Wonder Woman’s New Look

Wonder Woman, like most female superheroes, wore a very revealing costume. Hers is explained away by being the traditional war garb for the Amazons. But we all know it’s because their main market is male and very horny. For most casual fans, most of Wonder Woman’s appeal is the skimpy bikini costume.

The difference was,  Wonder Woman was supposed to be a strong figure, an example to strong women all over. She had no Daddy issues, no insecurities. If anything, her character flaw was she was a little too head-strong. She is supposed to be the heroine that other heroines look up to. Her slutty ass costume, as iconic as it was, needed to be changed to reflect what the character stood for - the strength and independence of women.

Jim Lee has designed a new costume for our favorite Amazonian warrior.

Okay, wait. That doesn’t even look like Wonder Woman anymore. That’s Donna Troy! At least they kept the tiara. They should’ve kept the bangles, because that shit was canon. The jacket looks weird. All in all, it looks a bit too young.

What I do like about it is that it’s very updated, still sexy but not slutty. The pants are a big thing, methinks.

So, how is this explained away. JMS, the scribe that made Thor even more awesome than legally allowed, is going to pen the new Wonder Woman tale. It’ll be about some timeline change. God, I hate those timeline storylines. Gah.

With Comicology, You Really Win!

I would like to extend my congratulations to Mr. Raymond “happy_” Co for winning the 3.75″ Marvel Universe Luke Cage!

Dude seemed very polite, and he wanted to return the favor by treating me to a couple drinks or something. But hey, he won it fair and square so it’s all good.

The Samsung PX2370

Comicology has always primarily been a comic book blog, but every now and then I like to deviate and make a post about something else entirely. I normally do it for commissioned posts. Hey, I need to be able to afford the toys and comics, yo. Anyway, today I was hoping to do a quick review of the Samsung PX2370 LED monitor.

As some of you might know, my HP w2228h gave out on me a little after 2  years of service. Its panel just died. I can’t be completely angry with HP and their lemon-ass products because the HP w2228h did have more value for the same price as the Samsung PX2370, almost. It had more features; features that I wasn’t able to fully utilize anyway. And it did serve me well for a time. It just died way before it should’ve.

I decided to canvass for a new monitor shortly after. I found and fell in love with the Samsung BX2250. Unfortunately, that monitor hasn’t been released but its bigger, more feature-packed older brother, the PX2370, was. I figured the extra money would be worth it. I am known to pay for impatience fee a bunch.

Let’s start with the features.

It is 23″ big
Dynamic Contrast Ratio of 5M:1 (which I know doesn’t reall mean much)
1920×1080 resolution (which proved to be quite challenging for me; i’ll talk about that later)
2ms response time
Analog RGB, DVI and HDMI input
SRP: P16,290.00

The biggest factor in my decision to get the PX2370 was the girlfriend, Mel, finding a store that sold it for P15,200 or about P1290.00 less than SRP.

It was still expensive so I cried after buying it.

I very very very carefully drove it home. Very, very carefully.

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3.75" MU Extremis Iron Man Review

The latest shipment of Hammer Files toys came in today, and it looks like one of the better stocked figures is the Extremis. When I made this action figure review, it was still particularly rare and only a few figures were released here. I had to get mine from Singapore because as luck would have it, Mel, the girlfriend went on vacation there.

I made a video but before you watch it, please accept my apology for mispronouncing the words “Extremis” and “dossier.” I know better now. I shot this pretty early in the day so you’ll hear that cock crow over and over. I’m sorry about that, too. Here’s the video:

It is a wonderful, fantastic figure! The sculpt, the paint, the color - it’s really good. The articulation could use a little work, but all in all, it’s a solid figure.

I especially like how accurate the figure is. I mean, most Marvel figures are, but the Wave 1 Iron Man figure was hard to place. It had elements of Extremis, and people started calling it that, but it was obvious that it wasn’t the Extremis suit. The latest Iron Man figure, however, mirrors the comic look quite perfectly.

Wouldn’t you say that looks amazing? The detail is incredible. Every plate, from the helmet, to the neck, to the chest, to the back, to the ab plates, to the discs, to the contours in the thighs, to the boots even down to the toes. Everything is spot on.
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3.75" Luke Cage Winner

The moment has arrived! The winner of a brand new, mint-on-card 3.75″ Marvel Universe Luke Cage action figure is:

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Superman Walks Across America

Superman, who normally flies at many times the speed of sound, is going to walk through the United States of America to reconnect with the people. He starts walking next month.

What’s cool about this J. Michael Straczynski-penned tale is that it’ll feature actual cities and actual people and actual meatspace stories on how Superman has affected their lives. I mean, the dude’s been around since 1938, so I bet he has touched more than a few people. And not in a pastor-in-denail kind of way.

