Category Archives: Comics

Spoiler Free SpartanNerd

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DC Comics made me REALLY MAD.  (again)

I have thoroughly enjoyed “The New 52.”  Many people are down on it.  But I like it because it is accessible to me.  Moreso than the old continuity of nearly 1000 issues of Detective and Action comics.  And “Crisis” after “infinite crisis” after “crisis on Earth 27” or whatever ridiculous intimidating thing they could throw out there.  No wonder I liked Marvel better.

When I jumped into the New 52, when it really WAS NEW, I was surprised how easily I took to Damien being Robin.  I didn’t even know there was a Batgirl other than Barbara Gordon, and was fine just seeing the familiar redhead.  Superman was reset, as was Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, the Justice League.  And so on.  Wonder Woman was even cool to me.  And all of these guys continue to keep me entertained.

But DC has burned me, too.  A subscriber.

For instance, I reported how mad I was that they killed off Damien Wayne suddenly.  Pretty much at the end of “Death of the Family.”  I had every issue I could get my hands on.  Even the side titles I wouldn’t normally have read.  But they killed him off in “Batman Incorporated.”  A book I wasn’t reading, because the art wasn’t that good and it was kind of an “old 52” story.so I could focus on the Joker.  One reason why I subscribed was so I wouldn’t MISS ANYTHING.

Another reason for subscribing though, was to have something fresh and new to read, to look forward to. To think about.  To predict.

DC blew it.  Longtime Hub City Geeks know that I have written extensively about who was going to take over as Robin.  What was going to happen.  Etc.  I REVEL in not knowing.  I like to be surprised.  I don’t read spoiler sites.  I avoid blogs and commentary.  (Odd.  Isn’t that what The SpartanNerd Blog is all about?)  But I do that because I want to be surprised.  I don’t want stuff spoiled.

But it is hard.  So hard.  Especially when DC Comics puts THIS IMAGE AND ARTICLE in the back of every comic.

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No more conjecture required.  Damien DOES LIVE AGAIN.  And he has super powers too.  No more wondering if Stephanie Brown from Batman Eternal will replace him.  Or if Carrie Kelly will.  Or if maybe Red Robin comes back.  Or Jason.  Sure, we knew the Robin from a few years in the future is a new different guy.  No more wondering about Collin Rowe, or Harper Rowe.  No more mystery.  I know, the series was called “Robin Rises.”  But that still could have had a mystery ending.  Instead, we see Damien busting Kalibak upside the head.  No Hellbat suit required.  No Justice League required.  He might be Superman level, from the looks of it.

I am just disappointed that DC decided to go ahead and spoil this.  Why not do like Marvel did with AGE OF ULTRON, and black bag the cover?  Why not do what they did leading up to the death of Damien, and spoil out fake covers?

They make an excuse for themselves.  They say something like “You’ve read “the internets.”  Or something.  NOPE.  I DIDN’T.  How many others out there are like me?

So thanks a lot for taking some of the fun out of it, DC.

Batman and Robin has been the best written Bat book consistently.  I have to say, I am looking forward to seeing Damien back.  I like the little guy.  I was sad to see him go.  I think it would have been cool to have Carrie Kelly or Stephanie Brown.  But we didn’t get that.  I’m cool with that.  I just am not cool with the spoilers.

SpartanNerd Review Update…Customized Ultra-Pro Pro-Tower Deck Box!

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Faithful readers, go back and read my review of the Ultra-Pro Pro-Tower Deck Box, first, and then read this article to be more informed about what product I am talking about!

So, I actually DID get the SpartanWife to do some work on the box for me!  I chose art from some comics I had doubles of, “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #8 and #9,” cut it out, and she decoupaged the art to the box.  See my results below!

1 BACK

 

This is the back of the box.  I chose a splash page, so that I might have a large image of He-Man holding his sword.  When you open the box, you get to see the full image!

2 STAND UP

This large image is SOOO IMPRESSIVE!

I chose smaller art for the two sides.

3 RIGHT SIDE 4 LEFT SIDE

 

And instead of comic art, I chose the paper branding from a MOTUC figure that I hung onto for some occasion someday, such as this!  When the box is closed and you are looking at it, there is no mistake what brand of entertainment I am into!

5 FRONT FLAP

 

As far as ease of project…I cut out the art that I wanted, and then she trimmed it up.  The splash page cut the sword into two, but she was able to work it so that it appears seamless.  She decoupaged with “Mod-Podge,” and it feels really natural, like it was branded there at the factory!  The intricate texture of the box didn’t hamper the process at all, as some people seemed to be afraid of when I mentioned this project to them.

And as far as the results I got at the Magic tournament on Saturday, many people said WOW when they saw it!  A few people wanted to touch it, which was cool…It was dry and all.  And I had double the EDH matches, so it worked for getting attention as well!

