THE GREAT MARVEL DEBATE

I am often asked which Marvel movies I like, or how I rank them and so on. Now I've compiled a list and here it is:

In a few weeks we will be recording an episode of the 'Pop Culture Pub Podcast' where we will be tackling this topic. Stay Tuned!

Stan Lee: Rest in Peace

Today the world lost comic book legend Stan 'The Man' Lee. He was 95 years old. He created and co-created some of the most iconic comic book characters since the 1940's including: Spiderman, The X-Men, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, Black Panther, Ant Man, Iron Man, The Hulk...and many more. He was also famous for writing 'Captain America' prior and during World War II  (Captain America was created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon).

Aside from writing and creating for comic books he was a veteran of World War II. He also has made cameos in every MCU film and many other cameos in other Marvel films (that were not created by MCU). He appeared as himself in the Kevin Smith film 'Mall Rats' and in an episode of 'The Simpsons'. He also did a lot of voice work in the Marvel cartoons over the years.

On a personal note I have always considered him one of my heroes because I have always wanted to be a comic book writer and creator. I had a chance to meet him in 2012 at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. I got a pic taken with him and my son Bailey. When we were done the photo and the ushers were moving us along to make way for other fans getting their pictures taken with him I quickly turned to him and said "Thanks for everything Stan". He didn't reply as we were being ushered out of the photo area but I am forever grateful I was able to tell him that.

 

Rest in Peace Stan.

Comic Book Television: Too much of a good thing?

It wasn’t that long ago when the only comic book-like characters on TV could be found in shows like ‘Heroes’ and ‘The Cape’. Now we have a smorgasbord of comic book TV shows and for most people there is so much content it is impossible to view it all (unless your unemployed I guess). There is so much that I have had to pick and choose what to watch and what not to watch. Here’s a quick breakdown:

 

Netflix/Marvel Shows:

 

Season 2 for both Luke Cage and Iron Fist was an improvement from their first seasons but sadly the improvements were not enough and both shows were cancelled. Mike Colter as ‘Luke Cage’ is brilliant in the role; I would even go so far as to say he was born to play the character. I really hope they use him in future Marvel TV or film projects. Iron Fist on the other hand just never really hit for me. Their portrayal of Danny Rand just fell flat. He is supposed to be a kung fu master yet season one there were very few fights. And the fights that did occur were really laughable. Season 2 was a slight improvement but not much. It is my hope they will combine both these characters in a ‘Heroes for Hire’ TV series, which is what they should have done to begin with.

Season 3 of Daredevil was great in my opinion. The story, the fights, the cast, everything was just right for this season. Season one was great too, season two was not as good but they did introduce the Punisher and Elektra into the mix.

Season 2 of Jessica Jones was definitely not as good as season one. Season 2 lacked a compelling villain. David Tenant as ‘Killgrave’ hit it out of the park, and he is in my opinion THE BEST villain in all the MCU (movies included).

 

CW/Arrowverse Shows:

 

 

I stopped watching these shows a few years ago despite having good actors and good stories. The formula they all follow is what ruined them for me: Arrow, Flash, Legends, Supergirl all have the same format: title character surrounded by a ‘team’ which help them solve problems and save the day. As time goes on the ‘team’ members themselves gain powers, abilities and take center stage from time to time. This is easily forgiven in ‘Legends’ since they are in fact a team show, the rest it just gets too be too much following all these less interesting characters around. Plus the 22+ episode seasons do not help!! Sorry Stephen Amell, you are a great guy and it was a thrill to meet you but I can’t commit to a 22+ television season with so many other shows trying for my attention.

 

Others:

I watched ‘Legion’ season one and was intrigued, especially with Aubrey Plaza. She is fantastic in this show. But season 2 lost me right away and I haven’t gone back to watch.

 

I have not checked out any of the other shows I’ve heard of: Titans, The Gifted, Cloak & Dagger, Gotham, etc. I am looking forward to a ‘Doom Patrol’ show because I have been a fan of the comic since I was a kid. I think that launches early next year.

 

And finally DC: Make a Batman TV series already! Not a young Alfred show or young Gordon show or Batwoman show, I want a honest to goodness serious (not Adam West) Batman series! Call up HBO, they do awesome TV like ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Westworld’, I’m sure they’d love to tackle a Batman series!

 

Nuff Said.  

