Thursday, July 14, 2011

Green Lantern Corps #62 Review

3 out of 5


    First thing's first, I am suing this issue for false advertisement! This cover shows an angry John Steward using his ring and the bottom reads, "John Steward has killed a Lantern before, and he will do it again!" Sounds interesting, right? Sounds like something important might happen in this issue, right? WRONG! Nothing remotely close to that happens in this issue. That major disappointment aside, Green Lantern Corps #62 wasn't a horrible book.
    The story takes place right after the War of the Green Lanterns, and all of those involentary recruits that Krona forced into the Corps are giving up their rings and returning to their old lifes, except one. She wants to make a difference in her sector. The only problem is the rest of the Green Lanterns won't show here any respect, so she decides to take the council of the only Lantern more alienated than her, John Steward, the killer of Mogo. Blah Blah Blah, John Steward shows her the ropes and the whole issue wraps up nicely. No John Steward getting angry and trying to kill another Lantern.
    The script is written well, even if the actual story itself is a little boring. There is very little action in this issue and the action that did occur never really convinced me any of the characters were in danger. You do feel that John Steward is alienated by the rest of the Corps, which is one of the main themes of the issue, but I thought it was wierd that the little blue men did nothing to punish John. SPOILER!!!! I mean if Hal Jordan gets kicked out for killing a genocidal maniac that is mind controlling the entire Corps, then why would John not get kicked out for killing the argueably most important Lantern in the entire Corps? SPOILER OVER!!!!
    There is really nothing important to say about the art. It is servicable. That's it. Nothing special. Nothing really even pops out about it. It is just plain and average. Not bad. Not great.
    Overall this book was a disappointment because it failed to live up to it's cover, but the story inside was not that bad. Pick it up if you really like John Steward, but I really couldn't recomend it to you otherwise.

Green Lantern #67 Review


4 out of 5

    Finally, the War of the Green Lanterns is over! Man, that was a painful event to read, but I guess after half a decade of constant events, you are bound to run into one stinker. That being said, the last issue of the current volume of Green Lantern was actually really good! It managed to pack into it about three major suprises that I was really not expecting at all. That by itself is and indorsement to buy this issue.
    Geoff Johns, after being in an exposition heavy slump for the past few months, pulled off a pretty good script in this issue. You are not too bogged down with the heavy expostion of issues past, some action is thrown in as well as some intrigue, and finally some nagging plot threads of this volume are wrapped up, but they still couldn't wrap up them because... well... read the book and find out.
    I can never say anything wrong about Doug Mahnke and his pencils. That man is just talented and can put more people on a single panel than I thought was humanly possible! That said, some of the inks were a little off, but when you have fifty people inking an issue, then the color is bound to be a little off some places.
    This book has brought back my love for Green Lantern. Too bad it has to end and this is the last issue. I have always enjoyed the kind of goofy and crazy light show, space opera adventures that Green Lantern has brought to the table, and for the most part Geoff Johns has written a great story for the past 5 or so years in this book. Thus I am sad its ending. Wait... What? Green Lantern #1 in the relaunch is going to have the same author, same artist, and not really change from the current continuity it has been building for the past half a decade! Well what the hell is the point of setting it back to number one?!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Transformers 3 Trailer

Unfortunately, this movie comes out on Friday. I wonder how Michael Bay will ruin my childhood this time. Its going to be hard to top racist Autobots and Decepticon scrotums.


Sunday, June 26, 2011

Preview: Flashpoint: Green Arrow Industires





Here is a preview of Green Arrow Industries that is coming out this week.

New Justice League

Here is a picture of the new Justice League of America that will debut when DC relaunches in a couple of weeks!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Listen to Someone You Trust



Yet another new Captain America: The First Avenger Trailer


They just keep pumping these things out! Now when are they going to make the Captain Britain movie? THE FURY!!!!!

Bioshock Infinite Trailer


I will just leave this here...

