Yearly Archives: 2012

Professional Super Villain Tip: If your enemy's name is "Lightning", don't throw lightning at him.

META: Out today

Sorry guys, I'm having a rough day. No "You're Going to Die" update today.

Has Wonder Woman ever SEEN a woman's figure!?

(via TheMarySue.com)

MacGyver Returns…Sort Of

MacGyver Returns...Sort Of

By: Andrew Hines

I'm a huge MacGyver fan, born two years into the show's amazing 7 year run. Part of why I'm such a fan is because Mac always struck me as being a sort of Batman without the cape and tights. He's the everyman with a lot of know-how and more than a few aces up his rolled-up sleeves. I've been waiting for 20 years for anyone to do the series justice, though it never occurred to me to do it as a comic mini-series. Oh and I should mention, 20 imaginary points for anyone who can give me Mac's name plus the season and episode it was first mentioned.

The two writers for this piece of literary history are  longtime Doctor Who comics author, Tony Lee and a man who needs no introduction, Lee David Zlotoff, the creator of MacGyver way back in 1987. The writing is wonderful and starts off with the same narration as every episode in the television series. The dialogue is wonderful, the pacing fits and the recipes for "MacGyverisms" are pretty much exactly as they were in the series. Yeah, "MacGyverism," it's a real thing. The writing makes it feel just like the series I grew up watching.

The art from Will Sliney, who covers everything from pencils to the colors, isn't bad. Well, mostly not bad. Ciaran Lucas' cover captures Mac's look well enough, but doesn't get him looking close enough to Richard Dean Anderson as I'd like him to. That's pretty much what's wrong with Sliney's work. They've got everything around him looking great, even the hair and the stubble, but the face just isn't quite right. The effects look good, but they're not the star of the show.

In all, this ranks as a "B+." The script is fantastic and I can't wait to see where it takes us, but without the art to fully help it along, it doesn't live up to its full potential. If the face were "right", it'd be an "A+," 100%, out-of-the-park home-run. It's a good book, but just not a great book.

Un-burning Bridges

Un-burning Bridges

By: Andrew Hines

This is the Avengers that we should have had the whole way through. A mix of the first-stringers and those that have been lost in the background for years. The greatest part of this book is exactly what has made the other teams so awesome, the way they interact. The team has almost never seen completely seen eye-to-eye and that's not going to change anytime soon, especially following the events of AvX. As in times past, they come together to get the job done despite their differences. With that being said, I have a feeling this is gonna be a great series.

Writer Rick Remender has had his hands on some great titles in the last few years, such as Venom, Uncanny X-Force and Secret Avengers. Just the intro into this comic, by itself, is fantastic. He gives long-time fans and newbies alike a great place to pick up from where AvX left off. Aside from reintroducing Havok into the comics, Remender also gives us our first look at the S-Men, a group of Red Skull acolytes. Aside from these little goodies, we get to see some good character interaction and above all are reminded what the X-Men were supposed to stand for. Remender's pacing, casting and dialogue are pretty good. My favorite bit, however, has to be Logan's speech at the very beginning. Simply wonderful.

John Cassaday's art (yeah, pencils, inks and colors) is great. It's very new and very good. I love the designs, the flashback panels and the transitions. Every bit of it feels different from a normal Avengers book and that's exactly how it's supposed to be. There are some great action panels here and some really in-your-face moments as well. The art is good throughout and I love the take on the new takes on Thor's and Havok's costumes. Havok's feels classic, yet refined, which is a step up from some of his stuff during the 90s. Then there's Thor's new costume and the biker gloves. Overall, a good issue for art.

This earns an "A" for being better than I really thought it would be. The only thing keeping it from being an "A+" is the weird cliff-hanger at the end of the issue.

This Ain't Your Daddy's Marvel

Today begins a new era in Marvel Comics. A renumbering and relaunching of some of Marvel's greatest titles starts right here and NOW! The biggest relaunches start in a few months with titles like FF (a substitute team), Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the flagship title Uncanny Avengers, All-New X-Men, Deadpool, X-Men Legacy (starring Xavier's son, Legion) and Indestructible Hulk. Yeah, this is happening...

 

Good Costume Wednesday

Last week I talked about my love for the classic Gil Kane Green Lantern costume design. For my money it's one of (possibly THE) best outfits in comics history. This week I want to ask you what you think the best costume(s) are.

For my money, some of the contenders would be:

I'm pretty old-school, though. So post your nominations for "Great Super Hero Costumes of All Time" in the comments and let the debate begin!

I bet he's on a tight schedule

(From "Lightning Comics" volume 2, number 2, 1941.)

Dr. Fate vs. Dr. Strange

The marriage of magic and super heroes has never quite worked for me. Even when I read Golden Age comics featuring the likes of Marvo the Magician, something about seeing a beturbaned wand-wielder uttering mystical phrases alongside someone in tights and a cape seemed off somehow.

Having said that, I think the two best examples of magical super heroes from the major publishers are DC's Dr. Fate and Marvel's Dr. Strange. On the one hand you have one of the most awesome helmets ever seen in comics, and on the other you have a killer Seventies mustache and the biggest cape this side of Thor. Fate embodies Order, while Strange is left to protect the Earth however he can, messy though it might get.

It all got me wondering what would happen in a clash between these two mystic titans, so I turn it over to you:

[polldaddy poll="6595551"]

META: UGO Forums now closed

The HeroMachine Forums at UGO.com are now officially closed to new posts. They will remain up for the foreseeable future as a static repository for all of the awesome stuff that went on there over the years, but starting today no one will be able to add anything.

Instead, I would urge you to use the forums here at HeroMachine.com for all of your character-sharing, comics-discussing needs.

I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank WillyPete, the longtime moderator of the forums there. His service has always been the major determining factor in keeping those going as long as we did, and I can't say enough how much I appreciate it. You are the man, WillyPete!