Deadpool's Dark And Angsty Review Of The Dark Knight Rises!!!

Hey there people reading this. I got a question for all ya’lls. In the face of adversity, when all hope seems completely lost and the cards of fate have been placed against you, would you rise to the challenge? Silly question; of course you wouldn’t. Look at you. Who the f@#$ are you!? No, I don’t want your Facebook page you idiot... Dark Knight Rises is a movie all about a guy who CAN rise to that challenge… after bitching and moaning for 8 years in solitude first. But the point is Bruce is back baby! Christian Bale returns to save Gotham City, kick lots of ass, and talk in that comically deep voice like he does. Seriously, with all that money and three films out there, you’d think he could have designed some kind of voice-changer or SOMETHING!

So it’s finally here. After the 5 year wait, we finally get the third (and likely last) film in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy of Batman movies. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films may have gotten people to take superhero movies a little more seriously (before dancing emo Parker emerged in the third film which shall remain nameless), but Nolan’s Batman trilogy really brought it all to form, especially with its second entry, The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger dominated that screen like David did Goliath. It was a tough act to follow; too tough. Hell, I’m not a dummy, I can’t even follow that! So how does this third film stack up in the trilogy sandwich? Does it compliment it nicely, or does it need more mayo? Let’s read on (and I’ll grab the mayo just in case…).

The first thing people are going to ask is if the movie is as good, or better than the last. And that’s just selfish. You’re going to read this damn review, get all the points down, and THEN make a conclusion, and you’re gonna’ LIKE IT! You spoiled kids with your “smart” phones. In my day, we were the smart ones!

The visual flair is just as high quality as you’d expect from the previous films, making all three flow together nicely. There’s also something to be said for these films continuing to churn out actors that play their parts really well. The only one that felt out of place to me was Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman). Don’t get me wrong, she did the part well, and it was a nice departure from princess role #462354, but I couldn’t help but feel like the movie was Dark Knight Rises: Featuring Anne Hathaway every time I saw her on screen. It was just… odd and out of place. I think if you see it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’m glad she’s getting out of the usual roles everybody knows her for though. Being varied is fun like that. I think some day after my film comes out, I’ll then be featured in a romance, starring myself and uhhh… Kate Beckinsale. We’ll meet each other in a coffee shop and talk about how we both love writing books while wasting all our time in coffee shops, all while other people work for living. The twist will be that she’s actually a Viking. It’ll be epic!!!

The film is very good and picks up quite a bit in the last hour or so. The issue is that some may find the build up to be quite long and stretched out. I may be inclined to agree. This film had just as many flashbacks as the Speed Racer movie, and that’s beyond ridiculous! You don’t have to re-show bits of a scene FIVE times to get your point across! Two would be more than enough, YA HEARD!? All parts were also a little more drawn out than I would have liked them to be. It’s not that any moments were bad per se, but I felt like almost a quarter of the 2 hours and 45 minutes of this movie could have been taken out or cut better. Chop chop chop chop! The main events themselves really do bring all three films together and provide a satisfying conclusion. Bane, while not as terrifying as the Joker, was still quite fearsome on his own. He also contributes to a whole lot of ass-kicking in the film. His voice can get a little silly sometimes though. I was certain Sean Connery was behind that mask at least three times during the film, and was disappointed finding out it wasn’t all three of those times! I’ve never seen him portrayed as such an intelligent brute before, probably being what makes him seem so powerful; because knowledge is power. GEEEEEE EYE JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOE!!!... I’m sorry; I’m required to follow that sentence with the one before it. The balance of the Earth would be disrupted if I didn’t. True story.

It’s hard to say if the conclusion to everything was truly satisfying or not, looking back at my last two paragraphs where I said the complete opposite. The climactic moments of the movie didn’t quite get to the places I was hoping or expecting. They were still good however. Something people need to realize is that not many third films in a series end up living up to the first two, and that it’s actually a miracle these movies turned out so well. It was all still well-made and overall well-executed. I’d argue this is easily the best trilogy of superhero movies ever made, but if I did, Marvel would probably maybe kinda let me go. And I can’t let that happen. I need my meal ticket baby! (… Can you believe Marvel actually pays me to f@#$ s@#$ up!? Gotta love this country.)

