Check Out Daryll B.'s Post Egg Nog Hangover/Pre- New Years Comic Book Links & Recommendations!

Reviews...Link-Blog....Hangovers..just don't mix Kiddos.....

Here's hoping everyone enjoyed their holiday celebrations with family and friends. I may not be a Christmas person but that's not to say the core values of the holiday, along with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, aren't truly needed/wanted by all. So I spent this in my room with a large stack of bounty which is pictured. Not going to review them all this time but I do have some impressions...
 
First up, the time off gave me a chance to truly read, then dissect Grant Morrison's Multiversity event (far right in the picture). I even have an official Daryll ranking for the issues so far:
 
5. The Just - Sorry I hate Reality TV. This smacked me as totally superficial...
 
4. Pax Americana - I'm not the biggest Watchmen fan as it is. To have the original Charlton Heroes imitate The Watchmen, which originally was an imitation of Charlton in the first place just felt redundant.
 
3. Multiversity #1 - The kickoff to the event and a pretty ok issue in itself.
 
2. Secret Society of SuperHeroes - One of my favorite Elseworlds is one of the same name where Tabloid Reporter Lois Lane and Agent Bruce Wayne worked to uncover disappearances and strange happenings around the world and discovered the Justice League. This felt like a combination of that with The Golden Age. Got me with secrets and nostalgia but  that leaves...
 
1. Thunderworld - I am a sap for classic Captain Marvel. I have Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith and read that at least once a month. Morrison captured the essences of the characters perfectly here. So Perfectly that you have to wonder why he was never approached to do a Shazam series "Jerry Ordway" style. By far my favorite of the run as the series gets ready to enter the next year....
 
How many times can I plug Valiant? Q2: Quantum and Woody #3 and Harbinger: Faith #0 were both awesome. H:F #0 also lays the groundwork for her to join the superhero/anti-hero team as well as work as a partial origin story. Q &W is just crazy... Like I said, if you like Deadpool, give this one a shot...
 
Speaking of the Merc with a Mouth,  he is one of the few characters that stand out in Axis 8 & 9 (not pictured). I guess that was the conclusion but let's just say I not pleased..AGAIN. Ok by now most of you have seen the solicitations for January and February with all the changes happening to the teams. Remender tried to squeeze enough explanations/impetuses here for those but... *sigh* Tony Stark can block magic now? Villains willing to...well you have to see for yourself? I won't even get into what they did to the Wasp... I hear you in the back going "Again with the Wasp?!?!?!"... Yeah Marvel you didn't stick this good....
 
However, I do have to give Marvel's Bendis credit for nailing the interactions between the All New X-Men and the Ultimate Universe in #34. Everything from Hank being stuck in Latveria to Bobby having to fight in 114 degree weather against a gigantic monster rang true. And I thought Miles Morales was going to get killed by Storm but....
 
...then he wouldn't be around for his father's "origin" story in Ultimate Spider-Man #11. Already emotionally confused after the Peter Parker/Norman Osborn fiasco, he walked headlong into his dad who decides to tell him EVERYTHING. Bendis again nailed this from flashback speak to the way this type of convo would actually go down. We also have a BIG unexpected guest star (or 2) in this flashback tale which continues next month. Yeah I'll be happy to eat crow if he nails the landing here.
 
Ms. Marvel #10 acted as a mouthpiece for the youth of the nation in current times and that was ok. At times it was a little preachy but after the news the past couple of weeks, this may be urgently needed.
 
Earth 2 Worlds End 11 and 12 (not pictured) - Sees Darkseid himself enter the picture along with betrayals and leaves me at "What the ^%^* are the heroes gonna do now?" Worst case scenario time...
 
Fantastic Four #14 has me sitting in awe that James Robinson has crafted a Heroes Reborn Universe "invasion" and combined it with an admirer/stalker/obsession storyline and has it not making me roll my eyes with every page. Every third page ....yes but not every page..
 
Ok um Mr. Remender? Just to remind you that Falcon has faced many of Captain America's enemies before. In Captain America #2, he writes Sam like putting on the red, white, and blue has him totally forgetting that fact. And I don't know who this Baron Zemo is but...it certainly isn't the one from the past 12 years or so of Marvel Continuity...
 
Astro City #18 takes a look at Crackerjack and Quarrel's partnership and gives us a first in-depth examination of Quarrel's origin. These two heroes are prime examples of writer Kurt Busiek's greatest strength in storytelling: multi-layering. Hardcore AC Fans have seen both characters in the background of other AC stories for so long that we think we know them then BOOM! Busiek hits us with this issues that tweak our previous thoughts/conceptions about them.
 
