game Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64. A spinoff of the mega-popular Pokémon franchise, the game centered around Todd Snap, a photographer hired by Professor Oak to take pictures of Pokémon on an island that was uninhabited by humans.

The game would sell over 1.5 million copies, and was a popular choice for rental. I've played it, and yeah, it's a great rental game. The game would also get praise for being innovative and fun, but it would get criticism for lack of replayability, and a limited selection of Pokémon (At the time, the Pokémon games were still in Generation One, with Two on the way). Despite the flaws, Pokémon Snap still ended up being regarded as a cult classic. Fans have wanted a sequel for years, and now, after two decades, one is coming to the Nintendo Switch! Let's take a look at the announcement trailer.

Oh, give me a home, where the Bouffalant roam, and the Stantler and the Gogoat play...

Wow, look at this place...it's so beautiful. Hopefully there'll be wide variety of areas to go.

I imagine the forests at night are the playpens of various Ghost-type Pokémon...

The Pokémon here look incredible.

It used to be that the vehicle rode on train tracks, but now there are holographic roads...

It does look like we'll get multiple generations of Pokémon represented. That makes sense, as considering it's been over twenty years since the last Pokémon Snap, and the main games are now on the eighth generation. There's now over 900 Pokémon. I doubt we'll get all of them in this game, but I am hoping we get a respectable number, and every generation gets plenty of representation.

That Magikarp is dead.

Aww, Torterra is protecting the babies. "LET THEM SLEEP IN PEACE!"

It's a shame this isn't actual gameplay footage. It looks amazing.

Back in the day, I did rent Pokémon Snap and play it for the N64. I found it fun, but yeah, it was a rental game. There was little replayability value, and I hope the sequel addresses that. Despite that, I am looking forward to this game. I can't wait to start photographing Pokémon in the wild again!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourself, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wear your mask, and wash your hands often! See you next time!

Green Lantern #172 (January 1984)

When one is away from home for a long period of time, at some point, one can feel the yearning to return. It's perfectly understandable, it happens to anyone. Whether you're away on a vacation or for business, we all at some point want to go home. Home is where one finds safety and familiarity. Hal Jordan is familiar with that feeling. You see, as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal's duties require him to travel amongst the stars. But at heart, Hal is a man of Earth.

As such, it makes sense that his homeworld would get a lot of his attention, considering most of his adventures took place there, both solo and as a member of the Justice League. Hal's bosses, the Guardians of the Universe, felt that he was paying too much attention to his home. After all, Earth already had plenty of costumed champions to watch over it, and Hal had a big "sector" of space to patrol. As such, in Green Lantern #151 (April 1982), the Guardians exiled Hal from Earth for a year. But now that year is coming to a close. Hal Jordan's exile is about to end. How did his long-awaited return to Earth go? Let's find out as, for my 900th blog entry (yay), we look at Green Lantern #172!

The cover is pretty neat. A Dave Gibbons piece, it depicts Hal speaking with the Guardians of the Universe. It does look like he's trying not to grovel. A nice detail I like is the other members of the Green Lantern Corps looking on with a variety of expressions from concern to outrage.

"Judgment Day!"
Writer: Len Wein
Penciler: Dave Gibbons
Inker: Dave Gibbons
Colorist: Anthony Tollin
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins with Hal Jordan flying through a meteor storm.

Hal is feeling pretty good. Over the past year, as I said earlier, he's been on a sort of enforced exile from his home of Earth on orders of the Guardians of the Universe. Being a maverick space cop carries consequences, I guess. Hal then realizes that the meteor storm is heading for an inhabited world. At first, he tries to ignore it. After all, the atmosphere of that world will burn up most of those meteors before they hit the surface. But...there's the change that at least one of those rocks could hit the surface...and it could get someone hurt.

Hal flies ahead of the meteor storm, and uses his ring to create a construct of a hand and pool cue. The cue hits one of the rocks in the right place, and...

"Fast Eddie" Felson would be proud. With that taken care of, Hal heads to Oa. Located in the center of the universe, Oa is the homeworld of Hal's bosses: The Guardians of the Universe. Upon arrival, our man is greeted by some of his friends and fellow Corpsmen: Arisia, Katma Tui, Tomar-Re, Arkkis Chummuck, and Salakk.

