Thunder vs Justice: Which Super Hero film Rocked November?

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

This month has given us the release of 2 big super hero movies from both sides of the house. On the Marvel side, Thor: Ragnarok was released, and on the DC side, we had Justice League. Now if you look at sheer critic reviews, it's very clear as to who won the month of November, however, if you look at the audience reviews, that becomes a little less clear as both films are very close in audience reception. I am going to talk about what I like and disliked about both of these films, so here is a spoiler disclaimer. Both films have passed their opening weekend, so I feel like there has been an adequate amount of time for people to have seen the films.

Let's start with Thor: Ragnarok, the latest installation to both the MCU and the Thor story. This movie is a great film. It's fun, it's whimsical, and it has some amazing action scenes. However, it's strongest point was based in the Planet Hulk story line on the Planet Sakarr. The introduction of characters like Korg (who is easily my favorite character of the film), and the PTSD inflicted Valkyrie were great. Then obviously the fight between Thor and Hulk was a huge highlight of the film for me as it show cases what I have been telling people for years: if Hulk and Thor went all out against each other, Hulk would get wrecked. The only reason why hulk gets to win is because of outside intervention from the Grand master (played brilliantly by Jeff Goldblum). Yet, as great as this part of the movie is, the part that left a rather large distaste in my mouth was how they handled the Asgard side of things.

 While there were certainly silver linings to this part of the plot in Cate Blanchet's Hela. and Idris Elba's renegade Heimdall, this part of the film actually upset me. To start with the smaller sins, Karl Urban's Skurge really didn't sit well with me at all. The stoic and cold berserker that serves as the executioner to the Enchantress in the comics is supposed to be a bad ass that Even Thor has a great deal of respect for as a warrior. In this film he is reduced to comic relief and a stooge, and while he may ultimately have been redeemed by sacrificing himself, this is far from what I had hoped to see in this film. The callous destruction of Asgard by Surtur as the means to defeat the villain was also greatly upsetting, especially after realizing that for a third time Thor is not the one who defeats the film's villain, but instead he uses outside help. This has become a rather annoying trend, while I understood this to be part of the lesson he was supposed to learn in the first Thor film, he has not defeated single-handed a major foe since then. This is not a trope that I would have wished for Marvel's god of Thunder and it's disappointing to say the least. However, the biggest thing that left a massive distaste in my mouth was how Taika Waititi killed the Warriors Three. Now, I realize the Warriors three are side characters that have had very small roles since the first film, however, that's not the point. The point is that the Warriors Three and Lady Sif are Thor's BEST friends. These are people that he had gone on countless adventures with over centuries, maybe even millennia, and yet they are killed off like no name extras (with exception of Hogun). Let me be clear, I don't mind that these characters died, I mind that they died in such an undignified way. Volstagg and Vandral are the first people to die by Hela, and they just get destroyed. There is no dignity in their deaths, they look like porcupines with the amount of knives they had coming out of them. Then Hogun fares a bit better, but still is ultimately wrecked much the same, but the gravest insult is that we get no reaction of this from Thor. Sure there was a lot going on in this film, but you mean to tell me that Thor wouldn't have thought to ask Heimdall what happened to his BEST FRIENDS during Hela's invasion? Maybe see if they had survived and were helping Heimdall gather refugees? Ultimately this deprives us of seeing a more human element to Thor's character as he has lost not only his hammer at this point, but his battle buddies. It's honestly unacceptable.

All that being said, I want to be clear that I still enjoyed Thor: Ragnarok a lot. I feel that if it were it's own movie that didn't have an established universe it would have been one of Marvel's best, but as it was attached to the character of Thor and the world that surrounded him, I had just hoped for better. Now time to move onto Justice League.

