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I do like Bendis.  I do.  My love shows throughout this blog.  I have been critical before of course, what relationship doesn't have low points?  But the critiques (here, here, here, here, and here) never kept me from enjoying the Bendis-ride overall. 

The Bendis-ride. Carrot Sticks!

But the events are getting to be too much man.  Settle down.  Let the characters recover.  Let them be "normal" again.  Let's have at least 6 months of regular books, no tie ins, no crossovers, no grand schemes.  Please!

If you don't know what I am talking about yet, I am talking about the recently released news on Marvel.com regarding Dark Reign, the follow up event to Secret Invasion.

I sort of feel used.  I listened to Bendis talk about how Secret Invasion had been in his mind since the beginning of Avengers Disassembled.  And how everything would be explained in Secret Invasion and there would be no dangling plot lines.  And that the characters would be given a "breather" (my quote not his). 

But here we go again! 

Hey Marvel!  We love these stories, we really do.  But give us a break (which means giving the characters a little relaxation time) to let us keep everything in perspective.  And more importantly, when the events come one after the other like this, they don't feel important anymore.

We are asking to be teased!  Tease us.  Tease us with the Bendis-ride!

Carrot sticks!

What do you all think?

So Twentieth Century Fox had a self proclaimed summer of discontent.  I guess you can look at it and say it was more of a break since the last umpteen summers featured Marvel characters making them buttloads of money hand over fist.

But like any good multi-billion dollar conglomerate they didn't make enough money this summer so they are going to make sure next summer goes more smoothly in terms of profit margins.

Now, the "hater" in me wants to start excoriating Fox for "leathering up" my super heroes, producing less than average movies to us comic book fans, and screwing up the Elektra film (Jennifer Garner + skin tight outfits + violence = kick ass movie...in theory anyway...how did this formula not work?  Oh yeah, script and plot are important too.) but I have to give them credit for taking a chance on X-Men and kicking off what continues to be a great thing for comic book movies.

So apparently they are looking toward summer 2009 to recapture some magic.  Magic which will be more difficult to capture due to the success of Dark Knight, Iron Man, etc.  The bar has been raised as we anticipate XO: Wolverine.  But anyway, this is what the Variety article reads in regards to comic book movies at Fox:

Though Fox has no plans for a major overhaul, the studio has scheduled a strategy meeting to assess the status of its superheroes, a group sorely missed this summer. On the agenda, Fox will mull the possibility of more "X-Men" spinoffs, including a young-X-Men project as well as "Deadpool," based on a character played by Ryan Reynolds in "Wolverine." The studio is even considering reviving the "Daredevil" property.

A Daredevil revival?!  Woo hoo!  Okay.  Let's get this right this time.  Let's get an actual action hero to play the part.  Let's keep everything faithful to the comic book.  Let's not try to tell the origin of Daredevil again, just come up with an original story to tell.  Let's "Batman-Begins" this Daredevil movie...do it gritty...do it right.

And the idea of a Deadpool sounds cool.  Unapologetic violence.  Over the top humor.  Could be and should be a hit.

But then again, so should have Elektra!

Has anyone else noticed that comic books have "died" over the last couple of months?

Going through the assortment of blogs and news sites that I go through on a daily basis it's evident that there hasn't been much written in terms of opinion or news coverage since the Comic Con. 

Being a comic book reader for years now I don't quite recall there ever being such a lull after the summer months, even though summer events have always been around.  There are all these blogs and sites and really no new material praising or complaining about comic book stories.

For instance, this is the news today:  Will Smith may star as Captain America.  Or how there is some cussing in DC comics that weren't covered up properly so they had to do a recall.

Not exactly news that gets us fanboys/gals fueling with happiness/rage.

Are you guys seeing the same thing?  Am I missing something?  Is there a conspiracy to keep the good comics from being seen by me?  Am I being paranoid again?  Do I need to get back on my meds?  Did they give me the wrong meds?  Are you looking at me?  Do I have something on my face?