So basically, yes, you’re going to see it. Yes, you’re going to tell your friends you saw it. And hey, if you’re not a gullible little chump, then maybe you will notice all those flaws I mentioned too without simply clapping during the credits and shouting “OMG BEST BATMAN EVAR!!!1!1! I’MA TELL EVEYBODY EVEN THO THEY ALREDY NO!!1!” It’s still a great film and a great end to a great trilogy of movies that we won’t soon forget. It’s no Dark Knight, but what the flying f@#$ is, ya communist?

8 Wonderful Toys Out Of 10

Deadpool's Amazing Review Of... The Amazing Spider-Man 2012!!! (Movie Review)

Hello again fellow readers! Glad to see you haven’t given up on ol’ Deadpool as of late! Well, I want you all to know I haven’t given up on you yet either! I mean, you actually continue to read all the BS I post here, so I can’t be all bad… Unless you just think I’m awful and want to see how much worse I can possibly get… Omigosh! That’s not it, is it!? I will totally write a super-long angst-y post in my Livejournal if it’s true! Yeah… That’ll show all you masochists… Oh wait, that’s right. I’m the masochist! YEEEEE!

So an extraordinary thing happened here folks. After Sam Raimi decided to call it quits on making more Spider-Man films, Sony got antsy, and immediately announced they’d be rebooting the Spider-Man franchise. This means (you guessed it, you sly devil you) that we have a new film which actually retells the origin story of ol’ Webhead once again! Allllll so that Sony could keep the movie rights. Oops! Did I say that out loud? I know what you’re already thinking. “Uncle Deadpool, again? Seriously!?” That’s right my friends; the history of Spider-Man has now officially been retold more times than the Bible. I’d complain, but I love the fact that comic book-related things are getting more exposure… aaaaand Marvel’s kind of my homeboy. Just sayin’.

Of course, in order to market this reboot, they couldn’t simply give us the same story with new actors/actresses and a new creative team, could they? Errrrrrrrrrrrrrr, yes and no. All of the basic elements you remember from the previous Spider-Man film are mostly present, with a few small changes. The most notable being that we finally get Gwen Stacy as the original love interest instead of Mary Jane, as it SHOULD be! We also finally get to see the Lizard as a main villain, and some hints about Peter Parker’s parents for the first time. Probably the biggest changes of this new version are the grittier feel of the new world presented here, and Peter’s “rebellious teen” attitude in the movie in general. Some serious sheet goes on here this time and I’d say the series is better for it. It’s pretty much what New York City would be like if I were in charge, but with a little less prostitution… Just a little… Oh, and web-shooters are back! No more gross organic “web from the wrist” tripe. Yucky.

The acting performances are all quite good in general. Andrew Garfield, the one I was worried about the most, actually does a decent job of playing Peter, while Emma Stone (who is pretty much awesome in everything she plays)… continues to be awesome like that part in the brackets I just described there. They actually have a chemistry that works very well. Don’t get me wrong; the dialogue between them makes Gigli look like a presentable movie… loljustkidding, but they have this knack for making you smile like an idiot every time they talk to each other about little things. Everyone in general pulls off the parts rather well, and most importantly, they pull them off rather accurately. To realize how good Garfield is for this part, you have to remember how bad Toby Maguire was for the part. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all awkward as sin, which is correct for this, but Maguire’s more like an awkward human being in general, so it’s a little different. It’s not even that Garfield was more accurate to the comic book persona; he’s just a more interesting person in general. Shame that the new costume is so dang fugly! I hope I don’t get some crazy redesign like that when my movie comes out in 20XX. I’m deformed enough as it is you know. :/

There are a lot of reviewers out there that are going to bash this movie for existing. If you don’t know what that means, let me break it down for you a little. This reboot came pretty quickly overall. Is it necessary that it did? Absolutely not. Does that mean it’s fair to give it bad review scores because it came out when it did? I don’t think so. I think a film should be judged on its own merit, because I’m Deadpool, and I stand against those things that everybody else is for! (Vote for me.)

