nathalia | Entries tagged with reviews

I’m reading Sensational Spider-Man #41 right now and I couldn’t help but notice that the little girl is a redhead with green eyes and tells Peter she comes after her father and is very intelligent but that she wishes she came after her mother who is beautiful. Could that be a future daughter of Peter and Mary Jane?

A rich intelligent man who was bullied in school appears later on and tells Peter he has everything he wants in life. Everything but a beautiful girl he was in love with who died. An alternate future version of Peter?

The video game designer … another Peter? Who wishes he were a hero?

I know there are theories about the girl being the Devil which would fit as I feel that Peter is going to pull a Faust. In the first part of One More Day he says he’d sell his soul to safe May – I don’t think that’s a red herring, I think it’s foreshadowing. Quite clumsy foreshadowing.

And the mysterious lady. I’d say Mary Jane or May or well, red is the color of the Devil. As I cited Faust before and want to keep going with that comparison, I’d say Peter is facing Mephisto. He is capable of shape shifting, after all.

“There are some cultures that believe we have dream selves, each as real as out waking selves … Each living alternate lives, alternate futures, alternate destinies … and that it’s only at the crossroads of the dreaming that we meet them.” – “Sorry, never believed in that sort of thing.” – “That’s too bad. Because you just met some of them on your way here.”

I’d say that reinforces the instinct I have. Well, okay theories about the two men have just been proven correct. I love to write while I read because this way I can go back and point out to everybody that I knew it.

“Though I confess that I find it interesting that in nearly all of those iterations you end up alone.”

That’s strong.

Peter: “I’ve got important things to do and not a lot of time.”
Lady In Red: “Actually, time is all you have. And as for these important things, you’ve already failed. Everyone’s told you the same thing. Your aunt is going to die and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Heh. Right again. I knew there was going to be a pact with the devil somewhere in this story.

“I deal in the currency of misery, loss, despair, hopelessness, pain, regret and sadness.”

So what is it Mephisto wants from Peter? I don’t want the spider-marriage to suffer from this, I am totally for it. MJ is a big part of what makes Peter Parker interesting, she has been around for so long and unlike May she isn’t always on the brink of death. But breaking up the marriage is Joe Quesada’s big goal, something he has been trying to achieve ever since he became EIC I think. Well, it seems he’s getting it. I was suspecting it considering that he chose to pencil this story.

“What I want is greater than what one paltry soul can provide me. What I want is the one thing in the universe that is truly greater than the sum of its parts and tastier than any single soul I could devour. I want that which gives you joy, that which sustains you in your moments of greatest despair, the source not of your power, but of your strength, your happiness, your dreams and your passion. I want your love … I want your marriage.”

JMS couldn’t have put it in a way that would please Quesada. I would go as far as to say that Mephisto is Quesada, only more eloquent. He wants exactly the same thing as Quesada wants. That’s not a coincidence. I hate it!! And it’s kind of a retcon as well, just what Quesada wanted:

“You will not consciously remember […] the life you lived to this point.”

And what the characters don’t remember didn’t really happen if that’s how you want to put it. I would give up Aunt May. The only thing she does is have heart attacks, anyway. And I just like MJ better, I think May should have died back in the Clone Saga. It had been written so beautifully.

So, this is the end of the marriage which in my eyes means that those previews shown on Newsarama about a redheaded villainess showing up in the revamped Amazing Spider-Man whose codename was given as Jackpot will be Mary Jane. Why? I have no idea, but it can’t be a coincidence that a red haired female is slated to appear, when her name is Jackpot. Not when the first thing Mary Jane ever said was, “Face it, Tiger, you hit the jackpot.”

Current Music: Keane - "Your Eyes Open"

writer: James Robinson
artist: J.H. Williams
cover date: December 1997

Almost ten years since that comic came out and it isn't the most pleasant read I've ever had. It's full of exposition with the woman who owns the Green Lantern breaking the forth wall all the time addressing the reader which I don't like very much.
It doesn't really help that Captain Comet, a war hero from the sixties is shown to die while trying to stop a missile, holding on to it while it flies. I know that from another comic, already. The story feels forced with Captain Comet seeking revenge for his death and it's just plain boring.
The art isn't too special, but I like the layout. It's not Keith Giffen, but it's done interestingly.
I don't like the fact that the two characters that are revived in this comic are a superhero and a royal private eye. This is very clichée. Why not a normal person? Someone who doesn't seek revenge, just didn't have time to say goodbye to their loved ones, something like this.
And then, in the second story, the P.I. just wanted to tell a publisher about a crime he solved but was never able to tell anyone about. The murder of Ralph Digby. An associate of his goes by the name of Alfred Pennyworth who runs a publishing company, The House of Mystery.
The third story focuses on a pilot called Arthur Curry from the Captain Boomerang fliers who is interviewed by a reporter from World's Finest. Another magazine, Teen Titans, is mentioned. A beverage brand called Impulse. A team of villains called Darkstars. Arthur Curry's mother died in the same incident as Captain Comet did and interestingly enough, Arthur Curry was the son of Captain Boomerang, his idol. The last story is probably the best.