I do have to admit, I have a man crush on Google.  Always have and most likely always will.  I think part of it, in all seriousness, is that I love companies that become so respected, so popular, and so widely known for what they do that the the name of the company becomes the verb of their respective business "action".

"I don't know man, why don't you google it and see?"

I guess this is why I love Kleenex and Tivo too.

So when Google came out with their beta version of Google Chrome, which is their answer (and in my opinion the correct answer) to web browsers, I was there on day one to check it out.

Now, this isn't a tech blog so I won't go into the specifics of Chrome or how a blog tested that it is at least twice as fast as anything you have used before, but there is a connection to our hobby.

Google being Google, they found an innovative way to tell their story about building Chrome from the ground up and not making it boring as all hell. 

The innovative way?  A comic book.

Woot!  Carrot Sticks!

So I am reading this thing and since I was at work, my mind was only half into it, but I had a strange awareness of "being here" before.

By the end of the comic book I came to realize I was reading a Scott McCloud production and it reads entirely like his three books on the topic of comics in which he uses sequential story telling to teach.  And of course, since we comic book readers are trained to instinctively understand the comic book page, learning about Chrome was easy and enjoyable. 

What other medium could teach you about web site permissions, javascript handling and sand boxing code and keep your interest?

So check out the free Google online comic and download Chrome now!

On a related note, I have been working through my copy of Scott McCloud's "Zot".  (Also check out his free online comics, they are rad dude...)

576 pages! 

This is the complete set and so far I have really enjoyed it.  As Scotty says in the intro, he told me I could call him Scotty, some of it is dated since it ran between 1987 and 1991, but all in all it does hold up well. 

He also throws in commentary throughout the book between issues, which is very cool to read.

I recommend it.  It's better than most of the current crap, er, I mean, stuff that is out there.

So I was reading Mighty Avengers #16 and New Avengers #43 and this thought occurred to me.  A thought I had to post and see what you all have to say.  Like most of the thoughts and ideas I have, I think it is a brilliant one.  But I think I might be a tad bit biased.  I think.

So reading these two comics, these two "tie ins" to Secret Invasion and reading the new issue of Wizard (don't ask me why) in which they have Bendis and Yu talk about the first 4 issues of Secret Invasion I got to thinking.

First of all, like any pure fanboy the inconsistencies of a crossover event like this drives me nuts.  In one issue of Secret Invasion you have Reed Richards being shot to all hell, like a silly puddy accident gone wrong and in yet another issue of SI you have him stretched out and being poked and prodded by Skrulls like a rectal exam gone wrong.

But what about the main Fantastic Four book you might ask?  He's fine.  Running around, no problems. 

Carrot Sticks!

Same can be said about many of these characters, such as Daredevil (he's on Mighty Avengers #16 cover but no where in sight inside the book), Captain America, Spidey, Wolverine and on and on.

This issue has plagued comics for years.  And really, unless you tie up the entire line of books into a eight month event that would be a logistical nightmare.  So there is no way to fix this right?

Aha...that's where I come in.

This is really so simple I can't believe they haven't thought of it yet.  (And probably so simple that I am missing something major that would null this idea)

Just release the big events in a trade paperback!  Right from the get go.  Just have Bendis write all the issues and pay Yu to draw all the issues and it will come out in one shot.  We can sit down and read the entire story and then go back to our regular comics.  If they decide not to talk about how Reed Richards was blown apart that is fine, at least it seems like it all actually happened.

If you look at the price per issue is $3.99 a piece and multiply that by 8 issues, that is $31.92 worth of money we spend.  The last trade I bought from Marvel had a price tag of $29.99.  Pretty close.  I am assuming as well that printing one trade is cheaper than printing 8 individual issues.  So maybe they would start to make some money back from the loss of ad sales (see below)?  And you have to take in to account the amount of money they would save advertising the series themselves!  Marketing one book is much more cost efficient than marketing 10-12 months of a series (since we started hearing about this well before the issues hit the stands).

