Captain America - Back From The Dead

Pretty surprising when I was informed that Captain America (Steve Rogers) who was assassinated at the end of Civil War (see The Death of Captain America) is finally returning back from the dead with the release of the 5-part mini-series called Reborn starting from July until year end.

After the event that shook Marvel universe, I was engrossed in reading the aftermath of the assassination with the Death of Captain America trilogy, concluding with Part III entitled, The Man Who Bought America. It seems that during that progression, many of us has accepted Bucky Barnes as taking over the role of Cap that was left vacant.

I had the believe that nobody can kill Captain America except the Red Skull himself because it is always Schmidt's obsession to face Steve one-on-one to see who is the better of the two matched opponents with a different ideology. If there is a killing by a someone that is neither the two, there is likely that a character will be restored at a later point. For instance, at the beginning of Winter Soldier, when the Red Skull was shot dead by Bucky, he was restored at a later point when we learnt that his conciousness resided in the body of General Alek Lukin.

You can take a scene from The Spirit movie of why Octopus is not willing to let others kill his arch-rival except by his own hands. That's a hint for you guys out there.

Wanton Punishment: The Greatest Rematch Ever

If the Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson II match was deemed as the greatest rematch ever in boxing ever, then the Frank Castle vs Barracuda rematch is much better!

Yes, Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov, the artist for Barracuda has returned for Vol 9 of the series called the Long Cold Dark, the phrase simply says of Frank Castle's desire of slipping back into the shadows. Though the paperback isn't out yet, I managed to get all the 5 issues (why 5, because #50 is a double-size issue with Howard Chaykin art) and read it all.

The Long Cold Dark is the payoff of Barracuda and Man of Stone, Mr. Barracuda intending to settle the score with Frank by having a very prized possession that Frank cannot ignore: a toddler called Sarah which turned out to be...

....Frank's illegitimate daughter!

The child turns out to be the result of the relationship with Frank and Kathryn O'Brien and to get to the child and the whereabouts as part of the plan to draw him out, Barracuda whacked one of the characters we knew, setup a trap at a hotel that will give make sure Frank comes in and smack the ass out of him. The child was left to Kathryn's sister, Barbara as a request before she went to Afghanistan to whack six ex-Taliban men there.

We are seeing Terminators in the psychological level between Frank and Barracuda. One to protect, one to kill, in the spirit of guarding angel movies like Gloria, Ultraviolet, Nick of Time and etc.. Seeing how both men slug out, it is far more visceral than the Terminator and the T-1000. But then we don't see the mayhem and destruction in the city, all was on the outside as Frank's tactic is not to engage against the police Yes, we can see a hybrid of Kyle Reese in Frank in the form of 'Do exactly as I say', but Barbara was no hysterical woman as she had a clear understanding from the beginning when Kathryn made her swear to it.

The first act is a setup of the two men where the exposition from the events of the previous three episodes come into place. Frank knew that Barracuda's weakness was in the form of his ego and at the end of the first act, he admitted of him beaten in his own game. The question of who tipped Barracuda over everything was a mystery and we are likely to find out at the final chapter called Valley Forge. Act II is the bluff game between Barracuda and Frank while Act III is the rematch...! Somehow, they are not like Terminators, fighting like machines and here, we see through voice bubbles of what makes Barracuda is as of now.

But Parlov's art was too frantic, scribbled and doesn't show that kind of cool value of Barracuda as seen in the first encounter there. But there's more gore in here, head shots, blood, caved-in nose, two hands chopped off, well you have to see it. And the finale, it's just like the Harry Potter scene in the opening of the Sorcerer's stone or at the end of Revenge of the Sith and there's an instruction - don't look for him again.

The story value was not as exciting as of the last three episodes, but it's more psychological than The Slavers as this story involves more on Frank in layers than it was during his adventure with Viorica. When I was told of the preview, that Frank teamed up with Barracuda, I thought is that guy crazy. I had to find out. The paperback would not be out until May, so I guess it's sensible to find and read it in a e-format given right now I'm in tight spot over money.

Should you read it? If you want to see the so called rematch of the century, I can't stop you. But this assumes that you have also read the special mini-series spin-off of Barracuda so it will be good to read that first before coming here.

X-Men Animated Series Cohesion

In my recent entry, I have discussed a retrospective view of X-Men the animated series. True, I have finished watching all the 76 episodes on YouTube. However, when we moved to Episode 71, I notice that the art and character design had changed a lot and no longer reflects the Jim Lee art that is seen in the first 70 episodes.

