Category Archives: Reviews!

C’mon Step It Up Podcast Special: The Xbox One Announcement


XBOXONECSIU

The Xbox One has been announced! And…well, I rather not say more. Just listen to this special episode of ‘C’mon, Step it Up’ and find out what we think.
Download the MP3 here: https://archive.org/download/CsiuXboxOneSpecial/CsiuXboxOneSpecial.mp3

Articles mentioned:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/408116/microsoft-xbox-one-pre-owned-plans-consistent-with-way-the-world-works/

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-not-backwards-compatible-with-360-discs-xbla-purchases/

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-may-require-game-installs-close-out-used-game-market/

Music provided by Bleepy Bloopy

http://bleepybloopy.bandcamp.com/

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Thoughts on Iron Man 3 (Spoiler Free)


iron-man-3_photo
Iron Man 3 Director Shane Black had a tough act to follow. The hype that surrounded the Avengers and the praise it got after being released was massive. But I’m glad to say that Iron Man 3 was not only a great follow up to not just the Avengers and the Iron Man Series, but it’s just as good as the first Iron Man in my opinion.

Here’s a quick plot setup for the movie (again, spoiler free, don’t worry): Post-’Avengers’ Tony Stark is suffering from panic attacks due to the attack on New York (as seen in the Avengers). As a way to cope, Tony Stark begins to build numerous prototype suits for just about any emergency or situation in order to be sure that he’ll be able to protect his loved ones, especially Pepper Potts. However, a new terrorist threat emerges in the form of the 10 Rings, led by the Mandarin. At the same time, a mysterious person from Tony’s past, Aldrich Killian, surfaces with a vendetta against Stark.

When compared to the previous Iron Man films, this is much more of a character driven story. In fact, for a majority of the film, you’ll be seeing Tony outside of a suit rather than in one. But rest assured, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t as much action. In fact, I feel that the action choreography in IM3 is quite creative. The humor found in this movie is great as well. Tony’s snark/sassiness is set to maximum. As this is Robert Downey Jr’s fifth portrayal of Tony Stark (counting the cameo in The Incredible Hulk), all of his one liners and retorts feel quite natural, as we come to expect this sort of behavior out of him.

The rest of the cast do a stellar job with their respective roles. Major props go to Ben Kingsley’s portrayal of the Mandarin, which surprised me as being a bigger role than I expected (leaving it at that to avoid spoilers).

However, there are certain aspects of the film that I feel that the comic fans in the audience would find controversial, since it’s a different interpretation of the Iron Man lore. But the movie was still good regardless, so the more open minded fans would be able to overlook it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, since in my eyes, it hit just about every mark. It doesn’t try to be  Iron Man 1 again (which was a reason why Iron Man 2 fell flat with audiences), but rather it continues the story that the previous films has set up. That might be something that Marvel Studios has realized. Sequels don’t have to be ‘bigger’ to supersede the previous movies, but now that all of major players of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been set up, they can make continuations and new stories for these heroes to venture.

I’m not going to give a rating on the film, but rather I’m giving this movie a heavily regarded recommendation to everyone. I assure you that you will not leave this movie disappointed.

The Movement #1 Review


The Social Justice supergroup coming to a tumblr near you.

If this comic was supposed to get me to side with the Movement themselves, it failed. Horribly.

This is going to be rife with spoilers for the first issue. I’m still trying the Green Team in hopes of a story covering the venture capitalists of the DC world, but unless this is shoved in my face it’s not being touched.

The issue starts with a teenage girl being sexually harassed, soon to be assaulted, by two corrupt cops in Coral City. They’re stopped because they’re being recorded by several members of “Channel M” who all wear this mask:

Channel M Face

 

The only likable character, the police chief of Coral City, catches wind of this from the news and starts the usual, lawful procedures against the two cops. It’s later mentioned that the cops are protected by being union members, but that doesn’t mean the case is closed; it just has to go through city council first, and with video evidence against them it won’t be easy to defend.

The police chief starts investigating a murder case near a church while the suspect is still in the area. The Movement comes in to defend the suspect (because he’s mentally ill and super-powered), rejects the authority of the police, and has rats eat up one of the dead bodies to destroy evidence.

