Tag: x-men

September 15 / Jeremy Dizon / Marvel

The “All New, All Different” Marvel Universe

If you’ve been following along with what’s being going on with the Marvel Universe right now, you’ve noticed that your favorite books have been missing. If you haven’t been following along, then don’t feel bad, it’s quite confusing because Marvel’s summer story arc, Secret Wars, has been dominating their current lineup.

If you’re not too familiar with the 1984 Secret Wars, the story revolved around a place called Battleworld where a supreme being called the Beyonder brought the characters of the Marvel Universe together to fight it out. So, what’s the difference with this summer’s Secret Wars? Everything, except the name of the story arc and the place Battleworld.

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May 21 / Jeremy Dizon / Industry

Death in Comics, Part 2

In my previous post about death in comics, we discussed the role of civilian deaths and how writers use it to propel their stories forward. In this post, I wanted to touch on a few superhero deaths that rocked the comic world. There were many to choose from and as iconic as Superman’s death at the hands of Doomsday, but after doing research, I noticed an intriguing pattern; that dead superheroes don’t stay dead for long! For this discussion, I wanted to focus on those superhero deaths that made an impact to their respective stories but also spent some time in the grave (so to speak).

We begin with a bold move by Brian Michael Bendis in the pages of Ultimate Spider-man with the “Death of Spider-man”. In the Ultimate universe, Bendis kills off Peter Parker! Crazy right? But that’s not where the story ends. Oh no! Bendis introduces us to Miles Morales, a half black, half hispanic teen who was bitten by a genetically-altered spider that gives him superhero powers. Sounds familiar, right? Miles actually witnesses Peter’s death and feels so guilty that he didn’t use his powers to save Peter, that he takes up the mantle of Spider-man.

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April 15 / Jeremy Dizon / Movies

Recommended Movie: Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service

Being a dad, I don’t have the luxury to see movies on a regular basis. I can count the number of flicks I sat through at the theater on one hand in the last year since my son was born. But one movie that I was lucky to check out recently was Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service based on the comic series called The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.

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March 3 / Jeremy Dizon / Industry

The Best Person for the Movie: Fan Casting

With an onslaught of upcoming comic book movies on the horizon and a ton of rumored properties being adapted from the pages of a comic book to the silver screen, the only thing a comic fan hopes is that the portrayal of their favorite character isn’t construed into something that falls short. I can reference a few of movies that didn’t go as well as the big studios hoped, the most glaring one being Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds. And if you’re an older nerd like me, the glaring one from our childhood was Daredevil starring Ben Afleck.

I mention those movies and leading actors because I’m sure that any comic fan has an opinion on which actor or actress they would like to take on the mantle of their favorite superhero. And if you’re like me, and not a Hollywood casting agent, our choices will probably never come true but we can always speculate and hope. Fan casting is something that I enjoy because I’m purely motivated by the source material whereas Hollywood studios factor in a lot of other things in their decision to cast an actor for a role. I’m not saying that they are to blame for when movies flop at the box office. There are a lot of factors but we’re only human and finding someone to blame for the catastrophe of a movie that X-Men: The Last Stand, the 3rd X-Men flick, was, helps me sleep at night.

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January 15 / Jeremy Dizon / Industry

Superhero Comics as a Gateway Drug

If you were a kid of the 80’s and 90’s, like me, you were probably familiar with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the X-Men, Captain Planet, and even Darkwing Duck. What do these characters all have in common? Well, hopefully the blog title gave you a hint because they’re all superheroes! Now, superheroes have been around for as long as comics have been in existence but in our society today, superheroes have become so popular that it’s hard not to run into anyone who hasn’t seen one of the Marvel blockbusters or isn’t aware of Christian Bale’s gruff-voiced Batman.

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December 22 / Gene / Marvel

Superheroes on Netflix: 3 Series to Marathon this Weekend

Promo for Earth's Mightiest Heroes from Marvel — Promo for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from Marvel

Did you make it through our weekly picks already? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Comic book movies are a great introduction to characters that you might not have met or heard of before. I mean, Guardians of the Galaxy, right? Someone says ‘We are Groot’ to you before you see the movie and your reaction might be ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa… we just met, buddy.”

If you want bite-size action and adventure stories replete with your favorite characters, try some of these animated superhero series on Netflix or Amazon Instant.

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October 10 / Jon / Weekend Shorts

Weekend Shorts: Picks of the Week

Today we’ll be starting our recommended reads for the weekend. Some will be stand alone issues, others, the beginning of a saga. Or any kick-ass issues we just want to share. Not all recommendations will be new. Some will be weeks, months, or years old if they’re truly special. But our goal is to recommend books for readers who are short on time, need quick recos or just plain want someone else to decide for you what to read. We’re a small team so if you have any recommendations, shoot us an email in the top right at “Contact Us”. Without further ado, the picks of the week.

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