Review: Arrow (1S01)

October 10, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

Review: Arrow (1S01)

CW's Arrow

CW’s Arrow

I’ll admit that I know a little more than diddley squat about Green Arrow. As seen with my fan fic being Marvel based, I’m not much into DC (except to say that Batman: TAS is the second best cartoon of all time). But seeing that I enjoyed at least the first few seasons of Smallville, there are some actors in here that I enjoy, and a tv series based on a comic book is right up my alley, I thought I’d give it a go.

I was told that Green Arrow was basically Batman… with arrows… and not as afraid to hurt and/or kill people… and that’s pretty much what we got here. This really is Batman Begins for the small screen, with arrows, right down to the “thought you were dead” billionaire disappearance only to come back wicked strong fighter and Lone Ranger-esque “I’m really just a playboy, honest”.

Anyway, I’m going to skip over that part because I just don’t have the background to know where they went away from the comics and where they held true. I take this as a good thing as it’s a perspective I’m attempting to write for in my Series.

So all that leaves is… everything else.

The Bad:
The voice over work. Not sure if it’s the actor or the direction or the dialogue itself but it just doesn’t have any punch to it at all. Might as well be reading the phone book and while yes, there are some people I’d happily listen to read the phone book, but this guy ain’t one of them.
Queen looks like a poor man’s Chris O’Donnell.

The Good:
The episode is accessible. As I said, I don’t know much about Green Arrow but I’m not lost, scratching my head, or annoyed that I might be missing the joke.

The Ugly:
It’s so much like Batman Begins and is so overly gritty that I’m ‘so over this’ like last decade. I was hoping for a slightly more light-hearted approach ala Smallville, not this uber-realistic stuff that is the trend. Granted, I could be asking for something that simply isn’t in the comics so what can I say?

The show does come on before Supernatural which I have an on-again off-again love/hate relationship with so I’ll stick out a few more episodes, see what I think once it finds all it’s legs… but until then, giving this series a middle of the road mark, it can go either way.

Oh, and the piece de la resistance? Seeing an advertisement for a local archery shop during the commercial… I’ve never ever seen an ad for this place ever… 😉

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Prospects

October 8, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

CinemBlend carried and article discussion from a Crave Online interview and the nuts and bolts of it is that the lady who has produced all the X-Men movies is up for crossing the streams.

As I mentioned in my previous post about why I chose to have this series “air” on Fox, I mentioned that the ideal situation would be for Fox and Marvel to make a deal to produce the tv-series since Fox holds the cinematic licensing rights to the characters but Marvel has a better grasp on bringing those characters to life. Apparently the producer is up for such a cross-over/team-up on a larger scale ala the films.

Many commenters have cried gold-digger as Avengers has done so well and everyone wants a piece of that pie. The way I look at it, if it gets us an awesome X-Men/Avengers team-up movie (or closer to an X-Men live action tv series) then they can gold dig all they want.

The real problem is with the fact that Avengers is tonaly different from X-Men, especially in how X-Men attempted to make a more realistic spin on the comics while Avengers, while more realistic than the comics, is a lot more apt to ‘just go with it’. Also, unless they work it with the reboot supposedly happening with Days of Future Past, most of the main characters everyone knows are dead or been horribly mis-characterized (not to mention the actors are older and moved on).

Still, this could work, in the hands of the right writers, director, etc, a crossover movie more epic than Avengers is possible. All of the origin’s are out of the way for the Avengers team, depending on what we see in more X-Men films, those origins should be out of the way too. All you really need is a reason for them to either team up and/or fight each other and just let them go to town!

Personally, I’d have the movie start with the Avengers stumbling into an X-Men vs Brotherhood scenario and Rogue just kicking the butts of the Avengers (which is totally canon)… but then I am biased.

Posted in News and Editorials | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #17

September 27, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

Wolverine and the X-Men #17

Wolverine and the X-Men #17

Wolverine and the X-Men #17

I think this is the funniest comic book I have ever read… seriously… from the crazy Nazi Bowling League to Wolvie dressed as Cyclops to a nun representing the internet…

I laughed… so hard…

While the issue did offer some valuable information about Doop and expand his character by leaps and bounds (I never knew he was such a bad-a)… it really was one zany joke after another and all I could do was laugh till I almost cried…

Doop and The Duck… OMG!
I would seriously read a comic of just that… heheheheheheh

It’s go good to be able to pick up a comic and find some laughter and joy… I hope this series continues on this path!