The SpartanNerd give the SpartanWife a full 5/5 on this project!  Please leave comments and let me know what you think.  She would also like to hear from you, oh Hub City Geeks!

SpartanNerd Comics Commentary…He’s BAAACK!

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“No.  No. Not HIM!”  Batman utters this line pretty often.  Is it poor writing?

He says this as Superman grins a Joker-ish grin at him.

Yes indeed.  The Joker returned before Robin has been claimed.  BIG SURPRISE!

Back in Summer 2013, as the “Zero Year” storyline was hitting the shelves, and the “Death of the Family” story fresh in our minds, not to mention Damian’s sudden death, there was an innocuous “Batman Annual #2” issue promising a blurb from Zero Year.  To me, I read this issue and enjoyed it, but thought the Zero Year part of the story was just added as hype to sell the book and maximize money from that particular story event.

But here we are.  November 2014.  A year and a half later or round about.  And all this time, sitting in my comic book storage box and yours too, was a secondary character named Eric Border.  A nice guy.  Someone who cared for the patients…a truly caring doctor.

And he was the Joker.  Biding his time!  (I dug through my comics to re-read “Annual #2”.  Oh the planning that went into this!  There were hints in that issue we would have never seen!)

 

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This twist had me reeling!  When I read this in Batman #36,  I was shocked!  Not real clear entirely how he got his new “mug.”  But he has one, and is looking younger and more current.  (He also has his old face, so what has “Joker’s Daughter” been wearing?)

This storyline, “Endgame,” has been a little disjunct so far.  For instance, suddenly without warning, the Justice League starts attacking Batman.  He is prepared to neutralize them all, but when he spits the “kryptonite gum” in Superman’s face, we don’t really see it making Superman suddenly crash.  A tiny dose of the stuff was enough to beat him?  And because Batman Eternal hasn’t been completed yet, we are having to infer where and why Batman has set up shop by reading the tiny details between the lines.  And we keep seeing a couple of sidekicks, one “Lark” and the other “Bluebird.”  These haven’t been explained sufficiently.  At least “Lark” hasn’t.  (Isn’t Lark the Penguin’s lackey?)

(I’m starting to think Stephanie Brown may be the next Robin.  I’m thinking the “Damian Resurrection” story might be a bait and switch.)

So, I’m not the least bit worried about Batman being stuck in that cell paralyzed by the Joker and being poisoned by gas.  This is the classic Batman scenario.  Classic like in “1960’s” TV show!  Batman will get out of it somehow in issue #37.  Can’t wait!

One more thing…there is a backup story going on, which evidently will give us new information about the Joker and his origin.  A bunch of minor sickos have kidnapped Maureen, (who was dropped off by Eric Border,) and are telling her the stories the Joker told them to tell her.  All different crazy takes on who the Joker is and where he is from.  The first one in Batman #35 about the Joker being a demon rising out of the swamp on a mystical crossroads was pretty freaky.  Actually really disturbing.  And then #36’s story about him being an alien robot, also weird.  We the readers know for certain that these stories can’t be true.

Time to go back and read Zero Year again, and get a look at that chemistry teacher who was loading tanks for the Red Hood gang.  (was this in issue #24?)

SpartanNerd Thoughts…How did the “Junk Aggro” do, and “Arkham Manor”

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Sorry no posts for awhile.  Like I said in my last post.  Life is happening!  Maybe not an excuse for not blogging for over two weeks. But still.  I been drained!

In my spare time, I have continued reading comics and nurturing my MTG skills.  I did OK at the big box tournament.  Not spectacular.  But OK.  I didn’t win or anything.  My “junk aggro” deck is really fun to play.  Way more fun than Mono Black Control was.  Some of my issues are deck design.  I can’t decide how much of what to put in there.  And I played a lot of goldfish, solitaire, challenge decks, etc.  One concern is that in order to have a consistant mana-base to support the three colors, The land hurts you!  I prefer to skip the Tri-Lands.  What good are they on the turn they come out?  Instead I am running “Mana Confluence.”  I am running three “Windswept Heath” so that is three more points of damage.  Two “Caves of Koilos” and one ” Llanowar Wastes.”  See what I mean?  Add to that “Herald of Torment” stinging you for one each turn, and “Thoughtsieze” hurting you too.  And you can drain yourself just to maintain a board presence.  Maybe I should re-think the Tri-Lands.  I have rethought “Thoughtsieze.”

I have been surprised by some cards as well.  “Abzan Charm” has ALWAYS WORKED.  As well as “Abzan Ascendancy.”  But how much of each to run?  I like hitting “Phalanx Leader” with the charm, boosting everyone else.  Then there is “Siege Rhino” and “Anafenza the Foremost.”  These guys are stars.