Before I talk about League, I already did a spoiler free review of the film on this very blog, so please check that out. I would also like to preface that in a choice between DC and Marvel I will always pick Marvel as that's what I grew up with and they have my top 3 favorite comic book characters in it. That being said, I enjoyed Justice League far more than I enjoyed Thor: Ragnarok. Justice League honestly was the most fun I've had watching a movie since Spider-Man: Homecoming and I was grinning for most of the film. I grew up watching Justice League and Justice League:Unlimited, so watching this film bring together a League that sorta mirrored the spirit of that show was just so much fun to watch. It was great to see Batman shouldering the death of Superman, and also for the movie to focus on the more human aspects of Bruce's character. In fact one of the strongest it scenes of the film is Wonder Woman helping Batman out of the Bat suit after seeing that his back is covered in bruises. Their exchange about it both shows Diana's compassion and Bruce's steadfast will and determination to the mission. Superman was a show stealer in this film, aside from the noticable removal of the mustache with CG, this is the Big Blue that people have been waiting for. He is considerably lighter in tone, he has some pretty corny dialogue at times, and outside of when they revive him, he is smiling for most of the film. Also the scene where Superman is able to see Flash while he's travelling through the Speedforce and track him was hilarious, and it gives you a scope of just how powerful the Man of Steel is. Not much needs to be said of Wonder Woman, she just continues to do right what she did in her solo film. Where the film shines most is in the DC Trinity, which honestly is fine by me.

Now that being said, there are some immense narrative issues. The first 45 minutes are hard to watch, not because it's boring or anything, but because they jump around so much that it's utterly confusing. One moment, Batman is on a rooftop confronting a parademon, next thing you know WE'RE IN ICELAND! Problems like that exist throughout the entire first act, and while there is enough good peppered through there to allow you to stomach it, those first 45 minutes are certainly a chore in comparison to the rest of the film. Steppenwolf is easily the films weakest link, I am only putting him in the negative column because despite going into the film with literally no expectations of this character to be anything but a giant muscle that brings the league together, most people do not have the background in comics that I have and therefore could have been expecting something akin to Loki in the first Avengers film. However, where this film suffers the most is in the other members of the League. While all the casts' portrayals are great, I felt robbed of more story on Momoa's Aquaman, Ezra's Flash, or Ray's Cyborg. There was a lot of footage cut from this film to fit it's 2 hour runtime and honestly, that is the most notable flaw. All these characters are great, but I feel we are only given diet versions of them because the scenes that were supposed to help you understand them and their purpose in the film were all cut from it. Once Again, Warner Bros prove to be the biggest Achilles heel for the DC cinematic universe as they decided they knew better than the film makers on what should be presented. While I doubt we will get an extended or Snyder cut of the film, I honestly am curious to see what it would have been like with those scenes in there. I would have liked to see more of the other characters in the League, just to kind of feel their presence a bit more.

Ultimately, Thor: Ragnarok was the better superhero film in November. It's narrative was far less clunky and despite my own reservations about how they handled Asgard, the movie does deserve it's B+ or A-. That being said, Justice League was truly a win for DC, at least to me, as for the first time (outside Wonder Woman) my friends and I that left the theater could only debate on how much we all enjoyed the film rather than what we didn't enjoy about it. To me it was far more fun than Thor, and while it might not be a better movie, if I were to chose a film to go see again it would be Justice League. 

Well this has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and I will see you next time!

Justice League Verdict (SPOILER FREE)

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! Where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!
Today marked premier of the newest chapter in the DC cinematic universe: Justice League, and it has been the topic on everyone's minds for the past week leading up to release. Last night, critic website Rotten Tomatoes released their aggregated critic score of the film at a very disturbing 42 percent. Critics bashed the movie for it's clunky narrative and weak villain. However, I am a firm believer of making my own opinion of the film. Justice League was not only a fun movie, but it genuinely surprised me that it got the reviews it did. While far from a perfect film, Justice League is a movie that surpasses the standards of several Marvel Phase One films. While it may not amaze to the degree of Avengers the film certainly makes headway in some great introductions and portrayals of characters as well as a fantastic screen chemistry between the team itself.