 

Avengers Infinity War Review

 

***SPOILERS***

I have to spoil some things so if you have not seen the film yet then maybe wait to read this. Now that I have said that I must say that this is (in my opinion) the best super hero movie ever made. This film may even slide into my Top 5 favorite movies of all time (still debating that list).

The lead up to this film has been 10 years and 18 films in the making. Marvel studios has made some really great choices during that time and everything paid off for this film.  There could be some nitpicking stuff I could throw out there (Where’s Lady Sif? Why would Odin have a replica of the Infinity Gauntlet in his collection if it hadn’t been made yet for real? Maybe Thanos got his idea to build a gauntlet with the infinity stones from Odin?) but I’m not going to nit-pick. This film had a lot of great characters, the story was amazing, the villain was the real star of the film and he was outstanding, the ending was both shocking and heart breaking. This film had all the ingredients for a great film.

Josh Brolin as Thanos was so well cast. Thano’s motivations in some weird way made some sense and made him an interesting antagonist to watch. Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt and all the other cast members brought their A-game and delivered on so many levels. The Russo brothers (directors of the last 2 Captain America movies) did their best directorial work for this film and delivered the impossible to the world. This film is what ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ is to Star Wars fans: Simply the best.

 

5 Stars out of 5 *****

 

Can't wait for 'Ant Man & The Wasp' and 'Captain Marvel'. But it does suck having to wait for the conclusion to 'Infinity War' which will not be until May 2019.... :(

Missing the ‘Purple Man’ (Jessica Jones season 2 review)

So I just finished the second season of ‘Jessica Jones’, the Marvel/Netflix series. I really enjoyed the first season, in particular David Tenants performance as Killgrave/The ‘Purple Man’ (as he’s called in the comics). His portrayal of that villain made him probably the most interesting and terrifying villains in the entire Marvel cinematic universe (films included). It should also be noted that these Marvel/Netflix series coincide with the Marvel movies universe (Avengers, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Spiderman, Guardians, etc.) as well as the other TV properties on ABC (Agents of Shield, Agent Carter). So that is saying a lot to say David Tenant made for the best villain when he’s up against the likes of Loki, Wilson Fisk, Ultron, Hela, etc.

*** SPOLIERS***

The second season was good but unfortunately not as good as the first, for the most part because the villain was not as good or interesting as David Tenant’s ‘Killgrave’. This seasons villain is Jessica’s mom, who as it turns out was experimented on like her. The actress was okay in the role but I really wasn’t drawn into the narrative like I had been in season one. I really didn’t like what they did with the character of Trish, I really liked her but now I’m not sure what to think of her. Thankfully Tenant did make an appearance on an episode and as always he chewed up every scene, he and Kristin Ritter (Jessica) have a good chemistry and I had my fingers crossed all season that somehow Tenant would return for real (cloning, regeneration due to the experiments his dad did on him, or something) but sadly it did not happen.

And I was hoping following ‘The Defenders’  we would see Danny Rand (Iron Fist) or Luke Cage pop in since their all friends now and share the same city…but no. Other than a few references to the Rand Corporation, Captain America and ‘The Raft’ (the super prison/submarine seen in ‘Captain America Civil War’) there is no crossover; other than that one pointless scene between Happy Hogan and Jeri early on in the season. Heck even Rosario Dawson as Claire ‘Night Nurse’ Temple didn’t make a show.

Overall I did enjoy the season, not as good as the first but not bad.

***1/2 stars out of 5

This week’s assignment from the League: Pet Peeves

This week’s assignment from the League: Pet Peeves

Let’s all take a deep breath this week and let off a little steam. This week’s assignment for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers is…

—

Pet peeves.

—

Being a comic book fan I have some pet peeves with the current state of the industry, especially when it comes to the big 2 (Marvel & DC). So here is a list of my peeves in regards to comics from Marvel & DC:

- Enough with the crossover characters. One character has 1 solo title and 1 team title:

I’m getting sick of these comics over exploiting their characters. ‘Wolverine’ for example has the following ‘solo’ titles: Wolverine, Savage Wolverine, Wolverine Max and Wolverine & The X-Men. Then he is a member of The Avengers, X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, All-New X-Men. I understand that they have their top tier characters that prove to bring in money, but enough is enough.