As said, that's because Saban had taken over the ownership of the production and produced the last six episodes before it was canceled by September 1997.

Now, going back to the cohesion thing, I have mentioned that Season 2 is the most cohesive season as it deals with the Savage Land arc, all episodes inter-related with one another with no continuity problems, culminating with the showdown of Mister Sinister at the end. In season three, the season is called The Phoenix season as it deals with Phoenix Saga..nine episodes and it also has a sub-plot that is a character study of Cyclops.

Some episodes that are slated to appear in Season 3 were broadcast later, in other words, got jumbled up. The main reason was due to animation problems, where animators had to fix those problems. For instance, the episode, No Mutant is An Island was slated to appear after the first Phoenix Saga. It was moved to season 4. Putting that after Phoenix Saga will actually provide a clear exposition of how Cyclops was in grieving mode after the Phoenix aftermath.

The inconsistencies appear mostly between season 3 and 4. Courage serves as a the resolution for Morph. One episode in Season 5, Longshot was supposed to appear as the interlude to the Dark Phoenix Saga. If that happens, it clearly resolves, in timing continuity of the Mojo episode. In place of Longshot, and Courage are two episodes that are actually written for season 4. In fact Nightcrawler was intended to be introduced at Season 4.

The list can be very confusing. But you can check the comparisons between the slated ones and the actual broadcast episodes.

Again, the success of the first season would resulted in Fox ordering another 3 more seasons or 39 more episodes.

X-Men Animated Series Retro

The X-Men animated series to this day remains the #2 longest running animated series in the entire cartoon history behind Batman: The Animated Series. It features the characters drawn and designed by Jim Lee (noted for character anatomy dynamics) and shows all the comic storylines, particularly those written by Chris Claremont in his first stint at Marvel in animated format.

Note: This excludes The Simpsons.

Episodes Run and Overview

The series had a successful 76-episode run from October 31 1992 to September 20 1997. All of these episodes were executive produced by Stan Lee himself and Avi Arad, with Joe Calamari. Then Marvel publisher Bob Harras was the creative consultant for the production. Much of the story arcs seen in comics like the Legacy Virus, Sentinels, Savage Land, Days of Future Past and The Phoenix Saga were successfully translated into episodes run. These episodes were produced by Saban Entertainment, the company distributing Power Rangers worldwide and they were broadcast under Fox Kids and it was shown almost every weekend on their networks. After the successful run of the first X-Men movie in 2000, the series had another successful rerun but it was Disney who broadcast the rerun when they bought the broadcasting rights from Saban in 2001.

Each episode had a consistent average rating of 8 out of 10. Out of the episodes, only 2 were noted to draw flak and criticism from fans. Episode 24, Mojovision, featuring the voice of Andy Dick as Mojo was rated 6.8 while one of the final season's episode, entitled Jubilee's Fairy Tale was rated as the worst episode ever of the series.

The opening title sequence featuring the name of mutant and their abilities were designed by Dave McCarty. This title sequence would serve as the basis for another Marvel animated production series, Iron Man. However, the final season featured a modified title sequence.

At this time of writing, I have watched the first two seasons of the run. Season 2 remains the best of the lot because of its overall cohesiveness. The main plot is about Mr. Sinister and the Savage Land. Most of the episodes are connected to one another featuring a small segment of Professor Xavier and Magneto at the Savage Land, bookmarked and setup for a 2-part showdown called Reunion.

The Fall of The Run

Arguably the success of the 5 seasons was due to the efforts of two men, Larry Houston and the supervising producer Scott Thomas.

Season 5 was supposedly ended at Episode 70 with the conclusion of the two parter Storm Front. However after that, Graz Entertainment, closed shop due to bankruptcy and the writing duties and storyboarding went directly to Saban Entertainment with the production seen by former Batman animated series producer Tom McLaughlin. However, no sooner by March 1997 after the release of Episode 73: Old Soldiers featuring Captain America, Fox Network has decided to cancel the series. But they allowed Saban to release the final three episodes that they had already worked on.

Influence in Film

The first X-Men movie mostly has a storyline that was influenced by the first season of the animated series. If you are to compare the story in the first film and the first season, you will notice that are many similar elements in the film. The only exception is that the episodes focus on Jubilee while the story in the film focuses on Wolverine with Rogue as supporting because Wolverine has brings more character appeal to the fans and Rogue, with her well documented beginnings seen in comics complements of showing a character on the run to a key member of the team.