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Review: Gambit #3

September 27, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

Gambit #3

Gambit #3

Gambit #3

The story is rushing along quite nicely… we’re getting a little more depth out of the female lead (who is still a bucket of clichés though)… but #3 in our lovely new Gambit series feels a bit, well, like it’s just there, a segway. “Here is everything you need to know, tune in next week to get the good stuff”.

But Gambit is still there, being Gambit, though more of his subdued side than his witty (but the wit is there). And there is definitely some lampshading going on which is quite nice. Overall though, not a memorable issue but not a bad one either.

Have I mentioned though my annoyance at the colors and pencils in this? Well, mostly the colors, it’s like watercolors and I guess it’s a personal thing but I prefer the stronger, bolder stuff, like in WatX, Legacy, Deadpool… almost every other comic I read basically.

Can’t complain too much though… we’re getting a lot of man-candy and that is never a bad thing when Gambit is involved…

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Review: X-Men Legacy #274

September 27, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

X-Men Legacy #274

X-Men Legacy #274

X-Men Legacy #274

The moment that every ROMY has been waiting for has finally arrived. Marvel teased us about Mag’s ‘big question’ for Rogue and while I was sure it wasn’t going to be a marriage proposal, I prepared myself for the worst. So while I’m glad that it turned out he only wanted them to get back together and in a roundabout way ‘move in together’, I’m kinda annoyed at Rogue’s response.

Basically, she gives him the same brush off as she gave Gambit.

X-Men # 224
Rogue: But Remy– Ah’m not ready yet to talk about us. Ah don’t know how Ah feel right now. About you, or about me, even.

Annoying for ROMY fans but okay, fair enough, she just learned how to control her powers, this isn’t some forced surpression or random event. She needs time to process this.

Of course in that process she decides she wants to hook up with Magneto.

X-Men # 274
Rogue: Ah know mahself. Ah know as long as Ah’m with someone like you–who takes the lead instinctively, who likes it… who Ah care for… Ah’ll let ’em. […] Ah think Ah figured things out. But ah ain’t gonna know for sure until Ah’ve stood on mah own two feet for a while.

Again she’s telling her boyfriend that she needs to process her life and figure things out. I suppose in many ways this is a very realistic take on a Rogue’s personality. We all know a person like this who can’t committ to relationships, etc, because they really have no idea how to and/or are secrectly afraid. Considering Rogue’s mutation and background, the girl kinda missed that phase in our lives (usually around highschool) where we go through all this and is a majorly late bloomer in this respect.

So while kudos for a realistic approach to the situation and providing actual character growth opportunities… bollocks I say and major /headdesk

I swear… Rogue/Gambit is as bad as Ross/Rachel… but we love it so…

Oh, p.s., I do kinda feel a little bad for Mags in this, but he’s also still a bit of an arrogant prick so…

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Make It So?

September 26, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

So a bunch of news outlets including Cinema Blend are reporting that Patrick Stewart could be reprising his role as Professor X in the new X-Men Days of Future Past movie. While this actually makes logical sense in that it’s probably going to involve time travel (hopefully as a way to reboot the series and fix so much that went wrong…) I’m not sure if this is a good idea.

I mean, it worked to have Nimoy in the Star Trek reboot but it was a cold start reboot. We’ve already been introduced to the new X-Men cast and had our required cameo (Wolvie), so why keep bogging us down with the past? Dur, it is Days of Future Past, but still…

Top this on the fact that Days is a Kitty-centric storyline what with her being the one going into her past body from the future… and Kitty not being even born in First Class (well, one would think considering the age of Prof and Mags) and of course Wolvie isn’t going to be there either…

I am getting seriously worried about this movie… but then I was worried about First Class and it turned out to be the best X-Men movie so far… who knows?

Posted in News and Editorials | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

First Official Image from The Wolverine

September 24, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

Thanks to Bleeding Cool, and several other news outlets, we have the first official image from The Wolverine sporting Hugh Jackman as the titular character.

A friend of mine pointed out that they seem to be going away from Wolvie’s trademarks. The swept back hair went away in Origins: Wolverine (which could be explained by it being an ‘early’ Wolvie story) but now his sideburns have seem to gone too. So this is becoming less Wolverine and more Guy with Shiny Toothpicks.

