Top ten blogs of all time (2020)

Once upon a time, I used to do this every hundred posts or so. But last year, I was busy with the books, and remembering to do a mailing list when I  could, and self-publishing novels. 

These are the most popular blogs of all time. I can't even tell you how most people found them. But people have liked them. A lot. 

And if you're new here, this will give you a sample of what it's like to be here on a regular basis.

Here we go.



10) The Story of Moira Greyland continues

If you don't know who Moira Greyland is, you will soon. All this blog post was about was simply a discussion of Moira's largely biographical work The Last Closet -- I say largely because she bounces from her life to various and sundry issues behind and around her life.

9) Building Catholic Vampire Lore (Honor At Stake)

This was basically how I built my vampire universe for the Love at First Bite series. Elements I've stolen from philosophy, theology, a Star Wars video game called Knights of the Old Republic. There was a lot of miscellaneous theft going on that tied together in a nice neat little deranged bow.

8) Newsflash: Hugo Awards Swamped by Crap

The 2017 Hugo Awards were about as bad as you'd expect. I think that was the last time I paid them even a modicum of attention.

7) A Short Biography of a Catholic Vampire

Another Love at First Bite post. As a historian, I do so enjoy the hidden world genre. It gives me an excuse to get creative with history -- all of the fun of alternate history, without having to write a full butterfly effect of what happens next.

6) Sex, DC Comics, and ... wtf?

2011 is when DC Comics unveiled their New 52 lineup of comic books ... and stopping just short of an R-rating,. with bad character design, bad artwork, and bad choices.

5) Sad Puppies Bite Back

The fever dream that started it all. 

Take a fracas going on in fandom, a rash of SWATting happening in the real world, and throw it in for mental processing when someone can't sleep at two in the morning.

4) Who would Captain America vote for? An election special

I posted a few days before Election 2012. So I can guess why this made it so high.


3) Disasters to Marvel At: A Comic Discussion.

This was the day I got fed up with Marvel comics going to pot. It had less to politics at the time and more to do with really terrible decisions by the writers. This included all of Civil War and One more Day.

2) A Review of Death Note (Anime)
This is exactly what it says in the title. 

This one also came out of no where. Posted in 2017, it only picked up steam last year. Every day between April and July, it maintained hundreds of hits PER DAY. There was no particular place it came from or reasons for it. It just was.

1) Politics Kills Mercedes Grabowski (August Ames)

This is the story of a woman in pornography, bullied to death by leftist douche bags of Twitter. And it pissed me off because she was only 23.

I can guess how this made the #1 spot. I mentioned porn. Apparently, it's popular, even when people are reading about non-sexual content. Who knew?

Anyway. I hope you find them enjoyable. 

You can check out any and all of my latest books here. 

If you like, you can sign up for my mailing list here. 

On the End of the MCU

So, I saw Endgame the other day. My review pretty much matches that of John C. Wright. The strength was the acting. There was one massive plothole that comes with time travel, but it's the plothole I have with Terminator 2, and who doesn't like that movie?

All in all, that was a very nice little wrap up to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What's that you say? There are still Marvel movies to come? Including another Spider-Man film?

No. This wrapped things up nicely. We can all go home now. If they insist on making more films, I've got no problem getting them used, if I even feel the need to see them.

Take a look for a moment around "phase 4" of the MCU. See if you notice anything.

• Spider Man: Far From Home
• Black Widow
• Black Panther 2
• Doctor Strange 2
• Eternals
• Shang-Chi
• Guardians 3

And before you ask, no, it's not about Captain Marvel. Even the directors of Endgame hated her so much, they had Thanos punch her right out of the movie. I'm told she was on screen for 15 minutes. I think most of that time she was not speaking, or she was so covered in CGI, she looked like Tinkerbell. There is no way you can jam her into more than two of these seven films, and that's assuming anyone allows her in.

Despite all of Kevin Feige's woke spinning, every time he spins politics, he never delivers it, which is a point in his favor. So I'm not going to guess which films he wants to jam in "body positive" or L.G.B.T.Q.Q.I.A.A.P.M.O.U.S.E. "role models" in.  (If you see a "hero" called "America" expect heads to roll after the movie bombs like Hiroshima.)

I'm only concerned with those bullet points.

If you don't see it, don't worry, I have you covered.

Spider Man: Far From Home. If you remember, Homecoming was so full of woke secondary casting it was painful. Really painful. They were so unnecessary to the plot that we really only needed three actors -- Michael Keaton, Roberty Downey Jr, and Tom Holland. Almost everyone else could be replaced by a cardboard cutout. In the case of "Zendaya," I'm relatively certain she is a cardboard cutout.  I suspect Far From Home will only need Tom Holland, Sam Jackson, Jake what's-his-name, and CGI monsters. Which means that I can wait for it to be remaindered in Edward R. Hamilton, or used on Amazon.

Black Widow -- if you've seen Endgame, you know why this is a problem. If you haven't seen it yet (oh come on, even I've seen it by now) let's say that one of their selling points is WE HAVE A FEMALE DIRECTOR.  Um, that's nice. What's this FEMALE DIRECTOR done? Um ... well, that sucks. Pity that when they finally get around to making the Black Widow movie fans wanted since Avengers (if not Iron Man 2) is made by someone with fewer credentials than the creature who made the Wrinkle in Time movie.

Black Panther 2 -- I hold out no hope for this one. I suspect that one day people will realize that BP was a disjointed, tone-deaf mess that couldn't figure out what it wanted to be when it grew up. Did it want to be Game of Thrones in Africa (As in the first 30 minutes)? Did it want to be James Bond (as it was in that bit in Korea)? Did it want to focus on Wakanda versus black urban America? They should have stuck with one tone and ran with it. (And for a movie with the two "Tolkien White guys," did anyone else realize that while everyone was having a civil war, Martin Freeman was saving the world?)  And while everyone else squee-ed over battle rhinos ... yikes, that CGI was bad.

Doctor Strange 2 -- Cumberbatch might make this worth renting or buying used. The CGI might tempt me to watch it on a big screen, but they're going to have to have a trailer that blows my socks off and turns my hair white to tempt me that much. And I don't think they have the chops do to that.

Guardians 3 -- James Gunn, the director, thinks pedo jokes are funny. They're not. Check please.

• Eternals
• Shang-Chi

At which point, I get to break out a GIF.

Don't worry, you're not the only one. I had to look them up, too.

Brian Niemeier is a fan of saying "Don't give money to people who hate you." I concur. I had no problem going to Endgame because the House of Mouse is going to burn itself down, courtesy of Dickhead in Chief, Bob Iger, who is so beset by scandals and criminal investigations, and downright mishandling of properties that I actually think that Endgame's success will only fuel their certitude of their own invulnerability, and thus fuel their own demise.

They killed Star Wars with The Last Jedi. And yet they're going to burn nearly... what? Half a billion dollars per movie over the next few years? (I'm guesstimating based on previous, conflicting numbers). While they got burned with Solo -- an okay film caught in the backlash from The Last Jedi -- Disney didn't learn their lesson. They're going to spend about three billion dollars on six Star Wars films over the next few years, hoping to make at least six billion dollars. However, the people behind these films (at last report) are Rian Johnson of Last Jedi and the people who dropped the ball on Game of Thrones. Say goodbye to three billion dollars, Disney.