Pre-Harry Potter Influence?

The character relationships and dynamics of Rogue and Gambit served as the influence of the relationship of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour by JK Rowling. Like Gambit, Bill is a charmer and has the panache while Fleur, like Rogue can be sometimes an aggressive tough-as-nails character. At least either one of them is a French character except from different origins. Remy is a French-New Orleans guy while Fleur is from Southern France. At the end of the Harry Potter series, Bill and Fleur were married, had three children. Likewise, in the X-Men: The End, both were married and lived in Valley Solada except that their fates were in contrast to Bill and Fleur. The Extreme X-Men series by Chris Claremont has prominently examines their relationship there.

Theme Tracks

Anyone can remember the signature opening theme that was used in the first four seasons. During the production stage rehearsals that I was involved in school back in 2000, a schoolmate of mine managed to perform the opening track by just recalling from memory alone. We had one piano in the school hall and he played it during rehearsal breaks.

Another theme that I believe was the second best would be the harmonica Bishop's theme. It gives the feeling and inference that Bishop is one tough ass who would love to tackle baddies a la cowboy style.

The theme track is available at this site for download in MP3 format.

I Want to Watch It, How?

Currently you can watch all the 76 episodes of the series on YouTube. But the number of videos are doubled. This is because YouTube has a restriction that will allow a maximum of 10 minutes per video. These videos can be watched but without the opening and end titles.

References:

1. X-Men Animated Series on Wikipedia
2. Interview with Bob Harras (1992)
3. The Episode Guide of the series

To The Devil His Due

Ed Brubaker has written fantastic comics last year. He had written the death of Captain America. He had won two Eisner awards for his work. He is able to juggle work between Criminal, Uncanny X-Men, Captain America and Daredevil. All of them are solid hits.

Wow, I just can't believe of his work. He once said, that he has notebook for each of the title he is working in and without a notebook, he can't write the story of either one of the titles. And his latest TPB to hit the streets is The Extremists and of course the 2nd year of the Brubaker-Lark Daredevil series.

Brubaker's Year 2 of Daredevil is called Hell To Pay - typically dealing with the consequences that Matt Murdock must accept and risk, at the end of The Devil Inside Out. Hell to Pay is divided into two volumes, of course the first half being titled To The Devil His Due, in other words, the something Matt owes. The thematic progression is likely of once the deal he had to take from Vanessa Fisk before her death, he has to do something as repayment to the deal.

The first part, #94 is basically a reiteration of the year one, from the perspective of Milla. This was a measure in case of readers who missed out year one. It's nothing quite much interesting apart from John Romita's cover art there. The story kicked off in an slow opera pace, as to re-introduce the characters. And there is a debate of whether Gladiator is suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder, or he is behaving like Sharon Carter (being under influence by a mysterious person. In her case, it's Doc Faustus).

They said he did it but Rebecca Blake (the attorney on the wheelchair) said no. But it was evident on that Gladiator did things himself and one point, he snapped and goes haywire, killing people and whatsover. By the time we reached #97, the heat was there already up and it's like the getting the ball rolling into act II of a three-act play.

Now that Kingpin is out of the way, there is a power vacuum in Hell's Kitchen and there are groups fighting out to fill in the power. And here, we are introduced to the potential player of the fight game by the name of Mr. Fear - the person responsible for Gladiator snapping out. Suddenly, even our main characters got snapped and threatened to go wild like Milla trying to kill someone in the subway station.

The second half of year 2, Without Fear is currently in the running and it's due to be concluded by next month. This means, the paperback is likely to be out somewhere in May or June, take your pick. But arguably, this is how pulp noir is showing up nicely in DD. The first Terminator movie is also a classic example of three-act structure storyline. First act deals with setting up characters with complete lives as quick as possible. Then answer all the questions and clarify the characterization in the second act, then finally go overdrive in third act.

By the time I finished it, it's like cliffhanger, waiting for people to speculate what's to happen.

God Loves Man Kills

The recent and supposedly murder of missing victim Nurin Jazlin Jazimin has triggered the outrage from everyone, including the media and various people over how despicable the acts of the murderers who did it. See this Malaysiakini report in the link above.

But somehow, I believe that the conviction above should be placed as the second reason.

You can also take a look at the video courtesy of the 'MaChAi' paper (as some called).

Parent Negligence

I am still convinced that the main cause of the missing was due to parent negligence. This shows that Nurin's parents still lack of parental control over the children. Sometimes, if I were to walk around shopping malls I would notice that parents sometimes are quite careless in handling children. They *should* keep the eye all the time, not turn one eye blind against small kids that are under 10 years.

