FC: Legion of 3 Worlds #4

Ok, before you read any further, this post is just going to be a spoil for fans who haven't picked up Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #4.

The last issue ended with the long awaited return of Bart Allen. Fans of Allen will remember the terrible short lived series in which he became the Flash. Writer Geoff Johns completely turns it around in this issue.

As a fan of the old series Young Justice, I've always enjoyed Bart/Impulse as a character of comic relief. When he moved on to the Teen Titans and became Kid Flash, he was still a bit of a character, but didn't quite have the magic he did in the old books. Then when the Infinite Crisis came, and Bart became the Flash, he grew up and became emotional, serious, and honestly just very depressing.

In issue #4, Johns finally recaptures the magic of Bart Allen that I, as an avid Flash reader, haven't seen since the days of Young Justice. Bravo Mr. Johns, you've succeeded in making me geek out.

The bigger spoiler in this issue, fans might want to turn away now, is the return of Conner Kent. The events of Infinite Crisis had also taken the modern age Superboy from the fans. Instead of aging him and taking away his personality as writer's did with Bart Allen, they simply just killed off Conner Kent. This issue brings him back to his full glory. At this point I had my second geek out in the same 10 minutes. Well played Johns. Well played.

Albiet the wait for this issue was months behind, I assure you guys, it was well worth it. Next issue should be out in a month or so. Hopefully.

Special

After initially viewing the trailer, I thought this movie would be a comical satire of the recent plethora of comic book movies. And in some degree, I was right. But Special is much more than simply a superhero comedy. In fact, I'm surprised they even promoted it as such. Special is a dark depiction of one man's desire to be something that he thinks would make him stand out in the world.

Les Franken is an unappreciated meter maid who goes through life constantly being pushed around by others. He signs on for this experimental drug named Specioprin Hydrochloride that is designed to boost his self confidence. In some degree it does that. Les believes that the drug has given him super human powers and begins to use them to fight crime. What he doesn't know is that the drug is only giving him hallucinations. The story takes a drastic turn from comedy about ten to fifteen minutes into the movie. Michael Rapaport does a phenomenal job portraying Les' desire to be someone special. The last time I've ever seen something this intense was the last five minutes of Requiem for a Dream. The only difference is the last five minutes of Requiem is almost the entirety of Special. Special is a great and powerfully intense movie, but also carries alot of heart as well.

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This week's picture courtesy of Becca from Wink Studios Photography.

Rant of the Week

Hey guys. I don't want to sound like a dick, but when you go to the McDonalds on Grand and Valley and you ask for Ranch, be prepared to be charged extra. I get numerous customers asking for Ranch for their Chicken McNuggets and when I tell them I have to charge them a bit extra, I get glares and drama. I'm really sorry. I used to just hand them out, but I've gotten in trouble for it now. Ranch is only free with Chicken Selects. Chalk it up to the economy, but the people taking your orders aren't being jerks when they have to charge you for Ranch cups, they just don't want to get in trouble. Please be a little more sympathetic. If it was up to me, you guys can have all the Ranch you want. Also, next time you go to the drive-thru, and you hand the guy your money and he asks you how you are doing or to have a nice day. Please at least acknowledge that he's there. Don't just glare at him and drive off without a word. It's kinda mean. The sad thing is that in an eight hour shift, at least half of customers do that. A nice word here and there will totally make the drive thru guy's day.

-Pete

Ninja Turtles Movie and New Strip

Superherohype.com has reported that a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is in the works. Unlike the latest installment, TNMT, the new movie will once again be in live-action as was the first three movies. It story will follow their origins and be strongly based upon the original comic. Mirage Group will be setting the release date to 2011. They will use facial replacement technology to make the characters more expressive than they have been in the previous installments.

New Strip: "Go Big or Go Home."

Let the Right One In

Possible my most favorite movie of all time. The story is about a young boy, Oskar, who is marked as a social outcast by his peers. One day he meets a young girl named Eli. He finds out that she has moved into the house next door. The two quickly become friends as Oskar goes to school during the day and plays with Eli at night. However, he finds that mysterious murders are occurring around the town. They coincide with the time Eli moved in. As the mystery begins to unravel itself in front of Oskar as he finds out his new friend is a vampire and he must choose between his safety and leaving the only friend he's known.

The movie is almost a direct translation of the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, which I love. Although there were many parts cut out from the movie, the overall themes and spirit of the book was perfectly captured. I'd like to think of this movie as a mirror to Twilight. It's very dark, scary, and at times can be a bit too much. But it's also very uplifting in it's depiction of youth, friendship, and love. It's been announced that an American remake is in the works, but in my opinion, the Swedish version is perfect. American remakes kinda suck anyway. Except The Office, that was awesome.

