FRIENDS! GEEKS! LEND ME YOUR EARS!!

So the Big Monkey Comics podcast is up and as I've mentioned before, I was in it. Give it a minute to load up.

Listen to it. Tell me what you think. Read our blogs. It's all love.

Thank You, Nicola Scott

For giving Barda back the rest of her armor.

And thank you, Gail Simone, for remembering Barda has aero-discs.

30 THINGS I LOVE (platonically!) ABOUT DC

Let's get right to it:

30. American Virgin - I'm not alone!

29. Damien - Because Green Arrow shouldn't corner the market on bastard children.

28. Blue Beetle - Just classic comic fun that has really been rare in recent superhero books.

27. Countdown - Because despite my earlier reservations, ELASTI-LAD!!!

26. Fables - I don't know why I picked up the first trade, but here I am with every issue since.

25. Legacy heroes - There are two Catwomen, two Wildcats, two Green Arrows, two Hourmen, two Flashes, multiple Green Lanterns, and various gender-representatives of different heroes. I like that DC heroes have no problem sharing their codenames and it feels like a family get-together. All Marvel has is She-Hulk.

24. Birds of Prey - A superhero version of Charlie's Angels, without the sexist overtones. Great showcase for female superheroes who would usually have to had to wait for a crossover for an appearance.

23. Animal Man - Superhero family man.

22. Lex Luthor - He's evil.

21. Supergirl & Boomer - Maybe those crazy kids can work it out.

20. Gotham City - Proof people will live anywhere.

19. Zatanna - Fishnets!

18. The Trials of Shazam! - I like Freddie Freeman. I can't help it.

17. Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters - Deserve their own series.

16. Checkmate - Political intrigue and superpowers, a deadly combination!

15. Booster Gold and Supernova - It's in the blood.

14. The Return of Mon-El -

13. Guy Gardner - THE Green Lantern.

12. Catwoman - Consistently well written.

11. The Brave And The Bold - It's the best Justice League title out.

10. No name necessary!

09. Powergirl - I'm a man, dammit!

08. Robin - Bats' second favorite is the best Robin ever and Beechen may just be the best Robin writer around.

07. Dick Grayson - Nightwing, Red Robin...Just keep him around.

06. Justice Society of America - The heroes of the past teaching the heroes of the future - today!

05. - The inspiration.

04. Wonder Woman - Frankly, it's mostly because I just like the character and Gail Simone is on the way to make everything okay again. Oh, for the Dodsons, too.

03. Superman - If I have to tell you why, you don't like superhero comics.

02. Grant Morrison - Until Marvel gets its shit together and begs him back.

01. Greatest. Character. Ever.

Have...To..Post...SOMETHING!

So in two days, Thursday, I'll be participating in a podcast with much better bloggers than me, Scip of The Absorbascon, Devon of Seven Hells!, Ben of thosewednesdays, and Jon of Facedown in the Gutters. As such, I feel the need to prove my worth as it were, and maybe finally 'do' something with this blog that will be memorable.

Until I can think of something, I'll make a list. It's the in thing.

I rant a lot, mainly about the crap I hate. And rightly so, it is crap, after all. But I think I should just talk about what I like, currently in Marvel and DC, since I love both so much. Oooo, you wittle cuties! So,

30 THINGS I LOVE (platonically!) ABOUT MARVEL:

30. Zemo - The man who engineered the Avengers' Worst Day Ever is now one of the noblest heroes in Marvel. Questioning everything he's been taught since he was a child, Zemo strives to find a way to be worthy of the potential he was born with.

29. New Avengers - Yeah, they probably couldn't stop Galactus if he came hungry, but damn if I don't like the underground heroes who refuse to be owned by the government. While it's an interesting development, I can't wait until they're redeemed in the eyes of the public and give Iron Man a boot to the ass.

28. Nova - Bout frakkin' time someone got it right.

27. Mulitverse - Microverse, Negative Zone, Akron, etc. Marvel has never had a problem with alternate realities.

26. World War Hulk - Kick some Iron ass!

25. Dwayne McDuffie - &

24. Devil Dinosaur & Moon Boy - Marvel's craziest ideas don't need to fight for their existence.

23. Mr. Sinister - He's evil.

22. Spider-Man's rogue gallery - Anyone of them can be a handful for any hero and the fact Spider-Man fights them everyday, and sometimes six at a time, makes him one of the greatest heroes around.