Where were the family at during the time where Nurin went missing? The mall?

Hence the people should not put the entire blame on to the mental-sick killer but instead of themselves, as the role of parents. Right now the world is not as before - one wrong move and poof - the end of something. Sometimes, being one second late can spell many bad consequences to whoever is involved in a scenario.

In The Killer's Mind

Perhaps the motive behind rape is that the person has suffered rejection of the past such as his offer of love being declined. It is likely that women are too picky over their men and will need some tough persuasion to get the permission of love. What happens, as a men, if you get your proposal of love rejected? Psychologically, you tend to feel demoralized.

That is a possibility of why a rapist would do that. Another reason could be that of in my previous post of The Widowmaker, you get to see what the reason of why Tim Barutto would rape Jenny Cesare day after day non-stop. It's just merely for one reason, to satisfy the hunger that can never be filled up.

To see people suffer is a possibility but a long shot.

And now, what is to be summarized?

This events that just happened after the 50th anniversary of Merdeka celebrations shows that the Abdullah Badawi administration has only accomplished 30% of its objectives as dictated by the manifesto. The remaining things that has failed to be accomplished encompasses of corruption - judicial and law-enforcement, the racial polarization between the majority and the minority. The nation's economy can actually go further and as equal as Singapore but the misuse of the NEP and the mentality of the big group hampers Malaysia's progress in reaching 2020.

It may seem to be against the topic, but a point from that shows that the police are not doing their job properly as mandated by the people. And the administration is failing the people, particularly the those middle and lower class people by the corruption and the ridiculous policies that limits progress.

As for the Nurin case, if the police can no longer provide the security for the people, perhaps the people will be forced to result to vigilantism, taking law into their own hands, perhaps carrying a gun to defend themselves or stop innocents from the bloodshed of criminals.

The world isn't nice anymore and it has gone upside down, black becomes white.

Wanton Punishment Part 5

I told Edmund the other day that I've just bought the new Punisher book called The Widowmaker. I was so excited to find out what happened throughout the story so that I finished the book in one sitting itself. As of writing, I finished the second round of the story.

Widowmaker is basically examines three things that remained unanswered in the Punisher lore:

1. The first and foremost, it examines the other side of the perspective. If you, as Frank execute people because the main reason is that they are the scum of the society, drug runners, criminals above the law, and most important of all, rotten to the core, what about those who are related to the criminals? Wives, siblings, children, etc..? What is their reaction? That is the purpose of examining the other side of the coin, being a widow or a victim of a so-called killer.
2. The second one examines a man's conflict torn of following orders from his superiors or acting at your conscience should the situation a man faces requires immediate action and no more waiting. At what consequence are we likely to face if we are to do something according to your conscience and as well doing something that is right for everyone? How far will you be before you could find yourself behind the 8-ball?
3. The final element examines on a woman who lost her innocence and suffered atrocities at the hands of the five whores and a abusive husband and we get to see how the damage done affected her so badly that she eventually became a very sad creature with no hope or whatsoever.

First Wives Club?

If you have seen a movie called First Wives Club starring Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn, you might find this a little similar. No need for me to repeat the premise, but it's just simple - five women who lost their husbands to the Punisher is out for revenge trying to kill him by setting up a simple plan. Nuff said...Bah!

The ringleader of the group is one Annabella Gorrini, the eldest granddaughter of Massimo Cesare (surprise! Remember In the Beginning?). Forming up the rest of the ring would be Barbara Barrucci, Lorraine Zutta, Bonnie De Angelo and the 'Gangsta Princess' Shauna Toomey. By right Shauna is the most volatile of the lot but very meticulous of the execution plan thanks to her husband's antics:

John James was a careful man. Once he got the news he'd take steps of his own to clean things up.

Note: When you read the story, you might it a little confusing of which of the blondes are Lorraine or Barbara. After the second round, you would notice that Lorraine is the blonde with no curls and Barbara is the otherwise, long with curls.

To them, the reason is simple: Frank kills people and ignores their suffering. But sometimes, being a vigilante is sometimes painful. He had a pity for the kids of the parents whom he executed for being involved in making porn movies under the basement. But somehow, he had a mission in life and he will not stop until he cannot move anymore or if his time is up on Earth.

I thought about their looks on their faces. The little girl couldn't been more than four. She might stand a chance, depending on how much of it stayed with her. The boys looked like the damage was done. I had a sinking feeling that I'd be seeing them again in twenty years.