It was preachy, the art looked a bit rushed, and it made me dislike the entire team of heroes. Other comics have attempted what it’s trying to do, and have done it better. This is especially true for non-big-two comics from the past three decades, but even true for DC itself. Did you want a team with some diversity in it instead of the usual? Earth 2 has that, and it actually makes sense given that the scope of their problems are actually worldwide.  Did you want social justice or confrontation of social issues? The Invisibles did a better job tackling, “the system,” and Y: The Last Man did a spectacular commentary on third-wave feminism.

This is just the beginning for The Movement, though. It could get better. So far, however, I care for none of the heroes, dislike two of the police force, and feel sorry for the police chief that is left to handle everything. Now that a Joker event tie-in, and Batman, isn’t there to sell the title, it’s a wonder if it’ll still sell in six issues.

 

Comics Review: East of West #1


Futuristic, western, alternate-history apocalypse.

 

Jonathan Hickman is a writer that loves his work; he indulges in it, and the resulting story reflects his tender, loving treatment. Avengers has been taking up most of his time, as did Fantastic Four  and FF before Marvel NOW! It’s been good, but it hasn’t been nearly as enjoyable as Manhattan Projects and his other creator-owned content. As a habit of following good writers, East of West was picked up. The story didn’t disappoint and neither did the art.

East of West is an alternate-history, Western, futuristic apocalypse story. The first few pages set the backdrop: the South never lost the Civil War because the remaining Amerindian tribes rallied as one and also fought the Union. The struggle was long, but moderately successful. Texas never fully joined the union and remained a separate entity. There is no California; only a People’s Republic of America because Mai Zedong chose to flee to America as Chang Kai-shek or the Japanese took over mainland Asia (the rest of the world hasn’t been addressed yet). The year is also 2064 A.D. after all of these events. A classic, Christian-centric apocalypse has begun. The four horseman are rallying to cull humanity sans one – Death.

It’s very, very fun, but it’s not everyone. Right now it looks like it may be better to pick up in trade paperback form; I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I majored in History. Alternate history stories are my legal version of pot brownies. This was a brief introduction into the world, what has become of the people due to changed events, and the reasons why the apocalypse is coming. It manages to be a bit less pretentious than Hickman’s current Avengers run (unless he’s just building up Ex Nihilo as a villain or breaching out even more into cosmic, but that’s neither here nor there).

The art itself works. It’s what I’d expect in quality from Image. Nick Dragotta captures the characters and the setting as he should; nothing is wrong with it. For what Hickman is probably writing in the script, his artwork is amazing. Yet what really stands out is Frank Martin’s coloring and inking. The contrast that the four horsemen have to the rest of the world is eye-catching; this, again, is probably in the script because Hickman’s Manhattan Projects does have similar contrast. Hickman has paired himself up with considerable talent though considering a writer is nothing without an artist in this industry.

East of West #1 is out now for $3.50 from Image. It has more pages, in color, than comics published from DC or Marvel. You just may want to wait for the trade depending on how long the story needs to be told.

Comics Review: Hawkeye Vol.1


Straight as an arrow.

 

This is easily one of my favorite comics of the last year. It’s comparable to the Eisner award-winning Daredevil from Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera in many aspects; the storytelling matches the art, and the art isn’t the usual cape comic fare. Both have distinct art-styles brought on by their artists and great use of panel structure. It’s exactly what the industry needs to stay alive.

The actual story is of Hawkeye and Hawkeye. Clint Barton is written more like the classic wise-cracking character and less like the Jeremy Renner action-hero version; there are still some aspects in the latter in humility. The other Hawkeye, Kate Bishop from Young Avengers, is a constant character and not necessarily a sidekick. Their relationship is one of the more complicated things in the comic, and Matt Fraction has assured everyone that there’s never going to be a relationship (at least not a mutual one). Clint’s feelings are always a bit more paternal.

As for Clint himself, the comic shows him in not the best situation. He was injured fighting, and he’s just being released from the hospital. He’s not superhuman; he’s just an Errol Flynn fanatic. The majority of the story is Clint’s interaction with his apartment building neighbors, the gang down the street, and every few comics there’s fighting the criminal underworld in unconventional ways. He’s there to keep Kate Bishop grounded, and she’s there to rescue him in the worst case scenario.

