Comic Book Related Media

This page is dedicated to Comic book related media new and old. With the coming of the second golden age of comic book television we’re going to have a lot to talk about on this page!

05/21/2015

Is there something wrong with me and the current slate of comic book movies?

What is wrong with the current spate of Superhero movies, or more succinctly, Marvel movies for me, an easily entertained comic book buff?

To me, that’s easy.

They’re boring.

So, is it necessary to start looking at the writers/directors of the series before we spend our hard earned dollars like we do comic books?
I was going to make this a review of the remainder of the Daredevil series that is currently available on Netflix, but I thought better of it after seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron. I was struck by the lack of entertainment that I found in both.
The last good Marvel movie I saw was Guardians of the Galaxy. A fun, irreverent take on the superhero genre where there are no overt good guys. In fact, there are no obvious ‘bad’ guys. James Gunn took a minor league comic, a comic where I think perhaps 5% of the general public even knew about, and made it a raucous romp. No origins, no romance, just straight up fun like a Marvel comic is.
See, when I was a young comic-historian-to-be there was a marked difference between Marvel comics and DC comics. DC comics came off as a more serious type of comic. The stories of the Flash, Green Lantern, and even Batman were full of scientific references. In fact, issues of The Flash contained pages called ‘Flash Facts’ which were essentially science primers that taught the reader the origin of a tornado, how a volcano erupted, etc… Heck, DC even had a character called Metamorpho that essentially taught you chemistry every time he pulled an escape or defeated an opponent. If you wanted to learn and have fun you read DC.
Marvel, on the other hand, was known as the ‘hip’ comic company. Marvel’s stories concentrated more on the human side of the heroes while showing massive fight scenes. Thor was constantly lamenting the relationship he had with his father and his half-brother as he clobbered another god with his hammer, Spiderman whined about which girl would reject him or how he would pay rent while he strung up Doc Ock, Ironman tried to be Hugh Hefner while creating the latest renewable energy source and battling the Crimson Dynamo and Bruce Banner just moped around every story trying not to be his other self at the same time he was avoiding the military chasing his green/gray behind.
In other words, if you wanted to think, read DC. If you wanted to just read action you read Marvel.
Then, something happened: a new breed of young creators came on board in both companies and cross pollinated. DC attempted to be like Marvel and Marvel tried to polish themselves like DC. And, on top of all that, the new creators fashioned themselves as story professionals, not just ‘funny’ book writers. Thus, both companies had continuing story lines and ‘complex’ characters.
And, then, we got The New X-Men (but that’s another story). But it is relevant to this missive; the New X-Men took the superhero story and elevated it to a soap opera/serial drama. So, not only did we have continued story lines but additionally we had character threads that carried through dozens of issues.
Now, comics weren’t merely kid fodder, they were adult reading.
Why am I giving a history lesson on past comics you may ask? Well, besides being a boring old man who’s read comics for nigh on 50 years now, it dawned on me on the parallel between early comic books and the current spate of comic book related movies.
They both are dependent upon the individual creators involved.
All fiction is an extension of the particular writer/producer of itself. Regardless of the creator or the show runner, a story is shaped by the writer, artist/director, and editor/producer. Thus, a character that was written to be ruthless and cunning by one team can turn out to be wimpy and neurotic by another (i.e. Daredevil’s Kingpin and Arrow’s Black Canary). Or, a character that once cared about the welfare of normal citizens all of a sudden decides to have a vicious battle in the streets of the small town he grew up in.

I realize that it is the creator’s vision that brings this.
Peter David, a very good writer, who for my money, wrote the definitive saga of The Hulk once said this about how he felt about his stories being adapted to the big screen (and I paraphrase, I can’t remember exactly): “My story is still there. It’s right here in this book. What’s up on the screen I had nothing to do with. Someone else took my story and adapted it. But, if you want to read my story it’s still right here.”
This brings me to the current slate of comic book related media.
After being disappointed by the first Avengers movie my excitement for comic book related movies waned slightly. I mean, it was fun to see all the characters on the big screen but there just seemed to be something missing. Then the television show Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD came and I was even more disappointed.
My disappointment didn’t last luckily. With the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier my excitement for an Avengers movie peaked. This was how it should be, I thought, now, I know it’s got to be in the next ‘true’ Avengers movie.
After watching Daredevil and A:AoU it dawned on me.
I don’t like the creators.
Period.

