The Invinvible Ironman: The Five Nightmares

Cover: Joe Quesada
Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Salvador Larroca
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Who doesn't love IRON MAN, really who doesn't?! In the Five Nightmares The Invincible IRON MAN reveals to us (the reader) what haunts his dreams and is apart of his waking thoughts. So let me cut to the chase, IRON MAN's fifth nightmare is that HE is not the creator or the IRON MAN 2.0 suit. One of his psychopathic enemies is. What's more troubling is that version 2.0 is made from old Stark parts salvaged from the black market trade. This frakkin' story is interesting and comical on some level. The lovely Pepper Potts, ooooh what can I say. CHECK pages 22-23. If only such things happened in reality.
We all know (or should know) Tony Stark is remarkebly intelligent, wealthy and self righteous (seemingly a common trait amongst wealthy super heroes). He's also Tony Stark director of S.H.I.E.L.D. which is a conflict, especially since he refuses to share the technology that makes his IRON MAN suit possible. I have to say that by keeping such technology to himself Tony Stark ensures that he, in the event that he's ever removed of as director of S.H.I.E.L.D., is in no danger of being compromised because he shared the IRON MAN technology. Aside from that The Five Nightmares is an ok story. It could have been alot more indepth and the villian most certainly could have contributed more to the storyline. Needless to say his character was weak.
The Five Nightmares' most noticeable features...the art work! As you all know I'm partial to a certain type of art (the non-traditional comic type) and I found it in this week's read. At times I felt as though I were actually watching a cartoon in hi-definition, and that's what seems to ais some graphic novels lately. The story line should have been revised a few times and a few twists should have been added.

The Invincible IRON MAN: The Five Nightmares
Rating: 2 1/2 Demon Seals

The end of Sci-Fridays

This week I'm taking a different approach to my blog. On Friday March 20th 2009 one of my all time favorite shows aired its season finale. This heralded in the end of Sci-Fi Fridays as I've known it for years. In case you're wondering the show I'm referring to is Battlestar Galactica....yeah the best frakkin show on television, the show where cylons evolved beyond the "toasters" of the 1977 original. Needless to say I'm upset about this. Battlestar Galactica was truly a well written, action/drama packed, well acted, and truly captivating series. There has been no other science fiction show like it and there probably will not be for years to come. Oh sure Heroes is fantastic but it's no where near the same class of a show as BSG. Sure Heroes has boosted it's credentials by acquiring one of the producers for BSG but again it's still not the same.
Over the past few years Sci-Fi channel has ended quite a few great series which in my opinion have diminished its sci-fridays appeal. Let's recount the shows that have entered the land of syndication. There's Farscape, Stargate SG-1(10 successful season and should have been renewed for 2 more seasons at least), Stargate Atlantis, and now Battlestar Galactica. To replace these shows the Sci-Fi (soon to be known as SyFy) channel has premiered Sanctuary starring Stargate SG-1's Amanda Tapping, and is scheduled to premier further spinoffs. Caprica will tell the story of the 12 colonies of Cobol before the BSG series, and Stargate Universe will tell the story of a band of military and civilian survivors aboard a spaceship used by the "gatebuilders" to seed viable planets with Stargates. Sci-Fridays are now reduced to two mediocre shows at best, Sanctuary and Doctor Who. Now don't get me wrong I like these two show I'm simply not a huge fan of them as I am of its predecessors. They lack the humor and drama I've grown so used to over the years and right now I do feel a void. Like um Sci-Fi channel..HELLO!!!! are you REALLY abandoning your core followers this easily?! I remember the early days of this channel when all it aired was C rated science fiction movies and had the corniest ads ever. Then it acquires SG-1 from Showtime and started premiering its mini series such as Steven Spielberg's Taken, Tin Man, and Battlestar Galactica mini series and the network's programming REALLY took off. Fast forward a few years and now the great shows are gone and the network caters more to the bidding of NBC than sticking to the fans. GREAT JOB...really.
All this to say BSG will be greatly missed and my the lords of Cobol guide this show to its rightful greatness in the halls of science fiction television history. I do have to wonder if the programming executives at Sci-Fi channel have lost their marbles or loaned them to their counterparts at NBC. Who knows?! With respect to BSG and all the other memorable sci-fi shows both past and present I for one will be purchasing the box set so that you live on in my home. "So say we all!"

