Yay! A New Post

Since I haven't done this in awhile, I thought today I'd lay out a couple of things I would do if I was Editor In Chief of Marvel. The first would be that when they show a crowd scene at a nightclub or bar or whatever, somewhere in the background there would be a Madrox dupe. I think this would be a fun idea and a neat little Where's Waldo type gag running through all the Marvel books.
Next I would create a Marvel Team-Up book that each month would focus on a completely different team (I've already listed some of my favorite ideas for one in previous posts) and finally, I would have a series devoted to the misadventures of Wolfsbane and Husk. I really think this would make for an awesome series especially considering both gals' connection to Cannonball.
Oh, something that I would do if I ever got to write a Spider-Man book, every couple of issues I would tease that the next book would be the one where Spidey gets married.

If you don't wanna take risks get out of comics and play Black Jack

Since, I'm not really using it for anything at the moment. I thought it would be fun to apply my business degree to the woes of the comic book industry and I think it's fairly obvious to all of us comic book fans why the industry is facing contraction when with all the movies and what not they put out you would think that they would be gaining fans instead of slowly losing them. One of the big problems for the Big Two I feel is that they are part of huge companies and like most large companies they are risk adverse and the fact is being risk adverse well seeming like a good way to go, but when it comes to entertainment companies that is the exact opposite of good business. Which seems to be one of the reasons most of the various entertainment industries especially; the movie, television (or at least network television) and comic industries are facing similar contractions mainly because they don't seem to be willing to take as big of risks nowadays as they did in the past after all if you aren't throwing out new ideas to see what sticks how will you the next big thing?
I think the other major problem for comics was when that switched to the direct market only model. Once they got themselves off of the newsstands and into selling only through comic book shops I feel it signaled to the rest of the world that comics are only for a niche audience and made it harder for those how may not of thought about it, to not try out comic books. I don't think I would have gotten into comics if it was not for the spinner rack at the grocery store, since that was were I got all my comics up until I was around 12 or so. Now, I don't want to seem like I'm bashing comic books stores, after all I love my LCS. However, I also see we that being the only place to get comics as one of the reasons for the shrinking comic book market, when you do think this would be a great time of comic books building their market with all of the successful movies and games like Arkham Asylum (which even the folks I know that aren't into comics love that game) it just seems like this industry I love is relenting when they could (if they were willing to take some real risks) really do something awesome with the opportunities they currently have and, I think it would be a real shame if this industry went the way of the buggy whip industry simply because they are to risk adverse. At least that's how I see it at any rate.

Flushpoint???

After hearing all the news about Flashpoint (which is a story that I have no real interest in to begin with)and reading various blogs about it. I have come to the conclusion that I don't really care about whether or not DC is doing a hard or soft re-boot. The main thing I'm concerned about is whether or not I will be able to enjoy the stories of the characters I enjoy reading about. Which looks like at least a couple of them mainly Stargirl and Stephenie Brown are not likely to be doing much for a while. The other thing that it brings to the fore for me is that I've never been all that heavy into continuity and would much rather read something entertaining than something that lines up with what came before. I think part of this stems from my preference for episodic storytelling that doesn't rely on watching or reading every episode (or issue) in order to enjoy the story. Though, on the flip side I think there should be some consistency with the characters which Marvel and DC are pretty good at maintaining with their top tier characters (well, when the characters aren't making deal with the devil to end their marriage anyways). One of the writers I think has done a good job at this (so far) is Rick Remender over on Uncanny X-Force. Each month he has just been blowing me away. I guess I don't really have a point to this post other than as long as the stories are good I'll still read DC books and if the stories are lame, well then there are quite a few awesome book I will continue to read that aren't produced by DC. So, to the whole controversy I say... MEH!

He's a Lobster... With a mission

Lately, I decided to read the Fallen Angels comics I picked up at last years Comic Fest (2010) and I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. Not, because it's a great comic because it's actually pretty bad, but more because of the Nacho levels of cheese in the book. For those of you that aren't in the know, Fallen Angels is a miniseries from 1986 that follows Roberto DeCosta(Sunspot) after he injures Sam Gutherie(Cannonball) while the New Mutants play a soccer match. Sunspot runs away and Warlock follows, with them missing Magneto calls Moira to help him run the Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters and she brings Siryn and Madrox (whom volunteer to go into New York City to find Roberto).