They want to try an Avatar franchise, which will take forever to make and mountains of cash to finish. But they have so doubled down on it, they've put in an Avatar section to their theme park .... no, seriously, Disney, Avatar came out a decade ago. The prime audience for Disneyland wasn't even born at the time, and are currently spoiled with better graphics in casual video games, which are largely better written (unless they're Assassin's Creed).

Next up, the Aliens franchise!  (Guys, just stick with Aliens. The series is dead already)

The Disney model used to be reinvest profits into the company, expand, and make more money. They're still doing that, but they're doing it in such a way that is just going to screw them over. Investing in Star Wars land (yes, I know) after The Last Jedi? Investing in Avatar at the parks before there's really a market for it?

Next up: the "MCU" will get the same treatment. But the MCU is over, fellas. They got a decent sendoff. It was a miracle that it got this far anyway -- normally, conflicting personalities would destroy a franchise like this in three movies, if not sooner. It was probably a minor miracle. Robert Downey Jr. is a good guy who stood up for Mel Gibson. Most of the main actors had never been big names before they were cast. Sure, there were some attempts. Before the MCU started, I think the biggest names they had were Scarlett Johanssen and Sam Jackson.

Endgame wrapped up the MCU.

• Everyone got a happily ever after. 
• All of the main characters without a sequel series are done with the franchise. 
• All of the good secondary characters are going to yet ANOTHER streaming service... and we saw how well that worked with NetFlix (Three good seasons of television out of eleven). 

So, the movies are done. But Marvel will pour in the money. Disney bought Marvel Comics, and allowed the comics to go to woke crap while the movies made money. Now that Disney is going to streaming, expect the films to go to woke crap while they focus on streaming -- and like with Star Trek Discovery, Disney won't care if it's all crap, since the membership fees will be money up front.

There is a Graham Greene story called A Hint of an Explanation, where a man tells the story of how his atheist next door neighbor wanted to run tests on a consecrated host. The narrator, who had been an altar boy, palmed the host, and nearly handed over the host for desecration, when the neighbor pushed just a little too hard, was a little too eager, and let slip his darker nature. The point of the story is that evil overreaches and screws itself over.

Now that Disney is secure in the sensation that it can do no wrong, and they have money to burn, get ready to spend the next ten years watching the money go up in flames.

Disney is overreaching.

If you want a superhero that will never go woke, I suggest

My Saint Tommy NYPD series.

Or

Silver Empire's Heroes United

If you have the time, stop in to my Dragon Awards discussion and tell me some of your favorites.

Review: Hollow City, by Kai Wai Cheah

Hollow City (Song of Karma, book 1), by Kai Wai Cheah is the latest in Silver Empire's superhero universe line. While it's been discussed in terms of this version of the Punisher....

This may end up as a Punisher origin story, but our hero is way, WAY too sane to be Frank Castle. The vibe as you read the novel is more Michael Connelly doing a noir superhero novel, with gun porn that outdoes Larry Correia. (No, I'm not exaggerating, and you did not misread that. Gun porn that would make Larry Correia blush).

Six kills in six years.
Super powered cop Adam Song has dedicated his life to the law. In the military and the police force, Adam ruthlessly protects the innocent.

But this time he’s killed the wrong bad guy. Now the local drug lord’s son is dead, and the boss is out for Adam’s blood. Even his secret identity won’t keep him safe. The police department hangs him out to dry, his years of exemplary service forgotten. Adam must take justice into his own hands to keep his family safe.

Because Adam is a Song. And Songs take care of their own. No matter the cost.

When does justice become murder? And just how far will he go to protect his clan?

Dragon and Hugo Award nominated author Kai Wai Cheah steps onto the superhero scene with his debut Heroes Unleashed novel. His characteristic fast-paced action and attention to detail brings Adam Song and the Chinatown of Hollow City vividly to life.

What makes a straight-laced hero cop go rogue? Buy the book or read it in Kindle Unlimited today to find out!

Imagine if Baen did a superhero novel and it was one part Connelly, one part Correia. You've got smart police tactics by a superpowered former soldier as part of a SWAT team, but you also have the problems of the politics of "Primes" (they're not supeheroes or mutants, they're Primes).  It becomes an interesting mix of politics, powers and police. When I reference Michael Connelly, most people should think of his hero, Harry Bosch (yes, now an Amazon Prime show). And the police department in Halo City is very much like the corrupt, politics-ridden (but I repeat myself) legal system of Bosch's LA. It helps with the noir feel of the novel, as it constantly refers to Halo City as the Hollow City, dark, soulless and corrupt....


You know, Chicago.

(Okay, if you're looking for a direct parallel, it's probably if San Francisco were run by Chicago politicians, down to the demographics, and "Grand Park" instead of SF's Grant Park.)

Once again, as with the first book in the series, (Morgon Newquist's "Heroes United") it's a superhero world that feels very real. Screwups are not tolerated, leaving a realistic feel to the narration -- such as referring to an egomaniac "hero" who was going to livestream an arrest... so the criminal set a trap and put three rounds in the sucker's face.  Stupidity is its own death penalty. The politics are realistic enough to make me want to strangle the politicians -- even down to having a Black Lives Matter group that's against Primes. And I love the line "Politics is never personal until it happens to you," I may need to steal it.

And the tactics are solid. The guns are detailed and make sense given the use of force required. The fact that Adam has three guns, as well as a taser, is one of the better carry policies I've seen of a hero in a novel for some time.

The world building is solid. The tactics are great. The character is also well developed. Publicly, Adam Song seems to have the powers of Marvel's Bullseye -- he always hits what he aims for, with preternatural reaction time. That's what everyone else thinks, too. But it goes beyond that, and he has a very simple, straightforward approach to handling everything -- it's handled by the book. I love the byplay between what the public thinks he can do, what he says he can do, and what he actually can do. It's the usually conflict of the civilian mindset versus the mindset of people who actually get shot at with some regularity. I had to look up his Amazon bio to make certain that Kai Wai Cheah hadn't served in law enforcement or the military.

And then there's our hero's family... I await someone to bitch about Kai Wai Cheah using "Asian stereotypes" as he writes his novel in his native Singapore. Heh.

There are a bunch of cute bits as well. They're not SWAT teams, but STAR teams (Resident Evil, anyone?). The investigator is Herbert Franks (cute Cheah. Very cute). Cheah also has bullet storm haiku... no, I'm NOT kidding.

Short version: If Harry Bosch were an Asian superhero, and Michael Connelly had a sense of humor, this is the book you'd end up with -- a Superhero Baen novel. If you enjoy anything put out by Baen, or Harry Bosch, or Astro City, or Jon Bernthal's portrayal of the Punisher in Daredevil, you're probably going to enjoy this one.

My only problem? There is a bit of a cliffhanger. But then again, it did say book 1. For some reason, it does NOT piss me off anywhere near as much as others have.

I wholeheartedly recommend this one. 5/5. I'm seriously considering this for a Dragon Award if I knew where I'd put it.

Heroes Fall: Heroes United Book 1

People keep trying to give us "realistic superheroes."