I love Salakk just sulking there in the background. They wish Hal luck on his petition to return home. Well, except for Salakk, but Arkkis tells him to shut up, as no one cares what Salakk thinks. The Guardians are ready to hear him out. He pleads with them to let him come home. He misses his family and friends, and he's served nobly as a member of the Green Lantern Corps. He can serve his assigned sector from Earth just as well as anywhere else, after all. He misses his family, his girlfriend Carol, and his friends both in his civilian life and in the Justice League.

The Guardians ask him one question in response: Would he be willing to give up his commission in the Green Lantern Corps?

Yeah. Hal said he may have had once, but now...he'd be proud to be a GL. He just wants to be around his friends once in a while. The Guardians may have given up their humanity to become immortal, but Hal has no desire to do the same. After a long time of pondering, the Guardians agree to let Hal go back home.

An overjoyed Hal flies back to the big blue marble-like world known as Earth. He decides to pay a surprise visit to his girl Carol Ferris...only to find her seemingly being close with another man.

Hal handles it well...by streaking into the sky and screaming Carol's name. Way to protect your secret identity there, buddy. The brokenhearted test pilot needs to hit something, and luckily, his ring alerts him to a bank robbery in progress.

Yeah, with a name like "Spyke Nayle", it's only a matter of time before he becomes a full-on supervillain. Maybe he'd become a carpentry-themed one? I mean, there will be a villainous team in the DC Universe that he'd be perfect for. Hal is easily able to rescue the hostages. Nayle gets stupid and challenges Hal to a fistfight. The pilot is all too eager to show off his slugging skills.

The punching therapy helps, but Hal's still feeling a bit sore. That night, he's packing his things, but Carol comes by to visit. Hal confronts her about her seemingly new blond beau, but it turns out that she was just congratulating him. The man's name is Clay Kendall, a new hire at Ferris Air. He's gotten himself a nice shiny new research grant.

DC making Hal look stupid is nothing new. The story ends with Carol telling Hal she loves him and giving him a big hug, welcoming him home at last. There is a second story, but I can't review it because I do not have it. It was not collected in the trade I got most of these scans from.

This comic...was alright. It wasn't bad, but I feel like that not a lot happened in this comics. Hal just basically comes home to Earth and stops a bank robbery. That's really about it. It was funny seeing Hal mistakenly assume Carol would have moved on. I also got a chuckle out of the robber's name. Spyke Nayle. Heh heh. And also, that whole bit with Carol and Hal could have been avoided if he just asked her what was up when he saw her with Clay.

Also, I don't get why the Guardians asked Hal if he was willing to give up his membership in the GL Corps. I thought that their issue with Hal was that he concentrated too much. Although to be fair, it does seem that Earth needs Hal's attention because all sorts of things tend to go down there.

The thing I noticed with Dave Gibbons' art here is that it's taken on a bit of a cartoony quality which I rather like. I will admit, I do have one critique. I do think it's a bit of a nitpick, but it's something I wanted to mention. It's in the eyes. I don't know why, but some of the eyes look a bit lifeless at times to me.

If you want to read this yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2012 trade paperback Green Lantern: Sector 2814 Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourself, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay at home, and wash your hands often. Join me next time as Wonder Woman undergoes her sixth trial...

The Outer Worlds Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

In 2019, Obsidian Entertainment developed and Private Division published a first-person action RPG called The Outer Worlds. The game was originally released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. The game was set in the future of an alternate timeline in which President William McKinley was never assassinated in 1901, leading to a future where megacorporations ruled the world (Without McKinley dying, Theodore Roosevelt never became president, thus he never got to attack the big trust companies).

The game would be praised for its story, voice acting, and soundtrack, but criticized for its combat system and animations. The game would sell more than 2 million copies, and be nominated for (and won numerous awards). And now the game is blasting its way to the Nintendo Switch! Let's take a look at the launch trailer!

The game's settings remind me of Star Wars, everything feels "lived in", if you get what I mean. There's a feeling that these structures have been around for a very long time.

I heard Auntie Cleo's has great burgers.

BONK! Enjoy your concussion by gun!

I love that this trailer is done in the style of a recruitment film. It's a clever touch.

The Man in the Moon has had all he can stand, and he can't stand no more!

What're you doing here, Mr .Surgeon?!

Yeah, I don't think that whole 24-hour thing is feasible...but then again, it is a future ruled by megacorporations...