While in the city Roberto attempts to rescue a girl named Chance he sees being accosted by some street toughs. We are then introduced to Chance's friend Ariel (who has an ability similar to Gateway's powers) and of course, the character(s) besides Devil Dinosaur that gives this series its cheesy goodness, is Gomi(which apparently means garbage in Japanese)and his mutant cyborg lobster friends Bill and Don. As I may have mentioned on here one of the things I love about comics is the ludicrousness that can only work in this medium and Gomi, Bill and, Don are a perfect example of this.

Gomi is a teenage cyborg whose cousin (literally) filled his head with cybernetic components in the hopes of recreating Marvel Girl's (Jean Grey) powers because he and his partner in crime had a huge crush on her and hoped they could make a fortune selling the cybernetic implants to the public. However then run out of money and the implants don't quite work as they should. The pair of would-be mad scientists decide their plan is a bust they decide to eat the lobsters and possibly Gomi as well. Luckily, Gomi and the lobsters are able to escape and and meet up with Ariel, Chance and their fearless(lmfao) leader The Vanisher, whom vanishes whenever there is trouble or a fight and has named their group of pickpockets the Fallen Angels.

Because, of Warlock and Sunspot saving her Chance asks them to join their team they do and after they find them Siryn and Madrox decide to join the team because why the hell not. It's not like they are starring in any comics at this time. Then Ariel and Chance decide they should rescue their former teammate Boom-Boom (Tabitha Smith) from those mutant hunters X-Factor (back when it was the original 5 X-Men). This works out for Tabitha since Beast and Iceman are kinda pissed that has just made a table with one of Beast's experiments on it explode, using her little time bomby things. Then a trip to the planet or dimension or whatever Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur live in and the team is complete. Consisting of Sunspot, Warlock, Madrox, Siryn, Boom-Boom, Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur, The Vanisher, Chance, Ariel, Gomi, Bill and last but not least Don. Earning this team the distinction of being one of the most random teams in comics.

Right around the time they get all the members together, the Vanisher tells them to go "foraging" for food and/or money. While doing this they run into a rogue Madrox dupe and Devil Dinosaur accidentally steps on and kills Bill the mutant cyborg lobster (man, I enjoy using that phrase). Which creates the subplot of Don wanting revenge on Devil Dinosaur for killing his best friend, and the rest of the team trying to convince him that although, he may be a cyborg lobster that it would be awfully dumb of him to try and attack a mutant T-Rex. Soon, Ariel invites the team to come hang out on planet(?) Coconut Grove. The team figures sure why not and follows her there. After the people of Coconut Grove forcibly give the team makeovers they reveal why Ariel was sent to Earth to seek out mutants. It turns out there hasn't been a mutation on Coconut Grove in millions of years and they need the DNA of the Mutants that Ariel has collected in order to help them evolve and mutate, oh and it also turns out much to their protesting through out the issue that both Ariel and Chance are mutants. Turns out Chance has the mutant power to augment or nullify the powers of other mutants depending on the demands of the script and Ariel can manipulate people with her voice.

Well, the folks of Coconut Grove capture the Fallen Angels (except for Boom-Boom and Don). They then take Madrox and Sunspot away to experiment on and extract their mutant gene. Don initially comes in only wanting to rescue Gomi. But, after a rousing speech about forgiveness, Don decides to help free all of the Fallen Angels even including Devil Dinosaur. After beating up the guards and taking their keys Don manages to free the others. Then the go off in order to save Roberto and Jamie. They do so, and after returning to their hideout at Beat Street, Warlock and Sunspot decide to go back and rejoin the New Mutants, while Madrox and Siryn decide to continue with the Fallen Angels and thus ends the book.