“Grounded” takes place throughout 12 issues, starting with Superman #701. That seems a bit too long. I mean, that’s a whole damn year. Superman won’t do shit except for walk along the US for a whole damn year? What’ll happen to cross-overs and whatnot? And will this be in continuity?

Dan Didio said Supes has lost touch with the people of Earth, right? So, why then is he walking across the United States only? I mean, he can fly from continent to continent in seconds, right? Why won’t he go reconnect with people from Asia or Africa? Doesn’t he save them, too? Meh.

In an effort to pull people’s interest, anyone who lives 50 miles from Chicago, Des Moines, Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seatle may submit 1000-word essays explaining how Superman has touched their lives.

Continuity has always been messed up with DC. Flash said “When I’m running flat-out, I see what I figure you see when you’re flying up there at several bazillion times the speed of sound, I see a blur. Unless I make an effort to see the details.” and that’s what put Superman on his walkathon. However, I’m pretty sure Flash sees everything when he runs because of a reaction time of superhuman levels. Hell, they can even talk to one another while running.

The Fate of Two Worlds

Marvel VS. Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds has the MOST SOLID CINEMATIC TRAILER TO EVER EXIST IN THE WORLD EVER!

If you don’t think so, you have poop for brains.

Green Hornet Trailer and a Fan-Made Movie

I have been enjoying the new Dynamite-published Green Hornet comics that have come out recently. I mean, seriously enjoying them. These comics aren’t that fun, but they put a whole grittier look on the Green Hornet and they flesh out his and Kato’s origins, which make them much deeper characters.

I love Green Hornet year one, penned by Matt Wagner. Green Hornet was no slouch when it came to kicking ass and taking names, but he wasn’t as good as Kato. Kevin Smith is writing the new Green Hornet, which is now no longer Britt Reid, but Britt Reid, Jr., apparently. I’m still confused, too. I mean, the Green Hornet mythos has been great up to this point, but then this comes out:

Whose brilliant idea was it to let Seth Rogan play Britt Reid? Come the fuck on. Smith’s take on Britt Reid, Jr. is pretty similar but different in the ways that matter. Smith’s Britt Reid was also a screw-up but not a party-boy; it was just some dude with Daddy issues. However, Smith’s Britt Reid was a Valedictorian with a 4.0 Average, with 6 kick boxing trophies under his belt. That means he has crime fighting potential.

Seth Rogan’s Britt Reid is a apparently, a bumbling buffoon much like every character Seth plays. He’s the annoying side kick who thinks he’s the hero kind of thing. Gah. 

Okay, so you saw the trailer. Now, look at this:

Which one would you rather watch? Yeah, I thought so.

Dr. Strange is the First Disney Movie

Comicology at ToyCon 2010!

We’re hot off the heels of the country’s premiere pop culture event. And as it has always been, the event was a hodge podge of many different geekeries and cultures - you’ve got the American comics, the Korean music and Japanese… well, Japanese everything. I was able to go on the first day but sadly was unable to attend day 2, which is normally my favorite day. Regardless of the limited time I spent at the con, it was a fun trip. Here’s what I found!

Warning: This post has a bunch of pics.

But first, join me and my shaky camera as we walk through the halls of ToyCon!

For years now, ToyCon has always followed a formula. It works and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This year, it felt as if some minor changes were made to the flow and format, which made the experience a little more enjoyable. There were definitely more sponsors this year. It does stay true to its core, which is what the fans really want, but it felt like it matured a little bit.

Every year, you see a plethora of geeks representing different geekdoms - you’ve got the toy collectors, the comic book nerds, the otakus, the cosplayers and shutterbugs. There were so many photographers that I kinda felt intimidated whenever I would bring out my puny point and  shoot. I felt like an Asian walking around in an NBA shower room.

I go mainly as a toy lover and comic book nerd.  I wouldn’t exactly call myself a toy collector per se, because I only buy Marvel braned stuff and I have so few; I just like displaying them. The geekery of the people at the con is insane, and that goes double for the owners of the displays. It’s a whole other level with those folks.

My haul, as displayed at the Con

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Blue Beetle Live Action

If you haven’t heard by now, Blue Beetle getting his own live action show. Unfortunately, we won’t be getting one with Ted Kord, the GREATEST Blue Beetle ever. It’s the Jaime Reyes one, which isn’t that bad and is starting to grow on me.

With that gay-ass Dawson Creekified Clark Kent show ending (THANK GOD), Blue Beetle could be filling the gap. I have my worries, especially if they want to capture the same demographic - women and prepubescent teens. The Blue Bettle in Batman: The Brave and the Bold could work, if aimed at kids. That wouldn’t be so bad. But a pussified Blue Bettle, which is already a pussified version of Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle, is going to suck ass crumbs.

Here are some pics from the test footage taken from this site.

Honestly, it looks very promising. The suit has always been bad ass and I’m happy it is comic-accurate. Let’s hope it doesn’t get pussified.