Movie Ideas

Chosen

12-year-old Jodie Christianson was in an accident. He was standing directly under a bridge when I truck lost control and flew off. By all rights, he should have died that morning, but he walked away unscratched. As mysterious and miraculous events start unfolding around his life, Jodie is beginning to believe that he is Christ returned.

Mark Millar creates intriguing story about faith, hope, and family. Albeit controversial, Chosen poses the question: What would you do if you were Jesus Christ? As Jodie struggles to find his place in the world, he finds that being the reincarnation of Jesus isn't as great as he would imagine. As with most of my comic book reviews on here, there is a HUGE spoiler at the end of the series. This time I won't post it up since it's pretty big, but if you must know, either read the story or just email me for the ending.

Green Lantern Corps #35

The Green Lantern books are now starting the Blackest Night storyline first mentioned last year. In the previous issues, the Sinestro Corps find that they are not the only beings in the universe who aim to spread terror through their rings. There is now Atrocitus and his Red Lanterns. The story continues as Green Lantern's Sodam Yat and Arisia set out to save his homeworld of Daxam from Mongul and his faction of the Sinestro Corps. There isn't much development from the previous issue, save for one major plot twist on the final page of the book. If fans have been keeping up with both Green Lantern books, then they'll remember that a few months back in the main book, it was discovered that Sinestro has a daughter he's been hiding from everyone. SPOILER. You find out on the last page who she is. It's actually a pretty great story twist.

Return to Wonderland

I recently began reading the Return to Wonderland series by Grimm Fairy Tales and I must say it's a pretty refreshing take on the classic Lewis Carrol tale. And by refreshing, I mean really dark, macabre, and violent.

The story follows Carol Ann Liddle (nicknamed Calie, an anagram of Alice). Calie is the daughter of the Alice in the stories. The first series takes place decades after the original tale. Alice is now married with children. She is, however, mentally disturbed and almost always a vegetable. Through parallel events as her mother, Calie is sent to Wonderland. This Wonderland is not the one that her mother visited all those years ago however, it's gory, dark, and extremely evil.

The Wonderland stories has been broken into three series over the last few years. It began with Return to Wonderland, then Tales from Wonderland, and finally Beyond Wonderland. The series focuses on Calie's adventure through Wonderland as well as the history of the Liddle family. As the series progresses, the reader discovers backstories to the inhabitants of this magical realm (The Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter) and how the existence of such a place affects our reality.

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Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #3

So this review's been pretty late, but since the next issue has been delayed for so long, I figure I still have plenty of time to catch people up.

Superboy-Prime and his Legion of Super Villains have attacked everything the Legion of Superheros hold dear. Their solution? Recruit their counterparts from not one, but two parallel universes to help defeat Prime and his team.


Last issue ended with the death of Ron Vidar, the last Green Lantern. Mon-El and Shadow Lass were charged with bringing his body back to the Planet Oa, home to the Green Lantern Corps. When they arrived, they found nothing but empty rings and corpses. And Sodam Yat, the keeper of the Planet Oa.

Back on Earth Prime and his team battle the 3 Legions. With the help of the real Superman, things seem to be looking up for the heroes. However, even without the help of the villains, Prime is still more powerful that most of the heroes combined. Which is why Brainiac 5, the team genius, set forth a plan to finally defeat Prime once and for all. This includes bringing back a hero that the universe had thought to be dead. (SPOILER ALERT) It's Bart Allen.


The majority of this issue is a pretty big slug fest with art that is ripe with detail. Geoff Johns incorporates decades of Legion history into the story that draws references and elements from all the different Legion teams. It's a fan boy's dream. My only gripe is the delays between the issues. The Final Crisis crossover has been over for months so this series is being dragged out. Albeit Geoff Johns is stretching himself pretty thin with Booster Gold, Flash: Rebirth, Green Lantern, and other books. And with the amount of detail George Perez puts into his art, it's only understandable to give him some time to work his magic.

SCI-FI Channel's The Phantom

A while back, the SCI-FI channel announced that they were reviving The Phantom franchise. Fans will remember that Billy Zane once played the role of the horseback riding, evil-vanquishing, purple wearing, superhero. Ryan Carnes, from Desperate Housewives, has been cast as Chris Walker the new Phantom. SCI-FI will release a four hour movie event to introduce the character. Concept designs for the Phantom's costume has now been released and fans are in an uproar.

Essentially, it's Smallville's Green Arrow in Purple.

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #4

The last issue introduced us to a new character in the Ultimate Marvel Universe: Ultimate She-Hulk. Her alter ego Jennifer Walters made an appearance a few issues back leading fans to speculate when they would see She-Hulk.

The issue begins with yet another flashback. Lindelof has done one in almost every issue now, first from Wolverine's, then Hulk's, and now Betty Ross. Fans who only buy the book will be disappointed to see that the two titular characters only appear on a few panels.