21. Thunderbolts - While I am still opposed to the changes to the team and rally against the nonsensical deployment of hardened murderers against superheroes, I have never had a reason to cheer on Jack Flag or American Eagle. Now, I do.

20. Patriot & Hawkeye - Young love.

19. Punisher MAX - Because Ennis needs the oultet.

18. Daredevil - I have never envied and pitied someone's life as much as I have Matt Murdock's. And he always keeps fighting, no 'Daredevil No More'.

17. Uncanny X-Men - Because Havok is The Man.

16. Hank Pym - Sex machine.

15. The Immortal Iron Fist - ...wow.

14. She-Hulk - Hilarious and ingenious.

13. Moon Knight - He leaves his mark on criminals. With a board. On their faces.

12. The Sentry's origin - There aren't enough origin stories that start, "I was trying to get high when..."

11. Agents of Atlas - One of the best miniseries of recent memory and an interesting team to boot.

10. Cable & Deadpool - I can't stress enough about how well written, how funny, and how much frakkin' fun this book is. Nicieza tells stories deep mutli-layered stories, even the ones staring Deadpool.

09. X-Factor - Peter David reinvents the team but keeps the angst and humor. Plus, is there any character better reinvented than Jamie Maddrox?

08. Punisher War Journal - Tip of the iceberg.

07. Nextwave - Insane...ly fantastic.

06. Galactus - A giant purple armored man in a skirt eats planets. Badass. And his herald's pretty cool, too.

05. Runaways - Just good readin'.

04. Namor - The voice of reason.

03. Thor - Shall return.

02. Astonishing X-Men - The Best.

01. Winter Soldier - Because Bucky died off panel, retroactively.

Next time, I run down what I like about DC, the high points because I like a lot about both but can't really see making a list of 200 Reasons I Love Marvel/DC.

Laters.

Countdown:Reservations

Last week, Red Hood (Jason Todd) is portayed as a gung ho vigilante, a good guy who goes too far. It explains why he tries to save faux Lindsay Lohan from Duela Dent, but flies in the face of the past few months of Red Hood trying to set himself up as a gunrunner and kill the Green Arrow Family.

This week, Jimmy Olsen, Superman's pal, besides having the world's finest assistant, tries to get the real story of what killed Duela Dent. To that end, Supes gives him some backstory on the Red Hood, to help him understand better. I want to understand why Superman just gave Jimmy the keys to Batman's identity. I realize Richard Donner wants Jimmy to be stuck in the 50's cub reporter persona, but it wouldn't take much more than a Google search to link Jason Todd and Dick Grayson to Bruce Wayne.

Now, Red Hood tells Jimmy some alien kills Duela Dent and then another alien prevents the first from killing Red Hood. Of course, Jimmy, like anyone would be, is confused. So who does Red Hood suggest Jimmy talk to, and eventually Jimmy does interview as if he would really have any idea why aliens were out killing people? The freakin' Joker. Yeah, you get to have your Hannibal Lecter moment, but Jesus, it makes no sense. Would he really think Joker knows what's going on because it seems crazy, so Joker must know about it? That, my friends, is faulty reasoning.

It's way too early in the series for me to start seeing faults if I'm supposed to follow this thing all year. But it's got Jimmy Olsen so I can't be too mad at it.

This May Be Totally Unnecessary, But...

Something's been bothering me about the "new" Earth-2. It's about the newspaper Huntress is holding.




Now, the only reason I could see for including that paper was to say that the Earth-2 Superman that died during Infinite Crisis and the Powergirl leading the Justice Society are from that Earth-2 and that's why they're missing.


Only one problem: that Earth didn't exist until the end of Infinite Crisis.



The 52 Earths were exactly the same before Mister Mind went feasting, making the new multiverse and everyone in them basically brand new. So how the hell could we have seen people from their world if the world just came into existence? If Mister Mind's tampering somehow incorporated leftover beings in the rewriting, wait, that makes no sense at all.

I know it shouldn't really matter, and in fact, may not be the case at all. But still, I want to be the first to point out any inconsistencies. Though that adult Robin suit is badass.

I Wanna Get Political, Political! Let's Get Political!!