 I think the trend may have started with "Watchmen," which frankly told me more of what was in the soul of Alan Moore than said anything about the superhero genre. A better example (I'm told) is Kurt Busiek's Astro City, which addresses themes such as a man who becomes a superhero to find redemption, or even the legalities of X-Ray vision and super senses.

Here's the successor.

For those of you who long for the days when comic books were actually entertaining, and the most angst you were subjected to was the occasional Spider Man nervous breakdown, welcome to Heroes Fall, Serenity City, book 1, by Morgon Newquist.

We open with The Rampage, a mission where Superman, Batman and .... Iron Fist, I guess.... goes horribly, horribly wrong. One is murdered, the other goes mad, and only one is left standing.

Sounds like fun ... except this isn't a comic book crossover. This is Morgon's new world of heroes and villains. The heroes are Achilles, Pendragon and Banshee. And an epic battle of massive destruction throughout the city 

He wanted to be a good man. Instead he became a hero.
Twenty years ago, Serenity City's great Triumvirate of heroes - Achilles, the Banshee, and Pendragon - maintained a golden age of peace and prosperity. Then, in an instant, it all went wrong. The city's mightiest champion, Achilles, lost his mind during a showdown with the enigmatic supervillain Thanatos and went on a rampage across the city, leaving the Banshee dead and a swath of destruction in his wake before Pendragon could stop him.

Today, as Achilles rots in solitary confinement, Victoria Westerdale investigates a new mystery. Why are young and forgotten heroes disappearing off the streets? Why doesn't anybody else care? And how is it tied in to those infamous events that brought the city's greatest heroes to ruin?

And what's going to happen to them all after Achilles escapes?

The first of a new wave of superhero novels! Coming soon:

• Hollow City from Dragon Award nominee Kai Wai Cheah
• The Phoenix Ring from Jon Mollison
• Gemini Man from J.D. Cowan
• Atlantean Archons from Richard W Watts

So, yeah, this one was fun. It starts strong, introducing plenty of side characters (even throwaway characters) effortlessly. It was a Hell of a way to open.

Despite the amount of time the blurb spent on the setup, 90% of the story focuses on Victory Westerdale. She doesn't want to be a superhero, just a simple, straightforward hero who saves people and goes back to the daily nine to five. Victory's powers are like Jessica Jones, if the latter weren't a raving bitch. It's mostly a mystery set in a new and improved Astro City. And I can't say a whole heck of a lot without spoiling it, so I won't.

I like the breakdown of the superhero class structure. No, we're not going into class warfare here, merely a practical approach to superheroes. DC and Marvel comics are truly unrealistic -- that only one superhero (Booster Gold, IIRC) -- seems to be offered or has desires for fame and notoriety. In the world of Serenity City, everyone wants to climb the hero totem pole. It's a competitive culture for the next brand endorsement, coming with a good paycheck. And there are some of those heroes who are Iron Man narcissistic and some who are simply saving people and heroing, and taking cash because they'll take all the help they can get. Of course, this environment means that no one really teams up, but considering how many times the JSA and the JLA have broken up, is anyone surprised when heroes can't get along?

The villain of the piece ... there are two. They're both fairly well developed, though one has barely any screen time. If you're wondering how that happens, it's largely because of the quality of the "evil plan." One is a narrative underdog, and the other is a cunning master manipulator. One comes off as David Tennant's Kilgrave, and the other is trying to do "good" for noble reasons, but has all the skills and talents of Richard III, or the MCU's Civil War villain. It's a bit of a train wreck, with a moral quandary that had only one solution.

At the end of the day, fans of the superhero genre should recognize the occasional tip of the hat to everything from The Dark Knight to Astro City to Green Hornet. That would be a spoiler if you could get the permutations right. We have Alfred with superpowers. A character named Ash who I suspect could be played by Bruce Campbell. A healer hero named Panacea (yes, really). A hero lawyer with the ability to cloud men's minds. And oh dear me, we're going to have a realistic portrayl of what it would be like as a superhero, only none of this grim and gritty Alan Moore BS? Be still my heart. 

Also acknowledging that Batman basically has a superpower. Long story. But the description of the bat cave here will have you playing the Danny Elfman score from the Batman film in head.

Of course, Morgon gets her martial arts right. If she didn't, I think everyone who knows her would worry. And she does a good job of playing superhero chess -- how does Y superhero use X powers against Z and Z's powers. Even the execution of powers are well thought out.

Also, Morgon has a degree in Latin, so expect a ton of quotes and references from ... everyone. Peter Pan, The Aenid, The Illiad, The Odyssey, Greek myth, Roman myth, a few other myths. I do so enjoy it when the authors I read actively read other people .... and steal from them. It warms my heart. You get little bits like "He is Lancelot, not Arthur. Byt even Lancelot is better than Mordred."

And the moral of the story, as it usually is in classical mythology -- Pride kills.

Just get Heroes Fall: Heroes Unleashed Book 1, today. If you like superheroes, you'll enjoy it. If you like "literature," you'll enjoy it. Or fight scenes. Or action pieces. Or mysteries. Or Scifi. Or Fantasy.

Yeah. It's just plain fun.

While you're at Amazon picking up a copy of Heroes Fall, here, have some more superhero novels.

Hell Spawn  Death Cult

#Avengers4 trailer: #AvengersEndgame

10 years, over 20 movies (IIRC), and it all comes down to this.

This is gonna hurt.

Death Cult is coming. The official release is next week, so you might want to pre-order it now.

Captain Marvel Trailer, take 2

I am shocked. Shocked I tell you,

You mean, she has a FACIAL EXPRESSION?

She can have INFLECTION in her voice?

Gasp.

Color me shocked.

Surprised.

Overawed.

No, I'm still cynical about this. Most of the dialogue in the trailer is exposition. And I'm not entirely certain that I want to spend the entire film with her doing Jason Bourne memory loss when the trailers have pretty much explained a good chunk of it.

.... I also like how they opened the trailer with explaining "punching little old lady in the face."

It's okay. I've seen worse. And it's obvious they churned this one out after polishing some of the effects.

However, if you want some solid heroics, life or death threats, and kicking ass and taking names, there's Hell Spawn. And remember, Death Cult is coming. Pre-order you copy now.  

The #CaptainMarvel trailer

Oh look, the trailer is out for the upcoming Marvel film....

For the record, Miss Marvel, which was Carol Danvers' first of many identities, was a six-foot blonde who got her powers through less than conventional means... even for the Marvel universe. On the right, you get to see Miss Marvel in her original, and best, outfit. She's muscular and feminine at the same time. So, not bad.

Now, Captain Mar-vell was an alien who turned on his people to save humans from his own people, eventually dying to save humanity.

Marvel comics would eventually give Danvers a promotion in the air force and they would relabel her Captain Marvel, which is something that a lot of old school fans are less than happy with. Then they redesigned her suit so that it was ugly, then retooled her look to cut her hair to a crew cut. Then, eventually, removed her boobs entirely to give her pecs like Captain America.

Don't believe me? Look at this picture.

Captain Marvel is the one in the middle. The one on the right is supposed to be She-Hulk. Yes, these characters are all supposed to be women. Ugly, isn't it? There's a reason I super sized the top pic.

Now, knowing a little bit of the backstory so you can understand my trepidation going into this, let us begin.

