The Kid's Comic Book Reviews

WE'VE MOVED

2011-11-17T17:06:00.001-08:00

The Kids are still reading comics and now they're writing them, as well.

Beginning next week they'll be back to reviewing, covering their favorite comic(s) of the week at www.grayhavencomics.com

See you there!

More Comics from Liam and Ethan

2011-07-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

The Gathering and GrayHaven Comics is in the midst of another Kickstart campaign to raise money for printing and promoting more Gathering comics.

Aside from some great rewards offered for donating, all those who pledge will have exclusive access to a number stories from issues 1-3 and previews of issues 4-6 including Liam and Ethan's acclaimed 8 page Circus of Crime story from issue 3.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1429812861/the-gathering-comic-book-anthology

The Gathering Volume 2: The Other Side of Despair Now Available

2011-02-22T17:40:00.001-08:00

The Gathering Volume 2 is the second issue of my dad's comic book that he started last year. Me and my brother have a story in this one just like we did in the first issue and it's about our Niteraven character again.

The first issue was really good but this one is even better. The cover is cooler, the stories are cooler and there are people that do comics all the time that helped with this one. Gail Simone who writes for DC Comics and does Secret Six and Birds of Prey wrote a story here. So did Brian Koschak who draws Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

You can order the comic at wwww.grayhavencomics.com and you can sign up to be a fan of the Facebook page there, too. There is also the twitter page where a lot of Gathering Comic stuff is talked about at http://twitter.com/GatheringComic

24 Hours to Go for the Kickstarter Fundraiser

2010-12-04T20:25:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone,

24 hours to go in our Kickstarter pledge drive. Find out all about my newest project, The Gathering and GrayHaven Comics as well as some exclusive previews of upcoming issues.

There is still a little time to donate and receive some cool rewards so spread the word and help us out.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1429812861/the-gathering-an-ongoing-comic-book-anthology

Batman #703

2010-09-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

Batman #703
Written by Fabian Nicieza and illustrated by Cliff Richards
Published by DC Comics

Liam: The story is about Batman, Robin and Red Robin going after a thief that keeps getting away from them. Red Robin hasn’t worked with the new Batman and Robin much so I liked that he was in this book helping out.

The thief keeps getting away and they have to chase him through the sewers. Damian, the new Robin, is mad that he has to get all dirty and Batman, Dick Grayson who used to be the first Robin, wants to yell at him about it but Batman remembers when he was younger and he was still Robin. When he was Robin he was yelling at Batman about why they weren’t going after a bad guy, too.

Ethan: Damian is always arguing. I like how he was mad about going into the sewer. It’s kind of funny that he thinks he’s so smart and tough even though he’s only a kid.

Liam: He thinks he’s so cool. Dick Grayson goes to a reporter that used to be Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend. He is upset that she was writing a story about the thief and she makes it seems that she knows he’s really Batman. He says that she is going to need proof or she should stop talking about it and then the comic shows that she has a camera on her bag that is taking pictures of him.

Ethan: My favorite part was when Damian is training in the Batbunker.

Liam: Yeah, I like how he was doing all of the obstacle courses. That was one of my favorite parts, too.

Ethan: I like how they showed him flipping through all the hoops and doing all the stunts.

Liam: I also liked the part where Batman remembered when he was Robin. It’s pretty cool that the story kind of continued. The old Robin had a cool uniform. I like the colors and mask and cape a lot better on the old costume. And it’s awesome that he grew up from being Bruce Wayne’s partner and is now Batman himself.

Ethan: The old Robin is cool but I like Damian’s suit better. I like the hood he wears sometimes. I want to go as Damian for Halloween or to a comic convention

Liam: Batman and Robin go to a fancy party where they think the thief is going to attack and he does end up attacking. They use the flying Batmobile to go after the thief and Batman tells Robin that he knows it’s a girl by the way she moves.

Ethan: The flying Batmobile is really cool. That was one of the parts I really liked in the comic.

Liam: It’s awesome. So the thief is trying to get away Red Robin has done something to the car so she can’t leave. Right when Red Robin is about to arrest the thief Batman remembers again when he was young and Bruce Wayne Batman let a thief go. This girl thief is the daughter of the person that Bruce Wayne stopped a long time ago. He was stealing medical stuff because he was very sick and Batman felt bad so he let him go but used all his money to secretly pay for the stuff that was stolen.

Ethan: She wasn’t a big villain like the Joker or Killer Croc or someone like that so I guess they didn’t think she was that dangerous.

Liam: And Batman felt bad for her. I liked how all the members of Batman’s team worked together. They were like brothers taking care of crime when Bruce Wayne is gone and Alfred is like the granddad.

Ethan: Damian wants to be the favorite. He’s really funny. Batman and Robin is my favorite comic right now because Damian is in it a lot. But this comic was really good too because of all the people that were in it.

Liam: Damian is great. He should really get his own book, too. The only think I didn’t like is that I really don’t know why everyone has black hair. I don’t get it. They could make some of the characters different. They all look the same and especially with their masks off it’s kind of hard to tell who’s who until they say their names.

Ethan: It is hard to tell them apart sometimes. That’s why it’s cooler when they’re all in costumes. But I still liked this comic a lot.

Liam: Me too. I want to see more of all the Batman good guys hanging out and working together. I think it’s really interesting.

Our Rating: 10 out of 10

The Kids' Reviews Are Back

2010-09-21T21:01:00.001-07:00

Starting today, the boys will be back reviewing comics on what they hope to be a weekly basis. Each week they're going to pick a book or two that they liked the most and talk about it here.

Also, their first ever comic book story, illustrated by Michael Lapinski came out recently in The Gathering Volume 1. Copies can be ordered here at
http://thegatheringcomic.blogspot.com/

They're hard at work on their stories for Volumes 2 and 3 right now.

Promoting Their Own Comic: The Gathering

2010-06-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Dad here. The boys haven't been posting as much with a busy school and little league season though that should end soon. They also took part in an anthology project that I created involving over 20 talented creators pretty much new to comics so Gathering Volume 1 will mark their official comic publishing debut.

As expected they're pretty psyched about it and they were joined by Michael Lapinski, a very gifted artist who brought their story to life.

Subtitled "The Thing with Feathers", Volume 1 is a 32 page black and white anthology with the central theme being 'Hope'. And while my intention wasn't to do so, the final product appropriately enough ended up being something that is suitable for all ages. While this isn't a book aimed at kids, there is no language or violence inside that would be seen as objectionable.

The reason I'm posting this time instead of the boys is because we had so much fun working on Volume 1 that we want to do it more often. A lot more often. A new cast of creators is already fast at work on Volume 2 and the plan is to be able to eventually start putting out anywhere from 3 to 6 issues a year, everything from short anthologies to longer stories. Where the dream of doing that ends, the reality of the cost of such an idea begins. Thankfully someone brought my attention to a great website called Kickstarter which is set up for creative types to pitch their ideas to the masses and ask for pledges to fund their ideas.

Our goal is to raise 2500 dollars by the end of July. It’s a lot of money, but not an impossible goal. And yeah it does seem strange to be asking complete strangers to donate money in a tough economy to something that isn’t going to change the world but I do believe in this project and the creators involved with it.

I want to be able to create something where new talent can come and tell a story if they want to without having to figure out how to self publish on their own or trying to pitch to a major company. I think we’ve done that with this first anthology and I’m certainly excited about the potential for the future, which is why the Kickstarter campaign is so important.

So if you have a few extra dollars to spare and want to help support an up and coming comic line intent on giving new creators a place to shine, please head on over to the link and make a pledge. We also have some fun rewards available like signed books, sketches and appearances in a future comic if you so decide.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1429812861/gathering-an-indie-comic-book-anthology

Thanks for your time and the boys should be back with a few new reviews next week.

Blackest Night #8

2010-04-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

Blackest Night #8
Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert and Joe Prado
Published by DC Comics

Liam: The last issue of Blackest Night came out and it was awesome.

Ethan: This was one of my favorite comic stories ever. I’m sad that it’s over.

Liam: Now there is going to be the Brightest Day series but I don’t think there are going to be any zombie Lanterns in it. It should still be cool though.

Ethan: Brightest Day looks really cool.

Liam: I think it was a great idea that since you have all of these different colored Lanterns with different powers that there would be an evil kind that made people into zombies. Seeing different good guys and bad guys as Black Lanterns was one of my favorite parts of the story.

Ethan: My favorite part was when the different Lantern bosses gave out some of their rings to other people. I liked that other super heroes and bad guys had a chance to get rings and become Lanterns.

Liam: That was a big surprise. I liked that a lot. I thought Flash as a Blue Lantern was cool. I liked the way his costume looked.

Ethan: I liked Flash and I liked Scarecrow as a Yellow Lantern and Lex Luthor as an Orange Lantern. I wish they would have kept their rings.

Liam: I don’t think they’re allowed. In the final issue all of the heroes and some of the bad guys have teamed up to try and stop the Black Lanterns and Nekron. Sinestro has the power of a White Lantern now and he’s the only one strong enough to beat the Black Lanterns.

Ethan: I thought that Hal was going to be the White Lantern but he ended up getting to have a chance to in this comic.

Liam: Yeah Sinestro really didn’t do a good job of beating the Black Lanterns with all his power.

Ethan: It was so awesome when Hal took over the White Lanterns and all these heroes like Superman and Kid Flash became White Lanterns too. They looked really cool.

Liam: I think one of my favorite parts was when all of the different Lanterns teamed up and made a net out of their rings to try and catch the black rings. It was an interesting idea and the way it was drawn was really great.

Ethan: There were a lot of nice drawings in this comic. I liked the art a lot. The pages with the White Lanterns was soooo cool and when they attack and destroy Nekron it looked really good.

Liam: Yeah the art was really good. All of the different Lanterns and zombie Lanterns and bad guys and stuff looked amazing. There were so many characters in this book and they all looked really good. The White Lanterns look really cool the way they’re drawn. It’s almost like the pages are glowing.

Ethan: My favorite page was the fold out one after the Lanterns beat Nekron.

Liam: I saw them do pages like that in a comic before but this was so much better.

Ethan: The White Lanterns power brings back all these old super heroes and bad guys back to life. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and Kid Black Adam were all on the giant fold out page with the word ‘Live’ on it.

Liam: I like how they did that with just the one word since they kept using ‘Rise’ whenever a person was killed and brought back as a Black Lantern. I’m really glad that they brought Hawkman back to life. He’s a really awesome looking character.

Ethan: I wish there was a way that Batman could have been in this book. He only came back for a few pages in one issue.

Liam: I guess it’s because he’s doing his own stuff in the Batman comic with Nightwing as Batman and the real Batman missing somewhere.

Ethan: Yeah. It was good this way too because a lot of other super heroes got to do stuff. I ended up really liking the Flash a lot more because of this story.

Liam: He was really good in this story. I like that this issue had a lot of extra pages. I didn’t want it to be over with.

Ethan: There was so much that happened in the comic. There was a lot of action and a lot more pages.

Liam: I’m really looking forward to see what happens in the Brightest Day story. Blackest Night was such a great idea. I really like how it connected to other comics and was able to do all these different stories. I think Brightest Day could turn out to be really good, especially if they start doing more stuff with the White Lanterns.

Ethan: This is my favorite comic this year. I even like trying to find the new Black Lantern action figures. I think Brightest Day will be really good but I hope there are more Black Lantern and White Lanterns showing up.

Our Rating: 10 out of 10

Baby Boomers

2010-04-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

Baby Boomers
Written by Richard McAuliffe and illustrated by Chad Cicconi
Published by Orang Utan Comics

Baby Boomers is a comic about two little babies who hate each other. They keep getting put together by their parents and instead of playing they keep dreaming about fighting each other in different kinds of matches. The book is really silly. We found it when we went to a small comic convention and the people were selling the book. We looked through a lot of the pages and it was really funny so we bought it.

It’s a really crazy idea that there are two babies who are trying to fight to the death. They’re just babies. We have a little brother and it’s funny to imagine that he is having some secret war with another baby in his head. The best part of the comic is just how the babies have all these different battles and they keep getting put together because the parents don’t realize that they don’t like each other.

The book has so many different battles. There is a fight in the crib where the babies do karate against each other. There is a fight on a playground where the babies are imagining that a pail and shovel for the sandbox are really a shield, spear and helmet. All of the battles that they get into are really funny but one of the best ones is when the two babies are in their walkers and they pretend that they have all these kinds of weapons on the walkers and start attacking each other. Another really good one is when they have a massive attack in the room and are using the family pets to help. One of the babies grabs two hamsters and starts firing their poop at the other babies. It made no sense but it was really funny.

The art is like a cartoon instead of making them look like real babies but it looks good because the story is silly like a cartoon. I really like some of the expressions on the babies’ faces, especially when they are put next to each other when the moms are there and they just give each other these mean stares.

This is a really strange idea for a book but we're glad that we bought it because it was really funny and we hope they do some more of these stories.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Batman and Robin #6

2009-11-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

Batman and Robin #6
Written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Philip Tan
Published by DC Comics

Liam: Batman and Robin is one of the best comic books to read. The new Batman and Robin are really cool and even though they aren’t fighting any bad guys that I know the fight parts are great

Ethan: Nightwing is Batman now and Bruce Wayne’s son Damien is Robin. Nightwing is one of my favorite characters and I like the job he’s doing as Batman.

Liam: Batman and Robin have to take care of a bunch of different bad guys. There’s Jason who used to be one of the Robins but turned bad and calls himself Red Hood. And he has a partner who was the girl in the first Batman comic that got her face messed up by Pyg.

Ethan: And Flamingo is a bad guy that uses a gun and a whip and looks like he came from the circus. He kind of looks like the Joker in this comic.

Liam: Batman and Robin are trying to stop Red Hood and the girl from killing bad guys and Flamingo is coming to kill Red Hood because he doesn’t want the other bad guys to get killed. I like the trap that Flamingo set for Batman and Robin in the front of the issue. Red Hood still might be a little good because he doesn’t kill Batman and Robin but he takes their masks off and puts TV cameras on them and tells people that if they vote for Red Hood a million times he’ll show them all who Batman and Robin really are.

Ethan: I like when Robin tells everyone to get a life for trying to look at them

Liam: Batman and Robin escape pretty easy and then they go after Red Hood and the girl but they’re busy fighting the Flamingo.

Ethan: My favorite part is when Robin tried to take the rifle and Batman told him he couldn’t use it and he got all mad. Robin is really funny in the comic.

Liam: I liked that part, too. And later on Robin saves Red Hood’s life by shooting a rocket launcher at Flamingo. He’s just a little kid but he’s kind of crazy.
Even though he listens to Batman, Damien still thinks that Dick Grayson isn’t as good of a Batman as his dad was so he still tries to do his own thing.

Ethan: I thought it was cool that the good guys and the bad guys teamed up to fight the Flamingo because he was a bigger bad guy and they all needed to work together.

Liam: There are a lot of great parts in the story. Batman and Robin are always fun. I like how they talk to each other and sometimes argue when they battle the bad guys but somehow even when they’re fighting they always win. I like how all the good guys were telling the Red Hood that they’re better because they don’t kill and were trying to make him be a good guy again.

Ethan: The Flamingo looked weird in a couple pictures and he didn’t get to do much but I liked how the Red Hood got him at the end.

Liam: Sometimes it was hard to see what was happening in the pictures but I figured it out.

Ethan: I like Nightwing being Batman. I hope he stays Batman for a long time.

Liam: He’s really cool as Batman. And Damien is the best Robin, ever.

Rating: 9 out of 10

The Amazing Spider-Man #611

2009-11-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

Amazing Spider-Man #611
Written by Joe Kelly and illustrated by Eric Canete
Published by Marvel Comics

I haven’t read Spider-Man for awhile. We get a lot of comics and I don’t have time to read them as much anymore and do everything else. But this issue of Spider-Man had Deadpool in it so I really wanted to read it because Spider-Man is awesome and Deadpool is awesome.

This issue starts with Deadpool pretending to talk on the phone to President Obama but it’s just a lie because his phone rings and it shows he wasn’t talking to anyone. The girl Kraven family hires Deadpool to keep Spider-Man busy because they have a secret plan going on and they don’t want Spider-Man in the area trying to stop them. Deadpool wanted to charge them two billion dollars for the job but they only paid him ten thousand and he was still excited about it.

Spider-Man has to fight this really lame villain who’s just a girl on stilts and he can’t stop laughing at how silly she looks. Deadpool helps Spider-Man out even though he doesn’t need it and then asks for his autograph. He said he looks up to Spider-Man and wants an autograph of their team up but the pen he gives Spider-Man is really a bomb. Deadpool and Spider-Man fight for awhile but Deadpool is pretty much just talking to himself the whole time and Spider-Man keeps saying how crazy he is. Deadpool did talk a lot more in this comic. He always talks to his imagination in his regular book but he did it a lot more here and it started to be annoying. I like the shorter jokes better.

The best part of the book is when Spider-Man and Deadpool go to a playground and start trash talking on each other. There are a bunch of kids playing basketball and they stop to watch the fight. Deadpool is making fun of Spider-Man’s mom and then Spider-Man starts making fun of Deadpool’s mom. Deadpool tells him that he has the biggest joke ever and it will make Spider-Man cry for days but his job ends before he can say the joke. I wanted to hear the joke. My favorite one was that Deadpool’s mom was so dumb she thinks Cheerios are donut seeds but all the jokes were good. It was fun to see them fight with insults instead of just another big battle.

The art was definitely strange in the comic. The stilt lady bad guy looked very weird and Spider-Man and Deadpool were drawn really different from other times. I kind of liked the different way they looked here and I especially like the way the artist draws Spider-Man’s mask and eyes. It looks really good. He draws a cool looking Spider-Man

The only part of the book I didn’t like was the Peter Parker parts. They kept going blah, blah, blah and I thought that was kind of weird. And there’s a part where a car splashes water on a guy next to Peter Parker. Peter Parker doesn’t get wet but the guy does so his kid throws soda on him. He should have webbed the kid up for that. The bad guy was kind of lame, too but it’s okay because this issue was supposed to be really funny with Deadpool and Spider-Man and it was.

It was a pretty good comic with a lot of funny parts but not so much action. In one part Deadpool says he’s going to meet Spider-Man again in Deadpool issue 19. I hope that’s true because I want to read that.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

The Site's One Year Anniversary

2009-08-10T16:49:00.001-07:00

ONE YEAR....and COUNTING!!!

Last August I started doing comic reviews on my own site with the help of my dad. Now it’s been a year so we’re celebrating the site’s one year anniversary. I got to review over one hundred comics in the past year, visit the offices of DC Comics, and go to the New York Comic Con and Wizard World Philly and sit down with creators at their tables and do some work. I got to meet a lot of cool creators and do some interviews with them and a lot of them have sent emails and copies of their projects all signed and stuff. It’s really cool that a lot of people read and like the reviews. My brother, Ethan, started doing reviews too a few months ago and likes it a lot.

I thought it would be cool to talk to people who work in comics about what kinds of books they liked when they were kids and what comics they like now. A lot of different creators responded and gave so many great answers. I hope you like them.

1. Did you read comic books when you were a kid and if so what were some of your favorite comic books/characters

Fabian Nicenza (writer of Cable/Deadpool for Marvel, Batgirl for DC): I started reading comics as early as I could remember in Argentina, because my older brother was reading a magazine called Antiojito y Antifas. Then when we first came to the United States in 1966, I read Superman, Batman, Archie Comics, Hot Stuff and Richie Rich. Then I discovered Marvel Comics and Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

Daniel Way (writer of Deadpool and Dark Wolverine): I grew up being very poor so, even though comics at that time only cost 60-75 cents each, they were still a luxury. I did read a few, though. I remember a Spider-Man comic where he's fighting a guy named Sin Eater, where Daredevil interferes. I also read a Spider-Man comic featuring Puma. And I had an Iron Man comic that really confused me because it wasn't the "real" Iron Man--it was the other guy--the black guy?--with different armor.

Bill Rosemann (Marvel Comics editor): I began reading comics BEFORE I could read! My parents were nice enough to put comics into my hands at a very early age, right when I was figuring out what letters and words were, so by the 1st grade I was enjoying the adventures of my favorite heroes, which included Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers

Jeph Loeb (writer of Hulk, Ultiamtes): I read them all the time. I was mostly a MARVEL guy -- the Avengers and the Fantastic Four were my favorites. At DC I read Superman, Batman and oddly enough, DEADMAN!

Joe Quesada (Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics): Yes, I did. My dad, who didn’t read comics, introduce me to the world of Marvel and Spider-Man by buying me my very first Spider-Man comic. From that point I was hooked and read comics until I was about 12 years old. Up until that point, I loved everything Marvel and Spider-Man in particular. There were also cool offbeat characters like Deathlok and Conan, who I thought were the coolest things I had ever read up until that point.

Christos Gage (writer of Avengers Initiative from Marvel, Wildcats from Wildstorm): I did! I loved Godzilla, the Shogun Warriors, the X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man, and Captain America

Dan Slott (writer of Amazing Spider-Man and Mighty Avengers): When I was your age, my favorite books were MARVEL TEAM-UP, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, THE BRAVE & THE BOLD, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, and DETECTIVE COMICS.

David Liss (Author of The Devil’s Company and writer of the upcoming Daring Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special).: I actually came to comics a little bit on the late side -- when I was a teenager. My favorites were Batman, Justice League, Punisher, Daredevil, Grimjack, and Nexus.

Erik Larsen (Image Comics founder, creator of Savage Dragon): I did. I liked a lot of Marvel Comics. Fantastic Four, Hulk and Spider-Man plus the old Fawcett hero Captain Marvel.

Mike Raicht (Co-writer, Stuff of Legend from Th3rd World Studios): My parents picked me up the old Marvel Star Wars comics when I was about 5. But I started really getting into them at about 7 or 8 years old and I was a huge Uncanny X-Men fan. I loved Colossus and Kitty Pryde. Pretty much everything X-Men was cool. Although back then you only had to follow the one book which made it a lot easier. I liked Alpha Flight as well.Especially Guardian and Sasquatch

Kazu Kibuishi (Creator of Amulet and Daisy Kutter, editor of the Flight anthology series)
Yep! Garfield was actually my favorite comic when I was a kid. I was also a big fan of MAD Magazine, though mostly because of the art of Mort Drucker.

Tricia Narwani (Editor, Del Rey Comics and Villard): My childhood would have been so much better if I’d discovered comics sooner. Parents, do not deprive your kids of comics! Otherwise their lives will lack all meaning, as mine did, until I stumbled upon Neil Gaiman’s Sandman in a comic book shop in high school. Once you’ve gotten into comics, though, it’s like when Peter Parker was bitten by the radioactive spider: You’re changed forever.

Todd Dezago (co-creator of Tellos, Perhapanauts from Image, writer of Marvel Adventures Spider-Man): I read comics as a kid--and still do! I loved the Justice League and remember wanting to learn as much as i could about all of those characters! Though I was immediately a big Batman fan, in the JLA I liked many of the secondary characters; Red Tornado, Elongated Man, The Atom...I also loved Spider-Man--especially when he teamed up with other characters from the Marvel Universe--and then I would want top learn all I could about THOSE characters too!

Joe Schreiber (Author No Doors, No Windows and Star Wars: Death Troopers): I always loved X-MEN and SPIDERMAN, and later on DAREDEVIL...plus EC horror comic reprints (of course) -- like TALES FROM THE CRYPT and VAULT OF HORROR. I found 'em at a flea market in my old hometown and bought all I could find.

Tom Brevoort (Executive Editor for Marvel Comics): Yes, I started reading comics when I was six years old. My first comic was SUPERMAN #268, and early on I mostly read DC titles. My favorite super hero at the time was the Flash. Eventually, I moved into reading Marvel titles as well, beginning with the Fantastic Four.

Tommy Lee Edwards (artist of 1985, Wolverine): My comics reading started in the mid-to-late 1970's, with stuff like Thor and Captain America and Silver Surfer. I was about three when the interest began. When I was seven or so, Marvel debut the G.I. Joe comic in conjunction with the newly popular toys. I ate that stuff up every month. As I got older and in to junior high school, my interests shifted toward the "art" side of comics. I was drawn to books featuring creators I admired, such as John Romita JR, Walter Simonson, and Howard Chaykin.

Erich Schoeneweiss (Production Manager/Editor Del Rey and Del Rey Comics) G.I. JOE. In fact G.I. JOE #31 is the first comic I remember. I bought it off a spinner rack and must have read it a million times. I then subscribed to the comic but it took too long to deliver in the mail so I eventually convinced my parents to start taking me to the comic book shop. It was the stereotypical shop, everything was a mess and in long boxes, the owner stank and was weird. But I was able to get my new issue of G.I. JOE each month and that grew to X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Batman, and so on. I eventually had a $100 a week habit in my mid/late twenties and new I had to seek help.

Kenny Lopez (Cover Editor, DC Comics): I sure did. I loved Batman, Green Lantern, and the Justice League. Spider-man as well.

2. What are one or two of your favorite comics to read right now?

Nicenza: I enjoy several mature reader comics put out by Vertigo (DC) such as Scalped and Fables. For superheroes, I really enjoy Green Lantern right now, the Superman titles and Secret Six by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott, too.

Way: Two of the books I really like right now are Captain America and Sweet Tooth.

Rosemann: Aside from every of Marvel comic, my two favorite comics are Dark Horse’s B.P.R.D. and Vertigo’s Scalped. Oh, and did I mention I love all the books I edit, like Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thunderbolts, War Machine, Dark Reign: Hawkeye, Dark Reign: Hood, Marvel Zombies 3 & 4, Timestorm, House of M: Masters of Evil and Avengers: The Initiative? I do!

Loeb: I read a bunch of stuff. Really like what Geoff Johns is doing on GREEN LANTERN. Sterling Gates on SUPERGIRL. Bendis on the AVENGERS. Mark Millar on ULTIMATE AVENGERS and WOLVERINE (OLD MAN LOGAN). All great stuff.

Quesada: I’m enjoying a lot of stuff out there, but I guess right now I really love reading the thrice monthly Amazing spider-Man books, Thunderbolts and Wolverine: Old Man Logan.

Gage: I read so many, it's hard to pick just a couple. I really enjoy INCREDIBLE HERCULES and all the FABLES books.

Slott: THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES and ATOMIC ROBO

Liss: My two favorites right now are probably both by Robert Kirkman -- Invincible and Walking Dead.

Larsen: Scott Pilgrim, Invincible and the Walking Dead.

Raicht: I am having a great time following anything Green Lantern. Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Doug Mankhe and the rest are doing some phenomenal work. I also pick up Batman and Robin because I love Frank Quitely's stuff.

Kibuishi: I really like RASL by Jeff Smith. Aside from that, I enjoy reading the Moomin books by Tove Jansson, and the Osamu Tezuka books that are being reprinted right now.

Narwani: “The Unwritten” by Mike Carey and Peter Gross is my favorite new series. It’s about a guy whose dad based a Harry Potter-like character on him when he was a kid...and it brings all kinds of amazing magical events into his life. And Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s “Batman and Robin” has me all excited about Batman again.

Dezago: I really enjoy reading the fun Marvel Adventures books--Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and Marvel Adventures Avengers--as well as the Brave and the Bold comic!

Schreiber: I don't read as many comics as I'd like to. Right now I like Geoff Johns' GREEN LANTERN -- I also like Brian Bendis' work on THE AVENGERS. And IRON FIST, with Duane Swierczynski writing it. That's one hot book.

Brevoort: It's not at all appropriate for you yet, Liam, but I really, really liked Darwyn Cooke's adaptation of PARKER: THE HUNTER that just came out. Also, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #600 was really good and really thick!

Edwards: I don't read any monthly comics right now, but still follow anything by my childhood favorites. I also read anything done by newer talent that I admire, or a friends' work. Recently, I read and enjoyed The Winter Men, Wolverine: Enemy of the State, and the latest David Mazzuchelli book (whatever it's called).

Schoeneweiss: So many comics aren’t written to be read as a comic but as the collected trade. So its frustrating that its hard to find just a good comic these days. Anything by Geoff Johns is a safe bet to be a great comic with a great cliff hanger ending. The Green Lantern book has been exceptional this year. And as much as I HATE what’s happened in the Batman books, I’ve really enjoyed Batman and Robin. Also, John Jackson Miller’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has been a great read for years now.

Lopez: The new Batman and Robin book, and Green Lantern. Old habits die hard.

3. What is your favorite thing about having a job making comic books?

Nicenza: Getting to write everyday and getting paid to do it has always pretty weird to me, but once the "dream come true" part becomes a reality, it's also a job. You have to do your job well to get paid to put food on the table for your family, so although it's really FUN work, it's still work.

Way: The freedom it allows me, in both my professional and personal lives.

Rosemann: I love the idea that the stories I help make not only might entertain a reader, but may also help them through a tough time by showing how heroes like Spider-Man or even Rocket Raccoon deal with bad situations. Marvel heroes don’t do the easy thing, they do the right thing…and that’s something we all can learn from.

Loeb: I love comics. I'm a fanboy -- so getting to make the thing I collect is the coolest!

Quesada: C’mon now, what do you think it is? Yup, I work in comics! Nothing can be cooler than that, seriously, can you think of anything? I spend my entire day, I mean my ENTIRE day, just coming up with ideas for our greatest characters and every once in a while, I find enough time to sit down and draw a few of them. It’s arguably the best job in the world.

Gage: That I get to get up every morning and make comic books, instead of doing something else I might not enjoy as much! I really feel lucky that I love my job so much.

Slott: Getting a chance to work with my childhood heroes-- and by that I mean BOTH my favorite comic book characters AND my favorite comic book creators.

Liss: My day job is writing historical fiction, so comics allow me to engage with an entirely different kind of storytelling. I love working in a world where the rules are so flexible and, in the truest sense of the word, fantastic. I also love the collaborative nature of working in comics. With fiction, you are entirely on your own. In comics, I am working closely with my editor and the artist, and I enjoy the give and take of the creative process.

Larsen: Everything. There's nothing that isn't fun. I get to write and draw all day long. What's not to love?

Raicht: I love finishing a story I've been working on and feeling like it has all come together. Especially when I get to see how the artist has interpreted the world we are working on together. Sometimes at the start of the process, writing the story can feel pretty daunting, so getting to the end and getting pages is in always awesome.

Kibuishi: There are so many great things about it that I can't pick just one! If I did have to pick one, it would have to be getting to meet so many wonderful people. Most of the people who I have met through this project have become very close friends, and they feel like family to me. I feel so lucky to get to be a part of it all.

Narwani: It’s like being a mad scientist let loose in a laboratory! As a fan, of course you have big dreams about the stories you’d like to read and the writers and artists you’d like to see collaborate, and as a comic book editor, you can actually make those dreams happen. Also, every day something cool and awesome and surprising from your talented writers and artists will cross your desk...and you’ll be one of the first people ever to see it. It’s a great feeling.

Dezago: Getting to tell my own stories about the characters that I love so much, that I grew up reading! It's fun to be able to hang out with Spider-Man and see him get out of the trouble that I come up with!

Schreiber: Well, I don't write comics (yet) but I think, like writing STAR WARS books, the big thrill comes from getting to play in an awesome sandbox of huge, iconic, well-known characters and make it your own in some way. Who wouldn't love to do that?

Brevoort: I get a lot of free comic books! And I get to work with a lot of talented people on all of these great, cool characters!

Edwards: I like making comics because I get to support my family doing something that I love. I love telling stories with pictures.

Schoeneweiss: Living a dream! When I got the box containing the SDCC exclusive copies of Talisman #0 we printed up and opened the comic to see my name in it…well, all I can say was it was an exciting moment. I think most creators or comics professionals have probably had that same feeling. Living a dream.

Lopez: Making comic books is the best job in the world. Hard to narrow it down to a favorite thing. For one thing, it's great getting to see the original art, especially back when I was hand-lettering and would get the pencilled art sent over. Also, knowing the stories before everyone else does. Finally, the really cool people you get to work with.

4. What cool comics would you give to a kid who wants to get into comic books now?

Way: I'm really impressed with the Marvel Adventure books, and what Andy Runton does in Owly is amazing.

Rosemann: Ultimate Spider-Man, Bone and Courtney Crumrin are all great places to start. Then, depending on which one of those you like, your friendly neighborhood comic store owner can recommend many more great reads. I always suggest that you not buy what’s “cool” or “hot”, but instead choose what most connects to you. Follow your heart and you’ll never be wrong. ‘Nuff Said!

Loeb: Those books I mentioned that I'm reading -- and of course THE HULK! HE RULES! Thanks Liam, I’m your biggest fan!!

Quesada: Well, that depends on their age. For younger kids I would say anything from our Marvel Adventures line or Marvel Illustrated line, have you read Wizard of Oz, wow is it good! For older kids, I would start them off with either Amazing Spider-Man or any of the core books from the world of Avengers. Books like New Avengers, Captain America, Thor or Iron Man. Aw heck, you know what, just go buy them all, you’re life will never be the same!

Gage: I love Owly. It's really an all-ages book in that people of any age can enjoy it equally. I'd probably also give them some Marvel Adventures comics, and the Marvel Essentials collection of Godzilla…still one of my all-time favorite comics!

Slott: Any of the books from the Marvel Adventures line-- and Amazing Spider-Man #600, of course. Congratulations on a wonderful first year, Liam and Ethan

Liss: I think it depends on the age of the kid. My daughter is eight, and she's already finding lots of comics that interest her -- Fashion Kitty, Babymouse, The Warriors. When she gets a little bit older, there will be plenty more. Kids today are lucky to have such a wide variety of graphic fiction to choose from.

Larsen: Bone, Captain Marvel Adventures and all of my old Marvel books from the
'60s. And Savage Dragon. You can't go wrong with that.

Raicht: I think Mouse Guard is a lot of fun, although it's not superhero stuff it is a fun little adventure. I also think Brian Vaughan's digest run on Runaways is a nice entry point for kids. It delivers everything a kid could want all on one team --aliens, mutants, time travelers, robots! Fun stuff. Of things I've worked on, I would gladly give a copy of The Stuff of Legend #1. Although there are some intense moments, I think parents and kids can have a fun time reading that one together.

Kibuishi: Besides Amulet?! Heheh. I would give them Bone, of course. Aside from that, there's Jellaby, Flight Explorer, and the upcoming Missile Mouse graphic novel by Jake Parker. I think young boys are really going to love that one.

Narwani: David Petersen’s “Mouse Guard” is one of the best comics series I’ve ever read. What kid is not going to be excited about The Lord of the Rings with mice?

Dezago: The Marvel Adventures Comics are always a lot of fun—I think. Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, Marvel Adventures Superheroes, and the new Marvel SuperHero Squad is gonna be great!!

Schreiber: The classics -- SPIDERMAN, Ed Brubaker's CAPTAIN AMERICA, HULK...they're all great!

Brevoort: Actually, I just gave my nephews a stack of Marvel Masterworks volumes collecting the earliest Spider-Man and Fantastic Four stories this past weekend. But there are tons of great comics out there for kids. If I had to pick a Marvel book to pass on to a potential young reader right now, I'd probably go with HULK.

Edwards: I've learned through experience with my own children on this one. I'd probably expose a kid to certain iconic Spider-Man stories. I'd also recommend they read Tintin and Bone. I can't really think of a decent modern comic for kids off the top of my head, unfortunately.

Schoeneweiss: Well, Liam has shot down a number of my suggestions (I cried a little when I learned he hated G.I. JOE #21) so I don’t know that my opinion carries much weight. I do think Stuff of Legend is absolutely brilliant. Cool, with lots of action, but also a really scary villain and tragic consequences for the heroes. Its like a Grimms Brothers fairy tale, dark and scary but fun and exciting at the same time. And the art is gorgeous.

Lopez: Hmm, depends on the age. For little kids, Tiny Titans. For bigger kids, Jeph Loeb's and Ed McGuiness's run on Superman/Batman. I'd also have to say Blackest Night and the other Green Lantern books.

Amazing Spider-Man #600

2009-08-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

Amazing Spider-Man #600
Written by Bob Gale, Mark Guggenheim, Joe Kelly, Stan Lee, Dan Slott, Mark Waid and Zeb Wells and illustrated by Mario Alberti, Mitch Brewster, Colleen DoranMarcos Martin, and John Romita Jr

This is one of the biggest comic books I ever read. The comic is huge. The main story is really, really long and I liked it because I didn’t have to wait for a bunch of issues to come out to find out the end.

Doctor Octopus is dying because he’s been beaten up so many times by Spider-Man and other super heroes so he has a new suit with extra tentacles because his arms and legs don’t work anymore. His new costume is very creepy. I thought it was interesting that even though he’s the big bad guy in this comic and he built all these robot things in New York that go nuts that he really wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. He thought that he was going to be helping people but it just didn’t work out. That’s different.

I liked that a lot of Spider-Man’s friends show up like the Avengers, Fantastic Four and Daredevil. He’s been around a long time and he is an Avenger so it’s cool when they show up in his comic to help out. The only thing I didn’t really like about the main story is that Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus really didn’t battle each other very much. Spider-Man spends most of the time fighting the robots that took over New York and having his friends help him but the real fight with Doctor Octopus is pretty short. I would like to see what happens now that Doctor Octopus is really angry with all this new power when he comes back.

The guy who draws the main Spider-Man story is one of my favorite artists. I usually like all of the Spider-Man artists but he does a really good job with how he draws Spider-Man in the costume and all the buildings and stuff. I remember that he drew Anti-Venom and made him look even cooler than Venom.

The other stories were pretty good, too. I liked how the one story showed all the different versions of Spider-Man and how he made the doctor crazy from talking about all his adventures. The story about Spider-Man’s car was funny, too. I don’t know if Spider-Man really needs a car and the one he used looked really weird but it was supposed to be sort of a silly story. The different fake covers that they did were a lot of fun. My favorite ones were the one with Spider-Man and Luke Cage’s sons and the one where it’s supposed to be Batman but they can’t show it.

My Rating: 9 out of 10 (Main Story: 9 out of 10)

Flight Volume #6

2009-08-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

Flight: Volume 6
Written and Illustrated by Various
Published by Villard

I really like reading the Flight books because they have a lot of short stories by different writers and artists all in one big book. Most of the stories are really good and they’re all different from each other. Some of the stories can be funny or scary. Some stories have a lot of action in them and some are just crazy. Not all of the stories in Flight are good. There are some that I think are pretty boring or the art doesn’t look that great but mostly everything is really good. My favorite Flight book is Flight: Explorer. That had the best stories in it, I think. Pretty much all of them were really good.

I got to read the new Flight book, Volume Six, ahead of time which is pretty cool and this is another really good collection. I like getting the advance copies of books before everyone else. After the San Diego Comic Convention I’ll be able to review a book called The Complete Vader which is totally awesome but it isn’t a comic book. And we were able to get a very advance copy called an advance galley of a new Star Wars book called Death Troopers which doesn’t come out till October. But there is going to be a lot of cool Death Troopers and Star Wars and Flight stuff at the Comic Con so people should go check it out. I’m just going to review a few of my favorite stories from this book but there were only maybe one or two bad ones that I didn’t like.

The Excitingly Mundane Life of Kenneth Shuri is tied for my favorite story. It’s about a guy who wants to get a job as a ninja. Actually he already is a ninja but he can’t find a job and he’s really depressed that he has no money and has to take on different jobs that he doesn’t like. The best part of the story is when Ken the ninja has to take on a ton of other ninja warriors for a job. It’s a huge battle in the office building with a lot of action and crazy death scenes. The story looks more like a cartoon than some of the other realistic type of comic book art but that style makes it better. If it was drawn realistic it would probably look way too bloody. It is a funny story though and I liked how the writer ends this one.

Epitaph by Phil Craven was the shortest story in the book. I liked how it seemed like the story was taking place in outer space or something and the characters find a dead body. I thought for sure that it was going to end up being some monster story with the space guys getting chased around the whole time but it was a lot simpler than that. I liked what the guys did with the body near the end of the story, too.

Kidnapped by Rad Sechrist was probably my favorite story. One Samurai warrior’s girlfriend or wife was kidnapped and he’s fighting another warrior to save her. There is a lot of good action in the book and the art is really nice. It takes place in the woods in the winter time so there is a lot of snows and trees around them as they’re fighting. Both of the warriors are really tough and they keep fighting even with arrows shot into them and stuff. My favorite part of the story was the ending because it’s a trick ending. For a minute I thought that one warrior won but it was really just a fake out. Once I figured out what really happened it made the story even better.

The Zs and the Attack of the Early Birds by Richard Pose is more of a story for kids. A little boy is going to go fishing with his dad and has to go to bed early so he isn’t tired. Even the teddy bear tells him to go to sleep but the little boy says he wants to go look for worms instead and goes off on an adventure with the teddy bear following him. There are cool parts with the little boy getting attacked by the early bird for stealing the bird’s worms and then the army of the Zs goes after the boy and the bear. They all want him to sleep and he just wants to get away. I think the early bird was really funny. He just shouts and yells at the boy for everything he does. He’s such an angry bird. It’s a good story that is a lot of fun because of how the boy doesn’t like going to bed and the sleep monsters try and attack him to make him sleep.

There are a lot of other stories in this book that I liked like Fish N Chips and Jellaby and those two were in other Flight books, as well. These were my four favorite, though. I like reading super hero comics like Spider-Man and Deadpool but sometimes it’s fun to read a bunch of different shorter stories like they have in Flight.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Hulk #600

2009-08-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Hulk #600
Written by Jeph Loeb, Stan Lee and Fred Van Lente and illustrated by Ed McGuinness, Rodney Buchemi, Michael Ryan, Salva Espin and Tim Sale
Published by Marvel Comics

Hulk is still one of the most fun comics I read. I think it’s great that they came up with another Hulk who is even tougher and meaner than the green Hulk and I like that there is a mystery on who he really is. I really thought that Red Hulk was going to be Samson but now I’m not even sure who he could be. Maybe the General who really hates the Hulk but he doesn’t have a mustache. Hulk with a mustache would be hilarious.

I like that Spider-Man was in this. Back when all the different Marvel characters were showing up in the book like Iron Man and Thor I asked Jeph Loeb if Rulk would ever fight Spider-Man and it was cool to see it finally happen. It’s funny that even Rulk is annoyed by Spider-Man’s dumb jokes. Spider-Man looks so small compared to Rulk but I’m glad that he didn’t get beaten real easy like all the other people who tried to fight him. This issue was good because it showed a lot of clues on who Rulk might be and I like how the reporter is trying to figure out the truth by investigating everything. It was strange that She-Hulk was so scared of Rulk but that’s probably because he’s so tough that even she is worried about what would happen if he came after her.

I thought that the big fight between Green and Red Hulk was really good. They’ve been battling in a couple of different comics and this really seemed like it could be the last battle and I liked the way Red Hulk came up with the win. It was an interesting way to do it instead of just beating on each other until one got knocked out.

I didn’t like the other stories in the comic as much as I did the Spider-Man big book. I don’t really like She-Hulk but I did like the way the Hulk looked in the last part of the comic with the Gray Hulk story. That was pretty good and I want to find the other issues of that story. I liked the short story that had Red Hulk and Green Hulk fighting too and the huge guy who shows up to stop them but can’t tell which one is the good Hulk because he is color blind. I think it was a cool idea that they showed all of the Hulk comic covers ever made, too. I wish they did that with Spider-Man.

My Rating: 8 out of 10 (Main story: 9 out of 10)

Blackest Night #1

2009-08-03T18:11:00.001-07:00

Blackest Night #1
Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Ivan Reis
Published by DC Comics

Green Lantern has been so awesome since I’ve been reading it. I like how there are a lot of different types of Lantern teams and each one has different moods. The Black Lanterns were talked about for a long time and this is the big comic book where all the Black Lantern zombies start coming out and try to take over everything. Now that all of the other colored Lantern teams have come out it’s time for the really evil team to join in and start trouble.

There were a lot of really great moments in this comic. The Black Hand is really creepy. He’s digging up the grave of Batman and using his skull to make Black Lantern rings. I don’t know why Batman’s skull makes the rings but it’s kind of cool that it’s happening because it probably means Batman will come back really angry and kick the Black Lantern’s butt for doing that.

I liked how all these things were talking place at different times. Green Lantern Hal is showing Flash all of the super heroes who died while he was gone and he also shows them that the Justice League is keeping all the bodies of the bad guys at their base so no bad guys can steal the bodies and do experiments. When those bad guys turn into zombies because of the Black Hand the Justice League base is going to be in big trouble.
And the other Green Lanterns are at their base in space when Black Hand brings back to life all of the Green Lanterns that ever died. I liked how every time the Black Hand said ‘rise’ it meant that the dead people were going to come back as zombie Lanterns. The art on the pages where all the zombies are coming alive with their rings was really well done. It was scary and cool at the same time. The blue Guardians fighting it out was really strange, as well. They’ve been doing everything wrong and not helping the Green Lanterns for a long time and now they’re all getting in trouble and they’re probably going to get killed because of it.

One of the best parts of the book was with Hawkman and Hawkgirl when they get attacked by friends of theirs who were turned into Black Lanterns. Hawkman is a really tough character and the battle between him and the Black Lanterns showed how tough the zombie guys really are because if they can take out Hawkman they are going to be really hard to beat. It was a really bloody battle and I thought it was cool that Hawkman and Hawkgirl tried to team up and fight the Black Lanterns together. I was really surprised by how the fight ended and what was said on the last page.

Green Lantern has turned into an even better book since the Black Lantern story started. I can’t wait to see how the Justice League battles their old friends and stops the Black Lanterns. I bet they’re going to have to team up with some of the evil Lanterns like the Red and Yellow to be able to stop them all.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

Ultimatum #5

2009-08-03T18:09:00.001-07:00

Ultimatum #5
Written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by David Finch
Published by Marvel Comics

This comic is crazy. So much is happening from the beginning to the end. I like the idea that there is a different universe for all these characters so that things can happen and people can change sides or get killed in battles because it isn’t the real Marvel or DC so you don’t know if the people are going to come back or not. Some of the issues have been really good but I thought the last issue was strange with the way Nick Fury was getting Dr. Doom to help out and all that stuff.

This is the last issue of the story so everything has to happen fast and there isn’t a lot of time that’s wasted. I don’t know how to talk about a lot of the comic without ruining all of the surprises because there’s really like a major surprise happening on every page. The fight between Wolverine and Magneto was awesome. I thought it was really interesting how Magneto used Cyclops and Iron Man’s powers to his advantage. He knew he wouldn’t be able to beat Wolverine on his own because he’s so tough and can’t really get hurt so he takes over those other good guys to try and help himself.

I was really surprised at a lot of the stuff that happened. I know that big things happened in the Ultimate Spider-Man book but they never found his body so he’s probably alive. And he still has a comic coming out so I bet he’s safe. But there are a lot of really popular characters who didn’t survive in this series and this issue really gets nuts with major characters getting killed that I wouldn’t expect. The wildest part was probably the part that takes place in Dr Doom’s castle with the Thing.

The guy who draws the book puts a lot of extra detail in his work. The parts with Dr. Doom’s castle are really good. He draws Dr. Doom really good and makes his armor look very realistic and the castle parts look like they’re from a real picture or something. I like how he draws the Thing, too. He looks more like a scary tough monster that can take on the Hulk instead of a cuddly guy.

My favorite section of the book was when Nick Fury told Magneto the truth about everything that happened. Magneto thought he knew everything about the world and that his plan was the best, but Fury had all the information that nobody knew about. He pretty much beat down Magneto without even really fighting him. I liked that in a book with all of these massive fights Magneto loses just from the words that Fury tells him

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Mr. Stuffins #2

2009-06-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

MR. STUFFiNS
Written by Andrew Cosby and Johanna Stokes and illustrated by Axel Machain
Published by Boom Studios

Liam: Ethan had a lot of fun doing reviews with me. When we went to the Philadelphia Comic Convention, Franco from the Tiny Titans comic said that he heard all about our reviews and said he was so happy that we liked his book. He even made a Robin sketch for Ethan and said that he would color it in or let my brother color it. So Ethan wanted to color it.

Ethan: I like that the guy knew who we were and liked our reviews. He drew a really good Robin picture.

Liam: You did a good job coloring it, too.

Ethan: I think it will be cool if next year at the New York Comic Con when you draw your pictures again if I am the guy that colors them in.

Liam: The New York show was a lot of fun. I liked getting to sit at the booths and do drawings for people.

Ethan: And next time I’m going to help you.

Liam: It’ll be fun. Mr. Stuffins is another really funny comic book that I never heard about. I got it at the comic store, not at the comic convention. It’s from the company that does the Muppet Show comic and the Toy Story Comic and books like that.

Ethan: I like that they do comics about those movies.

Liam: The story is about a teddy bear that has a secret micro chip in him that makes him super tough and super smart. Some bad scientists want to use the chip to make this robot they built super strong, kind of like an evil Atomic Robo. In the beginning of this comic the little boy is sleeping in his bed and Mr. Stuffins wakes him up because the bad guys are surrounding the house. Then they show the bear standing on the bed and he has two pistols.

The bad guys break into the house and attack the boy’s family. Mr. Stuffins tries to help the boy escape through the attic but there are people on the roof so he takes the boy downstairs instead. .

Ethan: I liked when Mr Stuffins goes downstairs and beats up all the guys who have guns and he starts a fire to get away. It looked funny when all the bad guy’s helmuts were getting smashed.

Liam: Mr. Stuffins was going crazy on the bad guys. He was kicking them and punching them and doing all sorts of moves and he’s yelling at the boy to keep running and stop crying.

Ethan: I liked when the bad guys cut the bear’s arm and his stuffing started to fall out.

Liam: That was a pretty cool idea. One of the funniest parts in the book was when Mr. Stuffins took the boy to a secret hideout to get away from the bad guys and he started to think he was dying because his battery was running out.

Ethan: That was the best part. I liked when Mr Stuffin’s nose turned red because it was his warning light. He looked funny.

Liam: And he started talking slower and slower until his battery wore off. I liked how it ended too and how the bad guys have that giant robot that they’re trying to turn into a weapon using the chip in Mr. Stuffins. I think it’ll be a cool battle if Mr Stuffins battles that robot in the next issue.

Ethan: The artist draws the teddy bear cute and scary looking at the same time.

Liam: It’s funny to see the bear doing all sorts of karate moves and battling humans. This was a really cool idea for a comic book and I hope they keep making more of them. This was a good week for comics because there were two books that I think were perfect.

Our Rating: 10 out of 10

Wizard World Philadelphia

2009-06-21T19:31:00.001-07:00

We weren’t planning on going to the Philadelphia Comic Con but dad found out that he had to head down there for some work stuff so he asked us all to go. Me, Ethan, my mom and baby brother went down with dad on Saturday. Everyone except for dad was wearing different colored Lantern shirts, too. It’s a lot smaller than the New York Comic Convention but we still had a really good time.

We walked about the convention looking for toys and comic creators and stuff like that. Ethan liked getting his picture taken with people in costumes. He liked the Batman characters the best, like Joker, Harley and Two Face. There was a cool face painting area and Ethan and I got our faces painted. He got one like movie Joker and it looked really good. I had my face painted like Deadpool. The lady did a really good job of making my face look like Deadpool’s mask but it started to itch after awhile so I washed it off before we left.

I would have liked to have a table and get to do drawings with Ethan and talk to a lot more people like we did at the New York Convention but there we didn’t know that we’d be going so we weren’t able to. We did meet a lot of people who knew us. I got to see Dan Slott again, who writes Amazing Spider-Man. He is so nice and funny. He showed me and Ethan some secret pages of one of his comics but we’re not allowed to talk about it because the comic doesn’t come out for awhile. It looks so awesome, though. Dan liked our Deadpool and Joker faces a lot and we got some pictures with him that we’ll put up on the site later.

We got a lot of cool art and sketches. Bryan Brown does a comic about how he tried to do Mixed Martial Arts and he was good to talk to. Ethan asked him to do a Ghostbusters sketch and he drew Ethan as a Ghostbuster shooting Slimer that was really funny. One person we always run into at comic conventions is Antonio Clark. This is the third comic con that we saw him at and he remembered me and Ethan. He’s a cool guy and he always draws whatever we want. This year I asked for Deadpool and Ethan wanted Blade. I also got a very cool Deadpool print from Chris Uminga that is done in a cartoony style. It looks like how Deadpool would look if he was in Tiny Titans. He had a lot of cool art at his table but Deadpool was the best I think.

One of the best parts was meeting Franco who does the Tiny Titans comic. We told him that we love Tiny Titans and do reviews of it and he was like, ‘I know who you guys are. Thanks for saying nice things about my comic’. Then he did a really cool Robin sketch for Ethan and signed some Tiny Titans and Wolf Boy comics. He was really friendly and I like meeting people who work on comics and like our reviews.

Everyone had a really good time at the convention. Even our baby brother was happy when a guy dressed up as a stormtrooper came up to him and started playing peek-a-boo. He loved that and was laughing a lot. It would have been nicer to sit at a table and do stuff like last time but we still got to get a lot of cool sketches, comics and toys. The Philly con is a lot smaller than the New York one and a lot of the bigger companies didn’t have booths or anything like that so you had to go to the panels to see creators but I was still able to talk to a lot of the people I wanted to see.

Batman and Robin #1

2009-06-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

Batman and Robin #1
Written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Frank Quitely
Published by DC Comics

Liam: My little brother, Ethan, read this comic and wanted to do a review of it with me. He’s done a couple of reviews before but it’s been awhile.

The Batman comic is finally getting back to normal. After Batman going crazy and then getting killed by that alien guy in the other series and then having the Battle for the Cowl story the comic is going to be about the new Batman and Robin. I like that Dick Grayson is the new Batman. He was Batman’s partner the longest and deserves it the most. I’m surprised that Damian is the new Robin though because he’s kind of crazy like Jason.

The car chase in the beginning of the comic was really good. I liked all the crazy bad guys trying to get away and then the new batmobile comes in with Batman and Robin chasing them.

Ethan: I liked the Toad guy. He looks like a real toad. I like how he was driving his car and the batmobile chased them and started to fly and grabbed the Toad’s car and dropped it in the river.

Liam: Yeah the new batmobile is awesome. I really like how it was able to use a magnet or something and pick up the Toad’s car and take it to the river and drop the car and all the bad guys in it.

Ethan: It was funny when the Toad was swimming away and got all wet. My favorite part of the comic is when the Toad climbs out of the water and Batman and Robin punch him at the same time and knock him out.

Liam: I think that was my favorite part, too. I like how they’re both punching the Toad the same way and his briefcase opens and all of the dominos are flying out. I liked how Batman tricked the Toad, too and blindfolded him and made him think that he was going to drop him off a very high building when he was really only a few feet in the air.

Ethan: I liked when Toad ripped off the blindfold after Batman dropped him and he started screaming at Batman and Robin.

Liam: It’s cool how the batmobile works kind of like a plane now and they fly away whenever they’re done. It’s a cooler looking car, too.

Ethan: I really like that the new base that Batman and Robin have. It’s a cool big office building with a new Batcave underneath it.

Liam: It’s like in the movie. I liked how the artist drew it so you could see into the batcave the way you’re looking at the comic. It’s neat that the batcave is in the middle of the city this time instead of out where it used to be. They’re probably be able to get out to stop criminals faster since they’re closer now.

Ethan: Damian is a real jerk to Alfred.

Liam: He’s a jerk to everyone. It’s funny that he tells Dick that he can become Batman himself and not have to be Robin. He thinks he’s the best hero ever and he really doesn’t do much. But he is good with building things, at least. I think that the only reason that Dick is letting Damian be his partner is because he's Bruce's son. He has to be nice to him for that reason.

Ethan: I like how Commissioner Gordon turns on the batsignal and Batman and Robin jump out of the batmobile plane and their capes turn into parachutes.

Liam: That was a very cool page. I like the way Batman and Robin are drawn as they’re parachuting to the ground and the batsignal is shining behind them. It looks really good.

Ethan: I like that in the preview for the next issue it shows Robin getting beat up and all bloody.

Liam: The previews show some pretty interesting things. This comic should stay pretty good for awhile. I liked in the end of the book with that Pyg bad guy. He looks really crazy and the people who are helping him look even crazier. I don’t think that Batman and Robin are going to have a problem with him, though. He looks like he’s just a regular human who wears a pig mask and doesn’t have any powers or anything so Batman will probably kick his butt.

I really like the art in this book a lot. The artist draws the bad guys really creepy, especially the monster people at the end.

Ethan: Yeah.

Liam: He draws things like cars and buildings and stuff looks really well, too. I like that he does a lot of detail like putting wrinkles on the costume and everything. It makes the characters look more real when they’re drawn like that and not everything is so perfect.

Ethan: I liked the cover.

Liam: The cover was real good. It looks like Batman is kind of looking at Robin and smirking because he knows that Damian thinks he’s so awesome but he’s really not. I liked this comic a lot. It’s good to see Batman and Robin fighting together.

Ethan: I hope they fight the Joker or Croc soon.

Liam: I bet they will. This is going to be a really cool series.

Our Rating: 10 out of 10

Nova #25

2009-06-02T20:12:00.001-07:00

Nova #25
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and illustrated by Kevin Sharpe
Published by Marvel Comics

Nova is a really cool character. I like his costume a lot and he has awesome powers. He can pretty much take on anyone he wants because he has all this cosmic power and he is stronger than a lot of other people. I started reading the Nova comic during the Skrull story and it was really good. I never heard of Nova before that but the cover looked cool and I started reading since that issue. He reminds me of Green Lantern who is a great character because he has a lot of adventures in space and he listens to alien bosses and there are a ton of other creatures and humans who have Nova costumes and powers.