Comic Fest 2011 (just a tad late)

Even though it's been almost two weeks since I went to Comic Fest here in Denver, life had been a little too hectic to do any posts on it until now :(
So, like the last couple of years I had fun, but it's also getting to where the comic book area is getting to small. There weren't as many vendors there as the previous years but, luckily wasn't quite as cramped as it was last year. I got a copy of the Generation X movie, an Autograph from Amy Reeder for my copy of Batwoman #0 as well as a nice stack of quarter bin goodness.
Besides, the holiday this last weekend (Easter). My Sister welcomed a new son to the world the day after Comic Fest and a few other things have kept me from being able to post :( I have a couple of posts I'm working on that will hopefully be up here soon as well prepping a script I'm hoping to get published (Sadly it's not the Irredeemable X-Men, since apparently Axel Alonso does not read my blog). But, I'm attempting to get a few pokers in the fire (so to speak) and until then I'm hoping to get on here more often (like I have been saying for months now I would). Well, I should probably end my rambling now before I left out too many details of my life and as always I hope my few faithfull readers are doing well :)

That bridge is cursed, ya know

Sorry, once again my faithful readers. I've been meaning to post more regularly, but lately I just haven't been able to think of anything to write, even though quite a bit has been happening in comics this last month. On another note this weekend is Comic Fest here in Denver, and I'm pretty psyched once agian Amy Reeder and Matthew Sturges will be there along with J. Scott Cambell and a bunch of other folks. Of course, I have been reading Wolverine and Jubilee (which btw is awesome) and last week I started reading Batgirl, which I should have been doing all along since I dig Stephanie Brown and all but something about it just hadn't clicked with me before. The Valentine's issue was pretty entertaining probably even more so since it guest starred Clarion the witch boy and the end literally had me laughing out loud. I was a bit sad that Deadpool Corps. ended this month, but so far Deadpool Family is making up for it. Maybe it's time for another post mortem review so I can get more in-depth with what made me enjoy Deadpool Corps so much. Well, I think that's enough rambling for now. Just thought I would catch all you fine folks up on what's been going on in the world of Jay.

The Adventures of Patsy and Remy

After reading the fourth part of X-Men: To Serve and Protect. I really, really want the Immonens to make this an one going series. The chemistry between the characters were great and I really like when Gambit is the voice of reason and the one being flummoxed by someone else and Patsy Walker is the funnest agent of chaos as written by Kathryn Immonen. Add to this Stuart Immonen's awesome artwork and I would by this comic twice a month if they put it out bi-weekly. This was just such a fun and neat story that I would love to see where they could take this pair if given a monthly title (hell, even a mini-series). This story really worked for me and the Immonens really hit this one out of the park.

Curse of the Mutants

Since, Wolverine and Jubilee is coming out tomorrow, I felt I would share my thoughts with you my fine readers on what I thought about the the Curse of the Mutants and X-Men vs. Vampires storylines. First off, I did not go into this series thinking I would like it. In fact, the main reason I even started reading it was so I could get my Jubilee fix (as I've stated many times on here I'm a huge jubilee fan). So, going in I thought it was just a ploy to cash in on the whole vampire thing but, in reading it I ended up really enjoying it. I especially enjoyed X-Men vs. Vampires since lately I've been leaning towards anthologies rather than single issues. Because, I enjoy getting a few stories about different characters rather than one long story and the first story in X-Men vs. Vampires is what really sold me since it starred Husk and I really like all the Generation X characters and feel they should be used more. Beyond that I really enjoyed how Jubilee tricked Wolverine and also loved the fight scene in issue #5 with all the hard skinned mutants front and center and Iceman being blessed by the priest. For me this series was really well executed. My only real complaint about it was the design of Blade. I haven't seen him in much lately, so maybe this is how he looks in all of his appearances, but to me his design made him look super gay. What I mean by that is that he looked like total rough trade stereotype, with his moustache and a haircut that one of the cats from the WWF tag team Legion of Doom would be sporting. This is not to say that it's wrong to have gay characters or that people shouldn't be into what ever tickles their fancy. But, to me it was just a bit jarring seeing this guy who is supposed to be this badass vampire slayer, and feeling like It's raining men was playing in the background every time he showed up or that his catch phrase should be "FABULOUS!" Other than that I thought the creative team did a really good job and I liked how it ended with Cyclops telling Dracula to watch his step or else... and Dracula just just being like "alright." All in all a good series and I can't wait for Wolverine and Jubilee to hit the shelves.