Justice League of America in Justice (vol. 1 - 3)

Publisher: DC Comics
Story: Jim Krueger & Alex Ross
Script: Jim Krueger
Art: Doug Braithwaite & Alex Ross
Lettering: Todd Klein
Covers: Alex Ross

All three volumes of Justice League of America: Justice held my attention quite well. The plot hatched by Brainiac, Lex Luthor, and Grodd was very straight forward. Kill the Justice League of America (what's new about that right?), save humanity from the "superheroes" who have time after time failed to eliminate the criminal elements on earth, and herald mankind to its full potential. One MAJOR problem though (this character flaw is explained by Jim Krueger in the introduction of volume 1)... the villains TRULY believe that they're doing good for humanity, Lex Luthor in particular is exceptionally delusional in thinking this.
I have consistently been a fan or works by Jim Krueger, Alex Ross and Dougbraithwaite; however, JLA: Justice volumes 1 to 3 is a testament to holding the reader's attention while telling a story that's gripping and takes interesting twists. Jim Krueger and Alex Ross also allow the reader to see the change in a character through out the three volumes and portray them and more human in thought that superheroes are typically portrayed. What I also found interesting was the supporting role Superman played in these volumes since stories usually revolve around him. His is also usually the savior of the day. In JLA: Justice everyone plays a major role in the story in their own respect. The constant switching between each superheroes' story was masterful in that it allowed me to piece together the story like scenes from a movie. Usually the word "meanwhile" is used to convey to the reader what is occuring at that very moment in another part of the story some distance away. Krueger/Ross do not employ this technique and it worked quite well to my liking. A simple switch to say Green Lantern's or Captain Marvel's situation worked perfectly.
As far as the villains go I have to say I was disappointed that Grodd did not play a substantial role in the plot to herald humanity (ape kind) to its full potential, but then again Grodd was a simple puppet as you'll come to realize. Lex Luthor was up to his usual tricks of double crossing his partners in crime, but it's Brainac who stole the show. This AI (artificial intelligence) computes scenarios and accounts for variances in his plots meticulously; however, his intellect is matched by Lex Luthor's (if you're a fan Justice League Unlimited cartoon series you'll know that Lex is a 12th level intellect....this astounds Brainiac). Ultimately it is Lex's intellect that gets the best of Brainiac; however, Batman is the true genius (or should I say master detective) when it comes to expecting the unexpected and figuring out the intricacies of any plan. Here's a spoiler....most of the super villains are puppets to more than one master. Interested in finding out more? Read JLA: Justice volumes 1 to 3 and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Overall I would recommend volumes 1 to 3 of JLA: Justice because it's worth the read, and I personally favor how the characters are developed and portrayed. As expected Doug Braithwaite's art work is top notch and almost realistic to a fault. These volumes are not (in my opinion) meant to be a trader's item. You should collect them and hope one day to see this in a Justice League movie (or cartoon if they ever bring JLA Unlimited back).

JLA: Justice
Rating: 4 out of 5 Demon Seals

The Eternals (#1-7)

Created by: Jack Kirby
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Pencils: John Romita Jr.
Inks: Danny Miki and Tom Palmer with Tim Townsend, Jesse Delperdang and Klaus Janson
Colours: Matt Hollingsworth with Paul Mounts and Dean White
Letters: Todd Klein
Cover Art: Rick Berry
Assistant Editor: Sean Ryan
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics

This was absolutely AWESOME!!! Now to explain. The Eternals are a group of proto-humans fused together by the Celestials who are a group of all might galactic beings. They are charged with protecting and preserving Earth. They are the good, their bad halves are the Deviants who were also created by the Celestials, they are proto-humans who were fused with animals and procreate at an alarming rate. Eternals can live forever (or until the earth is destroyed), Deviants cannot. Deviants also have religion which is ironic since they are pretty vile in what they do.
What I really loved about The Eternals (besides the art work) was the narration of the story. Neil Gaiman does a superb job of telling their story in a film like production. As this is based in the Marvel Universe cameos are by Iron Man (the frackin' architect of the now legal Mutant Registration Act!!![refer to the Civil War series]), and Galactus. The Eternals has the potential to really interact with many Marvel characters. As mentioned before the art work is crisp, colourful, eye catching and VERY detailed. That's originally what caught my eye about this graphic novel. The cover stood out and upon further reading the story description I knew this would be a good read; however, a good read was a gross underestimation. Each character in The Eternals seems complicated and does not conform to any super-hero standards (dare I say there may be some similarities between them and Watchmen), infact one character in particular is corrupt and strickes me as psychotic. This in itself is great and I must point out that The Eternals as NOT super-heroes as they make clear. They are guardians of the earth (homo-immortals). With the awakening of one celestial who was imprisoned on Earth, the inevitable invasion of Earth by the Horde and eternals who are unaware of their true nature, The Eternals promises to be a must read/captivating series. Oh and by the way....if you think the murder of a child has no place in a graphic novel the I suggest you definitely read this...stimulate your mind and forget being moral.

The Eternals - 4 1/2 of 5 Demon Seals

Batman: The Man Who Laughs

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencillers: Doug Mahnke/Patrick Zircher
Inkers: Doug Mahnke/Aaron Sowd/Steve Bird
Colourists: David Baron/Jason Wright
Letterers: Rob Leigh/Todd Klein
Original Series Covers: Doug Mahnke/Tim Sale
Publisher: DC Comics

Batman The Man Who Laughs is actually two stories in one which includes Made Of Wood. If you ever wondered about the origins of The Joker then Batman: The Man Who Laughs is a must read. ED Brubaker writes a quite interesting story (which is an alternate to the origins of The Joker) and kept me quite interested in this story. Tha Bats (as Joker will come to refer to Batman) is at the very beginning of his career in Gotham City. He's still considered and urban legend and to testify as to how early in his career this is Jim Gordan is still a captain on the Gotham City PoliceDepartment. The batmobile is remonicent of what Adam West drove in the 1960's series except it's a regular car than transforms (intersting twist).
The Joker isn't fully portrayed as a maniac; however, he clearly has no particular rhyme or reason to his killing. For a man who's supposed to formulate plans on the go The Joker's plans always have an unseen end/twist that always catches Batman off guard. What I found most interesting about this story was it's similarities to The Dark Knight...I'll leave that for you to figure out once you read it. Another similarity is Batman's direct/indirect involvement in the creation of The Joker...again I'll leave you to figure out that part of the story. The art and colour work are great which I tend to prefer versus the old fashioned comic art and colour work.
Batman: The Man Who Laughs 4/5 Demon seals

Made Of Wood
Pencils: Patrick Zircher
Inks: Aaron Sowd (Parts 1-3) and Steve Bird (Part 3)
Colour: Jason Wright
Lettering: Todd Klein
Cover art: Tim Sale

Set decades after The Man Who Laughs, Made Of Wood reads more like a cartoon episode than like a graphic novel. I was far from pleased with this story and confused by the referral of The Green Lantern as Gotham's first guardian. What's that about? Maybe I need to do some more research or maybe, just maybe this is specific to the pruposes of this story. In any case the plot for this story is seriously lacking any substance and connecting the dots is exceptionally easy...sorry I meant to say NOT complicated. Although the story is set in modern times (Tha Bats actually has a modern Batmobile) the Green Lantern is dressed like an original member of the Justice Society of America (JSA) and quite frankly adds little to the story. What I do like about Made Of Wood is the ink and colour. In short Made Of Wood probably should have been made into a cartoon or simply not published.

Made Of Wood - 1/5 Demon seals