Tag: comic books

Aftermath Part 8

~ graysonbeane ~ Leave a comment
Jareth awoke to bright light coming in through the windows. Looking outside he saw that it had snowed and the sun was bouncing off and doubling the brightness outside. He squinted and turned to the inside of his room, his left shoulder throbbed with every movement and he tried to remember what happened. 

It was foggy but the last thing he remembered was feeling a bolt hit him in the shoulder and then everything got dark. As he walked around his bedroom something felt off. Jareth reached to his face and felt the left side, fearing the worst. Everything was intact, he had not lost his eye. Closing the right eye and focusing on the left everything was sharper and more in focus.

The way to the bathroom made his shoulder pulse in agony. Grabbing the doorway he braced himself and grit his teeth through the pain. The only solace was the promise of something to relieve pain.

The light was in the bathroom as well, illuminating the entire room it an eerie white light. He needed to see what his shoulder looked like and if it had been infected. Before he could turn he caught sight of his eye.

It was white, there was no iris or pupil, just pure white and seemingly glowing. He inspected it further looking closer, trying to find veins, his pupil, or his iris, but he found nothing. Just an abyss of glowing white.

He left the bathroom and got dressed in his normal attire but now with the hole in it to leave him vulnerable to the elements. He added and eye patch to cover up his left eye in hopes that Maria wouldn’t be worried about what was wrong with him.

Maria was busy in the kitchen and his children, Gregory and Stephanie were at the table eagerly eating their breakfast in heavy clothes ready to go out and be in the snow.

“Don’t eat too fast now our you’ll upset your stomach. I know you want to get out there and play, but savor your food.” Jareth said patting each of their backs. Gregory was 14 and Stephanie 12, but they never lost their excitement for snow on the ground.

Their response was each a muffled grunt of agreement as they chewed and hurriedly tried to swallow. Jareth turned to Maria and hugged her from behind.

“I’m sorry that I have been out so late recently. Making sure you guys stay safe is keeping me out late.” Jareth whispered in her ear.

“I know I tried to stay up for you, but I was so tired form keeping the house running I must have just nodded off.” Maria responded giving hima  quick peck on the cheek.

The children got up and ran out the door turning back before the door shut behind them and shouting a quick “We’ll be outside!”

The house was quiet, it was just Jareth and Maria standing there embraced. She removed her self from his hug and turned around. She saw the eyepatch and gasped.

“What happened?!”

“It’s nothing, just trying to make sure that when I head out today the I can still see in buildings.” He gave her a smile. He didn’t like lying to her, but how could he explain that the version of him that she hated was halfway out this morning.

“Well then try and be careful, you know that can mess with your vision.” She said and patted his shoulder and found the hole in his coat and shirt. “Who did this to you? Was it those Blood Skulls? What happened?” She was firing off questions left and right and Jareth barely had enough time to catch them all.

“It wasn’t the Blood Skulls. I had a meeting with another group and things got heated. I caught a bolt in my shoulder before I could get out.” Not exactly as he remembered it, but he didn’t remember leaving the church either.

“Has the wound been treated?” She asked.

“No, I looked at it this morning but I didn’t get to treat it.” He said looking down at the ground.

“Sit.” It was a command from her and he did what he was told.

Jareth took off his coat and shirt so that Maria could get a better look at the wound on his shoulder.

She clanged around and eventually came out with a liquid and salve. Poking and prodding the wound to find the worst part she poured the liquid in and Jareth winced. She then placed the salve over top to seal the liquid inside and placed a bandage around his shoulder.

“There, now you won’t have to worry about any infection and it won’t be as cold on you.” She said and Jareth could feel her smile. She kissed his cheek again then moved away to let him don his clothes.

He stood up and his shoulder no longer hurt. Whatever Maria had done was close to a miracle.

“I’d better get going. Can’t keep Red waiting too long or her gang will be on our doorstep.” He said sullenly.

“I know, I wish you could stay a bit longer the kids miss having you around.” She said then hugged him and kissed him deeply.

They stood there a while Jareth not wanting to leave and Maria not wanting to let him go. When they broke Jareth turned to the door and headed to the ruined hotel that served as the headquarters for the Blood Skulls.

Venom the Movie: Is It Good?

~ graysonbeane ~ Leave a comment

Venom_Marvel.0

Weirdly yes and no. As someone who grew up in a household that encouraged comic reading and being immersed in the lore of those worlds I was let down by the movie. I liked the subtle nods to the comics that there were, but it is hard to have Venom in a universe where there is no Spider-Man. Venom’s entire arc through the comics is how much they hate Spider-Man. This is because the Symbiote hates Spidey as well as Eddie Brock. That hatred fuels them and is literally their only motivation through the beginning stories they are in. Recently Marvel has fleshed out the character more with a great solo title out now that I highly recommend picking up and reading. The movie takes the idea of Venom and plays with it.