In the earlier comics the creature that lives in Nova’s head left him and was making up all these other Nova people without the main Nova knowing. The Worldmind creature was making Nova mad by doing all the sneaking around and when Nova started to get angrier the Worldmind took all of his powers and without his powers Nova will die. A friend of Nova’s called Quasar gave him wristbands that would help him have a lot of power again so he could fight Worldmind and save his life. He’s not a Nova anymore though because the wristbands gave him new powers and a new costume. He is still really, really powerful though. And Worldmind is more powerful too because he merged with a living planet.

So in this comic Nova and the Worldmind are battling pretty much for the entire comic. Nova says that Worldmind is crazy and needs to be stopped and Worldmind says that he’s doing the right thing. Worldmind is worried that Nova is going to win and sends out all of his Nova corps to battle for him and kill the good Nova. They are all under mind control so they can’t stop listening to him even if they know it’s wrong. The real Nova is too tough for them and he is able to get inside the machine that controls the Worldmind and get all of his powers back.

Nova is a really great comic. I sort of knew that he was going to get his powers back or something because they couldn’t just kill him but I liked the way he had to battle Worldmind and the army of Novas to win. There was a lot of good action in the book and the artist draws all the Nova characters really good. All of the explosions and space stuff was drawn well, too. I like all of the little things the artist puts on the page like scratches on the metal part of the costumes and all of the little rocks and pieces that break off when something blows up. One of my favorite parts of the comic was at the end because it looks like there is an evil Nova who is going to be coming after the good Nova soon. His costume is darker and he has red eyes. I like the idea of a good and evil Nova battling and hope that’s what happens soon.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

New Avengers #53

2009-06-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

New Avengers #53
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Billy Tan
Published by Marvel Comics

I think Spider-Man and Luke Cage should have their own comic book. They are so hilarious together. The first couple pages of the comic just take place in the Avengers jet plane and that could be very boring for a comic but the Spider-Man and Cage parts are really funny. Spider-Man is apologizing to Cage because they found out that Cage’s wife used to love Spider-Man when they were all in school together and the more Spider-Man keeps talking the more Cage is getting angry. The best part is when Spider-Man jokes that since Cage and Iron Fist broke up he wants a shot at Iron Fist and Cage screams for them to hurry up and land the plane.

I don’t really like all of the magic stuff. I don’t think Doctor Strange is that cool and if he’s supposed to be an expert he really doesn’t know what’s going on because he’s been looking for that magic eye for a couple issues and he still has no idea who is going to have it. The only part of the magic story that was kind of interesting was when Hood broke into the devil guy’s house and started to battle him. I like that Hood thinks he’s so tough with that huge monster inside him but the devil guy pretty much just kicked his butt. Doctor Strange and Hood are kind of the same because they both stink as characters and can’t do anything right.

The action in the comic was really good. I liked how Wolverine jumped out of the plane and the woman with the gold mask started shooting at him and he wasn’t getting hurt by it but Spider-Man still tried to save him. And then there was a really cool fight with Spider-Woman and the girl with the mask where they do karate with smoke covering them. The best part of the battle was when the bad girl takes a woman hostage and Captain America saves the hostage.

There was a lot of good action and a lot of funny parts in the book. Even Captain America was funny when he was yelling at Spider-Man for calling him Bucky Cap all the time. I like that Spider-Man annoys a lot of the people on the team but he’s a great hero so they let him stay on. The art was really good and I like how Captain America is drawn with the shiny suit and the guns and shield. The fight with the Hood and the devil guy has a lot of cool art, too. I like how the flames are all over the place and how creepy the artist makes the Hood in monster form. I just wish the magic stuff was more interesting.

In the end it was a pretty good comic all around. Luke Cage, Spider-Man and Captain America are all awesome. I wish that Ronin did more. He’s the leader and he’s not really in the comic but maybe next issue. I am glad that the eye found a new magician so maybe the magic story will be over soon but I have no idea who the guy is that has the new powers except that he looks kind of strange. I want to see the Avengers team up and go on more battles, especially Norman Osborn’s team, instead of chasing magic people around.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Two for Dad

2009-06-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

My dad asked me to mention two things on my site. First he's all excited that Marvel is probably bringing back the Spider-Man clone or something. I don't get why Ben Reilly is so cool but he thinks he's great. There is a comic coming out in the summer that is going to have information about something to do with the clone so he wants me to mention it. And he likes the cover.

Marvel Spotlight #1
by John Rhett Thomas
It's the summer, which means it's time to hit the beach with some summer reading! And that means adding a little SPOTLIGHT to your fun in the sand and surf! This month, we'll check in on all the events that are making Summer '09 a season to remember: The original Human Torch is back, and he isn't the only one returning; there's a new Fantastic Four and a new creative team on DAREDEVIL; the REAL Clone Saga is laid bare; and more. If we add anything else to this issue, we'll have to include a complimentary parka to help you make it through December! SPOTLIGHT is your Summer Events HQ with exclusive content you won't find anywhere else — so buy one for yourself, and one for your friendly neighborhood lifeguard!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

Existence 2.0 is a comic that is being made by a friend of his. I can't read it because it's supposed to be for grown ups (like Walking Dead or Kick Ass) but he says that it looks cool and wanted people to know about his friend's comic. It comes out in July and you should buy it when it comes out because this guy could be writing Spider-Man or Batman some day. His twitter is here http://twitter.com/nickspencer.

EXISTENCE 2.0 #1 (of 3)
story NICK SPENCER
art RONALD SALAS
cover TIM DANIEL
JULY 1
32 PAGES / FC
$3.50

Self-absorbed physicist Sylvester Baladine finds his consciousness transferred into the body of the hitman who just killed him! Things don’t seem too bad until his daughter is kidnapped by the same people who "killed" him. Now, he's forced to dig up his past and solve his own murder…inadvertently making himself a target once more.

The Amazing Spider-Man #594

2009-05-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Amazing Spider-Man #594
Written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Barry Kitson and Mike McKone
Published by Marvel Comics

This issue finally has the big fight between Spider-Man and the new Vulture. I like how Peter decided to start being Spider-Man all day just to get Jameson mad. It’s been really funny how he tried to make a truce with Jameson after he became mayor and Jameson has this team of police out looking to take Spider-Man to jail or kill him. The new Vulture looks a lot tougher than the old man one, too but he hasn’t really done much in the story so far so this was the part of the story I really wanted to read.

Spider-Man and the Vulture started fighting in the last issue and when Spider-Man ripped off the Vulture’s mask he spit acid on Spider-Man’s face. The acid burned through his mask and made Spider-Man go blind. In the beginning of this comic they’re still fighting. Spider-Man’s mask is ruined and his eyes are drawn all weird because they’ve been burned. I like how the artist makes the costume look damaged with the eye piece broken and cracked and parts of his shirt ripped. I didn’t think that being blind would matter to Spider-Man because he has his spider sense that warns him about problems and I was right because when the Vulture tried to finish him off he used his spider sense to dodge his attacks and fight back. Spider-Man still had problems figuring out where things were and wasn’t really able to attack the Vulture but he did use his spider sense to keep from getting being up or killed.

What I didn’t like about the issue is that I think they wasted time in the prison. Spider-Man goes to visit the old Vulture to find out if he’s working with the new guy and the old man doesn’t really tell him anything important. I thought it was weird when Peter went back to his apartment and ran into his roommate’s sister. She is supposed to be taking care of the place and tells Peter that she’s been helping for a long time but he was away with the Fantastic Four so he didn’t know what was going on. The whole time they were talking he wasn’t wearing any clothes because he took off his wrecked costume and he didn’t really seem to care. The only other thing I didn’t like is that they keep spending a lot of time with Aunt May and Jameson’s dad. Now it looks like they’re getting married. I think it’s funny that Peter and Jameson will be related but they spend too much time on the boring characters like May and her boyfriend and people like that. I wish there would have been more going on with the Vulture or Jameson’s attack team.

The end battle was really good. I like how Spider-Man and the Vulture had a big battle in the baseball stadium and everyone started getting mad at Spider-Man even though he’s the hero. I think that a lot of the regular people in the comic are kind of dumb because they’re calling Spider-Man names and blaming him for things when it was really the Vulture’s fault. The best part was the move Spider-Man made at the end to finally stop the Vulture. I know he’s really strong but I was surprised that he did that move but I think it was because he got so mad at seeing Osborn at the game that he didn’t realize how much strength he was using.

I liked the art in the book a lot. Spider-Man and the Vulture were drawn really well. The new Vulture looks really scary and nothing like the old guy. Even the regular people are drawn well and all of the stuff around them like buildings and the baseball stadium looked good, too. The cover was good, too. I liked the giant mattress that Spider-Man was swinging over. There was a lot of action and the fight with Vulture was really good. I think he’s a pretty tough bad guy but Spider-Man was able to beat him easy in the end. I just hope there is less of Aunt May and Jameson in the next issue.

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Green Lantern Corps #36

2009-05-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Green Lantern Corps #36
Written by Peter Tomasi and illustrated by Patrick Gleason
Published by DC Comics

In the regular Green Lantern book the main Green Lantern, Hal is working with other Lanterns to try and find out who the Orange Lantern is and to stop him from killing other Lanterns. This comic is a little different because it shows all of the other Green Lanterns instead of Hal Lantern and it’s pretty much about Sinestro and the Yellow Lanterns. In the Green Lantern comic Sinestro was captured by the Red Lanterns and they said they were going to find and kill his daughter. Sinestro escaped and now the Red Lanterns are looking for him to kill and the Green Lanterns are looking to capture or kill him and the Yellow Lanterns want to save him because he is their leader.

This comic starts off by showing that Sinestro found his daughter who is now a Green Lantern. Sinestro is telling her the story of how he is her dad. He used to be a Green Lantern, too and when he was still a good guy he had a baby. The baby looked pretty funny because it had pink skin like Sinestro and liked playing with the green rings. I like when Sinestro and his little girl both flew with green rings. When Sinestro started to go bad his wife took the baby away and let it live with another family. The old guy who looked after the girl was funny looking because he had white hair and a mustache with the pink skin. It looked silly. Sinestro snuck into her room and put a mark on her face so he’d always know where to find her and now he wants her to become a Yellow Lantern like him.

My favorite part of the book was when the special Green Lantern, Sodam, was fighting the big huge Yellow Lantern. He has all these special powers but the little blue guys in charge weren’t letting him use it. I can’t believe it. The monster guy is really tough and wears a yellow ring on each of fingers. That has to be a lot of power that he can put out. Sodam Lantern’s fight with him was one of the best parts. I also really liked a couple pages where the artist shows all of the Green Lanterns fighting a bunch of Yellow Lanterns and some Red ones in space. It was a massive battle and looked really cool in the comic. I think it’s great that there are so many different colored lanterns and all of the people who wear rings can look so different and I like the different types of aliens who are lanterns.

Some parts were a little confusing because there are so many different people in the book but the main story was cool. I was surprised that there was so much about Sinestro and his daughter in the beginning of the comic and think it would have been better if they showed more of all the lanterns fighting in space. I loved the picture of Zombie Superman in the comic book for the Blackest Night story. That’s going to be such a great comic book.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

Twitter

2009-05-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm going to be twittering once in awhile. Some people said I should try it and that it'll be fun. I'm not sure if that's true but I'm going to try it.

Here is my twitter address if you want to follow those.

http://twitter.com/LiamGtheKid

Deadpool #10

2009-05-12T20:08:00.001-07:00

Deadpool #10
Written by Daniel Way and illustrated by Paco Medina
Published by Marvel Comics

This issue had a really great cover with Bullseye in his Hawkeye costume ready to shoot an arrow at Deadpool who is attacking him with a knife and a gun. I really like the way it was drawn and it got me excited about the comic. Deadpool is one of the best comics and I liked the Hawkeye book too so putting them together to fight is a good idea.

In this issue Norman Osborn is really mad because Deadpool stole his credit card in the other story because he didn’t get any money for the information about the Skrull Queen. Osborn tells all of his bad Avengers that he wants to take him out and sends Hawkeye to go kill him. I don’t know how the story is going to end but Deadpool is probably going to win. And even though I like Deadpool and don’t think they’ll let him get killed in the story I thought it was kind of weird that Osborn only sent Hawkeye after him. He has Wolverine’s son and the Venom Spider-Man on his team, too and those guys are really powerful. If he really wanted to kill Deadpool he should have sent more than one guy after him.

Deadpool breaks into some guy’s house and orders pizza and then eats all the pizza and then says that he was hired to kill the guy who delivers the pizza. The strange thing is that Deadpool says he only got 500 dollars to go after the pizza guy. I can’t believe he would go after someone for that kind of money. It doesn’t seem like a lot. The guy who owns the house was scared that he was going to get killed and promised to give Deadpool all his stuff if he let him live. One part was really funny when Deadpool was yelling at the guy he was robbing for not folding the seats of his car down and making things easy for him. His feelings were hurt that the innocent guy didn’t help Deadpool rob him quicker. When Deadpool gets back to the house the guy is dead and there is an arrow in him and Deadpool thinks the guy killed himself with an arrow but it’s really Hawkeye who tracked him down.

I like the fight between Hawkeye and Deadpool. It took a long time to get to their fight but it was the best part of the book. They’re both really tough and are very good with weapons and fighting so it was a pretty even match. I thought it was really funny when Deadpool shot his gun a bunch of times and then asked Hawkeye if he was dead yet. They have a really cool fight between a door and each of them are taking turns punching through the door. I like how the artist drew those pages because it’s funny when you look at them how they’re punching each other through the door and then Deadpool drops the grenade on the other side of the door where Hawkeye is standing. There are a bunch of pages in the book that have a lot of good art like the page with the bad Avengers and I like all of the poses that he draws Deadpool in. And when they’re fighting Deadpool is saying a lot of stupid stuff again because he’s nuts and it’s making Hawkeye angrier at him. I think the ending was funny, too. You can’t really take the comic seriously because Deadpool’s powers make it so he can’t die so even when he gets hurt it’s like a big joke.

I think that the next issue is going to have a longer fight with Hawkeye and Deadpool so it’ll probably be better but I thought this issue was very good, too. I liked all of the art and there were a bunch of funny parts in with Deadpool doing dumb stuff that made me laugh and the action was good. I just wish they got to the fight sooner.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #593

2009-05-11T21:16:00.001-07:00

Amazing Spider-Man #593
Written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Mike McKone
Published by Marvel Comics

In the last comic Peter Parker went to his Aunt’s home to change out of his costume because he was working as Spider-Man for several days and was starting to smell and needed to shower and wash his costume but he found out that Aunt May was dating Jameson’s dad and got all grossed out. In the beginning of this comic he is in the shower all mad saying that he has to wash his brain to get that thinking out of his head. I think it’s a funny idea that the person who is like his mom is in love with the dad of the person who makes him angry all the time. But Jameson does like Peter Parker, just not Spider-Man so it isn’t all bad.

I really like the idea that Peter is staying as Spider-Man the whole day every day just to make Jameson angry. I don’t think it’s bad because when Jameson got to be mayor Spider-Man tried to make a truce with him and instead Jameson sent a SWAT team to shoot him down. Spider-Man isn’t doing anything wrong. He’s actually doing a good job because since he is Spider-Man all the time he is able to stop a lot more bad guys and help more people. It’s just funny because Spider-Man is in the news all the time and that make Jameson really angry. I also like that the people in New York are starting to stick up for Spider-Man. I don’t get why all the people would be against him since he’s always out there doing good things and saving their lives so this part was really good. One of my favorite parts was when the SWAT team used a new weapon that was able to knock Spider-Man out for a bit and they were ready to arrest him but then regular people were sticking up for him and telling the SWAT team to leave him alone. I liked that. I also like on the next page that there was a loud guy talking on his cell phone and annoying all these other people on a bus so Spider-Man webbed his mouth shut. It’s funny to see him use his powers like that and the people on the bus were really happy when he made that guy shut up.

In this issue Spider-Man finally gets to fight the new Vulture who is a little different from the other Vulture. The new one is red and he isn’t as old as the other one and he is a lot creepier. When Spider-Man takes his mask off the Vulture has a really long and pointy nose, red glowing eyes and a face like a zombie creature and it looks like he could just bite Spider-Man’s head off. I don’t think Spider-Man knew how strong this guy was because the Vulture kicked his butt. He ripped up his costume and then made him fall from the sky onto the ground after spitting acid on his face. Spider-Man says he’s blind on the last page but I don’t think he will be. I think his powers are going to help him get better and even if he was blind his spider-sense would let him know where things were.

It’s another really good Spider-Man issue with a little more fighting in this comic and it was still funny like the issue before. Spider-Man should be fighting a lot of bad guys and being funny too and this comic he was doing both. I want to see him beat the Vulture up real bad in the next issue though.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Green Lantern #40

2009-05-10T07:09:00.001-07:00

Green Lantern #40
Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Billy Tan
Published by DC Comics

There were two stories in this comic. The main one was about the Green Lanterns going after one of their own guys who was going back to his home world and he was attacked by Orange Lanterns. The little blue Guardians know that there is an Orange Lantern and they kept it a secret because they’re tricky and always lie to the Green Lanterns about pretty much everything. They do their own thing and try and make up all the rules and then they change the rules whenever they want. In other issues they were mad that Green Lantern Hal got a blue ring but now they want to know how it works and they’re acting like they’re his friend but they really only want it for themselves.

When all the Green Lanterns get to the planet where their friend is the Orange Lanterns attack. There is really only one Orange Lantern because they are very greedy and don’t want to share. The main Orange Lantern wants all of the rings so when he finds someone he takes them over and when they die they become like a ghost lantern but they’re part of the Orange team. They’re really creepy and powerful. They gang up and take the one Green Lantern and pretty much eat him up and when they do that he turns into an Orange Lantern. I really liked the way the artist drew all of the Orange Lanterns, especially on the one page where the Green Lantern gets turned into one. He looked like a scarier version of the Hobgoblin from Spider-Man comics. Another one of my favorite parts was when the main Orange Lantern finds Hal and gets crazy when he sees that Hal has a blue ring too. He just screams ‘I want one’ and is ready to attack him. I like how the Orange Lantern holds the battery close to him all the time like a little kid that doesn’t want to share.

I didn’t think the Orange Lanterns would be that tough because they’re really just the one guy but so far they’re beating everyone that they fight. The ghost Orange Lanterns basically just gang up on everyone until they kill the person and take their ring and turn them into one of them. I like how the artist makes all of the Orange Lanterns look really scary. Some other lantern teams have humans and friendly looking creatures but all of the Orange Lanterns are ugly and scary looking. I thought that the Red Lanterns were tough but the Orange Lanterns might be even more powerful because they attack all crazy and stuff. The good thing is that the other lantern teams are strong too and they really only have to attack the main guy and if they beat him he won’t be able to control the ghost Orange Lanterns.

The second story was more cartoonish and it was about how one of the Orange Lanterns, Glomulus, became that was. He was a little alien creature who kept stealing food until one day he got caught by one of the Orange Lantern’s ghosts and became an Orange Lantern, too. It was a real short story but I liked how they showed all the rings that the Orange Lantern collected around his base. I liked how the comic also showed one of the Purple Lanterns which is the all girl team. The main girl used to want to hurt one of the Green Lanterns but now that she has the ring she only feels love and is good now so it looks like the Purple Lanterns will be on the good team.

Green Lantern is a great comic. I like all the pages that show the whole team of Lanterns getting ready to fight and how all of the Lanterns listen to Hal because he’s their friend instead of trusting the blue Guardians. The story with all the different types of colored lanterns is really fun and I like how in the Free Comic Book Day Green Lantern comic they showed a lot of pages about each of the different Lantern teams. I liked seeing everyone who was on the team and all of their names and powers and it even talked about what their weaknesses were. The guy in charge of the zombie Lanterns shows up in the book too and he is starting to dig through graves trying to bring back old dead superheroes into his own zombie Black Lanterns. That is going to be a great story.

Rating: 10 out of 10

The Free Comic Book Day 2009 Recap

2009-05-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Free Comic Book Day 2009 Recap

Free Comic Book Day is great because you can go to the comic book store and there are tables full of all these different comic books from different companies and you can get whatever you want for free. They do it once a year on Saturday usually after a movie about comic books opens like Wolverine did this week. We went to the same comic book store that we always go to but this time they had some extra tables out to hold all the free comics and it was a lot busier than it is at other times. The other cool thing is that there were guys from the 501st who dress in Star Wars costumes like Stormtroopers and Stormtrooper pilots. Their costumes are really well made and me and my brothers took some pictures with them.

I probably picked up about 10 different free comics but there were a lot more than that. I just got the ones that looked the most interesting. Some of them were a little boring and some of them were really good. I think they do Free Comic Day to thank people for reading comics and spending money and to get other people to try comics. I’m not going to do long reviews but I am going to pick the 5 best free comics that came out. These are the comics that I think would be good for people my age or who don’t usually read comics.

Atomic Robo
Red 5 Comics

The Atomic Robo book was very good and had three different short stories. The Atomic Robo short story was the best one. Robo is on an island fighting a dinosaur who has a machine gun and is trying to kill him. I read the regular Atomic Robo books and like them a lot. Robo is a robot who works with the army to fight bad guys and this one was a little bit different because he’s fighting an evil dinosaur but I like the things were a little different. The second story in the comic was about a whole army of robots. It has nothing to do with Atomic Robo but it looked okay. I thought the last story was pretty good, too. It’s about two brothers who kill monsters and I liked the battle they had with the huge monster in this issue. I think that this comic had 3 pretty good stories that show a lot of different comics that the company puts out. I think a lot of people who don’t read comics would find good things to like about these characters and stories.

Owly and Friends
Top Shelf Productions

I read some Owly comics that I bought at the New York Comic Con and thought they were okay but I usually like comics with words in them. When the comics don’t have words I think they make it a little too much for kids. Owly is drawn very cute but his stories are over very fast because there aren’t words. There are 5 short stories in this comic and they’re all pretty good, too. My favorite one was Johnny Boo. There were two Johnny Boo stories and I think it was cool that the writer let his kid write part of his story. You could tell which parts his kid wrote and drew and that was neat. The other stories were interesting, too but I’m definitely going to try and get more Johnny Boo comics. There were two of those stories and I liked both of them. I think that this is a good comic for people who don’t usually read comics because there are a lot of different stories that kids will like and the grown ups won’t be mad about.

The Avengers
Marvel Comics

This comic was different from all of the others because it was just one full story. I liked it because it is just like the regular Avengers comics that I’m reading with the team the way it is now and how they’re battle Osborn’s evil Avengers. I think that other people that don’t read comics will be able to figure everything out because Spider-Man explains it in the story. At first I was kind of annoyed because Spider-Man was talking a lot and saying things that everyone already knows like that Iron Patriot is Norman Osborn and the other Spider-Man is really Venom but he only did that because people would be reading the book that don’t know that stuff already. The story was pretty exciting and it was about both Avengers teams getting ready to fight over some creatures that were powerful enough to hurt Thor. The Avengers teams are able to beat the creature and then they want to go after each other but Thor warns Osborn that if he doesn’t leave he’s going to go after him. I was disappointed that the Avengers teams keep meeting but they never really fight but I guess they’re saving it for the regular book later.

Bongo Comics Free For All
Bongo Comics

The Bongo Comics book had a lot of different short stories. The main story was about the Simpsons and Bart and Milhouse getting free comic books with their Krusty burger meals. I like how part of the comic was a pretend Krusty comic and Bart was mad because the story was so dumb and was just about different types of food like fries and hamburgers battling. There was a pretend coupon for a free Krusty burger or soda, too but you have to buy a huge order to get the free stuff. I didn’t really like the Futurama story because I don’t watch the show but the other Simpsons story was good, too. It had Homer and Bart as superheroes and they get zapped by a raw which turns Homer young and Bart old. I think that anyone who watches the Simpsons television show will like the comic because it’s just as funny. And people who like Futurama will probably like that comic, too if it’s like how they make the Simpsons.

Green Lantern: Blackest Night
DC Comics

A lot of people know who Green Lantern is but I bet most of them don’t know that there are all these other teams of different colored lanterns so I think it was a good idea to talk about that in this comic book. The first story is about Green Lantern and Flash talking about how all their friends have died and they hope they come back, especially Batman. Flash and Green Lantern both died and came back to life and they think that their friends will be able to come back too. And then the story shows the head of the Black Lanterns digging through the graveyard and he says the Black Lantern oath about how he is going to make his team of evil Lanterns out of dead heroes. If Batman becomes a zombie Black Lantern that’s going to be big trouble because he’s pretty tough without powers. If he had a ring I don’t think anyone can stop him. I think it’s an easy comic for people to read because they show every different colored Lantern team at the end with all the members and their powers and weaknesses. It’s easy to figure out what’s going on and I liked the page with all of the superhero hands coming out of the ground to become Black Lanterns. That’s going to be a great story.

Detective Comics #853

2009-04-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

Detective Comics #853
Written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Andy Kubert
Published by DC Comics

This was a very weird comic to read and review because there are a lot of good things about it and some bad things. The bad things don’t really ruin the comic though, but they could have made it so much better. And there were a lot of good things that made me pretty much like it so I’ll go over all the things I like first.

I liked that art a lot. I like how there were so many different characters that showed up in the comic. There were a lot of cool bad guys and a lot of different good guys and I like how the artist drew them all. He did a good job with the way that he drew the characters and the things like buildings and everything around the characters. I really like the way he draws Batman, too. There is a lot of detail in all of the pictures and I could look at them for a long time trying to spot everything that he drew. He drew him a couple different ways in the comic but the regular way he drew him for most of the book was my favorite.

I also like the story that Batman has a funeral and everyone shows up to talk about him. It was weird that the good guys and bad guys would show up at the same place to talk about Batman and no one was fighting but I think they were just being respectful because it was a funeral and it wouldn’t be good to fight there. I like how each person that got up to talk about Batman told a different story about how he died. I think it was cool how in one version he died saving a kid from drowning and in another part he dies saving a bad guy and in another part Superman says that he went into a trap set by all of his enemies so that they would go after Batman instead of fighting innocent people.

The biggest thing I didn’t like was that there was no fighting. If it’s supposed to be the last Batman story I think it would have been a lot better if he was teaming up with all of his friends and fighting all of the bad guys or some bad guys. Batman is pretty much like a ghost in this and he’s just listening to all of the stories. Even when all of the people are talking about different ways that he could have died they’re saying it but not showing it. I think it would have been cooler if they showed it, too. It’s also a little confusing because this is supposed to be the last Batman story but Batman already died in one of his other comics and now there are a bunch of other people trying to be the new Batman in the Battle of the Cowl comic so this doesn’t really fit. My dad said that it’s more like an imaginary story of what Batman’s last comic might look like but I thought they could have said that in the book.

Probably the best part of the story was how it says that Batman was never really happy except when he was a little boy reading his Goodnight Gorilla book with his mom and dad. They got killed when he was little and he hasn’t really ever been happy again because of that. His mom is talking to him when he is a ghost and she tells him that she’s always going to be there for him and now that everything is over he can take a break for a few years. Batman isn’t sure what’s going on and then his mom tells him to remember his favorite book and the rest of the comic is Batman saying goodnight to everything in his life like the batcave, the bad guys, all his friends and stuff just like the Goodnight Gorilla book. Then the bat signal turns into a baby and it turns out that Batman has become a little baby again with his mom in the hospital. It was a sad kind of ending. I liked it because Batman was able to be with his mom and dad again since he is a baby and he’s going to grow up and get to be with them and be happy but eventually if everything happens like it did they will probably get killed again and he’ll have to become Batman and be unhappy. It was a very different type of Batman book. It’s not what I thought the last Batman comic would be like but I did think it was a good story.

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #592

2009-04-27T20:48:00.001-07:00

Amazing Spider-Man #592
Written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Mike McKone
Published by Marvel Comics

Spider-Man just came back from his adventure with the Fantastic Four and he’s mad that it took so long. He was only supposed to be away helping them for a day or two and he was actually gone for two months and one of his enemies, Jonah Jameson is the mayor of New York and someone is sneaking into his apartment and cleaning up things when he’s away and he doesn’t know who it is.

All of the parts with Jameson were really funny. He is getting yelled at and talked to by a lot of different people who want to ask questions and stuff because he’s the mayor and he just wants to be left alone. And then his dad is bad and wants to get to know him even though they haven’t seen each other in a long time. Jameson’s dad likes Spider-Man and thinks that he is a hero but Jameson still hates him. It was really funny when the two of them were in Jameson’s office arguing and then they hear crunching. Spider-Man is sitting in a web hammock outside of the window eating a bucket of popcorn listening to them fight and then when he came inside he gave Jameson’s dad the bucket of popcorn. Jameson’s dad says that Spider-Man is cool and Spider-Man says he loves the dad and it just makes him even madder. Spider-Man came to the mayor’s office because he wants to call a truce since Jameson is the mayor but Jameson calls out a SWAT team to shoot him down.