Onto the collections:
 
Omega Flight takes place shortly after Marvel's Civil War and after Bendis callously killed off Alpha Flight over in New Avengers at the beginning of his run. Canada has an in-flux of American Super Criminals entering and tearing up the nation. The material is quite dated BUT Michael Alan Oeming and Scott Kolins do tell a good story here about the difficulty in picking up the pieces after a disaster. Also it has my favorite Spider-Woman in Julia Carpenter....
 
Godzilla Rulers of Earth Vol 4 sees a nation mass producing MechaGodzillas 3-5 years after Volume 3 left off. Yeah, THATS going to end well...especially when the big guy wakes up. Still the grasp of years of continuity and great looking fight scenes has me coming back for more every 4 months....
 
Uncanny X-Force: Remender Complete Collection Vol 2 sees the early foundations of this Axis event being formed along with more Age of Apocalypse craziness, and a zany Otherworld invasion. Art is a little uneven at times but I guess i should expect that these days in a collection this big (19 issues).... However the narrative is tight and questions poised of ethical motivations are still in the air heavy...
 
Powers Bureau Vol 2 has the conspiracy around every corner vibe working strong here but for longtime Powers Fans it is going to be the 2nd plotline running here that will get the most reaction. A whole lot of dangling plots and questions get tied into a not so pretty bow here and we are left wondering where the cast goes from here.
 
I'm a sucker for the Batman Adventures in animated and comic form. I love Batman The Long Halloween. Combine those 2 stories and you get Batgirl/Robin Year One. This book is a combination of both sidekicks' limited series written by Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon/ drawn by Marcos Martin and Javier Pulido. Seriously fun. At times, cheesy but what else can you expect from kids/young adults dealing with the Gotham Underworld.
 
WHEW!!! A lot of books but I did have time to find some new stories for you folks to digest....
 
-Send some prayers this way....
 
http://www.newsarama.com/23074-fundraiser-launches-for-batman-artist-norm-breyfogle-after-stroke.html
 
Norm Breyfogle is one of my favorite Batman artists and here's hoping that he can recover.
 
-Newsarama's wishlist for the New 52...
 
http://www.newsarama.com/23058-who-s-next-donna-troy-hey-dc-gives-these-heroes-a-new-52-chance.html
 
At least we got Donna, Wally and Stephanie back....right? Right?
 
-Black Dynamite fans? Here's a couple of interviews to appease y'all...
 
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/12/26/cbr-tv-davidson-whitley-minns-bring-martial-arts-comedy-to-black-dynamite/
 
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/12/24/cbr-tv-michael-jai-white-carl-jones-try-to-top-themselves-in-black-dynamite-s2/
 
Tommy Davidson still can make me laugh like no one's business...
 
-Not to leave out Penny Dreadful Fans....
 
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/12/26/penny-dreadful-promises-a-curse-and-a-blessing-in-season-2-teaser/
 
NOW this has me typing the rest of the blog with all the lights on...lol
 
-Back to back statements from The Mission Folks! First up is a dissection on Power Girl and the obvious
 
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=57963
 
I like the little dig that Mr. Illidge gets in at DC for essentially using the idea that he got shouted down for.... Then an interview with Alex de Campi that my buds have been talking about for a minute...
 
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=57808
 
Her Grindhouse stuff is great but I don't know if I can have her and Al Ewing at the same podium EVER after that line....Ouch!
 
-OK by now everyone has to have heard about or seen the ending of The Legend of Korra. Juliet Kahn at Comics Alliance unpacks it..
 
http://comicsalliance.com/legend-of-korra-finale-analysis/
 
Beautiful... and in case you didn't hear, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko come right out and confirm that final scene....
 
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=57977
 
One of the best TV show finales EVER. Korra will be missed....
 
-We have a Luke Cage...
 
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/mike-colter-set-as-luke-759812
 
Good Luck Mike Colter!
 
-As I head out the door, I want to bid a hardy farewell to 4th Letter...
 
http://4thletter.net/2014/11/thats-a-wrap/
 
Thank You David Brothers, Gavok, Esther Inglis-Arkell for helping to stretch my mind week in and week out. I should have done the thanks sooner, but I couldn't form the words and as the New Year approaches, you folks deserve to hear them. I may not have always agreed but the thoughts and ideas were always well represented. You will be missed....
 
Thanks for reading all. Have a Happy New Year. Until Next Time, Keep Fantasizing!