- Allow creators to bring in their own characters and take them with them if they choose to leave:

Problem with Marvel & DC is they own characters that their creators create for the company, unless they do have some deal in place, which does not happen too often. So that is why we see the same old villains and heroes guest starring over and over again and very little ‘new’ characters or concepts making their way into the books. Which is why you see more creators going to Image Comics with their creator owned properties. Allow these people to make their own characters and if they leave they can take them with them or sell them to the company. Why not? The stories that were told during their tenure with the company would stay with the company, even if some of the characters do not. Give them more creator control and we would see more creativity. Makes sense no?



- Enough with ‘BIG EVENTS’ for a while!

I’m really getting sick of ‘big events’ from the big 2 every year, sometimes twice a year. They need to take a break for at least 3 year before attempting another company wide crossover event. I know I am getting burnt out (AVX, Zero Issues, Villain’s month, Battle of the Atom, Infinity, Trinity War, etc, etc, etc). We the readers need a break!



- More variety in the ‘Team’ books’…

Avengers, New Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Young Avengers, Avengers Assemble, Avengers AI. These are some of Marvels ‘team books’. Now here is that same list with what the title should be called: Avengers (Avengers), New Avengers (The Illuminati), Uncanny Avengers (West Coast Avengers), Mighty Avengers (Heroes for Hire), Young Avengers (New Warriors), Avengers Assemble (Force Works), Avengers AI (Artificial Intelligence), Avengers Arena (Arcades Arena). Now I know the ‘Avengers’ name brand is hot now considering the success of the 2012 film, but why not try some other team names and maybe they too could be spun off into a successful film one day?



I have more peeves when it comes to Marvel and DC, but I think this is enough for now.

The Random Nerdness Blog is a proud member of 'The League Of Extraordinary Bloggers'. Go to www.coolandcollected.com

to get all the addresses of the other League blog members. These blogs are also part of the league, please check out their blogs too:



www.goodwillhunting4geeks.blogspot.com



www.infinitehollywood.com



The Cavalcade Of Awesome at: http://blog.paxholley.net/





Also be sure to check out the 'Random Nerdness Podcast'!! Available to stream at www.randomnerdness.podbean.com

and download from iTunes.



Chris is also a Co-Host of the weekly 'Geek Fallout' podcast. Give that podcast a listen at www.geekfallout.podbean.com , download from iTunes and available on Stitcher!



See you in the future!!

Geek Fallout Episode 30: The Jeff & Chris Show

Geek Fallout Ep 30

August 8th, 2013

Rick Jones (Sidekick to the Hulk) marrying Marlo Chandler

This week Jeff and Chris are dancing a tango for two.  They talk some Marvel and DC film news, plenty of Star Wars news and a little bit of comics as well.    Then round it off with their Top 5 sidekicks in pop culture.  Yes they may mention Batman and Robin once, twice or a lot of times.  

Damien Wayne as 'Robin'

 

Geek Fallout is a member of the Atomic Geeks Podcasting Network

Welcome to the Wasteland.

 

 

Marvel VS DC: Tournament of Death!!

I originally wrote this on my Facebook 'Random Nerdness' blog a few years back. Thought I would reproduce it here. Enjoy:

Random Nerdness #8: Marvel VS. DC... Who Wins?? 
by C.Lockhart 


February 14th, 2010 

Happy Valentines Day To You All!!! 

I worked hard on this one. It required a lot of my nerd knowledge and brain power. Here it is, my masterpiece of total comic book nerdness: 


*** Marvel Comics Versus DC Comics: Who would win?? *** 

In 1996 they did a comic special called 'Marvel VS DC' in which the creative talent of those comic companies created matches between their characters like 'Hulk VS Superman', 'Spider-man VS Super-boy', 'Captain America VS Batman' and so on. Then they had the fans vote on the matches to determine who should win and they went with that. I hated that. They should have had characters drawn from random and have them battle and the winner determined through logic and skill, not fan votes. So with my vast nerd knowledge of Marvel and DC comics I selected 15 characters from each company and randomly drew characters from each company and had them face off against each other. I picked the winner by using logic and reasoning: What powers do each hero or villain have and what weaknesses do each have, and that is how I was able to determine the winner from the random matches. 

I am a nerd who is playing the role of God in this scenario. This is my idea for another Marvel VS DC comic, if this fictional tournament that occurred in my brain were published as a comic book special it would go like this: One DC character and one Marvel character were picked at random, I literally picked names out of a hat. The first match takes place in an old Roman Arena. The Winner will fight against another random challenger from the other comic company at that characters home base (New york City, Metropolis, etc). 29 matches in total. The characters include both heroes and villains from each company. I will explain my reasons for choosing the winners. 