Marvel VS Capcom 3: More Gameplay

Captain America and Felicia have been revealed. Again, however, these guys were a bit too obvious. Anyone more obscure please?

Captain America’s voice sounds so off. It’s like some puny guy trying to sound macho. Where did the guy who did Cap’s voice in the last game go? Damn it.

I love how they call the next character coming in and it’s even cooler because each character says something unique. When Cap went out, he cried out “Tony!” and Iron Man showed up. 

I am digging Chris Redfield here. He is a fucking powerhouse. Dante, too.

Deadpool is growing on me, even with the overdone craziness. I guess that’s how he’s supposed to be. “I love me some guns!” would be cool if he didn’t end with “I love me” when you make him do something else before finishing his sentence. When he was almost at the brink of death he goes “Nice try!” What’s even cooler is that Deadpool breaks the 4th wall by confronting the player. I knew they had to stick that in somewhere.

Can barely contain my excitement!

Marvel VS Capcom 3 Gameplay Footage

Check out the latest gameplay footage from Marvel VS Capcom 3.

Thanks to Jori for sharing the video with me.

So the old characters apparently use the same moves as previous MVC games. I was hoping that Iron Man have an updated moves set. I mean, even the trailer has Iron Man using his repulsor blasts the way it’s supposed to be used. The Mugen modders have it right - have the Unibeam replace the Proton Canon since, you know, he doesn’t really have a Proton Canon. Also, I saw a Mugen Iron Man with a Hulkbuster Super, which was awesome.

You can’t really deviate much from Ryu’s moves, since he’s already an institution. Chris’ moves are pretty Cable-like, and Cable almost nearly ruined the balance in the last game. This time, though, everyone’s got guns! Holy hell. In the video, check out how Ryu’s hadouken got pwnd by Deadpool’s guns at around the 1:02-1:04 mark.

Dante’s moves were very faithfully recreated in the game. It looks like he’ll be very fun to use. Oh, speaking of fun to use (the opposite thereof)- Deadpool! His moves seem… well pretty fucking normal and he says the dumbest shit. I’m sure that’ll get annoying in a couple hours or so. I hope they tone down Deadpool’s blabbermouth by the final release. But Deadpool does seem like he was voiced by the same guy from Hulk VS Wolverine, and that’s definitely a good thing.

The background is cool. You’ve got posters and whatnot that give great background on Marvel and Capcom mythos.

I’m excited to see more of this game.

3.75" Marvel Universe Luke Cage Giveaway

Hey everybody!

On account of my love for attention and having an extra 3.75″ Marvel Universe Luke Cage that I bought from one of the best PTK re-sellers out there, curejinx, Comicology.i.ph giving away one mint-on-card MU Hammer Files Luke Cage.

That’s it, right there. If you notice, this is not the same Luke Cage I reviewed in a previous post as you can see that Luke Cage standing behind Daredevil and Iron Fist.

The Luke Cage I’m giving away has not been opened or tampered with in any way.

Since you can’t really get something for nothing these days, I’ve devised a little contest. This is also the fairest way. I want to give it away randomly. Here’s how to join:

1. Go log into twitter and post this: 

“Comicology.i.ph is giving away a Marvel Universe Luke Cage action figure. http://bit.ly/aP4413″ 

2. Take the link of your tweet.

3. Comment on this entry with your name and the link of your tweet.

4. I will then assign a number to you.

5. I will go to random.org to randomly generate a number. The person to whom the number is assigned is the winner.

6. The contest runs from now until June 25, 2010

If you don’t have Twitter, you can do it on Facebook, too. Take the same message and post that on your Facebook wall, then comment and put the link here.

Got that?

This contest is only open to everyone in the Philippines. If you’re from Cebu, Davao or whatever, I may need to get a shipping address. Okay? Good luck guys.

Little Bits of Stuff

Odin, Thor’s Old Man

I didn’t post the Thor costume, because I’m sure you guys’ve seen it elsewhere. Everyone has their own opinions on it, naturally and I think it looks a bit too futuristic. It could quite possibly end up sucking massive amounts of donkey ass. If they had stuck with the Ages of Thunder look, it would’ve been cool but of course, I can only speculate until the movie actually comes out. Until then, I’ll rage.

Here’s something interesting, though - Anthony Hopkins as Odin, the All-Father.

I dunno, man. He’s got the beard down, but isn’t he a little… I dunno… fat? And not Odin-like? The eye patch is cool, but even that looks a bit futuristic. Or it just kinda looks like a metallic leaf fell into his eye.

Iron Spider Pre-order

If you pre-order Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions from Amazon.com, you will be given a ton of cool shit. You’ll get a book with exclusive concept art, character renders, environment designs, and a bunch of other stuff, I bet. I’m sure you won’t pre-order for the book, though. You’ll get it for the special code to download the Iron Spider-Man costume.