And I first thought there would be a bigger financial risk involved for the comic book company since they would be paying for 8 issues of writing and art before they make any money back at all.  But it's not like if a series was not doing well that they would cancel it since it is maxi or mini series.  And they would still have order numbers before they went to print.  The could release a hard cover version as well to increase sales.

Now before you critics start in on me, I can think of one major problem that screams that this would not be the wisest of choices business wise.  And let's face it, Marvel is a business to make money, especially since they are publicly traded company.  A lot of money is made on single issues, then we usually pick up the trades too.  That would be a lot of revenue lost on advertisement in each issue and so far we don't have ads in in trade paperbacks. 

Also, for advertisers to pay the big bucks it is easier for Marvel to say that they can put an ad in 8 issues that are each selling 100,000 copies (for arguments sake...).  Take 100,000 and multiply it by 8 issues and that is 800,000 impressions for the ad (if the ad runs throughout the series).

But if you simply ran the whole story in one book there would only be 100,000 impressions, which I assume would be a huge reduction in price points for the advertisements.  So that is my ideas true weakness.

They would have to load up the TPB with a ton of ads to make up for those lost impressions.  Which would be odd.  So that would be a shift we would have to make as readers.

But other then that, are there any other problems to this theory?  Besides missing the cliffhangers (which are far and few between and actually have been coming as splash pages in the middle of SI issues). 

I know for a fact that I would enjoy this more as it would be a self contained story

Let me make a bold prediction.

The Watchmen movie will NOT be well received.

Now, I hope I'm wrong, because comic book movie success is good for our medium (I think).  But after watching this trailer I have a hard time believing that anyone besides us geeks will go and see it.

Kids aren't going to go and see it.  It will be too much of a mature theme for kids to see.

People who aren't geeks won't go see it since there is no attachment to the characters or the trademark (Let's face it, to the population at large, Superman/Batman/Spider-Man et al are only trademarks.)

Women (most) aren't going to be interested in seeing it.

Kitty Cats won't want to go - okay I made my point.

Now you may be thinking that I am crazy because 300 and Sin City were successful.  But I would argue that one was about loinclothed folks doing battle (which is a successful genre in itself) and Sin City hit that hard nosed 18-26 crowd that wanted violence and blood.

Do you know any 22 year olds who are interested in The Owl? Or some dorky looking dude in spandex that he has never heard of before?  I mean, Spidey is a dorky looking dude in spandex when you boil it all down...but at least he was on our underwear.

I hope I'm wrong.

What do you think?

Whoa!  I did not see this coming.  And on the PS3 too boot!  I think this is going to be a blog decreasing game...and by that I mean I will also  not be eating for a while.  And by that I mean my wife and kids will probably leave me since I will be playing this so much that I will simply fuse with the couch and become one big infestation of whatever lives on someone who fuses to a couch. 

And don't think fusing to inanimate objects doesn't happen.

It's a crazy world out there.  That's why I will spend all my social time in the DC Universe Online!

Tell me this ain't sweet!  Nerdy Bird...are you loving this?

This issue wasn't necessary.

Those are the first words I thought after reading the last panel.

This issue wasn't necessary.

I have been a big fan of this series and a big fan of what Marvel and Bendis are doing across the line if you start including the tie ins such as New Avengers, Mighty Avengers and on and on.

The reveals have been pretty cool.  The art has been top notch (and is again in this issue) and the writing has been powerful.

But this issue seemed like a filler issue, which shouldn't be happening in an 8 issue mini series.

The first 8 pages are completely useless in regards to moving the plot forward.  It's just a fight scene and some rehashing of what has come before.  Nick Fury is back and shooting first, taking names later.  The fight scene with the commandos doesn't even seem to be a fight scene.  It just seems like a big staging event, as if they characters are simply posing in the shot.  There is so little transition between panels it's hard to get the picture that people are fighting.  Ugh.  The Sentry is meandering about out in space (for almost a whole page!)

Like I said, we really get no more new information from this issue.

Oh wait.  We do.  We find out that between Natasha Romanova (a kick ass Russian spy) and Wolverine (a kick ass boy named James) they have come up with a "word", a code word if you will: Carrot Sticks.