The film's first act is probably it's weakest point, which honestly comes to be expected. This first act does a lot of jumping around trying to introduce the members of the team while reintroducing the characters we already know of. The obvious fix to this problem was to not rush into this film and allow for each of these characters to experience their own solo film adventure before getting to this point, but since that's not what was decided, what we got was decent enough. However, once that first act is done, the movie builds its momentum and never really stopped. While Steppenwolf, the film's villain, is no Iago, he's not terrible and serves his purpose as hulking opponent that provides a necessary threat to unite the league. I honestly don't understand most of the criticisms of this character. As a side note, anyone with any knowledge of who Steppenwolf is, knows he's not exactly what one would even remotely consider as a powerhouse villain in either ability or personality. Where the film shines is where it counts and that is the portrayals of the heroes. Gal Gadot gives yet another stellar performance in League, providing the team with a conscience that parallels to Steve Rogers in the Marvel films. Jason Momoa gives us a fantastic first look at Aquaman that will genuinely make you crave for more (don't fret his solo outing is right around the corner in 2018). Ezra Miller's Flash is a new take on the speedster showing him at the beginnings of his career and the relationship he has with Affleck's Batman is great as you get to see Batman bring out some of the lessons he clearly instilled in other people he's worked with. Ray Fisher's Cyborg was far better than I expected it to be, and even made me invested in him as a Leaguer (something that I had not done previously as I had only associated him as a Titan). The supporting ensemble of Billy Crudup, Amber Heard, Diane Lane, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, and J.K. Simmons bring an incredible human element to the film that has been missing in the DCEU's previous outings. Lastly, Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck deserve their own paragraphs.

Let's start with Cavill. If you have read ANY  of my moviepilot pieces, Superman was a big thing for me. My most viewed articles were about Superman, and I wrote several things about how DC had dropped the ball on writing. When it comes down to Justice League, Henry Cavill shines. Cavill's Superman has probably some of my favorite scenes in the movie and they really show that ears have been opened to fan criticisms. He has excellent scenes with everyone in the film even though he only comes back to the action during the latter half of the film. His dialogue is corny a good deal of the time, but honestly that's Superman in a nut shell and I was just happy to see Cavill live up to the potential that he had for the character. However, while Cavill was great, I want to take a moment to address the portrayal that I feel is being missed out in praise.

In many reviews I have read, they claim Affleck's performance to be half hearted. That he didn't seem to want to be there. I couldn't disagree more. If there was any notions of misplacement it's because Batman genuinely feels out of place, and that's absolutely the way it should be. He is the only normal human on this team of essentially gods. Ben does a great job of showing just how humbling an experience the death of Superman was to his character. He is riddled with self doubt, and doesn't even feel himself worthy of leading the League, even claiming that Superman could have done it better. It honestly hurts knowing that this may be the last time I see Ben in the cowl. I sincerely hope that he at least signs up for Matt Reeves' solo Batman film. I think that if he allows himself to do it, he will have a chance to see the true vindication of his hard work, that it will all pay off in the best live action Batman film ever made.

The movies is not without faults, as I said the narrative suffers in the beginning, the CGI is inconsistent at points (no doubt a result of the switch in direction), some of the dialogue is corny. However, it is certainly not enough to condemn the movie to a terrible score. If you put this film up against movies like Thor, Iron Man 2, or even First Avenger it more than stacks up, and maybe that's a bit of a let down that a film with as much potential as this can only cut it against the early Marvel films after five outings, but again that doesn't make it a terrible film. It's a lot of fun and I feel most people will leave the theater not only having enjoyed, but excited to see where the franchise might take us. If Justice League proves anything, it's that the critics went into this film wanting to hate it, and so they looked hard and hard for holes to poke at, rather than walk into a movie with the sole purpose of trying to have a good time. I genuinely expect audience response for this film to show the giant disconnect that exists between critics and the average movie goer.
I would personally give Justice League a 6.5 to a 7 out of 10. Though flawed in some of it's presentation of narrative, it delivers a genuinely fun experience.
This has been another edition of Comic Relief! and I hope you guys enjoyed this review
(PS stay through the credits)
(PPS audience score on Rotten Tomatoes currently resides at an 86)

Back to the Basics: Legacy's Captain America Brings Back A Whole Lot More Than Just Classic Numbering

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! Where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

This passed Wednesday, we saw the release of a book I have impatiently been awaiting. Marvel released their first issue of their Rebirth Captain America series. Captain America 695 returns the icon to his classic issue numbering, however, that is far from the only classic thing brought back in this book. The whole first issue feels like an homage to a Jack Kirby book. The feel, the art (even though it's more stylized for modern times) feels like it's being ripped from the golden age. This is a book that will be well worth adding to a collectors stock.

