Comics this week

Deadly Class #27- Don't fix what's not broken, and writer Rick Remender followed that formula this issue as he crafted a good-old-fashioned-revenge story as the origin of Saya. Remender obviously put a lot of thought into her story as this issue fill us with Saya's tale in a way that fits what we know so far and also gives us some needed emotional depth to an inscrutable character. Excellent!

The New 'Justice League' Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jV0c1yhksY

The link is to the new ‘Justice League’ trailer that dropped over the weekend. It was supposed to be a fist-pumping action trailer showing all the members of the JL in action. In that I thought the trailer did a good job.

However some people are now saying ironically that the trailer is not good because it doesn’t show people anything about the plot. I say ironically because I remember the trailer of ‘Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and the main complaint then was that the trailer showed too much of the plot. There’s just no pleasing some people…

Hey guys, figure out what you want with trailers and stick to that position. Me? I don’t put that much stock into trailers. It is a trailer and just a trailer. I’ll wait for the movie and then decide if it’s any good. You should too.

Comics this week

Birthright #23- The problem of having a reputation as a lair is that even when you are telling the truth, people don’t believe you. Mastema faced this problem this issue as her follow mages take her to task for lying to them and while that’s going on, Rya finally meet Mikey again. Writer Joshua Williamson and artist Andrei Bressan are on a roll and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

Elektra #2- I never got the idea of Arcade. I know a lot of creators seem to like the character but I always thought the villain was stupid. The second of issue of Elektra did nothing to change my mind. The issue has Arcada knowing that Elektra is in Las Vegas and trying to get the assassin into his latest Murderworld. Words cannot describe how stupid that is; she is one of the best assassins in the world and he can’t even keep a bunch of teenage heroes in check in Avengers Arena. Artist Juan Cabal once again did a great job showing how much a badass Elektra is, if only writer Matt Owens had pick a better villain…  

Comics this week

Injection #11- After too long a wait, Injection is back and writer Warren Ellis and artist Declan Shalvey waste no time hitting the ground running. After Maria and Vivek, this arc is on Brigid Roth of the Injection team, aka the female Dr. Who of the team. Much like the previous two story arcs, this issue is full of mystery and you have to love the dry wit on display here. Ellis is clearly having fun with this issue and I can’ wait to see where he go from here.

Monsters Unleashed #5- Since the event started, I thought this event was a lot better than a lot of people think. Unfortunately, Monsters Unleashed stumbles at the finish line with an uninspired finish that undid the good work in the previous issues. Honestly, it looks like writer Cullen Bunn was far more interested in setting up the Monsters Unleashed ongoing series than anything else as the story got out of control in a hurry. Kid Kaiju stepping up to face the Mother was always on the card but creating 5 new monsters out of thin air to take her on? Then having the 5 monsters “combine” to form a giant monster even though at least one of the 5 monsters had been taken out by the enemy? *Facepalm* This is like a bad episode of Transformers. 

Wild Storm #2- No good deed goes unpunished and Angela Spica is about to find that out in a big way as Skywatch, Halo, and International Operations are all gunning for her suit. Writer Warren Ellis is putting his pieces in place for a collision course and there are A LOT OF PIECES. We get fan-favourites like Grifter, Void and Zealot, to supporting characters like Henry Bendix and Christine Trelane, to more obscure characters like Savant (Kenesha). The diversity of the characters is great as well as the fact that although 3 factions are gunning for The Engineer, they are doing it for 3 very different reasons. Can’t wait for #3! 

Matrix Reboot?

The Matrix is back! Or at least that’s what the movie studios of Hollywood are hoping for because various entertainment reports are saying that Warner Bros. is in the early stages of bringing back the franchise. I am hoping that never happen.

Now I’m a fan of the original 1999 flick that was nothing short of great, but the greatness of the movie has been diluted by 2 weak sequels that the Matrix creators, the Wachowski brothers/siblings, pushed out. By the time the last Matrix movie, The Matrix Revolutions, was released in 2003 everyone was glad that it would be the last one. Nothing has changed since then.  

So we don’t need another Matrix movie. I have little doubt the career revival of Keanu Reeves is one reason why interest in the Matrix franchise has interest but we don’t need another Matrix movie, no matter whether it is a sequel, prequel, or reboot. Please, just let the franchise die.