But the one thing that these wives have totally forgotten in Frank's argument is that the men, being husbands who are criminals, puts the wife and children under the crossfire. That is indeed the truth. Now, if the men are gone, what will happen to the children? Are they going to follow suit and become gangsters and criminals themselves? Just to avenge themselves or is it because of the influence of the father?

Annabella had the kind of fanaticism that being a family of the mob means that the kids are being part of the crime or that the women of the family has to marry the capos as to maintain the relationship and security of the family in blood. And it is said that women had no right in speaking of family matters. This is what we see in family purity in the Harry Potter series, and this fanaticism ultimately destroys the family. While they think to be great and in the process, you tend to feel the vanity of it.

Good cop? Bad Cop?

Widowmaker introduces two new supporting characters with one of them being Detective Paul Budiansky (yes, he is appearing in The Punisher 2 with Colin Salmon playing the role). Paul is a family man that is loyal to the wife, Gina. He gained acclaimed for single handedly stopping a school-hostage crisis. He stopped that by killing the gun-totting kid ignoring the superior's orders, because he is worried that with the stand back order in place, more innocent victims could die by that madness.

But the decision came at a price as his captain Starling refused him to attend press interviews and blocked his promotion, instead sending him for a mental trauma therapy with a psychologist. As you go along, you will notice that some of these characters, mostly Barbara and the psychiatrist are playing racist cards. Budiansky is one of those who can connect the dots easily and has figured out that the five women were involved in a club to beat Frank in a pulp.

The question here is about the conflict of listening to your conscience to do something good or listening to superior orders. What good is an officer if he is ordered to behave like a terrorist or not to do anything except to watch evil roll around? The man loved the neighborhood so much that he does not want to see New York become like Hell's playground. But the thing is no one telling him how far has he gone from observing protocols to an avenging angel.

You can notice how deeper has Paul descended from someone who can't stand it to finally decided to become an avenging angel. For instance, when Shauna's hitman Curtis hits Gina at the hospital, he kills that man, emptying all but one bullet from his magazine. The rage could not be contained until when he meets Frank coming out of the hideout in the finale and had second thoughts of killing him just because he is a murderer.

Frank's line, "You want to be me?" at Paul is a simple but very powerful statement and that statement itself manages to stop him from going to the point of no return. He knows that he is a cop and he risks losing whatever he had earned had he gone too deep as Frank does. Frank has no one left but his mantra and mission to punish the guilty before time is up.

Innocence Lost

The plan hatched by the five women went well at the beginning but the plan suddenly gone wrong with the return of Jenny Cesare - Annabella's youngest sibling who was stalking them from far and was responsible for turning the tables around them. That would explain how the plan of taking Frank down at the Bronx gone wrong later on.

An M4A1 with an M203 grenade launcher was discovered at the site.. as far as I remember, no one in the crime organization carries that. So, five of you were trying to club together and beat the Punisher?

Jenny is a sad creature who has nothing left, stripped of her innocence and virginity. Her marriage to the abusive husband Tim was a setup by Annabella, still having that kind of fanaticism and almost everyday she got abused and raped by Tim. She had to play and suffer everyday until the day Frank executed Tim. The thing resulted in her suffering from breast cancer and having to do mastectomy. Having enough of those things, she tried to turn to WITSEC and the FBI with all information, but the five women Shauna beat her up, messed her face and thrown her off the rail tracks presumably dead.

Some may agree that Jenny is just another Kathryn O'Brien, quite similar. But then after the bloodbath of the widows, she has absolutely nothing left. She has become like another Tim. She can no longer enjoy the pleasure of making sex and love with someone as if there is a gap that simply cannot be filled up by any means. The progression that she has is exactly as Frank, except the end.

I am simply your twin.

And there is still the breast cancer that still couldn't be removed after the mastectomy. Of course Frank's first instinct is to stop her from doing something stupid, but women are different from men and you tend to suffer more from breast cancer, just as my granny did days before she died. Any other options if you are to encounter that scenario? As I've said earlier, Frank still has his mission, but Jenny has nothing left, but a shattered soul. But it gave her some hope and determination from what Frank did previously.

I just had a guessing that Jenny is just a flipside of Erica Bain from the movie The Brave One :)

Now I know why you wear that shirt.

Sadly, all Frank could do in the third act is to sit and watch.

