Ade is an AVENGER!

Congratulations to Ade Magnaye of Comicgasm for being selected to be an Avenger in Avengers #01!

DC 75th Anniversary

Yesterday, Global Brands Group, the company handling the DC merchandise here in the Philippines announced their plans on how they’re celebrating the 75th anniversary of DC Comics. It’s gonna be fucking awesome. If there’s one thing that comic book fans love just as much, if not more than comics, it’s merchandise. Fantastic, exclusive merchandise you can wear to show to show to the world that yes, you are a comic book nerd and damn proud of it.

DC was started in 1934, man. DC was around even before my folks. DC was around even before my grandparents even thought about having kids, man. That’s a long time. As you know for sure, DC has comics, TV shows, video games (I’m still playing Batman Arkham Asylum), movies, apparel, action figures, statues, DVDs and probably also underwear.

There’s probably going to be some wild-ass party happening in New York, soon, but how are they celebrating within our shores? Merch and games, yo.

Over at SM Megamall Events Center, there’s this little thing called DC Comics 75th Year Power Up! Yeah, it sounds like it’s for kids but I’m sure you and I would still have fun hanging out there, just to watch our overweight comic book bretheren attempt the physically challenging activities they’ll have in store for everyone.

It’s happening June 19 and 20, 2010, which also happens to be Father’s Day Weekend. So, if you’re a kid, ask your dad to celebrate Father’s Day at Megamall. Then, tell him that if he REALLY loves you, he’ll complete the Two-Line Tight Rope using only one line backwards. They also have Tyrolean Traverse, which looks a lot more hardcore than I would care for, and the Zip-Line, which is for kids and pussies. If you’re a real man, a real superhero, you do the Two-Line Tight Rope using your teeth.

What’s cool about that event is that they’ll have a DC Comics mini-museum with limited edition DC toys from collectors will be shown. So, you know, it’s like those cabs you find at similar events.

To get a pass for the Power Up event, you can buy about P500 worth of DC Comics stuff from SM Department Store Character shop or Boys Teen Wear departments, which are surprisingly good. I bought a Batman beer mug there before and a few dozen shirts. I know, okay? I have a bad case of GAS (geek acquisition syndrome). You’ll be given a bag tag, and you’ll use that to get in.

Here’s the big news, though - 9th Annual ToyCon at SM Mega Trade Halls 2 and 3 on the same days - June 19 and 20, 2010 - will also celebrate the 75th Anniversary of DC Comics. This, my friends, is something to be excited about, especially if you’re a fan of cosplay. They have a whole slew of events that might tickle your fancy.

Collectors Unlimited will attempt to have the largest collection of cosplayers dressed as their favorite superhero. I’m not 100% sure if they’ll limit it to DC comics only but that would suck. A little competition never hurt no one. Besides, I want to have my pic taken next to Batman and Captain America.

They’ll also have a DC Comics custom action figure contest. Those are FUCKING WICKED AWESOME. The entries last  year blew my mind as I blew my wad, for serious. Here’s to hoping for a fantastic Green Arrow figure. There’ll also be an auction for limited edition stuff. That’d excite me if I had money. 

Another thing that might wet our panties is their retail promo. You know how much I love getting free posters? A fucking lot, and it helps that SM posters are normally quite good. The way I understand it, a minimum purchase of P500 of DC Comics stuff at the SM Department stores entitles you to a poster, methinks. I’m not 100% sure on this but I think this was mentioned at the press release. You’re gonna have to figure it out for yourselves.

I think the poster is supposed to look like this:

Coolest Comics PS3 Themes

I recently tried out ganking new PS3 themes for free online, and I’m suprised at how horrible some of them can get. There are ones with good background images but with annoying sounds and fucking ugly icons, and there are others that just fail the background images altogether, which make for fail themes. You’re in luck, though. Because I’m a good friend to all of you, I went through the ones I found and weeded out the ones that suck ass to be able to present to you the coolest comic book PS3 themes around the net.

These won’t be in any order so the one that comes last isn’t necessarily the best one.

Daredevil

I like it primarily because it is Daredevil. The image is a bit low-res and my display at 1680×1050 made it pixelize a little bit. The simple red and black palette give the theme a very broody mood, which is exactly what Daredevil exemplifies. I especially like the icons because they haven’t been changed much, just swapped with red ones. I like things very minimal, you see.

I’m not using this theme right now, though, because when I powered up my PS3 this morning, Ben Affleck’s face was looking right back at me. DELETED!

