The Two-Headed Blog!

Joe's Late-Night Reviews!

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:32:03 -0500

Comics on sale Wednesday, August 24th 2001!

- Good evening, friends! Tonight’s soundtrack is provided by Minnesota Public Radio’s @TheCurrent . Check them out at http://thecurrent.org!

- From John at @burntweiners: “@twoheadednerd I loooooooooove The Current, seriously the best radio station on the planet”

- First, a quick thought re: The Ultimates #1: I think this is my pick of the week right out of the gate. Full review to come in Episode 31!

- Superman Beyond #0: I have a real soft spot in my heart for Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, & Sal Buscema. This was a nice throwback. I understand that this may not be for everyone and the future slang is a bit much, but I loved it. Buy It!

- (Matt) @burntweiners check out KEXP, Seattle station. Great stuff.

- (Joe re-seizes control) Dammit, Matt…Quit breaking into my flow!

- (Matt) “Oh yeah @joepatrick116 well get ready for Matt’s gut reactions too his comics. #gutvsgut”

- (Joe again) @mattbaumstein DO YOUR WORST!

- Sorry for the delay. Got caught up with thiOHMYGOD CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING PORTAL FAN FILM! http://t.co/sIxXXBn

- Warehouse 13 #1: The script was better than I was expecting! Raab did a good job recreating the voices of the TV characters. Sadly, the art was really not good and, ultimately, I’d rather just watch the show than “read” it. Leave It!

- Intrepids #6: The ending was very abrupt. Still, I’ve loved this book. Monkeys with grenade launchers! Cyborg bears! Buy It!

- Can’t wait for this! If you love cartooning in ANY form, please support this wonderful project by @davekellett! http://kck.st/ns8LZg

- American Vampire #18: So great… A great wrap up to the Ghost War story with a twist I did not see coming! Wonderful. Buy It!

- One more…

- Mystery Men #4: This has been a fun little untold tale of Marvel’s Golden Age. Great artwork from Patrick Zircher! Buy It!

- That’s it for tonight! Thanks for following along!

Joe's Late-Night Reviews!

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:42:00 -0500

-Joe’s Late, LATE-Night Twitter Gut Reactions are GO! First up: Stuff of Legend — Jester’s Tale #1!

-Stuff of Legend: A Jester’s Tale #1- This is — no hyperbole — one of the most stunningly beautiful books on the stands. I should point out — the story’s pretty amazing, too! Buy It!

-Captain America #2: The crazy scifi stuff is kind of throwing me off & the inking is inconsistent. Still great fun though! Buy It!

-If I’m slow with the reviews, it’s only because #shamefulcomicbooksecrets has been distracting me!

-I once lied to Dwayne McDuffie to “politely” avoid buying an issue of Static Shock at a con. He called me on it. #shamefulcomicbooksecrets

-I once wrote a report on Norse mythology that was 100% based on things I learned from Thor comics. I got an “A.” #shamefulcomicbooksecrets

-Daredevil #2: Two issues in & I’m already sure this’ll go down as one of the best DD runs ever. Wonderfully written & drawn.

-I love — I mean LOVE — the Clone Saga. #shamefulcomicbooksecrets

-Ooh… Jose Gonzales just came up in the rotation!

-I never finished reading Bone. #shamefulcomicbooksecrets

-*gasp* SQUEEEEEE!!! http://dcfifty-too.blogspot.com

-My David Sedaris audiobooks keep coming up in the shuffle. Delightful, but not great to read comics by…

-Fables #108: This might be my pick of the week, so I won’t get into review mode. Spoiler: it’s pretty great.

-Zatanna #16: A pleasant surprise. Zatanna has been hit/miss (usually based on Paul Dini’s involvement) but this was nice. In case it wasn’t clear, I meant that the Dini issues were the “hits.” Buy It!

-Hell…I can’t give up for the night while Herbie Hancock’s Rockit is playing! One more…

-Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #4: You know what? This is a wonderful comic. Super fun premise with GREAT art. Buy It!

-A quick word re: Generation Hope #10: Haven’t read it yet, but I can’t believe the outfit the artist put on Transonic here… I mean, I know she’s basically naked most of the time, but putting her in an unzipped hoodie w/ no bra & hot pants is completely gratuitous. Not to mention the ridiculous butt shot on a final page that’s meant to be dramatic, not sexy. She’s a 19-year-old girl, guys. Disappointing.

