SpartanNerd Review…The Amazing Spider-Man #1: Renew Your Vows

June 6, 2015 by SpartanNerd

By now, you know that Spider-Man was at one time the top of my list of comics characters. I haven’t read any Spider-Man since “Back In Black.” The story splitting Peter and Mary Jane Watson up repelled me, and I walked away from comics for awhile. I did pick up Amazing Spider-Man #1 last year after Superior Spider-Man came to a close. (The idea of Doc Ock as Spider-Man…no as Peter Parker…was also very repulsive to me.)

So I saw this on the shelf while I was failing at Friday Night Magic…I decided to give it a shot.

I haven’t been reading Secret Wars…Marvel’s current story…a throwback to the big story from the 1980’s. This blurb clears things up a bit, and makes the story accessible. For me, it also represents a disclaimer. Presented here is almost an “else worlds” or “What If?” story. I understand that the writers are trying to bring back fans of different past versions of their characters. DC did this with Convergence. Now Marvel is doing it with Secret Wars.

Incidentally, I am quite a fan of Dr. Doom. Maybe I SHOULD be reading Secret Wars.

The Spider-Man child…this is a new development…and very important to this particular story line. Her name is Annie.

We are largely seeing a happy family. MJ is concerned about Peter. When Peter goes to work, he learns that something is happening to the super heroes. So he goes to visit the Avengers to see what’s up.

We get a very enlightening conversation between Spidey and Iron Man. The Avengers don’t know Spider-Man’s identity. Some of what was “fixed” with the same story that split Peter and MJ up. The world “forgot” Spider-Man’s secret identity…divulged during the Marvel Civil War. (I know this from talking to people at The Tangled Web.)

Since a major criminal breakout happened, Spidey suddenly knew his family was in danger. The one guy who knew his secret identity…Eddie Brock.

I would like to say that I am glad to see Venom as a bad guy again! The SpartanTeen read that Agent Venom story, where Venom was a good guy…Also I was put-off by that story. Could they PLEASE stop destroying the characters!

Eddie Brock Venom is as disgusting as ever. “We will suck out her lungs,” in reference to Annie. Typical rant from classic Eddie Brock Venom, mid 1990s.

If a psycho said this about my daughter….What would I do…Spidey does just that. KILLS VENOM!

Sorry for giving it away, readers. But it is necessary…You see, this story is “The most controversial Spidey story of the year!” You were going to hear it one way or another!

We learn that there is a bad guy…”Regent” who is killing super powered people and stealing their powers for himself.

What does Spidey say about this…

Chilling! And unexpected, really.

A lot of people have said in the past that they preferred the bachelor Spider-Man to the married man. That Mary Jane became a liability. Aunt May certainly always was. The “Back in Black” story arc showed Peter and his family targeted, and Spider-Man beating up Kingpin more than I ever saw him beat anyone.

But this just outright killing of Venom, because his family’s safety was at stake…

Well that’s … controversial!

I am now hooked, and will keep reading!

I give this story a 5/5! It does what it was supposed to do. It is a no frills origin story of an alternate universe Spider-Man. We have the information we need, and what might be fuzzy is clearly spelled out. The art is good. I even like little Annie. (I wonder if she will have powers?)

One of my hopes is when they stitch the worlds back together, we have a married but “normal” Spider-Man!

SpartanNerd gives Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man #1: Renew Your Vows a 5/5. Do you agree, or disagree, oh Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

his story is addressing the larger story…Heroes disappearing and dying. Venom is back…as Eddie Brock…Disgusting as ever. The way I like it. “We will suck out her brains.” Spider-Man evidently kills Venom! There is an insert talking about “The most controversial Spidey story of the year.” More than one reason, it seems. The art wasn’t distracting at all. It was in fact very captivating. Talk about ASM #1 from last year…and what you thought of the art. Always “With great power comes great responsibility.” This issue turns it on its head saying that family trumps this saying.

SpartanNerd…Retiring the Zoids

June 6, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Around 1990-1993…ish…My grandmother gave me a Christmas present. It was “Robostrux Terox”. My brother got “Radox”. My father put them together…we watched them walk and light up. He declared “I never want to see another one of these.” He then put them on the top shelf for display….