Lan Medina's art is much better than Leandro's or Goran Parlov's and edges Doug Braithwaite's. Realistic faces, well colored and inked by Bill Reinhold and Raul Trevino (the duo who inked Mother Russia). So you can say that it is photo like quality that you see in the pictures. I don't really have much of opinion on art but the story is well thought out in the first two acts. But somehow, the third act is a bit weak as Frank is just confined to the bed.

Just get that book. 'Nuff said.

Interesting Anecdotes:

• Much of the references that the women pointed out are based on The Slavers - the Greek woman thrown off the 50th floor of a building, a man burnt to death and the other one refers to the Tiberius and Vera.
• The psychiatrist that Paul visits is modeled after Miranda Richardson.
• Tim Bradstreet's cover art for #44 has Frank's date which is 16 February 1950 but it was decided to block as the date provides some inconsistency to the canon.
• The five women are modeled after Tim Bradstreet's wife and her friends.
• Jenny's beating of Annabella by a baseball bat is quite similar to Al Capone beating up traitors!

Comics Galore For September

Saw the Marvel solicitations today. Contains very impressive TPBs coming that I will need to get those:

1. Captain America Omnibus HC:
This is one hell of a big book. It collects Winter Soldier, Red Menace, Civil War tie-in and ends with The Death of a Dream. It also includes the 65th anniversary special and the Winter Kills one-shot. Altogether 25-arc type issues and one-shots. But the catch is that the price is at about $75 USD! Sometimes it's worthwhile to buy the big collection here. But the story is well written by Ed Brubaker -who also writes Daredevil as well!

2. Daredevil: Hell To Pay Part 1

I don't know why the story inside is being labeled as part of the big story title. Hell To Pay Part 1 is about To Devil With His Due. This time, Melvin Potter - Gladiator is back in Hell's Kitchen, and he holds Matt's wife Milla hostage. To what end? I owe you something? This arc marks the start of Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's second year in DD. They never fail and the successfully captured the spirit left off by Bendis and Mack.




3. The Punisher MAX: The Widowmaker

This is the # 1 one book on my want list for September. 5 women seeking revenge for the death of their husbands has one goal in common - to whack Frank -. What they didn't expect is that Jenny Cesare is joining the game and she has the score to settle with big sister Annabelle, Lorraine Barrucci, and the gangster princess Shauna Toomey. Why? Simple: Shauna cut her *breasts* out!
September 19: That's what they say this will be out.



4. Punisher Presents Barracuda

Our lovely black baddie that has a very good sense of humor is now starring in a mini-series following the events of Barracuda. Not even a buckshot from Frank can stop him and surprisingly, he was able to escape from the clutches of a shark. This time, our lovable "Wizard 2006 Best New Character" is playing bodyguard to a hemophiliac Oswald - guarding him against rivals attempting to cash the kid's father out. More humor....yeah! And this is the prelude to Round 2 of Frank vs Barracuda - The Long Cold Dark (50-54)

We'll be sailing....we'll be *muthafucking* sailing home again!!!!

World War Hulk Snips

Remember that day on Civil War review that I've mentioned that those people behind the Civil War that tore the Marvel Universe apart?

Well, those people responsible are going to pay for it.

Since May, Marvel has kicked-off the event of the year. If last year's main event is Civil War, then this year's event is:

WORLD WAR HULK

The Illuminati sent Bruce Banner away to a remote planet called Sakaar and there, he survived for six years, becoming a gladiator in arena combat, ascending his way to the throne of Sakaar. He was called the prophesied Green King.

He returns to earth seeking the revenge of the members like Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Strange who jettisoned him -while on board of a SHIELD repair pod.

The one thing that people never expect is the Hulk's intellect. For the first time, he was able to think and behave like a real man. This was one thing that Iron Man will never anticipate. When he gave the warning:

"Now..this city will fall. You have 24 hours to evacuate. When I return, I want to see Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man and Dr. Strange. And if they're not there..I'll do this to your whole STINKING PLANET."

The first victim was Black Bolt.



Planet Hulk is a must-read before going to here.

An article of review of issue one is here:

#100 Post And Civil War

MY #100 POST!!!!!

This post is my #100 post or shall I say that this is the 100th day I've posting since I started blogging a few months ago.

I met Edmund for breakfast earlier in the morning. I just got a call from him reminding me of the appointment. I was too sleepy after coming back from an outing late night to get stuff for Captain America #25 - a significant event that will rock the core of Marvel universe later - which I will elaborate later on.