7 seconds: Ooooooo. It is that ancient temple to the vid gods known as Blockbuster. Surely we are in ancient times....

Yes, I know it's a good way to establish setting, but this is a trailer. They're already lingering on it too long. It's 7 of the first 13 seconds. That's at least three minutes too long.

20 second makr: "War is the universal language?"  No no no, Nick Fury, that's "War. War never changes."

22 seconds: And good God I hate that outfit. It's so flipping ugly.

22 - 52 seconds: Nothing but Sam Jackson narration and special effects. This is a Nick Fury origin movie! This'll be great.

(Also, Fury knew about aliens in the 1990s? Really? Then why blame Thor for the Tesseract powered weapons in The Avengers? Why hasn't everyone been trying to develop new super weapons since this film?)

52 seconds in, SHE SPEAKS. And she sounds so .... what's the word? Pathetic? Wimpy? I'm not finding the right word. After

1:00: She has flashes of memory ... oh FFS, another hero with amnesia problems? Are we kidding? And the whole film will be told in retrospect? Oh, screw you people. I'm already having problems getting psyched for this film, and you want to BEGIN by taking the tension out of it by showing us she survived in advance?

1:06: Female fighter pilots ... in the 90s. Am I the only one with bad memories about that?

1:14: Are they going to subject her to her entire life story? Because if so, I'm bugging out of this film already.

1:15: FINALLY we get space stuff. Took them frigging long enough. Except the more I look at this image, the more I think everything is CGI in this shot, including her and her suit.

1:20: Oh, look, she has resting bitch face and apparently no charisma. I am not enthused for this film. Do something, trailer! DO SOMETHING!

1:22: ..... Should I know this actor that you're spending a close up shot on him? This is a trailer. Every second counts. Give me SOMETHING to latch onto aside from Sam Jackson trying to look like he did in Pulp Fiction.

1:30. We have Skrulls! Evil, shape-shifting SOBs. So we have a villain! This trailers has something for me to care about?

1:27-1:31:  "What makes a hero?" followed by our lead punching a little old woman in the face. Without any context at all for people who don't already know that the Skrulls are shape shifters. Way to sell this film to the general public.

1:33: Oh, look, it's Agent Coulson back when he was cool.

1:40: Oh good sweet Lord, not that costume. That costume is ugly.

1:45: "I'm not what you think I am."  Oh, lady, you don't wanna know what I think you are.

Is it me? Am I the only one who is less than thrilled about this movie? Don't get me wrong, this looks like a great film for the backstory on Fury and Coulson, but this isn't supposed to be a SHIELD origin story is it?

Is it that the trailer is poorly edited? Long lingering shots, excessive focus on everyone but our main character? I remember the trailers being more interesting than this. Then again, I'm coming into it with some preconceived notions. But this just looks like a mess.

Anyway, here, have a heroine who's feminine and badass, a hero he's manly and lethal, and hordes of the damned trying to kill them both.

Love at First Bite

The end of One More Day?

At least two different articles lately have been eagerly anticipating the end of the comic book Abomination that is One More Day.

Don't bet on it.

For those of you who haven't read my rants on Marvel comic books, One More Day wasn't the start of the decline of comic books, but it was close. But while Civil War started the real downhill spiral of Marvel (so much so that a casual reader like myself noted) One More Day is what made me give up all hope.  (Read here for my in-depth dissection of Marvel's fall, even before politics entered into it)

The TLDR version is that Peter Parker's Aunt May was struck by an assassin's bullet meant for him. She's dying, and we the readers have to believe that NO ONE IN THE ENTIRE MARVEL UNIVERSE CAN FIX A F**KING BULLET WOUND. Not Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, or Doctor Octopus.

This convoluted plot point leads us to the forced choice decision of MAKING A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL..... Nope. not even a mild exaggeration. The character isn't named Satan, but Mephisto.



Subtle, right?

But instead of trading Peter Parker's soul for the life of his aunt ... Mephisto wants Peter's marriage with Mary Jane. Because Joe Quesada didn't like Peter Parker being married, despite Peter and MJ being married for nearly 20 years of real time. Quesada's desire to screw up this story made J. Michael Straczynski leave Marvel. (When asked at NYCC a few years ago, Joe said "Ask Joe Quesada. Here's his room number.")

Fast forward another 10 years, and the timeline post-OMD is a mess. There are plenty of references to Peter and MJ being married ... though they're not married anymore.

Anyway, fast forward to now, and the Amazing Spider Man Annual #1. Multiple article are referring to how "OMG! They're going to undo OMD."

Sigh. In the immortal works of Admiral Ackbar: It's a trap.

Also, what is wrong with MJ's face. The artwork, gah!

Anyway, you know how Captain America was made into a Nazi not too long ago? Nick Spencer, the same man who did that is the same SOB in charge of Spider-Man right now. Given his talent for screwing up continuity of the universe. and for trashing fan-favorites, I wouldn't lay any money on this one way or the other.

On the other hand, Marvel couldn't time this any better. DC Comics massively bungled a year-old buildup to the wedding of Batman and Catwoman. The Fans are pissed that the much-hyped "Batrimony" issue went over like a lead Hindenburg, with Selina Kyle jilting Bruce Wayne for reasons that amount to bad TV pop-psychology. Why? Because married superheroes are anathema to these bozos.

Right now, this is the PERFECT time for Marvel to go the exact opposite direction. Marry MJ and Peter Parker again. Perhaps have a battle over Aunt May or Mephisto. Then move the character forward. That would be awesome. That would be smart.

That would be...

Not something I see Nick Spencer doing.

Don't buy it -- literally or figuratively -- until Peter Parker and MJ have walked down the aisle... and it's proven that she's not a shapeshifting alien.

Honor at Stake & Demons are Forever

The Dragons are coming.

If you don't have your ballot filled out already (either IRL or in your head,) here's my list. It includes the lists of other people, so there are options.

Just remember to vote.

Review: Black Panther

I finally saw Black Panther on DVD.

Premise: T'Challa is now the king after his father was murdered in Civil War (cue flashbacks ... really, we need flashbacks that go on more than a few flashes?). Wakandan war criminal Ulysses Klaue, arms dealer, pops up on the radar. You may remember Ulysses Klaue from Age of Ultron, played by Andy Serkis, who is no longer trapped in a motion capture suit.

What they don't know is there is another force working with Klaue that can lead to T'Challa, and Wakanda's, downfall...

What did I think?

.... Eh. It was Okay. A little slow, though.

Okay, it's a lot slow.

How slow?

When we get to our first major action sequence, a ritual duel to affirm retaining the crown ... because in a highly advanced civilization like Wakanda is supposed to be, right of ascension by combat is the way to go... Which just makes it look like Wakanda has great tech, and the culture never caught up. Uh huh....

Anyway.... While we have a brief skirmish at the opening, and the ritual challenge right after, neither of these really feel like a Marvel film. T'Challa's sister Shuri is playing Q, and she's cute, but that's about it. There's a lot of discussion about whether or not Wakanda should show off their tech to the rest of the world,. Blah blah.

And our first real bit of Marvel action takes place nearly 50 minutes into the film. They go into a cool bar in South Korea, I was half expecting the film to become like unto a James Bond like spy thriller when they walked into a casino that I'm almost certain hosted Daniel Craig at one point.