Eventually we moved to a new house, and I took full on possession of Terox. Now I could play with him everyday. But as I was becoming a teenager, I didn’t necessarily want too. I still thought he was cool…I never saw a toy like him again…until around 2000 or 2001 as a married adult. I was flipping channels…and BEHOLD…my Terox was on TV! A different color, but it was definitely him.

I may never know what happened to my original Terox. I went back to my parents house looking for him, but he was nowhere. So, I decided to look at Toys R Us. I found lots of “Zoids.” I bought several of them, but none of them were Terox. So I went digging on the internet. This is where I found out that Robostrux Terox was actually the American version of “Gojulas Zoid.” I decided to go ahead and order the $100 toy…

Six or more weeks later….(There was a trade embargo or something that happened…Gojulas was supposed to be shipped from Japan. I thought he never would arrive. And $100 wasn’t easy for a just married SpartanNerd to just drop!)…Anyways he arrived, and I relived the headache my father must have done when he assembled Terox all those years prior.

As soon as I had him built, I turned him on, watched him walk around and light up, and then put him on display. This time with a collection of friends!

Terox was blue and gray, with some red details. Gojulas is silver and dark gray.

Eventually I would see my brothers at Wal-Mart in Florence, SC. Robostrux Radox was actually Pterox Zoid. This was thankfully only $20.

Eventually, I started putting these on display in my classroom. They have lived in that environment, on and off, for about ten years. Sadly, both models began to crumble. So I have dismantled them for parts. Still, I thought I would share these final pictures before dismantling them.

I don’t collect Zoids anymore. I actually sold most of them before moving several years back at a yard sale. I kept these for their sentimental value. The batteries corroded on the inside of Pterox. And Gojulas would constantly fall apart. Neither model has walked properly in years. Pterox is especially bad because his wing action is tied to his leg movement.

They were fun, and the kids really enjoyed them, having never seen toys like them before. “Whoa! Is that a Transformer!?” “Wow! Can I play with that?” I would just say, “Maybe later this year.” Sadly knowing that I wouldn’t do so without heartache.

A Robostrux Terox MIB is on sale on Ebay for $500! Doesn’t that make you think!

SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen Review…Gundam Heavyarms XXXG-01H (Model)

June 5, 2015 by SpartanNerd

(SpartanTeen is commenting on the model, while the SpartanNerd is taking pictures.)

Heavy arms whole body is a weapon.

Lots of details need paint, so the details will pop.

I messed up at first, and decided to trick it out with battle damage.

Painting the joints makes them easy to come apart at the chest doors for the Vulcan cannons.

The hands are a pain. The interchangeable hands make it easy for Heavyarms to drop his gun.

Why didn’t the beam saber come with a blade?

The chain ammunition comes apart easily, and the bullets go everywhere.

It is very sturdy, and probably could survive three foot falls.

This is my favorite model so far.

SpartanNerd/SpartanTeen Gundam Evaluation Checklist

1 Too wrong

2 not right enough

3 could be better

4 pretty good, but…

5 perfect

Construction

Was it difficult considering the level it is supposed to be? 5

Stupid problems? 2

Instructions easy to read? 1

Diagrams clear? 5

Stickers? Paint 5

Articulation

stands easily? 5

moves without falling apart 5

posable/interchangeable hands 2

lots of articulation points 5

Dynamic poses 5

Accessories

Weapons 4

holds weapons/appropriate weapons 4

Stand 1

expansions 1

Weapon storage 4

playability

durable 5

photogenic 5

holds weapons? 5

Reasonalbe Facimile to media representation 5

Aesthetics 5

Figure specific features

morph/ transform/ change form 5

action feature 1

LED lights 1

Diarama 1

Pilot included? Does he fit in the cockpit or is he in scale or not. 5

SpartanNerd/SpartanTeen rate Master Grade Heavyarms XXXG-01H 3.68 out of 5.

(More pictures following.)