Good film or not, however, there are some serious bones I have to pick with the people who edited this movie. For one thing, this really isn’t a complete film. A bunch of scenes were deleted from the final product, making the whole movie seem quite disjointed when you actually stop to think about all the events that occurred. I won’t go into any specific details, but a lot of things were left unexplained and forgotten about. Whether or not all of these threads will come together in subsequent sequels is yet to be seen, but either way, this was an UUUUUUUUGLY finished product here folks! The rumor is that they took out a major plot revelation involving Peter’s parents that they are either saving for the sequel, or scrapped altogether. Some people may even argue (after finding out what said revelation is) that it was better off taken out. My thoughts? Nova forbid they actually tried something DIFFERENT for a change!!! No no, it’s totally cool that they wanted to present the same bloody thing once again. I have no problem with that. I’m not bitter. I’m not going to go to my Livejournal and bitch about it in long paragraphs, saying how my life is now ruined as a result of this crap… Shut up, you probably already did it too you hypocrites! I'm going to go eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's. At least those are men that understand me... :'(

So to wrap this all up in a tangled web, the movie is good; quite good in fact. This doesn’t make the glaring flaws any less obvious, but the important thing is that we do have a generally great cast set up for this reboot and the film was a fun little romp around anyway. I can’t give this a great score with all the plot hiccups however. The film is virtually incomplete the way it is, so I’m going to have to grade it as such. Don’t you point that finger at me you jerk! You think I want to give it a lower score!? You’re buggin’ man! You're freakin' buggin'!

7.5 Origin Story Reboots Out of 10

I do very much have hope for the future of this series of movies however…, more than the likelihood of my own film getting released at this point in fact. Come on Marvel; what’s he go that I don’t? I’m smart, cunning, DEAD sechsey, and I’m even self-aware of all the ways you used to ignore me before I became more popular. That’s got to be worth something, right!? I’m the Amazing Deadpool damn it! And with great power comes great loads of ass-kicking!

Music Review: Rush - Clockwork Angels (2012)

How many rock bands can one name off the top of their head that have released over 20 studio albums in their career? Other than some of the obvious answers like Elvis Presley, Yes, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, etc., you likely won't have much to go by. Well, it seems another band might just pass that mark, at the rate they are going with their 19th studio release. Rush, the Canadian rock legends, have returned once again, to show us why they're still a major force to be reckoned with.

Upon first glance, one will immediately notice the album cover; an interesting picture of a clock, with alchemical symbols instead of regular numbers. Even more interesting is the time that the clock is displaying. On the first look, you may think it's simply pointing at a random time (9:12 in this case), but a second peek will quickly reveal that it is actually saying 21:12 in military time. This is of course a reference to their breakthrough album, 2112; a fan-favorite and for good reason. That release combined wonderful musicianship with some creative narrative to drive the whole thing together. At first I didn't think there was going to be much meaning behind it all, but opening the booklet put that thought to rest. Similar to the original LP jacket for the 2112 album, Clockwork Angels also contains written narrations for each song on the release. Drummer Neil Peart has gone back to work as a lyricist in ways we haven't seen in decades.

Though the band originally denied this being a "concept album," that's obviously just what we received here. The premise involves a young man's travels across a land of steampunk and alchemy, filled with pirates, a carnival, an encounter with an anarchist/terrorist, and a Watchmaker forcing beliefs and precision down the throats of others, all while searching for lost cities. This is the type of sci-fi/fantasy epic many fans have wanted to hear again since the 70's. Personally, I had given up on that notion. I never thought we'd get a project like this from Rush again, after so many years of changing direction.

The musical diversity of this album is also going to come as quite a surprise to many. The best concept albums out there can make songs that flow well together, but more importantly, can stand on their own just fine too. This is one of those feats. The first two tracks, "Caravan" and "BU2B," were previously released before, but have new mixes that leave them sounding fresh. The intro to "BU2B" is perfect, and adds a whole new layer of emotion to the song going in. Those hoping for a new "epic" track will be thrilled to hear the actual title track, "Clockwork Angels," as this one truly shows the bands creativity at top form. There are many twists in the song, as well as changes in tempo and time signature to keep you on your toes. This one actually gets more exciting with each listen instead of less. The following tracks are all of amazing variety, between the classic-Rush tone of "The Anarchist," to the beautiful finish in "The Garden," which caught me completely off guard and ended the album on a very heartfelt note. Geddy's voice has mellowed over time, but in a way that leaves him sounding more pleasant as he utters each lyric. Alex is still as good a guitarist as he ever was, and picks up the pace with Neil's complex drumming and Geddy's heavy bass playing just fine.

I never thought I'd be saying this about any band so far into their career, but after over 30 years, Rush have once again moved forward in ways I never thought I'd see. All three members are still at the top of their game and don't appear to be stopping anytime soon. Imagination has returned to rock music. I just hope the generations of today will look at projects like this, and feel encouraged themselves to start "thinking big."