-Now excuse me while I ogle the cover of Power Girl #27… What?

-That’s it for tonight-Thanks for following along! Sorry to all the hot pants lovers out there that I offended with my last rant.

So…I can’t imagine the few of you that are following...

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 20:07:10 -0500

So…I can’t imagine the few of you that are following this blog aren’t already part of our audience, but for those newcomers that may not know: Matt and I host a weekly audio podcast dedicated to comic bookery in all its forms. Here is the link to episode 28! You can find our older episodes on iTunes, or at http://twoheadednerd.com !

Joe's Late Night Reviews!

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:19:18 -0500

BIRTHDAY EDITION!

Ultimate Fallout #4: You may have read in USA Today that Ultimate Kangaroo makes his triumphant return in this issue… He’s pretty cool. It was a great issue. Excited to learn more about Miles Morales! And is that…Ultimate Future Foundation? BUY IT!

Hey…It’s officially my birthday!

Moriarty #4: I…don’t think I read #3! How embarrassing! Still, a strong finish, with a promising set up for more and stunning art. BUY IT!

That Moriarty #3 thing is going to bug me. I was SURE I was all caught up…

Flashpoint Batman #3: What an ending! This has been the only MUST-READ Flashpoint tie-in. Yeah. Just effing BUY IT already!!!

In case you were wondering, my music of choice during Late Night Gut Reactions is 90s alternative. Currently, The Toadies’ Possum Kingdom.

Hold on, I’ve got to take a minute and watch this video of Matt Damon defending teachers from idiots… http://huff.to/qMW9xr

Moon Knight #4: I’ve struggled with the super-crazy take on Moon Knight, but I’m warming to it. @SignedInPodcast was right: this was awesome. I’m conflicted about Maleev’s art, but it’s all worth it for the 3-page Echo/Ms. Marvel talk. BUY IT!

@signedinpodcast: “I think the book is a ton of fun! IMO it’s the the most fun I’ve had with Bendis’ writing since Alias.”

Agreed. The writing is stellar. Ms. Marvel: “Has anyone here dated Moon Knight?” Spidey: “Little bit.” Love it.

House of Mystery #40: I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned how amazing Luca Rossi’s art has been since #1. Two issues to go! BUY IT!

I was going to try to do two more, but apparently, my body has other plans…Goodnight, Everybody!

Matt's Reviews: X-Men #15

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:46:00 -0500

Published by: Marvel Comics
Written by: CHRISTOPHER YOST
Art by: PACO MEDINA & DALIBOR TALIJIC
Cover by: ED McGUINESS

Solicitation: “FIRST TO LAST”-The battle fought in two time-periods comes to a climactic conclusion! The X-Men are the only thing that stand between the Evolutionaries and the complete annihilation of the human race. On top of that, learn secrets of Emma Frost’s past and what she had to do with the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Why I read it: I’ve been a big fan of Yost since his days writing New X-Men back in 2006. Yost has always had a good handle on maintaining the human side of a story of huge magnitude with multiple characters which is no easy task. See the recent Age of X story-line for failed example. Through his time at Marvel Yost has stuck pretty close to the X-titles and has done a nice job establishing himself as a good “X-story” writer. Maybe not the guy you go to for the slow-burn-long-run story but if you want a solid four to six issues of X-action you could do a lot worse than Chris Yost.

Review: Whenever Marvel or DC launches a new title based on an established character or group of characters that already have another running monthly, I like to ask myself “do we need this comic?”. The “we” being the entire nerd-comic-reading-populace. In the case of the regular Victor Gischler written adjective-less X-Men (Gischler returns to the title next month), I would say no. I heard the “it’s more of an X-Men super-hero title for those that just want to read about them fighting super-villains” talk but I don’t buy it. First of all, all the X-titles are super-hero comics. Second, the first thing X-Men did was launch into a story about
vampires that began in a completely different comic also written by Gischler. I’m not here to slam Gischler but I will say this new X-Men title has felt directionless and unnecessary since issue #1 and the “Protect and Serve” story-line that followed the vampire story didn’t change my mind. It was fine at best but ultimatley unnecessary. Then Chris Yost takes over and suddenly X-Men is an interesting departure from the other X-titles, albeit only for four issues. If X-Men continued on this trajectory, examining the X-Men’s past and how their decisions
affected their present or even retelling past stories to clean up continuity, I’d not only change my “do we need this comic answer” to “yes”, I’d buy it every month. That said, this was not the best Yost X-story I’ve read.