SpartanNerd Review…The New DC Universe “Batman Beyond #1”

June 4, 2015 by SpartanNerd

As I wrote before The Convergence…Future’s End had a terribly flat ending. The cliffhanger led me to believe that Batman (Beyond) would be featured in a new title…or something…after the convergence. Looks like I was correct. Looks like I was also correct in skipping The Convergence. A meaningless crossover.

The cover art is just not very good. It reminds me of some of the covers and artwork from “Ultimate Spiderman…” One reason I never read that title was the art was so off-putting. But DC has surpised me before…sometimes bad art can be overcome by good storytelling…at least for the SpartanNerd. (Arkham Manor comes to mind.)

Looks like the front cover is also showing us other characters from “the Beyond” story. Justice League characters The Flash and Superman are evident. Not sure that I can name the other guys.

My experience with Batman Beyond is pretty limited. I am seventeen years older than my youngest brother, and he would watch the cartoon every now and then. A couple of years ago, I snatched up “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.” I had a hard time getting past some jarring things about it…one of them being the language. At the time I felt my children weren’t old enough to watch that, so I watched it on my own later. I picked up a few things about Terry McGinnis’ universe. And people use the word “slag” alot. It bothered me that Tim Drake was made into Joker and Harley’s adopted and brainwashed son.

And besides Future’s End, that’s it…So I can’t say too much to die-hard Batman Beyond fans.

What I do like is that this is a “new” Batman Beyond, with Tim Drake in the suit.

The art inside wasn’t as bad.

I have picked up that Terry’s future had a super-gang of Joker copycats. So right away, we are given a taste of something familiar from the Batman Beyond universe.

But something is inconsistent with the Future’s End universe…Terry came 30 years into the past from a time when all of humanity was destroyed and assimilated into “bugs”. This panel indicates that Gotham at least isn’t made of all bugs. But as the story goes on, this seems to be something changed in all of the time jumping that Terry did.

To assist people like me, who have minimal experience with the characters, DC did the right thing and had the Tim Drake Batman visit Terry’s home. These other characters are bound to be important, soon. And it seems Terry’s little brother is pretty jealous. We know this is going to lead somewhere…

The Statue of Liberty always seems to be a favorite thing to smash in Sci-Fi….Writers do this for us super-patriotic comics fans. It definitely gets our attention. But it’s a little cliche.

Not going to give the ending away…but looks like Superman is a bug. Who was that guy on the cover?

SpartanNerd Rating of DC Comics New Universe Batman Beyond #1 is 4/5. The art on the cover led to me taking a point off. But I think I will definitely read this for awhile…at least to mitigate the bad taste that Future’s End left for me.

I would like my readers who know about Batman Beyond to send me some cool information that I need to know….

SpartanNerd Review…Big Lots Transformers figures

June 3, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Let me clear the air and say I didn’t purchase these. I snapped the picture, and was highly tempted. At $5 apiece, it was certainly do-able.

When I talk about being interested in Transformers, this is what I am talking about. They look exactly like they did on TV. If only these weren’t so much like “baby toys” or “dog toys.” Aesthetically…they scratch the nerd itch. They look the part. They have a wist swivel, moving arms, and a moving head. But do not transform.

It is a real wonder I didn’t walk out with Megatron and Soundwave, though. Sound wave is one of my personal favorites. And Megatron rarely looks like his TV self, (though Soundwave does.) Optimus Prime is inescapable nowadays. The Starscream looks good here, but has a weird smile.

I don’t know the exact name of the line these are from. I tried looking them up…not much there. I wish I had thought to take a better picture of the tag.

There are some other cartoon look-alike transformers on the shelves…the “Hero Mash-ups.” If I got those, I wouldn’t “mash them up.” They would stay vanilla, so they looked like themselves. Those don’t transform either, so I’ll pass.

What would I rate these?

Well they look the part. So there is at least one point. Megatron and Soundwave look really mean, and they have their weapons. (non-remavable.) So here is another point.

They do not actually transform. Their legs don’t move. They feel like “baby toys” or “dog toys.” Starscream’s face is a happy face.

So I give them a 2/5…being generous because they ARE cool. They might be cool in my office at the school. I would feel fine leaving these guys there, and I think the kids would recognize them too. But they just aren’t the kind of toy that I buy. So I passed.