Download the theme here.

Marvel Heroes

I like it because it has about 16 backgrounds, which changes at an interval that I do not understand. Maybe it’s one every day or so, but I am not sure. The only reason I’m not using this theme right now is because I find those icons quite distracting. I’m a big fan of the default icons. Yeah, maybe a little tweaking would do it well because it’s overkill. Nonetheless, this is a really cool theme to have if you don’t mind the icons.

Download the Marvel theme here.

Marvel Villains

This is easily my favorite Marvel theme. There are 6 backgrounds that switch up; granted, some of the backgrounds are better than the others, but at least they do not look like some 16 year old who just discovered Photoshop made them. The icons are fan-frickin’-tastic. They’re not gaudy but they still manage to look strikingly evil. EVIL!!!

Grab that Villains theme by clicking here.

Green Lantern Corps

Despite my being Lasallian, I never really liked green. The only green shirt I own is a Luigi shirt, but that’s because I fucking love Luigi. This is the theme I am currently using, though. I like it because it is very simple yet it is… Green Lanterny, if that makes sense to you at all.

Besides, Guy Gardner is right there. Guy Gardner is the man we should all aspire to be.
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Comic of the Week: New Avengers Finale

Norman Osborne finally got what was coming to him. With him out of power and the Hood and his gang out of power, what’ll be the fall out? Supposedly read after reading Siege #4, New Avengers Finale #01 answers dangling questions about the villains and heroes involved in the Asgardian Siege. 

New Avengers got me back to reading team books so I would be sad if it were to actually go. Thing is, for some reason I cannot even begin to imagine, they’re resetting it back to #1. Why? Other than because it is the Heroic Age now, I have no clue.

Plot and script by Brian Michael “Bendispeak” Bendis
Drawings by Bryan Hitch and Stuart Immonen
Shadings by Butch Guice with Andrew Currie and Karl Story
Colors by Paul Mounts with Justin Ponsor and Rain Berdero

Yes, you are correct. There are a lot of creators in this issue. That’s because it is about 60 pages long, but about 40% of it are full page spreads and a good number of those were ganked from older issues, showing important times in the New Avengers lives.

That’s two pages right there. Two pages of FUCK YES.

The first thing I liked about this issue is it’s a straight-up good old fashioned superhero book, not unlike the third act of most movies. All superpowers, as well as personalities were showcased and each hero was given his or her time to shine. I mean, everyone except Ronin and Mockingbird, but well, they’re just humans. Wolverine got to go slash people and Ms. Marvel showed how fucking powerful she really can be.

By the way, I want a Ms. Marvel (Warbird) Marvel Universe figure. If you can sell me one, that’d be great. Oh, and I have a problem with Bendis thinking “awesomeness” might be a good thing for Ms. Marvel to say.

The cool thing about this finale is the fact that the New Avengers actually go up against some villains that they can take on. I mean, they’re supposedly super fucking powerful heroes, right? But they get their asses handed to them each and every fucking time. Seeing them finally fucking up some superpowered baddies was surprisingly a breath of fresh air.

Another great thing in this issue is that this is the first time that they showed some old guy’s junk on panel in any Avenger title. See?

See? His balls and penis are all bunched up, as it they would if he were Asian. Look at his junk. LOOK AT IT!!!

The feel good vibe this issue gave made it one of my picks for the week, but a lot of things stop it from being perfect. The art, for one, feels a bit sloppy and inconsistent. Maybe Bachalo and Coipel just spoiled me. The plot’s a bit shallow but I guess that’s to be expected. It reveals nothing, but maybe that’s because it’s the “last” issue. The fact that it’s just being rebooted is just making me cringe especially since this would’ve been a great send-off.

The way it was written had so much finality to it that you might even end up believing that it is the end of the Avengers and they’ll live happily ever after. How many times have you ever read a comic book that gave you that feeling? I don’t even remember the last time.

3 out of 5 New Avengers #1!

3.75" Iron Man 2 Comic Series Hulkbuster Review

Finally, the third video of this series has been edited and uploaded. I now present to you, kind people, the Hulkbuster review! In it, I, apparently, mumble a lot.

So far, we’ve done the Proto-Classic (pointy face plate Iron Man) and the Neo-Classic (oversized red and gold, coffeepot armor) reviews. Check them out by clicking here and here. The Proto-Classic was all right; nothing to be excited about unless you’re really a fan of that particular armor. Historically, it has its place in the armory. It was the first red and gold suit so that’s saying something. The Neo-Classic looks great, but there’s so many other things wrong with it that I generally feel disappointed with it.