Before I get into the story I should say the art team of Talajic, who handled the flashbacks and Medina, who handled the present, we’re excellent. Paco Medina has been top-notch on this title from day one and may be the only reason to pick up X-Men. Dalibor Talajic is an inker turned penciller who has really come into his own style of late. I remember his work on Phil Hester’s The Atheist for Image being less than impressive but that was five years ago. Talajic has developed a very nice hard-lined heavily shadowed style that lends itself to flashback very well. I’d liken him to a heavier-lined young Dave Gibbons with more modern perspective. Very nice work from both these artists and a nice job by editors Alex Alonso and Nick Lowe pairing these two to give the story two very distinct tones.

Back to the story. From the first few pages which saw the Evolutionaires defending the first mutant from Paleolithic man I was hooked. The hook here was great, Back when the X-men first were newly formed some kind of universal protector of Mutant-kind offered Charles Xavier a chance to save mutants by wiping out human kind. When Charles refused they made a similar deal to Magneto but we’re we’re ultimately defeated by the X-Men. Now they’ve returned with the intention of killing Cyclops so that Magneto can be persuaded to let them finish the job. Sounds great right. And for the most part it was. By the time I got to this final issue however I felt like maybe Yost lost me somewhere. There was a great cliffhanger in the last issue that hinted at the fact that the first time the X-Men battled the Evolutionaries back in the day Cyclops made some very controversial decision that led to their defeat. However, in this issue, and I’m not going to spoil it here, we find that there was really no other decision he could’ve made. Thereby really taking the wind out of any grand philosophical debate based on Scott’s choice that could’ve dovetailed nicely into the current Schism X-story. It’s not a huge complaint and I did enjoy the story but this just seems like a lost opportunity. Overall the feel of the story was original and a lot more fun than X-Men has been since it’s first issue.

Rating: I’m still giving First to Last a “Buy It” thanks to the fantastic art and solid storytelling. The big build up to Scott having to choose between genocide or no genocide did seem like a no-brainer and left the conclusion fizzling out rather than exploding but there was a good story here. I only wish Yost could continue to explore more X-history in the pages of this title.

Verdict: Buy It

Joe's Late-Night Reviews!

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 02:31:00 -0500

It’s a little later than usual, but get ready for Joe’s Late-Night Gut Reactions! Check out #THNreviews on Twitter each week to follow along LIVE!

The Vault #1: Kind of fun, but it didn’t really hook me…yet. I’ll give the 2nd ish a read. Decent art…Worth a look! Skim It.

Undying Love #4: I love this book! It’s like John Woo and Mike Mignola made a comic book baby! BEAUTIFUL art! Buy It.

The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde #4 is staring at me. Soooo many words in that book and it is Soooo late! I’ve loved this series, though…

Last Mortal #3: Gets better w/each issue. LOTS to resolve in just one more issue, though. Gorgeous art by Thomas Nachlik. Buy It.

Avengers Academy #16: All over the place. Gage/Raney deliver a gut-wrenching finish after a beginning that came off a bit silly. Raney’s art didn’t sell me on the scope of the battle at the beginning. But that ending…MAN. Buy It.

That’s it for tonight! Sorry for the short review session, but we recorded a great crossover with Movieha tonight that should hit your ears soon! Thanks for reading!

Sorry to see DC’s 2D animated style go by the wayside, but...

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:47:02 -0500

Sorry to see DC’s 2D animated style go by the wayside, but this is looking pretty good!

Hope springs eternal...

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:15:12 -0500

Every time DC claims to have no plans for Wally West during a con panel, I remember Swamp Thing.

How did you get to be so damn sexy?!

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:24:37 -0500

Practice. Also, genetics.

Seriously.

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:17:06 -0500

Spoiler for this week’s episode: If you don’t read Mark Waid’s Daredevil #1 from Marvel, you’re going to regret it later. Phenomenal work.

Hello, Internet…We have arrived.

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 08:42:23 -0500

Hello, Internet…We have arrived.