I realized that after I watched Daredevil I had to find out. When I first started watching I got excited, here was a series based on Frank Miller’s Man Without Fear, one of my favorite books. This was going to be fun, I thought.
Then, when it wasn’t, and it took 13 hours to tell a four issue book I began to wonder. Who the heck is responsible for this mess? Sorry, not mess, but ‘story adaptation’.
It was a ‘Drew Goddard’. A creator whose name was held in prominence whenever I looked up the show, it was always Daredevil by Drew Goddard…
After some research, I discovered why I didn’t like it.
He’s a disciple of Joss Whedon. Another creator I don’t much care for (and the current scribe of the Avengers movies).
See, it’s like picking up books written by Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Rob Lielfeld.
Two of those books are going to make you think, while the other will make you either cringe or throw away in disgust.
It’s all a matter of taste.
Personally, I don’t like the Whedon school of storytelling. I don’t need a story that is SO dialogue heavy that I need to re-light my pipe during a scene. I don’t care that so and so has a crush on malcontented so and so and that the other so and so is pining for their lost regret.

Nope, I go into comic books and their associated movies/television shows to be entertained, not an amateur psycho babble exercise. And, besides, you CAN tell a character driven story using juxtapositions in action and plot and not entirely dialogue.
That ALL being said, the current state of comic book related media is like the state of comics itself back in my day. With the popularity of the product there are a TON of writer/director/producers clamoring to get a piece of the pie. You want a surefire hit? That’s easy, just pump out a comic book movie. It’s sure to break the $100mil mark let alone quadruple that overseas.
Thus, a word of caution O’Fletcher followers: All comic book shows/movies are not the same. See and read who the showrunners/scriptwriters are. It makes a WORLD of difference.

And, remember, when all else fails, we still have the Flash television series which shows you can develop characters while having the aforementioned action sequences!

Additionally, I will be offering ratings on the comic related media that I review using the following criteria:
Acting:
Story:
Wow moments:
Overall rating: Based on price of comics from .25 to $4.99

And, away we go…
Daredevil: The Netflix series
Acting: Mehh. Sure the characters look good but that’s about it. For the most part the acting seems formulaic and trite. Don’t even get me started on Wilson Fisk…
Story: Poor.

13 episodes to tell an origin? The Kingpin a wimp? Spare me. And, what the hell good is radar sense when it still doesn’t prevent you from getting the sh** beat out of you every episode?
Wow moments:

One. The moment was that I couldn’t believe I sat through all 13 episodes of this piece of trash. Actually, the bigger wow moment was when I realized I actually watched some episodes twice just to make sure I wasn’t misinterpreting some episodes. I just couldn’t believe I didn’t like it that much. So in actuality I probably spent closer to 16 hours of my life wasted with this crap.

Overall Rating: .30 Bronze age

Avengers:Age of Ultron
Acting: Decent.
We’ve all seen the core of the Avengers many times by now. So we know the acting is above average for a superhero flick. An added treat was Paul Bettany as the Vision. Mehh acting: James Spader’s Ultron and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff. Both actors’ sounded like they were merely walking through their roles. Of course, I’m sure part of the blame falls on the director’s shoulders for not having Ultron sound mechanical. Because, after all, all robots have perfectly developed voice boxes to articulate words…
Story: Mehh
As usual with a Whedon product, the concepts are great but the delivery lacks. What could have been an absolutely awesome story of A.I. gaining sentience and constantly expanding exponentially turned into a ‘pinocchio’ story of an inanimate toy becoming real and not being able to adapt to the real world. Also, the sub plots just draggeddddddddddddd…..Bruce and Natasha, really??? Who’s next? Thor and Tony?
Wow moments:
None. Well actually, there were a couple, but it was mainly for this fan boy. Just the appearance of the Red Tor.. oops, The Vision on the big screen was more than enough. The problem with this picture were there weren’t enough wow moments. The first one at least had the Hulk and Thor, the Shield Helicarrier, etc… This one had… oh, yeah, The Vision!

Overall Rating: $1.00 Annual

04/13/2015

It’s been a while since we posted on this page.  Here’s Dennis’s review on Netflix’s Daredevil.

I want my four hours back!