How does the Hulkbuster compare? How does the single most difficult Iron Man 2 3.75″ figure to find do compared to the others? Watch the video to find out!

I made a mistake in the video, saying the first appearance of the Hulkbuster was Iron Man #318. Apparently, I was wrong. The Hulkbuster’s first appearance came in Iron Man #304, at the very end. That’s my bad. Sorry, guys.

ADMIRE MY EPICNESS AND COWER BEFORE ME!!!

In a nutshell, the Hulkbuster suit is the best out of the Comic Series line of the Iron Man 2 toys. In terms of value for money, sculpt, paint apps, articulation and epicness, the Hulkbuster wins all throughout. Unfortunately, it isn’t a perfect 3.75″ representation of one of the most popular sets of armor in Tony Stark’s armory. What keeps it from being perfect, though, are very minor things.

HULK VS IRON MAN

This Hulkbuster will forever be known as THE Hulkbuster, even though there’s already a newer version designed by John Romita, Jr. for World War Hulk. That other one sucks. I love that this figure is big enough to go toe to toe with the Marvel Universe Hulk. It seems like they were designed for each other. Even their fists fit perfectly in each others’ open palms.

See? Also, what I just said reminds me of that really gay Owl City song.

KHERWHAM!!!!!! Take that, Hulk!

Iron Man WINS!

Yeah, like that’s likely to happen.

Anyway, if you can find the Hulkbuster, I highly recommend that you pick it up, hug it, hold it tight, and never let it out of your sight ever again. Then marry it. It is that damn good. If you liked the 6″ scale one, then I’m pretty sure you’ll think this one did that one justice, even though you can’t remove the helmet.

Next week, I’ll be shooting a review for the Fusion armor from the Concept Series (it sucks, FYI), the Mark V and War Machine from the Movie Series. Check back here every now and then to check those out.

Oh, and since I was supah dupah proud of the animation I did for my Comicology video intros, I decided to upload that by its lonesome. Here it is.

Shadowland Coming This July

Marvel has an awesome birthday gift to me - the Shadowland story arc. I’ve mentioned it time and time again why I’m excited for this arc so lemme do something different now. Let me tell you what I do not fucking like about it - Daredevil’s new emo latex fetish costume.

Take a look at that shit. Sure, it’s better than the previous one that Marvel released. I guess maybe that’s because of Billy Tan’s art. I’m not entirely sure who drew the artwork above, but my biggest problem with this is that Daredevi looks like he’s been painted black.

Let’s get this straight - they changed the Daredevil suit by changing the color and the emblem? That’s… it? Why couldn’t they have just used the black armored Daredevil? I mean, that costume rocked hard, didn’t it?

All right, enough about Daredevil’s kinky gay costume. Let’s talk about Shadowland.

Okay, Shadowland predictions.

White Tiger dies. Well, someone has to die, right? Otherwise, they wouldn’t have kept asking “Who will survive?” White Tiger is expendable. It can’t be Danny or Luke because they’re both too popular to kill off but not popular enough for the titles to gain major traction by offing them. Can’t be Moon Knight because, well, he’s part of the Avengers. Can’t be Spidey for obvious reasons. Could it be Elektra? I mean, they just brought her back so maybe not. If not White Tiger, it’ll be Carlos, the Black Tarantula.

Matt’s wife, Mila Donovan, will be the factor that turns Matt right-side-up. Or it could be Elektra. Or Natasha. Whoever. It could even be the memory of Karen Page. It’ll be a girl who means a lot to Matt to set him on the path of justice once again. And then, Matt does what he does best to solve problems - beat them up with his fists. This is exactly what he’ll do to Fisk.

There will be a Bullseye/DD confrontation. I mean, Bullseye is practically A-list now. The DD books were his roots. It just makes absolute perfect sense to pit DD and Bullseye once again for nothing else but to pick up sales of the book. Bullseye’s hot right now. 

Things I want answered:

How the fuck is the Punisher back in human form? I saw in some solicits or teaser art that saw Frank back in action and not as Frankencastle. Whoever thought that plot up should get smacked upside the head, by the way.

Why the hell is Ghost Rider involved? I mean he’s not even a street level character. The dude’s fucking… FUCKING… POWERFUL!!! (ala Tenacious D). He’s one of those mystic characters that kinda fall under Dr. Strange’s category or even Blade’s. Sure, Doc Strange gets in DD’s business quite often, but what’s at stake for Ghost Rider here? This article doesn’t really help.