Spider-Man dodges all the bullets and jumps out the window and says that he is just going to be Spider-Man all the time to mess with Jameson. I like that all the newspapers show that Spider-Man is doing things all the time and being a big hero and saving people and catching bad guys but I really think they should have shown the art for that. The one thing I did not like in the book is that there was no fighting at all. Spider-Man is in costume a lot swinging around and talking to people but that’s all he does. And in the part where it talks about all the crime he’s stopping they don’t show any of it so I thought that was a waste of drawings. All the drawings of Spider-Man looked great, though. I like how the artist drew him in a bunch of different positions when he was swinging around but my favorite page is when he is in the web hammock and the Jamesons are just staring at him.

The book had a lot more things in it that were funny and a lot less action. The funny parts were really good, though. In one part in the mayor’s office one of Jameson’s friends is telling him that Spider-Man even saved a cat and in the drawings a cat in a basket is being lowered on a web to Jameson. Jameson says he’ll pay for even more people to hunt down Spider-Man and the cat is licking him when Spider-Man swings by his window singing.

I hope that there will be some more action in the next issue, though. It’d be cool if in the next issue that Vulture bad guy who is killing the other bad guys shows up and fights Spider-Man so we can get a good action fight with Spider-Man. It was still a good comic but mostly because of the art and the funny moments.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Deadpool: Suicide Kings #1

2009-04-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Deadpool: Suicide Kings #1
Written by Mike Benson and illustrated by Carlo Barberi
Published by Marvel Comics

This is another comic book with Deadpool in it. I’m a big Deadpool fan and I’m glad he’s showing up in a lot of comics because he’s really funny and his books have a lot of action and funny moments and the art is always pretty good, too. I saw the action figure of the movie Deadpool from Wolverine and it looks really bad. Deadpool doesn’t have swords on his hands, he carries them. He should be wearing a mask and I don’t know why all that stuff is on his mouth because if he can’t talk then he’s not going to be funny. Deadpool was really good in the Hulk cartoon but they better not ruin him in the movie.

Deadpool sees an ad in the newspaper about being the best mercenary and that the winner is going to get two hundred thousand dollars so he goes to this secret location to try out but it’s a set up. All these other people are there and they try to kill Deadpool but he is too good for them and kills them right away. Then when he is looking at them all on the ground he asks ‘is there a doctor in the house’. Deadpool meets a guy who says that he was testing him and then promises Deadpool that if he helps him with these gangsters who want his money he’ll give Deadpool two million dollars. Deadpool always agrees to do crazy jobs for people that he doesn’t know because he just wants the money but it never works out for him. The people who hire him always try to set him up but Deadpool never learns.

The funniest parts of Deadpool comics are when he has his dreams. He’s so crazy that he is either talking to himself or imagining weird things that could happen. When Deadpool is thinking about how much money he can make from his job his biggest dream is to buy a bunch of giant bouncy balls that he can hop around on. In another part he is having dinner and a waitress asks if there is anything else he’d like and he dreams that him and the waitress are getting married. I liked it because he has his costume on under his suit and there are all these superheroes watching them get married.

Deadpool is told to go to some building later on but once he gets there the whole place blows up. Deadpool wants help and some guy is just standing there videotaping the whole thing and not helping. It turns out that the videotaping guy helped set Deadpool up again so it looked like he blew up the building. The news is saying that Deadpool is doing all of this bad stuff and then the Punisher says that he is going to go after Deadpool. I liked how the artist showed the Punisher’s secret base and all of the equipment that he had in there like pumpkin bombs from Green Goblin and Ant Man’s helmet and stuff like that. As usual, it’s a good Deadpool comic. The Punisher is supposed to always win so I’m curious to see what happens when him and Deadpool fight.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #591

2009-04-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

The Amazing Spider-Man #591
Written by Dan Slott and illustrated by Barry Kitson, Jesse Delpergang ad Dale Eaglesham
Published by Marvel Comics

This is the second part of the story with Spider-Man teaming up with the Fantastic Four on an alien world and the Human Torch is really angry because Spider-Man made them all forget what his real identity was. The Torch set fire to Spider-Man’s mask so that he could find out who he really was and this issue starts with Spider-Man’s head turned invisible because of Mrs.Fantastic. I thought it was a great way to make Spider-Man’s secret stay the same. I thought that his face would look like a monster or something because they didn’t show it so having Mrs.Fantastic use her powers to help Spider-Man keep his secret was a good idea.

There is a lot of fighting in the comic with the Fantastic Four teaming with Spider-Man and one of the alien warriors to battle other warriors. I liked how all of the superheroes were using their powers and the Thing was one of my favorite guys in the book. He’s really strong and had some funny parts, too, because he was getting really mad at Human Torch and Spider-Man for fighting all of the time. There was a good battle scene when this alien dinosaur thing was trying to squash or eat Spider-Man and the warrior that was helping them just blasted the creature. The alien guy who was helping the good guys looked a little bit like Iron Man.

All of the people on the Fantastic Four keep telling Spider-Man and Human Torch that they are a family instead of just a team and they want everyone to stay friends. Thing gets mad again and tells those guys that there is no ‘I’ in Fantastic Four even though there is and then he tells everyone to put their hands in to team up. It was really funny because when Human Torch put his hand in it was on top of Spider-Man and he burned his hand. Spider-Man and Torch were going to fight again but they had to go battle the alien warriors first and I liked the part where Thing breaks down the door where all of the warriors are staying and they help the good guys win.

I liked how even when everyone was back on the ship and ready to go home finally that Mr Fantastic wanted to know how Spider-Man made everyone forget his secret. I thought it made a lot of sense for Spider-Man not to take off his mask because he said that if he told his friends they could get captured and tell bad guys but Mr Fantastic says he’ll make a way so they can’t reveal his secret. I think it’s a good idea that Spider-Man told the Fantastic Four who he is because they won’t tell and the team is like a family and families don’t keep secrets from each other.

When Spider-Man gets back home he’s upset because even though they were all in space for a couple days in real time on Earth two months went by. When he gets back he finds out that J Jonah Jameson is the new mayor of New York and he’s so upset that he smashes into a pole. It’s kind of funny that one of the guy’s who hates Spider-Man the most is going to be running the city just like Osborn is in charge of all the superhero teams. And because he was away for so long his boss and all his friends are mad at him.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Benny and Penny

2009-04-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Benny and Penny
Written and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes
Published by Toon Books

Benny and Penny is about two mice who live in the woods who are brother and sister. Benny likes to dress up and play pirates and Penny is always following him around, asking where he is and trying to catch up to him so she can play with him. He wants to play by himself and thinks that she’s pretty annoying so he never tells her where he is and she just follows him on her little mini scooter.

I liked when Penny hits the box that Benny is pretending is a pirate ship and she is coming up the other side of the box and it tips over and they both fall off a hill and land in the leaves. Benny yells for him mom and starts running away from Penny but she chases after him. He hides in a tree and runs away again when she gets close and then hides in a cave until a big spider comes along. My favorite part was when he was hiding under a hat and says that he’s just an old man. When Penny finds Benny he says she’s a dumb little sister and she starts to cry. He doesn’t want to get in trouble with her crying so grabs another box and tells her to play in that one and when she gets in he leaves her by herself and starts to play his pirate ship game again.

When he gets finished playing he goes to find Penny but she isn’t in the box anymore. He looks everywhere and can’t find her. Finally he does find her and she says she left to go pee-pee. Then she says they should both hide but he’s worried if they could get lost. She tells him that he shouldn’t worry because they won’t get lost and he feels better but then a giant mosquito comes along and scares them both. Penny becomes brave and chases the giant bug away and that makes Benny really happy.

They run back and go to the pirate ship together and become friends and Benny tells Penny that he was just pretending that she was dumb. The lesson is that you shouldn’t call your sister or brother names because it’s not nice. They could get bigger and beat you up if you tease them when they’re little and it’s also not good to be mean to people you care about even as jokes. I think the art in the book was pretty good and the guy draws the things in the forest well. I like how he makes their little house and the tress and all of the nature stuff. I think that the mice should have been colored a bit different, though. I think their fur would have been easier to see if it wasn’t so dark and maybe colored gray. I like how he drew Penny’s scooter and the giant mosquito, too.

It’s a good story that is made out to look kind of like a kids book but it can be a comic book as well.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2

2009-04-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2
Written and illustrated by Tony Daniel
Published by DC Comics

This is a very cool idea for a comic series since it’s a bunch of people all fighting to figure out who is going to be the new Batman. There are a lot of good things in the book and a few things that I didn’t like so much. It was a good comic but I think I liked the first issue a lot better.

The good stuff is that there is a lot of action. There are a team of people that are all trying to fight the Batman in the armor who is the Jason Todd Robin. I like that Jason is just crazy and does what he wants. No one wants him to be Batman but he does it anyway and makes a suit and goes out and starts shooting criminals. He even builds a batcave and the other characters think he’s nuts. There is a great fight between Tim as Batman and Jason as Batman. They’re beating each other up all over the place and trash talking. Jason is fighting dirty and he’s using guns and cutting Tim up with the batarang and Tim is fighting back and takes a crowbar to smash it against Jason. It’s just a wild fight with two Robins against each other. The funny thing is that if Dick Grayson puts on a Batman suit then it will be three people who used to be Robins trying to be Batman, even though Dick is Nightwing now.

I liked the art a lot. I like how the artist has to draw all these different characters and they all look really good, especially the different Batman costumes that they’re wearing. Jason’s costume is a lot freakier because it is armor and I like that Tim’s costume looks like the one from the action figures and stuff like that. There is a page where Tim and Jason are jumping off a cliff in the batcave and they’re fighting the whole way down. The artist drew both Batmen like five times in the same picture and all the poses look really cool. I like how Tim hit Jason so hard with the crowbar that the metal part of his mask broke off and you could see all of Jason’s teeth smashed up. And Jason is so crazy that he’s just laughing about it.

There are a couple things that I didn’t really like about the book. There is a part where one of the bad guys breaks into Commissioner Gordon’s office and shoots the place up but the people in the office looked sort of the same so it was hard to figure out who was shot and who was okay. I like that there are all these bad guys teaming up and fighting in the city because they think Batman is dead but the only one who is really doing stuff is Black Mask and I don’t like him as much as some of the other bad guys. I hope that some of the other bad guys have more to do because Black Mask is just blowing things up and setting them on fire. I don’t get what his plan is.

I think that Dick Grayson needs to hurry up and do something. He had to stop fighting Jaosn because Damien was shot but in both issues he keeps talking about whether he should follow Bruce Wayne and be Batman or not. Even Alfred is telling him that he has to be Batman but Dick isn’t doing anything except thinking about it while everyone else is going out and fighting and getting into trouble. I also don’t believe that Jason would kill Tim. He might be a meaner Batman who kills and that’s against the rules but he just kills bad guys. I don’t think he would kill another Robin just because he didn’t like him so I hope that’s a mistake.

It was still a pretty good issue and I like how there is a lot of action going on with a lot of different Batman characters showing up but I hope that Dick hurries up and gets a chance to try and be Batman. He has been a hero the longest and he’s wasting time by just thinking about it.

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Hawkeye #1

2009-04-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hawkeye #1
Written by Andy Diggle and illustrated by Tom Raney
Published by Marvel Comics

In the regular comics the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) saved everyone from the Skrulls by killing the Skrull Queen and then he got rewarded by everyone for being a hero. The good guys know that Osborn is really the crazy murderer the Green Goblin but other people think he’s either a nice guy or that he’s just not so bad anymore. Osborn got put in charge of the Avengers and that made regular superheroes like Captain America and Spider-Man and Luke Cage really mad. Those guys are still Avengers but they’re hiding out and doing things undercover just to get Osborn mad. Osborn made up a team of his own Avengers with all of these bad guys that are pretending to be superheroes. Venom is pretending to be black suit Spider-Man. Wolverine’s son is pretending to be Wolverine. Osborn is pretending to be an Iron Man and Bullseye is pretending to be Hawkeye.

I really like that all of the bad guys are pretending to be super heroes for Norman Osborn. Hawkeye is a cool hero because he has a really great looking costume and I like that he is a sharpshooter with bows and arrows. I can shoot a bow and arrow really well, too, but not as good as Hawkeye. And Bullseye is a really tough bad guy who has the best aim in the world and kills people with pens and playing cards and anything else he can throw.
Bullseye is a great shot and he can take out anyone that he’s aiming for. I

The book starts off with a lot of action with Osborn’s Avengers trying to stop a big huge Hulkbuster robot that is tearing New York City apart. I like how the big robot was in town destroying everything and Bullseye went after it with Wolverine’s son who used his claws to scratch his way up the robot’s leg. A really cool part was when Bullseye opened up the hatch where the robot’s driver was sitting and said the good news is that Hawkeye doesn’t kill people but the bad news is that he wasn’t Hawkeye. The guy tried to escape and he got killed by the exploding arrow and the robot fell down and destroyed the bus with a bunch of people on it.

I think it would be pretty obvious to everyone that he really isn’t Hawkeye since he goes around in the whole book killing people but maybe no one sees him. There is a reporter who thinks that something is wrong and it looks like he’s guessing that Hawkeye is really Bullseye but Osborn gets them apart so the reporter can’t figure it out. I like how Osborn and Bullseye were talking in his office and Osborn was mad because he is starting to think that people really like him and if Bullseye starts killing people then all of his plans are going to be ruined.

The best part of the book was the battle in the end where Bullseye rescued the girl from all of the thugs. I like that he is so cocky after saving her and makes a mistake and lets her know who he really is by accident and then has to kill her with a pen. It was funny how he took care of the other guy, too. It looks like he’s going to get busted but I think that the people that spot him are just going to get killed, too.

There was a lot of action in the book and all of the parts where Bullseye was dressed as Hawkeye were really good. I like the way the artist draws Hawkeye with a crazy looking smile a lot because he doesn’t care that he’s breaking all the rules and killing people. He’s just a really bad guy even more than Osborn who knows that Bullseye has to control himself. The part where he drew the giant robot and all of Osborn’s Avengers was good too, and I like how all the characters were attacking the robot at once. It’s strange that there is a comic where the bad guy is the main person and he’s acting like a hero but I like that because it’s different.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Aint it Cool Kid Reviews?

2009-04-06T20:52:00.001-07:00

The Kid's Reviews Featured Weekly at Aint it Cool News

I can’t believe I’m almost at 100 posts!

Last week the people who do reviews on Aint it Cool News asked if I could send some of my reviews to them for their weekly comic reviews. Aint it Cool is a pretty big site and they’ve been around for a long time so it’s pretty cool to have them show off some of my reviews every week.

Starting this week, the Aint it Cool News site will be having my reviews every Wednesday. I’m going to keep doing reviews on this site because this is my site. And this site is going to have more reviews and sometimes reviews that you can only read here. I’m also going to be doing special reviews just for Aint it Cool that will be a part of my Wednesday reviews.

I hope you like them. Go see my reviews on www.aintitcool.com and come back here for your regular reviews and let me know what you think.

The Incredibles #1

2009-04-06T16:11:00.001-07:00

Incredibles #1
Written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Marcio Takara
Published by Boom Kids

I didn’t really like the Incredibles movie when it came out. I usually like super hero movies that aren’t cartoons like Spider-Man or Iron Man because they seem more real. The Incredibles movie was okay but I liked the other movies they came out with like Finding Nemo or Toy Story. My favorite Pixar movie is Monsters Inc because I like the idea of the silly monsters having jobs to scare people. I didn’t know if I was going to like this comic because I didn’t like the movie that much, but because I really liked the Muppet Show comic this company made so I decided to try it.

The comic book starts with a big robot from the future who goes to a zoo and lets off this bomb that turns all the animals into dinosaur creatures. There is a huge elephant brontosaurous and a tiger that is mixed with a triceratops. The Incredibles are at the zoo visiting when everything happens and they work together to stop the rampage. I liked when the little boy, Dash, asks his dad if they can keep some of the dinosaurs after they save the day and the dad says ‘no, your mother would kill us’. It’d be cool to own a pet dinosaur. I also liked the part where the little baby turns into a devil to scare a flying monkey. The family captures all of the wild animals and then the dad goes after the big robot but his super punch doesn’t do anything to the bad guy. During the fight the robot trips and the giant elephant dinosaur falls on top of him, crushing him.

The dad was being very bossy during the battle and when they get home the mom is mad that he was being like that and asks if he’s sick. Then the neighbors come over for a visit and a barbeque and all of the kids are playing together. I thought it was funny when the kids were playing in the backyard and they were dressed up like Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.

After the party, Dash tells his dad that the robot guy is up to no good so the dad sneaks back into the zoo to find out what’s going on. The bad guy put a bomb in with the lions and Mr.Incredible takes the bomb and is tip toeing around the zoo trying not to wake any of the animals up but that doesn’t work. All of the lions wake up and attack him and when he tries to rip the bars of the lion cage open he isn’t strong enough. His friend Frozone saves him by making an ice wall before the lions eat him alive. Then Mr.Incredible tells Frozone that he called him for help because he didn’t want his family to know that he was losing his powers. I don’t know how he lost his powers but I guess they’ll talk about that in the next comic.

I think the comic book was a lot better than the movie but it went by real quick. I really liked the battle in the zoo and how the family battled the evil robot and at the end when Mr. Incredible was sneaking around at night in the zoo trying not to wake up the lions. It was cool when Frozone froze the lions, too. The art was pretty realistic and looked just like the way everyone looked in the movies. I think they did a good job of making the story a lot more fun and interesting than how things were in the movie and even the time at the house was funny with the kids dressed up as other movie characters. I’ll try the next issue, too.

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Deadpool #9

2009-04-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

Deadpool #9
Written by Daniel Way and illustated by Paco Medina
Published by Marvel Comics

This is part three of the big story where Deadpool is fighting the Thunderbolts because he wants Norman Osborn to give him his money. He was fighting with the Black Widow and he likes her a lot and asked her if she has a boyfriend and if she likes his gun. So he then pulls out a big knife and asks if she likes knives better. Black Widow’s friends come after her and shoot Deadpool so he goes back to his base. Deadpool is still happy though, because she says that she doesn’t have a boyfriend.

Deadpool is taking the bullet out of his arm and the Taskmaster, this skull looking guy comes out and Deadpool tells him that he has to wear a Deadpool costume to help him out. The Thunderbolts are at their base and the girl is doing research on the computer and they see a plane outside of the building that has a banner that says Deadpool loves Black Widow and a number for her to call him. Black Widow calls the number and the Taskmaster Deadpool answers the phone. Him and Deadpool are playing games trying to trick all of the Thunderbolts.

I like how Deadpool was driving the plane with his feet and he crashes the plane into the water because he doesn’t know how to fly it right. Deadpool and Taskmaster keep calling the Thunderbolts telling them they’re at different places to keep them fooled and they start blowing up all their stuff. Deadpool and Black Widow have another fight and he kisses the Black Widow and she wants to know why he did that and he says it’s because he loves her.

I really liked when both Deadpools are together again at their base and one of them has to go fight the Thunderbolts and the other one is going to go on a safer mission. The Taskmaster says ‘not it’ and Deadpool says that the best way to pick who goes on the mission is to play a game of rock- paper- scissors. The real Deadpool is mad because he loses.

Black Widow and Deadpool get together again and he starts singing to her but she doesn’t like the song. Then he asks her to run off with him so they can be together and she says she will but when the two of them get on the plane together all the Thunderbolts are hiding. She tricked him and now he’s captured on the jet.

The only thing I didn’t like about the issue was that the cover showed Deadpool holding his head in his hands but there wasn’t any part like that in the comic. And it’s kind of weird that they

My favorite parts were when Black Widow and Deadpool are fighting and she knees him in the crotch and then the part where Deadpool and Taskmaster play paper-scissors-rock to figure out who is going to battle all of the Thunderbolts alone. The part where he is cutting the bullet out of his arm is pretty good too. The fight parts were all really good and there were a lot of them. Deadpool is a really good book if you like reading about a silly assassin and characters who fight a lot. Deadpool talks like he’s really tough but a lot of the times he is a chicken and tries to get other people to do his work for him. He likes being sneaky and doing things without other people knowing so they can’t fight him face to face.

Deadpool is one of my favorite comics right now and this was one of the best issues I’ve read.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #589

2009-03-27T19:50:00.001-07:00

Amazing Spider-Man #589
Written by Fred Van Lente and illustrated by Paulo Siqueira
Published by Marvel Comics

In this issue Spider-Man fights the Spot, a bad guy who is going after gangsters and killing them because they hurt his son and put him in the hospital. Spider-Man doesn’t want anyone to get killed so he fights the Spot so the gangsters don’t get killed.

In the beginning of the book Peter Parker missed his train and he goes to visit his Aunt May. There’s a guy in a Ghostbusters shirt there. A bunch of gangsters want to do nice things for Aunt May because they don’t want her telling everyone that they’re bad guys and stuff. The bad guys go on a boat to start planning things and they buy all these guns that are really, really powerful.

The Spot shows up on the boat and starts coming out of his spotty dimension and starts attacking the gangsters. His hand pop out of one of the holes with a knife and he stabs one of the gangsters in the chest. Then Spot’s top half comes out of another hold and he strangles one of the other gangsters. Spider-Man is trying to take pictures of the gangsters and when he sees the Spot start killing the gangsters he goes to fight Spot. Spider-Man saves the leader of the gangsters and Spot goes after him and keeps punching and kicking him from all these little spots that keep popping up.

I really like the fight between Spider-Man and the Spot. I like how the Spot used his powers to pop up all over the place and have just a leg come out to kick or an arm come out to punch or stab someone. The best part was when Spider-Man ended up punching himself in the face when he hit Spot. I also liked the ending with the way the guy is all crazy.

Spot pulls Spider-Man into his dimension and they start fighting and Spider-Man says he’s going to be sick. When they come back out Spider-Man punches Spot in the chest but his fist comes out of the other side of Spot’s head and Spider-Man ends up punching himself. Then the Spot throws a spot in the middle of the air and then he throws the gangster though it. The Spot made the guy transport very far away to another city but Spider-Man is able to save him by webbing him up.

Spider-Man wants to know why Spot is killing people because he never did that before. Spot writes a note that is supposed to say all about how his family got hurt because of the gangsters and that’s why he wants to kill them but his note is just full of all these different kinds of spots and no words. The Spot gets away and Spider-Man sort of figures out what’s going on so he grabs one of the other gangsters and scares him by threatens him by talking all scary and stuff.

I thought it was a really good comic. I wish there was more fighting with the Spot because he doesn’t show up until the middle of the book. I like the Spot a lot and think he has very cool powers. I hope he is back in the comic again because I like how he uses his powers and the way he and Spider-Man fight. There were a lot of funny parts in the comic, too with the guy who was wearing the Ghostbusters shirt and the way Spider-Man kept talking about how Batman’s voice is in the movies and how talking like that would hurt his throat. I like the way the art was done, too. I think that the Spot looked really cool and I like the way he drew the fights with different spots all over the place. And I like how he drew the last page with the gangster going crazy worrying about being attacked all the time.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

The Muppet Show #1

2009-03-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

The Muppet Show #1
Written and illustrated by Roger Langridge
Published by Boom Studios

I didn’t watch a lot of Muppet Show on TV. I saw some on the computer but mainly I watch their movies. I think it’s cool that they did a comic book about it because when there is a cool TV show or movie like the Simpsons you want more stories and usually the comics are pretty good about making more stories.

In the comic, Kermit the Frog is really depressed and sad. He keeps thinking about the swamp where he was born and the other Muppets are worried about him. Fozzy Bear and Gonzo keep trying to figure out ways to make him happy and Fozzy tells some jokes and keeps wearing silly disguises but Kermit doesn’t really pay much attention to him. It’s mainly Kermit’s friend Robin the frog that keeps thinking of better ways for Kermit to be happy.

I liked that there were a lot of different shorter parts in the book with shorter stories about different characters but all of it was really about helping Kermit feel better about himself. I think the best parts of the book were the pages that had the little toads in them. In the first story the toads are all sitting on a long and they keep blowing up. They’re getting scared because each time they move or say something or even breathe they blow up. Then they’re in Heaven on a cloud and they’re happy and think everything is great and then they start falling off the cloud.

Another part that was really funny was when Robin was asking the Swedish Chef to make a special dinner for Kermit and the Chef thinks that cooking Robin up will be delicious. Robin gets thrown in the pot and the Chef keeps talking funny like ‘cooka dee froggie, froggie’ and stuff like that. Robin gets away and tells the chef not to cook any frogs and then the Chef finds the toads playing cards and starts talking to him with a big knife hidden behind his back. And then there are other parts of the comic where people are doing different things and the Chef is in the back chasing the toads around with a knife. That was funny.

Robin helps Kermit sing a song about the swamp and that makes him feel all better and he’s happy that all his friends were trying to help. Then Kermit says everyone has to get back to work and start working on the show again. Then they sit on a roof and talk about how lucky they are and wonder what a Gonzo is.

I like that the comic had some funny parts in it and they made the Chef act crazy like he does in the show and movies. Some of the characters don’t look like they are drawn exactly like how they really look but I’m surprised that the artist is able to draw so many characters and things on the page. There are a lot of pages where like five or ten different characters are drawn and that’s a lot. I think its cool that they did a Muppet Show comic and I want to read more of them if they come out.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

New Avengers #51

2009-03-27T19:47:00.001-07:00

New Avengers #51
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Billy Tan, Chris Bachalo, Matt Banning, Justin Ponsor, Tim Townsend and Antonio Fabela
Published by Marvel Comics

There are a few different things going on in this comic. In one part of the story this bad guy is being attacked by a monster that says he can become the new Sorcerer Supreme because Dr. Strange isn’t going to be allowed to be in charge of it anymore. Then Dr Strange meets up with some kid in a diner. The kid has magic powers and Dr Strange was hoping that he would be the new Sorcerer Supreme but he isn’t sure if the kid is right for it. Dr Strange tells him that there are a whole bunch of people who have magical powers and they all want to be the Supreme because then they’ll have the all of that power and even Dr Doom might want to try. Then Dr Strange gets attacked by the bad guy who was battling the monster in the beginning of the book.

I like how the artist drew all of the magic stuff and the monsters. They did a really good job of putting a lot of stuff into the pages and making it look really cool and really spooky. I like how the monster’s skull was flaming and had all these things popping out of it and all these other creatures were around it.

The part I liked more was when all of the Avengers were at the table in their base talking about how they should go after Osborn and how they have to take care of some other things. The first thing they want to do is pick a new Captain. They say Captain America should be the leader since he always is but they have a new Captain America on the team and he doesn’t want to be the leader. They also think that Luke Cage should be the leader since he has been the leader already for so long but he says that he never was the leader. I don’t know why he says that but he does and he doesn’t want to be the leader of the team. Eventually they pick Ronin as the leader because he’s been around for awhile and he wants it.

The first rule that Ronin makes is that everyone should be honest with each other. He says that since there used to be Skrulls who impersonated heroes they need to be able to trust each other and know who they are so he tells Spider-Man that he has to take off his mask. Spider-Man is worried and I it was funny that the artist drew him with the spaghetti sticking out of his mouth all sloppy.
Spider-Man says that it’s too dangerous and he can’t take his mask off for any reason but the rest of the team says if he doesn’t take his mask off then he has to leave the team. On the next page Spider-Man takes off his mask. When people find out he’s Peter Parker, Luke Cage’s wife says she had a crush on him in school and that makes Cage really mad. I think it was a mistake that Spider-Man took his mask off. Someone could betray the team and then a whole bunch of other people are going to find out who he is. I think he should have either left the team and went on his own again like he is in his own comics or figured out a way to stay on the team without taking his mask. If Luke Cage still owes Osborn his favor for finding the baby he might tell him about Spider-Man and that will be bad.

I liked the art and the story in the comic but it would have been better if there was more action in it. I kind of like the magic stuff with Dr Strange and the way the bad guys are really creepy even thought I don’t really like Dr Strange. I think the Avengers should have been doing more than just talking about stuff though.

My Review: 9 out of 10

St Jude Children's Research Hospital

2009-03-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

St Jude Children's Hospital Fundraiser

Some of the people in my school are doing a Math a Thon to raise money for St Jude Children's Research Hospital. The hospital helps kids who have cancer and tried to help them whether their parents have money or not.

I'm getting sponsors who will donate money to the hospital depending on how many math problems I can answer from the Math a Thon book. Some people were sponsoring without the math questions, too. I think it'd be cool if some of the readers were able to help St Jude Children's Hospital, too and if they want to help they can send my dad an email at grayhaven05@hotmail.com or go on the St Jude site.

Here is what their website says the hospital is all about:

"St. Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility. Discoveries made here have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. With research and patient care under one roof, St. Jude is where some of today's most gifted researchers are able to do science more quickly.

St. Jude researchers are published and cited more often in high impact publications than any other private pediatric oncology research institution in America. St. Jude is a place where many doctors send some of their sickest patients and toughest cases. A place where cutting-edge research and revolutionary discoveries happen every day. We've built America's second-largest health-care charity so the science never stops.

