Posted in Season 1, tagged 1X04, Midsummer Night's Dream, on air, xmenthefanficseries, XMTFFS on October 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »
1X04 – Midsummer Night’s Dream
Air Date: 10/18/2013
Scott is haunted by memories as the team heads to Alaska to track a newly manifested mutant. Storm confronts an old friend and digs up painful memories of her own.
Note: This is quite possibly the episode I’m most proud of so far. When ginchy read it, she said that she had four ‘least favorite’ characters, and I’m a miracle worker because I made her like/feel for two of them in this episode.
Posted in Reviews, tagged ABC, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Review, television on October 15, 2013| 2 Comments »
As much as I’m digging the comic book vibe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. mustn’t forget they are a still a live action tv series. There is no way Ward kept from looking at his hands (especially while driving) or avoided all reflective surfaces for that long of a time. If you’ve read my Arrow reviews, then you know logistics fubars like this really annoy me. Thankfully, this isn’t Arrow, it is edging there, but only just.
The issues I have with AOS lay in the oversimplified dialogue, i.e. restating what’s previously been said and verbally stating the themes. Thankfully, unlike Arrow, AOS hasn’t gone so far as to completely speechify everything, were way too much screen time is used to show a character droning on about whatever deep point the writers feel they need to make.
Also, AOS isn’t taking itself so seriously. The problem with the ‘dark, gritty’ theme is that it leaves no real room for anything else. Everything has to be so serious and existential… which gets really old, really quick. AOS is keeping the adventure theme which offers a lot more latitude. It can be funny, it can be dramatic, it can be thoughtful, it can be insane, or it can be dark. That’s what AOS is bringing to the table, a much broader sense of the universe which doesn’t have to fit in a mold.
In this episode, the action (still with awesome productive values btw), the comedy, the intrigue, and a good dose of comic book adventure, makes up for the visual fubar, relegating it to just an annoyance rather than a glaring pain. The guest character also wasn’t there as fodder, and the little touch at the end in her cell seals an emotional connection with her. The intrigue is neither bluntly tossed around nor is it insanely over-complicated.
I didn’t mean for this review to become an Arrow vs AOS (DC vs Marvel) but these points needed to be made. If AOS could just fix the dialogue then this series would be near perfect. Well, I could at least forgive the logistic issues.
Posted in Sneaks, tagged 1X09, Gambit, King of Hearts, Sneak Peak, xmenthefanficseries, XMTFFS on October 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Here is a sneak peak at episode 1X09 “King of Hearts” which airs 11/29/13 and premieres Gambit in my fan fiction series.
This is from the teaser…
“Call the thief.”
…
In an upscale apartment, the bedroom was dark except for light shining through the blinds from the neon signs beyond. A blond woman lay on her bed, hair splayed in a sweaty mess, a slight upturn to her lips.
A dark figure moved across the room, the sleeping woman oblivious as she turned and cuddled against the pillow. A King of Hearts appears beside her, and the figure moves out the door, shutting it without so much as a squeak or click.
Booted feet move down the stairwell, but again, not a sound was to be heard until a light buzzing echoed off of the beige walls. From somewhere in the maze of pockets specially sewn into the brown trench coat, the man pulled out a cell phone.
The caller ID read Helmet Hair.
Clicking accept, he brought the phone to his ear, “Bonjour.”
“We have a job for you,” he recognized the voice of Leeds’, Magneto’s little gopher, “Smithsonian. Expedited.”
“That’ll cost,” the voice of the figure came across deep, southern fried with a European garnish of smooth velvety chocolate.
“Noted,” the man expected as much, “you’ll meet Sabretooth at a specified location, I’ll text you once I have it.”
“The Kitty, huh,” he exited out of the building, walking towards the street, “cost you extra.”
“Yes,” Leeds sighed, “standard rates, I presume.”
“I’ll be there ‘fore sun up,” he told the man, clicking the phone off and tucking it into his pocket as keys appeared in his other hand.
With practiced ease, the figure straddled the classic Harley then turned over the engine which purred loudly in the moonlight. It caught the attention of a man walking his dog, but all he saw was the tail light as the bike drove off, and the distinctive white Louisiana license plate which read: THECAJUN.
Posted in Reviews, tagged comics, Fearless Defenders, Review on October 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I have to give it to Bunn, he’s doing something that is very hard to do in any franchise: bring in a new original character. keep them in the front, and make it work.
Right now there is a lot of new mutants popping up, especially in Bendis’ Uncanny X-Men you have a whole group of original characters, but they tend to just be more of a story device than actual full characters. The stories still revolve around the core group of mutants, Scott, Wolverine, Kitty, Storm, Emma, etc… characters that have at least been around since the 80s. Even in Wolverine and the X-Men , most of the story revolves around pre-existing characters like Quire and Idie, with of course a heavy dose of Wolvie. It’s like no one is really trying to shake things up and do new things.
Part of the reason is because readers will only spend so much money on the comics, it’s purely economics, there are a lot more titles to choose from and only so much money to spend. Marvel feels safer giving us known characters rather than risking new ones. Granted, that’s probably the best idea when it comes to Solo’s, but for team books, you think they would let the writers experiment more, freshen things up?
That’s what happening here in Fearless, not only do we have some of the B-List characters who are kicking butt, we’ve also been introduced to Annabelle, a brand new character who literally shares the spotlight with Valkyrie and holds her own as a character. Through her life, death, and weird body time-share thing, the reader is made to care about her and see her as a hero even if she doesn’t weld a big sword. She’s not a story device, she’s a main character along with all the others. Even if you’re not a fan of Annabelle, you’re not overwhelmed with her presence any more than, say, Misty.
This is what we should be seeing in all the X-Titles, new characters alongside the characters we already love as equals. Someone give Marvel the memo…
Posted in Reviews, tagged comics, Deadpool, Review on October 13, 2013| 2 Comments »
Deadpool put a Hello Kitty band-aid on Wolverine’s wound… that’s just the best thing ever.
I mean, really, it was. Deadpool didn’t have to do it. He didn’t even ask if could do it. He doesn’t even point out that he does it. He pats Wolverine on the shoulder and leaves a band-aid behind because the mutant can no longer heal himself. It’s these little things that show the nuance of his character beyond the ‘one note joke’ people often accuse him of being.
He may joke a lot, be rude and crude, but he’s not a bad person. Somewhere underneath there is a decent man, one who is just very horribly scarred, and I’m not talking about his cancerous skin.
As for the main story, it ranges between hilarious and really sad. And good on Captain America to not back off simply because of the possibility of making an international fubar, what with them being in North Korea and everything. He’s doing what’s right for these unfortunate people who have been experimented on. I know Cap and Wolvie ‘say’ they aren’t Deadpool’s friend, but their actions speak louder than words… it’s just sad that this is the way they have to play this game.
Next issue we’ll come face to face with Butler and possibly even more mutated experiments… and perhaps learn the truth about Eleanor.
Posted in Behind the Scenes, tagged crushedburrito, X-Men: Thick as Thieves, xevg, XMTFFS on October 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
As promised, here is a sneak at what would be the fan fic X-Men: Thick as Thieves. This is actually the opening of the first chapter after the prologue. It’s a bit rough still, and it’s position could change, should I ever actually get to finishing Thick as Thieves.
This is for xevg and crushedburrito.
Jacob Gavin Jr. stood in the foyer of the Xavier mansion, adjusting his tie with one hand, a manila envelope tucked against his side.
“Courier,” Rogue said as she came down the hallway, crossing her arms to stand in front of the man, “is he in trouble?”
“Who?” Courier knitted his brow, then let out a breathy, “Ah. Gambit? I wouldn’t know. I haven’t talked to him since Monte Carlo.”