The first arc of this new series is aptly named: Home of the Brave. The whole point of this arc is that Cap is doing some soul searching after the events of Secret Empire, but before we go too far into that, let's talk a bit about what happens in this book. The story starts off with a brief overview of the Steve Rogers story, but then takes us on an adventure of Captain America right when he got out of the ice. A town is being held hostage by a white supremacist group called Rampart. The panels showcase Cap fighting off these Nazi goons, and it just feels so right.The colors, the action, all of it screams Jack Kirby and it sends you down a massive nostalgia train while simultaneously delivering new material.What's probably one of the best parts is that, in the process of saving a group of kids, one of them is inspired by Cap's example and gets involved. This little girl draws a Rampart goon's attention from shooting Cap while his back is turned. The memory comes to a close with Cap using the American flag as a shock blanket to wrap around this little girl who has just saved his life. It's just 100 percent what a Cap book should be, and this is only the first 3 pages.

The book then takes a jump to the present day. Steve Rogers is riding a Harley down the highway, to find a giant sign that Welcomes him to Captain America Nebraska. Surely enough, it is the same town that we saw him save at the beginning of the book. They are holding an annual Captain America festival, celebrating the man and what he did for the town. Now it is important to note that Steve is fresh on the heels of facing down the Hydra version of himself in the finale of Secret Empire, and that this journey is in no small part his path to earning back the trust of the American people. Even after the terrible events of Secret Empire, these people never forgot who Steve really was, what he really stood for. Steve walks around the festival and hears the people tell stories about what Captain America means to them, or a story about how he had saved them that day years before. Then action comes up again, as agents from Rampart take the stage at the show. Cap springs into the fight and reveals his true intention of hunting this organization down.

Cap beats the nazis and the townspeople show their gratitude. They thank him for saving their town once again, however, Steve refuses the thanks. He points out the instincts of people in the town to take care of one another during the fight, to make sure everyone was okay. These heroics weren't inspired by anybody but themselves, and that is something to be proud of. "The Strong protect the weak," he says, and is met with a reply from a familiar girl who has grown quite a bit, but still clutching onto an American flag that is draped about her like the last time we saw her. "That's the rule, welcome back." Cap drives off into the sunset after saluting the town for what they did.

While that essentially wraps up the first issue my favorite part to read was the author's note left by Mark Waid. In it he gives a very touching and fun story about how Cap was his favorite Marvel hero as a kid amidst a preference for DC characters. He details his admiration for the character's nobility and never say die attitude. However, the most important thing he says comes in the end:

I share these confessions with you not because I'm in a mood to cringe in embarrassment now. (And yet...) I'm just willing to go that far to reassure you, if you're a new reader not sure what you're getting into, that Cap has been a meaningful part of my entire life. As unfashionable and retro-corny as it is, I have always believed that it's possible to be a good guy not because you need to exorcise some personal demons or because your expecting some reward, but because life is just better when I watch your back and you watch mine. And I choose to think that, at heart you believe the same.

I don't recommend, as an adult, drawing all your morality and ethics from super heroes. They are fortunate enough to live in a wonderful world where might always makes right, one sometimes absent the gray areas we struggle with as we mature. Nonetheless I will share Steve Rogers' core belief until the day I die. If you have the ability to help, then you have the responsibility, because everybody ultimately benefits. Life isn't fair, but people can strive to be, and we are all better for it when we do. 

It would appear that the Sentinel of Liberty is indeed in trustworthy hands. This was a helluva first issue to start off a run and I am looking forward to checking out what this team will bring to the character as they have already brought back so much that has felt missing for quite some time.

I hope you all have enjoyed and please check out Captain America 695: Home of the Brave! We will see you next time on Comic Relief!  