10 alchemical conjurations out of 10

Video Game Review: Gravity Rush (Playstation Vita)

Since the release of the Playstation Vita, gamers have been looking for a title that’s going to make this handheld worth the price tag. Some thought Uncharted: Golden Abyss would be that title. Some thought it might be Resistance: Burning Skies. And some out there believed it would be a niche little title, known as Gravity Rush (Gravity Daze in Japan). Unlike the aforementioned, Gravity Rush is a completely new IP, with an interesting gameplay mechanic and universe to boot. Does this one reach new heights, or does it fall flat on its face? Depending on what you know about this game already, the answer may surprise you.

Before I delve right into the game-play, I’d like to first talk about the story of the game, as I feel it’s going to easily be the most looked-over feature of the entire experience, and I really wanted to touch on it. You play as a girl named Kat, who finds herself in a very unique looking city, with a creature resembling a cat, which she names Dusty. Kat has no recollection of her past up to the present moment, and finds she has the ability to manipulate gravity itself, with the help of Dusty. With this ability, she decides to use it for good and help people in the city (named Hekseville), as it faces attacks from a series of creatures known as the Nevi. This is just the bare-bones of the game’s plot details however. As Gravity Rush carries on, Kat goes through quite a bit of a quest, both spiritually and mentally, giving the viewers something surprisingly deep and compelling, all while keeping a relate-able main character for us to journey with. The ending leaves many details open and a lot more questions to still be answered, but this is the kind of plot that’s guaranteed to draw you in and not let you go until the very end.


The visuals are something else for this title to boast about, as we witness a beautiful cel-shaded comic book art style and comic panel cutscenes to boot. All of this, combined with the flashy look of the game makes for quite a pleasing experience on the eyes, especially when flying across different parts of the city and over tall buildings. The PS Vita’s motion technology actually allows you to shift the view of the comic book panels a bit as you are reading each. It’s nothing really impactful, but a nice little touch that will leave you going “Oh, neat.” Environments are an interesting mix between city landscapes, dreamlike wonderlands with floating mushrooms and lily-pads, and even a fiery inferno. Every time you think you’ve got the setting of this game figured out, it throws you another curveball, just to keep you on your toes.


One more aspect of Gravity Rush, which I have to give some serious credit to, is the game’s soundtrack. It’s very easy for video game music to miss the mark, especially when certain moods and emotions are trying to be conveyed on-screen. This game hits the nail on the head with music that can range from gloomy, to bright and jazzy at all the right times. The battle music will actually make you want to jump in and get past each challenge you’re presented with. This is another feature that’s likely going to be overlooked and that’s quite a shame.

And now we have arrived at the big guns of this review. The gameplay is one of the most interesting and unique interfaces I’ve come across in a very long time. Kat can run around town like in any standard action game, until you press the right shoulder button. This puts Kat in her anti-gravity state, making her begin to float in the air. Pressing the right shoulder button again will make her begin to dash into the air, facing whichever direction you are aiming in. You can also fly into walls to make Kat start to walk up them, or hit the square button to make her perform a high-kick on whatever floating enemy may be in front of you. Hitting the right shoulder button again while dashing will cause Kat to stop and float once again, enabling you to change direction if you so choose. Hitting the left shoulder button will deactivate the ability and make Kat begin to fall once again. Direction can also be changed with the gyro sensor built into the system, giving the player more of a motion-control option if they prefer. The controls may sound very strange, and they even feel that way at first. However, once you’ve gotten the hang of things after a little practice, everything becomes second nature, and you’ll soon find yourself flying all over town because it’s just so fun to do, let alone explore. There are limitations to this bliss however, as you cannot stay in the air forever. Flying for a certain amount of time will cause your gravity gauge to deplete, making you have to either find somewhere to land, or simply allow the meter run out, as you witness Kat fall from whatever height she had reached until the gauge recharges again. Luckily, the gauge recharges rather quickly, so most setbacks are minor in this case. Did I mention Kat takes no damage when she falls to the ground, no matter how high up she is?

Kat also has melee combos she can perform on the ground when fighting with the Nevi, and her abilities can be upgraded as the game goes on, based on the number of gems you collect while fighting and flying through the city. There are also multiple mini-games and challenges to be found, which prove to be just as engaging, forcing you to use all of your special abilities in ways you may have not thought of initially.