Riot is not a Klyntar. Riot does have a lot to do with the LIFE foundation, but it was synthetically made in the comic books. Riot was made as a part of a team that eventually all fuse together to make another symbiote names Hybrid. Riot was never a pure blooded Klyntar and never had the powers that were show cased in the movie. Riot in the movie is more Carnage than anything. This brings up another questionable decision from the movie that I am still trying to wrap my head around.

Why in God’s is Woody Harrelson cast as Cletus Kasady? It sets up the next movie as Venom versus Carnage I get that, but the casting seems off. The wig is terrible, and Harrelson’s body type is far and away from what Cletus’ body type is. Cletus(Carnage) is scrawny. It seems like a bad choice, but I will give Harrelson credit that even in the few seconds that are the post credits scene he is in he does convey a very convincing psychopath that would make a great host for the Carnage symbiote.

How are they going to make Carnage a bigger threat than Riot was? I don’t know, Riot seemed to be able to do everything that Carnage can do so the sequel may just feel like a rehash of the same story line but with different stakes. I’m interested to see what they do but not hopeful for the franchise as a whole.

Now that I am done bitching about the weird things I will say, if you go into this movie with very little knowledge of who Venom is and the comics as a whole it is an enjoyable movie. It isn’t weirdly paced and there are only a few parts of it that don’t really make any sense that I assume can just be blamed on poor editing. The action sequences are good and Venom looks like a beast. They are tall, jacked out of their mind, and teeth and tongue were spot on. I don’t think it was an over all poor movie, but it was not a great movie.

Overall I think it is mediocre and a refreshing departure for the Superhero genre. Just the right amount of dark, grit, and gore with some scenes that were genuinely funny because they were written that way. I would give it 3 Spider-Men out of an X-Men.

Looking at the Spider-Man “Back to Basics” Story

~ graysonbeane ~ Leave a comment

Wow, I’ve been gone a while. Let’s get back into it talking about something that I have loved in my time away from the blog. Spider-Man specifically the new comic run that started after the events of “Going Down Swinging” and the fight with the Red Goblin.

“Back to Basics” is a great Spider-Man story line. While it is only in it’s beginning stage on the 4th issues of a twice monthly release comic. It started the story by undoing what I have called the “Peter Parker Success Story”. Without getting too spoil-y, Peter has left Parker Industries and is the science editor for the Bugle. An AI finds out the Doctor Octopus wrote his Doctoral thesis(during the events of the Superior Spider-Man comic) and Peter is subsequently fired from the Bugle after being accused of plagiarism and has his doctorate taken from him because the work was not his own. This sets the ground work for Peter being more of an average guy than being a baby Tony Stark.

The story plays with the idea of Parker not being able to be in two places at once and the age old situation of can he have a girlfriend, job, go to school to re-earn his degree, and be the web-slinging superhero Spider-Man. The writer introduces a fresh take on the concept by having the classroom in the basement of the University. As the story progresses Peter and Spider-Man are split because of a lab accident and that is where the meat of the story is taking place. The reader gets to see how Peter’s life is without the Spider-Man part of it and what Spider-Man would be like if he was a full time superhero. In all honesty this irks me a little. It is written well and works with story elements but for my personal taste Spidey is written a bit too much like a G/PG-13 rated Deadpool. In movie terms take Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man. It serves a purpose but the Spider-Man is a bit too over the top for me.

Since issue 5 and later are not out it is impossible to know where the story is headed but I am very excited to read it and find out.

I’m going to try and get back the weekly posts about fantasy and story structure and should soon be posting the rest of the Aftermath parts. I hope you enjoyed the review!

The DCEU’s Main Problem When it Comes to Movies

~ graysonbeane ~ Leave a comment

justice-league

photo credit

Zack Snyder. Article done, we can all go home.

Honestly I wish it were that easy. We can all agree that Snyder has never read a single comic book or seen a single good DC cartoon and he makes a mockery of the characters. But, the main blame lies somewhere else.

Honestly, as much as I dislike Snyder for what he has done to DC more of the blame rests on the shoulder of the DC/WB executives that are so desperate to have a movie compete with a Marvel film/show they take everything good about the characters in the comics and ruin it by changing them dramatically. WB doesn’t care about the characters or what makes them great characters.

They don’t care if the fact that Superman is not an unfeeling god but really just a chill guy that loves burritos who was raised in Kansas. They don’t care to show that even though Superman is from Krypton he is a human first and Superman second. His character is so much more than his powers, but all mainstream media has really seen him fir is the powers first and Clark Kent second. Just look at the image below and tell me you see an unfeeling god character.

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Superman is a good man first and Superman second. Always.