I know.  Technically that's two words.  But what do you do?  She's Russian.  Maybe something get's lost in the translation.

All I know is Carrot Sticks is my new favorite saying.

Just today my wife asked me what I wanted as a side for dinner.  I yelled Carrot Sticks and ran out the door.  So I got Carrot Sticks as a side.

Carrot Sticks!

My biggest complaint of this issue though is not Carrot Stickish (but really...carrot sticks as a code term?!). 

It has to do with the humor being used.  Let me give you some examples:

Okay.  Imagine if you will, your a new superhero named Stonewall and you were not only fighting one of your first fights, but a secret Skrull invasion fight.  Would this be the conversation you would be having?

And if you had nice silky hair and you were fighting in the middle of a secret Skrull invasion would you be telling the Skrulls (or anyone else for that matter) to be "watching the 'do"?

How about if you were a little kid? Really?  You would say this in a fight of this magnitude, this conversation would happen?

Bendis does this a lot and it irks me.  When I'm reading a book like this and you have usually non humorous characters being humorous it takes me out of the story.  And I don't have a problem with humor.  If it was Spidey saying some of these lines it would be perfect.

Now to be fair there are some plot points that come out.  But you saw most of them coming.  They have to do with Iron Man (the whole is he a Skrull or isn't a Skrull seems to be put to rest).  There are villains in this issue that make a decision. 

And two major characters in the MU show up at the end.  It's as if Marvel got to the end of this issue and decided that people might drop the book so they said, "Hey, we have to get people to pick up issue #5, so put <big character #1> and <big character #2> on the last page!"  As if these characters would have waited this long to engage the Skrulls?  What...were they on the crapper?  Finishing their bath?

Now I have always claimed that Bendis' work should be read in it's entire format in one sitting.  That's when his stories work the best.  If these 20-something pages were smack dab in the middle of a trade paperback you wouldn't notice they were lame.  But the finality of the issues at the end of every month and having to wait another 30 days for the next issue, makes us all a little more critical.

So pick it up just to be a completist...but don't fool yourself into thinking it's going to be some great issue.

It's issue #4.  Hopefully we have been going up hill for the first half of this arc.  Starting with issue #5 we should start going downhill and gain some momentum!

C'mon Bendis!  We're counting on you!

Carrot Sticks!

Please give me your comments so I know what you are all thinking!  Am I way off in my analysis?  Being too picky?  Not picky enough?  Talk to me...

A long time ago, November 8th, 2007 to be exact, I was pumped to hear that Capcom was doing a new 3D version of the classic NES game, Bionic Commando!

While you were in your parent's living room playing the popular games like Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, I had graduated to Bionic Commando and played the living hell out of it. 

Back in November when I heard about the game I declared, "Time to get a PS3..."  Well I am happy to declare that I have long ago purchased a PS3 and have been anxiously awaiting this games release.

But then came more great news!

Not only are they releasing a new 3D game, they have also taken the time to go back and redo the classic game and are releasing it on the Xbox Live Network and on PSN!

Take a look at this beauty...

Listen to that music!  Classic!  Same levels...better graphics!  More weapons!  More things to do with your bionic arm (throwing dudes!).  A reworked musical score! And Co-op play!  And all for $10....Holy crap!  Sometimes the video game gods get it right.

And if you watch to the end they tell you that if you beat this version of the game you will get the retro looking Nathan Spencer for the new 3D game...woot!  And then the game tells you to stop being a nerd!  Wood woot!

So I was wasting some time at the Bionic Commando site and see that they also have been doing a webcomic.  Can this get any better? (Now I have a reason to post this video game on my bloc about comic book)  Here's the setup for the comic:

Bionic Commando: Chain of Command

What happened after the explosion-filled ending of the NES Bionic Commando? How did Nathan Spencer end up in prison at the beginning of the new Bionic Commando? Just what happened to his hair anyway?!