Review: Flashpoint: Reverse Flash #1


3 out of 5

    Over the past few years, Geoff Johns has gone through the DC Universe and has reimagined many of the Silver Age heroes and their arch-villians. He has done this with the Green Lantern and Sinestro, Aquaman and the Black Manta, and is now currently in the process of doing the same thing with the Flash and the Reverse Flash. Even though Scott Kolins is writting this issue, I can tell he is just following the outline given to him by Johns of what Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash, is suppossed to do.
    As far as the story goes in this issue, it reminds me a lot of the Reverse Flash's spotlight issue in Flash #9, which was coincidentally written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Scott Kolins, the writer of this book. If you do own Flash #9, then you really do not need to pick this up because it basically rehashes the same story. That said, the Reverse Flash is still a very interesting character. Scott Kolins does a good job of telling the reader the Reverse Flash's plight while also explaining why he has become the sick and twisted man that is hell bent on destorying Barry Allen's life. I would have truely enjoyed this issue if I had not already known the entire story that was inside it.
    As far as the art goes, I consider it a mixed bag. I personally enjoy the art inside this issue, but I can easily see how some people can detest it. Joel Gomez uses a style that is a cross between Francis Manapul and Fabrizio Florentino with the use of what could be watercolors in very scetchy outlines of people. The characters are all drawn well, but the backgrounds of all the scenes are very sparse and leave much to be desired.
    Overall, this book is an interesting insight into the mind of the Reverse Flash. If you own Flash #9, though, then you already heard everything that is in this book. So if you don't own Flash #9, I recommend this book, but if you do, then you basically already own it.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Green Lantern Relaunch Covers

Just in case you are living under a rock and have not seen the Green Lantern relaunch covers, then here they are.

Green Lantern #1
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Doug Mahnke

Green Lantern Corps #1
Writer: PETER J. TOMASI
Artist: FERNANDO PASARIN and SCOTT HANNA

Green Lantern: New Guardians #1
Writer: TONY BEDARD
Artist: TYLER KIRKHAM

Red Lanterns #1
Writer: PETER MILLIGAN
Artist: ED BENES and ROB HUNTER



Green Lantern Animated Series Preview


Well, I guess it had to come at some point. Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, is here to defend the Earth and the Galaxy from Atrocitus and his Red Lantern Corps! Hopefully this show will be as good as some of the other DC animated shows, and not horrible like the movie.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Swamp Shark Trailer

    Here is the extended trailer for the Syfy Channel's new original movie, Swamp Shark. It is set to debut on Saturday at 9est/8 central. I personally can't wait to watch this horrible movie!

The Last Guardian Trailer

Oh, the love between a boy and his giant dog...er...bird thingy...


The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Trailer


I know this trailer is old, but it makes me happy when I watch it.

Review: Batman #711

3 out of 5

    Overall, Tony Daniel's run in Batman has be an interesting and fun affair. Daniel has managed to incorporate the past into his stories, such as the Resurection of Ra's Al Ghul and The Long Halloween, and transitions them into fun new stories. With that being said, Batman #711 is not without it's flaws.
    In Batman #711, Gilda Dent and Mario Falcone are back in Gotham, and they are after Harvey Dent aka Two Face. In the last issue, they acually managed to capture and shot Two Face, but suprise, one of Batman's most famous villians did not die and now he is out for revenge. Together with the Riddler, Two Face begins to build an army to take on the Falcone Family. Now you notice that I said nothing about Batman. This is because he is only in about two pages of his own book, where he basically just walks around trying to piece together what is going on, and talk some sense into Catgirl, my least favorite character.
    Like I said earlier, I like the fact that Daniel is incorporating the past into his stories, but that really doesn't help if the said story sucks. Two Face losing his coin has been done before, and Two Face fighting the mafia has been done before. Everthing in this book can be read in another, better book. On top of that, some of the characters, like Gilda Dent and Mario Falcone are horrible stereotypes. Overall, the script was just not great, which is a shame because rest of Daniel's Batman run has been fantastic.
    Steve Scott shows up as the guest artist of this issue. He did a pretty decent job. The art is not super amazing, but it is not bad enough to bash in any way. It is just serviceable, which is fine. The emotions of the characters, especially Two Face, were easily picked up by the reader, and you got to see the events happen. That is about it.
    Overall, this issue was below Daniel's normal standard. Hopefully, Daniel can push the story forward and get back in his groove with the next issue.

