Comic Book Review: Howard The Duck #1
Howard the Duck “fitting to have this retrospective take the form of a series of what might-have-beens” -Josh Powell, ComicsOnline
Comic Book Review: G.O.D.S. #1
Why is G.O.D.S. an acronym? For what? Will the Lord of the Highlands and Root of the World Tree, etc., get kissed again so he can stop moaning about literally everything? -Josh Powell, ComicsOnline
Comic Book Review: Penguin Classics Marvel Collection 2023
A fascinating look at the earliest roots of the juggernaut that has almost completely taken over popular culture. 5/5 -Josh Powell, ComicsOnline
Comic Book Review: Alpha Flight #1
The northern branch of Fall of X seems to be shaping up well with “On Guard For Thee”. Ed Brisson and Scott Godlewski have a handle on the history and are integrating the Alpha Flight characters well into the current X-Event.
Comic Book Review: Uncanny Avengers #1
Captain America knows fascism when he smells it. Captain Canada and his cronies in Alpha Flight may be willing to knuckle under, at least superficially, but the guy with the A on his head isn’t taking this lying down AND PUBLIC OPINION POLLS DON’T FACTOR IN! Uncanny Avengers Assemble!
Comic Book Review: Children of the Vault #1
Josh Powell takes you on a ride for his review of Children of the Vault #1 from Marvel.
Comic Book Review: Captain America #750
A nice milestone hodgepodge for The First Avenger making it 3/4 of the way to the biggie that only Superman and Batman have reached so far. Overall, a solid volume, uneven as these buffet-style compilations are, but what’s not to love about a triple-sized dose of red, white and blue uplift this Independence Day? ComicsOnline gives Captain America #750 – (!) a patriotic July 4 out of 5 stars.
Comic Book Review: X-Men: Before the Fall – Heralds of Apocalypse
X-Men: Before the Fall – Heralds of Apocalypse deals with a character canonically older than civilization so a little backstory is justified even for the most ardent comic heads. It was OVER a millennium ago, 1986 ’twas, that the X-Men were roaring along so hard under Chris Claremont that Marvel decided to dip into the well again and break off the original X-Men (Cyclops, Angel, Beast, etc.) into a new team book of their own and leave the new kids of Storm and Wolverine and everybody to play by themselves…
Comic Book Review: Amazing Spider-Man 26 (Legacy 920)
by Josh Powell, Editor-at-Large Official Synopsis: A year and a half ago, Peter Parker’s life was uprooted by the mad mathematician RABIN, A.K.A. THE EMISSARY. Rabin sent Peter and his then girlfriend, MARY JANE, to another dimension. While Peter was…
Comic Book Review: Fury #1
by Josh Powell, Editor-at-Large Official Synopsis: NICK FURY was a hero of the front lines of World War II and leader of the Howling Commandos. Thanks to a serum that kept him young, Fury went on to become a super-spy and director of the…
Comic Book Review: Fantastic Four #700
by Josh Powell, Editor-at-Large Lead-in: When the Baxter Building was attacked by a horde of invaders from the Negative Zone, Mr. Fantastic shunted it and the surrounding city block into a temporal pocket for protection. Everyone contained within it will…
DVD Review: Zorro- The Complete First and Second Seasons
In 2001, to honor Walt Disney's 100th birthday, the studio teamed up with film critic/historian Leonard Maltin to release a series of "Treasures" of early works culled from their extensive archives. Each subject gets a deluxe DVD set in a fancy tin case, with little collectibles and a numbered certificate of authenticity. Each set is introduced by Maltin who explains a little of the history and context of the presentation, and includes a disc of extras relating to the "making of" and background info. Three or four titles get the treatment on a roughly annual basis, and now they have worked their way up to Zorro- The Complete First and Second Seasons.
DVD Review: Gabriel Iglesias “I’m Not Fat… I’m Fluffy” Live From El Paso
Gabriel Iglesias may be another example of an "overnight success" years in the making. Just now starting to achieve broad popularity, the comedian has been performing since 1997, first in small clubs in Southern California where he grew up, then larger venues around the southwest, eventually getting invites to do small bits on specials and shows like Late Late, Kimmel, and eventually Leno. He was already well established by the time he appeared on Last Comic Standing where he did well before being disqualified for BlackBerrying his longtime grirlfriend on his status.
DVD Review: Ruby-Spears Superman
Man… cartoons used to really suck. Joe Ruby and Ken Spears were a pair of animators for Hanna-Barbera (they worked together on developing Scooby-Doo) who decided to spin off and found their own studio in the 70s. Their business plan (a sound one, and oft repeated) was to identify anything that kids were interested in and rush an animated take on it to TV quickly and for as little money as possible. This approach kept the company in steady business and gifted the world with such Saturday morning classics as Turbo Teen (hello, Knight Rider) and Rubik the Amazing Cube as well as the slightly more regarded Conan/Star Wars pastiche Thundarr the Barbarian among many, many others. The shows generally only lasted a season or two, which was fine since by then the catalyzing fad had died out anyway and it was time to find a new way to capture the attention of the elementary-school set.
Anime Blu-ray Review: Afro Samurai
Afro Samurai: Season 1 Director's Cut is a traditional tale of a lone ronin wandering the countryside of a weird techno-feudal Japan, searching for the man who killed his father. Oh, and he's black.
Hip hop culture has long embraced the kung-fu and gangster genres for their violence and hypermasculinity (e.g. veneration of Scarface, the Wu Tang Clan), who have in turn incorporated African-American motifs into their work (The Matrix films, lamentable blackface music acts in Japan) for a perceived infusion of soul/cool.