Characters In Tournament: 

Superman-DC 
Apocalypse-Marvel 
Doomsday-DC 
Iron Man-Marvel 
Darkseid-DC 
Silver Surfer-Marvel 
Captain Marvel-DC 
The Hulk-Marvel 
Flash-DC 
Wolverine-Marvel 
Atom-DC 
Magneto-Marvel 
Batman-DC 
Doctor Doom-Marvel 
Martian Manhunter-DC 
Mr. Fantastic-Marvel 
Wonder Woman-DC 
Daredevil-Marvel 
Aquaman-DC 
The Thing-Marvel 
Plastic Man-DC 
Ms. Marvel-Marvel 
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)-DC 
Ant Man-Marvel 
The Joker-DC 
Captain America-Marvel 
Shaggy Man-DC 
Thor-Marvel 
Orion-DC 
Spider-Man-Marvel 

______________________________________________ 

Tournament: DC Versus Marvel Comics 

Match and Setting: 
DC Character name VS Marvel Character name: Winner 
Reason: 
______________ 

Match #1 Roman Arena 

Atom VS Thor: Atom 

Atom Can literally shrink down to an atom, he passes through Thor's eye and kills him by way of lobotomy. Atom killed Darkseid this way in an alternate time line future. 
__________________ 

Match #2: Los Angeles 

Atom VS Iron Man: Iron Man 

Tony Stark's technology is able to keep Atom out of Iron Man's armour to prevent him from suffering Thor's fate. He is able to kill Atom with his pulse laser. 
_________________ 

Match #3: Coast City 

Green Lantern VS Iron Man: Iron Man 

Iron Man's technology are able to counter act the Green Lantern's ring powers, Iron Man manages to destroy his power ring and render Hal Jordan defenceless. 
____________________ 

Match #4: Gotham City 

Batman VS Iron Man: Batman 

Batman is a great detective and has gadgets of his own that compare to Iron Man. Batman studies Iron Man's suits weaknesses and is able to render Iron Man defenceless. 
________________________ 

Match #5: New York City 

Batman VS Spider-Man: Spider-Man 

Spider-Man is proven to fight against enemies with great technology (Doc Ock, Doc Doom) so he can best Batman that way. Spider-Man also has powers and healing abilities. It will come down to an all out street fight between these 2 and spider-Man will wrap Batman up in his web. 
____________________________ 

Match #6: Atlantis 

Aquaman VS Spider-Man: Aquaman 

Aquaman will beat Spider-Man in his home turf because Aquaman is invincible (pretty much) in the ocean. 
___________________________ 

Match #7: Latveria 

Aquaman VS Doctor Doom: Doctor Doom 

Doc Doom is too powerful for Aquaman when the sea king is out of the sea. 
____________________________ 

Match #8: Metropolis 

Superman VS Doctor Doom: Superman 

Superman is one of the most powerful heroes in all comics. Doc Doom too has powers but is not strong enough for supes. 
_______________________________ 

Match #9: New York City 

Superman VS Ms. Marvel: Superman 

Again Ms.Marvel is not strong enough against the man of steel. 
________________________________ 

Match #10: Hells Kitchen (New York City) 

Superman VS Daredevil: Superman 

Again Daredevil is not strong enough to defeat Superman. 
_____________________________ 

Match #11: New York City 

Superman VS The Thing: Superman 

The Thing has great strength and can put up a great fight, but Superman has his heat vision and super speed, The Thing has no chance. 

__________________________ 

Match #12: Asteroid M 

Superman VS Magneto: Magneto! 

Magneto is one of the most powerful mutants and can manipulate metal. They battle on Asteroid M, being in space Magneto manages to find some kryptonite- Magneto throws metal blades (containing kryptonite) through Superman's body, killing him. I may have cheated with this scenario, but Magneto is a lethal and brilliant enemy and I'm sure he would find a cunning way of defeating Superman. Kryptonite and metal: lethal. 
___________________________ 

Match #13: JLA Watchtower 

Martian Manhunter VS Magneto: Magneto 

Again the master of magnetism uses metal blades to kill the man from Mars. Manhunters telepathic powers cannot penetrate Magnetos helmet. 
____________________________ 

Match #14: New York City 

Plastic Man VS Magneto: Magneto 

Again Magneto brutally kills his opponent. Plastic Man has nothing against Magneto. 
_________________________ 

Match #15: In Space, on an asteroid 

Doomsday VS Magneto: Doomsday 

Magneto puts up a good fight but Doomsday is just too powerful and his super strength and agility is enough for him to kill Magneto. 
______________________________ 

Match #16: New York City 

Doomsday VS Ant Man: Ant Man!! 