But that's interrupted by a chase, and then a Marvel finally movie breaks out.

And then there's the real hero of the film: Bilbo Baggins -- I mean Martin Freeman. As the only one with no genetic modifications (yes, apparently Black Panther is the result of a home-grown, do-it-yourself Super Soldier serum) and no high tech gadgets, Freeman's character Everett Ross (who debuted in Civil War) seems to be the only one in the entire film who has saved anybody.

Yeah... remember when people complained about Man of Steel when Superman couldn't be bothered to save anyone as Smallville or Metropolis was blown apart? Yeah. Ross saves one of T'Challa's spies, getting shot for his trouble. T'Challa saved no one. Even in the opening, he was interrupting an operation just to send an invite.

Now, I saw a lot of people hyping that Black Panther had the most developed MCU villain to date. Honestly, he was about as developed as Aldrich Killian of Iron Man 3, and he was motivated by the same thing -- revenge. For this film, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens, grew up in Oakland, and one evening, he came home to find his father dead on the floor. Killmonger is left alone, abandoned, and grows up to enter Wakanda, having never seen it.

Killmonger's ultimate goal boils down to a race war that he expects to ... you guessed it ... take over the world

Killmonger. Because we need shirtless scenes for the girls.

.... I'm sorry, if one drops a ton of guns into Oakland, are the local gunmen going to try to take over the world? Or hold up banks? I suspect that Killmonger did not think this plan through. Not to mention that his only plan for taking over the world under a racial banner seemed to boil down to "Give out weapons like party favors, and we'll win."

This is not the intricate planning that made Killmonger the threat that he is in the movie...

Then again, the plan that even makes him a threat relies on a lot of things happening that were contrived.

Honestly, there was just so much stupid going on in this film. There is an act 2 "twist" that is quite contrived. There are a lot of stupid motivations going on throughout the film, and I'm not sure I'm all that happy with them. For the second half of this movie to happen, we need several forced internal conflicts to happen, as well as contrived plot points and character decisions.

The film is about 20 minutes too long, packed with atmospherics, and how many times can we linger on someone being buried in a ceremony? How many different ways can we have flashbacks to the opening sequence? How many different points of view shots can we have in the same sequence and setting?

I think too much time was spent building up T'Challa's sister, and his mother, and his bodyguard, and his tech, and not enough time building up T'Challa. Most of what we saw of T'Challa in this film can be summed up by seeing The Lion King. I'm sorry, T'Challa in the comics is supposed to be insanely smart, with multiple PhDs, and even discovering a different realm of physics. Here, I don't even get a sense that he's that great a leader. The actor has the gravitas, I'll give him that. And I think he had more character in Civil War than he did in his own film.

Again, this is my first viewing. But I'm looking at the CGI war rhinos and went "Wait, you guys needed more time to for resolution on those rhinos, didn't you?"

This is his look a lot in this film

Maybe this will improve as I rewatch this. But the first half of the film is around Ulysses Klaue as the villain, and frankly, I think this would have made for an interesting duel. Heck, you have T'Challa out in the pursuit of a criminal who outran his father, murdered people in his kingdom. T'Challa can team up with Ross of the CIA, and hunt down Ulysses Klaue and stop whatever he has in mind. Killmonger could have lurked in the shadows and come out at the end, perhaps even revealing himself as he murders Klaue....

No. This film looked like Ulysses Klaue became completely unhinged after having his arm cut off by a ten-foot tall Raymond Reddington. Either that or Andy Serkis was drunk and / or stoned off of his ass while on set. Between Klaue and Serkis, I can't tell which one was shoe-horned in. Honestly? It felt like either they changed their mind mid-movie, or he was a throw away.

It was an okay film. I enjoyed it more than Ant-Man. Maybe more than the first Thor film.

Right now, being generous, 7/10. My perspective may improve with further viewings.

The Dragons are coming.

If you don't have your ballot filled out already (either IRL or in your head,) here's my list. It includes the lists of other people, so there are options.

Just remember to vote.

Marvel: Full of Fail

The original West Coast Avengers is probably what inspired Hawkeye having such a strong presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, he was the leader of the WCA, which isn't bad for someone whose superpower is to hit what he aims at.

So, when Marvel brings back the WCA, I figure this is going to be awesome...

Then there's this.

What the flaming Hell is this BS, you ask? This is failure, my friends. Failure at the very core. Let us ignore rebranding it as "a team of young heros"... because that requires that they be heroes.

Let's start with the cover.... because nothing is happening. Nothing at all. Unless this collection of freaks and losers are going to be thrown at the reader, nothing is happening.

And good lord, what is going on with these characters. Well, I'll tell you.

See the lady in the pink / purple body suit? That's Hawkeye. Yes, really. That's what's Marvel has done to one of the more popular MCU characters. He was replaced with a Kate Bishop.

Now, originally, Kate Bishop was part of the Young Avengers, and looked more like a badass.

The original look for Bishop (right) was darker, sleeker, and she's more obviously mature. In fact, it's rather obvious that she's a flipping adult. She has more in common with Batman or Green Arrow than Hawkeye, being the child of a millionaire who shoots trick arrows. And apparently, her inciting incident that spurs her to being a heroine? Rape. Yeah. It's even on the Marvel biography page.

.... Ya know, even Jessica Jones, who started in the Marvel "adult" lines, was a slave of a mind-controlling psycho, and they explicitly stated that she had not been raped. But this is the "younger hero" line?

Anyway, at one point, Bishop was framed as the new Hawkeye... her book lasted 16 issues. Can we say fail?

Now she gets her own comic book. I don' t know where the purple body sock came from, but good God, someone should be taken out to the woodshed over it. Seriously, we go from the Young Avengers look to making her appear to be a rejected extra from the terrible Ghostbusters attempt from a few years back. What the Hell, people?

The one who looks like she's wearing a white body condom is "Gwen-Pool." Because we need a hundred variations on Deadpool, don't we?

The creature with the purple hair is a fellow named Quentin Quire.  He's a mutant, and his powers seem to be ... very lame. (Telepath, telekinetic, and "smart"). Apparently, his hair has always been purple. I don't even want to know whose bright idea it was to give him a makeover in San Francisco chic.

See the blond in the back? That's Clint "Hawkeye" Barton. Yup. The real Hawkeye. No, I don't know what happened to him. He looks like a rejected Archie character.

The person on the left is supposed to be male. At least, that's my conclusion, the artwork on this is so terrible I'm not entirely certain. According to press releases, this is supposed to be Kate Bishop's boyfriend "Johnny." Who has no powers. Why is he on the team? No idea.

Then there's America Chavez .... ugh. From what I can gather, her only characteristic is that she's "gay Mary Sue." Yup. That's it. Her selling point? She's a walking gay stereotype, and so is her author ... that was it...  Are we surprised that her comic book series was cancelled in 13 months? (March 2017 - April 2018).

So just to make this clear, this series has two-- count them, TWO -- characters that couldn't sustain their own comic book franchises and fell apart. The author who penned these failures (two issues of "America" and all of the "Hawkeye" attempt) will be the author of this new property, which is already full of fail, and I'm still just on the cover. They've even made Hawkeye look lame, but he's supposed to be the adult here.

Yeah, this sucks already.