The touchscreen can play a large part in this game as well. After hitting the select button to view your map, you can use the touchscreen to move the map around or even view different parts of it. You can click an icon on the map to mark it for you to find quicker and easier as well. The touchscreen is also a big part of the combat in the game. Swiping the screen while Kat is fighting on the ground enables her to evade enemy attacks. It also allows her (when the time is right) to execute a special finishing move against a boss character. These are very nice to watch, as they are all quite flashy and stylish. One more ridiculously fun use of the screen is Kat’s ability to slide. By holding your thumbs on the two bottom corners of the screen and using the gyro sensor to direct, Kat can slide across virtually any terrain in the game, making for some fun racing mini-games and means of dodging/attacking. I’m not generally a fan of motion controls, but I have to give it to this formula, as it works perfectly here.

The main issues of the game are to be had with the combat, as the mid-air high kicks and dashes aren’t always as accurate as you would like. There are times where you could be targeting an enemy with a mid-air kick, only for the enemy to move about an inch to the side and cause you to miss completely. This forces you to be very precise, which can be quite difficult in certain situations, especially when you’re still getting used to the control scheme in general. This is slightly remedied by the ability to hit the triangle button when another meter charges up, allowing Kat to do a special attach that aims for all the enemy’s weak points and charges at them all for as long as the gauge is active. There is another small nitpick I have, involving an ability Kat gains later in the game. This allows her to telepathically pick up items with the circle button, and throw them at whatever target she aims at by hitting the circle button again. While this is an awesome move when done right, as can help considerably when you wish you had more ranged attacks, it can be quite bothersome to aim. Sometimes you will be certain you targeted an enemy perfectly, only to see the projectile completely miss and fly right around them. It’s a small gripe, but it did become bothersome at least a few times in my playthrough.


With all sorts of side-quests and hidden items and bosses, there is actually quite a bit to do in Hekseville. Replay value also lies in trying to get gold medals on all of the challenges, as well upgrade all of Kat’s abilities and attributes. The main game will take at least 10 hours, even if you’re planning to skip most of the sidequests, though I wouldn’t recommend that, as you’d be missing out on a huge part of what makes this game such a pleasure to come back to. The game also has enough of a balanced system, where you won’t feel like you missed out you chose to level up Kat one way instead of another. Every method is fun in its own way, and experimentation is welcome instead of shunned.

Slight combat blunders aside, this is a brilliant and unique title that everyone with a Vita should play. I don’t think I’d go as far as to call this game a “system seller” per se, but that doesn’t make this title any less brilliant. Fans of the game ‘Nights Into Dreams’ may even find some little nods here and there in the way Kat flies around the city, only adding to the already dreamlike experience. I'd love to see a sequel with more story and some slightly improved combat to add to the experience next time. As it is however, this is one of the most innovative titles to come out in a long time, and it’d be a crying shame for it to get overlooked.

8.5 Gravity Kicks Out Of 10

AnimeNEXT 2012!!!!!

Greetings everybody! I'm happy to say all my initial fears from the last time I went to AnimeNEXT have been more or less sorted out and fixed for just about everyone. The volunteers were actually very nice and friendly this time, there was MUCH better planning in terms of which panels would be more popular and how to find the right rooms to host them all in, and things felt spaced out much better so that were didn't all feel like we were cramped in a bunch of small spaces this year. From this point on, I think it best to do a breakdown of all three days and name all the awesome things that happened (No really, I promise some of these are very entertaining!).

It only took 12 episodes to charge the shot!
FRIDAY
Okay! So things started off a little lame because of the fact that the line for pre-registered guests was the longest it has ever been, while the line to simply register was... well, nonexistent. It was ridiculously annoying. Why even pre-register if you're going to wait over an hour and a half longer to get inside like that? The only plus was that my 3DS picked up over 50 weapon gems for Kid Icarus: Uprising while I was in that line, as well as some items for Resident Evil: Revelations and Super Mario 3D Land (and every time I emptied them out, I immediately got more). There were so many people with 3DS's, I loved it. The "Brony" shirt I was wearing also got a large number of compliments and bro-pounds (or should I say, bro-hoofs?).

After finally getting IN, Kelsey and I ventured forth and I immediately spotted some friends of mine just from walking around (Kyle, Nasser, Ralph, Justin B, etc.) and we all said "hi" and messed around. The good thing about the first day of a con is that you get more of a chance to really get used to all the surroundings, since all the biggest events happen on Saturday. Instead of running to get to panels, you can relax more, meet new people, and see what all the dealers and artists are selling. On top of getting some great cosplay pictures (which you can view on my Facebook!), we also found some awesome stuff to throw our money at. I got an S.H. Figurearts Gokai Red figure, and the two Yu-Gi-Oh! R mangas I was missing (still sealed with the cards inside thankfully!).