Before we start let’s define what a review is. A review is a SUBJECTIVE opinion of the writer. It doesn’t mean that a movie, book, series, etc… is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ it is again, merely the opinion of the writer.
Now that we got that out of the way…
I watched four episodes of the new series by Netflix, Daredevil and I have to say, I’m not impressed. In fact, if anything, I’m trying to figure out how to get that time period of close to four hours back in my life spending it reading some good comics or watching a good comic based series.
As many of you know, I have been reading comics since before the majority of you were even a thought in your parent’s eyes. In fact, I venture to say that I was reading comics before your progenitors even developed their reproductive organs.
Why do I waste words on the above statement? Merely to preface the following statement that as a word renowned comic book historian I have been reading the exploits of Daredevil since day one in case one of you gets a hair in your eyebrow and doubt my comics background.
Yes, that’s right boys, girls, xenomorphs, etc… your surly reviewer actually owns Daredevil #1 and the subsequent issues. I have read the great stories illustrated by Gene Colan, Wally Wood, the Romitas, Klaus Janson, and I even have the most ripped off story lines in the Daredevil mythos.
So, before you begin to throw the rotten fruit at me keep that in mind as you realize the only thing you know about DD is the trade paperbacks you read and the sainted Brian Michael Bendis runs you also read.
On a final note before my ‘review’: of all the Marvel Comics characters, Daredevil has always been a favorite of mine. Why, I don’t particularly know, but I’ve always had an affinity for the blind guy in the red costume.
On to the show…
I sat down eagerly anticipating this show. I noticed that they decided to go with “The Man Without Fear” storyline so I settled in and waited.
And waited, and waited, and waited…. I think you get the drift.
I’m four episodes in the series, FOUR EPISODES, HOURS, LIFETIMES, whatever, and it took the FOURTH episode to give me one of the greatest literary villains of all time and then it turns out he’s a wimp around women. This show moves as quickly as the line at the DMV when Patty and Selma are manning it.
Yeah, you read that right, for such a great criminal mastermind he can’t even ask a woman out without wetting himself.
‘sigh’
I’m going to give it the remaining episodes to make me a fan. The beauty of a series on Netflix is you get the mass quantity of the entire season all at once. Thus not wasting my DVR with recordings of a show I never want to approach again (Marvel’s Agents of Shield).
So, to put it nicely, the show is definitely not my cup of tea, bourbon, or whatever else you call it. Now, seeing that it’s my site I will list what I do and don’t like about it.
Likes:
• I like the fact that it exists firmly in the Marvel cinematic universe. The reference to the fact that parts of New York were still damaged from the Avengers’ battle is a neat touch.
This is something that I wish DC would get right with its far superior shows. But, then again, one of Marvel’s big strengths has always been its consideration to their comic universe. After all, we would always see either the Baxter Building, Ironman, or Thor flying though a panel in any other comics.
Dislikes
• The atmosphere. The show is filmed way too dark for my tastes. I feel as though I’m watching a show filmed in someone’s basement. I understand mood lighting but this just feels as though I’m locked in migrant’s closet.
• The fight scenes. Now , I realize to the twenty something year old viewer the fight scenes are something to behold but, to me they’re just a poor man’s version of the best of bad Hong Kong Cinema circa. 90s. And, they’re way too long.
• The fight scenes part II. Every fight DD get his behind HANDED to him. For a guy with “Radar Sense” he definitely needs to tune it in. Because he sure as heck gets hit an awful lot.
• Wilson Fisk. From what I’ve seen so far, the portrayal of the Kingpin is pathetic. Where’s the guy who is so arrogant and cocksure that nothing gets to him. Take your ‘modern sensibility’ theory and shove it in your ear. The Kingpin is nowhere like the ‘men’ of today’s generation.
After writing the above I realize what is really wrong with this show. Whereas the Miller comics (whom it bleeds off of terribly) had one foot in Noir and the other firmly in the comic universe this show is written as though it’s modern fan fiction. It seems to have a great time saying “wouldn’t it be cool if DD said this?” or “Fisk has to have a weakness. Let’s make him more realistic like me and scared to talk to a gurl!” type of crap.
Come on, the DD I know when he said “If you don’t drop that gun I can promise that you’ll never hold anything in that hand again” would have actually broke the guys hand. Not played with him some more.
Thus, I hope for my sake that this show picks up. Because, after all, if I wanted fan fiction bull**** I’d watch You Tube or JJ Abrams Star Trek movies (which is actually fan fiction done right IMO.)
So, fellow comic book readers: Keep reading! And remember, even if you don’t like it, at least we live in an age where we can see live action versions of our printed heroes.
Ciao,
Dennis.

 

10/08/2014

Gotham: The Balloonman

All I’m going to say about this episode is Oswald Cobblepot.

That’s all you need to know.

Otherwise, it was a very pedestrian episode, you could tell that Bruno didn’t write this one. But, once again, Oswald Cobblepot.

Watch it!