One final observation: this sucks even worse because of the modifications made to the characters. If they tried to treat these characters AS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED, this might have made for an interesting collection of characters. Imagine the original design on Kate Bishop -- wealthy, classy, adult, serious -- then throw together an imperious "I'm smarter than you" mutant (Quentin Quire), a nutcase from an alternate dimension, and .... okay, no, America Chavez would still suck. Maybe it would have worked to try to get these people to work together, see how the personality conflicts result in some fun strangeness, but it's clear just from the cover that they've been made to look universally goofy, and uniformly lame.

This isn't a comic book, this is a still from the gay pride parade as interpreted through negative stereotypes.

Here, I'll give you a book where the men are men, the women are women, and even teenagers try to step up to become the line between good and evil.

While we're here, the Dragons are coming.

If you don't have your ballot filled out already (either IRL or in your head,) here's my list. It includes the lists of other people, so there are options.

Just remember to vote.

New Trailer: ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

For those of you who don't recall, there are three -- count 'em, three-- Marvel films coming out this year.

February is Black Panther.

May is Avengers: Infinity War

And then there's this.

I guess the first thing to note here is the Wasp, played by Evangeline Lily. I can only suppose someone saw her choreography from The Hobbit films and said, "Yeah. We can make her a superhero." And with all the little jabs at Scott Lang ... this is Scott Lang. I think his entire character is "eternal punching bag." It seems to be less a matter of being beaten up on by the female lead, and more of being beaten up on by the world in general. Not to mention the aspect of "Yes, I gave my daughter on-board offensive weaponry, not the ex-con" fits perfectly well with Michael Douglas' Hank Pym.

While it's nice to see Laurence Fishburne join the Marvel Universe ... he's going to play Goliath? From what I recall of the character, isn't he getting a little too old for action lead? He's in great shape, but they're very clearly letting him go gray here.

I notice this entire film takes place post-Civil War, but makes no mention of the Infinity War. If this means that Scott Lang won't be in Avengers 3, I'm good with that. Though I suspect that we'll be seeing both of them in Avengers 4, when we have been threatened with a new Avengers team.  (I'm expecting it to consist of Black Panther, Doctor Strange, these two, and maybe Carol Danvers. Just a guess.)

If Ant-Man is a heist film, this one looks like a fugitive film. It already looks better than Ant-Man, which was on the low end of the MCU films.

Avengers: Infinity War Trailer

Time to take a look at what next big thing Marvel has in store for us.

Okay, we're going to open with a bit of recap to Avengers 1,

Let's see, Strange and Wong finding a confused Banner -- which means it's probably something that takes place after the Ragnarok tag scene....


Scarlet Witch giving ... a human-looking Vision a look that might lead to some comic-book related spoilers.

Ugh, black Black Widow? Oh well. There were a half dozen or so in the comics.

Hulk, Iron Man, with Strange in the Sanctum Sanctorum.  Heh heh heh. Though the stairs need work.  In the original Infinity War comic, it did pretty much start with Strange.

Spider Man ... are the hairs standing up on his arm supposed to be Spidey-Senses? I didn't see Homecoming.

Hmm, Loki handing over the Cosmic Cube to (probably) Thanos. Who could have seen that coming... oh, yeah, everyone who saw Thor: Ragnarok.

The CGI on Thanos is ... not bad. He looks like a video game character. Though I'm surprised they went with him without the headpiece he usually wears in the comics.

Oooh, the Iron-Spidey armor! Not the gold on red from the comics, but I like it. Somehow, it looks even more canonical than the clothe version.

"Evacuate the city, engage all defenses, and get this man a shield" .... Okay, that's cool.

... Okay, Thor in space. Whatever.

Okay, and the Vision is sort of screwed. I just hope that taking the gem out of his skull isn't going to be the end of the character. I actually like what Bettany has done with him, and I'd like him to come back.

We also have Thanos with the gauntlet, but he hasn't yet collected the whole set. Which is good, because that might be the moment we get a lot of actors retired from the MCU.

There's also Bucky standing with Wakanda soldiers. Again, not a surprise. Even I guessed there might be something to that after Civil War happened... And then there's the Falcon joining in the same battle, with Hulkbuster Iron Man, and I see War Machine. Yeah, if Wakanda doesn't have an Infinity stone, I will be shocked.

Heh. And Thor, with the Guardians of the Galaxy.  Heh heh heh. Well, this is going to get strange.

If I'm going to lay money on this, I'd say there's an infinity stone in Wakanda, and much of the movie will be to get the band back together in order to stop Thanos from getting the last stone. But that's just a guess on my part.

Either way, looks like it's going to be fun.

NEW TV Review: Must Miss TV

I think I'm going to skip the in-depth reviews, and just to straight to the stuff that sucks.

The Good Doctor: An autistic savant wants to become a surgeon. The show jumps straight to the surgical residency, and has totally avoided medical school. Sorry, it's already stretched my credulity to expect that someone who literally doesn't answer anything phrased in the form of a question to have progressed this far in a medical career. Yes, I'm serious about the inability to answer questions. The emotional manipulation evident in the show is ham-handed, ham-fisted, and just plain "shoot me now." It's easy to make a character likable when nearly everyone else is a scumbag, a parasite, or a pathological schumck-- one character steals every idea from the autistic and claims them for his own, one surgeon is a coward who lies to patience as long as they think good things about her, and one of the hospital board is busier trying to play Game of Thrones than running his department. It's blatant emotional manipulation, making everyone a dick. There are only two characters here who are worth the time -- our savant, and Richard Shiff, who plays the president of the hospital, but he's still playing Richard Schiff, really.

And what do you expect from the guys who brought you House? Doctors who are actually interesting and likable? And the flashbacks break the pacing to Hell and gone. Daniel Dae Kim left Hawaii 5-0 to produce this crap? Oy.

Inhumans: I watched the two-hour pilot, and the third episode. They had some interesting moments here and there, but it got lost in the slow, plodding execution of the story. The Inhumans have a base on a moon -- an invisible city, with a city run by those with powers, while the unpowered drudge away in the mines beneath the city... what they're mining, we have no idea. A Game of Thrones hostile takeover ensues, sending four (later five) members of the royal family to Earth.

There are some interesting bits of business, such as the mute Black Bolt communicating largely through faces, and some of the fighting is okay. But really, Ken Leung ran from The Night Shift for this? It is slow, it is ponderous, and when only the bad guys get the best lines, I'm out.


X-Men The Gifted: I'm getting to the point when I hate the X-Bitches. Hugh Jackman carried the movie franchise, and I haven't been interested in the series as a whole since the animated series went off the air in the 90s. The X-Douches are whiny, angsty, and a pain to watch. But I'd try this for Amy Acker. The pilot opens strong, with a mutant being chased by the cops ... for reasons we don't get. It's followed by a strong, intense action piece. It ends with one of the rescue team being chapters, and the scene punctuated with -- wait for it!!!-- and angsty scream of futility. Oh, come on.

This is then follow with Amy Acker and her character's husband in a principle's office, then followed by her managing children at home ... no. Thank you. I'm done. Good bye. They can waste someone else's time. This is a gift that should be returned.

Review: The Defenders

So, I saw Marvel's NetFlix series for The Defenders a few weeks ago.

What did I think?