They don’t care that Batman isn’t some gun toting badass à la Red Hood(who is a better character than angry Batman). BvS makes a mockery of the character that I knew and loved when I grew up and read when I was in college. Batman puts life first and this can be seen in the comics. It’s why he raises Dick to not become him. (We’re not going to touch Titans and what Dick Grayson has become.) Like in the Justice League show when he talks to Ace while she is dying and makes sure that she is comforted when she dies. Just watch below and you can get the real sense of the character.

Or recently when he is trying to groom his son, the newest Robin, Damian into not an unfeeling killing machine the Ra’s al Ghul wanted when he trained the boy from birth. Batman may be the most detached because of childhood trauma but that doesn’t mean that his view on humanity is as grim-dark as the DC movies would want you to believe.

Let’s look at the shows and the other problems that comes from them. Everyone is a Batman Dominatrix. Take Arrow for example, Oliver Queen is the most removed from his comic counter part. Green Arrow is more Iron Man in his personality than Batman, but because of Smallville he had to become Batman for legal reasons. He disappears, is dark and moody, and even his costume is dingy and dark. GREEN ARROW IS BASED OF ROBIN HOOD. He is not supposed to be in dark green and sneaking around. Arrow wearing leather is fine it slightly fits the base character, but there is another show in the Arrow-verse that puts the characters in leather that makes no sense.

Flash. Flash runs faster than light. Leather cannot stand up to that kind of friction, very few materials can. In the comics his suit is specially crafted to reduce the amount of friction so that it doesn’t burst into flames at a moments notice. When the first images of Wally West from the Flash show were released my first thought was: “Why is he in leather?” Then I did research and found everyone is in leather so it’s ok? Credit where it is due though Flash and honestly Super Girl give the most care to the characters out of all of the DCEU. This may change before SHAZAM releases because it looks promising.

Where did the problems come from? Christopher Nolan is where. His Batman movies were some of the best comic films to be released during that time. They were different from anything else with the dark tone and realistic portrayals of the characters, but as Marvel started to mature with their movies and crank out great film after great film the things that made the Nolan films great became what made them not stand up and the poison to the DCEU as a whole. WB made everyone Batman after those movies came out. Hell, everyone wanted to be Batman (or the Joker) after the films came out but it was based on the edgy 1980’s Batman and not the one that was currently in the comics.

WB wants to be on top of the Superhero movie genre and they don’t understand that having people that know the characters and that will take the care to show the true character underneath will make the movies better. Look at Wonder Woman, the director took great care with the character and made a great movie despite having that DC tag on it.

DC comics along with Marvel were the things I was raised on. I grew up with these stories and learned all about them their origins and what makes them so great. DC isn’t bad it just wants to compete and the studio doesn’t care about its.

Also, Tim Drake is the best Robin and Red Hood makes more sense than Batman.

The MCU and the Ever Present Power Struggle Between Spider-Man and Captain America

~ graysonbeane ~ Leave a comment

spiderman-america-captain-115732

photo credit

I love the MCU and I love comics, but recently I re-watched Civil War and with Infinity War out as well I feel like this needs t be touched on. The MCU is trying to make Captain America the strongest hero in the MCU when that unfortunately is not true.

I understand that for Marvel, at least in the movies, Cap is their Superman. This is all well and good except for the fact that if it’s broken down Spider-Man is really more the Superman mirror in the comics. Let me explain, Superman and Spidey both work for a Newspaper, they both have a multitude of super powers, and probably the biggest is that they both wear the iconic red and blue outfit. Captain America is like Superman in the fact that they both stand for “truth, justice, and the American way.” But, more to my point Spider-Man is more powerful than Captain America.

I will back up these claims with facts. Captain America has super strength there is no doubt about it. He is on the same level as Black Panther and Bucky. Spider-Man is much stronger than him. The only members of the Avenger that is truly stronger than him are Thor and Hulk(I’m not counting Iron Man because his strength is not form him or an accident but a suit). They have the abilities of a god and a giant green rage monster that only gets stronger the angrier he gets. Spider-Man has the proportionate strength of a spider but for a human. His base strength is approximately 10 tons, his muscles are dense not large making him quick and strong.

Cap is another animal all together. The best way his power can be described is that he has the strength of 10 men. His base strength with a bench press is around 1200 pounds. Still a lot, but not close to Spidey. He is the cream of the crop compared to other humans, but as far as super strong he is not.

Why did I go on a tangent about this? Because the MCU has a problem where Captain America is the strongest possible when it helps the narrative, and I get that I really do. All I want is a little more continuity with the comics. Just make Spider-Man strong, keep Cap as the symbol, but when he over powers Sider-Man is Civil war it’s just not possible Unless, Peter’s heart wasn’t in the fight and he let himself lose just like in the comics.

Let me know your opinions, I’m sure there are going to be many. Keep it civil and I eagerly await the responses of anyone and the discussion to follow.