PSA: A Retraction From the Reading List

Welcome Back to Another edition of Comic Relief! Where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

A few weeks back, I posted a reading list to celebrate the birthday of the big bad bat. Batman is one of the most iconic characters in the entire genre, and with as colorful a pedigree as the character has, from design to rogues gallery, he has certainly earned the spot at the top of the food chain as far as heroes are concerned. With it being a celebration of his big ol' 78th, last week I put together a list of some of my favorite Batman stories. Unfortunately, I am going to have to remove one of the books from that list. I should have known better to count on an arc that had yet to finish, but sadly, while Tom King's War of Jokes and Riddles may have started with a bang, it's ending carried the concussive force of a whoopee cushion.

Oh Look, Batman looks almost as Dismayed as I was by this final issue!

This arc began a month or so ago in the wake of something huge to properly reel in it's audience. Batman took the proverbial "arrow to the knee" and proposed to long time love interest, on and off again villain/ hero Catwoman. In order to keep people invested, they did not give Selena Kyle's answer off the bat (no pun intended... or was it), and instead have Bruce prevent her from answering so that he may confess to this woman what he consider's his ultimate sin. First he must tell her the terrible thing he did during the war of Jokes and Riddles. That's what kicks us off.

Now if you can't infer by the title, this story pits the clown prince of crime against the prince of puzzlers, Joker and the Riddler face off. This whole thing is begun when Riddler confronts the Joker, who is having a rough time getting his giggles off and has been on a spree killing comedians or anyone who failed to make him laugh, with a proposition: Joker and Riddler no longer find joy in riddles and jokes because of Batman, so together they would take Batman off the board. Joker is so taken by the idea that he fires a .45 caliber slug into the Riddler's chest at point blank. Disappointed in the lack of hilarity Joker walks off without finishing the job, and the Riddler claws his way to a doctor, gets stitched up and a war begins.





This war is a BLOODBATH, the two iconic nemeses of the Bat draw a line in the sand for his other respective rogues to cross. The criminal element of Gotham has divided and its civil war. During this fight a former thug and kite enthusiast's child is kidnapped and poisoned by the Riddler creating a villain named Kite Man, Dead Shot and Deathstroke get into an assassination tango to take one another out so that the winner can kill the bat (catching HUNDREDS in the crossfire), and the list goes on. This gets to a point where Batman, at his whits end, sends an invitation from Bruce Wayne to the Riddler and The Joker to come to Wayne Manor for a dinner. Over a 5 course dinner, Bruce tries to broker a peace between the two villains (while this may not sound super exciting, this might be my singular favorite issue of Tom King's run, it's REALLY well done). The dinner fails, and it's right back to square one, except this time Batman is picking sides.

While he seemingly sides with the Riddler, it all turns into a double cross as Batman uses Kite Man (who had played the part of double agent) as his ace in the hole levels the playing field after helping the Riddler wipe out all Joker's side. Now it's between Joker, Riddler, and the Bat. Up until this point, you as the reader are probably wondering, "How on earth could this go wrong?" Which is a valid question considering how exciting the arc had been up until this point. However, Tom King destroys ALL the momentum he had built in the arc with his big moment we had been waiting for since the beginning. The Riddler all of a sudden gives up and asks if Joker's laughing, Batman is confused and asks what he is talking about. The Riddler then explains that he set this entire thing up, cost Gotham hundreds of lives, and even murdered a mans son to get him to snap, JUST so he could be beaten by Kite Man for the ultimate joke and get Joker to laugh (thus ending his gigantic murder spree). Batman, enraged by the Riddler (much as I as a reader was enraged that this whole thing was reduced to the result of a logical fallacy) tries to stab riddler in the face with a knife and is stopped by the Joker, who literally takes the knife blow to his hand. After showing the Joker laugh for the first time the entire arc, the story cuts to Batman who is then moping to Selena, about how as Batman he's supposed to be above the human urges to murder a psychopath. The issue ends with Selena saying yes reducing War of Jokes and Riddles to the most anti climactic pregnancy pause in comic book history.