What I want to see:

Daredevil and Danny Rand to go toe to toe. And I want Daredevil to lose. I mean, sure, he’s an awesome fighter, but he’s going up against someone who not only has hands unto like a thing of iron but has learned some super powered tricks, too.

Daredevil to whoop Moon Knight’s ass. The guy’s super power is being batshit crazy. Daredevil’s super power is to beat the shit out of batshit crazy mofos and to brood before, during and after the fight.

Daredevil to be showcased as the badass he should be. Everyone’s had their moment under the sun, even Moon Knight, surprisingly. Daredevil hasn’t shown the same level badassery as he did in Bendis’ run. I want him to be that again. The best way to bring up a character in rank is to show how he can hold is own against New York’s best superheroes. Showcase his powers again in a unique Frank Miller-esque way to make him nearly unstoppable or at least very slippery.

Either way, folks, I’ve got my panties in a bunch because of Shadowland. Haven’t been this excited for an arc since… okay, I’m always excited. Hell, I fucking loved Siege #4.

Daredevil’s New Costume

I’m shaking in my booties in excitement for Shadowland. Daredevil is interesting and relevant again! All of the street level heroes and then some are all going head to head with The Hand led by none other than hornhead himself! It just blows my mind constantly. I mean, the mere fact that DD took control of the hand with Black Tarantula and White Tiger was a touch of genius. And now, this?

Any Daredevil fan would be awesome’d by this. You know what’s not awesome, though? His new costume.

Not only does it look some kinky S&M latex suit, but it looks like some 10 year old kid with a learning disability designed it. What’s up with the pointy horns? What’s up with the red logo? A little ostentatious, isn’t it?

In the last few Daredevil issues, he was sometimes drawn with seams that stretch across the mask and ran down the length of his legs - kinda like Cyclops. The simple act of giving his costume seams really broke apart the monotony of the red. I found it cool.

See the seam around the temple of the mask? If all drawings of DD had that, the suit would look a lot like a suit and less like painted skin. And I bet is isn’t that difficult to draw.

I hope the black S&M suit doesn’t last longer than it should. By the time Shadowland ends, please give DD his red duds back. With the seams please.

How about you? What do you think of Daredevil’s new horrible costume?

3.75" Neo-Classic Iron Man Review

Iron Man 2 fever has come and gone, with it making over A BAJILLION DOLLARS in the box office. I am still afflicted with the Iron Man 2 hysteria but not because of the movie - because of the action figures. 

Last week, I shot a three-part video review of the proto-classic Iron Man, the Neo-Classic Iron Man and the mother of all armor, the Hulkbuster. The video was too long so I decided to take it apart and make three separate videos for it. I had already featured the Proto-Classic review; here’s the link. It was an okay figure, but definitely nothing great.

How about the Neo-Classic armor? Does it live up to the standards of the Mark IV or VI? Is it every bit as cool as one of my most favorite Iron Man armors ever? Let’s see.

So there you have it. I am not sure if I just got a really shitty lemon or if other Neo-Classic figures were like that.

Here’s a little background on this armor. The Neo-Classic armor (AKA Oversized red and gold/ Coffeepot armor), which, like I said, is one of my favorite sets of armor, was created after the Silver Centurion armor. It is ironic because I seriously do not like the Silver Centurion. It is ass-crack ugly.

I was hoping that the Neo-Classic figure do justice to the suit.

I guess in some respect, it does. I mean, they got the look down flawlessly. The whole chunkyness of it is still there, and it still looks pretty bad ass. The sculpt is great, methinks. Posed like this, it looks pretty cool.

See? Check it out. The look isn’t bad, right?. Sure, you could say that’s practically 95% of the value. But there are other factors, like the playability, durability and even the paint.

Not to mention it comes with a recycled accessory that no one uses. Honestly, that doesn’t add value.

It is a massive improvement on the ToyBiz Superhero Showdown one, but the fact that shoulder pads fall off and the joints are loose make this figure a really shitty one.

“It’s okay, man. Let’s just grab a scotch, okay?”

So, what is it? Did I just get a lemon or what? Please leave a comment, guys, if you have a better quality figure.

3.75" Proto-Classic Iron Man Armor Review

Wow, I haven’t written anything in about a week. I’ve been busy with work and I’ve been crafting an ALL NEW Comicology toy review video. Yeah, like I haven’t learned anything from the first one. I reviewed three toys from Hasbro’s Iron Man 2 line - the Proto-Classic armor, also known as the horned pointy faceplate Iron Man, the Neo Classic Iron Man and the Hulkbuster.