Review: Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #1

1 out of 5
L.O.D. Pin gets a 5 out of 5

    Ok, first thing's first, I only bought this book for the L.O.D. pin that came with it. The book was just a bonus. That being said, let us get to the actual review.
    Flashpoint: Legion of Doom is about a villian I have never heard of before named Heatwave. Heatwave, if you cannot tell by his name, has a thing for fire. Heatwave loves fire so much that he actually wants to become fire. How can one do this, you may be asking yourself. Simple, kill one half of Firestorm and try to get the other half to fuse with you. Naturally, this incredibly stupid plan fails and Heatwave is sent to a massive prison created by Green Arrow Industries in the middle of the swamp. From there, I assume you can guess the story.
    Besides having a really generic prison escape story, Flashpoint: Legion of Doom suffers from a horrible script. Heatwave says some of the stupidest lines I have ever read in a comic book (This is coming from someone who has read Captain Britain and MI 13: Vampire State). I kid you not when I say,"I've got a hunger burning in my gut. The only way to stop it is to satisfy my appetite," is the opening line of the book! No, really? Are you sure, Heatwave? Trust me, Heatwave says some even more stupid things latter on.
    The script problems are a real shame because the art in this book is really not bad. Rodney Buchemi has done a really good job with his pencils which are complimented perfectly with Jose Marzan's inks. If Adam Glass had done some revisions, he could have easily redone the dialouge in a way that the art would not have to be changed, thus making this book readable. Alas, this book sucks and if it did not have the pin to go with it, then I would not recommend it to anyone.

Review: Flashpoint: Grodd of War

3 out of 5

    So Flashpoint has arrived and is changing characters left and right. Aquaman and Wonder Woman are genocidal maniacs, Deathstroke is a pirate, and Thomas Wayne has actually pulled off being a darker Batman than his son, Bruce. Like these previous characters, Gorilla Grodd has changed from his normal self in his own one shot title, Grodd of War.
    In normal DC continuity, Gorilla Grodd is a telepathic, talking gorilla that resides in Gorilla City in Africa, where he constantly tries and fails to overthrow his king and conquer the world. In Flashpoint continuity, Grodd actually succeeds. He has overthrown his king and led the armies of Gorilla City in conquering all of Africa, but that is not enough. Dispite Grodd's great accomplishments, almost no one outside of Africa has ever heard of him because they are too busy worrying about Aquaman sinking half of Europe and Wonder Woman conquering the British Isles.
    As far as the script goes, there are no real problems. The dialouge is servicable and shows Grodd's feelings of discontent to the reader. The story is really just backstory for Grodd because I assume he has a bigger role to play at some point in the main Flashpoint book. Just like in every other Flashpoint title, Grodd of War has a few amusing cameos in it. Catman is always entertaining. The art is very polished as well. Over all, the book is pretty good for a one shot backstory. If you have the money, then pick this up, but I don't think you will miss anything if you don't.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Last Circus Trailer


Now tell me this movie does not look like it is rediculously awesome!

Transformers 3: The Destruction of my Childhood

    On July 1st, Michael Bay's new movie, Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon premieres in American theaters and I am dreading its arrival. Anyone that knows me knows that I love the Transformers. I grew up with the Transformers. I remember waking up early every Saturday morning (whatever happened to Saturday morning cartoons?) just so that I could watch the next adventure Optimus Prime and his group of rag tag autobots battle with Megatron. The Transformers were simply put just a large part of my childhood and to see Michael Bay take something so dear to me and destroy it is really quite sad. Still, lets run through the many, many flaws of the movies and see if we could possibly find a way to fix them.

1) Robot Design
    I remember watching the first Transformers movie and not being able to tell who was who. The only Autobot that looked remotely like their toy and cartoon counterparts was Optimus Prime. Everyone else looked like a horrible, jumbled mess of metal and joints. Sure, some of the robots were a little color coded, but once these generic pieces of metal started fighting with each other it was extremely difficult to tell who was an Autobot and who was a Decipticon. I understand the need to update the character appearances for modern day viewers, but they could have at least tried a little harder in their character design. On a truely personal note, Soundwave....... why does it look like you're trying to get a little too personal with that satalite?