Nerd swag.
After all of that and lunch, we went over to some panels. First we went to 'WTF Moments of Anime and Manga,' a panel that started off amazingly, only to get a little sidetracked near the middle due to some annoying patterns from the audience. I liked the panel, but had sort of mixed thoughts on the way the time between presentation and audience interaction balanced out. Too much audience interaction can make some panels go a bit out of control, and while I thought the girls doing the panel did a great job, things did get a little insane by the end. After this was the 'Abridged Series Panel,' showcasing all sorts of people from different abridged versions of our favorite animes and such. Aside from the people hosting this panel being a little... well, nuts, the videos shown were a mix of great and decent. They made abridged episodes of Angelic Layer, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and even Kamen Rider Fourze (or as they called it, Kamen Rider Four Shizzle(... Eh, it was okay at best.). I wasn't really excited about much of anything for Friday panel-wise, so Kelsey and I also went to the Sailor Moon abridged panel (as that's her favorite anime ever!!!) and Sailor Moon Abridged is actually really funny, whether you like the Sailor Moon series or not. They showed a new episode and kinda screwed around because they had extra time to do nothing.

Not too much else went on that night besides walking around and meeting new people (like the awesome DJ Cutman, who makes beats with video game music!). I wasn't really interested in the Berryz Kobo concert, after I watched a video of them singing for two minutes and felt like a pedophile, but that's okay because it all led up to...

SATURDAY!!!!!
That's right; this was the big one folks!!! Where to even begin...

We came right over to the 'Saturday Morning Cartoons' panel, only to find out the poor guy's disc broke in half during his travel of multiple states to get here, so we were stuck watching Muppet Babies for a while, (which wasn't bad since he picked the Indiana Jones and Star Wars episodes), but still, when you're missing the first part of the new Thundercats season finale for that, you tend to get a little disappointed. It didn't help finding out he had some bad-ass stuff on that other disc like Sonic SatAM and 80s Thundercats. It's alright though, because we all had fun joking around and then headed to a panel called 'Writing for Dubs,' hosted by Funimation's Leah Clark. This was probably the first panel I was actually legitimately interested in for the day, as I never did quite understand the dubbing process for these shows, and she even made us keep most of the things she talked about a secret due to the confidentiality of her job. It was basically like a Wonka Factory for anime dubbing. There's no other way to describe that. After the panel, she was kind enough to sign little flyers of the series "Panty & Stocking" for everyone. She was a very nice and funny woman, and I hope she comes back again next year.

Apparently, this show is hilarious according to everyone at the con, EVER!
There was an independent game design panel, but for some reason, I decided not to bother. I can't explain what it is, but for some reason I just didn't feel too compelled to bother. I suppose I've heard enough about how the industry works to feel it worthwhile again (though the guy hosting it, and other panels at this con was hilarious, and I'll get into how I know that later).

Next up, I decided to try the "Robotech Industry Panel," hosted by Kevin Mckeever, Robotech's chief marketing coordinator. He started with a slide show presentation about how far the series has come, and then into the future. He also talked about the current models and toys being released as well, and went on to answer questions and even gave us random prizes for asking them (I got a brochure for the documentary with a timeline and one of the soundtrack CDs). Some lucky people made off with some expensive models too. Lucky people, heh. I had asked him if there were any plans to bring the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross series back into production (as the old AnimeEGO sets are long out of print and expensive as hell on eBay). To my surprise (and joy!), he told me they were actually looking into releasing it once again. This made me very happy in itself, let alone getting free stuff just for asking about it!

The absolute STRANGEST, and I mean STRANGEST moment of the con occurs in this next paragraph. Seriously, I can't even begin to describe how completely odd and random this was. Okay..., so right as me and Kelsey are leaving for a bit to go grab some dinner, we notice the girls of the Jpop group Berryz Kobo are outside right in front of the Double Tree hotel, doing an interview of some sort. Kelsey goes to ask their crew if she can take a picture, but they decline (which didn't surprise me really). As we start to walk toward our car, suddenly, I notice one of the girls from the group start to walk away from the rest and actually walk toward me. Maybe a couple of feet away tops, she smiles really big and starts waving at me. Me, not knowing what the hell just happened, kind of stopped in place (confusing the hell out of Kelsey, who had no idea what was going on), and smiled and waved back, apparently kind of flustered according to the way Kelsey described it. After that, the girl walked over to one of the crew people and started saying something to her in Japanese, continuing to look and smile directly at me. After a few seconds and them just talking the whole time, we finally started to walk back to our car again. At this point in time, Kelsey can't decide if she finds this all hilarious or wants to wring my neck until my eyes pop out. I... still don't know what to say. She made a funny comment afterward like "Why do you get hit on by hot Asian women and all I get are ugly and creepy guys!? I'd have preferred the Asian woman honestly!" Good times... I think...