Here's a hint: It took me this long to review it. What do you think?

The short version is: it was okay.

The premise is simple: The Hand, magical Yakuza Ninjas, have come to destroy New York.

How? I'm not entirely certain. There's something about a dragon underneath the city, and if you take too much away from the dragon, the city falls down? I think. It was either never spelled out fully, or it was partially explained in Iron Fist (which I'm so glad I didn't see), or I fast forwarded through it by accident -- and I made it a point to watch everything the good guys were in in full, so if it wasn't explained to them, it wasn't explained to me.

Slowly, each of the quartet of heroes is dragged into this little fiasco. Danny Rand / Iron Fist is given a warning that the Hand are going to destroy New York. He chases a hired street kid working for the Hand ... a kid who Luke Cage is trying to keep off the streets. They fight. Hilarity ensues. Meanwhile, Jessica Jones is hired to find an architect, and when that goes bad, she's represented by a blind attorney from Hell's Kitchen. They end up colliding together in an office building owned by the Hand. Then the fun starts...

The fun takes a while to get there. About episode 3. There are the occasional moments before that, but ... eh.

On the positive side, when these people are together, they're actually not too bad. Most of them balance out each other's more annoying qualities. Luke Cage is the rock upon which everything else could stand if they wanted. Iron Fist's whining and stupidity is balanced out by everyone smacking him upside the head. Daredevil is still probably the best part of the show. Jessica Jones' misanthropy is balanced out by her having to share the screen with everyone more interesting than she is.

And of course, "Jessica Jones, stop talking" is so perfect a line I want it as my ring tone.

Though one of the crowning achievements of this show are bringing the side kicks together. Sorry, but I really enjoyed watching the Night Nurse with Colleen Wing, or Hellcat... sorry, Trish ...meeting with Murdock's law firm. It was fun. And strange.

And then there's the downside: the bad guys. Sorry, Marvel, unless the villain is Kingpin or Kilgrave, or they just go full comic book villain, we don't care. We really don't. Sigorney Weaver was wasted as Nameless Psycho #4 (no, really, I can't recall what the bleep her name is). She was amazingly boring, she's obviously too old for this crap, and her next step on the creepy train is to go full Susan Sarandon.

Then there's Elektra... sigh. Yes, for those who remember the end of Daredevil season 2, Elektra died. It's a bad habit she's kept from the comic books. Another bad habit is that she keeps coming back. The only difference is that she's been brought back ... wrong. I don't know if she's supposed to have been programmed as a mindless super weapon, or if she's just even more broken than she was from her first appearance. Here, she's as crazy as a bag of cats.

Another major downside: some of the idiocy that just falls trippingly off the tongue. If I hear "White Privilege" one more time, I will hit someone with a 2x4. Thankfully, that was only one particularly stupid conversation and was never repeated ... or I fast forwarded right past it, and never heard a thing about it.

There was also the obligatory superhero beat down. There were two of them. No one one's surprise, it was beating up on Iron Fist. Because this Danny Rand needs to be beaten routinely.

And, honestly, the intelligence of the characters was 100% dictated by the needs of the plot. Thankfully, Iron Fist is stupid enough to be more than stupid enough for everybody. The best idea he's had all throughout the series was that they would make a good team.

The team is fine, when they're actually on the move and DOING SOMETHING.  Seriously, this was a major issues with Supergirl, why is this the end of a Marvel series? They usually do things fairly well. Nope. Not any more.

Sigh.

At the end of the day, yes, I do recommend this ... on fast forward. There is exactly one moment where watching the bad guys comes in handy, and it's Elektra's best moment. But aside from that, you don't need to watch them, and they are in dire need of editing.

Review of Thor: Ragnarok

If you know Norse mythology, you know that Ragnarok is basically the doom of Asgard. It is the end of all things. Can Thor, god of thunder, stop the cataclysm from happening?
Going by the first minutes of the film, yes. Yes he can.

When last we saw our intrepid Avenger, Thor had flown off in search of the Infinity Gems (the shiny MacGuffin devices from half the franchise). Finding none, he is now in search of the cause of his dreams: dreams of Ragnarok. It leads him to Surtur ... some sort of magma ...Satan ... thing. Surtur monologes a bit about how he will destroy of of Asgard, bwahahahaha ... and Thor interrupts him for some comic moments, and we're off.

However, the end of all things isn't quite averted. Hela, goddess of death, has been trapped for half a million years, and she's out, and she's ready to rule everything.

So, nicely epic. But can they pull it off?

Largely, yes.

Hela is released, and due to a problem with the Rainbow Bridge, Thor and Loki don't get a full confrontation with Hela, but are thrown down onto an alien planet. Thor is captured via cheap technology tricks, and is made to fight in a gladiatorial arena owned by Jeff Goldblum.  Yes, Jeff has tired of playing with dinosaurs, and wants to play with comic book characters instead. It's all very strange.

The whole film is strange from start to finish. There is a definite departure in tone from the other Thor films, giving it more of a Guardians feel to it. Thor, the deadly serious, makes for a surprisingly good slapstick artist. I was surprised too. I think I laughed at this one more than I did at Guardians.

All in all, this was straight up fun. There are shoot outs that make me think of Flash Gordon (the one with Topol, Queen, and Max von Sydow) to such a point that I thought excerpts of the soundtrack would start playing at any moment. At one point, "Pure Imagination" does start playing. Yes, really. There's comedy. There's some well-done plotting. Nothing is really forced (okay, one scene is, to be seen below). I'd even say the Pulp crowd would be entertained, given that we have a space ship firing a machine gun at Fenris while a horde of zombie soldiers are being mowed down by a lightning-wielding demigod, who shot his way out of an intergalactic gladiatorial ring with a laser rifle.

Now, you know that there are several elements they must address in the film. such as the post-credit scene in Doctor Strange. You know from the end of The Dark World that Loki is on the throne of Asgard, pretending to be Odin. You know that he was looking for the Infinity gems. You know that someone might want to mention that Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) isn't in this movie -- and frankly, I have no idea how they could have fit her in as well. All of these plot points are actually addressed and resolved within-- at a guess-- about fifteen minutes in.

I have two major problems with the movie, and a minor one, below. One, we have a moment that is a variation on the "you have hidden depths" meme that we've seen before -- though I don't have a problem with how they did it, I have a problem with where they put it. It's rather awkwardly jammed in. I blame whoever edited the film together. It's fairly jarring.  You'll see where they put it. I liked the scene itself (it could have been a minute longer), and it had some witty lines, but it's sort of shoehorned in, like the editor went trigger happy somewhere along the line. I know there are several shots and lines of dialogue cut from the trailer to the film; I know that it happens, but given some parts of the ending, I think someone went overboard.

My second major problem: character deaths. Of the five character deaths in this film, only one is lingered on for any length of time. The other four were murdered off-handedly, making me wonder why some of these people were even brought in.

The acting is surprisingly well done. Hemsworth is a great straight man, and pulls off the big epic moments, as well as the slapstick. Don't worry ladies, you'll get shirtless Thor -- though he seems to have bulked down, and has gone more for martial art muscle than gym muscle.

Cumberbatch as Strange is even better, and funnier here than he was in his own movie. It was fun, and they got rid of him in a matter of three minutes, a good thing, since he might have stolen this film if he was more than a cameo.