David Aja and Javier Pulido keep the art-style consistent through out what is now the first volume. And it’s great. It’s cartoony, big bold outlines, and the style often closes up on faces. Onomatopoeia makes a return from Daredevil; although not as great as in context of Daredevil it’s still refreshing after being vacant for so many years. Marvel in-house art-style this is not; this is better.

If you don’t read cape comics, you’ll probably still like this. If you do read cape comics, you’ll really like it. If you’re just here for fun with touches of humanity sprinkled through out the story you should have already bought it. Hawkeye is very, very good, and is treated with love that a non-creator owned property receives rarely unless it’s known beforehand it’ll sell. Even if you just want to try it first, any single issue is a great jumping on point besides maybe The Tape part one or two.

Hawkeye Vol.1: My Life As A Weapon is out now for $16.99. It includes Hawkeye #1-5 and a Young Avengers backup that details Kate and Clint’s first meeting.

NUReviews Epi. 10: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance: Reviewgance!



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You can ignore that now exclamation mark now. No need to be stealthy when you have a sword that can cut almost anything. Get your revengance on with Metal Gear Rising: Revengance!

Comics Review: Age of Ultron #1


Hank Pym really does have some problems. I really do enjoy him as a character though. Seriously, people hate on him too much. Hopefully Edgar Wright changes that.

Why can’t he hold all these Avengers?

Ultron is the mistake that Hank Pym should be remembered for. For the uninitiated, Hank Pym is the original Ant-Man. He was one of the founding Avengers, constantly deals with an inferiority complex since he works in the same universe as Mr. Fantastic (Doom has the same problem), and is known for a comic in which he smacked Wasp up; the actual writer stated decades later that Hank Pym was never a wife beater, but the idea has been cemented in Marvel canon. It’s also what people always bring up.

Ultron is the real menace though. Ultron is the AI based off of Hank Pym’s brain patterns that conveniently decided it hated organic life. The latest appearance of Ultron was during Abnett & Lanning’s cosmic Marvel run where it was very good at what it wanted to do (unless it has shown up in the mean time). This however appears to have no basis in the actual 616 universe, but rather it’s the Avengers’ version of Age of Apocalypse. It’s a dystopian society ran by Ultron; an Earth that’s his base to wreck havok on the rest of the galaxy. It’s also not perfect.

Brian Michael Bendis’ best work was his street level heroes and not his Avengers’ run. Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Daredevil, and especially Alias (AKA Jessica Jones) were all fantastic; his Avengers’ run suffered from having too slow of a development along with some of his other work. It’s just particularly obvious when he’s dealing with a wide variety of characters. Bendis is a big champion of story decompression; to him, a story should be as long as it needs to be and not necessarily be contained in a 26-page comic in any way. This makes it better to wait for a trade paperback over buying singles.

Age of Ultron seems to be suffering this; the start of it was interesting, riveting, and engaging, but it felt a bit hollow. Swamp Thing and Animal Man (the current Nu52 versions) have suffered recently from such developments, and Age of Ultron may be following suit. The art by Bryan Hitch resembles the Marvel in-house style; it’s standard cape comic fare without much variation, but it isn’t horrible either. It’s clear he was on a deadline, but it doesn’t completely distract from the script he was portraying.

Bendis’ story is very reminiscent of both Age of Apocalypse. Ultron has taken over, and he has the ability to infect people with nanotechnology (think more Prey from Michael Crichton than Deus Ex). It’s also including Bendis favorite Luke Cage in a role, but not exactly the primary one. Hawkeye and Spider-Man (Peter Parker) are the focus of this first issue. If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic, especially Robot Apocalypse storylines, you’ll enjoy this. To me, this was a disappointment, but my judgement is reserved for the second issue.

Moon Knight, my favorite crazy hero, had his last run build up to this (also written by Bendis). It ended abruptly for Bendis to work on this. He doesn’t appear until that second issue, and from the build-up on that comic it was expected that this would be a universe event. It’s merely an alternate universe setting which may very well be better in the end.

Pick this up if you’re a fan of Bendis, Bendis’ Avengers’ cast, or apocalypse settings. Otherwise, wait until it’s finished and buy the trade paperback at the most. Or just stay away; there’s plenty comics and games that could use your patronage.