"Bah Gawd, King! That dropkick had no effect!"

Heh heh, 50s style ray gun.

Well, this looks like a nice bit of fun! It's great that so many games are coming to the Switch. I can certainly see why that is. The Switch is literally a portable game console. It makes sense that a lot of game companies would want to port console games to it, as it allows many of them to be played on the go for the very first time. Well, officially at the least. The game looks like it will be fun! I hope there's a demo!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourself, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, and wash your hands often! See you next time!

Bill & Ted Face the Music Teaser Trailer, My Thoughts

In 1989, the film Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure was released in theaters. The film was directed by Stephen Herek and written by the team of Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. The movie told the tale of two teenage Southern California wannabe rockers named Bill Preston, Esquire (Alex Winter) and Theodore "Ted" Logan (Keanu Reeves).

In the far future, the two boys' music helps usher in an era of world peace and utopia. However, in the late 1980s, they have a more pressing problem: Not flunking History class! Luckily, a man from the future named Rufus (George Carlin) with his time traveling phone-booth, is able to help the boys with their little problem, ensuring the timeline will go as intended.

The film was a box-office success, grossing $40 million on a $10 million budget. Critical reviews were rather mixed at the time, but the film has gone on to be regarded as a cult classic. It would also be a big breakout film for Keanu Reeves. The film would spawn a franchise, including a 1991 sequel: Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. Bill and Ted's would have more adventures chronicled in comic books, an animated series, and even a short-lived live-action show.

In 2010, Alex Winter had announced that Matheson and Solomon were working on a script for a third Bill and Ted film. MGM would not greenlight the film for several years, but now...it has arrived. It's time for Bill Preston, Esquire and Ted Logan...to Face the Music. Let's look at the teaser!

Orion Pictures is still a thing? I thought it was defunct... *looks it up* Oh, MGM revived it in 2014. Neat.

You know, ever since I first head there was a third Bill and Ted movie in the works, I have hoped the film would go into a bit more detail as to how exactly the Wyld Stallyns help create the future utopia. I'm hoping we see that here.

WYLD STALLYNS RULE!

Oh, they fell hard, didn't they? Well, that was not surprising. Ever since that incident in Kazakhstan...

It's kind of weird seeing a 55-year-old Keanu Reeves clean-shaven. He looks...off to me.

Is that Glenn Close?

Yup, they're going to take the lazy way out.

Hey, William Sadler is back as Death! I like William Sadler. Watch him in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He's awesome. Nice to see Death and the boys are still buds.

...how many pushups did Future Prison!Bill and Ted do? How many sit-ups? WHAT JUICE DID THEY DRINK?!

Yeah, Keanu looks better with facial hair.

When it comes to me and this franchise, I have seen both of the previous films in the past, and I remembered enjoying them. I also remember enjoying the old cartoon back in the day. I'll give this new movie a shot. Hopefully our two favorite slackers managed to stay funny with time.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourself, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, and wash your hands often! See you next time!

Spider-Man #40 (November 1993)

Sometimes, we all feel that we're rather worthless. We all feel at times that everything we do matters to nothing and that in the end, we have no reason to exist. Everyone also desires to be something more. To be something great. Characters in superhero comics have that desire, too. Most notably, Electro.

First appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (February 1964), the original Electro was Maxwell Dillon, a former electrical lineman who gained electrokinetic powers after being stuck by lightning while working on a power line. He would go on to be one of Spider-Man's longest-running villains, having been one of the founding members of the supervillain team known as the Sinister Six. Over the years, he's battled not just Spidey, but also Daredevil, the Falcon (Look at my reviews of the Falcon mini-series), and even the Fantastic Four as part of a team of supervillains. Yeah, Electro's been a "team guy" a lot, even founding his own supervillain team: The Emissaries of Evil.

Recently, Max had gotten killed by a woman who would gain his powers and take up the mantle for Electro for herself: Francine Frye. But before his death, the original Electro would get to appear in media outside of comics. He appeared in the 1960s Spider-Man series, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon (who was the son of the Red Skull in that series), The New Adventures of Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man (where he was voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes, who voiced Spider-Man in the 1990s cartoon), and a female African-American version of Electro appeared in the 2017 Spider-Man animated series. He would get to be one of the villains of the 2014 film The Amazing Spider-Man 2, portrayed by Jamie Foxx.