Ten full years passed between the end of the original Bionic Commando and the beginning of the new 3D version, and a lot can happen in that time. To fill in that gap, we're proud to present Bionic Commando: Chain of Command, a weekly online webcomic that will explain exactly what happened to Nathan Spencer, delve further into the universe of Bionic Commando, and drop some hints for the story of the new game.

Written by acclaimed comic book writer Andy Diggle (The Losers, Batman, Swamp Thing), with art by Colin Wilson (Star Wars, Battler Britton, Judge Dredd), Chain of Command will be updated every Wednesday right up until the game's release.

  Sweet!  It's actually a good tie in comic too.  A first?

And you also have to check out the new Bionic Commando music.  Well, I guess you don't have to, but you should!

To get all this Bionic Commando goodness make sure to check out the official site.

This post consists of Part Two (Villains ranked 5-7).  Make sure to catch Part One, Three and Four to get to Numerous Uno!

#7 - Purple Man

Now this douche bag is one bad dude.  And to be honest, I wouldn't be saying he was one bad dude if Brian Michael Bendis wouldn't have turned him in to one twisted mofo who used Jessica Jones as a plaything in the Alias series.  He was seriously twisted...Joker like twisted.

He arrived on the scene in DD #4 so he has been around for quite some time.  He never achieved a kick ass status as a villain until the Bendis run but hey, if you were turned purple from nerve gas it would take you some time to adjust too.

Here are some of Zebediah's greatest hits:

Kidnapping the now deceased Karen Page!

Discovered DD's secret identity (but who hasn't really?)

Seriously traumatized Jessica Jones in one of the worst super villain mind jabs ever as he controlled her for over 8 months.  Evil!

He's messed with the likes of Dr. Doom, Alpha Flight, and the X-Men just to name a few.

He may be mauve....but he would kick your ass.

#6 - Bullseye

I can already hear all you fanboys and gals saying, "Bullseye at #6?!"

Yeah.

He's always been DD's whipping boy.  And not a cool whipping boy like Batman's Joker, but a loser one. 

He get's bested by Elektra and comes in second to be the Kingpin's bodyguard.  Sure, he eventually kills her but she's come back from the dead so many times her death doesn't even resonate anymore.

When DD moves to San Fran, Bullseye starts dressing like DD and acting like a homicidal Robin Hood.

He eventually kills Karen Page (but Mysterio set it all up) and goes after DD's new, blind girlfriend (BLIND!) causing old hornhead to go all crazy and he actually carves a bullseye into his forehead. 

Which was used as a device to coordinate the comic book Bullseye with the movie Bullseye (another dig against this character!)

Now the fact that he did throw DD's own billyclub into the heart of Karen Page and mockingly walks away saying, "Oops, I missed" gives him a little cred. 

And he looks cool in his costume when he is in the original.  But six is as high as he is getting on my list!

#5 - Typhoid Mary

Now this is a cool chick.  Well, not a cool chick that you would want to take home to mom, but a cool comic book villain chick.

She enters the Top 5 because this run that JRJR did with that Ann lady was my introduction to DD and all the characters.  And it was great.  I loved issues 254 and on...great story.

Typhoid actually had an affair with the Kingpin and DD at the same time!  Ewww...but pretty interesting.  She owned the Kingpin too.  He was like putty in her hands.  Although he's pretty fat so he would be putty in your hands too.

She was smart too.  She knew that she couldn't take out DD at the same time so she got all these super powered goons to come at him in a wave and in one day just annihilated him.  Wonderful comic booky stories.  Wonderful character.

Alright that does it for Part Two of my Top 10 Favorite Daredevil Villains.  Make sure to stay tuned for the Top 4 coming soon! 

Make sure to give me your comments...I love to hear what you think.

 

Would this fight really be a contest?  He's the fastest man alive for crying out loud.  I mean, how does Danger Girl expect to keep up?

I still cannot believe that DC/WB licensed this out. I mean look at the blood gushing out of her face!  Ballsy.  Color me impressed.

I'm not a huge supporter of Image Comics, but every once in a while I will see something that interests me and I pick it up.

In this case it was a one shot called Kill All Parents.