So, Edmund helped me to do a financial review plan - something that will help me later on. I really need to make extra money already. The money that I had - active money - will not help much particularly in the medium term. So I started to think of online marketing, options trading and etc.. but the model starting cost is too much for me to start with - that's why I am unable to do so.

Civil War


Just read the entire story to understand the whole premise behind this. Civil War is Mark Millar's dig at the current George Bush administration. The events in the book, the Stamford disaster and the enforcement of the Superhero Registration Act is much a less a parallel of the 9/11 disaster and the pursuit of the enforcement of the 2002 Patriot Act by Bush. Many debated the pros and cons of the disaster and the enforcement.

Tony Stark has seen many incidents of the past - evils of the past - he sees the future and the consequences if actions were not taken. In his early life, Stark Enterprises was a point of munitions manufacturing and events like the 1999 Columbine incident -that endangers civilians prompted him to introduce the act to alleviate the fears and doubts of normal citizens living together with superheroes.

On the other hand, Steve Rogers, was part of the American Dream age. He witnessed World War 2, the events and actions that the U.S government would do - hegemony, secret empires and etc. Many people were angered by the fact that the bad side of Patriot Act is that agencies such as the FBI, CIA and the Justice Department misused the right of the Act to eavesdrop on normal average US citizens just to catch and prosecute people for alleged involvement in terrorism.

How ironic it is in the world where there is hegemony and evil around.

The debate of Civil War still rages on but a one shot called The Confession shows the debates and arguments as well as examines the perspectives from Cap and Iron Man.

Civil War was not the only story that comic fans should read. First of all, get the checklist to see what is the essential ones to cover. The next one, Frontline is more of the latest coverage of the events of Civil War through the eyes of Ben Urich and Sally Lloyd. It is more of a detective, news front story. It is not superheroes vs superheroes but the media perspective story.

Frontline is indeed much better than the main arc but it also fills up the missing gaps not included in Millar's arc. I won't go much into revealing the story except to advise you to pick up and enjoy reading it yourself.

The final part of Civil War is written by Captain America writer Ed Brubaker. This was in Captain America #25. I'm sure that the comic world was rocked to the core with the assassination of Captain America himself. About to be taken to the court of law but shot by Crossbones and a hypnotized Sharon Carter (Agent 13) - all part of the Red Skull's plan to humiliate Cap in front of the world - with his death - Death of a Dream is a nod to the JFK assassination. The aftermath of the event is disastrous - Sharon quit SHIELD, Bucky and Frank Castle took over Cap's role...Tony faces backlash, Spider-man quit the pro-Registration team...well the event marks the start of the punishment for ignorance and the evils of the world - with the return of Hulk in World War Hulk!

Chuck Austen Sucks. He's An Asshole.

I think this is the umpteenth time I am talking about Chuck Austen - so called comic book writer. Edmund and I at times will talk about this thing how his works badly affected the stories of characters in the Marvel and DC Universe.

His works on the Uncanny X-Men series was the worst of the lot. It never drives the story on and instead sticks to one static point. All the time, it was all about sex, and it shows the immature mind of Austen. Sometimes, things he would write is against logic or against the laws of nature. For instance, what is the occasion that Professor X would catch Wolverine coincidentally? Zero.

"Oh Chuck I love your bald head!"

His legacy in Marvel is that he introduces a parasite character, Nurse Annie. What is her purpose there? Help people or just go and fuck with our characters? Like I said his writings had damaged the franchise and poor Peter Milligan had to clear up the mess that was done by Austen.

Majority of comic-book lovers including your blogger hated Austen so much. It's just simply hate it but there are number of reasons that proofs that he's an asshole that's ought to be shot!

1. He thinks he's a damn good writer.
2. He limits his freedom of speech to nice bits.
3. He hits back at those readers who criticize him (giving points) - calling a reader "troll"
4. He has an assumption that if a fan doesn't like it, it's not his fault but the fans.
5. We are disappointed that the answer is there but yet there are some who think that Chuck Austen is a good writer and still supports him - the proof is just in front of our eyes.

If you want proof, you can take a look a one of the strip letters here. This is where he calls those fans "trolls" or assholes. Since the criticism, he made only one interview, he marred the X2 documentary, and he still keeps going with the same thing: chuckaustenonline.com

I really wanted to shoot / grill that asshole. He's unfit to write comics with his sick mentality.


http://members.shaw.ca/chuckaustensucks - The Suck Page

The Cell Block D

I bought Noam Chomsky's Failed States (the sequel to Hegemony or Survival) and together with the two Ed Brubaker's Daredevil stuff. Brubaker managed to provide justice and spirit to the storyline which ended as a cliffhanger by previous writer Brian Bendis.