All patients accepted for treatment at St. Jude without regard to the family's ability to pay."

www.stjude.org

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1

2009-03-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Battle for the Cowl #1
Written and illustrated by Tony Daniel
Published by DC Comics

The real Batman went crazy and battled a guy who said he was his dad and then he got captured by Darkseid and the two of them shot each other. Batman got killed by Darkseid’s eye lasers and his body was burned up and stuff. All the bad guys in Gotham City know that Batman is missing and think that he’s dead so they start causing more problems. I know that this story is supposed to be about all of Batman’s friends like Nightwing, Robin, the old Robin and Alfred helping protect the city and they are going to battle people like Two Face and Hush to see who is going to get the be the new Batman. I think Nightwing deserves it since he’s really cool and he’s been with Batman the oldest. Alfred knew him longer but he’s too old.

I like that all of Batman's friends were helping the city because everyone is upset that Batman is dead, like the Batman and Robin from other countries who were helping out. The part where Robin was teaming up with the girl was good and I liked his motorcycle a lot. I like how the Riddler was asking Comissoner Gordon if Batman was dead and Gordon just ignored him and I thought it was cool when the batsignal went off with RIP written on it.

Black Mask looks like a cool villain and I like how he freed all the other bad guys to have them team up together and if they don't work with him he melts their faces off. I think it was cool when he blew up the big jail and set it on fire so they can’t go back there.

I really thought that the first Batman they showed was going to be the old Batman who wore the armor since he looked kind of like a robot and the colors in the pictures were red. But I think that Batman and the one on the last page were the same one. I don't know who that one is.

I like Robin putting on the Batman suit but I don't think anyone would believe that that's the real Batman because he's just a kid. One of my favorite parts was when Croc ate Damien's girlfriend and Damien got scared when he was alone with all the bad guys. I can’t believe that Croc just ate the girl like that. I also thought the part when Alfred beat Dick with the bo staff was pretty cool. Alfred probably learned a lot of fighting skills from Batman and I think it’s neat to see him using them to help train with the others. I still think Dick is going to end up being Batman even though he says he doesn't want to. He's the toughest and has been around the longest.

I wish there was a bit more fighting in the book. The good guys were running away a lot instead of beating up the bad guys. I want to see all the good guys team up against all the bad guys soon. And I saw a picture where there were a few other people dressed in different Batman costumes so I hope Nightwing is going to be one of them and he’ll get to be the real one unless the real Batman is going to come back.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

The Scrapyard Detectives

2009-03-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

The Scrapyard Detectives
Issue #1 by Bill Galvan and Chad Denton
Issue #4 by JM DeMatteis and Bill Galvan
Published by Diversity Ink

The book is about a group of kids named Jinn, Raymond and Robert who try to figure out answers to different problems. In the first issue a new family comes to live in the neighborhood and everyone is wondering about them. The kids want to be friends with the new boy that lives there and everyone is becoming friends. The new boy, Lisan shows everyone a bunch of flowers that his mom planted on the day they moved in. The flowers were special because the family was so happy to move into their new home.

At night someone sneaks into the new family’s home and crushes all the flowers. Lisan was really upset because the flowers meant a lot to them and they didn’t have anything to remember the day by. Lisan and his family were from a different country and the detectives thought that someone ruined the flowers and were upset at the family because they are different.

The real person that was the one who ruined the flowers was one of the detectives little brother. He was angry because his sister wasn’t paying a lot of attention to him. He was mad because she was spending more time with Lisan and not with him. Jinn told her brother that what he did was hurtful. She said sometimes people do bad things against people from different countries or that look different and those are called hate crimes and her brother felt bad because he likes Lisan and didn’t want anyone to think he hated the family.

Another issue takes place awhile later and Lisan is a member of the group. Jinn is really upset because it’s the two year anniversary of the day someone hit her with a car and put her in a wheelchair. Jinn was practicing how to walk again with a doctor but was tired and angry and didn’t want to do it again. The other detectives are mad when Raymond’s cousin Katie comes to visit. Katie wants to be a detective too but Raymond doesn’t want her to be part of the group because he says she’s annoying and always follows her around. The other people in the group want Katie to be part of the group because she is really nice and made her own cool t-shirts with Scrapyard detectives written on them.

Lisan doesn’t know why Jinn is upset and the other boys tell him that a few years ago a boy named David hit Jinn with a car while she was skateboarding. David went to Jinn’s house to apologize to her for the accident but Jinn is very mad and will not accept his apologize and doesn’t care why he did it and calls him a spoiled rich kid. Later Katie goes out on her own to talk to David to find out what’s going on with him and Jinn. David’s mom died and his dad was really upset and it was making David really sad. He wanted to run away because he didn’t think he had anyone to talk about and he wasn’t thinking right. He ran a red light in his car and accidentally hit Jinn. Jinn eventually forgave David, which made him happy and Raymond apologized to his cousin for being a bully.

At the very end of the comic it says that the story is 7 months later and it’s snowing out and Jinn knocks on David’s door. She is standing instead of in a wheelchair and asks David if he wants to go for a walk and he is smiling.

These comics are pretty easy to read. I like that they are about kids who do cool stuff like build inventions and do detective work. I also like that sometimes they think there are people like witches in town and later on they think that aliens from a UFO are living in someone’s basement. I think it’s funny when they plan to go after someone and it turns out that they’re wrong. There are a bunch of different issues with the Scrapyard Detectives but I just wanted to read the first and fourth issues so far. They were really good and I’m going to read and review the other issues soon.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

http://www.smilesfordiversity.org/scrapyard.php

All Hail Megatron #8

2009-03-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

All Hail Megatron #8
Written by Shane McCarthy and illustrated by Guido Guidi
Published by IDW

I know a little bit about the Transformers. I saw the movie and some of the cartoons and some of the toys but I never read the comic before. It was a little hard to figure out what was going on because there were a lot of issues before this one. On the first page it tells you a little bit about the book and what happened before. That made it easier to figure out what the story was about but I got confused about who was who since I don’t know that much about Transformers.

One thing I liked a lot was the art. The Transformers looked really cool in the comic. The movie ones are okay but they all sort of look the same when they are in robot form. You can tell what they are when they transform but when they’re robots a lot of them look exactly the same. I like that in this comic the Transformers all look different. They are different sizes and colors and even the faces look different. I thought it was a little weird that you can see their teeth when they talk but it’s not a big deal.

There is a lot of action in the book. The good Transformers are running away from the Decepticons and a bunch of them are hurt. One of the good guys betrayed them to the Decepticons and no one knows who it is. They Autobot made a deal with the Decepticon Starscream to destroy the bad guy leader Megatron. No one likes him. Even his own guys don’t like him and Starscream just wants to be the leader anyway so he doesn’t care what happens. The Autobots and Decepticons have been having a war for a long time and the Autobot wants to go to his home planet and let the Decepticons have Earth if they made the deal and kill Megatron together. The Autobots are really mad about the deal because they found out about it too late.

My favorite part in the book was when the Decepticons found a couple of humans hiding together and asked if they wanted to play a game. The Decepticons are so huge that they wanted to do crazy things like pull on the humans and stuff and basically they ripped the humans apart. And then he’s like, ‘they’re so messy’ and wonders if he can put them back together. They didn’t show anything, though. He was just talking about what happened. I really liked the chase over the cliff, too. I thought it was weird that the Transformers didn’t just fly from one side to the other but they were hurt so maybe they couldn’t use those powers. They were still able to get away and blow up the one bridge that was still working so the bad guys couldn’t follow them.

The ending was very creepy. The Autobots are talking about how they were ambushed and wondering if there were any other traitors and then there is a picture of this creature that looks like it’s a mix of being a robot and a human. I have no idea if it is another Transformer or something else or if it has any sorts of powers.

I liked the book. I just need to find out who some of the characters are because I don’t know a lot about the Transformers. I really like how the artist draws all of the different robots and how they look when they transform. I think the Transformers look a lot better in the comic than they do in the movie and I’m probably going to read the next issue at least to find out what is going on.

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Classic Comic Review: Amazing Spider-Man #316/317

2009-03-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

Amazing Spider-Man #316-316
Written by David Michelinie and illustrated by Todd McFarlane
Published by Marvel Comics (1989)

I read that a lot of people liked it when I reviewed older comics that my dad and other people read when they were younger. I didn’t like the Secret Wars or silent GI Joe issue but there were a lot of people who said that this was the best Venom story and that I would really like it. It was okay, but not as good as everyone was saying. So I read the two issues that make up the story. Venom was put away by Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four but he got out somehow and now he’s looking to hurt Spider-Man again.

I’ll go over my likes. I like in the first pages where Venom is chasing down the guy in the sewers and he thinks the guy is lying to him. Venom finds a rat and webs it up into a ball until the rats dies because there is no air coming in the ball. The guy promises that he won’t tell anyone about what happened or that Venom is back and Venom believes him because he says he can tell if people are lying because of their eyes.

I like the fight with Black Cat and Venom when she is snooping around Spider-Man’s old house. She was gone for awhile and came back and didn’t know that Spider-Man got married to Mary Jane but Venom mentioned it and she got upset. I thought that Venom was going to just kill her but they had a pretty big fight and she got smashed against the wall but she was still living after the fight. I like how Venom turns into Eddie and goes to Peter’s house to bother Aunt May and he was all like, ‘can Peter come out and play’. Spdier-Man is really angry that Venom went to his house but Venom promises that he only hurts back people like Spider-Man, not Mary Jane or Aunt May. My favorite part was when Venom puts his arm around Aunt May and he starts to change to Venom and Peter is trying to hold back his arm and he needs two hands to do it.

Each time Spider-Man tries to get away from Venom to find help or whatever Venom is able to follow him because his senses aren’t working. I liked when Venom and Spider-Man had their big battle on the beach and the Venom costume went underground to capture Spider-Man and pull him back through the sand and punch him. It was cool to see him use the powers like this.

I didn’t like the way that Spider-Man was drawn. His eyes were too big and there are too many lines on his costume for webs. I don’t like the way Peter Parker and Mary Jane and Eddie and the other regular people looked, either. They looked kind of creepy. I wasn’t sure what that was about. I like the way the webs were drawn and the buildings and beach and stuff like that. I just really didn’t think the regular people were the same. I didn’t like that Spider-Man was running around so much. He’s tough but there were a lot of times when he was trying to just escape from Venom and hide out instead of capturing him. I thought it was weird that he tried to get the police to help when he called then as Spider-Man but without the mask. The fight at the beach was too short. Venom is following Spider-Man and wanting to kill him and Spider-Man finally meets Venom but they don’t really battle. They talk a lot and then Peter pretends that he wants his black costume back and when it starts to leave to go back on him Eddie gets knocked out from the pain. They both get knocked down from the pain but Peter wakes up first and leaves Venom in the sand so he can call the Fantastic Four. I didn’t read the next issue but I bet Venom got away while Peter was somewhere else making a phone call.

So there were a couple of good parts in it. I liked it better than the Secret Wars book but I don’t think it was as great as people were saying. I hope the next book people pick is better. I’ll still read some old comics but I think the new ones are way better.

My Rating: 7 out of 10

Deadpool #8

2009-03-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Deadpool #8
Written by Daniel Way and illustrated by Paco Medina
Published by Marvel Comics

Deadpool is the funniest comic. I like all the issues so far and it comes out a lot. I have another Deadpool comic that looks really good but I didn’t read it yet so I’m not going to review it. In the last comic Deadpool wrote Norman Osborn a letter saying he wanted money or he was going to go after him so Norman Osborn got a team together to go after Deadpool. In this issue Deadpool is going to go after Osborn to get his money and he goes to the Avengers base where Osborn lives to get the money he’s owed.

Osborn isn’t going to pay him and has all these traps for Deadpool. I like when Iron Man comes out to try and stop Deadpool and Deadpool just keeps making jokes about Osborn’s stupid hair and then he takes some of the armor off Iron Man and wears part of it on his own costume. Deadpool finds a grappling gun and he’s really happy about it but then he gets bored because he has to climb all the way to the top of the building and says that if he has a crazy dream it’ll make things go by faster. I laughed when his dream had Osborn as the big giant and he was saying, fee fi foe fum I’m a stinky dummy dumm’ and in the dream Osborn looked all crazy and stuff with holes in his hair and drool coming out of his mouth.

Deadpool stops dreaming when Osborn sends out his team of killers, the Thunderbolts and when he is trying to figure out how to beat them his brain tells him that he’s not going to be talking to him or helping him anymore.

Deadpool is a really funny character because he’s so crazy and stupid sometimes. I watched the Hulk vs Wolverine cartoon and was surprised that Deadpool was in it but that made it great. I liked the Wolverine and Hulk fight but the best part was really Deadpool. The costume looked good and he was telling stupid jokes and being really crazy with his guns and picking fights and stuff. The best part was when Wolverine cut off his arm and Deadpool was trying to figure out a way for it to get attached again so he ended up just holding one piece to another and it got attached. There are a lot of funny parts and it made the movie so much better because he was in it. They really need to give Deadpool his own cartoon or something because his parts were the best part of the movie.

I liked the book a lot but it went by pretty fast and I thought there would be a bigger fight with Deadpool and the Thunderbolts. They show up at the end and they don’t really fight that much. The next part of the story is in a different comic so I’m going to have to read Thunderbolts. I never read them before so I hope it’s as good as Deadpool since it’s going to have Deadpool in it.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #587

2009-03-02T20:33:00.001-08:00

Amazing Spider-Man #587
Written by Marc Guggenheim and illustrated by John Romita Jr
Published by Marvel Comics

In this comic Spider-Man is still arrested and his lawyer is the guy who is really Daredevil. Spider-Man wants to get out of jail and the lawyer is going to help him. Even though he could just use his powers and break out of jail on his own the lawyer tells him not to because then all the police in the city would be going after him. The other part of the story is that the girl Carlie is finding out that Peter Parker’s roommate, the cop Vin has been keeping spider-tracers and putting them on bodies so that Spider-Man gets blamed for it. She says that she wants to help them because Spider-Man deserves to be blamed for it and should go to jail but she’s lying and really tells on the other cops.

I like when Spider-Man was in his cell and the guard was talking to him about how Spider-Man saved his family a few years ago and he really hopes that Spider-Man gets out of jail because he’s a hero. He also brought him a new costume for the lawyer because the one he was wearing was all bloody and torn up. I don’t know if he changed his mask though because then everyone who was in the prison would see him change.

I like when Vin got arrested and he was getting mad at his partner because he was set up with Carlie. I thought it was weird how he was arrested as a police officer but it was good for the story. I hope the other guy gets in trouble for what he did. When Spider-Man saw that Vin was arrested he got worried because all the bad guys in jail were going to go after Vin and he wasn’t going to be able to protect him. I really like the part where Spider-Man is talking to the lawyer and the words were really tiny. It’s impossible that someone could write that small. I could hardly read it. I read maybe a couple of words and then my eyes were hurting so my dad had to read the rest. I can’t believe they did that so small.

I like how the lawyer gave Spider-Man his web shooters and Spider-Man used them to pull the harness off of his head. I think it was cool how he made the web go around his neck to his feet so he could use his muscles to break the lock on his neck. I laughed when he said he hopes he doesn’t accidentally hang himself. Once Spider-Man was free he went to where all the prisoners were beating on Vin and said, ‘Hey sailors’ and then asked if they wanted to go play Parcheesi. I like Parcheesi but that was a lame joke and it’s funny when Spider-Man tells really lame jokes like that when everyone else is so serious.

One of my favorite parts was how Iron Fist was climbing around in the Spider-Man costume in court. I thought it was strange that they picked Iron Fist instead of another hero and I don’t know why that would help him in court but I like that they did something different. I also really liked when Lily was smiling and they showed half of her face as Menace. The artist did a good job of that and made her look really creepy. The other great drawing was when the artist drew Spider-Man in the court room jumping all over the place when it was really Iron Fist. I like the way this guy draws Spider-Man a lot. The only thing that would have made this book better would be if Spider-Man was in more action. He’s been in jail for too long.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Deadpool #7

2009-03-02T20:32:00.001-08:00

Deadpool #7
Written by Daniel Way and illustrated by Paco Medina
Published by Marvel Comics

This comic starts off with Deadpool’s friend Bob still drowning in the river after Tiger Shark attacked them. Deadpool wants to know how Bob found him and when Bob says he saw him on TV Deadpool only wanted to know how he looked. I thought it was really funny that they showed pictures with Deadpool being really stupid and then getting shot up and Bob says ‘you looked good’.

I like when Deadpool shot one of Tiger Shark’s fish people and he’s having this crazy dream with all this weird stuff going on in it. Deadpool and Bob are staying in a hotel and they are trying to figure out what they are going to do next. Deadpool knows that Tiger Shark is really tough and wants to figure out a way to beat him. Bob pulls a gun and points it off Deadpool and says that he’s working for someone even tougher than Tiger Shark. Deadpool isn’t scared because he took out all the bullets and put them some place else. He grabs the gun and tells Bob, ‘You think I’m stupid, Hans’. I laughed when he called Bob Hans. My favorite part was when Deadpool sees Tiger Shark coming to the hotel room and he tells Bob to get ready because he’s going to take a break to ‘drop the kids off at the pool’. That was so funny. He’s going to take a number two when Tiger Shark is coming to kill him and making Bob have to fight him instead.

Tiger Shark comes in the room and he’s yelling at Bob and wants to know where Deadpool is. He goes into the bathroom and looks behind the shower curtain because he thinks Deadpool is hiding there but he’s really hiding behind the door. I like that Deadpool’s stupid plan was to hide behind the door of the bathroom and then he pulls out a huge gun and aims it at Tiger Shark. There’s a big fight and Bob is no help at all and drops the gun and Deadpool has to start choking Tiger Shark with a curtain. Tiger Shark is way too tough for them so Deadpool just grabs the rifle and shoots him like six times. Then he tells Bob to give him a high five and when Bob puts his hand in the air Deadpool shoots him through the hand.

Deadpool is really mad because Bob was trying to kill him before and Bob said it was all Norman Osborn’s fault and that Osborn was the guy who was making all the people go after Deadpool. Osborn stole all the stuff that Deadpool found on the Skrull ship and Deadpool is mad because Osborn used the information to kill the Skrull queen to become a hero. I liked that Deadpool sends Osborn a note that’s telling him he’s very angry because Norman stole all the information about the Skrulls and he’s going to tell everyone about it unless Osborn pays him 100,000 million dollars. He also writes that he killed Bob, too. I don’t think he really killed him. Then Osborn is telling a bunch of his goons that they have to go after Deadpool.

Deadpool is always a good comic. He’s really funny and he fights really dorky bad guys like Tiger Shark and Bob and the part where he has to go to the bathroom was my favorite. I want to see how Deadpool beats Osborn and makes him nuts in the next issue.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Hulk #10

2009-03-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

Hulk #10
Written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ed McGuinness
Published by Marvel Comics
The Hulk is one of my favorite comics every time it comes out but I didn’t like this one as much. I didn’t like that the Red Hulk only was in it for a couple a parts. I really liked when the book was in two parts with the Green Hulk in the beginning and the Red Hulk in the end. The stories were shorter but I liked that I could read about two different Hulks and their different stories in the same book.

I thought that some of the parts where the Green Hulk was picking his team was confusing. I know Silver Surfer and Namor but I couldn’t figure out the other guy was Dr. Strange until my dad told me who it was. It was weird that everyone knew who the Silver Surfer was but he didn’t know who anyone else was because they grabbed him at a different time.

I do like the idea that the Hulk has to put together his own team. I’m not sure why he picked those guys for his team, but I like the idea that the Hulk is going to be the leader of his own team and that if they win they get all their wishes and the other team gets killed. I thought it would have been better if the Hulk picked Thor and Iron Man and all of the other big guys that he used to fight in all the other issues. I think that would have been a bit of a tougher team, too.

My favorite part of the book was when there was the two page section with Red Hulk and his team. I wasn’t thinking that the Red Hulk and his gang were going to be the team that the Green Hulk had to beat, but I liked it. I liked seeing Tiger Shark there, too since I was reading about him in Deadpool. He was drawn differently here than he was in Deadpool and I’m not sure which one I liked more. They’re both good drawings. The end was okay. I thought it was interesting that the one guy thought his secret weapon to win was going to be to make the Green Hulk really smart. He’s been dumb in all the issues that I’ve been reading so it was weird to see him talking like a regular person and wearing clothes. I think it could be cool.

I always like the art. I like how the Hulks are always drawn so huge. And the parts where the Green Hulk was fighting the people in space was really nice to look at. The artist in this book draws everyone in a very cool way. They look bigger and tougher in this book than where I see them in other books. The Red Hulk pages with him and his gang was the best part of the book.

I really like the idea of the two different Hulks having their own teams of people to go battle each other. I just wish that they would have had a bit more action in this issue either fighting each other or some other people. But I am looking forward to seeing the big battle of the two groups in the next issue.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

Classic Comic Review: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars

2009-02-23T16:20:00.001-08:00

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12
Written by Jim Shooter and illustrated by Mike Zeck
Published by Marvel Comics

I saw a couple of these comics when we were cleaning up and I liked the cover of the first issue with all of the heroes on it and the one where Spider-Man was standing in his black costume. I was going to read them and then told my dad that maybe I could do reviews for some older comics that used to be popular once in awhile and he thought it was a good idea. I don’t know if I’ll do it a lot because this series wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be but if anyone has ideas on what other old comics could be good I might read those.

Secret Wars is a 12 issue comic where a mysterious god type person called the Beyonder grabs a bunch of heroes and villains and takes them to space. The Beyonder separates the good guys and bad guys and tells them that he’s going to put them on a planet to fight each other. He makes up a new planet made up of pieces of other planets for them to fight on, too. The Beyonder says that whatever team wins is going to get any wish that they ask for.

It was weird that Magneto was on the good guy’s team. Even he didn’t know why he was there. None of the good guys wanted him on the team and when everyone gets to the new world Magneto just leaves and starts his own base. The good guys vote that Captain America should be their leader because he is used to being in charge. Wolverine is a bit of a jerk in this one and says that he isn’t going to listen to Captain America and the other good guys all yell at him. Dr. Doom wants to be the leader of the bad guys but he pretty much wants to be on his own, too.

Some of the battles are really cool. I like when Spider-Man is spying on the X-Men and they’re talking about what they’re going to do in the battle and they find out he’s listening so they all attack him. I thought it was pretty cool that Spider-Man was able to beat the whole team of X-Men by himself, but when he was going to tell the other heroes what happened Professor X used his powers to make him forget what he was going to say. I liked the part where the bad guys drop a whole mountain on the super heroes and the Hulk has to hold the whole thing up by himself. He was really, really strong in this book. And I liked how Mr Fantastic asked a bunch of heroes for all of their weapons like Iron Man’s armor and Spider-Man’s web shooters so they could blow a hole in the mountain to escape.

I thought it was really funny that the Wasp gets killed in this story, too. I don’t know a lot about her except that she’s an Avenger but she has gotten killed in three stories that I read this year. I don’t know any other characters who get killed so much, but she has to be the worst hero ever. She does get better at the end of the story when some alien girl helps her out but it still doesn’t change that she was killed again. I don’t know why she was being friends with Magneto anyway. She knew he was a bad guy so it was stupid that she was trying to be his friend.

The part I liked the most in the book was probably when Spider-Man got the black costume. I know Venom was an alien creature but I never read the story of how he got to know Spider-Man. It’s pretty dumb that Spider-Man didn’t check before he went to the machine to get the new costume but I did like how funny and happy he was that he could turn his costume into shorts and short sleeves and stuff like that. I like when Spider-Man just jumps around making jokes and everyone else starts to get annoyed with him.

The parts in the end with Dr Doom going after the Beyonder was okay. I like how Doom thinks he can do anything he wants and cuts that guy Klaw up to make a weapon to try and take Beyonder’s powers and I liked the art when Doom got all messed up and had his arm and legs cut off. The book got a bit boring at the end when Doom was in control and the super heroes really didn’t do anything to try and stop him because he kept blowing them up and killing everyone. I didn’t like how they made Captain America’s shield broken, either. It didn’t look right.

I like how everyone got into teams at the end when they went home and the Thing wanted to stay on the planet by himself. I don’t know why he was going to stay back even if he could turn human because he wouldn’t have any powers but I guess he got back because he’s in comics now.

Some of the battles were cool and it was neat to see all of the characters together on the same teams and battling each other but the story was way, way too long. There were a lot of parts where they kept going over the same things over again. They kept showing the beginning of the book where the Beyonder talks about the rules like 3 or 4 times and they didn’t have to do that. And there were a lot of parts where the superheroes are just standing around doing nothing. If it was going to be a book about a war there should have been a lot more action than it was.

It was okay but not as good as I thought it was going to be. Secret Invasion was a lot better.

My Rating: 6 out of 10

Bossy Bear and Just Like Bossy Bear

2009-02-16T16:38:00.001-08:00

Bossy Bear and Just Like Bossy Bear
Written and illustrated by David Horvath
Published by Disney/Hyperion Books

I picked up a lot of books at the New York Comic Con and two of the ones I got were Bossy Bear and Just Like Bossy Bear. They’re really funny books that are easy to read.

It’s about a blue bear who bosses people around. He wants things to be done his way all the time. I like his list of things to do because it just says do what I want to do and take me where I want to go and to hurry up. And then the rest of the book he’s just telling people what to do. He tells someone to make his room and he’s pointing and the other guy is just sitting there with a dumb look on his face. He gets really mad when he’s in a long line for the movies and he just tells everyone to hurry up and they all look at him scared.

A couple of people ask if he wants to play and Bossy Bear says he’ll play only if they play by his rules but they don’t think that’s fair and leave him all alone. Then Bossy Bear meets a turtle and the turtle says that he’s very bossy but he doesn’t have to be. Bossy Bear becomes his friend and gives him the same kind of crown that he wears.

In the second book the turtle is acting just like Bossy Bear. He’s watching Bossy Bear be very bossy and then he starts being bossy too. They’re at a party and there’s a piñata and the turtle has a big stick and says that he is going to get all the candy himself. Bossy knows that turtle isn’t being good so he starts being polite to people and wishing that they have good days and telling them to be careful and stuff.

I think Bossy Bear set a good example by realizing he wasn’t being very nice and started to do nice things for people.

The book is really funny. Bossy Bear is funny when he is being bad and I really like how the pictures are drawn. The characters all look really funny and I like how each page is drawn with a different color but only one color so it’s very bright. I like looking through the book and seeing which characters show up on the different pages. It’s an easy book to read because it’s short and the words are written big. I definitely want to read more Bossy Bear books.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #48

2009-02-16T16:33:00.001-08:00

Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #48
Written by Todd Dezago and illustrated by Jonboy Meyers
Published by Marvel Comics

This book is about Spider-Man having to fight Scorpion and Electro at the same time.
Scorpion tried to rob a truck full of money and Spider-Man stopped him. I thought it was funny that when they did the pictures of how Scorpion got his powers one of guys who helped with his powers looked like Albert Einstein. It’s weird how they made that happen. Scorpion nails Spider-Man in the face with his tail and Spider-Man crashes into a pole. Then Spider-Man rips a sign down from the street and nails him in the gut. The driver of the truck is drowning because his truck is filled with all this water from the street hydrant and Spider-Man has to save him so the Scorpion gets away.

Later Spider-Man is swinging around on patrol and sees that Electro is in a museum trying to steal some expensive jewels. Spider-Man breaks in to stop Electro and they fight in the museum. Electro zaps Spider-Man a few times with his powers and gets away.

The next day Peter Parker is very mad because he got both pictures of Electro and Scorpion on the front page and thought he was going to get double the money but his boss was really cheap and said it only counts as one picture. That wasn’t fair but Peter doesn’t do anything but get upset and leaves.

Then every time Spider-Man is swinging around on patrol Electro and Scorpion keep attacking him. He’s not catching a break and he starts getting afraid to go out because he knows he’s going to get attacked by all the bad guys. Spider-Man sees that a building is on fire and swings up to rescue a kid. The little boy asks Spider-Man which bad guy is stronger and tells Spider-Man that when his older brothers pound on him he gets them to fight each other by getting them to see who is stronger. Spider-Man thinks it’s a great idea and makes Scorpion and Electro come into a trap. He gets them to battle each other over who can beat Spider-Man better and the bad guys just fight each other until they’re tired and take each other out and Spider-Man wins.

I really like how Scorpion and Electro ended up fighting each other because you don’t always get to see bad guys fighting each other. I like how Spider-Man got that kid’s idea and used it to beat both bad guys. I also really liked when Spider-Man ripped the sign off the street and nailed Scorpion in the gut. It was cool to see him using his strength powers in a street fight.

It was weird that the cover looked nothing like the art that was in the book. The cover was a more real Spider-Man and the stuff inside was more like a cartoon. The art in the book was good, too. I liked the picture of the building that was on fire and how they showed the tower falling into the building and tearing the windows and sides of the building down. I like the details on those pictures. It was a good book with Spider-Man getting to fight some bad guys that are really popular but that he doesn’t get to battle a lot in other comics.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

The Dan Slott Interview

2009-02-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

The Amazing Dan Slott

Dan Slott, one of the main writers of Amazing Spider-Man, let me interview him at the New York Comic Con.