SpartanNerd…Follow up on “He-Man: The Eternity War”

June 2, 2015 by SpartanNerd

I have been very impressed with the current run of DC masters of the Universe. “He-Man: The Eternity War” has really been developed. And we are seeing the characters presented in ways we have never seen before.

Here is a pic of all six issues I have. I have two of the covers from Issue 1.

The version with the toys came only to subscribers, if I am correct.

What is so impressive? Here are issue by issue thoughts.

Issue 1. Hordak returns to flesh, using He-Man’s blood, drawn unintentionally by She-Ra in the preceding story arc. And then he becomes a super charged version of himself by tapping into the power of Grayskull. See what I mean…We’ve never seen Hordak presented like this.

Issue 2. Man-At-Arms converts Roboto into a flight suit to take out the Horde’s orbital disruptor. (This weapon wiped out most of the Masters of the Universe and the Eternian army in prior issues. Kind of a mini-death star.)

Issue 3. The deal with the Eyes of Grayskull returns from the digital-only books that began DC’s current run on Masters of the Universe. She-Ra finds the Eye of Chrono and unintentionally leads Hordak to it.

Issue 4. She-Ra takes a beating, but Skeletor rescues her using the eye of Chaos, which he had in his possession. (Now Skeletor has both eyes!)

Issue 5. Skeletor witnesses She-Ra use her sword to heal herself, and asks her to heal him. Then he explains that he has had a change of heart and doesn’t wish to be constantly defeated, as he has seen over and over in different versions of himself as he traveled the Multiverse. The Green Goddess (or Sorceress, or Teela, what should we call her now?) lets He-Man know that “The Goddess” (adding to the confusion) has three faces, Serpos, Zoar, and Horokoth. Eternia has witnessed the age of Zoar, but she fears the Age of Horokoth is inevitable. He-Man chooses to look at the future behind a door with the Horde symbol on it, (which means Horokoth, the destroyer now.) He sees himself as King He-Man, with the normal skinned (and naked) Teela as his queen. A military state is evident.

Issue 6. “The Problem with Power.” He-Man sees a vision of the future. DC uses King He-Man…an impressive draw to this story…the cover is magnificent. We see more of the kingdom that King He-Man will bring about. Notably, Skeletor’s allies are now his allies, while the “Good Guys” are now “The Great Rebellion!” At the end, He-Man breaks the sword in half, destroying it and relinquishing the power to return to the form of Prince Adam.

I can’t wait for issue 7!

Skeletor’s romp through the Multiverse let him see many versions of himself, each one ending in defeat. He never acquires the power of Grayskull. Check out my Skitch below…

“The Problem With Power” was the title of perhaps the greatest Filmation episode, where He-Man changes into Adam…a reverse transformation rarely seen, and then throws the sword into the abyss. He decided in that episode that being He-man wasn’t worth taking the life of someone. In this issue, there are echoes of the same, but all of Eternia is the victim as King He-Man is a despotic leader.

This page kind of captures the state of things. Beast Man is wearing Battle Cat’s hide as a cape! He-Man is riding Panthor, and the Eternal Guard are riding Nightstalkers! Also, notice the weaponry all over castle Grayskull. In this issue, He-Man also orders an insurgent’s head on a spike…exactly the the thing Mattel told the moviemakers to avoid in the 1980s. (I recall seeing the the Art Book instructions for “No Heads! No Spikes!”

Finally….

He-Man destroying “The Sword of Eternity.” (A new name for “The Power Sword.” Christened thus for only a few panels.) a moving panel…Prince Adam appears so weak in the next few panels walking away, and I wonder how this is going to work.

“He-Man: The Eternity War” is a terrific read, and keen fans will see little allusions and nods. I see it as the comic writers have a box full of toys, and are constantly playing with them in new ways. Shaping a story the way little kids would have, and then making modern comics meant for an adult audience.

I hope DC keeps making MOTU comics. I don’t ever want that dry spell that seemed to happen for so long to ever return. I want to see toy versions of these comics characters. The work is certainly deserving….

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