“Really?” everyone had heard about the Monte Carlo incident.
“Yes,” he gave her a questioning look, “what made you think he sent me?”
Rogue stilled her jaw, taking a breath, “Why else would ya be here, asking for me in particular?”
“Because it’s my job?” he replied with a grin, holding up the envelope.
“Someone sent me something?” that surprised her and she reached for the package.
Courier tipped it up out of her reach, “Gambit did tell me about what happened in Vegas, well, most of it.”
“Didn’t take you for a gossip mongerer,” Rogue said dryly.
“I have my moments,” he gave her one of his most charming smiles, not quite on the level of Remy LeBeau, but dashing enough.
Rogue frowned, “Ya want me ta drag ya out the window again?”
“Hhmm,” that wiped the smirk from his face, “this place does have a lot of windows.”
“Yes, it does,” she smiled sweetly as she took the envelope, “who’s this from?”
“Shiro Yoshida,” he spoke the given name of the Japanese mutant known as Sunfire, “it was a priority over-night.”
“Priority over-night, from Shiro?” why would he be sending her anything, at all, she hadn’t spoken to him since the incident with Gambit and the Yakuza.
Opening the manila envelope, she pulled out a small stack of papers, the top one being a card with a hand-written note in Chinese characters:
I tried to kill the story, I failed.
The next sheet was a photo, a bit grainy, taken from a surveillance camera. There were three distinct figures, Shiro, Mystique, and Rogue.
The rest of the papers was a dossier, a quick glanced showed it to be a timeline and references to specific evidence being held in lock up. Evidence of one of the greatest crimes against the Japanese people, and it all pointed to three mutant terrorists.
“Are you okay?” Courier asked when Rogue had gone silent.
Rogue’s phone started to ring in her pocket before she had a chance to answer. Pulling it out, she saw Cyclops was calling her. When was the story going to hit the news feed? Soon, obviously, since Shiro sent over the information priority. Could this be what her team leader was calling about?
It didn’t matter.
Declining the call, she looked up at Courier, “Can ya give me a lift to Japan, I know I can fly, but it’s a long way and I have a feeling I’m gonna need my strength.”
Courier smiled, “Your return passage was already booked.”
…
Posted in News and Editorials, tagged CinemaBlend, Days of Future Past, Evan Peters, Quicksilver, X-Men on October 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
via CinemaBlend
Off the bat, comic book fans will be happy to hear Quicksilver will be keeping the signature part of his design in the comics for the live-action film. Asked if the superhero will be sporting his trademark silver hair, Peters responded, “Yes. Yeah. Yeah, it’s cool.” And while the site wasn’t able to get any details about the suit that the character will be wearing into battle, apparently the star was a fan of some of the 70’s fashion he got to sport, including what he calls “a pretty sweet jacket.”
In addition to the look of the costume, the interviewer also talked with the actor about the set you see in the photograph above, which Singer called the brightest set he’s ever worked on. All of the lights were necessary for filming with high speed cameras (operating at 3600 frames per second), which Singer used to stylistically capture Quicksilver’s incredible powers. It sounds like the makings of some very cool sequences, but apparently it was a difficult set to work on for the actors. Explained Peters,
“It was incredibly bright. A lot of the crew and Bryan, himself, got to wear sunglasses. And the actors had to keep their eyes open for a long, long time, with that bright light just blaring at you. It’s like the sun. It’s brighter than the sun. It’s right there in your eyes. But the end result is so worth it. You just power through it.”
Explaining the effect, the actor said that the sequences will go into “super, super, super, super slomo” to the point where it will appear that raindrops are frozen in midair. He added, “It’s amazing how that camera works.”
X-Men: Days of Future Past has completed its principal production process and has now been placed in the hands of the editors and visual effects artists who will work to get the movie ready for release on May 23, 2014. In addition to Peters the film also stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Ellen Page, Daniel Cudmore, Adam Canto, Peter Dinklage, Omar Sy, Booboo Stewart, Josh Helman, and Fan Bing Bing.