The Kid: Why did you want to write Spider-Man?

Dan Slott: Well they asked me and I said ‘yes’. You can never say no to something like that. You don’t say ‘oh let me think about it’ or ‘no give it to someone else I don’t think I want to do this’. You beg them and say ‘yes, please let me work on Spider-Man!’

Kid: What super powers would you want to have?

Dan: You know what? I’ve dedicated many years thinking about this very question. When I was younger it had to be flying. I always thought it would be so cool to be able to fly anywhere. Now that I’m older there is no question that I would want the ability to read and control people’s minds. If my boss told me my script is due at the end of the week I would use my mind to tell him ‘I need more time. I need two weeks’. If I want to go see Slumdog Millionare and my friends are saying they have to do laundry or something I’ll will them to put the laundry away and see the movie with me.

Kid: What super hero would you want to be?

Dan: I think Captain Marvel is really cool. He has all these great powers and at the same time he turns into a different person. No one would know who he was. I wouldn’t have people bothering me asking me to start their car in the morning or to get their cat out of the tree. After I was done my super hero stuff during the day I’d switch into Billy Batson and go about my day. Martian Manhunter is very cool, too. I mean, he has all the powers. He has super strength. He can fly, shape shift. He even has Martian vision. You know what that is?

Kid: No

Dan: Neither do I, but it sounds like it has to be really cool.

Kid: Who is your favorite super hero?

Dan: When I was younger it was Spider-Man. When I was a teenager I really liked Moon Knight. Moon Knight is the Marvel Universe version of Batman if Batman goofed up all the time. I thought it was so cool to have this really tough guy who was trying to fight crime and beat up the bad guys and he was always kind of screwing up. And who wears white when they’re going to fight crime at night anyway? And now it’s back to being Spider-Man as my favorite. I loves me some Spider-Man.

Kid: What sidekick would you want to have?

Dan: A superhero sidekick or any person?

Kid: Superhero first

Dan: She-Hulk.

Kid: Really?

Dan: Yeah. She Hulk is awesome. She’s tough and she’s cool. And she’s not all crazy like her cousin. She’s not going to get mad and start punching me for no reason.

Kid: What about real person?

Dan: Um, probably Michael Phelps.

Kid: Who?

Dan: Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer. He seems cool enough and like he’d know how to handle himself.

Kid: Who’s your favorite villain?

Dan: Mr Mxyzptlk. Ha, try and spell that one! You might need to Google it or something. I just think he’s a great character. He can do all these crazy things and it’s always funny how Superman tries new ways to get him to say his name backwards. I always thought there was such an easy way for Superman to get him to say his name backwards. Wanna know how?

Kid: How?

Dan: Knock Knock

Kid: Who’s there?

Dan: Mister Kltpzyxm

Kid: Mister Kltpzyxm who?

Dan: Ha. Gota ya. See how easy that is! I think it’s fun to try and get different ways for Superman to trick him into saying his name backwards. Maybe he could sing about it. You know, I once wrote a Superman musical.

Kid: What?

Dan: Yeah. The DC people were very happy with it. It looked like we were going to be able to do it. I had everything written, including the songs and when it came time to animate it the guys who were going to be doing it all said, ‘nah, we’re not doing this. It’s stupid.’

Kid: What weapons would you use?

Dan: I’m a cheap guy so I’d probably pick a boomerang. That way it always comes back to me when I use it. Guns are okay but then you always have to buy more bullets. Throwing stars are cool but then they get stuck in the bad guys and you lose them. With a boomerang you only have to pay for it once.

Kid: What kind of costume would you wear?

Dan: I’m in the Marvel Universe so I’d probably have to go with the traditional red or blue. Maybe black. It can’t be green and purple. Those are bad guy colors at Marvel.

Kid: Seriously?

Dan: Yeah. Think about all the bad guys who wear purple and green. You have Green Goblin, Mysterio, Swordsman. That’s probably why everyone gives the Hulk such a hard time.

Kid: What kind of mask would you wear?

Dan: I think Iron Fist has the coolest mask. He’s got half of his face showing and the Spider-Man kind of eyes. It’s very cool.

Kid: He was walking around here earlier.

Dan: That’s cool.

Kid: What villain would you fight?

Dan: You know what, I’ll put it all on the table. I’d fight Galactus. Yes I would. And when I was through with him he’d never bother the Earth again.

Kid: Who would you rather fight: my dad or that guy over there (points to a con goer in a yellow and green 28 jersey?

Dan: Hmmm. I’m going to have to say your dad.

Liam laughs

Dan: Yeah, but you know what? Me and your dad would be fighting a long time and in typical superhero fashion we’d make up and then we’d team up to go after that guy (points to now perplexed man in green and yellow 28 jersey)

Kid: If you were a bad guy, who would you rather fight: Captain America or Deadpool?

Dan: Deadpool. I couldn’t fight Cap. He’s such a good guy. Even bad guys probably feel so bad when they have to fight Cap because he’s so nice. Everyone loves him. No one likes Deadpool.

Kid: I like Deadpool.

Dan: Sorry

Kid: Would you rather be 20,000 years old or 30,000?

Dan: Definitely 30,000. If I’m going to grow old I might as well go all the way, you know? But I’m definitely going to have to floss a lot if I’m that old.

Kid: What kind of store would you rob as a villain?

Dan: I once had a character I created called La Pinata who only robbed candy stores. He would cosume all the candy and then after one punch he blows up and candy explodes all over the place. One thing I would never do is rob a camera store. No way. Everyone would know what you look like! But you know what? I would rob from a crook store. That way everything I take is something that was already taken by crooks. How’s that.

Kid: How would you like to die?

Dan: I want to drown in a giant vat of chocolate. Mmmmm chocolate. Then you’re dead. It would almost be okay.

Kid: Would you rather be toilet paper or a toilet plunger?

Dan: Toilet plunger. The paper could be used.

Kid: Yeah but I didn’t say if the toilet plunger was used, either.

Dan: That’s a trick!

Kid: Which super hero would you rather marry: She Hulk or Ms Marvel?

Dan: She Hulk. She Hulk is smart and strong and funny. She Hulk would be great. But if I really had to make a choice I’d marry a Skrull. Honey, today can you make yourself look like Angelina? It’d be great.

Kid: But then you’d be marrying a boy?

Dan: What? No.

Kid: Yeah. Skrulls are boys.

Dan: Trick question. You never said the Skrull was going to be a boy. I’d pick a girl Skrull. Not a boy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Kid: What if you were a girl?

Dan: That’s another good question that I never thought about. If I was a girl I would marry Dan Slott. Because he’s handsome and dreamy. I’d also think about Starhawk. Cause half the time he’d be a girl.

Kid: If you could turn into any animal what would it be?

Dan: That is an excellent question. I’m going to say a goldfish.

Kid: A goldfish!!! (laughing)

Dan: Yeah. Of course. What’s wrong with that. Being a goldfish would be awesome.

Kid: No it wouldn’t.

Dan: Look, if you’re someone’s pet it’s not like you’re going to be going out for Italian food every night. At best you might get table scraps once in awhile. Usually you’re going to get that gross canned or dry food. That’s disgusting. And sometimes you’re going to have to eat garbage or something gross like that. But goldfish are really, really stupid. Yeah. A goldfish forgets things like 15 minutes after it happens. So sure I’m going to be swimming around in my own poop a lot of the time but 15 minutes later I forget all about it and life is great again.

Kid: What kind of pet would you have if you could have any?

Dan: I’d go with a monkey. It’d be a helped monkey, though. He would be able to do things for me kind of like a monkey butler or something…even if it’s just turning on the TV. I have cats now but they don’t do anything for me. I feed them. They don’t like me. At least the helper monkey could help out with dinner, even just taking something out of the microwave.

Kid: What if the monkey turned evil?

Dan: If my monkey turned out to be a villain!?

Kid: Yeah

Dan: Then I’d have to do the right thing and turn him in. I’d make sure that he went to monkey jail.

Kid: Thanks for doing the interview.

Everyone should go read Amazing Spider-Man and Mighty Avengers because they’re awesome.

Blog of the Week

2009-02-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

Blog of the Week!

I found out today that my reviews were named as the site of the week by the Funny Book Fanatic site. I think it's really cool that so many people read my reviews and especially that my review site was picked as the best for the week. That was good news.

I went to the New York Comic Convention on Saturday with my dad, brother, pop pop and uncle and it was great. I got to sit at the Del Rey booth and Tommy Lee Edwards and do a lot of sketches for people and even made some money. There were a lot of people who told me that they read my reviews on the computer.

I also bought a lot of cool toys, books and art and took a lot of fun pictures. I even got a cool wooden sword that's awesome. I'm going to write more about that and put pictures up later. My favorite part of the Comic Convention was interviewing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott. He was soooo funny! I asked him a lot of questions and he answered all of them and made me laugh a lot. I'm going to have the interview up on the website in a few days, too.

It was a great Convention and finding out that I was the blog of the week is really cool.

http://funnybookfanatic.wordpress.com/

NY Comic Con Saturday: Meet 'The Kid'

2009-02-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

I’ll be spending time at two different places this Saturday at the New York Comic Con.

Del Rey Booth
12-12:30pm
4:30-5pm

http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/

Tommy Lee Edwards and the Blvd Boys in Artists Alley
2-3:30pm

http://www.theblvdstudio.com/

Anyone who likes reading my reviews can come over and say hello. I think it will be cool to meet people who read my reviews and like them.

I’m also going to be drawing pictures to sell at both places. I can try to draw whatever anybody wants but my 3 best are drawings of Spider-Man, Batman and Crazy Bunny (a character I created). Drawings will cost 3 dollars each.

And if you are a creator who wants to come and say hello that would be cool, too. I want to try and do some interviews while I'm there.

See you at the con!

New Avengers #49

2009-02-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

The New Avengers #49
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Billy Tan
Published by Marvel Comics

This comic is basically about Luke Cage still looking for his missing daughter. Norman Osborn is helping him because they made a secret deal in the last issue where Osborn was going to help Cage if Cage helps out Osborn and his guys.

In the beginning of this comic Cage is with Osborn and Venom and they go to a secret prison where a lot of Skrulls are prisoners after they lost Secret Invasion. The Skrulls aren’t telling Osborn where Cage’s baby is so Venom grabs one of them and bites his head off and there’s all this green goop. Osborn is torturing the Skrulls and wants to know where the Skrull Jarvis is that took the baby. He says that Venom can eat the other Skrull is he doesn’t tell him what’s going on so the Skrull tells them where Jarvis is.

Luke Cage goes to the special meeting place where the Skrulls go because the one Skrull told him that Jarvis Skrull would be there. Jarvis shows up and Cage asks for his baby back and says he’ll let him live if his baby is okay. Once Cage gets his daughter back Bullseye shoots the Skrull Jarvis in the head and kills him. I really like the picture the artist drew of Bullseye with his rifle. I think it’s cool that it shows the smoke coming out of the gun and all of the details that he puts in like the Chinese food box and chopsticks. Luke brings the baby back to the Avengers base and lets his wife have the baby. His wife takes the baby and she goes back to the other Avengers and Cage stays behind.

I like when Cage grabbed the magic crowbar and started beating on all the bad guys. Bullseye was eating breakfast and Cage smacks him with the crowbar. Venom tries to help Bullseye but Cage uses the crowbar and smashes Venom and his costume splatters all over the house. After all that Cage threatens to hit Osborn with the crowbar and Osborn calls him a liar because he is breaking the deal. Cage gets really mad and chucks the crowbar out the window and then jumps out the window too and crashes on the ground.

Then Cage goes back to the fort where all of the good Avengers are hiding out. I like that Spider-Man was playing with the baby. Wolverine asked Cage why he didn’t take Osborn’s head off and said that he would have. That was a cool part, too. The Avengers are all hanging around their base and talking and watching TV and then they see Osborn’s Avengers on TV. It’s showing the last part of the comic where Osborn puts together his team of bad Avengers. All the Avengers are really mad and Ronin puts his mask on and says that they’re the real Avengers and they need to go get Osborn’s team and beat them down and get their name back.

This book was a lot of fun. I like when Venom is torturing the Skrulls and how Cage ended up smashing him with the crowbar. I like the part where Cage threw the crowbar and jumped out of the widow on the ground and there was the big crater in the ground. The only thing that bothered me about the book that there were a bunch of guys on the cover that weren’t in the book. And I don’t know why Ares is on Osborn’s team since Areas is supposed to be good and Osborn’s Avengers are full of bad guys.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

New York Comic Con Preview

2009-01-31T20:44:00.000-08:00

NYCC 09 Preview

Going to comic conventions is one of my favorite things. I always have such a fun time there. I like getting to walk around and see all the people dressed up in different costumes and finding cool toys and getting sketches from comic book artists. The New York Comic Con is really big and there is a lot of stuff to do there.

Next week we’ll all be going to the NYCC and I will have my own badge for the first time which is awesome! I’m also getting to spend time at the Del Rey booth and in Artists Alley with Tommy Lee Edwards (1985, The Question, Bullet Points) and the BLVD guys (Bernard Chang, Sean Chen, Trevor Goring and John Paul Leon)

It’s cool just to be able to sit with those guys and hang out, but I’m probably going to try and do some drawings for people too for like a couple dollars or something.

When I know what times I’m going to be there I’ll post them here. If anyone wants to come by and say hello or order a sketch from me I’ll let them know when I’m going to be at the booths. I also want to try and do interviews with comic book people and take a lot of pictures of the con and I’m going to put them here after we’re done.

I’m really excited about this year’s convention and think it’s going to be the best one yet!

http://www.theblvdstudio.com/

http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/

Green Lantern #37

2009-01-27T18:43:00.001-08:00

Green Lantern #37
Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Ivan Reis
Published by DC Comics

My dad said that the Geoff Jones said he liked my review in the comments of the blog which made me happy. I'm glad I was going to do this review because now I know he'll probably read this one, too.

The book starts with Green Lantern Hal and the Blue Lantern flying to try and capture Sinestro and bring him back to the Blue Lantern’s home planet. And the Blue Lantern keeps telling Hal that he is going to become the best Blue Lantern and their leader.

Green Lantern gets to the planet where the Red Lanterns have Sinestro and he tries to free Sinestro but the Red Lanterns have a trap. They were all hiding and they pop up and start attack. Atrocitius is telling Green Lantern that he has a lot of rage and one day he is going to attack and kill all his friends. Then one of the girl Red Lanterns wants to kill Jordan and the Red Lanterns are ready to fight but then all of Sinestro’s friends in the Yellow Lanterns come in to battle. This bug looking Yellow Lantern in armor goes to Sinestro and gives him his ring back so he can get all of his powers back.

The Blue Lanterns are on the planet, too. They come to find Green Lantern and tell him that everything is going to be okay. The rest of the book is one huge fight between all of the different lanterns. Red and Yellow Lanterns are fighting. Blue and Green Lanterns are fighting Red Lanterns. Everyone is against the Red Lanterns but they’re still pretty tough.

The Blue Lanterns are very strong but the Red Lanterns are telling them that they don’t have a lot of power on their planet. One of the Red Lanterns is trying to choke Green Lantern and he is telling her that he will try and help her. She starts to believe him and let go and asks for help and then Sinestro kills her with his ring and then tells Green Lantern that he broke another promise.

When the Red Lantern dies the ring flies off and starts looking for someone who will wear it. Green Lantern is really angry that Sinestro killed the girl and he starts fighting him. He’s really mad and because of that the ring thinks he has a lot of rage and goes onto his finger and turns Hal into a Red Lantern.

I liked the art in Green Lantern a lot again. When the Red Lanterns first attack all the red energy around them is shown and it looks really cool. One of my favorite pages what when the Yellow Lanterns come to the planet. I like how it’s one big page of all the guys and it even has little marks to show how hard the one guy is smashing the Red Lantern into the ground. The other cool page was when the Blue Lanterns showed up to help Green Lantern. That was two big pages together and all the energy is around them and everyone is flying away. The last page when Hal turns into the Red Lantern was really good, too. I like how Atrocitus’ face was drawn behind Hal and all of the red flames or lava is around him.

This issue was even better than the last Green Lantern comic. There is a lot more action in this book. Everyone wants to fight the Red Lanterns because they are the meanest group so each group is having a different battle with them. I like how the other Lantern teams showed up and had their own battles, too. I still think it’s funny and a bit weird that there are elephants on a bunch of lantern teams. The Blue Lanterns got one in the other issue and now there is a Yellow Lantern one. I like that there can be any type of creature as a lantern. One thing that bothered me was that even though Hal turned into the Red Lantern you could still see his green ring on the other hand so I don’t know how he could be wearing both. I think the green ring is going to take back over his body and he isn’t going to be bad for long.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #583

2009-01-22T19:45:00.001-08:00

Amazing Spider-Man #583
‘The Barack Obama Story’
Written by Zeb Wells and illustrated by Todd Nauck
Published by Marvel Comics

I’m doing a short review just about the Barack Obama part. It was a short story in the back of the comic.

Spider-Man is in Washington DC taking pictures of when Obama was going to be president and a car came crashing in and there were two Obamas. No one knew who the real one was because they both looked exactly the same and even dressed the same. One of them had a different tie though. A security guy says that they should ask both people a question only the real Barack Obama would know and they ask what his basketball nickname was. The real one gets the answer right and the other guy makes mistakes. He doesn’t even know how basketball is played.

The fake Obama turns out to be Chameleon. Chameleon wants to become President by taking Obama’s place during the oath but Spider-Man stops him. After Spider-Man saves everyone, the Chameleon is taken away. Barack Obama says ‘thanks partner’ to Spider-Man and then Spider-Man leaves and Obama becomes the President. That wasn’t really important to the story. It’s not like they really know each other or are friends so it didn’t mean anything.

This was a very weird story. It’s crazy that the Chameleon would try to become Obama and he didn’t even know what his college basketball name was supposed to be and then he just tries to escape. It’s kind of weird that Obama was in the comic because he’s the President and he likes Spider-Man. It’d be even weirder if Obama was checking out this website to see the review of his comic.

I did like the story a lot though because I thought it was cool that the President was in it since he is a real person. I like the plan and the part where there were two Obama and how Spider-Man had to come in and save the day. It might be cool if Obama was in the comics some more and got super powers like flying and being really strong but I don’t think he should be in comics all the time. It was a special treat issue. I think it would have been pretty cool if someone dressed in a Spider-Man costume showed up at the inauguration, too, but that didn’t happen.

Rating: Presidential

Final Crisis #6

2009-01-22T19:44:00.001-08:00

Final Crisis #6
‘The End of Batman’
Written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by JG Jones, Carlos Pacheco and Doug Mahnke
Published by DC Comics

I haven’t read this book before but I wanted to find out how the Batman story ended up. I didn’t know a lot of the people in the book or a lot about what was going on since I wasn’t reading this book all the time but the parts I did read were really good. I’m just going to review the Batman part of the book but I liked how there were all these huge battles going on like it was the end of the world. There was a lot of fighting between all these different characters.

Batman escaped from a trap in another comic and he was trying to stop the main bad guy in this issue who was Darkseid. Batman found a special gun and a special bullet that was made to kill very strong people who were like gods. Darksied doesn’t care and says that Batman is going to lose.

Batman says that he doesn’t want to use a gun but he’s going to make an exception and shoots Darksied but Darkseid fires lasers at him at the same time. Batman kills Darkseid but the lasers shoot Batman in the head and the chest and then the book switches to Superman. Superman is flying around going crazy. He’s really mad about everything that’s happened and how all the super people are fighting on Earth and he’s using his heat vision and powers to destroy buildings and stop the bad guys.

On the last page Superman is holding Batman’s dead body. He was all burnt up.

I thought it was pretty cool that a big character like this was killed. He’s Batman. I didn’t think they would actually kill him. It’s weird that they actually did it. I think it’s cool that it was a different villain that killed him since none of Batman’s other bad guys were ever able to do it. It just shows how tough Darkseid really is.

I think it’s okay that Batman used a gun to kill Darkseid even though he promised not to use guns because Darkseid was going to kill everyone on Earth. Batman had a good reason for breaking his promise and he did it to save the planet so he should be forgiven. It was a pretty cool issue and the art was really nice but I wish that Batman was in it more.

I liked the picture of all the other Batman people in the ad in the back of the book for ‘I am Batman’. There’s no way Two-Face or Harley Quinn is going to be Batman. I think Nightwing is going to take over since he’s oldest and has the most experience.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

The Punisher #1

2009-01-18T16:39:00.000-08:00

The Punisher #1
Written by Rick Remender and illustrated by Jerome Opena
Published by Marvel Comics

This comic starts with the Punisher wanting to kill Norman Osborn. Osborn was the hero of the Skrull war and everyone thinks that he is an okay guy now and now Osborn is trying to make his own team of heroes that is going to do whatever he says. Osborn is giving a speech and the Punisher is very far away and he has a special gun that can fire a bullet for miles. The Punisher shoots the gun and it looks like Osborn is going to get shot right in the head but the Sentry shows up and grabs the bullet and then tries to arrest the Punisher.

The Punisher escapes by jumping off the building and the Sentry chases him but the Punisher has traps set up all over the building. He sets a bomb and it blows up but it doesn’t even hurt the Sentry. The Sentry grabs the Punisher and starts flying away with him and then the Punisher puts his gun to his faces and starts shooting but the bullets don’t bother him. The Sentry drops him and the Punisher falls pretty far and gets hurt a little but he makes acid fall on his head.

The Punisher tells the Sentry that he has a bomb in another building far away and he’s going to make it explode unless the Sentry goes and stops it so the Sentry flies away really fast and finds out that there is no bomb in the building. Punisher was lying to get away and disappears when the Sentry gets back.

When the Sentry comes back from the other building the Punisher is trying to escape and gets to his truck to look for a way to escape and find more weapons or something. When he’s in his truck some guy shows up on a TV screen and tells Punisher that he still needs to get out because he’s not out of the woods yet. Punisher runs out of the truck and runs for the subway like the guy tells him and the Sentry finds the Punisher’s truck and tears it apart. Punisher sneaks onto a subway and Sentry can’t find him and when he gets out of the subway he is so tired from his fight and all the running around that he just falls down and passes out.

I like the way the artist draws a lot of the stuff in the book. I like in the beginning how the bullet is shooting and how the gun and the bullet is drawn when it is fired. I also like the whole part when the Punisher is first trying to get away from the Sentry. I like how it kind of shows the speed of how he’s getting away when he jumps off the building and first starts getting ready to fight the Sentry.

I think it’s pretty cool that the Punisher was able to fight someone who is strong like Superman and not get killed. He has a lot of guns and bombs and different weapons but none of them work against someone with the Sentry’s powers so he just has to be smart and trick him and try and escape. I don’t know why the Sentry would be helping Norman Osborn, either. That seems kind of weird. It’s one of the first Punisher comics I read and it was pretty good so I’ll try and read some more of them when they come out.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Green Lantern #36

2009-01-11T18:43:00.000-08:00

Green Lantern #36
Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Ivan Reis
Published by DC Comics

This comic starts with the Yellow Lantern Sinestro and he is captured by the Red Lanterns. Sinestro is saying that nothing scares him even when all the Red Lanterns are trying to kill him and saying that they are going to eat him. Sinestro says that he controls all of fear and won’t be worried about anything but the Red Lantern leader Atrocitus says that he controls rage and rage will beat all the other lights.

The Blue Lantern shows up and then the big pink Green Lantern doesn’t trust the new blue one and starts blasting at it with his ring. The big Green Lantern thinks that the Blue Lantern is just another bad guy like the Yellow and Red Lanterns but the Blue Lantern tells him to calm down. The Blue Lantern is really just nice. He is talking about peace and hope and wanting everyone to be happy.

The Blue Lantern takes Hal Green Lantern to the home base of the Blue Lanterns which is a really nice planet that has water, flowers and trees and gentle birds and things like that which make it the nicest planet to visit. Hal sees some small little blue guys who are in charge of the Blue Lanterns. They used to be in charge of the Green Lanterns but left and started their own team. I like when they brought this elephant looking creature and started giving him powers. They chose him to be the next Blue Lantern and they say how ‘Hope is the most powerful of light’. The blue small guys tell the Hal Lantern that they want him to go on a mission and find and rescue Sinestro because they say that he is going to be very important to things that are going to happen in the future.

Then there is a part on another planet where a girl is turning into a Purple Lantern and she wants to go after one of the other Green Lanterns. The Blue Lanterns are flying around in space and the Elephant Lantern is kinda funny because he looks so chubby when he is floating around. They find out that a sun is going to explode and kill all these people on the planet near them. The Hal Lantern wants to go rescue all of the people but the Blue Lanterns don’t need to do that. They are so strong that they make the sun better and turn it into a new blue sun in just a few seconds and they don’t even get tired when they do it.

Hal Lantern is impressed with how the Blue Lanterns fixed everything and then they tell him that he is going to have to give up his green ring and become the leader of the Blue Lanterns. Then it goes back to the Red Lantern base and Atrocitus tells Sinestro that he is going to be scared because the Red Lanterns found Sinestro’s daughter.

I liked that there were a lot of different colored lanterns. My favorite of the new Lanterns are the red ones because they’re really tough and red is my second favorite color. My favorite ones are still the Green Lanterns because I know them the best. I liked how the artist drew a lot of different people captured and strapped to the big Red Lantern sign on their base planet.

I like how the artist drew all the different kinds of Lanterns. It was cool that every time the Red Lanterns were doing something there was blood all around. I liked that effect. They looked really good even if there wasn’t a lot of fighting between the different groups. I think there is going to be a big fight with all of the different color groups since that’s what Atrocitus keeps telling Sinestro and the Blue Lanterns were saying that something is going to happen, too. I thought it was pretty cool at the end how they showed all of the Red Lanterns tearing apart and eating one of the Yellow Lanterns that they captured. I think that there is going to be a lot of action in the new books.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #582

2009-01-10T17:09:00.001-08:00

www.xtranormal.com

Atomic Robo #5

2009-01-04T18:29:00.001-08:00

Atomic Robo #5 (of 5)
Written by Brian Clevinger and illustrated by Scott Wegener and James Nguyen
Published by Red 5 Comics

The book starts off with the good soldiers going across the beach to fight the Nazis and their boats are attacked. Robo and the army tries to get up the beach to fight the bad guys but it’s a trap and most of the good soldiers are killed and Robo gets captured. I like how when Robo was climbing up the beach the bullets kept bouncing off him.

I thought it was funny and cool when the Nazis used Robo as a battery to power up their big weapon. And then Robo thought that the main bad guy was being stupid because he said it was going to be a weather weapon and that would never work. I like when the good soldier came in and saved Robo and everyone was asking how he got through the guards and it showed that he basically killed all of the Nazi guards to save Robo. He talked really funny. I couldn’t understand what he was saying and Robo didn’t know what he was saying either. There were a lot of funny bits with Robo saying he thought the soldier was making up words that didn’t even exist.

I like how the guy pulls Robo out of the machine and Robo freaks out because his legs are missing. He was only attached to the machine from his stomach up and he’s screaming about his legs and the soldier is like, ‘we’ll get your baby legs’ and they try to escape the base together.

He grabbed Robo and had to carry him everywhere and he’s shooting his way out to get away until he runs out of ammo. Then someone drops a big crate that had Robo’s legs in them so the soldier grabs those and throws them into the plane with them so they can get away from everyone.

Robo is trying to hold onto the bottom of the plane and fight one of the Nazi’s who just put a bomb on the bottom of it. Robo gets rid of the bomb but he ends up falling off of the plane into the ocean. The Nazis are looking around and find all this dynamite in their base and are all upset and then the whole place just blows up.

Robo had to walk in the bottom of the ocean with his legs to get back to the country but his friend was sitting there relaxing because he was able to take the plane there. Now they just want to relax.

The other story was real short. It takes place a long time after the war and Robo is meeting with the main bad guy again. The bad guy has cancer and is going to die and says that he killed one of Robo’s friends and wants Robo to kill him. Robo picked up the gun and was ready to shoot him but said that the guy deserved to die alone and not like a soldier. I like how Robo was wearing a suit in that part of the book. He looked a little bit different but maybe it was because he was older or there was a different artist.

I liked this book a lot. It’s cool to see Robo fighting with the other soldiers in the war and there are always some funny parts, too, especially with his missing legs in this issue and how the good soldier who helped him talked so strange that no one could understand him. I hope that there are more Robo comics coming out.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Ultimatum #2

2009-01-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

Ultimatum #2 (of 5)
Written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by David Finch
Published by Marvel Comics

I liked how in the beginning Spider-Man is pulling the car up off of the guy and he’s getting yelled at. There was a huge flood in New York and a lot of people got hurt and killed and Spider-Man is trying to save as many people as he can. I thought all of the giant heroes that were saving everyone in the city was cool and I like how the Hulk came and was like, ‘Hulk help Spider-Man’ and Spider-Man is like, ‘oh boy’.