Another Anniversary

Well, this month Monkey Knife Fight turns 2 and I would like to thank all of you who have come and checked out my little section of the Internets along with the people who have began following me on here and a special thank you to everyone who has left comments for me. You folks make me glad to write this blog as well as proving that even my ramblings have a place on the net. Now that I've thanked everyone, I would like to proclaim that as long as I feel I have something to say I will continue writing Monkey Knife Fight and hopefully I will be better at regularly posting on here. I'm also going to make more of an effort in being less random in my subject matter. I know I have been really lousy in regularly posting in the last year and for that I apologize to all my regular viewers (Hi, mom)and to make up for that I will do my best to post more and be more coherent in my ramblings. When I first started this blog, I figured I'd have enough to say for a few months or that I would maybe be able to think of enough content for maybe a year. Now here we are heading into the toddler stage of Monkey Knife Fight, the blog has learned to walk and now it's all about jamming things into electrical sockets. Hopefully, I've learned something in these last couple of years that will make me a better blogger and Monkey knife fight will continue to grow. Though, before I go I feel I should talk a little about the failed endeavour that was Quarter Bin Reviews. For those of you that don't know, this year I attempted to create another blog. I started it because I wanted to stretch out of my comfort zone of just writing about whatever fool idea comes into my head and actually have a purpose, as well as trying to learn how to write proper reviews. I was only able to do a couple of full reviews before it fizzled out and though I did enjoy writing it. I just ended up not having the free time to read (terrible) old comic books and write up entertaining reviews and they ended up being more retellings of the stories than actual reviews and though, Quarter Bin Reviews ended up crashing and burning. I still have a few other things I may try doing on another blog. but, for now I'm just working on Monkey Knife Fight. I have no clue what the coming year will bring, but I hope I will learn to find the time to post here more often than I have been. Once again a big thank you to everyone who has dropped by and I hope to continue entertaining you for as long as I have an opinion about comics and the worlds they inhabit and of course, to spread the word about the awesomeness that is Jubilation Lee.

Just sharing some more Husk love

Paige and Rahne

So, lately I've been thinking about how awesome it would be if Marvel let me write Marvel Team-Up and who I would team-up (besides the War Machine Gambit team-up I wrote about a few months ago) and one I came up with that I think would be all kinds of awesome is Husk(Paige Guthrie) and Wolfsbane(Rahne Sinclair). Now anyone who has been here before probably already knows how much I love Wolfsbane, as I've written about that love quite a few times here at Monkey Knife Fight. Though, I haven't written as much about how much I dig Husk (mainly because of my made love for her teamate Jubilee) I really dig Sam's sister and have been so happy that she and Jubilee have been getting a bunch of screen time in the X-Men vs. Vampires books(which is an awesome series if you haven't gotten the chance to check it out). Anyways back to the main topic, I think it would be fun to have these two team up. Since, we haven't seen them interact much in the books even though they both are connected to Cannonball in one way or another. I also, like this pairing because any criminal who ran into them would certainly start thinking about a new vocation after tangling with these two, since their powers are pretty freaky. I think that their differing personalities would make for some neat moments throughout the story and they would both get a chance to show off different parts of their personalities we don't often get to see. Plus, it would be neat to have them talk about Cannonball and his goofiness. If you want to know more about what I'd do with this pairing, I guess you'll just have to start petitioning Marvel to let me write Marvel Team-Up.

Spiderman and his cock-blocking friend

I haven't talked about it in awhile on hear, but out in the real world I have been talking about my love of the show Spiderman and his Amazing Friends and as I was talking to one of these folks who was to young to have seen the show. I told them about how the main reason, I still to this day love this show is that the majority of the show is just Peter and Bobby cock-blocking each other (and indirectly themselves) in their competition to date Angelica and how it usually ends with her going out with some other guy (like Dracula). Think about this, I came to the conclusion that the main reason this causes me untold amounts of laughter, is the fact that Spidey and Iceman are too busy fighting over who will date Firestar that they never ask her about her perference. Even as a guy (and occasionally a quite boorish one at that) I've always found this attitude perplexing, the whole dynamic just makes me snicker.