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Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions 3rd Universe Revealed

My initial guess was SPOT ON! Okay, just kidding. I was totally wrong. It turns out that the 3rd dimension is not going to be the Ultimate Spidey or House of M Spidey. They looked to the future for the 3rd Spider-Man - the FAR future, to about 2099, where cars fly and for some reason, there is no day-time.

That’s right, son. Spider-Man 2099 is the 3rd dimension! I should’ve seen it, but I’m a bit of a moron. IGN saw a demo, and they say the experience was quite positive. I gotta hand it to Beenox and Activision for kicking up franchise titles up a notch. I hope this game really soars beyond any expectation so tons more titles get released.

The fourth dimension has yet to be revealed, so it’s anyone’s guess. The thing with Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions seems to be that each universe will look drastically different from one another. I guess that leaves Ultimate Spider-Man out, because 616 Spidey and Ult Spidey ’s worlds look practically the same. So, hmm… gimme a moment to think here.

My fearless prediction for the 4th dimension: 1960’s Spider-Man! What is your fearless prediction?

Marvel Universe Luke Cage Review

The Marvel Universe line has seen some really shitty figures, and along with that, less than stellar reviews for the figures. Ever since the X-Men Origins: Wolverine figures came out, the 3.75″ line has been steadily improving. They said they had learned their lesson - they’ll never make massively thin Iron Man figs, they’ve retired the “Daredevil body,” and they’ve shrunk Punisher’s head. With all those big leaps in quality, no other figure exemplifies it more than Luke Cage.

The Hammer Files 3.75″ Marvel Universe Luke Cage figure absolutely owns hard!

The packaging does not do justice to this figure at all, although it does show the goodies he comes with. I like that he has unique accessories. He doesn’t come with retooled flame things or overused guns. I guess it’s because Luke Cage has become kind of a big deal lately and because those things wouldn’t make one iota of sense with the guy.
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Are You the Smartest Driver?

Okay, something has come to my attention and I thought it was kind of cool, especially because 1. gas prices are ridiculously fucking insane, 2. they’re fossil fuels and you know we’re consume them all eventually. I know it has absolutely nothing to do with comics, but because of this, I’ll get to talk about everyone’s favorite and most famous comic book car of all time - The Arrowmobile.

But Pilipinas Shell has some good news for you. They’re inviting YOU, yes YOU, to share your fuel-saving tips. Saying “take the MRT” doesn’t count, smart ass. They’re on the search for country’s smartest drivers, so I guess that doesn’t count people who stick to the right on a lane that turns right always but then they stop because they’re going straight. These smart drivers will be part of the first-ever Shell Eco-Marathon. I hope you drivers can run.

Just as long as you have a valid driver’s license, you can join. Just submit a video talking about how your driving technique saves gas. Upload your video after you sign up. Just follow this link. The entry can be simple or you can go batshit crazy. My recommendation - go batshit crazy.

Just upon joining, you get a gift from Shell. Sounds good, yes? Here’s where it gets better. The top 10 finalists get P10,000 in cold hard Shell fuel vouchers! That’s honestly not a bad thing. 10 grand worth of gas? DO DOUGHNUTS IN SOME PARKING LOT!

See how happy they are?

More details and more fuel saving tips can be found here.

Here’s my fuel saving tip: Use the Batmobile.

Okay, just kidding. Here’s my tip for real - the most efficient speed you could achieve is 60-80kph. Anything slower doesn’t maximize the cars momentum  and anything faster requires too much power. I am not sure if this holds true for most engines, but for 1.0 - 1.8 liter engines, I think that’s accurate.

Also, if you can manage, drive without turning on the airconidtioning.  Oh, also, carpool whenever possible. Also, walk more, or take a bike - it’s good exercise, too.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold THE VIDEO GAME!

I want this so hard, it hurts.

It’s an old school 2D platformer/ beat-em-up, which I miss oh so terribly. That, plus the fact that Batman: The Brave and the Bold the show is actually quite fucking amazing, makes me want this video that much harder. It’s for the Wii and I have a Wii, so yay!

Captain America Movie Costume Concept Art

Remember when I wrote about my Avengers movies wishlist? Most of my wishes came true in Iron Man 2. Well, I wished for Iron Man 2 to be really good, but I guess we can’t have our cake and eat it, too.

Let’s review what I wanted for Captain America. I said I wanted:

• Set in World War II
• Cap should be the first Avenger recruit
• Gritty WWII tone, ala Saving Private Ryan
• World War II costume
• Red Skull

In essence, this is what I wanted:

Okay, maybe my expectations are a bit unrealistic, but I’m happy to see that the concept art of Captain America seems to be mirroring the classic World War II Cap. Also, the concept art shows how Chris Evans could look in the suit.

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