In the next part Iron Man helped bring Captain America to the Shield base because he was hurt real bad and the girl was giving them a hard time about coming to the base. Iron Man told her that they needed to save Captain America’s life so a bunch of doctors are trying to help him but it’s not working.

The next part that I really liked was with Hawkeye climbing up Yellowjacket because Yellowjacket was ignoring him while they were trying to help people out. Yellowjacket gets mad and picks him off his leg like he’s a bug and threatens to squash him in his hand but Hawkeye says they have to help save the Wasp together.

It was a really cool scene when Thor went to the Statue of Liberty and saw his friend killed. I like how everything looked in those pictures with Thor riding the winged horse and the Statue ripped apart from all of the damage. And I like how they was a girl called Hela who was in charge of all the demons made a deal with Thor to fight them. Thor needed to win the fight to save his girlfriend and he was up against hundreds of zombie creatures. It was just Thor with his girlfriend’s sword battling all of these zombie skeletons and then for some reason Captain America was fighting, too, helping out. Thor didn’t know why he was there and Captain America didn’t know either.

Hawkeye said that he found something and Giant Man put him down and Hawkeye was running around in the streets and found Wasp but she was getting eaten by the Blob who said ‘tastes like chicken’. That was a real gross part the way it was drawn. Blob had a very creepy face and eyes.

At the end of the book Professor X gets a visit from Magneto and they start arguing about who is going to be in charge of the world. Magneto wants to punish the humans and Professor X is nicer to them and wants to help. He doesn’t like how Magneto is causing the tidal waves and causing all the destruction so Magneto breaks his neck so that X won’t be able to stop him.

I liked the art in this book a lot. I like how he did the actions scenes especially. There’s a part where Captain America’s shield is breaking the bones of the zombie army and it looked like the shield was really moving. I like the picture of the Hulk and Spider-Man in the beginning too. The Hulk looked really huge holding up the car over Spider-Man and you could see all the broken windows and stuff in the buildings behind them. He draws the destroyed city real good, too. I liked the two pages where the Giant Men were helping out around the city and there is all the destruction on the ground and helicopters and stuff in the air. There was a lot of detail in those drawings.

This was a fun book with a lot of action in it. I got a little confused with some parts since it’s a different type of world than the other Marvel books but I figured it out. I was surprised that they actually killed a bunch of people like Wasp and Professor X. I thought it’s funny how the Wasp is dying in every comic she’s in. She’s probably the worst hero since she can’t ever beat anyone.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

New Avengers #48

2009-01-01T18:55:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

New Avengers #48
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Billy Tan
Published by Marvel Comics

This story starts right after the Skrull war is ending. Everyone is still mad at Iron Man and Spider Woman and then it goes to Spider-Man stalking Wolverine on the streets of New York. The Avengers are in Captain America’s house basically hiding out after the war with the Skrulls. Spider-Man is being silly and he keeps asking if there is a TV around.

I like how the real Spider-Woman came to the base and all of the other heroes were mad because the Skrull Queen impersonated her during the war and they don’t trust her. Then Captain America shows up. He’s the new guy with the cooler costume. He’s telling everyone that they are Captain America’s Avengers and that his house is going to be their new base and anyone who wants to live with him is allowed to. Then Luke Cage and his wife show up and tell everyone about the Skrull Jarvis that kidnapped their baby. No one knows why the Skrull would take the baby or whether its hurt or not but Cage makes them promise to help them.

I thought it was pretty cool how the Avengers went to the Fantastic Four for help and Mrs. Fantastic said that they were all tired after the battle but when she found out the baby was taken she told everyone in the house to wake up because it was important to help. The Avengers wanted Mr. Fantastic’s weapon that could figure out who were Skrulls and who were regular people so they could track down Skrulls and find the Jarvis one.

I like when the Avengers went into one of the bad guy’s base and Iron Fist punched the guy right in the mouth. The picture that the artist drew was really good there. I liked how they kept battling all of the villains that they could find and Wolverine really beat down Electro. It looked like Electro was dead because he was beat up so hard.

I like when they went to the bar where all the Shield agents were drinking after being fired by Norman Osborn and Wolverine knew that one of them was a Skrull in hiding. The Skrull tried to run and Luke Cage was really angry and punched her through the wall of the bar and then all the Avengers started chasing her on the outside. Luke Cage’s wife beat her up pretty bad and captured her. They wanted this Skrull because they thought she would be able to help them find the Skrull Jarvis but one of the stupid Shield guys shot her dead and Cage’s wife started crying because they had no way of finding Jarvis now.

I liked how in the end Cage was talking to a mysterious person and he was getting ready to make a deal with that person to help find his baby. I guessed who the mystery person was right away and was happy to find out I was right, but I think Cage made a dumb move by making the deal.

I thought the art was really well done. My favorite page was the one with all of the new Avengers team standing on the roof together. I also liked one of the pages where it showed all of the Shield agents in the bar. I thought the artist did a good job of putting in the details like the agents, the servers, bottles on the table and the TV and all of the other things in the bar. It wasn’t an action picture but it looked really good because there was so much going on in just the one picture.

I also think the deal that was made in the end was bad. Cage wants to help his baby girl, but I think that making a deal with that person is going to turn out really bad for him and things are going to get worse. I do like the new team and I’m glad that Spider-Man and Wolverine are still on it and that Captain America is on it, too.

My Rating: 9.5 out 10

The DC Comics Visit

2008-12-30T17:32:00.000-08:00

Our Trip to DC Comics

This week me and my brother went to NYC to stay with my uncle for a few days and had a great time. We took a ferry boat to visit the Statue of Liberty and got to see it really close. We went to a bunch of parks and climbed some giant rocks on one of them. We played around a lot and made fun of some ducks at one of the parks. We visited the museum where Night at the Museum took place and the park where Peter broke up with Mary Jane and where they did Enchanted.

The coolest part was that we got to visit DC Comics where they make all the Batman and Superman comics and Tiny Titans and things like that. Chris Cerasi is one of the editors there and he came to meet us downstairs and took us up to the DC offices and floors where they work on all the books. Chris also gave me and my brother each a huge gift bag filled with a ton of DC stuff. There were action figures, big comic trades, coloring books, early reader books, and some fun activity books. I like the book that teaches you how to draw DC superheroes.

There were a bunch of different floors all for the comics. They said that there were seven total levels that all have to do with DC Comics but we only went to a few of them. One was made for Batman and other was for Superman and another was a lot of different DC heroes. On the Batman floor there was a statue of Batman and they had the Batsignal and a painting of Gotham City. There was also a cool mini Batmobile that I got to sit in. We also went to the prop room where they had the real Mr. Freeze’s gun, Batarangs and Robinrangs and Catwoman’s whip and cool stuff like that.

Then we went to the Superman floor. They had real kryptonite, telephone booths that were smashed from him changing and Clark Kent sitting on a bench. On the other level they had a big painting of all of the superheroes of DC.

The guy who did work on Lego Batman introduced himself and asked us if we liked playing the game and asked us if we beat the game yet. I told him I didn’t beat it yet and then he gave us the Prima Guide Book with all of the cheat codes and stuff in it so we could finish up all the levels and unlock all the characters like Hush and Ra’s Al Ghul.

Then we went to visit Kenny Lopez who showed us how he does the design work on the comic books. He showed us the cover of a Batman comic book and showed us different titles and asked which kind we liked more. He had a lot of Mets stuff in his office and I told him that the Mets are losers cause the Phillies won the World Series this year. It was still cool to see how he decides what art to use on the book even though he likes bad baseball teams.

Everybody was really nice to us and we got to see some very interesting things and I really liked the gift bags that we got to take home. It was a big surprise to be able to visit there and I liked getting to see the place where all of the comics are made. I liked meeting the people who work there, too. They were all friendly and it’s neat to know who works on the comics and games that we like so much.

The Kid's Year in Review: Best of 2008!

2008-12-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

There were a lot of great comic books this year. These are my picks for the best ones of the year.

Funniest Comic: Deadpool
Deadpool is written by Daniel Way and Illustrated by Paco Medina and is published by Marvel Comics

Tiny Titans is pretty funny and Spider-Man and Hulk always have some funny things in them, too. And the Batman/Superman story with the little heroes was really funny but their books usually aren’t too funny. Definitely the funniest comic book is Deadpool. He is doing something really stupid or crazy in every issue. I like how he talks to himself or gets people mad at him when he pretends to not understand things. I like how he tricked all the Skrulls into killing each other and how he was tricked into drinking poison because he thought it was water. He’s always acting really dumb and usually I’m laughing at a lot of different parts in every one of his comics.

Craziest Moment: Batman becomes Zur En Arrh
Written by Grant Morrison and Illustrated by Tony Daniel and is published by DC Comics

Batman is always one of the toughest characters. He can pretty much beat anyone because he trains really hard and has a lot of different moves. But in the story where he goes crazy he gets even stronger. He stops being Bruce Wayne and thinks he’s another kind of Batman and makes himself a new costume with red and yellow colors. Then he goes out and starts beating on all the criminals he’s after. He’s pulling his own teeth out with a knife because he thinks bad guys are tracking him and whenever he goes on the attack he starts using pipes and bats to beat them. I couldn’t believe it but it was so cool to see Batman go nuts.

Favorite Fight: Thor vs Wasp in Secret Invasion #8
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu and published by Marvel Comics

There were some awesome fights and most of them were in Secret Invasion. I had a hard time picking between two parts. One was when the old Hawkeye picks up his bow and arrows and kills a bunch of Skrulls at once and shoots his last arrow into the face of the Skrull Spider-Woman. That was so cool and I like how all of it was drawn. My favorite fight though was when Wasp grew huge and was killing all of the heroes and Thor was the one to stop her. Thor is a cool character and when he started spinning his hammer and making her disappear it was very exciting to read. I like how the art was done in that scene, too and how she started to fall apart when she died.

Favorite Action: Atomic Robo vs Enemy Soldiers in World War II
Written by Brian Clevinger and illustrated by Scott Wegener and published by Red 5 Comics

Atomic Robo is a really interesting comic about a robot who is used by the USA and the army to fight enemy soldiers in World War II. Because he’s a robot he’s already really strong and is tough to beat but he also uses machine guns and drives trucks and tanks and things like that. The bad armies create different super robots to try and stop Robo and those fights are always really good but I like the fights where it’s just Robo against the human soldiers. I like how he uses parts of cars as shields and breaks their weapons and things like that. It’s a really interesting idea to have a robot on your side in the army and I like how this book does it. I never heard of the book until I saw one of the covers in the store and now it’s one of my favorites.

Favorite Comic Book Moment: ‘Knock Knock’ in Deadpool #3
Written by Daniel Way and illustrated by Paco Medina and published by Marvel Comics

There were a lot of funny comics and a lot of funny parts in those comics. Little Batman and Superman were really funny. Tiny Titans made me laugh a bunch of times. Spider-Man did some funny stuff almost all the time in his books. Deadpool has been the funniest comic so far and in every issue he does so many things that are just stupid that it makes me laugh. The best part was when he was captured by Skrulls but said that he was training them and had them do all this dumb stuff. One of the things he taught them to do was point guns at each other and say knock knock and when they said it they shot each other in the head. It was just so funny when they showed that’s what was happening and then in another issue they were doing it again. I laughed the most at that part than any other comic book this year.

Favorite Movie or Series Based on a Comic: Spectacular Spider-Man

At first I wasn’t going to watch this show because I thought it looked kind of stupid. The bad guys looked different from what they’re supposed to be like and the way everyone in the show was drawn was kind of weird. I watched a couple of the first episodes and really liked it. I started liking the way everyone was drawn, too. It’s different but it still doesn’t look bad. Spider-Man in the black suit was really cool and I liked the Green Goblin story a lot. Most of the episodes were really good and then I got some of the toys, too. I can’t wait for new episodes to start.

Favorite Book Aimed at Kids: Tiny Titans
Written by Art Baltazar and Franco and illustrated by Art Baltazar and published by DC Comics

A lot of people are always trying to get me to read kid comic books because they say I’ll like them more. I’ve tried the kid comics of Spider-Man and Hulk and Avengers and Batman and Shazam and things like that but most of them are pretty boring. I like reading about the real characters that are in the regular comics. A lot more happens in those comics. I tried Tiny Titans because it’s one of the books that everyone was saying I should get so I did try a couple of the issues and they were actually very good. I like how there are a bunch of different stories in each issue and that the words are drawn bigger so it’s very easy to read. There is some funny stuff in each issue usually and I like the stories. For once there was a really good book that’s supposed to be for kids that’s fun and not boring.

Favorite Science Fiction Book: Nova
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and illustrated by Wellinton Alves and Geraldo Burges and published by Marvel Comics

I never heard of Nova before. But one of the first times I went looking for books to review I saw a cool looking cover of Nova fighting a Super Skrull and bought it. I thought it was fun how Nova was on a planet helping these cat like children and they turned out to be Super Skrulls and Nova had to fight them all and then get to Earth to warn about the invasion but he was too late. I picked up some old and new Nova comics after that so I could read more stories. I like that a lot of his adventures take place in outer space on different planets and things. It’s different from a lot of the other comics that take place on Earth. He fights some cool bad guys and I like the newer comics where there is a whole army of Novas. He has a very cool suit. I especially like the helmet. I like this comic because it’s a different type of superhero comic and he does a lot of his own things instead of just being around the same types of heroes all the time. It’s a lot of fun.

Favorite Character: Deadpool
Written by Daniel Way and Illustrated by Paco Medina and is published by Marvel Comics

I had the Deadpool action figure for awhile and saw him in a couple comics before but I didn’t know that much about him. I finally started reading the new comics when they came out and thought they were really, really good. They were really funny and there was a lot of action and Deadpool is always acting stupid. In every issue he is doing something funny and I laugh at something that he says or does. His costume is really cool, too. It looks kind of like Spider-Man’s, but it’s easier to draw. I like how he uses a lot of different weapons and can fight really well, too. There are a lot of good comics and cool comic characters but my favorite right now has to be Deadpool. I hope that his comic keeps staying as good as it is now.

Favorite Artist: Chris Bachalo

I liked a lot of the artists on the comics. I like the art on Batman and Hulk a lot. I think it’s pretty hard to draw Spider-Man, especially with all of the webs. And there were a lot of different artists who were drawing Spider-Man this year. I liked the art in the book with Lady Kraven and the ones with Menace. I like how Venom and Anti Venom were drawn in their story, too. But I think my favorite artist was Chris Bachalo on Spider-Man in the Hammerhead story. He draws Spider-Man a lot different from the other artists I’ve seen. He draws a lot of the characters really different but he also puts a lot of detail into his pictures. When Spider-Man and Hammerhead fight he draws all of the glass and all of the people in the backgrounds and stuff. Whenever there is a big picture in the book he has a lot of stuff going on in other parts so you spend a lot of time looking at the pictures and picking out different things you can find.

Favorite Writer: Jeph Loeb

Jeph Loeb writes the awesome Hulk book and he does Ultimate Avengers, too. The Hulk is a really cool character and I think it’s a great idea to have an even stronger Red Hulk in the book that can’t be beaten by anyone. I like how he writes the battles in Hulk and Ultimates. There are always good battles in his books. I also think it’s really cool that he wrote me a letter to tell me how much he liked my reviews and mentioned my reviews during his interviews. I like his comics and he likes the reviews I do so that’s cool. And since he writes my favorite comic I have to say that he is my favorite writer right now.

Favorite Short Story: Big Mouth
Written and illustrated by Phil Craven and featured in Flight: Explorer published by Villard

Flight Explorer had a lot of really good stories in it. Some were funny and some were good action stories but the best one was a funny story called Big Mouth. Big Mouth is this really weird looking monster with a big mouth who talks really loud and annoys everyone around him because he is so loud. There are a lot of funny parts in the book like when he sits on the bench or tries to play basketball. It’s funny when people get mad at him but I also like it because he makes a friend with someone who speaks too quietly at the end. It’s a short story but it’s one of my favorites.

Favorite Mini Series: Secret Invasion
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu and published by Marvel Comics

This was a great story. The Skrulls are awesome bad guys because they can copy anyone’s powers and impersonate people, too. The Skrulls attack the Earth and all the superheroes have to figure out a way to stop them. Because the Skrulls are impersonating other heroes and have all these different powers the superheroes aren’t able to beat them on their own and a lot of the bad guys who have powers have to help the heroes out. The art was really good in this book. I like how the Skrulls were drawn really creepy, especially when the butler turned into the Skrull when he was holding the baby. And he drew fight scenes really well. There are a lot of fights in all of the issues and they look really great. Some of my favorite parts were when Wolverine fought Skrull Spider-Woman and when the old Hawkeye used his bow and arrows on everyone and when Thor fought Wasp and when all of the real heroes were fighting all the Skrull heroes. I was surprised by how it ended and I think the heroes are going to be in a lot more trouble with Norman Osborn as their boss than they did fighting the Skrulls.

Favorite Independent Comic: Flight Explorer
Written and illustrated by Matthew Armstrong, Bannister, Phil Craven, Steve Hamaker, Ben Hatke, Kazu Kibuishi, Johane Matte, Jake Parker, Rad Sechrist and Kean Soo and published by Villard

Flight Explorer is one of the best books I have. It’s a big book that has about 12 different stories in it that are pretty short and easy to read. Most of the stories are really good and some of them are really funny. A few of them weren’t very interesting but I still like that there are so many different types of stories to pick from in the book. And each story is drawn by someone different so there is a lot of cool art in the book. I like when there is a comic that has a lot of stories in it because if there are a couple that aren’t that great there are probably a bunch that are really good. Pretty much all of Flight Explorer is really good.

Favorite Single Issue: Superman/Batman #51
Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque and published by DC Comics

This was the funniest comic that I read all year. Deadpool is a funny comic and Tiny Titans and Spider-Man can be funny too, but I laughed at almost all the pages in this book and even my brother liked it a lot and thought it was funny, too. Batman and Superman meet a tiny Batman and Superman from another world and the little Batman is so angry and he is always being grumpy and doing things like trying to kick Batman in the legs. I like when all the tiny superhero girls were falling in love with Robin and then the last page was a great surprise when it was full of all these tiny bad guys. The second issue was pretty funny, too, but it wasn’t as good as the first one. This issue was just great fun on every page.

Favorite Comic Book Series: Hulk
Written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ed McGuinness, Art Adams and Frank Cho and published by Marvel Comics

There are a lot of really good comics out there. I read a lot more comics now than I ever did. Deadpool is really good but it just started. Amazing Spider-Man is really good, too. I have to pick Hulk as my favorite book because every issue is really great. The Green Hulk was always a cool character but the Red Hulk is even better. He’s stronger and meaner than the regular Hulk. I like how most of the issues of this comic had a different character or team coming in to try and stop the Red Hulk but they all lost. Iron Man, Thor, A Bomb and Green Hulk all battled the Hulk and none of them could beat him. I like how now the book is telling different stories with both the Red Hulk and Green Hulk because I like seeing both of those characters in the book. And the art is really nice, too. I like the colors of all the characters and how huge the artist makes the Hulks and even the people they fight

Hulk #8

2008-12-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

Hulk #8
Written by Jeph Loeb and Illustrated by Art Adams and Frank Cho
Published by Marvel Comics

Now the Hulk book is being told in two parts. In the first part the story is about the original Hulk who turned gray and the second part of the story is about the new red one. I like that there are two different stories because you can get different Hulk stories that way but at the same time I wish they were longer because it seems like it’s over so fast.

In the first story the Gray Hulk is fighting Moon Knight and the other super heroes tell him to let Moon Knight go so the Hulk throws him into the sky and says ‘fetch’. I also thought it was cool that Ms Marvel was a lot smaller than the Hulk but she was strong enough to fight against him. She said that the Hulk isn’t as strong when he is gray she is able to punch him really hard and smashes him into a building and all the lights explode.

When the Hulk comes out of the building he is green again and even madder. He tells the girl that he wants to be left alone and then Moon Knight jumps on his back and puts these little things in his ears that make the Hulk go nuts. They make this really loud sound and it hurts the Hulk’s ears a lot so he goes jumping away because he’s mad and then the Sentry tries to catch him. I thought it was funny when the Hulk called him ‘S-Man’ and said that he wasn’t his friend anymore. He acts like a little kid sometimes when he’s mad.

The Hulk and the Sentry are fighting on top of the building and everything is getting smashed but then Moon Knight asks for help because things are really bad. And the last page of the story shows all these white creatures that look like werewolves but white attacking people and they have blood all over their fur.

The second story is all about the Red Hulk. She Hulk and some of her girl super hero friends tries to catch Red Hulk but he ended up winning as usual. The Red Hulk has She-Hulk’s neck caught in a big chain and says that he’s going to break her neck. One girl throws her sword right at the Hulk but it goes past him and he thinks she was dumb. But she was throwing the sword to cut the chain and not to stab Hulk so she tricked him. And then when Hulk wasn’t ready she had this shotgun and blasted him right in the face. Even that didn’t stop him, though. He was really angry but he didn’t seem like it hurt him all that bad.

The girl blasts him with the shotgun again and then She Hulk jumps from high up in the air and slams him into the ground and says ‘She Hulk smash’ because that’s what Hulk says and she wanted to try it. Then she grabs the chain and puts it around the Hulk’s neck because that’s what he did to her. When he’s trying to fight the chain, the girl with the sword stabs him right in the chest and the sword goes so far that it comes out his back.

The art was really awesome in those parts because every time that the Hulk got shot or cut his blood was glowing yellow stuff like his eyes and the part where he is stabbed is drawn really well. When the Hulk is lying on the ground with the sword in him and the chain strangling him the girl wants to blast him with the shotgun again but he grabs the gun and gets up. Then he pulls the sword out he’s holding the gun and the sword and is screaming that he’s going to chop all their head’s off. He is so angry because he’s never gotten his butt kicked like that before. And then all the girl heroes in all the comics come to rescue the other ones. There’s Spider-Woman and Mrs Fantastic and some other ones. They’re all looking mad and ready to kick Hulk’s butt.

Both stories were really good but I liked the one with the Red Hulk a little better because he was fighting all of the girl heroes and they kept messing him up real bad.

I also liked the cartoon on the last page with all the little colored Hulks who missed their flight because they were messing around. I think it would be a funny cartoon if the little Hulks were all in a wrestling class but they missed their class because they were too busy play wrestling in their house. Or they could meet a bunch of different colored Skrulls to play with since Skrulls are usually green like Hulk but now there are different colored ones, too.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Hulk: Red Hulk Hardcover

2008-12-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

Red Hulk Hardcover
Written by Jeph Loeb and Illustrated by Ed McGuinness
Published by Marvel Comics

Jeph Loeb, the guy who writes the Hulk comic and the Ultimate Avengers comic sent me a huge Hulk comic for Thanksgiving. It had a bunch of the old stories all collected and then a special story where the Hulk is fighting Wolverine that I never read before and a lot of extra pictures of the Red Hulk in the back.

I think it’s cool that he mailed me the book. He signed it with a silver pen and wrote a cool letter, too. I like that the pages of the book are a lot shinier than the comics that I already have. The art and the story is the same but it looks different like it’s drawn brighter or something. It looks very cool and it’s good to have all the comics in one collection so it’s easier to carry around and look through and stuff.

The book has all of the Hulk issues that I reviewed which has all the great fights with Iron Man, A Bomb, Thor and Green Hulk. Red Hulk beat them all but it’s fun how he’s so mean and just can’t be stopped by any of them.

The Wolverine story in the back is very good. Wolverine attacks the Green Hulk and the two of them have a huge battle in the woods. Wolverine kept slicking at the Hulk and was putting his claws in his back and neck and the Hulk kept fighting back. The Hulk didn’t really get hurt by Wolverine but he kept getting madder every time Wolverine would cut him or jump around.

I like how the Hulk picked up a huge rock and was ready to crush Wolverine with it but Wolverine used his claws to cut the insides of the Hulk’s legs which made him really, really mad. Wolverine got stuck in the rocks and then the Hulk picked him up with both hands and pulled him apart. Like not broken or anything…Wolverine was ripped into two pieces. That was crazy. I didn’t know the Hulk was strong enough to do that.

But then Wolverine wakes up because he was just dreaming about it and it didn’t really happen. He doesn’t remember whether it was an old story that he was in or whether he was just imagining it. Wolverine had a silly look on his face when he was thinking about it. I don’t know who would win it if it was a real fight and not a dream but I don’t think that Wolverine would have let the Hulk catch him if it was.

The way it was drawn was good. I like how they showed different Wolverine costumes and they did the blood a really cool way on the first pages. The Hulk is drawn really big in these comics and he just looks really awesome that way. I wish the Wolverine story was longer but it was a nice surprise that there was an extra story that I didn’t read in the book.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #1

2008-12-14T16:58:00.001-08:00

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #1 (of 8)
Written by Eric Shanower and Illustrated by Skottie Young
Published by Marvel Comics

A Special Review by The Kid's Younger Brother

I like how Dorothy was playing outside with her dog and a big tornado was coming and the farmer told her to get inside so Dorothy went inside and the house got picked up and thrown away. I like how the house was flying around in the air and the dog almost fell out of the bottom of the house and Dorothy had to catch him.

I like when Dorothy landed in Oz and the good witch came out and showed her that the house crushed the bad witch. I like how the bad witch was crushed and the sun made her legs turn to dust and all that was left were the silver shoes.

I like when the munchkins came out and they were all happy that the witch was dead. They wanted to celebrate because the witch was dead and they were happy because they said that Dorothy killed the witch because she had the silver shoes.

I like when Dorothy met the Scarecrow and he woke up and winked at her and started talking. It was funny that the Scarecrow said that he doesn’t have a brain and wants to find the wizard with Dorothy and maybe he’ll get a brain. And the Scarecrow says because he is made of straw he doesn’t get hurt and he doesn’t get tired.

I like the pictures a lot. I like how the meaner wicked witch is drawn and I like the way the munchkins are drawn and I think it’s cool how the dead witch was drawn under the house and then how she was drawn only with the shoes left.

Secret Invasion #8

2008-12-04T18:49:00.001-08:00

Secret Invasion #8
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu
Published by Marvel Comics

This was the last part of the story where the Skrulls attacked the Earth and replaced a lot of the super heroes with bad guys. I like the story a lot. There was a lot of great battles between good guys and bad guys all teaming up against the Skrulls and the drawings were really good, too.

The Skrulls did something to make the Wasp turn huge and she was poisoning all of the other super heroes making them get sick and throw up and stuff. The Skrulls wanted to use her to kill everyone else and make sure that they won but Thor wasn’t bothered by her powers. He flew in and killed her even though she was his friend because he wanted to protect all his other friends and beat the Skrulls.

I like that the Skrull leader Spider-Woman was still alive and had all of Wolverine’s claw marks all over her. She looked like a zombie without her mask and all ripped up and stuff. It was a very cool drawing of her. I liked the part where all of the Avengers were standing in a line around her ready to take her down again and Osborn had his special sniper rifle. I thought Wolverine was going to kill her because he was the first to attack but Osborn ended up blowing her head off with his special gun.

I like how all the teams started to chase after the Skrulls and make sure that they didn’t escape and that Iron Man was wearing old armor because he other one got trashed in another issue. Thor captures one of the Skrulls ships again and all of the real super heroes who were captured by the Skrulls get off. The real Spider Woman is there and Ronin’s girlfriend and Mrs Fantastic and a guy with a dumb hat and mustache. Then the bad guys who have been helping say that they have to leave because they don’t want the super heroes to come after them.

A really cool part was when the guy and the girl (Luke Cage and Jessica Jones) figure out that they left their baby with a Skrull in the other issue. The girl left the butler with the baby and when she left to fight the butler turned into a Skrull. Now she figured out that the butler was a Skrull and flies back to her base but the Skrull kidnapped the baby. Another part that I liked was when Iron Man is really happy to see Thor but Thor is angry with him and says that everything was his fault.

I was really surprised at the end. When the President was saying that Iron Man was the guy who screwed up and that they were putting someone new in charge of all the super heroes I thought it was going to be Thor. Thor killed Wasp and saved everyone and he took out a lot of the Skrulls that were trying to escape and did most of the work. But the President made Norman Osborn in charge of everything which is crazy. He doesn’t know that Osborn is the Goblin or something and now Osborn is the good guy and Iron Man is the guy who is blamed for the Skrulls. And I like how Osborn goes to the Avengers base and meets with all of the other crazy bad guys like Dr Doom to start planning how they’re going to run things.

The art was really good again. The picture of Skrull Spider-Woman was really good. Osborn was drawn really creepy again. Even though he was doing things to help people he still looked like a bad guy. I like how they drew big Wasp and Thor battling her. And the part with all of the super heroes getting ready to fight Spider-Woman was really good. I like how Spider-Man was posing and getting ready to fire his webs and had his mask ripped up.

The only thing I didn’t like is that it seemed short. The big battle ended right away and I thought there was going to be more but it was still a very good comic. Osborn is going to cause a lot of problems for Iron Man and other super heroes probably.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Batman #681

2008-12-01T18:49:00.001-08:00

Batman #681
Written by Grant Morrison and Illustrated by Tony Daniel
Published by DC Comics

The comic starts off with Batman captured. He’s in a trap all tied up and buried in a coffin. Then the book keeps switching to go back in time when he was training. There’s a creepy old guy telling him that he is working for a dark master. He tells Bruce Wayne that he poisoned his tea and that he’s going to die in a couple of minutes. But what really happened was that Bruce said he switched the cups on the old man when he blinked so that the old man was really poisoned but Bruce saved him.

Robin is getting into a fight with the bad guys from the Black Glove and it looks like he’s going to lose but then all of these Batman type heroes from different countries come to help him. Nightwing is still captured and the bad guys want to destroy his brain but he breaks out and saves himself.

I really like how Batman breaks out of the coffin. He is saying that he’s really tired but can hold his breath for a long time and that the dirt weighs 600 pounds but he uses all his strength to break out. Then Batman goes after all of the bad guys and starts beating them down. Nightwing shows up to start helping him and tells Batman that he looks tired.

All of the bad guys are making bets on whether Batman will die but Joker bets that Batman will win because he always wins. Joker escapes before he can get beaten up by Batman or Dr Hurt and drives away in an ambulance that he stole. Then the little kid who says he’s Batman’s son is driving the Batmobile and smashes into the ambulance and makes him crash off a bridge.

Then Dr Hurt is fighting Batman and starts telling him that they have to work together and that Bruce has to stop being Batman. Batman takes off his mask and cape but goes after Dr Hurt. Dr Hurt tries to escape in a helicopter but Batman catches him and breaks through the window. The helicopter crashes and Batman is missing. The book doesn’t show you what happens to any of them. One of the last pages is Nightwing holding Batman’s cape.

I wish that they would have said who Dr Hurt really was. He says that he’s Bruce Wayne’s dad but Bruce doesn’t believe him. The Joker thinks that he’s the devil when he talks about their playing cards. And there are a lot of parts where people are talking about the devil and the biggest evil and stuff so Dr Hurt could be the devil but they don’t say for sure. Then the story is six months later and some of the people from the Black Glove are beating up police and the guys are saying that Batman and Robin are dead. I don’t get that’s true because the Bat-signal gets lit which means Batman and Robin are called so they aren’t dead. The last page is Bruce remember when his parents were killed after his parents took him to the Zorro movie.

I really like the art in the book. There were a lot of good looking pictures. I like the one where they’re ready to stick the needle in Nightwing’s brain but he busts out. I like when Batman jumps to the helicopter. I also thought that Batman looked really cool when he was standing up in the dark after coming out of the grave. Joker looked really scary in all of his pictures and Nightwing looked very cool when he was standing on the roof holding Batman’s costume.

It was a pretty good issue. Batman wasn’t as crazy as he has been in the purple and yellow costume and there were some good fights in it but I wish they would have said who Dr Hurt was.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Ultimate Spider-Man #128

2008-12-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

Ultimate Spider-Man #128
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Illustrated by Stuart Immonen
Published by Marvel Comics

In this issue Spider-Man is still looking for Venom and Venom is still in the park trying to eat people that he talks to.

I like when Spider-Man gets home and he sees his old girlfriend with Carnage’s face. She looked very creepy. She wants Peter to help her out but he doesn’t know what’s going on and thinks that she’s supposed to be dead. It was pretty cool when Eddie Brock knocked on the door and asked where Peter was. Aunt May asked if Eddie had powers or a weapon and he said no so she pulled out a gun and pointed it at him. Eddie was able to grab the gun and point it to her and asked where Peter was again. Spider-Man shows up and webs the gun and punches Eddie across his deck smashing everything. Then Spider-Man starts pounding on Eddie and beating him up real bad.

Spider-Man takes Eddie and swings off with him to some factory. Eddie is mad because the Venom costume likes Peter more and Peter is mad because the costume is dangerous. He tells his girlfriend to show Eddie what he means and she turns into a big monster Carnage. Carnage goes after Eddie and then parts of her suit go to Eddie and he turns into Venom.

I like that there was a big huge battle between Venom and Carnage. Carnage and Venom fight and the costume lets them grow their arms really long and they start beating on each other. It’s a pretty good battle but Spider-Man pretty much stays out of it. Venom takes over the Carnage suit and gets a new costume that is big and black but with red eyes. Then Spider-Man comes back and tries to fight the new Venom but he isn’t winning. Iron Man shows with a bunch of people in armor and jet packs and Venom gets scared and disappears into the sewers.

Spider-Man is mad now because Venom got away and no one is going after him. Iron Man and his people tell him that Venom isn’t going to come back and they try and keep his girlfriend as a prisoner. They tell him that the girl isn’t the same girl who died but she isn’t a clone either and that she’s just sort of the same person but new. Iron Man says that the girl can live with Peter and Aunt May so they are going to let her leave.

The end was probably my favorite part. Eddie is on the bench talking to some guy and then he turns into Venom and tries to eat him but the guy has some sort of weapon on his hands and sucks the costume and Eddie into his suit. He turns into the Beetle, one of Spider-Man’s bad guys from another issue and flies away with the suit.

I liked how the artist drew the Beetle flying away on the last page. His costume is very cool. I also thought they did a good job of making the girl look really creepy with the regular body but the Carnage face. I thought the cover was really good, too, with the new crazy looking Venom with the red eyes.

I liked the comic but I wish Spider-Man would have done more. I think it would have been better if Spider-Man was fighting Carnage and Venom instead of them fighting only each other. It was still good, though.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Deadpool #4

2008-12-01T18:46:00.001-08:00

Deadpool #4
Written by Daniel Way and Illustrated by Carlo Barberi and Paco Medina
Published by Marvel Comics

This issue of Deadpool was awesome again. Deadpool is begging for work because he has no money or bullets so he asks some guy named Zeke that he knew if he could work for him. Deadpool doesn’t like Zeke at all but he needs the money so he goes to Zeke’s house to meet with him. Zeke says that his wife went to go see some doctor who was actually like a mad scientist and the doctor was doing experiments and stuff. Zeke thinks that his wife was turned into a zombie by the doctor but isn’t sure. He knows that the doctor is probably a zombie now and tells Deadpool that he’s going to have to kill a lot of zombies to help the wife.

Deadpool hates Zeke. When he goes to his house and it’s a big mansion he looks around at all of the nice stuff that Zeke has and says, ‘I’m glad you’re doing well you poop head’. It was funny that he really didn’t like Zeke but had to pretend he did. Deadpool was also happy because Zeke didn’t have a cool exploding chair like one that Deadpool made before.

There are a lot of funny parts in the comic. It’s probably the funniest that Deadpool has been. I like in the beginning when Deadpool is watching TV and every channel has stories about Skrulls. It’s like how a lot of the comics are talking about Skrulls. I also liked when Deadpool imagines that bad things that he’s seen and imagines a bear in a cheerleading costume.

Zeke tells Deadpool that he can kill anyone that bothers him but he has to save his wife. And then he reminds him not to kill his wife. And then Deadpool is like, okay so I have to kill your wife. Zeke had a very cool room of weapons that made Deadpool very jealous. Deadpool opened the door and saw all these different types of guns and was like, mother of God. He was so impressed by how many guns Zeke had and took a bunch of them.

I like when Deadpool went to the town without his mask and all the people in town thought Deadpool was a zombie and shot him. And since he doesn’t get hurt when he’s shot they believe he’s a zombie even more. They put Deadpool in a jail with a bunch of real zombies and he’s acting silly with them but then kills everyone and escapes to this castle run by a creepy guy with an hunchback.

I also like that Deadpool was offered water by the crazy hunchback guy and he was so thirsty so he was drinking it and then turned the bottle around and saw that it had a big poison picture on it. Deadpool cursed and then passed out.

The art was really good. I like the picture where Deadpool is getting shot at and the one where he’s talking to the hunchback that looks like Igor. I like the picture where he was sitting in the chair that he made out of explosives and was talking to himself. He made Deadpool look really good.

This issue was my favorite issue of Deadpool. There wasn’t so much with the Skrulls and Deadpool got to do a lot more stuff in it. And the part with the zombies was very cool.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

Flight Explorer Volume 1

2008-11-26T19:35:00.001-08:00

Flight Explorer Volume 1
Written and Illustrated by Various
Published by Villard

Flight is a big comic filled with a lot of different short stories about a lot of characters. A lot of them are funny and some of them are kind of strange and there are some action stories. I liked most of the book but I’m picking my three favorite stories to review from the book because there’s too much stuff to review the whole thing.

Big Mouth (by Phil Kraven) is my favorite story in this collection. It’s basically about a silly looking creature who talks really loud and even though he’s friendly he annoys people because he talks so loud and has a big mouth. I like when Big Mouth was shouting everything, especially when he was saying ‘Hello’ and ‘What’ when he met a little creature. He sat down on a bench next to someone to watch ducks in a park and just really annoyed the other person because he took up so much space. My favorite part was when everyone was playing basketball and Big Mouth tried to pass the ball but hit someone in the eye with it and the guy got really angry. The other people were really annoyed by Big Mouth and said they were going to go somewhere else to play away from him.

Then there was another guy who was picking on a little guy from the beginning of the story and saying that he couldn’t hear him. Big Mouth came over because he felt bad for the little guy and told the bully to ‘leave him alone’. The little guy was very happy and offered to buy Big Mouth a frozen treat. He shared the treat with Big Mouth but Big Mouth swallowed the whole thing by accident so he gave the little guy his treat in trade.

Snow Cat (by Matthew Armstrong) is the next story. This story is about a monster and a girl who are friends. They start off hugging each other and when they do that a little heart is drawn next to them. I thought it was funny when the girl gave the monster a little kiss and then he gave her a big lick and accidentally ate her. Her legs were sticking out of his mouth and kicking him and so he spit her out. She smacked him after she got spit out and the monster got very sad. He tried to lick her again when they became friends but she held his mouth closed so he couldn’t eat her this time.

I thought it was interesting because there are no words in this story so everything is told by pictures. The drawings are very good. I like how the monster is drawn and how he looks so scared when the girl gets mad at him.

Fish and Chips (Steve Hamaker) is about a fish who is stuck in a fish bowl and the fish bowl gets attached to a robot body so he can walk around and stuff. The fish is mad because his partner is a very lazy cat who just sleeps through everything. The fish sees a red alert sign go off because a big asteroid is going to hit the Earth and they have to stop it. Because the cat is asleep the fish has to do everything by himself. He keeps trying to wake up the cat but he’s not waking up. So he goes into space by himself and leaves the robot body on the asteroid. The body throws the fish bowl head back to Earth and the body becomes a bomb and blows up.

After everything happens the news thanks the cat and fish for all their help and the cat wakes up and says, ‘all in a days work’ and then goes back to bed. He didn’t even do anything but he takes the credit for it. I like this story but wish it was a little longer.

Big Mouth was my favorite story because it was the funniest and I liked the way it was drawn and how the character just keeps getting people angry because he talks so loud.
I like that there were a lot of different stories in the book about so many different types of things. I didn’t like all of the stories, but I liked most of them. I think it’s cool that there were a bunch of different stories in the book that could be read.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #576

2008-11-16T18:46:00.001-08:00

The Amazing Spider-Man #576
Written by Joe Kelly and Illustrated by Chris Bachalo
Published by Marvel Comics

I like how this cover had Spider-Man punching Hammerhead in the face and the other cover before had Hammerhead punching Spider-Man.

I like how everyone was shooting at Hammerhead but he couldn’t get hurt because of all the steel under his skin. It was cool how Spider-Man figured out how to escape by breaking open the floor with his fists and he fell down to the next floor and there was glass everywhere. I like when Spider-Man smashed through the window with the gangster that he was trying to save in the other comic. He’s always jumping through the window with the same kid trying to make him good. I thought it was cool how Hammerhead was firing his gun at him and had the blood and broken glass all over him.

It was pretty cool when Spider-Man bashed his face against the wall to fix his jaw and then webbed his mask shut because he was going to pass out. This way no one could take off his mask when he was asleep. I also like the part where they showed half of Hammerhead’s face with the metal skeleton.

It was neat how Peter Parker had to lie to his roommate about how his face was all beat up because he didn’t want him to figure out that he was Spider-Man. I thought it was funny that he told Vin that he got his bruises because a remote control fell on his face.

I didn’t so much like the part where Peter and the girl were walking around. I don’t think she’s that interesting. I did like that Peter had to get away and find a way to tell her why he was going to change into Spider-Man.

A really cool part was when Spider-Man found out where all the gangsters were and they reshuffled their guns and said they were going to shoot him. The gangsters aren’t sure what to do. Hammerhead is trying to get them to join him and kill Spider-Man. If the gangsters listen to him they get to live. If the gangsters don’t kill Spider-Man then Hammerhead will kill them. I really liked the part where Hammerhead shows up and Spider-Man makes a web wall in front of him. And when Hammerhead breaks the web wall it was really funny when Spider-Man was like, ‘oh poop’.

There were a lot of funny parts in the book. The other really funny part is when Spider-Man snuck up behind Hammerhead and was wondering whether he should be honest or do sneak attack and a little devil and angel Spider-Man both told him to be sneaky.
I also like how at the end Spider-Man broke one of Hammerhead’s hips to stop him and warned him that he would break the other hip if he ever tried to bother the kids again.

I did like the part where the girl said she’d bet ten dollars about going on a date and Peter was all nervous about going on a date. I like how he still had all of the bruises and stuff even at work and then when he was going out with that girl a couple days later they were gone. And I like how Mr Negative is drawn how he’s all black and stuff. I also like the girl repairing Hammerhead.

The art was great again, too. One of my favorite pictures was when it showed Spider-Man jumping all around Hammerhead doing his webs and stuff. The little devil and angel Spider-Man drawings were good, too. I liked how there was a lot of detail in the picture where Spider-Man webs Hammerheads legs and he falls on his face. There are broken teeth and glass all over the place. You can see all of the little things all around the pictures. The other picture I liked a lot was when Spider-Man broke out of the window with the gangster. It was a cool pose and looked really good.

This was one of my top favorites of the books I’ve been reading since doing these reviews.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

New Brother

2008-11-12T21:22:00.000-08:00

Liam will be back for new reviews next week.

In the meantime he would like to welcome his new younger brother, Evan, to the world.
Evan was born at 8pm on Wednesday and both he and mom are doing well.

Both Liam and Ethan are excited about their brother's arrival and look foward to having him particpate in future reviews.

Amazing Spider-Man #575

2008-11-08T15:30:00.001-08:00

Amazing Spider-Man #575
Written by Joe Kelly and illustrated by Chris Bachalo
Published by Marvel Comics

The Spider-Man story with the Goblins and Venoms lasted a long time and now this issue had a new story with a different bad guy in it. I like Anti-Venom, Venom, Menace and Green Goblin but this issue was really good, too.

The story starts with Spider-Man rescuing the girl hobo from a bunch of people dressed like clowns and there is a robot rat. I don’t know what the rat had to do with anything but it was pretty fun. I like how Spider-Man was teasing the hobo and wondering what she ate because she smelled so bad. At the end she kissed Spider-Man for saving her and he threw up inside his mask which was gross and funny.

I like when all the gangsters were meeting and they try to attack Hammerhead but he is so strong that they just end up getting their butts kicked.

I like when Peter Parker was talking to the little kid about being a genius but then the kid’s older brother took him away. The older kid is a gangster and Peter is trying to talk to him but ends up getting into a fight instead. He changes into Spider-Man and follows them back to their house and uses his webs to pull the gangster out of the house. I thought it was a funny part because Spider-Man is trying to tell the gangster that he’s doing the wrong thing and he shouldn’t be in gangs but accidentally calls the kid a skunk and they both laugh about it.

When Spider-Man goes back to the house he finds out that Hammerhead has beaten up the other gangsters really bad and is ready to attack the little brother. The fight between Spider-Man and Hammerhead is awesome. They’re fighting each other really hard. Spider-Man hits Hammerhead so hard that he breaks his hand because Hammerhead has a metal skeleton underneath his skin. Then Hammerhead breaks his foot and keeps smashing Spider-Man into different parts of the house. In the end Hammerhead head butts Spider-Man really hard and pretty much knocks him out. Spider-Man is all bloody and can’t talk anymore. He just mumbles.

Hammerhead is really tough in this comic. He looks like a regular human except for his big head and he doesn’t wear a costume or anything but he is super strong and can’t be hurt because of the metal under his skin.

One thing that I really liked was the art in the book. There is a lot of detail in the drawings. On one page they’re all in the kitchen and there is stuff on the table like guns and knives and you can see stuff on the shelves and the floor. There’s a lot of little stuff in the pictures. And in the fight with Spider-Man and Hammerhead there is broken glass and furniture that is shown and there is blood all over Hammerhead from the people that he’s beaten up.

I like how the characters are drawn, too. I like how he draws Spider-Man with a bigger head and bigger eyes than other artists. I’ve seen Spider-Man drawn a lot of different ways but this way looked really different and cool. He drew the hobo lady cool and gross, too, with all of her teeth missing and she looked really crazy.

I’m sure Spider-Man is going to win and the next comic shows him punching Hammerhead in the face real hard, but it was still a very good issue. Hammerhead is a pretty interesting bad guy.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Secret Invasion #7

2008-11-08T15:28:00.002-08:00

Secret Invasion #7
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu
Published by Marvel Comics

This issue was really good because there was a lot of action in it. There were a lot of parts where a whole bunch of super heroes were fighting the Skrulls and some funny parts, too.

The first pages were awesome because it was a big two page picture with all of the super heroes and bad guys teaming up and fighting all the Skrulls. I like how Norman Osborn and Nick Fury were fighting and arguing at the same time and told each other that they should both be in jail. I thought it was really cool when the Skrull Yellowjacket turned really huge and said, ‘hi honey’. I liked that the girl got really big, too and then her and Yellowjacket were fighting up high over everyone else.

There were a lot of great fights in the comic. One real cool part of the battle is when Bullseye shot Yellowjacket in the eye and he came crashing down on everyone else. It looked like Bullseye was going to shoot Spider-Man but he shot the Skrull instead. Another good part was when Wolverine and Skrull Spider-Woman were fighting. Wolverine was clawing her and trying to kill her but she used her powers to electrocute him and took him out. The best fight was the one guy picked up the bow and arrows and started shooting all of the Skrulls. He got like five of them out and then he shot an arrow into Spider-Woman’s face when she was fighting Wolverine. That was awesome how he took them all out.

I thought it was really funny when Spider-Man told people not to worry because they should only be scared if the Watcher was there and then on the next page the Watcher shows up.

I thought it was really creepy when the Avenger’s friend was taking care of the baby for the other super heroes and then he turned into a Skrull at the end. I don’t know if he’s going to hurt the baby or not, but it looks like he will. I thought it was weird when the Wasp started turning into a giant, too and she got super huge but even though she is a good guy the Skrulls are happy. They did something to her that makes them think she’s going to be able to help them win. I’m not sure what she did but all the good guys were getting hurt at the end.

I like this series a lot. I like seeing all of the good guys and bad guys teaming up to fight the Skrulls. There are some funny parts with Spider-Man and a lot of action in it, which makes it even better.

I like the art in the book, too. There are a lot of pages where a lot of characters are drawn and it looks really cool to see them all together like that. I like how he drew the Skrull Yellowjacket and part where the Watcher shows up and the part where the guy with the bow and arrow kills all the Skrulls and their green blood is squirting out.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Stinky

2008-10-18T19:34:00.001-07:00

Stinky
Written and Illustrated by Eleanor Davis
Published by Toon Books

This book is about a monster named Stinky who lives in a cave in the swamp and he’s very happy there. But he does not like humans and doesn’t want any of them coming to his swamp.

Stinky has pet rats, bats and likes eating pickled onions. He also has a pet toad named Wartbelly. It was funny when he comes out of his cave because all of the birds and squirrels outside have clothespins on their nose because he smells so bad. He carries Wartbelly around in a wheelbarrow. Stinky says that he loves mud, slugs and things that smell bad like onions.

When Stinky is sneaking around with his toad he says to be very quiet because there is a human town close by and they don’t like monsters. He’s mad at human children because they don’t smell and take baths and eat things like candy and apples. Stinky gets really mad because a kid named Nick comes to his swamp and he’s eating an apple. Stinky doesn’t like kids or apples. Nick made a tree-house in the middle of the swamp and that makes Stinky even madder and Stinky wants to get rid of him by scaring him away.

The first thing he does to scare Nick is that he puts Wartbelly in the tree0house but Nick loves frogs and toads and decides to keep Wartbelly as a pet and names him Daisy.

Then Stinky tries to get rid of him by stealing his hammer and he throws it in the middle of the swamp. When Nick goes to look for flies for Daisy to eat he also finds his hammer in the swamp and is very happy. Nick thinks that the swamp may be haunted and have ghosts so Stinky dresses up as a ghost and yells ‘boo’. That didn’t scare Nick, though. Stinky’s ghost costume comes off and Nick sees him and chases after him and Stinky hides in a tree.

Stinky finds Nick’s hat and throws it in a deep pit and that makes Nick sad. Stink feels bad because Nick liked the hat a lot and tries to get the hat but he falls in the pit and gets stuck. Nick found out that he was trapped and used a rope to help get Stinky out. Stinky was very happy that he got saved and him and Nick became friends. Nick gave Stinky an apple and Stinky was surprised that he liked them so much. He offered Nick a pickled onion but Nick didn’t answer. I think that Nick wanted to be nice and tried the pickled onion even though they didn’t show it.

I like that on the last page there is a map of the swamp that shows Stinky’s cave, the town where humans live, Nick’s tree house and other things. That was a cool drawing.

I think it would have been a little better if the boy was scared because it would have been funnier to see someone scared by the monster. It was still a good story, though. And this was another comic that had easy to read words and one that was sent to me from the company. I got a lot of cool things in the mail to read.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Amazing Spider-Man #573

2008-10-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Amazing Spider-Man #573
Written by Dan Slott and Illustrated by John Romita Jr
Published by Marvel Comics

This is the last part of the big Spider-Man story with Green Goblin, Venom and Anti-Venom. This story has been a lot of fun. Spider-Man got to fight a lot of cool bad guys and a new bad guy came out called Anti-Venom. He was the first Venom. And the new Venom got a cool new Scorpion costume. There was a lot of good stuff in the story.

I really liked the picture of Spider-Man and Anti-Venom that took two pages. They look very cool swinging above the city and I like how Spider-Man has put webbing over all his injuries but there is still blood all over his costume. Spider-Man is really funny the way he talks to Anti-Venom. I like that he tells Anti-Venom they’re going to split up because he doesn’t like him. And he says that Anti-Venom is a really stupid name and should have picked a better name. One cool part was how Eddie changed his suit so he looked like Spider-Man and then his suit started to change and it looked like a mix between Spider-Man and Anti-Venom. That was a cool looking drawing.

I thought the battle between Spider-Man and Green Goblin was really good but it should have been longer. I like how Spider-Man jumped on his back and tried to get him to leave Harry Osborn alone. And I like how Goblin presses a button to get his glider to come out in a remote control out of a secret spot. And Spider-Man gets really mad that the Goblin keeps pressing buttons and different bad things start happening. Spider-Man takes over the glider and makes it crash into the wall and starts bashing Goblin’s head against it to beat him.

I really liked the fight between Scorpion/Venom and Anti-Venom. It was very cool how the Scorpion Venom used his tail to slice into Anti-Venom and that hurt him real bad. The Scorpion Venom was able to make Eddie get really weak and the costume disappeared off of him.

The fight with Spider-Man and Green Goblin is a tie. The building blows up and they both just go to their own spots. I like how Peter was looking for clues in the destroyed office and was trying to reach for the book and Harry’s girlfriend took his arm and kissed him. Peter got nervous because he didn’t want Harry to get mad, but Harry didn’t see. I think she knows that the secret Goblin equipment is back there and she stopped him on purpose. My prediction is that she is Menace Goblin because they both have long hair and she knows where Goblin equipment is. And Menace uses a gun and sometimes girls like guns. You’ll see I’m right.

There was a lot of good art. I like the picture of Anti Venom and Scorpion Venom fighting and how the suit came off of him. I like the big picture of how the Green Goblin was jumped on by Spider-Man. I like how Spider-Man had Green Goblin in a neck lock and then punched him in the head to get him to shut up. That was a real cool move.

This would have been a 10 but I didn’t like that there was another story in it that was sort of weird. I didn’t really like the guy who’s running for President. I never even heard of him before. I think it would have been cooler to see Spider-Man team up with John McCain or Barack Obama. I got those comics, too, but didn’t review them yet.

This comic had two great battles in it but my favorite one was the Venom vs Venom because they both have the same types of powers and Venom with Scorpion powers is great. I think a great idea would have all of the Goblins fight next. Harry and his dad could fight Menace Goblin and Hobgoblin. That would be awesome!

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Jack and the Box

2008-10-18T19:30:00.001-07:00

Jack and the Box
Written and Illustrated by Art Spieglman
Published by Toon Books

This is the story about a rabbit named Jack who gets a box from his parents as a present. He doesn’t know what it is and can’t open it and then a silly creature pops out and scares Jack and his family.

Jack keeps trying to get the box to open again but he can’t figure out how to open it. He keeps asking the box to play but the box says ‘no way’. The creature pops out of the box again because Jack keeps bugging him to play and scares him again and Jack closes him back in the box. One funny part was later Jack said, ‘are you in the box’ and the box answers ‘no’.

The next day Jack spends the whole day trying to get the box to open and he keeps getting madder and madder. Then he walks away and says that it’s a bad toy and the box opens and the creature pops out again. The creature says he’s not a bad toy. He’s a silly toy. And the creature says that his name is Zack and then starts making fun of Jack’s name and saying that Jack is a silly name.

The next time Jack wants to play, Zack is out of the box. He looks like a head on a spring and doesn’t have arms or legs. Jack says that Zack is silly but Zack says that he’s only a little silly and that his friend Mack is the really silly one. Mack pops out of Zach’s head and tells them all that he has a pet duck. The duck pops out and says ‘quack’. Then a whole bunch of little ducks come out and they start wrecking Jack’s room and they break his lamp.

Jack is upset that they broke his lamp and he gets mad but Mack says that they all love broken lamps and trade him a new lamp for the broken lamp. Jack is able to make everything better and the ducks, Mack and Zack all go back in the box before Jack’s parents see what happened.

I liked this because it was a different type of story. It wasn’t like a regular comic book. And the words were really big and easy to read like Tiny Titans so I liked that. The creatures were all pretty silly and it was a fun story to read.

I also thought it was very cool that the company sent me this book to read because they liked my reviews. That was a nice surprise.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Deadpool #3

2008-10-10T20:42:00.001-07:00

Deadpool #3
Written by Daniel Way and Illustrated by Paco Medina
Published by Marvel Comics

This is one of the best comics. Every issue is really funny and Deadpool does a lot of crazy and fun stuff. The second issue was just okay but this one was my favorite of all of them.

I like how Deadpool was imagining Nick Fury as a cartoon in the beginning and he had a pacifier and everything. I laughed when Deadpool saw the Super Skrull and said, ‘what’s the matter? You look a little…oh what’s the word I’m looking for…stupid’. I think it’s so funny how he just insults the people he’s facing and gets them so mad. And then when the Super Skrull was getting mad Deadpool just ran away. I wasn’t expecting him to be so dumb and just run away. It’s funny, too, how Deadpool keeps talking to himself and having dumb conversations.

One of my other favorite parts is when they showed the room filled with the Deadpool Skrulls. They’re still playing the stupid knock knock game where they shoot each other after the joke. I was surprised that they were still doing it. They’re just really dumb and talking about how they all have pointy ears and shooting each other. So stupid.

The fight between the Super Skrull and Deadpool was pretty good. I like how this Skrull had fire and freeze powers and Deadpool broke a water pipe and made the Skrull freeze himself. One part that was a little weird was when Deadpool was talking about how he had cancer so when they made Skrulls out of him they would all get sick, too. And then the Skrull Deadpools started acting crazy and were blowing up and one got all over Deadpool’s mask.

I like when Deadpool was facing the Skrull doctor and was telling him how he won and was better than him and right before he left he goes, ‘oh I almost forgot to beat you to death’ and then beats the Skrull to death by stomping on him. I thought the ending was pretty cool when Deadpool and Nick Fury were trying to get computer files on how to kill the Skrull Queen but Norman Osborn stole it with his own computer. It’s odd that he wants the file. I don’t know why he was in the book, but he’s a cool bad guy so it’s okay.
It was cool how Osborn stole the computer file with his own file. It’s odd that he wants

I like the art in this book, especially how Deadpool and all of the Skrulls are drawn. I liked the drawing where it was a picture of Deadpool running away. And the way baby Nick Fury was drawn was very cool, too. This book was a lot funnier than the last Deadpool.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10