I've noticed something about BKV, that's Brian K. Vaughan to everyone except me, and it's this: the man has views. Not even going into his main outlet, or at least right now his secondary, BKV loves to make a statement.

Last week, which should have been Ennis Week, was co-opted when the Vaughanster did a guest issue of Midnighter. Let it be known, it was good. Done in reverse order, with every next page immediately preceding the previous, it was an interesting take on how Midnighter sees several steps ahead.

And let everyone reading realize we're way too dependant on foreign oil.

It's not to say the K. man should shut up and entertain, but it's something I've noticed. Personally, I like his stuff. His episode of Lost was really good, but you can't go wrong with two guys discussing the merits of the Flash.

That's All Lies!

I was in the comic book store, Big Monkey to you fellas, and arguing about the nature of the new mutliverse. As I understood it, all the universes(universi) exist together but in different dimensions, overlapping each other. Others thought the universes were separate and independant of each other. What it came down to, really, was whether the worlds were split apart or kind of formed back together.

So, I went back to 52 Week Fifty-Two. I found this:

I don't know whether it supports my theory all the universes are connected but it sure sounds that way.


Also, in Nightwing Annual #2, I disagreed with Marc Andreyko rewriting history to say that Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson were the same age. Others said that didn't happen.

It did:


And so I can rest now, secure in the knowledge that Jon Hex knows his shit.

Say WHAT?!

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Mary Jane Loves Spider-Man

Thanks to my brother Clayton, I feel compelled to write about this excellent story.

It starts out sweet, with Spidey taking MJ to the top of a spire to show off the best view of New York and as a respite from the crap factory their life has become.

Flashback to "Earlier", MJ stops at her favorite coffee shop for a pickup and runs into her old bodyguard from when she went to LA to be a star. They start chatting, only for Brad (the bodyguard) to drop why he's really there. He's a SHIELD man, now, and he wants MJ to give up Peter.

Across town, Detective Lamont, a supporter of Spider-Man, gets a visit from a vagrant who wants to be taken in. It's Spider-Man in disguise, wanting to turn himself in to get MJ and May out of their nightmare lives.

Both stories are anchored by flashblacks of the Peter and MJ's awkward courtship and it's to Fraction's credit that he has their characterizations down so well. Anyway, Brad's getting annoyed, wanting MJ to either bring Spidey in or he's going to take her in for aiding and abetting. But that's not the only reason. Brad was to save MJ from her hard life, to which MJ delivers the world's harshest reality check:

Meanwhile, Lamont takes in Peter's drama, but when a call goes over the police band that MJ is about to be taken into custody, he tells Peter to just go and he does, in the most police embarrassing save ever pulled off:

It's one of the best Spider-Man stories I've read in awhile, and certainly makes the case for Fraction to maybe do a series or storyline for one of the regular series. Mary Jane is shown as more than a worrying point for Spider-Man, she's his support, ready to back up her husband anytime, anywhere. Like with a cinderblock.

Fightin' Nazis & Spider-Man 3

Well, there's nothing more I like to see than people beating on nazis and that's one of the reasons I like Zemo: Born Better #4.

This mini-series was a character study of the Zemo bloodline, how Heinrich (the one being punched) and Helmut (the one punching) were just the later of a long line of royals who believed they were better than the common man, thus deserving of rule. Helmut, shot into the past at the end of Nicieza's run on Thunderbolts, comes into contact with his ancestors and sees the truth in between what he was taught as a child.

It's a redemption story. Helmut, former leader of the Masters of Evil and supremacist, learns that his family is not as great as the family history lets on, and realizes that no matter how smart, clever, adept or whatever you are, it's how you treat other people that is the measure of a person. It sounds sappy, but when the focus is learning this while swordfighting and in general being a total badass, it doesn't come off sappy.

Which is why I let Zemo himself rechristen my blog.

I don't care what anyone else says, I loved Spider-Man 3! Especially Harry Osborn and all three of his and Spidey's fight sequences. Sure, there are things I would have changed, but with no real love for Venom, I don't give a damn how much characterization they gave him. The ending does seem rushed, and well, Kirsten Dunst was a bad choice for Mary Jane, period. But none of that makes me hate this movie. After reading a few reviews, I see a bunch of nitpicking and some seemed to have an outright condescension towards the super-hero genre in general.

Go see Spider-Man 3.