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Why I Stopped Reading Spider-Man

James — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 01:36:25 +0000

I stopped reading Spider-Man titles because of events that transpired in One More Day and Brand New Day. I know, you have probably read the same opinions every where else, but I’ve reached that point where I have to express my frustration.

One could say that Spider-Man was Marvel Comics’ flagship superhero, or that he was at least a close second to Captain America. We watched him fight crime as a teenager and we watched him grow into adulthood, and through all of this, his character was expanded through his ever growing responsibilities and his love for Mary Jane Watson. In fact, he even married her. Their relationship was very real, like Louis Lane and Clark Kent, but without the ridiculous “I only love Clark Kent because he’s really Superman” crap. Mary Jane really loved Peter, and though at times she was worried for his safety, she knew that he had to be Spider-Man because she knew that there were people out there who always needed his help.

For twenty years, Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and Mary Jane Watson Parker had been the number-one married couple under the Marvel Comics label. Well, not any more! In fact, they were never married! They had a long-term relationship, but it ended abruptly just before the marriage, and now their relationship is “frosty at best.” Confused? Yeah, you, me and the rest of the world!

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Read the rest of Why I Stopped Reading Spider-Man (627 words)

Review: Spider-Man: Reign

James — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:07:44 +0000

Spider-Man: Reign, from writer and artist Kaare Andrews, is a powerful and emotional journey through the tortured mind of Peter Parker as he enters the last years of his life and begins to confront everything that he has ever cared for and lost.

Transformers Nostalgia

James — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 07:37:46 +0000

Last Sunday, Sarah and I were lucky enough to see Transformers in our local theater. It was great film. I would have appreciated more character development concerning the Transformers, but it would have been difficult to fit any more into the film without it being considered “too long” by younger audiences. Hopefully, there will be more character development in the sequel. Besides the lack of character development, the film carried a decent plot and featured the most realistic Transformers to date! Best of all, it brought back memories from the long-running and well-established Transformers universe.

Here are four of my favorite moments from the Transformers universe.

SPOILER WARNING: The following clips obviously contain spoilers.

The Autobots meet G.I. Joe in 1939. (review)
Starscream sacrifices himself to save millions of lives by convincing Galvatron and Optimus Prime to join forces against Unicron. (clip)
The “mysterious planet” that the Beast Wars take place on is revealed to be prehistoric Earth, complete with the crashed Ark and dormant G1 Transformers. (clip)
Just about every moment from Beast Machines, especially the last episode. (clip)

It’s hard to choose which video clip to embed at the end of this post, so I’m going to choose the last few minutes from Beast Machines, which just so happens to be the only clip from this list without a cliffhanger ending.

Review: Transformers / G.I. Joe

James — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 17:23:44 +0000

Transformers / G.I. Joe is not just another Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover, but rather a dark and war-torn recreation of the Transformers and G.I. Joe universes in tandem by writer John Ney Rieber and artist Jae Lee. In the twentieth century’s darkest year, a world at war will find itself caught in the middle of a titanic alien conflict that has lain dormant for the last four million years.

Review: Secret War

James — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 06:42:06 +0000

Secret War, a masterpiece by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Gabriele Dell’Otto, is the best graphic novel ever produced by Marvel Comics. Blinded by diplomacy and arrogance, the United States government refuses to acknowledge the imminent danger as a foreign threat continues to grow. How far will one man go to defend his country? The decisions made, and their consequences, will forever change one of Marvel’s most iconic legends.

Review: Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi

James — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 05:38:28 +0000

Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi is an adventurous and thought-provoking “What if?” tale by writer Adam Gallardo and artists Ryan Benjamin, Dan Norton, and Juvaun Kirby. It begins in tandem with the original Return of the Jedi script, but when a rescue mission goes terribly wrong, history is forever altered.

Review: Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back

James — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 08:19:04 +0000

Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back is an adventurous and thought-provoking “What if?” tale by writer Dave Land and artist DavidÃ© Fabbri. It begins in tandem with the original The Empire Strikes Back script, but when a hero of the Rebellion dies before he can fulfill his destiny, history is forever altered.

Review: Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope

James — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 19:01:59 +0000

Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope is an adventurous and thought-provoking “What if?” tale by writer Chris Warner and artists Drew Johnson and Al Rio. It begins in tandem with the original A New Hope script, but when a key opportunity for the Rebellion is lost, history is forever altered.

Review: Batman: Hush

James — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 20:52:41 +0000

Batman: Hush is a dark and captivating tale by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee. Batman: Hush takes you from the darkest corners of the Dark Knight’s mind to the deepest depths of his soul as he faces his toughest challenge yet. When nothing is as it seems, who can you trust, and will you be able to live with the truth?

Review: Kingdom Come

James — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 18:00:52 +0000

Kingdom Come, a DC Elseworlds masterpiece by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, is the best graphic novel ever produced by a major comic publisher. A philosophical tale of Armageddon in the DC universe, Kingdom Come is filled with biblical parallels which cast our heroes and antiheroes into haunting roles that we are all too familiar with.