10/08/2014

The Flash: City of Heroes

The premier episode of The Flash (Vol. 2 if we went by comic numbering) gave viewers and comic fans all that they could hope for.  Adopting the formula of  Arrow it used enough names and site references to either make you groan in disgust or be intrigued.  I’m not going to be too detailed in this report because I’m sure most of you haven’t seen it yet, normally I wouldn’t have either but I couldn’t wait.

So, I’ll just regale you with my thoughts on certain items:

Characters:

For the most part the lead characters were very well developed. The twist of having Iris’ dad being a cop who essentially raised Barry is good. Of course, to the purists in the audience (myself included) it kind of irks us too.

Barry is surprisingly tolerable here. To be honest, I thought that having him be so young to a miserable bastard like myself would be very off-putting. But, it worked, or more accurately, the actor made it work.

The head scratching addition is the character of Cisco Ramon, or to be Vibe. Obviously Geoff Johns has a fascination with making this character relevant. Yes, I know, his power will negate The Flash’s in his world (in my world The Flash is way too smart and powerful but, I’m not the writer yet…) Personally, I don’t think that Vibe will ever be relevant. But, they have to try because after all, his ethnicity is…

Costume:

When he finally did obtain the costume it was a Mehh moment for me. The one thing I did notice that they really leaned on a lot of the elements that were introduced in The Flash television series vol. 1.  Barry has monitors and communication devices attached to him while in the suit. Gee, do we see an episode where his mentor/STAR labs founder shuts him down remotely?

By the way, I still feel that the costume from The Flash vol. 1 was better.

References:

There are enough here to make a fan-boy shout with glee or enough to make the O’Fletcher curators smile or grimace.  I will say this, they were fun for the most part. Of course, all of them paled in relation to the empty cage in the lab.

Overall major plot device:

I’m torn on this one. See, I grew up in an era where you just accepted certain things and there didn’t have to be an actual cause to how and why things are. In an obvious bow to the clamoring of the internet and half-assed knowledge trolls we have the explanation for everyone’s meta-human powers coming from the particle accelerator accident.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it actually makes sense in Barry’s case. I mean, if you have total control over every atomic particle in your life then it would only make sense that being exposed to a particle accelerator wave would make you part of the speed force. Right??

Conclusion:

I really think that it is a very fun episode. Some of the great moments are the inclusion of John Wesley Shipp as Barry’s dad and the meeting between The Flash and Green Arrow (we had our Justice League moment …)

Also, the final appearance of a newspaper from the future, well…

Until next time….

 

09/29/2014

Gotham: Episode 2: Selina Kyle

Well, what did the second episode show us? As it settled into a more comfortable police story many of the actors seemed more at ease in their roles.
Gotham takes it’s turn as a more overt cop show now. Yes, we still have the well known names that are going to turn into our favorite heroes/villains but Bruno Heller decides to settle in a little now.
This episode, named “Selina Kyle” focuses, for the most part on, you guessed it, young Selina Kyle. As she is captured by a couple of flesh peddlers (Deliciously played by Lili Taylor and Frank Whaley) we bear witness to her hiding and escape prowess.
Now, once again, we aren’t going to regurgitate the plot but will comment on the characters who caught our eyes.
James Gordon: A lot more forceful this time around. Beginning to get his ‘sea legs’ about him in Gotham’s cesspool.
Harvey Bullock: Interestingly, Harvey seems to be a little more contained. AND, the big reveal is he’s Jewish!
Fish: The less said the better. Still the weakest character/actor on the show. I can’t wait till Oswald gets her.

Oswald Cobblepot: Again, he steals the show. Period.

Selina Kyle: This episode tried to give us a greater insight on who and what she is. Guess what? It didn’t. I don’t know if it’s because she’s a kid, or I just don’t care about her yet but she really adds nothing to the show yet. And, her big ‘reveal’ at the end. Well, let me just say, MMeeehh.

However, once again, a pretty good show and I like where parts of it are going. Is it groundbreaking? Absolutely not. But, once again geeks, it’s not geared towards you, it’s geared towards the non-comic fan and as such it does a decent job. It’s actually the Princess’s must see show of the season so far.

On a final note: I notice that the pace of the show in terms of the main characters is quite quick. I get the impression that Bruno understands the possibility of the show not making it out of the first season so he wastes no time in establishing the relationship between Bruce and James.  I, for one, am kind of glad. I mean it took Smallville 22 seasons to introduce Lois Lane… so let’s see how quick it takes Bruce to start training.

