Blackest Night #8

When we last left off, Sinestro had merged with the Entity of light and became the White Lantern. In this issue (HUGE SPOILERS by the way) Sinestro fights Nekron and appears to beat him, until Nekron reveals that he cannot be beaten. As the forces on Earth struggle, the seven allied Corps arrive to back them up. Nekron succeeds in splitting Sinestro from the Entity and thousands of Lanterns of all the colors of the spectrum engage Nekron. That's when Deadman informs Hal Jordan that it's not Nekron that they Corps must focus on but rather Black Hand, Nekron's conduit to the land of the living. Hal merges with the Entity and divides it's power among all the heroes possessed by Black Lantern rings. They form the White Lantern Corps. The corps succeed in bringing Black Hand back to life, weakening Nekron greatly. The Entity, however, does not stop there. It brings the Anti-Monitor back to life. The Entity defeats Nekron. Upon doing so, it brings back many dead heroes and villains. The story ends with the dead welcomed back, Green Lantern and Flash deducing Batman was never really dead to begin with, and now there is a White Lantern Power Battery somewhere on Earth.

I admit, it was really cool to see all the heroes from my youth brought back. Some even in their original costumes. My guess is the upcoming Brightest Day series will explore how they acclimate into the world they left behind; the last few pages of this issue gives us a taste of that.

Not bad Mr. Johns.

After a long storyline, the Blackest Night arc has come to an end. Significantly better than Final Crisis, there was still something lacking for me from this series. Don't get me wrong, it was and amazing story of epic proportions. But it wasn't Geoff Johns epic. I think the man may finally be spreading himself too thin. Other than that little complaint, it was a pretty solid tale. Ivan Reis art was phenomenal. The amount of detail and emotion he put into this entire series was unbelievable. Props to giving Aquaman and Martian Manhunter their old costumes again (with slight revisions). I couldn't stand the look the new Aquaman had and the look Martian Manhunter adopted when he wanted to be more Martian-like. Even Jade looked good!

So here is a look at the dead brought back to life. (Left to Right)

• Maxwell Lord 
• The Reverse Flash
• Hawk
• Jade
• Captain Boomerang I
• Firestorm I
• Martian Manhunter
• Aquaman
• Hawkman & Hawkwoman
• Deadman (now alive!)
• Osiris

This should be fun. Great story guys! 9/10

Dick Giordano Passes Away

The former DC Comics editor and artist passes away at 77.

RIP

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Trailer!

This looks great!! I'm very pleased with how this turned out from what I've seen so far. Also, did anyone else catch that one of Ramona's evil exes is played by the same girl who played Anne Veal with Michael Cera in Arrested? Nice.

Quickies

Here is a quick cartoon I did for the latest issue of the Mountaineer.

This one was for Racism and Hate Crimes around campus.

Comic Con 2010

Comic Con time folks! Get your tickets here while they still have em!

Ultimate Comics Spiderman #8

This was fun. For the last seven issues, we've had to go through love triangles and teenage angst. This issue was just the guys. Rick Jones, a young boy who woke up from a coma and was given superpowers is scared and confused. Enter: Spider-man, The Human Torch, and Iceman. The three young heroes try to help Jones come to terms with his abilities. They discover that Jones is the aforementioned "Savior" that the Watcher had mentioned way back in Ultimate Fantastic Four. The boys head out to the base where they last saw the Watcher, only to discover members of the Serpent Society (or BAD Girls, Inc. I can't even differentiate anymore...). The group quickly, and comically take down the villains. In the end, Rick takes on the alias of Nova and leaves to discover himself. 

Brian Michael Bendis plays to his strength of dialogue throughout this issue. It was funny, enticing, and references things that was previously established in the Ultimate Universe. The art is still a bit too anime for my taste, but it's been growing on me. I'll give it a chance. 5/5 Stars!

The Sword Crew

 

The complete set I drew for the guys.

The Crew

I did a drawing of the guys as a space crew back in 2008.

Here is the 2010 version.