So, yeah. Electro has managed to have a long run as one of Spidey's most famous villains. And the comic we're going to look at here is one in which he gets the spotlight, as it were. He's long wanted to be seen as a big shot, and he's going to be seen as one...even if he has to lock New York City in eternal darkness. Let's look at Spider-Man #40!

The cover is pretty neat. A Klaus Janson piece, it depicts Electro on a building, his arms up in triumph. Electricity is crackling from his body, and it looks like he is emenating immense amounts of power. It's pretty cool.

"Light the Night! Part Three"
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Penciler: Klaus Janson
Inker: Klaus Janson
Colorists: Kevin Tinsley, Ericka Moran
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editor: Danny Fingeroth
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with New York City have gotten dark. Real dark. Darker than a pile of black crayons in a windowless room with no overhead light. A narrator remarks that the city is theirs now. They just have to keep drinking in the power. With every additional gulp down of power, the narrator feels like they're becoming a star. Not the Hollywood kind of star, the big ball of gas kind of star. Who is the narrator here?

Max Dillon, aka Electro, longtime foe of the Wall-Crawler. The lightning-lobbing villain is enjoying himself. He demands the world notice him, and acknowledge that he is not a not an anonymous nobody anymore. Where is Spider-Man? Well, he's here.

He had been dealing with a wannabe-supervillain in a ballroom when the lights went out. The event causes a panic, and the ballgoers to try and flee. Spidey tries to calm things down, but he can't be heard over the din of fear. He's forced to get a bit creative.

The Spider-Signal is able to calm the people down, much to Spidey's relief. It's then that a bellboy runs in, yelling about something going on on the building's roof. It ends up throwing the ballroom attendants right into a panic. Thanks, pal.

Meanwhile, Charlie Burroughs, the wannabe supervillain who held up the ballroom before all this madness erupted, decides one thing. Maybe the best thing to do right now is to get out of here. And maybe make off with a few wallets on the way. However, J. Jonah Jameson is able to catch him, screaming that he's making a citizen's arrest. Charlie notices a pretty young lady with Jonah, and he's rather floored by her. The woman is Sarah Klein, the Daily Bugle's public relations manager. And evidently Jonah's niece.

She's worried that Jonah is worrying more about impressing her than the potential dangers to everyone in the building. Her fears aren't that unfounded in my opinion, Jameson has always struck me as sort of an overly-macho overcompensating type. I'm guessing it's that Spider-Man envy eating away at him again.

Spider-Man makes it to the roof, and he confronts Electro. The former lineman starts ranting and raving about how Spider-Man made him look like a fool many times in the past. Well, that's going to end today! He punctuates his point by blasting the Webhead off the roof. Inside, the panic rages on. Sarah disappears, possibly getting carried away by the fearful crowd. Jameson is scared himself. If anything happens to her, he'll never forgive himself. Maybe you shouldn't have tried to play cop, J.J...

Outside, Spider-Man tries to stop his fall by webbing up a gargoyle. However, his momentum is so great that he ends up ripping the gargoyle right off the building.

And the Parker Luck decides to troll our hero a bit more by giving him an embarrassing landing.

Heh heh. Poor Pete. It seems that life utterly hates him sometimes. The fire department arrives, and Electro is having the time of his life. He's drunk on his own power, and he  just screaming about how much of a god he is right now. He then notices that his head feels like it's about to explode. His limbs are quivering. He realizes he's absorbed a lot of electrical power, and it's starting to affect his body. He tries to fire an electrical as a way to relieve himself and rid himself of the electrical force...only to discover he can't. The villain freaks out and tries to remove his harness. He succeeds, but finds that he still can't get rid of the massive electrical charge inside his body.

Spider-Man manages to return to the roof, acting all cool. Electro then pleads for Spidey to help him. Back in the ballroom, Sarah Klein is trying not to get trampled, but she's got an unlikely savior: Charlie Burroughs. He ditched his supervillain outfit and introduces himself to her as Charles Buchanan III. Jonah finds the two. Charlie starts to leave, thinking Sarah is Jonah's girlfriend, but she introduces him to Jonah, allowing him to learn they're actually relatives.

Jonah is impressed by Charlie's saving Sarah, and promises to make him a front-page story in the Daily Bugle. Say, how is Spidey doing with Electro? Not to well. The ex-lineman is freaking out. His current state is bringing him back to his childhood. He hints that his boyhood was not a fun one, constantly bullied and ignored. Spider-Man can't possibly understand that. His energy field is growing with his hysteria, and Spidey fears that he'll overload. And if he does, the damage he causes would be horrific.

The Wall-Crawler pleads with Dillon to hear him out. You see, they're more alike than the electrokinetic villain realizes. Like Dillon, Peter Parker has felt like a freak. Invisible. He was picked on and laughed at too. And like Dillon, Peter Parker used Spider-Man to feel important, like he mattered. But he came to realize something. It wasn't the mask or superpowers that made him important...it was just being him. Peter Parker already mattered, and so does Max Dillon. Dillon doesn't need to be Electro to be significant, because Max Dillon is already important.

The words seem to work and Electro's energy field shrinks. Spidey reconnects the harness and encourages Electro to send the power back into the city. The villain claims he can't do it, that there's too much power. But Spidey encourages him to. Dillon can do this. The two have fought each other a lot over the years, and the Webhead believes that he can do it. So, Electro decides to give it a try...

Max Dillon did it. He managed to relight New York City. And much to Spidey's surprise, the former electric line worker grabs him in a hug, thanking him. He even agrees to go to jail. And the Parker Luck strikes again.

The World Hates Peter Parker. Later, our hero returns to the ballroom, where he finds Jameson. Jameson is about to tear into him, but Peter simply counters by offering to take his photos of Spider-Man to the Daily Globe, a competing newspaper. These photos would be worth quite a bit of cash to them, Peter would even get a free lunch from them! Peter actually says that in the comic. Jameson starts to get furious...but then does something that shocks Peter.

He apologizes to him.

Yeah. J. Jonah Jameson apologizes to Peter Parker. You see, Jameson had evidently been acting rather jerkish towards Peter lately, and he explains why. Jameson had always looked up to his niece's father Ira. Ira was a god to him back in their college days. He was the Big Man on Campus: God great grades, fantastic athlete, and very popular with the ladies. Jameson was essentially his sidekick back then. In Jameson's own words: "The Tonto to his Lone Ranger".

Despite his admiration and respect for Ira, Jameson had always felt...well, small. Inadequate. Like he was nothing. Huh. Kind of like Electro. Even Ira's death couldn't erase those feelings in Jameson, and it's why he tried so hard to get Sarah to see him as awesome. Sarah nearly getting trampled made him see what a fool he was, and he hopes Peter will forgive him. Peter's all too happy to forgive the old skinflint. After all, in his own way, he can empathize with the man.

Things are looking up for Charlie as well. Jameson's offered him a job, which he's happy to start. There's also a seeming bit of romance between him and Sarah. The story ends with a happy Spider-Man swinging away.

I bought this comic for a couple of bucks at a fair, and I was very surprised how good it was. But then again, J.M. DeMatteis wrote it, so that's not surprising. My first exposure to his work on Spidey was from Kraven's Last Hunt. I get the impression from that as well as this that DeMatteis enjoyed exploring Spider-Man's villains. I also like the parallel with Electro and J. Jonah Jameson struggling to be seen as important. They both dealt with it by showing off in different ways: Electro by absorbing all the electricity in New York, and Jameson by constantly trying to impress his niece.

I also liked that the story ended in a rather unusual way than the usual superhero comic. Spider-Man managing to talk Electro down and get him to surrender was really nice. I think it fits Spidey in a way. He is, after all, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and sometimes, acting like a friendly neighbor is the best way to solve the problem. JJ's apology to Peter and his giving Charlie a job was great as well. It's very easy to fall into the trap of portraying Jameson as a one-note egocentric jerk, so showing him having flashes of remorse, kindness, and humility is a good thing. My only real complaint about the story is that I did feel a bit confused about what was going on, but that's more because this is the last part of a three-part story that I did not read the previous parts.

Klaus Janson's art is...well, I enjoyed it on Batman: Gothic. Here, though...it feels a bit off to me. I think it's mainly his interpretation of Spidey. His Spidey sometimes looks a bit bulky, more like a linebacker than a gymnast. Spidey should not look like a bodybuilder. He does do good expressive faces, though.

I don't know if this has ever been reprinted in trade, so you may have to search the back issue bins to find this one. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourself, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, and wash your hands often! Join me next time when we join the Green Lantern as he desires to go home...