Posted in Reviews, tagged comics, Review, X-Men on October 12, 2013| 2 Comments »
Seven chapters into the Battle of the Atom and suddenly everything starts to happen.
The supposed good future X-Men turn bad pretty quickly, mostly cause future!Xavier (or whoever) lost his temper for no reason. I can understand him going nuts after he learned that young!Bobby and young!Hank went into the future… but he lost his marbles before that even happened. It all felt really pushed in a ‘quick, they need to be the bad guys now’ kind of way.
Jubilee so far has been a pretty fun mom, and I think it’s awesome the students made Shogo a ‘hamster ball’. That’s just the cutest thing ever. And future!Shogo showing up and calling her mom, one of the first moments in this time travel thing that’s made me not cringe.
But what did was the shape shifting ‘son’ of Mystique and Logan? I mean? Wha? Huh? I call B.S. And have I mentioned I hate these types of time travel arcs? And is Wolverine’s healing factor messed up? Did I miss something there? That’s what I get for not reading the bazillon Wolverine titles…
But Deadpool was awesome… then… when is he not?
Posted in Reviews, tagged Astonishing X-Men, comics, Review on October 12, 2013| 4 Comments »
And Astonishing X-Men leave us, not with a bang, not with a futile attempt at over-existentializing, but with grace and dignity.
I mean, a lot of comics and tv shows, when they end, try to do things up with big, massive, world-ending stuff that’s wrapped up in a few panels. Others try to get a bit too deep, like the characters inside are actually ‘dying’. Then some just leave us on some WTF cliff-hanger.
Astonishing takes the inspired way out and simply doesn’t end. Not in the ‘wait, what the heck happens next’ kind of way Gambit ended, but in the ‘these characters are going about their lives, I’ve simply stopped being the one telling the story’.
It is kinda annoying we don’t know the legal state of Jean-Paul and Kyle, but in the way that’s kinda better because otherwise the whole issue could have devolved into legal mumbo and socio-political boxing. Which wouldn’t have been bad if it wasn’t the final issue. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this situation, though I’m not sure of the how/where for now.
So, yeah, the biggest lesson from this finale is that life goes on. It may seem difficult and lost at times… but it always finds its place.
Damn, I’m gonna miss this title.
Posted in Behind the Scenes, tagged chrushedburrito, X-Men: Among Thieves, X-Men: Thick as Thieves, xevg on October 12, 2013| 2 Comments »
A few days ago, crushedburrito and xevg asked about the sequel to X-Men: Among Thieves, a fan fic I wrote last year that was a ‘full length movie’ with Gambit and Rogue. The sequel was entitled X-Men: Thick as Thieves. I have a little bit of it done but XMTFFS kinda took up my time and I just couldn’t get the muse to work on Thieves. Here is the summary of what the story would be… I’ll still work on finding a good scene to post.
He was charming, she was annoyed.
In Among Thieves, Gambit, the ultimate lady’s man, and Rogue, the untouchable woman… improvised.
However, as time went on, the couple’s inability to touch proved too much of a strain on their relationship. Now, with Rogue a full member of the X-Men and Gambit still a thief for hire, the two eek out an existence as friends… when they aren’t at each other’s throats.
But when Sunfire needs Rogue’s help after their past comes to light, Rogue will once again have to track down a mystery which will take her across the world to unlock secrets she didn’t know she had… and she’ll need Gambit’s help to do it.
Bloodthirsty Yakuza, tenacious Interpol agents, a ruthless assassin, and a priest… this isn’t the beginning of a joke, but by the end, Rogue and Gambit might have wished it was.
Always Bet On Red.
Feature Length Gambit & Rogue fan fic movie by JCRG. Cover art by VagabondX
X-Men: The (fan fic) Series 