Unlike me, my sister is an avid reader. She says she has read about a dozen books in her life – an admirable quantity. So, a few months back, before going to Chile, I was listening to an episode of Poptopia where Paul French mentioned that Josh Schwartz, creator of The OC, one of my sister’s favorite TV shows, would be the executive producer of a new TV series based on a series of books called “Gossip Girl” and I was like, “No way! My sister has read all of the books that have come of these.” So, I told her and recently, when I finally discovered that it had actually started getting aired, I was enlisted to download the episodes for her. Yesterday, we watched the first one, today, she came to my room while I was reading Green Lantern and asked if I had time for her because she wanted to watch the second episode. So we laid in bed in front of my computer and watched the second episode that I had downloaded a few days before. Now she is totally curious to know how it will continue although there doesn’t seem to be one thing about it she wholly agreed with.

She doesn’t like the looks of characters, the exclusion of some, the way some things were changed. What made me happy about that though, was the fact that that proves how she can be a geek as well although her geekishness is focused on other areas. It’s like, no matter how good something is, a geek always finds stuff to complain about.

Me, not knowing the books, thought it was pretty okay. The characters don’t dress like normal teenagers, their style is VERY odd, but that is coming from me who thinks that there is nothing as comfortable as TCM bras, jeans and a simple tee or hoodie, nothing too complicated, nothing pink, nothing uncomfortable, nothing with laces and no strange hairstyles. Ponytails and my hair let down, and a messy knot / bun are the only hairstyles I think are really necessary. I am a simple person. And these rich upper East Side kids think VERY differently.

The characters are a bit too cliché, there is this young sick brother of one of the main characters, Serena, and when my sister and I first saw him, our reactions were “Draco” and “Tom Felton” respectively. Well, turns out we were wrong, but the guy looks a lot like Tom Felton.

The cell phones get on my nerve because you see every character using their cell phones at least once each episode. Especially in the first one, it was extremely overdone. There was this party and suddenly everyone attending the party pulls their cell phones out at the same time. And I thought the Chileans were obsessed with their cell phones.

Right now, I am watching Teen Titans. The first episode of the series. It’s almost done and not too complicated, but it’s cute and enjoyable. I still am a kid at heart and this is just cute. Who wouldn’t fall for a cute, nice Starfire saying, “I wish to initiate a group hug.” That is just too cute!

I still have many TV series to catch up to. I was so busy that I didn’t even watch the third season of Doctor Who yet. And there are still a few episodes of the last season of Desperate Housewives left, not to mention Heroes. But I’ll do it one by one. I have lots of time to distract myself till February when I will only be talking about Lost.

The second episode of Teen Titans is even cuter. The first ninety seconds have Dick and Kory sitting in a giant wheel talking with her being astonished about how the cotton candy vanishes in her mouth because the last time she ate cotton, it was white and didn’t taste very good. Kory’s naivety is sooo cute. I love it in the normal Teen Titans and here it’s cool, too. And Raven is fun, too, being the total opposite of Kory. “A giant chicken? I must be the luckiest girl in the world.”

“Come, friends, I shall thank you for my rescue by reciting the poem of gratitude – all 6000 verses.” Starfire is soooo cute. And her sister is hitting on Robin, it’s so funny how Starfire gets jealous and suddenly everyone is totally interested in her because she knows how to react to every team member. And I just feel so sorry for Kory because she is such a nice girl. She is just such a nice, funny character and her sister is such a bitch. In the end, everyone will notice how much they prefer Starfire and everything will be okay, but it’s nice to see how the story progresses. I don’t know if Starfire has a sister in the comics, but it doesn’t matter. It’s just a nice, cool show for kids … and others.

kid: “Hey, sweety, digging the scene?”
Kory: “I didn’t know we were supposed to bring shovels.”