2) Juvenile Humor
    One of the biggest problems with the Transformer movies is Michael Bay's insistance that it be filled with juvenile behavior. Everywhere you look in the movie, especially in the second one, a character is doing or saying something extremely stupid that only a middle school boy would enjoy. Why would Wheelie be a pervert and hump Megan Fox's boot when it is a robot? Why have Bumblebee pee on people in the first movie? Why would they put a pair of tesicules on Devastator (thanks for ruining that character)? Then there is, of course, Skids and Mudflap.... I will talk about these guys another time. All of these things are not funny and do not add anything to the plot or character development! All the do is detract from a movie that is already suffering in so many other areas. Hopefully Michael Bay delivers on his promise and cuts back on the humor in Dark of the Moon, but wouldn't hold my breath.

3) Sam Whitwicky
    Now don't get me wrong, I like Shia LaBeouf and I don't think the character should be eliminated completely, but the movie is supposed to be about giant robots fighting each other to the death, not a horny teenager. Yes, it is nice to have a human in the movie so that you can have someone to relate to, but that human should not be driving the entire story. Every Transformers movie is nothing but two hours of Sam trying to get with girls and deal with growing up and about thirty minutes of actual robot on robot action. This should be the other way around. Sam could still have a major role in the plot, but he just doesn't need to be the driving force of the plot. That should be a Transformer. ence the movie is called Transformers.

4)Plot Holes Galore
   I am not expecting a masterpiece when I go see a movie about giant robots, but some common sense would be nice. For example, in the second movie, Megatron is brought back to life by a piece of the Allspark that was in the first film. Why, then, when Optimus Prime died in the same movie did they not bring him back to life with a piece of the Allspark also? Why was the Fallen hiding in space for thousands of years and decided to attack earth when a bunch of Autobots arrived and not when there was no one capable of stopping him? These complete jumps in logic are just staggering! Again, I don"t need an amazing, deep story, but I would still like the story to actually make sense.

    I doubt any of these problems have been fixed in Dark of the Moon. If these changes were to take place, then they would take place in a reboot (because everything is rebooted). Still, it was nice just to get this off my chest.

Marvel Comics on 6/29/2011

COMICS
TRADES
  • Daredevil Reborn
  • Daredevil Yellow
  • Deadpool Dead Head Redemption
  • Essential Spider-Man Volume 10
  • Marvel Masterworks The Mighty Thor Volume 3
  • Marvel Masterworks The Mighty Thor Volume 3
  • Marvel Universe Vs The Punisher
  • One Month To Live
  • She-Hulks Hunt For The Intelligencia
  • Spider-Man The Original Clone Saga
  • Thor Blood And Thunder
  • Ultimate Six
  • X-Force Sex And Violence

Marvel Comics on 6/22/2011

COMICS
  • BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #520
  • CAPTAIN AMERICA #619
  • CAPTAIN AMERICA #619 I AM CAPTAIN AMERICA VARIANT
  • CARNAGE #5
  • DEADPOOL #39
  • DEADPOOL #39 I AM CAPTAIN AMERICA VARIANT
  • DISNEY*PIXAR PRESENTS: CARS 2 #1
  • FANTASTIC FOUR: THE LAST STAND #1
  • FEAR ITSELF #2 2ND PRINTING VARIANT (FI)
  • INCREDIBLE HULKS #631
  • IRON MAN 2.0 #6 (FI)
  • JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #622 2ND PRINTING VARIANT (FI)
  • JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #623 2ND PRINTING VARIANT (FI)
  • MARVEL ZOMBIES CHRISTMAS CAROL #2
  • MOON KNIGHT #1 2ND PRINTING VARIANT
  • MYSTERY MEN #2
  • NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT #11
  • NEW MUTANTS #26
  • SECRET AVENGERS #14 (FI)
  • SECRET AVENGERS #14 I AM CAPTAIN AMERICA VARIANT (FI)
  • SIGIL #4
  • SILVER SURFER #5
  • SPIDER-MAN #15
  • THE MIGHTY THOR #1 2ND PRINTING VARIANT
  • THE MIGHTY THOR #3
  • THE MIGHTY THOR #3 I AM CAPTAIN AMERICA VARIANT
  • THUNDERBOLTS #159 (FI)
  • ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS VS. NEW ULTIMATES #5
  • ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS VS. NEW ULTIMATES #5 CHO VARIANT
  • ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #160
  • ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #160 BLANK COVER VARIANT
  • ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #160 KALUTA VARIANT
  • ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #160 QUESADA SKETCH VARIANT
  • ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #160 QUESADA VARIANT
  • VENOM #1 3RD PRINTING VARIANT
  • WOLVERINE #11
  • X-MEN LEGACY #251
TRADES
  • AVENGERS VS. PET AVENGERS GN-TPB
  • BLACK WIDOW: THE NAME OF THE ROSE TPB
  • DEADPOOL VOL. 1 HC
  • DOCTOR STRANGE: INTO THE DARK DIMENSION PREMIERE HC & DM VARIANT
  • IMPOSSIBLE MAN TPB
  • MYSTIQUE BY SEAN MCKEEVER ULTIMATE COLLECTION TPB
  • NYX: WANNABE TPB
  • RUNAWAYS VOL. 6: PARENTAL GUIDANCE DIGEST
  • SECRET AVENGERS VOL. 2: EYES OF THE DRAGON PREMIERE HC
  • THING: LIBERTY LEGION PREMIERE HC & DM VARIANT
  • ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN: DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN PRELUDE PREMIERE HC KORMARCK COVER & DM VARIANT
  • X-FACTOR VOL. 11: HAPPENINGS IN VEGAS TPB
  • X-MEN: AGE OF X HC
  • X-MEN: SECOND COMING REVELATIONS TPB
  • X-MEN: SECOND COMING TPB
  • X-MEN: WITH GREAT POWER PREMIERE HC