Buy this book!

Writer Mark Andrew Smith and artist Marcelo Di Chiara set up a universe where the heroes have very familiar backgrounds.  In fact they are so similar that trademark and copyright attorneys are circling overhead.

I usually don't like these kinds of riffs on already established DC and Marvel heroes, but this issue does it well enough that I actually enjoyed it.  There is a sense of humor about the whole issue that makes it entertaining.

The premise is there is a mad scientist that can see in to the future and sees that the world is going to suck.  By the way, the device is called the Omniveritas.  And no, the name is not more stupider than the Ultimate Nullifier.

So instead of just sit by and let this happen he decides to alter all these potential heroes lives by killing their parents (think Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc...) and uses the tragedy to make them steadfast!

Well the heroes assemble in a JLA like team and figure out that this mad butthole set all this up by killing their parents.  So they gather...

The writing is witty.  It takes the well known themes and quickly manages to make fun of the history of our comics, yet in a respectful way that doesn't look to cheapen anything.  So a job well done there.

Such as this little moment (the graphic image below is not as graphic as you think...read the comic as I don't want to spoil the twist). 

The Discipliner!  Ha!  If you think about it, the Discipliner sounds about as serious as the Punisher.

The art is also very cool...one of my new favorites.  It has an old school flavor to it and moves well.  One of the big companies is going to pick this Marcelo Di Chiara guy up for a regular.  Mark my words!

So check this comic out.  I know that I really liked it because when I was searching the end of the comic for news of an ongoing series and didn't find squat I was actually disappointed!  And how often does that happen in comics?

Buy this book!

Why not I ask...why not! Sure the animation is looking simplistic yet, but I guess that's the style.  And at least they have Wolverine bleeding red blood as opposed to green blood or whatever they've tried to pass for blood on the Saturday morning cartoons. 

And he says "Hell"!  Woot!  If only they would throw a cigar in his mouth.

Wolverine's voice seems right too.  Are we finally going to get a good Marvel direct to DVD movie?  I will give this a shot. 

What do you guys think about this one?

Hey, by the way, the ad is embedded...it's not mine!

Last post for the night.  I love this cover and am anxiously awaiting getting this book in my hands.  To me this is what comics are all about.

But not everyone shares my enthusiasm...and the way that Loeb has been writing lately who can blame them!

For one good blogger's reaction that is opposite of mine check out (she also has the link to the preview pages)...

Pretty, Fizzy Paradise: Preview!

She writes some damn good posts...subscribe to her feed and you won't be disappointed. 

Although on this issue, I think I will agree to disagree for the time being.

Ain't America great?

But as I started to look more closely at the magazine I was tried to find Daredevil and BAM! I realized this is a cover for Daredevil #111.

So this is Lady Bullseye.

Yep.

Lady Bullseye.

Bullseye with boobs.

Now I will give the creative team the benefit of the doubt and of course will pick up this issue (I'm a completist after all).  But they better do this right or it could go horribly wrong.

Imagine this being done to any other character's  villain.  Lady Green Goblin?  Lady Joker?  Lady Lex Luther (snicker).

Lady Ultron?  Oh...never mind.

So with the introduction of this new character I thought I would complete a much needed Daredevil writing exercise and list my Top 10 favorite villains.  Complete with thesis statements and purdy pictures.

Remember now, DD is not known for his cool villains.  His most well known villains are, well, unknown.  He has Bullseye.  He has Kingpin.  Who was actually a carry over from Spider-Man (Wilson's first appearance was in Amazing Spidey #50 true believers!). 

Also, this list does not use the terms "best", "coolest" or "greatest" to describe itself.  The term "favorite" does a much better job...since these are my favorites.  And really, nothing else should matter dammit!

This post will consist of Part One (Villains ranked 8-10).  Make sure to catch Part Two, Three and Four to get to Numerous Uno!

#10 - Stilt-Man

I know.  And I completely agree.  Stilt-Man blows!  But (butt monkey!) as a kid I thought he was pretty cool.  As an adult I can understand that all you have to do is yank the damn pansy out of his suit.  Or simply trip him and down he goes 20 stories to his doom. 