Also, I love Hugh, I do, but he’s showing his age here and no amount of airbrushing abs and veins can cover that.

Posted in News and Editorials | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Character Spotlight: Jean Grey

September 22, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

Character Spotlight: Jean Grey

Concept:
Jean Grey is one of those characters that you love or you love to hate. Whether it’s wishing that she stepped up and was as awesome as she could be, or maybe you just want her to stop dying, everyone has a pretty opinionated opinion of her.

She is a strong character, being a telepath and a telekinetic means she can pretty much do whatever the heck she wants. In my realistic-ish universe, most powers, such as cryokinesis, terrakinesis, basically anything with kinesis at the end, is just a type of locked telekinesis. Meaning that anything Magneto, Iceman, Pyro, etc, can do, she can do, if she puts her mind to it.

That is dangerous ‘over power’ territory which is arguably why in the comics the Phoenix turned into the Dark Phoenix and it all went downhill from there. They had to reign her in somehow? Well, that’s a theory anyway.

In the movies, they decided that instead of Phoenix being an alien-like entity, they simply gave Jean a split personality ala Jeanne-Marie aka Aurora from the comics. I think this was a good move to replace the Phoenix’s cosmic origins with something more realistic. Whether or not they meant to rip off Jeanne-Marie, I don’t know, but I like the concept.

This is why in my universe there is MIDID, Mutation Induced Dissociative Identity Disorder. It’s a very real disorder to worry about as we will see from Aurora in the first season and something which holds Jean back. It’s not that she has MIDID, but she knows she could easily suffer from it, if she pushes herself too fast and too hard. So Jean is only limited by herself. This keeps her within a reasonable power threshold while adding some character traits and development tools for me to use.

As for Jean Grey not having a nickname, I couldn’t exactly use Marvel Girl in a realistic universe especially as Marvel still exists in this world. I can’t use Phoenix because she’s not Phoenix. I decided to simply not give her a mutant name because not everyone out there has a nickname nor wants one. It also allows for a mixture of character styles which keeps things interesting.

Series Biography:
Jean Grey grew up in upstate New York the daughter of a wealthy and influential lawyer who has served on several State and Congressional Councils as well as on the boards of Fortune 500 companies. She was Xavier’s first student when the first part of her mutation, telepathy, manifested at a rather young age. A few years later, her telekinesis manifests during an attack on herself, the Professor, and Scott.

Even though she is teaching and helping at Xavier’s, she’s studying to get her PhD in Genetics to better understand how mutations work and how to help her fellow mutants.

Jean has two potential suitors, Scott Summers and Warren Worthington III. Her best friend is Betsy Braddock, also a telepath, and she thinks of Kitty and Jubilee as younger sisters.

Currently Jean is the biology, natural sciences, and social science teacher at Xavier’s School for Higher Learning.

Posted in Characters | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Coincidence?

September 18, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

I’m not sure when it comes out in the US… but in November in the UK a movie comes out called Gambit.

In October in the US, a movie comes out called Sinister.

Both movies are wildly different from each other, one’s a comedy, the other a horror… but I can’t help but pause and go ‘hhhmmmm’…

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

What is Marvel up to?

September 17, 2012 by X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

Bleeding Cool pointed out that the Avengers movie has been edited for the UK and a few other European DVD releases.

Have a look-see, though you might have to go to the original site to see this:

US dvd release

Avengers DVD release in the US

UK dvd release

Avengers UK dvd release

It’s like one of those games on the back of the paper place mat at the fast food restaurant. But really, it’s kinda hard not to see the big spike sticking out (or not sticking out) of Coulson’s chest.

Why did they do this? There are a few theories but nothing flys.

It can’t be ‘censorship’ because the UK is way more forgiving than the US in these kinds of things.

It can’t be ‘reconning’ Coulson’s death because not all dvd’s have had this done.

It can’t be an accident either because, well, you’d have to literally go in and take this out. Then someone would have to put the wrong file into the machine to make these discs. I don’t really know how dvd’s are made but I assume that like most production stuff, if this was a mistake on the production end then not all UK discs would have the mistake.

Until we hear from Marvel, this remains a pretty interesting mystery…

Posted in News and Editorials | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »