Monthly archives: December, 2008

X-Men Noir #1

x-men noir #1The line between gimmick story and fun storytelling isn’t always obvious. Much like a television series, transposing your characters to another place and time can end up like “1602,” or it could be any of the numerous holodeck malfunction episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

So I had apprehension about “X-Men Noir.” In fact, I was not going to pick up the book in the least. But I was won over by the persuasive power of Doom DeLuise, who manages to convince me into a variety of things, good and bad.

Oh yeah, I’m about to unleash a huge amount of spoilers, so don’t read on if you’re not into that. I’m putting it in quotes so you can just scroll down to the review.

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Trinity #27

27In the lead: The League and the JSI fight off the various bad guys that have appeared on Earth as a result of reality shifting. Morgaine Le Fey and Enigma finally meet with Konvikt and convince him to become the third part of their Trinity. Tarot figures out that if the bad guys needed her for the first spell, they’re probably going to come get her for the next go-round. And Gangbuster tries to get Commander Hall to put on the wings one last time.

In the back-up: TVM, Primat and Swashbuckler break out of prison, and turn the Tattooed Man into the new Sun-Chained-In-Ink. Le Fey pops up and commands her minions to form a super-villain army for her.

My take: It really seems like Kurt Busiek just didn’t have enough stuff to fill this second arc with. More is going on this issue than in the last couple, but the last four or so issues probably could have been combined into one or two to make the story a lot better.

At least now it looks like things are picking up (but how many times have I said that before?). Le Fey’s goons have amassed an army for her that includes Poison Ivy, Parasite, Dr. Polaris, Eclipso, Ace (of the Royal Flush Gang) and a few others I don’t recognize. I’m not sure if that’s due to my lack of knowledge of DC villains or Scott McDaniel’s art though. And it appears as though Hawkman, Green Lantern and the Flash might come out of retirement for the last big fight, though.

Things to keep an eye on: Tarot knows that the bad Trinity is going to be coming for her, but she doesn’t trust the JSI to protect her. Perhaps she’ll turn to Alfred Pennyworth and his gang of Parents, Partners and Protégés?

A big boom happened when Le Fey and Konvikt shook hands. Well I guess it was technically a big “PFAK,” but you probably wouldn’t have known what the hell I was talking about. So what’s that all about?



So that’s what Dark Reign is!

dark reign marvel

It was announced nearly three months ago, but it looks like Marvel’s big Dark Reign is finally upon us. I’ll put in a spoiler alert here, in case you just got home from work and haven’t read Secret Invasion #8, the conclusion to the Avengers story that’s been practically five years in the making. Continue at your own risk. You’ve been warned! (more…)



Top 10 Comic Book-Based Movies of All Time

iron manNewsarama recently compiled a highly subjective and somewhat controversial list of the supposed ten best comic book-based movies of all time. I think it’s a fairly entertaining discussion, and they include a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t have thought to include. Here’s their list, along with links to reviews of these movies we’ve conducted here at Doomkopf (where applicable), followed by some thoughts from yours truly:

10. History of Violence (2005)
9. Batman (1989)
8. Men in Black (1997)
7. X2: X-Men United (2003)
6. 300 (2006)
5. Superman (1978)
4. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
3. The Dark Knight (2008)
2. Iron Man (2008)
1. Batman Begins (2005)

They justify Batman Begins as their top comic movie of all time by saying that it was the most groundbreaking superhero movie, at that point, since it delivered a comic book movie in a realistic environment without any elements of camp. They also point to the “groundbreaking” factor to back up the placement of 300 and Men in Black and Superman: The Movie on this list, but come on.
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Impending Doom:
December ’08 Previews (part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of the review of the December 2008 Previews, continued from yesterday. This is what happens when comics don’t come out until Thursday.

The first few pages of Previews are loaded with crap. It’s just clutter. Note to publishers: The design of the first few pages of Previews is so bad I can’t easily distinguish between advertising and content promotion. Your message has been lost.

Page 8: Previews editor Mamt (I can’t read his signature) talks about Heroes. He informs us he’s not talking about the TV show, but instead actual heroes. Well then why did you capitalize Heroes? You call yourself an editor?

Page 9: Fan art! I don’t know how long Previews has been doing this, but it reminds me of the Wizard envelope art. Do they still do that? Do people still send letters in envelopes? I remember doing some awesome Archangel envelope art to send to Wizard, only then realizing I didn’t really have anything to write about.
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Book of Doom:
Batman #682

Batman 682Another week, another issue of Batman.

Even though I haven’t read much of Grant Morrison’s run on Batman (and I’ve hated what I have read), I felt strangely compelled to choose Batman #682 as this week’s Book of Doom. Jim Doom and Doom DeLuise have been telling me this book is actually good, even though it seems like it’s stupid. Of course, they say the same thing about ASSBAR, so maybe they just don’t know what they’re talking about.

Anyway, this issue has a few things going for it. First, it’s only a two-issue story, so buying one issue is half the commitment. Second, it gives Morrison a chance to make sense of his entire run so far, including how it ties into Final Crisis. Plus it’s only $2.99, which sadly seems to be becoming rarer and rarer these days.

So will I hate it? Probably. But my expectations are so low at this point, it’s not going to take a whole lot to impress me. And that just might be the perfect circumstances for enjoying a Morrison Batman issue.

Written by Grant Morrison ; Art by Lee Garbett; Cover by Alex Ross; Variant Cover by Tony Daniel

Two issues of BATMAN in one month! Now that “Batman R.I.P.” has concluded, the aftermath begins! If you thought mastermind writer Grant Morrison surprised you with “R.I.P.”, just wait until you see what he has planned for this retrospective story. In his last hours, Alfred the Butler tells the life story of the Batman as you’ve never seen it before in this two-part adventure which bridges the gap between the events of “Batman R.I.P.” and FINAL CRISIS. Learn the secrets of Batman’s early years! Witness the nightmare of a Gotham City where Batman never existed!



Batman’s RIPs

A look back at the many times Batman has died before courtesy of Tony Z™ at Comics N Things. I think my favorite cover has to be Batman #299 with that evil Statue of Liberty. I have no idea who that is but she is awesome.



The Doomino Effect for Nov 26, 2008

With comics being delayed until Thursday this week, I contemplated delaying this a day too. But I’m on a blogging roll, and you don’t stop a blogging roll.

Much of the talk this past week was about Batman #681, the conclusion to Batman RIP. It was our Book of Doom this week, and though both Doom DeLuise and I liked it, Fin Fang Doom did his best Fallen Son: Wolverine impersonation and ripped it apart without reading it.

I think it’s totally fair for someone to dislike this story, but a lot of the haters I’ve seen on the web tend to fall in the “I didn’t read it but I know it’s crap” camp, much of which seems to stem from Morrison hatred; check the comments on this recent Comics Should Be Good post, as just one example. Even a negative CSBG review can’t help but litter the criticism with ad hominem Grant Morrison insults.

Any regular reader of this blog will know that neither DeLuise nor I — the two who liked it — have ever been Morrison apologists. The mutual Doomkopf disgust at Final Crisis #3 earned this blog its biggest brush with celebrity (though admittedly not due to the reviews) and those reviews weren’t the first bits of Morrisonian angst expressed here.
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You should be reading the Capes newsletter

for gems like this:


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Impending Doom:
December ’08 Previews

I had a lot of time to look at the new issue of Previews over the holiday weekend. Starting off we’ve got the Marvel Previews insert.

Cover: “Ultimatum brings about the end of two teams,” it says, promising the end of Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men. Good riddance. I remember reading Ultimate X-Men for the first time in an LAX terminal waiting for a delayed flight on Vanguard Airlines. Not necessarily ironically, Vanguard was in its last days, filing for bankruptcy a few months later. I was a faithful reader of that series for several years until Bryan K. Vaughan destroyed it. I cite the Ultimate Sinister storyline as my Ultimate Disgust moment. Robert Kirkman’s later run wasn’t much better.

Inside cover: Darkhawk is returning. Wow. People really are making conscious decisions to bring back the worst elements of the 1990s. Daredevil’s armored suit has to be just around the corner, right after the Punisher turns black.

Page 5: The cover to Black Panther #1 is a painting of Namor. Take that.

Page 7: “Secret Warriors #1.” I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t a Marvel random series title generator. Coming soon: New Invasion.

Page 10: The cover to Black Panther #1 with the Black Panther on it has to wait until 5 pages after Namor.
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