Unfortunately, putting three reviews together in one video was a bad idea. The video went over 10 minutes and YouTube doesn’t allow my vids to go beyond that. Besides, a 10 minute video of my voice gets boring as all fuck, I know. To keep the content a little more interesting and to save time, I broke the reviews down to three.

This video is the review for the Proto-Classic Iron Man. I never knew that it was called that. I only learned it after I did some research. I still wanna call it the pointy-face plate Iron Man.

So, basically, it’s exactly the same as the classic red and gold Iron Man, the one we’ve all come to love as the one true iconic armor, only it’s got a weird face plate. Since the sculpt and paint is exactly alike, you’d probably know what to expect. Like I said in the vid, the review is practically the same as the one I did before.

It doesn’t look like much boxed, does it? It doesn’t get much better when you take it out, unfortunately. If you’re a completist nut, then you’d probably want this armor. Otherwise, get the more iconic one and you’ll live if you skip this one. Not saying it’s bad; just not saying it’s great and that I personally prefer the other one. It just looks cooler.

The faceplate makes Iron Man’s face look so much bigger than it is. I dunno, but something about this figure is amiss to me. But hey, it’s still mighty cool to see them together like that. In the armory, he adds some uniformity, and that’s not a bad thing to have provided you don’t have too much of it.

NNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is quite possibly the gayest repulsor pose I have ever put any of my figs in. I am digging it.

Cool enough for ya?

If you want this figure, there are still some at the malls. I’m sure you’ll have absolutely no problem finding this figure.

The score is in the video. Please watch, comment, rate and subscribe to my YouTube channel!

The Mighty Thor Movie Impressions

My Iron Man 2 hysteria has come and gone, largely due to the fact that it failed to meet my admittedly elevated expectations. I now turn my attention to another one of my favorite heroes and his movie - The Mighty Thor!

As all of you must know by now, the mini clip at the end of the Iron Man 2 credits *SPOILER ALERT* were about Thor’s hammer and his arrival on Earth. All it showed was the Mjolnir, firmly planted into the ground. This clearly paves the way for Kenneth Branagh’s Mighty Thor’s continuity into the inevitable Avengers movie.

What can we infer from this? We know that Thor will be using the 616 Mjolnir, which is the only REAL way it should be done. Can you imagine the outrage of the fans if they used the Ultimate Mjolnir? I mean, even the Ultimate Universe comic continuity eventually gave Thor the old blunt hammer back just to shut the fanboys up.

From what I remember of the hammer, it had a particularly long handle; a handle that would look a bit too long when directly compared to the comic book Mjolnir, but not long enough to be considered a reimagination of the source material. If I remember correctly, it was Loki who tried to sabotage the creation of Mjolnir by making the handle too short. Dunno exactly what happened there. *Edit: Evidence found.

It also has these tech-looking grooves along the body. It’s a bit too advanced for my taste. I want the Mjolnir to look like what it was designed to be - a simple, gritty looking hammer.

Also last week, the first image of Chris Hemsworth as Thor was released.

The name “Chris Hemsworth” might be very obscure to you now, sure. But after Thor, after The Avengers, his name is going to be as common to you as “Hugh Jackman.”

As we can see from the first pic, Chris is in the Olivier Coipel-designed Thor costume, which I lovingly refer to as the “modern Thor.” I know the purists are having a bitch fit over this. They want the classic Thor costume, which is understandable because that’s how Thor will be remembered throughout history. I, however, disagree. I think the costume upgrade gave him bad-ass points.

I approve of the red cape and the kick ass chain-mail. I always wondered why Thor went sleeveless when Nordic communites that originated Norse Mythology were located in extremely cold environments. I also like that the boots went all black, and that Coipel kept the knobs on his chest, but gave them a functional use. I love how he kept the helmet, too. All he really lacked was the beard.

Oh, and lo and behold, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor does INDEED have a beard! They’ve got the look down, at least. It gets my vote.

Another image that was released was the Destroyer armor. According to the Marvelverse, the Destroyer armor was created by Odin, and is said to be indestructible. It makes for a great final enemy, wouldn’t you say?

The image is from LatinoReview.com. If this is true, then we will get the first villain whose look actually stayed true to the comic book source material. I say, if they pull this off, it’ll rock our collective socks off even harder than The Dark Knight or Iron Man did.