Tom Hiddleston as Loki ... is Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Has anyone ever had any problem with his Loki? Loki's still insane, but dang, he's got style. And he knows how to make an entrance.

Hela ... she's a serviceable villain. She's fun, and she leaves more of an impression than the dark elves from The Dark World. She even comes with her own army of zombie Rivendell elves. Yes, I know they're supposed to be old Asgard warriors. And she comes with Fenris as her pet.

Valkyrie -- Sigh. You know, I didn't mind Idris Elba as Heimdall, because he brings gravitas and .. he ACTS LIKE HEIMDALL. I didn't mind a random Asian dude thrown in as one of the Warriors Three, since they're largely background characters. But when you replace Valkrie, a six-foot blonde who should be built like Red Sonja, with a 5'4" Tessa Thompson, I have multiple levels of why this is a problem. It will help if you have no actual attachment to the comic book character in the first place. Trust me on this

Karl Urban as the Executioner ... while I like Urban, pretending that this character is anything like the comic book version is idiotic. I presume that this is the last Thor film, for multiple reasons, but most of all because they felt the need to jam in certain characters without bothering to make them anything like their comic book counterparts. Damn it, Idris Elba at least acts like Heimdall.

Again, a fun film. Possibly the best Thor film. Definitely the funniest Marvel film. Though I'm surprised at their restraint: I had expected at least new one Infinity Gem, and didn't get one. If I recall correctly, there are still two missing.

But we'll see.

Right now, I don't have an analysis for what this means for the rest of the Marvel universe. I have some guesses, but it's pure speculation.

Ragnarok is definitely recommended on the big screen.

Marvel at #SDCC 2017: Captain Marvel, Thor, and Infinity War

This will not be a comprehensive look at everything Marvel had at San Diego Comic Con this year.

In part because they dropped an Avengers trailer during SDCC .... and it's been leaked, and taken down in short order. It's come back and forth from being released online, and taken down.

So, to start with, the most important piece of news ... Punisher will be in The Defenders.

And if he isn't, they've got a trailer to explain (the 60 second mark)

Well, that didn't add much ... but show us that Stan Lee is still alive. Good for him.

And now, we've got Thor: Ragnarok

I was a little worried that they were going to be focused on the wrong things in this one. I like that Bruce Banner appears in the trailer as Bruce Banner. It could have been all too easy for them to have the not so jolly green giant have all the screen time. But seeing Mark Ruffalo is reassuring. And ... is that Hulk versus Fenris? Really? Huh.

Though I'm amused that Jeff Goldblum is even in the franchise now.

I especially like how Loki is revealed here. I was wondering how they were going to handle it. Also, gee whiz, they're using GUNS. Heh.

But, damn it, I want to see how Doctor Strange shows up in the film. I'd rather it would be more than just a glance at the end.

Again, we've got more of a humor vibe here, with our opening to the trailer. Definitely more of a Guardians, over the top vibe here.

Also the Avengers Infinity War trailer opened with the Guardians running into space debris ... Thor. Who looks pretty much like he does here, only far more run down.

Speaking of Avengers Infinity War, it's got some poster art.

So, there's that.

In other news, they're discussing Captain Marvel. In the comics, Carol Danvers, air force fighter pilot, was kidnapped by aliens called the Skrulls, experimented on, and turned into a neigh-invincible, flying juggernaut who shoots lasers out of her hands.

In the Cinematic universe .... Captain Marvel will be set in the 1990s.

... What?

Okay, it's been confirmed that the Skrulls will actually show up. They've been wary about showing another alien race here. Though I'm wondering why they haven't used the Skrulls before this, given that they've had ample excuses and opportunities to do so. Especially since, in the Comics, the Skrulls have been at war with the Kree (of Guardians) forever ... why were the Kree at war with the Nova Corps in Guardians? But I suppose that legal issues have been settled, and Captain Marvel will settle the Kree-Skrull war? Who knows?

The film will also star Samuel L. Jackson with two eyes. Because the 90s.

Yeah, I have no idea why they'd set it in the 90s. The actress they have for Captain Marvel, Brie Larson, looks like she's 12. Unless they're going to say that the powers have slowed down her aging ... but if that's the case, where the bleep has she been through: three alien invasions, a robot army, and a SHIELD meltdown?

The answer is probably ... IN SSSSSPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAACCCCCEEEE.

But we'll see.

All in all, it looks like Marvel is going to stay on top for a while. As long as you don't count their network TV shows. Those just look like they suck.

Black Panther Trailer Reaction

So, the next trailer is out.

0:04: Holy Hell, Watson is back! John Watson is back! Sorry, I mean Martin Freeman. Damn. It's been so long since Captain America: Civil War that I forgot that Freeman was in this franchise. He's playing some sort of state department bureaucrat, who's been a thorn in the side of the Avengers a few times over the years. We see him here interviewing Andy Serkis, Mister Klaue (Claw) from Age of Ultron. Serkis' character is a Black Panther villain, but in this case, he's no where near his final villain form that we see in the comics. I doubt they'll use him as that in the films, but we'll see.

0:14: Some nice CGI as Freeman begins to explain that Wakanda is a 3rd world country. Which, to everyone's knowledge, is BS. The audience knows from the Comics, and the post-credits Civil War scene, that Wakanda is a highly advanced country. I guess they've decided that it's a secret only known to the super hero community.

0:23: And here's where we explain that the 3rd world country bit is a front, and we see some of the high tech stuff kicking around. Please don't say aliens. Please don't say aliens....

0:27: Ooh, shiny.

0:30: And here's the high tech shuttles

0:35: Gee. Hunters in a dark jungle. I'm getting a Jurassic Park vibe. Anyone else?

0:47: Damn, that costume looks snazzy.  From here, we see what comic readers should expect from Black Panther: he's an awesome martial artist, and his costume is bullet proof.

1:02: I think Serkis has lost his mind. Again.

1:05: Remember when I said they were advanced? Yup. They're advanced. Now I really am starting to wonder about aliens. As I said earlier in the week, they could make this another infinity gem storyline, if only so Wakanda can have power.

1:07: Interesting facial markings. I understand these are usually tribal.

1:10: Andy Serkis may have a staring role in this one! There's a break out.

1:12: I wonder if this is Black Panther's sister.

1:17: One, NO. NO HIP HOP. T'Challa is as far from Black America as you can get without going to another planet. Hell, I'd even look up Afro-Celt and play some of that! Yes, Afro Celt, it's a thing.  Two? Andy Serkis might be a villain here. He was a weapons dealer in Age of Ultron, it looks like he's keeping up his business here. So it should be T'Challa versus the techno thieves.

1:18: The UN? really?

1:18-1:32.  Micellanous images. I'm getting the impression we might have some political gaming here along the way. Game of Thrones, Wakanda edition? Serkis may just be a lacky, or a subplot.

1:32 T'Challa stopping an SUV with his body. Okay, that's cool. Nice imagery. Nice slow motion.

Okay, I'll confess, this generally looks good. Marvel, this is your movie to screw up. Make it about their native culture, and their city, and a lot of action, and we'll be good. This is your chance to world build. Build it. If you make it about racial politics, you'll have problems.

Also, more Martin Freeman. Because he's awesome.

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