Monday, June 22, 2009

Mr. Stuffins #2



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

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Wizard World Philadelphia



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.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Batman and Robin #1



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

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Nova #25



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



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

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.
 
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