DC Comics on 6/29/2011

COMICS
  • BATMAN INCORPORATED #7
  • CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #61
  • DETECTIVE COMICS #878
  • FLASHPOINT: GREEN ARROW INDUSTRIES
  • FLASHPOINT: HAL JORDAN #1 (OF 3)
  • FLASHPOINT: PROJECT SUPERMAN #1 (OF 3)
  • FLASHPOINT: THE CANTERBURY CRICKET
  • GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #24
  • GREEN LANTERN MOVIE PREQUEL: HAL JORDAN
  • GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS #11
  • JSA 80-PAGE GIANT 2011
  • JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #52
  • T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #8
  • WONDER WOMAN #612
  • XOMBI #4
TRADES
  • AQUAMAN: DEATH OF A PRINCE
  • BATMAN: KNIGHT AND SQUIRE
  • RATCHET & CLANK
  • RED ROBIN: HIT LIST
  • T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS ARCHIVES VOL. 7

DC Comics on 6/22/2011

COMICS
  • ACTION COMICS #902
  • BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM #2 (OF 5)
  • BRIGHTEST DAY AFTERMATH: THE SEARCH #1 (OF 3)
  • FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST #1 (OF 3)
  • FLASHPOINT: LOIS LANE AND THE RESISTANCE #1 (OF 3)
  • FLASHPOINT: REVERSE FLASH
  • FLASHPOINT: THE OUTSIDER #1 (OF 3)
  • GREEN ARROW #13
  • JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #58
  • THE OUTSIDERS #40
  • THE SPIRIT #15
  • SUPERMAN #712
  • YOUNG JUSTICE #5
  • ZATANNA #14

TRADES
  • BATMAN: RED HOOD – THE LOST DAYS
  • FIRST WAVE
  • KANE & LYNCH
  • POWER GIRL: BOMB SQUAD

Welcome to the Citadel!

    Welcome to the Citadel, home to the Legion of Dork (or LOD for short) and everything one might consider to be nerdy and geeky. I am your not so humble host, Vinco Menz, one of founding and most active members of the LOD.
    Now I can already hear you asking me, "Vinco Menz, what is the LOD?" Well, originally the Legion was a secret society formed by a few friends so that they may revel in all that is dork together, because everything is more fun when you do it with a friend. Over the years, our secret little club slowly began to grow and now we need some place to call our own, therefore I have created the Citadel as our new home. Here we will do everything from organize meetings, write reviews of all the bad movies we watch, games we play, and books we read, and offer our uniqe insight of what is going on in the world.
    Now if you are not a member of the LOD, thats fine! You don't have to be a Legionare to enjoy all the wonderful things this site will have to offer. You can enjoy everything the members enjoy and if you choose to formally join the LOD in the future then more power to you. I hope we will all have fun and enjoy the Citadel.