I haven’t really found a place for “Wingmate Roc” yet.  I like him, though.  I am finding that “Bile Blight” is really just about only useful as a one off removal spell most of the time, with the exception of the chumps that a few cards continually make.  I only own one copy of “Brimaz, King of Oreskos” as well, which isn’t really enough.  I don’t think he made a show even once last week.

Some of my problem was luck.  (A certain player played basically the exact same thing against me, only he had the right stuff at the right time to finish me quick.  Frustrating!)

I drew one match.  I was surprised that my deck could hold up.  It was the first full on control player I have played since the rotation.  I overran this guy on turn six in match one.  But match two he held me off.  But surprisingly, I was able to keep the pressure on him for like, thirty minutes or longer.  He was running three “Elspeth, Sun’s Champion.”  I downfalled one, overran another.  But couldn’t stop number three.  Match three went to turns and that was all she wrote.

As far as comics, there is something bothering me, and not bothering me at the same time.  Does that make sense?  The “Batman” title has moved onto stories that surpass “Batman Eternal.”  So the cat is out of the bag that Alfred is OK.  And Julia Pennyworth is still “Penny-Two.”  Oh yeah.  Arkham Asylum was destroyed and so the operation moved to…Wayne Manor!

(Dumb Idea.  Only belongs in the comics. Oh yeah!)

Issues dealing with “Arkham Manor” have begun coming out.  And it has its own title now as well.

But Shouldn’t DC have waited?  I would have preferred it to be so.  They make us wait for other important stuff.  Like for instance WHAT ABOUT DAMIAN?!  Some other things haven’t been revealed, (I don’t think.)  Like who is police commissioner.  Is Jim back?  I didn’t read “Arkham Manor #1.”  I have too much other stuff to read.  Maybe I’ll change my mind?

But what is left for Batman Eternal to reveal?  I’m thinking it’s “Hush” who is talking to Bruce in Issue #1. Maybe I’m wrong.  I suppose there is no resolution to the Nano-Virus problem.  (This keeps being brought up, but we don’t really see how bad of a problem it must be.)  Catwoman is becoming “Selena the Lion.”  Spoiler is dropping hints to Batman.  Ok, Stephanie Brown must just happen to be a natural, like Tim Drake.

What are my other thoughts?  In playing Final Fantasy VII again…(This game has been going for over a year and a half.  I rarely play,)…anyways I am at the part of the game where you breed the chocobos.  Whenever I complete this game I am going to hunt down FFX again, and maybe even FFX-2.

(But maybe I should nurture my Destiny game instead)

And then there’s the big Christmas looming ahead.  I shouldn’t be so selfish, and feel guilty as such.  But I really want the new Battle Ram with Man-At-Arms, Snake Armor two pack, Duel Deck anthology, and maybe a Fantasy Crate subscription.

TALL ORDER!

(And I need a new phone 😦   )

Probably all of this won’t happen. (HO HO HO!)

 

Batman and Robin #34…Robin Rises part 3, SpartanNerd thoughts

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I only have one big thing to highlight…

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The last page!  Batman flies off into Apokolips wearing the Hellbat suit!   Now we have to wait until OCTOBER to see what happens next!

This book pretty much confirmed that this isn’t the same suit we have been seeing.  It looks awesome!

(It’s not that I’m not excited about the Futures End event, but DC is keeping us in SUSPENSE about Robin!

OK, one more thing to say.  Bruce totally lied to his bat-family AGAIN, when saying he was going to be transparent.  Dick Grayson was alive and well and present at the meeting.  He should have just told them.

SpartanNerd Blog…AMAZING NEWS! He-Man: The Eternity War

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Of course I could’t let this go without comment!

Details about the picture…

The Snake-Men appear to continue to be aligned with the good guys.

She-Ra is the central hero(ine) in this cover photo!

Orko is back to normal!

The only masters that remain alive, as far as we know in the current comic, are He-Man,  Moss Man, Man-At-Arms, and Stratos.  Teela has of course ascended to Green Goddess status as the new sorceress.

Skeletor is back with his regular skull face…(This might be related to Orko being normal again.)

Does Skeletor now have a power sword?  We notice that the Havoc Staff is missing.  In the story, Dark Orko fused Skeletor with his staff after He-Man broke his jaw and defeated him.  The Havoc Staff’s power apparently made him a huge hulk of a skeleton warrior.

Also, we haven’t seen too much of Panthor lately.

Hordak doesn’t appear as a god.  It has been established that he cannot go to Eternia because of his curse in banishment to Despondos.

It’s good to see Scorpia (is that her name?)

Skeletor seems to have all of his main bad guys, except for Whiplash.  Has he even made an appearance in the current comics?

Castle Grayskull is back intact!

Last of all…Is that Loo-Kee?  (I don’t even care.)

We all know that the comic book cover might not even matter.  But still, it is fun to speculate!

This event is apparently a continuation of the comic rather than a re-boot.  I think they want to have a “#1” on the shelves again.  I will be sure to get all of the variant covers I can!