But wait!  That is the beauty of Stilt-Man.  DD is always acting out this stupid morality play in his mind (okay not stupid...he's a hero) so he can't just trip old Stilty because of all the people he could injure or kill. 

It's as if Stilty's best offense is a good defense.

Which is pretty stupid.

Old Stilt-Man has been through a lot over the years though.  And I'm not talking the new one that popped up in the latest Marvel Team-Up book, I still don't think anyone knows who that guy is.  I'm talking about the original. 

Wilbur Day! 

You can say that old Wilbur isn't a good villain because he always loses, but don't all villains?  I mean, Joker never kills Batman (all you Barbara Gordon fans settle down).  Lex Luther has never bested Superman.  So old Wilbur tried his best. 

For heaven's sake, he even took on Thor once!

He even hooked up with and married the Circus of Crime's Princess Python.  He fought against Spider-Man, Captain America and countless others.  He kept trying and trying and trying to improve his suit.  Diligence stands for something man!

And then Frank Miller had Turk beat him over the head, steal the Stilt-Suit and Wilbur was never the same.  Although Wilbur actually helped DD take down Turk by "manipulating the gyroscopes that keep the battlesuit balanced". Amen brother.

And in case you still don't feel the magic with Wilbur Day, he later saved Spider-Man's life (yes THE Spider-Man).  Sure Spider-Man saved Mr. Stilts from a blast which knocked himself unconscious and in peril.  But do you think Osborn would have made sure Spidey was safe?

Okay, maybe Stilt-Man is a lame as villain.  But I love him anyway!

#9 - Mysterio

Mysterio, aka Quentin Beck, was the best Mysterio.  Sure, sure, he was originally a Spidey villain (aren't they all?) but Spidey had actual cool villains.  Mysterio couldn't keep up with the likes of the Green Goblin, Venom and The Spot (woot!), so he started slumming in Daredevil's end of town.

What I loved best about Beck was the run that relaunched DD into the comic book spotlight, written by Kevin Smith and drawn by Joe "I'm-gonna-rule-Marvel-someday" Quesada.  Go back and read Volume 2, #1-7 (thru issue 8 if you want to be really particular).  Buy the TPB if you have to!  It's a great story arc and Quentin was a big SOB through all of it.

On a related note, the TPB of these issues has a forward by Ben Affleck about four years before he ruined the chance that there would ever be a good Daredevil movie made.  Ugh...if only we knew then what we knew now.  But I digress...

Mysterio is up there for me because he killed Karen Page.  I know, I know...technically Bullseye killed Karen, but Mysterio made the whole thing possible.  And then at the end, when he realizes he is done, he does the deed himself and goes out like Kraven the Hunter.  His words, not mine.

What an SOB.  What a villain!

#8 - The Owl

Leland Owlsley.  What a dusch bag!  He actually was a wealthy finance dude and went a little too far with his financing schemes.  So the IRS comes knocking he does what any other embezzling weasel would do, he starts The Owl Gang.

And he was around as early as Daredevil #3!  So this has to make him a classic DD villain.  Up until this issue DD was destined to only fight Spidey losers like Electro (Vol 1, #2).  You could say that The Owl put DD on the map.

Okay, no you couldn't.

Leland then turns to drugs (a serum to boot!) and starts slowly becoming more....um....owly.

He's stayed a lasting member of DD villainy and actually is becoming cooler by the decade.  Who knows what is up next for Leland.  But he was old, fat, and smart.  And he had a headquarters that looked a lot like Nite Owl from The Watchmen.  No kidding...check it out:

Copyright infringement anyone?  For shame Alan Moore.

Alright that does it for Part One of my Top 10 Favorite Daredevil Villains.  Make sure to stay tuned for the Top 7 coming soon! 

And yes, I really am breaking this up in to a 3-3-3-1 format because they are really long posts....

Make sure to give me your comments...we love to hear what you think.

"Now read these comics and learn something will ya!"

 

I spend a lot of quality time reading blogs on comic books and recently saw that MGYG was left out (so far anyway) of a blog tag.  We were indeed, never "it"!

But, that doesn't mean we can't give our own answer and tag some folks of our own.  Hey...there aren't any rules to blog tagging.

The tag exercise is to answer these three question surrounding one really bad experience - being attacked by zombies in a mall:

1. One weapon.
2. One song blasting on the speakers.
3. One person to fight along side you.

Here are my answers...

1.  A shotgun.  Usually, in the movies and video games anyway, zombies end up getting REALLY close and come in bunches.  So I would want a weapon that does some major, close range damage.  Plus, shooting a shotgun is cool.  I guess.

2.  My song would definitely be The Pixies "Where is My Mind".  You know, the song from the end of "Fight Club".  That movie with Angelina Jolie's husband and Bruce Banner.

And I don't like The Pixies, but if you're gonna be battling zombies with a shotgun, this should be the song you fight to.

3.  My person, of course, would be MGYG's very own Bart.  There are many reasons, he kept the neighborhood "zombies" away from me when we were growing up, he can hold his own, he would have my back and when all was said and done we would have yet another great story to tell for years to come!

Here are some other folks answers: ComicBookWeekness, ComicBookOverload, ComicsFairplay, ComicByComic, Kalinara, and of course, one of my favorites Has Boobs, Reads Comics.

I suddenly feel inspired to pull out the old PS1 and pop in some Resident Evil.

And now for me to pass on this tag.... Shelly, you're it dear!

If I missed you and you have a blog, make sure to link to use in the comments.

And Bart, I'm waiting to hear what you have to say...

I know I am way late to the game since Free Comic Book Day was in May, but hey.  I actually forgot about FCBD this year (for shame!) so I didn't get my Atomic Robo freebie.  And I was too dumb to realize that the great MailOrderComics.com will let you pick a freebie as well.  For shame!

So boo hoo for me.

But, while at the Chicago convention I ran in to two mint copies of this JetPackComics.com variant (click on it to see it in it's full glory) of the Atomic Robo freebie.  So sure, I had to pay $3 for a free comic, but that's not important.  So Bart and I both snagged a copy.

Now I have to be entirely honest with you.  I wasn't that excited to get home and read this issue.  The last three issues of AR (I can call him that...we're tight) were disappointing.  Good...but disappointing after I was blown away by the first three issues.  By the way, as you can read in any of our past Atomic Robo posts, we have been 100% pleased with the art at all times.  It was the story that dangled for me.

Ha.  I said dangle.

So I walked in to this one a little late and a little disinterested.

Wow I was wrong.

This is a classic Atomic Robo issue.  Fighting robots.  Mad foreign scientists trying to blow up the world. Funny quips.  And of course, our cute, cuddly AR.

And what it didn't have was a TEAM!  I hated the teammates....much to the chagrin of Bart who thought the team added something to AR.  But as this issue shows...he was wrong again.

A great issue...a great character...I'm hoping this is what the future holds for Atomic Robo Vol. 2.  Go Red 5!

For my last bit, check out this splash page of this issue's mad scientist and his rant.  Classic (click on image to enlarge.)  (Are we still at the point of using the internet that we still have to tell people to click on images to enlarge?  I mean, we don't say "www" when telling someone about a site address...why do I feel compelled to tell people to click on images to make them bigger? Mommy issues I bet.)

By the way...I need an Atomic Robo action figure.  Get on that for me Red 5!

So let me hear what you think!  Did you read this issue?  What did you think? Are you an Atomic Robo fan?  Are you excited about the next volume?  Comment below.  Now!

And, if you are one of the few comic book readers who haven't picked up Atomic Robo, here are some issues to get (good luck getting #1...Bart has been trying for months!)

Or...go ahead and pre-order Atomic Robo #1 and 2.  Don't miss out...don't be a Bart!

ATOMIC ROBO IS BACK BABY!  WOOT!

Well not really.  But kinda.

Were Bendis and Finch separated at birth?