Review of Logan

17 years! Nothing shows my age more than the fact that I remember going to the theatres to see the first X-Men movie and seeing Hugh Jackman playing the role that would define his career; Wolverine. 17 years later, we are here; Hugh Jackman playing the Wolverine one last time.

Inspired by the story/character “Old Man Logan”, “Logan” starts in the year 2029. Mutants are on the brink of extinction, with no new mutants having been born in 25 years. With his healing factor, James "Logan" Howlett, formerly known as Wolverine, is still around. Living with the last few mutants left in the world, Caliban and Professor Charles Xavier, Logan works as a chauffeur and hustled for drugs for the benefit of Prof X whose mind is deteriorating due to his old age.

However Logan is approached by a woman, Gabriela, who want to hire him to escort her and an 11-year-old girl named Laura to a place in North Dakota called "Eden". Logan refused but he is soon approached by a man named Donald Pierce who is looking for Gabriela.

After reluctantly accepting the job from Gabriela, Logan discovers that she has been murdered. Logan, Xavier, and Laura escape from Pierce and his cybernetically-enhanced men but Caliban is captured. Looking through a video left behind by Gabriela, Logan and Xavier learn that Laura is a mutant breed by a company called, Transigen.

Transigen has been breeding mutant children using DNA samples from several mutants for the "X-23" project, but as the children got older, the company found the children to be more difficult to control and decided to put them down. The nurses taking care of the children however thought differently and helped the children to escape. Gabriela is one of those nurses and approached Logan because Laura was created using Logan’s DNA. She is, for all intent and purpose, Logan’s daughter. From there, it’s a road trip with the trio trying their best to get away from Pierce and get Laura to safety.

First off, let’s get to the elephant in the room. Yes; not only is “Logan” is not only the swansong of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, it is also the swansong of Patrick Stewart as Prof X. Both actors have indicated that this is the last time they would be portraying the characters and after seeing the movie, I hope both keep their word because this movie is a hell of a way to say goodbye.

“Logan” is great! It is not just a great superhero movie; it is a great movie period! A lot of people have said the movie is like a western and I could see why. Logan and Prof X are like two aging gunslingers going out on one last ride and they went out like heroes! This is a fitting end to the characters and I hope I never see Hugh Jackman or Patrick Stewart as Wolverine and Prof X ever again because they set the bar high in this movie and it’s just that hard to see how they could top it.

Not only that, “Logan” also set things up nicely at the end for Laura to take over the role as the Wolverine. Considering that X-23 has taken over the name of Wolverine in the comics already, this would exactly be in line with the comics. FOX could even use her and her friends as X-Force.

The only unfortunate thing about the movie is the lack of a good villain. This has been the problem with the Wolverine movies from the start and it continue on with this one. Pierce was never a true threat to Logan and X-24 is just forgettable. Dr. Zander Rice might as well be named Mad Doctor XXX.

Outside that problem, the movie was great. “Logan” is a gritty, violent, but thoughtful superhero movie that in my mind is the best X-Men movie ever. The bittersweet yet uplifting end of the movie reminds me of the ending of La La Land; sad, sweet, and perfect. Watch “Logan”, this movie is great! 

Comics this week

Astro City #42- One of the great things about Astro City is the fact that writer Kurt Busiek writer superhero stories that most comics just don’t touch on. This issue we got a glimpse of the life of a forgotten supervillain who is marooned on a tropical island. When the chance came to get off the island, the villain jumped at it but then found that, despite himself, he actually enjoy his forced retirement on the tropical island. I thought it was great that the only one who remember the villain was his nemesis and even younger villains who use tech the supervillain pioneered don’t remember him. Another great issue of Astro City!

Copperhead #11- I can’t remember when was the last issue of Copperhead, which should tell you just how long this this sci-fi western has been on hiatus. After all this time, writer Jay Faerber attempt to keep things going by continuing on from where we stopped. On one hand, I can understand this, but I can’t help to think it would be better if Faerber had done a recap or something at the start to remind everyone where the story was at.

Jessica Jones #6- That’s it? After 6 issues, the first story arc is over and I can’t believe this was it. Jessica Jones is clearly a passion project for Michael Bendis but I hope the writer would come up with something better in the next story because the end of this one was very…meh. After all that build-up, the way the villains were taken out was just laughable.