Seriously, it was one of THEM! WTF!???? O_O"
Following that strange experience, and joking about it all through dinner while Kelsey contemplated more laughter/ways to commit murder, we came back to see what I believe is AnimeNEXT's first attempt at a tokusatsu panel, called 'It's Toku Time!' For those who don't know, tokusatsu is the Japanese word for "special effects." It is used as a genre title for various shows like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider (Japanese Power Rangers if you will). I admit, I was probably more excited for this panel than any other. I think they only thing I could find wrong with it per se, was the fact that the panel was supposed to be an intro to tokusatsu for people who don't know about it, even though almost all of the audience (including myself) was already a fan of multiple years. This made it very difficult for Kelsey to know what the hell was going on when people wouldn't stop shouting catch-phrases. A great start though, and I'll be thrilled to see them come back to do more panels again.

Immediately following the toku panel was a Pokemon panel, called 'Pokemon Power Hour With Dave Lister.' This panel has been done a few times in the past with this convention, and this was our first time going. They played all kinds of fun games with the audience like trivia and dodge ball, with some nice prizes thrown in like gym badges and plushies. They even added a mystery gift for players of the DS games to download, but to my dismay, it only worked for versions of Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, and maybe Gold and Silver as well. I had specifically left my travel case with all of those games at home, because I thought if they were going to add anything, it would have to be for Black and White. I was sadly mistaken, however the event was great and the crowd was beyond fun and lively. It's fun being in a room filled with teenagers and adults, who also aren't afraid to admit they love this series too. Did I mention it was hosted by that hilarious guy who hosted the Indie Game Development panel too? Epic win. There was a panel about bronies and anime fans after that, but I think Kelsey and I were too tired to bother at that point in the night. Que...

SUNDAY
The final, and usually most depressing day of the con. For the short amount of time the con is open till on Sunday, we actually still got quite a bit done, making rounds through the dealer's room for a last-second look, as well as the artist alley once more. I even picked up the most amazing bumper sticker ever, saying "My Other Ride Is a Gundam."

If you disagree about it being the best, you're wrong.
I also wore a shirt that had so many compliments, one guy actually asked if he could take a picture of it!

I love this freaking shirt.
We also ended up with some more great cosplay pictures and even some funny and cute shots of the two of us. It was nice and happy.

You see that!? That's freaking happy!
So to sum everything up, this year's con not only addressed a lot of my complaints from previous years, but actually made a lot of things better (minus the dealer's room location. There's nothing right about having to walk around a building just to enter one area, especially when it could have rained at any time!). I had a great year and already can't wait till the next. Who knows what we'll see in the future years to come? I can't wait to find out. Thanks for reading!

Graphic Novel Review: Shadowhawk Chronicles Volume 1

Image Comics has certainly had an interesting history since it made its way from the early 90's into today. In the 90's, comics took a bit of an odd turning point. Anti-heroes became the norm, everything was dark, and there wasn't usually any kind of deep or complex storyline involved; just anti-heroes kicking a lot of ass, with character proportions defying every law of physics known to man. Before Chew and The Walking Dead, we had a very different type of juggernaut on our hands. Along with the creators of Spawn, Youngblood, The Savage Dragon, and WildC.A.T.S., Jim Valentino created a series called Shawdowhawk. This title didn't originally succeed quite as well as the aforementioned. When I first saw a picture of what the character actually looked like, I immediately wondered if the lesser sales figures were actually justified. I mean, seriously; look at the guy.