Betty Ross, as some fans will know, is the Hulk's love interest. She's the only person that can calm him down. In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, she is the reason he became the Hulk and killed hundreds of innocent people.

Jennifer Walters is also a prominent figure in this issue as well. Though there is no mention of her being related to Bruce Banner in this Universe (in fact at one point she states that she think he's cute). Instead of a lawyer, Walters is now portrayed as a scientist of S.H.I.E.L.D. She requests the Hulk serum believing that she can make it better (The power of the Hulk, but without the rage). There is much character development between Walters and Ross as the two banter back and forth throughout the issue.

The twist at the end (SPOILER ALERT) is that Ross leads Nick Fury to believe that Dr. Walters is using the Hulk serum to sell to the Chinese, and when all of S.H.I.E.L.D. comes down on Walters, Ross uses the newly developed Hulk serum on herself, becoming the Ultimate She-Hulk.


The story is now beginning to come together nicely. There are some great and funny moments in issue four (The Star Trek bit). Another moment that I thought was brilliant was the scene with Ultimate Steve Rogers and Tony Stark playing table tennis. During the game, they reference the Civil War. The Civil War was a Marvel crossover event in the mainstream universe that tore the heroes apart. Captain America and Iron Man took opposing sides. The reference pokes fun at that as in this universe, their viewpoints are reversed.

Green Lantern: First Flight Trailer!

The trailer for Green Lantern: First Flight is now online. This animated feature is the fourth in the DC animated series following Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: A New Frontier, Batman: Gotham Knight, and Wonder Woman. The movie tells the origin story of Hal Jordan and his transition from test pilot to space cop. Christopher Meloni, Victor Garber, and Tricia Helfer helm the cast.

The Filipino Donut

This weekend my buddy celebrated his 21st birthday. We invented the Filipino Donut.

Green Arrow: Year One

Andy Diggle and artist Jock team up to bring you this 6-issue miniseries that defines the origin of the Emerald Archer, Green Arrow. Oliver Queen is a spoiled, selfish, and carefree playboy who is living it up off his parents vast fortune. But when fate leaves him stranded on an island, he is forced to rely on nothing more than his cunning and a makeshift bow. Queen's will to survive keeps him alive on the island for months as he begins to grow into a better man. Eventually he finds out that he isn't alone on the island and is in the middle of one of the largest drug cartels he's ever seen. No longer the spoiled socialite he once was, Queen takes a stand against the criminals.

The story takes its core from the early origins of the Green Arrow, but adds a modern twist to it. Oliver is given a larger backstory and insight into his fears and insecurities. Through the six issues, the reader can see how the character slowly progresses into the hero that he is in modern comics. Jock's art really captures the grittyness of being stuck on an island. With humor, drama, and great art, Green Arrow: Year One was an awesome read.

The New Freddy

Jackie Earle Haley, better known as Rorschach from Watchmen, is set to play Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake according to ComingSoon.net. Following the financial success of the Friday the 13th reboot, New Line Cinema is working on bringing Krueger back to the big screen. The role was previously head by Robert Englund who played the titular character eight times in the movies. Haley's strong performance on Watchmen led the director to see that he's the type of actor that could make the audience empathize with him even under a mask.

Barry's Back

Barry Allen was the fastest man in alive. A forensic scientist with a heart of gold, Barry always seemed to be running a little late in life. That was until a fateful accident made him faster than he could possibly imagine. Donning on a gold and scarlet costume, Barry took to the streets fighting crime and righting wrongs for years as The Flash. His colleagues admired him. His city loved him. His nephew idolized him.

In 1986, Barry Allen, died saving the multiple universes from a great evil during the Crisis of the Infinite Earths. His death brought forth the modern age of comics as well as allowed his protege, and nephew, Wally West to step into his yellow boots. For the last twenty-three years, Barry has only appeared in flashback stories, or time travel arcs. Unlike other heroes who have died saving the universe at one point or another and was rewarded with a second chance, Barry's death stuck. Until the Final Crisis.


The 2008-2009 crossover event Final Crisis brought Barry back from the land of the dead. The world had been taken over by evil. Many heroes had fallen in battle. But like the Crisis two decades ago, Barry Allen returned to save the day!


Now, acclaimed fan favorite writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver, takes the helm integrating Barry Allen back into the DC Universe in the miniseries entitled Flash: Rebirth. A man out of time, has Barry returned to a world that's finally caught up with him? The series explores how Barry copes with this new world, the lives of his loved ones and how his return has affected them, and a mysterious villain killing off fellow speedsters. And most importantly, what will happen to Wally now that his uncle has finally returned to reclaim the mantle of The Flash? Johns and Van Sciver were the creative team that brought fans the successful miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth. This is the one fans have been waiting 20 years for. Issue #1 is now out in stores!