First look at The Silver Banshee

The CW has released a first look at the Smallville adaptation of the Silver Banshee for the upcoming April 2 episode: Escape. This is the first time the character has been portrayed in live action.

 Silver Banshee is a Superman villain who's power is fueled by supernatural forces. She has the power of super sonic screams.

2nd Iron Man 2 Trailer

Smallville: Then and Now

2001


2010

Smallville Back for a 10th Season!

After numerous shows having been renewed in the last month, fans were left in suspense as to whether or not Smallville would finally come to an end. When the list of shows that the CW picked up for the Fall 2010 came out, Smallville was not on the list. Today the CW Blog has announced that the cast and crew of Smallville will be back for yet another season. I for one am glad.

Here is the official release:

"Smallville" stars Tom Welling as Clark Kent. The series moved to Friday nights this season, where it currently ranks as network television's #1 show in its time period among men 18-34 and men 18-49. Additionally, "Smallville" has dramatically improved The CW's ratings performance in its Friday 8:00-9:00p.m.time period by 67% among adults 18-34 (1.5/6), 200% in men 18-34 (1.8/7), 75% in adults 18-49 (1.4/5), 183% in men 18-49 (1.7/6) and 74% in total viewers (3.12million).

"Smallville" joins the five previously announced series - "The Vampire Diaries," "Gossip Girl," "90210," "Supernatural" and "America's Next Top Model" - which will all return for another season on The CW.

"Smallville" was developed for television by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics characters. Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson serve as executive producers, along with James Marshall, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins and Joe Davola. The series is produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions, Millar/Gough Ink and Warner Bros. Television.

 

Most of the promotional images released by the CW are terrible photoshops. But the image above is probably the nicest one I've found online so far.

Archie and Friends #140

 

Jughead Jones is hands down my favorite Archie Comics character. He loves food, he's quick-witted, and he's an all around nice guy. The story in Archie and Friends #140 takes place in the present. The gang is enjoying a lunch at Pop Tates. At the mention of the menu's new "Montana Burger," Jughead goes silent. The gang then remembers that for a few brief months at the beginning of Freshman Year, Jughead had moved to Montana because of his dad's work. In a new place where the kids find his admirable quirks to be a bit strange, he meets a girl named Sadie. Sadie finds Jug to be charming and fascinating. The only problem is that her best friend Randy is jealous, as he had been in love with her since the first grade. Although Jughead is oblivious to the Sadie at first, she begins to grow on him. Much to his surprise, Jughead begins to fall for Sadie. The story reaches it's climax when the Jughead and Randy engage in a pie-eating contest for Sadie's heart. Although Jughead has the competition in the bag, a bear shows up. Randy bravely helps Jughead to safety. In the end, Sadie chooses Randy. Jughead's father, seeing how his family misses Riverdale throughout the story, is able to find a better job back home. In the end, the Jones' move back to Riverdale. The story concludes with Jughead dismissing the story and keeping his friends in the dark about the months he was gone.

Damn this was depressing. Don't get me wrong, in the movies it's always great when the best friend of the girl ends up with her at the end, but this time I was rooting for Jughead. Though the story was sappy and predictable, it was nice to see Jughead find love for once. Sure he has characters like Ethel and Trula Twist that makes his life more complicated, but it was nice for once to see him reciprocate his feelings. It really broke character to even see him fight for her affection. The one aspect I enjoyed most from this story was that it was set at the very beginning of freshman year. Sadie leaving him was probably something the writer's could accredit towards Jughead's lack of interest towards the opposite sex. Interesting. In the end, Jughead was portrayed as the tragic hero. He keeps his story to himself as he fondly remembers his time with Sadie.

The Losers

In April, there will be potential blockbusters like Clash of the Titans, Wall Street 2, Kick-Ass, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. A movie I feel will be overlooked, but has the potential to be a sleeper hit, is the upcoming comic book adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic: The Losers. Especially since it closely resembles this summer's A-Team remake. Check it out!

Trailer


TV Spot