You could say his appearance is like a cross between Wolverine and Batman, but it'd be hard to label that as a bad thing all the same. Most characters in the early days of Image Comics were very similar to the creators' works with previous companies like DC and Marvel. Being an Image Comics title from the 90's, I was expecting cheesy one-liners, an average story with some decent fight scenes, and maybe even one or two twists I wouldn't see coming. I'd say I ended up getting a little more out of this title than I expected to. This book collects Shadowhawk #1-4, Shadowhawk II #1-3, Shadowhawk III #1-4, Shadowhawk #12-18 (don't even ask about the format...), his first appearance in Youngblood #2, and a few other bonus issues, exerts and sketches. One thing to note however, is that the reason they were able to fit all of these issues into one book for the $19.99 retail price (I got it for less than half of that), was the decision to reprint the issues in black and white format. I didn't feel I'd be missing out much without the colors in this case, especially since this was for a series that I didn't even know if I was going to like or not.

The first thing that interested me about Shadowhawk upon starting, was the fact that we don't actually learn his true identity until about 6 or 7 issues in. This was a very ballsy move on Valentino's part, and I'm actually kind of glad he did things in this style. The first immediate hook for me was to keep reading and find out just who this guy was, and why he went out every night, breaking the spine of every street thug he encountered.


Even more credit is due to Valentino here, as once I finally found out who the masked vigilante was, I was even more engrossed to find out about his past. I've heard just about every superhero origin story to the point where nothing really impresses me much anymore. I have to say that the back story of this character deviated just a little bit from the norm, and actually made me even more fascinated by his motivations for justice. While I'm not going to spoil any of these details, I will point out the fact that this guy is far from "super." He is as human as human can get, with human flaws and emotions, as well as human weaknesses. I actually found myself feeling sorry for the man quite a few times before getting to the end of this volume.

This series is far from perfect however. I understand the idea of writing to make your characters appear to talk the way it would sound in real life (Brian Michael Bendis comes to mind), but some of the bad grammar was just too much for my eyes. I also thought that the cameos from other Image Comic titles could have used some work, especially Spawn's appearance. This may have been one of the most pointless guest appearances I've ever seen in a comic book, as he literally just stood there the whole time, uttered a few words to Shawdowhawk about protecting the city, and then left. It would have been one thing if any of the dialogue here was memorable. No such luck. At least when Savage Dragon made an appearance, we got to see an awesome fight between the two of them, and for a reason that wasn't completely stupid or forced on the reader. This title also suffers a lot of the same tropes as most comics from Image did at the time. The human anatomy is disconcerting, the dialogue is sometimes laughable when trying to sound serious, some fight scenes are incomprehensible, and not many other things aside from what I mentioned in the opening paragraphs really separate it from the rest.


If we had to make a scale of how I would rate this series, I'd put it above the likes of titles like Youngblood and maybe even WildC.A.T.S. I still put Spawn and Savage Dragon above this one however. All in all, I'm glad I got to finally read these earlier stories in a format that was affordable. It may have not aged particularly well for its time, but with the early Image Comics titles, you know what to expect, and I think for once, that's more of a service to this than a disservice. I'm not generally a fan of many 90's comics, so relaying that I got some enjoyment out of this title is really saying something in my particular case. The fact is I didn't want to put it down until I was finished. I can't argue with that.

7 Broken Spines Out Of 10

AnimeNEXT Is In Two Weeks!

After deciding not to go to last year's AnimeNEXT convention (which is literally five minutes from my house since they moved from Secaucus), I realized how much I miss it, and was more than happy to register again for this year's. It's coming up from June 8th-10th, and there's plenty going on this time. One of the reasons I didn't feel the need to go last year was the lack of new people/things going on, and my overall frustration with the way some of the staff treated me and many others the year before last. (Understand I'm a ridiculously polite person most of the time. If I say someone's being rude, it takes a lot.)

I've heard things were fixed up overall on that end, and saw for myself that all kinds of new industry guests and voice actors/actresses would also be there. Hoping to meet some more great people and cosplayers, as well as find some nice and unique things through panels and the dealers' room. And maybe I'll even watch a few shows/movies if they're playing anything worthwhile. Either way, I'll try to get some awesome pictures (though I doubt I'll be able to top the one I took with LittleKuriboh last time, heh). I've actually lost track of how many times I've gone to this con now (I think I started going every year after 2003 or 04), but that's only because this one's so timeless to me in general. I hope to see a bunch of friends there again myself.

And I figure it's never too early to plan... Since I'm not cosplaying this year, does anyone have any ideas for next year? I have a few dream ideas that I know I'd love to try, but a lot of them will likely never happen. Hell, are there any anime characters people think I look like? I already did Shinji my first year, so that's likely out of the question again. :P