Ant Man (Hank Pym) is a brilliant scientist who uses his ability to shrink down to the size of an ant to slip past the dummy Doomsday. Ant Man places a micro explosive by Doomsday's eye and detonates it, destroying Doomsday's brain killing him. 
______________________________ 

Match #17: Apokolips 

Darkseid VS Ant Man: Darkseid 

In an alternative future the Atom was able to kill Darkseid, by way of getting into his brain and giving him a lobotomy. Ant Man cannot shrink that small. Plus on his home turf of Apokolips Darkseid is all powerful. 
_______________________________ 

Match #18: Washington, DC 

Darkseid VS Captain America: Darkseid 

Darkseid is just too powerful for Captain America. 
_____________________________ 

Match #19: Egypt 

Darkseid VS Apocalypse: Apocalypse 

Two great villains, all powerful battling for their lives. Being in Egypt, Apocalypse is able to best Darkseid by using his technology and knowledge of his homeland. 
____________________________ 

Match #20: Metropolis 

Shaggy Man VS Apocalypse: Apocalypse 

Shaggy Man is super strong, but very dumb. Apocalypse has both brains and brawn. 
__________________________ 

Match #21: Gotham 

The Joker VS Apocalypse: Apocalypse 

The Joker is evil but has no powers. Apocalypse destroys him with ease. 
_________________________ 

Match #22: Star City? (Not sure where Captain Marvel comes from...) 

Captain Marvel VS Apocalypse: Captain Marvel 

Captain Marvels powers rivals that of Superman. Marvel grabs Apocalypse and yells out 'Shazaam' and the bolt of lightning that both gives and takes away Marvels power strikes Apocalypse, killing him instantly. 
___________________________ 

Match #23: Space 

Captain Marvel VS Silver Surfer: Silver Surfer 

Captain Marvel could normally defeat the Silver Surfer, but they are fighting in space where Silver Surfer has advantage. 
____________________________ 

Match #24: Apokolips 

Orion (son of Darkseid) VS Silver Surfer: Orion 

Orion is almost as powerful as his father Darkseid. Orion also possess 'New God' technology and they battle on Apokolips. Orion has the advantage over the Silver Surfer. 
_____________________________ 

Match #25: New York City 

Orion VS Mr Fantastic: Orion 

Mr Fantastic has technology, but New God technology is more advanced and Orion is more powerful. Mr Fantastic doesn't stand a chance! 

_____________________________ 

Match #26: Nevada Desert 

Orion VS The Hulk: The Hulk 

Even with his 'New God' technology and weapons and super strength, no one is stronger or resilient than the Hulk. The madder the Hulk gets the stronger Hulk gets. It would be an epic and violent battle but Hulk would win. 
____________________________ 

Match #27: Amazon 

Wonder Woman VS The Hulk: The Hulk 

Wonder Woman is no match for the Hulk. 
__________________________________ 

Match #28: Metropolis 

The Flash VS The Hulk: The Flash!! 

The Flash cannot match the strength of the Hulk, but the Flash can move so fast he can literally travel through solid matter. The Flash would grab the Hulk and run with him through the Earth to the molten core of the planet. The Flash would let go of the Hulk, leaving him to burn to death in the molten lava. The Flash moves so fast that he passes right through the molten lava unharmed. 

_______________________________ 

Final Match #29: Canadian Rocky Mountains 

The Flash VS Wolverine: Wolverine 

Flash is fast but Wolverine has a strong sense of smell and his adamantium claws. wolverine would know Flash was approaching by way of smell, then he would simply extend his claws and place them at the right height so that when the Flash ran by (at a slower speed to combat Wolverine) he would run right into the claws, severing the Flash's head from his body. Final winner Wolverine!!! 

______________________________ 

In this Random Matches Tournament, Marvel Comics is the winner with Wolverine as their final champion. Not to brag but this tournament would make an excellent comic book special. 

That's all for Random Nerdness this time. See you on the next exciting episode!! 

- Chris Lockhart