Robin is the first to realize that Starfire is a lot cooler than her sister and it’s such a romantic little scene where they are sitting on the roof talking and Blackfire shows up wanting to know how she looks. “Pink”, Robin answers very stoically and wants her to go away as he is having a moment with Kory but she just takes his hand and drags him away, leaving poor Kory behind. I like how they have all these hints at Dick and Kory’s relationship in the comics in an innocent way.

“Goodbye, sister. Although you betrayed and attacked me, it was still very nice to see you.” That is so cute. Teen Titans are so, so, so cute!!

I like Robin and Kory in particular. But I would like to see other Titans, not just these five. What about Roy Harper / Speedy and Donna Troy / Wonder Girl? It would be cool to add them to the mix.

And as NaNo comes closer (still 17 days to go), I keep remembering more and more forgotten plots for storylines for that anthology I created the outline of my NaNo for originally. The one that returned to me right now is a quite interesting one in my opinion although I’m not sure how I would handle it nowadays. It’s a pretty mature theme for a fourteen year old girl to come up with, honestly. It’s not the biggest idea of the century, but just a story about two characters. Yes, another character piece like everything or almost everything I write.

Okay, the issue I just read was Captain America Vol. 5 #10 which doesn't continue the "Winter Soldier" storyline as it is interrupted for the House of M event. In this reality, both Bucky and Cap survive World War II. and even arrest Hitler which made me smile because the thought of it is so absurd.

I enjoyed the story. McCarthy doesn't lash out against communists in this reality, his target are mutants which fits in with the whole story and is interesting because, let's face it, it would have been very likely for Marvel McCarthy to focus on mutants and the threats they could pose, instead of hunting down communists. I loved how Brubaker came up with it. It feels very realistic.

Steve Rogers is the first man on the moon ... in 1955, instead of 1969. This is also intersting because in the very first issue of these series, Steve tells Sharon that hadn't he been cryptogenically frozen, he would have been the astronaut sent to the moon. And his words up on the moon that orbits our planet differed slightly from the real ones: "This is one small step for man ... one giant leap for peace between man and mutantkind." And it would be very likely that with mutants surfacing and using their powers, research on space travel would be sped up.

Bucky who has been something of a focus since Brubaker started writing Captain America is in this issue as well. He and Steve have grown apart and have very different opinions on mutants. While Steve sympathizes with them, Bucky sees the danger they pose to everyone around them. I like how Steve points out that terrorism isn't something only mutants do and Buck as he is called now points out that the difference is that human terrorists set bombs, mutants ARE bombs in some cases. This reasoning and the discussion itself reminds me of the whole Civil War story with Steve still having the same opinion and Tony Stark taking Buck's place. While the subject is somewhat different, there are many similarities to it.

And Steve's final reasoning: "And of course, as the decades passed, Buck's words stayed with me ... and there was a lot of truth in them. The mutant issue wasn't back and white. It was about politics and prejudices and fear ... it was about shades of grey." In this reality, Steve starts to see that Bucky was right. Would it have been the same if he hadn't died just after the Civil War ended? Would he have slowly realized that Tony was right?

When Magnus starts to seize power, it is Steve who speaks up. He has fought a dictator with ideas that could only be considered absolute before and unlike many, he recognized the truth behind Magnus' charismatic words, saw his real intentions and he spoke up, even though he knew the risks. This act, even though it failed, proves that Steve Rogers is a hero. He doesn't need an uniform or the Super Soldier Serum. He is a hero because he speaks up and this is what makes his later death so tragic. Captain America can be replaced, he is a symbol, but it isn't Captain America who matters, it is Steve Rogers.

"You got everything you wanted, Steve. If the world didn't turn out the way you thought it would, well, that's just life ..."

Of all House of M tie-ins I think this one is by far the best. It tells a stand-alone story that is interesting and doesn't feel as forced as some others. It isn't as powerful as the last stand-alone, Captain America #7, "The Lonesome Death of Jack Monroe", but it was a very nice story and I would prefer reading this over and over again than reading "Iron Man: House of M", "Fantastic Four: House of M" or any other tie-in title. To read this story, you don't have to know what is going on in the main title of the event, it can be picked up with no background knowledge at all and it delivers an interesting story worth thinking about. It is well-written, well-drawn and I can only praise it for being the only House of M tie-in I actually truly enjoyed. No nonesense with Spidey turning out to be the Green Goblin as well, no Brian Braddock, King of Britain. It is just a nice story worth reading. Brubaker couldn't avoid this line-wide event and he did the best with it, I can't praise it enough.