Until next time…

Dennis.

09/25/2014

Gotham

Before we start with the review, a disclosure: As most of you know, there is a certain hope and contempt that I hold for comic book television adaptations that are placed on the air. I start out with a fanboy’s excitement and then I’m slowly brought down to earth based upon either the medium’s shortfalls or the writers’ ineptitude.
A good example of this is/was Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. What could have been in my opinion, a great bridge between each successive Marvel movie instead turned out to be a boring, ill-produced show that while it occasionally had fun references just served to lose my interest. Whether it is the amateur acting, poor physical stunt work, or merely the drawn out boring storylines it just didn’t do it for me.

That being said, another thing to keep in consideration for these shows is the trend to make them ‘real’. It seems like ever since Smallville captured many people’s attention the trend has become status quo for the new shows. While the whole concept of comic books is pure science fiction fantasy, apparently the ‘creators’ have this innate need to provide plausible explanations to every little nuance.
Now, onto Gotham.
Gotham gives us on television the most well known mythos in comic book lore. I think you’ll be hard pressed to find any non-comic fan who doesn’t know the association between The Batman and the city he loves and protects, Gotham. What the casual or even moderate comic book fan doesn’t know are the origins of the character’s supporting cast within that city. And, quite frankly, the characters’ origins have been so altered over the years that they lend themselves to open interpretations.
The first episode was loaded with intros. Now, while the main protagonist is James Gordon (Commissioner he’s not yet) the writer wasted no time in introducing us to the supporting cast and their ‘new’ origins. Now, as most of you know by my prior reviews, I’m not going to regurgitate the show’s plot. I assume that if you’re reading this you’ve already viewed the show and are merely looking for something else to read/discuss about it. So, if you’re looking for a rehash do me a favor and go to one of those moron sites.
Now, let’s review the characters in this episode starting from good, best, to worst.
Good:
James Gordon: A combat veteran who obviously has seen way too much gun violence during his tour of duty.
Harvey Bullock: A cynical weathered Policeman who has adapted to the grimy undercurrents that currently rule Gotham and its police department. Possibly a good cop who has drifted towards the bad element.
Selina Kyle (Catwoman): A young street urchin who is apparently living on her own and steals to survive. The intriguing thing about her is that now she is Bruce’s age and they’ve removed the prostitution story line from her background.
Ivy Pepper: A very young girl whose father is killed due to the fact that he is set up for the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne. This is actually pretty neat if you think about it. In this universe Ivy will not only have motivation to abhor the Gotham police department but also Bruce Wayne. She’s kind of the reverse Batman.
Renee Montoya: A female officer in a man’s world. The intriguing element I found with her is that like Bullock, she has adapted to the environment she’s in. Not an entirely good cop but I don’t think she’s an overtly bad cop either. Additionally, the writer didn’t back away from her sexual orientation and gave us an intriguing sub-plot of her past relationship with the soon-to-be Mrs. Barbara Gordon.
Alfred Pennyworth: This is a wait-and-see type of character. Training Bruce to conquer his fear? Perhaps he plays a bigger role in the creation of The Batman in this universe than in others.
Best:
Oswald Cobblepot: This character is deliciously creepy. Between the actor’s portrayal, and the writer’s writing, this character stole the episode for me. I honestly cannot wait to see if they develop him into the master crimelord he could be. I honestly think this is one of the best portrayals of a comic book character since Heath Ledger’s Joker.

Edward Nygma: For the brief time he was on the screen this was another great portrayal. The nice touch here is that they made Nygma a part of the police force. This should lend itself to some interesting events.
Worst:
Fish Mooney: Spare me. Was this character created just to give this actress a job or is there an actual purpose to her. Granted, I have an immediate dislike bias towards the actress but in all fairness, the character itself is weak. The only thing I will be looking forward to is this character’s come-uppance at the hands of Mr. Cobblepot.

Well, that’s it for now. I would definitely rate this program as a must watch. They did a great job of giving the mainstream audience a show where they can get into and the hard fans enough morsels to bite on.
Till next week…
Dennis
P.S. Oh, with the inclusion of Crispus Allen as a character does this mean we have a possibility of the Spectre on this show? I know that we have Jim Corrigan on the upcoming Constantine show but one can ponder, can’t we?

09/10/2014

It’s a fun time for comic book fans!  This fall many of our DVRs will be smoking and pushing the limits on their record times.  We have Five, count ’em, 5 comic book related shows in primetime television!