Premise: At the end of Murdock Papers, Matt Murdock was sent to Ryker's Island penitentiary without bail awaiting trial following accusations by the FBI and media that he is the costumed vigilante called Daredevil. This first part forms the first half of "The Devil Inside and Out" with the first half being the "Inside".

A word of warning: This 12 issues of the entire series literally ties up whatever started by Bendis and Alex Maleev in Out (32-40) and continues on to now, with exception of David Mack's Echo Quest (vol 8). Therefore, it is best to cover the entire run beginning with Out to Murdock Papers before continuing. On the other hand, I would recommend you to buy just the hardcover version (Vol 4) comprising of King of Hell's Kitchen and The Widow since the bonus issue #65 (the 40th anniversary special) is only available in HC.

Here we discover why Matt Murdock was sent to the penitentiary without bail. It was deliberately a part of the upper political administration machinations of making him crossing each other off with either the previous villains he captured as well as the Kingpin.

Taking a queue of key sequences from the Bond movie You Only Live Twice, Ray and the Prison Break TV series, Brubaker manages to put Matt Murdock over the edge and on the verge of a mental breakdown only to have someone with other ideas coming in for the bail and having someone covering his ass in the form of the prison warden. The prison warden is crossing swords with FBI director Leland Drummond (a nod to Leo Drummond from Grisham's The Rainmaker). At the same time, the people on the upside including the help of his Bugle reporter Ben Urich scrambling to find who impersonating him while Matt is incarcerated.

Plenty of double-crossing, twists and etc..Brubaker mentioned that Daredevil was always a noir story and he succeeded in creating a story that puts Matt in a different stage of life. In other words, he does justice to the story that was started by Bendis. But with one exception, Bendis' storyline is much more wordy so Brubaker managed to keep it simple and cohesive. There was always someone out to get him out in the form of his opposite...you guess.

Failed States


Billed as the sequel to Hegemony or Survival, the book literally examines the things that the Bush Administration as part of its doctrine commits once President Bush was re-elected to office in November 2004. Chomsky is a fan of Bertrand Russell and literally points out what it appears to be a repeat of a possible accidental nuclear war in the future with the given current world scenario.

The thing is that I only covered a bit of the opening and as more parallel goes, I might be going back to this book posting here.

Uncle Zam's Blogger Classification Program

Yesterday on Bernama, Uncle Zam, (Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin) proposed the classification of professional and non-professional bloggers. Personally, the idea of having this kind of classification is hollow. It is just nothing more than having a registration exercise as his deputy Shaziman Mansor proposed laste month. In a recent survey of freedom of expression, Malaysia is ranked 141 of all the countries in the world in terms of freedom of expression. When sorted between Asian nations, the country ranked 28th of 140.

Suppose if Uncle Zam decides to start a blog like fellow man Datuk Shahrir Ahmad - and since he is the one who started out the blogging issue in the country - where will he belong? I think it's in the non-professional side. Where would I be? I blog almost everyday. But we have come across problems created from classification. For instance, there was complaint by some people that the examination entry slips whereby religion is classified by only "Muslim" and "Non-Muslim". They think that it is a surplus where you have the "race" field included in the slip!

Source article is here.

Mentality?

My fear here is regarding the mentality of certain people who are unwilling to be open to other ideas introduced in the other side of the world. Singapore MM, Mr Lee Kuan Yew based some of his methods and ideas of administering Singapore during his PM tenure (1965-1990) during his time in England - which brought great results. A perfect scenario referring to my statement above is that referring to the current mentality of the Censorship Board - LPFN - which absolutely bans any local films made that might contain incorrect political content fearing unrest. A local made film that examines what we are and gets banned - you can forget about having that thing competing in film festivals or even competing this for Best Documentary feature for Oscars! When we watch movies on the cable network ASTRO, scenes literally that has guy saying "$#!%" are automatically muted on the spot or perhaps a sudden cut.

We could be left behind and perhaps we might not achieve the 202o target should the mentality doesn't change. Yesterday, I went to KLCC, the notice whereby photography is allowed in the center foyer and not elsewhere? Why? What is the reason behind it? Is it because the management just do not like it? Is it because there are some displays sensitive to flash-lights? Is Suria starting to become like Louvre museum? If there is none, this reflects the wrong mentality of those pencil-pushers there. Just tear that damn notice down there!