Monday nights: Gotham

Tuesday nights: Flash and then Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

Wednesday nights: Arrow

Friday nights: Constantine (in the death slot of 10pm)

And this doesn’t count the upcoming I, Zombie or the Netflix quadra group or everyone’s favorite zombie drama!

Have we ever had so many properties on television at the same time? (Not counting animated series!)

10/17/2013

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD update:

So, what did we learn in the latest episode?

• The action sequences (what little they are) actually got better. They still aren’t on par with ARROW but at least they were better than a Yellow Belt drill we got in the prior episode.
• The acting by all of the women actors is still poor. Ming-Na Wen appears to be trying to emulate a rock. Elizabeth Henstridge has mastered the act of always appearing surprised with every bit of dialogue. But the award for poorest actress in a regular series goes once again to Chloe Bennet as Skye. I’ve seen high school drama students be more convincing than this poor soul.
• The technology exists to build cybernetic/android replicas. The BIG reveal was the artificial eye that Akela had was far more advanced than the tech gurus at SHIELD could fathom. Who has built this and for what purpose (Hank Pym anyone)?

Thus, the show sets us up, not too cleverly, for the Agent Coulson/Vision reveal in the upcoming AVENGERS II.  Gee,  who has created this tech so advanced and will it go rogue? Duh, obviously, because Akela’s tech was infiltrating SHIELD (and the more I think about it, obviously they are going to make Ultron more of a HAL where he gains awareness and strikes out against humanity).

‘sigh’  although this episode was an improvement over the prior ones the writing was clunky and predictable. I expect as much from the Whedons but it dawned on me that Jeph Loeb is an executive producer on this. Come on, Jeph! Even your COMMANDO was more entertaining (MUCH MORE)!

******Till Next Time!*****

10/11/2013

****UPDATE****

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELDhas been ordered for a full season by ABC.

Now, for those of you who think that this shows the commitment to the ratings of the show, think again. The ratings have fallen with each successive episode (of course, ARROW premiered to less than was expected also) and despite how they spin it, so have the DVR viewings.

However, consider this. The show is instrumental to the upcoming AVENGERS 2movie and, this the big AND, ABC along with Marvel is owned by Disney. So, put two and two together and take the news for what it’s worth.

I realize that this just sounds like my constant meandering about how I do not like the show but it is quite the opposite. I WANT the show to do well. Just write and perform it better!

10/10/2013

Okay, so I’m three episodes into the Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD series (Yes, I realized that I panned it prior but, it’s a geek’s unwritten rule that even though we panned a comic related show, we still watch in the remote hope we’ll see something cool. Anyways…).

And, to my surprise, my opinion has changed.

FOR THE WORST.

I don’t know what happened, but it actually looks like the production values got worse for the past two episodes. The effects look like they were left over from The Incredible Hulk. If that is even possible.

The other thing that bothers me is the unrealistic fighting scenes. I haven’t seen such terrible fight choreography since The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  The past week’s episode was simply terrible. In addition to boring interaction between the characters it’s an added insult that the action is so lame.

That being said, in case any of you failed to notice, the series (if it lasts long enough) is designed to fit into the next Avengers movie. Thus, for all of you Marvelites, be prepared to have an appearance of the Vision in the next movie.

Why? You may ask. Gee, it isn’t too obvious that Agent Coulson is an android. With the not-so-subtle references that have been uttered in the show. Case in point, last week we got, “You’re a little rusty there Coulson (sic)”

Not too obvious, is it? And if it does come to fruition, remember, you read it here first!

Watch Arrow, trust me.

 

09/25/2013

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD premiered the other night. A highly anticipated comic book based show featuring the Marvel Movie Universe incarnation of Stan and Jack’s covert government operation.

My review is one word…’Snore’

Similar to Ironman 3 Disney’s influences on the product is obvious. In order to p

rovide diversification we have four (4) female characters. An American, an Asian, and an Englishwoman along with the necessary metrosexual male.

Additionally, even though the show had a big budget the show plodded and dragged and had quite the lame ‘villain’/ ‘hapless victim’ storyline.

Yes, I realize that they are ‘setting us up for something bigger’ but, please, with the money of Disney behind them they couldn’t come up with a better story?

All that being said, I will be giving it another try after all, I’m thinking that it was just a pilot. However, I do think it will be difficult to rally around Agent Coulson. It wouldn’t hurt if they had an apearance or two from SHIELD’s director.

Till next episode… (or, just do yourself a favor and watch ARROW,Yeah it’s a little lame production wise but the story and action is better along with the introduction of DCU characters.)