This is infuriating on many levels, first of which being is that there is literally no reason for this to have been his greatest shame. While I realize that New 52 did away with a lot of previous canon, this is the man who created the Tower of Babel protocol, got an 11 year old boy killed by dragging him into crime fighting despite his brash personality, and that's just the bad stuff he's done to his allies. But Tom King expects us to believe that breaking down to his base human urges over finding out that the whole massacre that ensued during this turf war was for the punch line of Kite Man is Batman's greatest shame?! That's ridiculous! Secondly is that at the end there was ZERO CONSEQUENCE, Catwoman isn't moved slightly by the story, kinda says "whatever, let's get married." If Selena is going to take this like a joke, why should I care as a reader! She doesn't even bat an eye during his final breakdown about this, in fact she's kinda smiling like she was thinking "oh thank god, I thought this was going to be something serious." Thirdly because Tom King is a MUCH better writer than this! His Vision title was a gem that was widely acclaimed on won awards, his current Mr. Miracle title is one of the best DC has to offer and that's only 3 issues in, I mean hell, his annual about Batman getting Ace (his iconic great dane) was more compelling than this and it was a one shot! Part of me was kind of hoping that this was a troll done by King, but the next arc is literally Batman going on a self searching journey to "redeem himself" for that ever so terrible thing he did.


If you read War of Jokes and Riddles and your opinion differs (please feel free to comment, I'd love to discuss it with you, as in you enjoyed the finale, I am glad. Tom King does work hard on this book, and there was a lot great about this arc. I was just not crazy about the fact that he was doing so well and was about to score a touchdown for the first time since he's had the book (his past arcs aren't bad, they just don't live up to his predecessors) and even have a quintessential Batman book, only to hand the ball off to the opposing teams defense and then allow them a breakaway touchdown. It's just downright disappointing, and it sucks to say, but now I kinda hope he's replaced on the book. Batman's titles are some of the least talked about in Rebirth with few exceptions which is disapointing considering they were one of the only good things talked about when Snyder and Capullo were working on it during the New 52. As of right now I am redacting the War of Riddles and Jokes portion of my Batman article. There is a new book that has just started, however, that should it finish strong will replace it, and that's Sean Gordon Murphy's White Knight.

Well, this has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you enjoyed and we'll see you again soon!

Trailer Break Down: Justice and The Force

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! Where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!



It has been one hell of a passed two days. From the wake of New York Comic Con, two franchises let loose two AMAZING trailers for their properties and what's even more? That they are just a month or two away. DC released it's brand new "heroes" advertisement here on Sunday for the upcoming Justice League, and last night, Lucasfilms & Disney released their second trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Which trailer is better? Hard to tell (probably Star Wars, but that's honestly just because it's a cultural phenomenon and because all of the Disney helmed Star Wars films thus far have been great).

Superman Debuts in Justice League

Despite a very shaky start in it's film ventures, DC has clearly stepped up their game here. Starting with Wonder Woman back in May, Justice League appears to be yet another promising chapter in the DCEU. 

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's sacrifice, Bruce Wayne enlists newly found ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes -- Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash -- it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

That is the official synopsis of Justice League  which comes out in literally a month and a week.  Up until this point, DC had released three main trailers and whole boat load of promo material for the film, and though we know Henry Cavil was going to return as Superman, besides a few posters, his Superman has been absent from the trailers. Until Now.

This trailer honestly starts off with a swift kick to the feels. Lois is at the Kent farm, and she is standing outside the door looking out to the field where Clark is in his iconic flannel staring out in what is a clear homage to Superman with Christopher Reeves (meanwhile Hans Zimmer's gripping score from man of steel plays softly in the back). Clark then smiles and makes light of the fact that Lois is wearing his engagement ring, "I'll take that as a yes," but before Lois can say much she wakes up alone. It was all a dream. Honestly this is probably the strongest moment of the trailer.

That's not to say the rest of the trailer wasn't filled with goodies. Amazing action sequences, some of which already seen, hoards of parademons, some more focused character interactions, it's all just a really good time to watch. However, it's stuff that we might as well have already seen before, and for that reason the opening really sticks out and is easily the greatest takeaways from the trailer. The trailer is posted below for you to check out if you haven't already done so!

The Force: Raw Power Displayed in Episode 8 Trailer

If the trailer for episode 8 could be summed up with one word, that word would be foreboding. Cautionary messages fill the trailer as Luke seems utterly terrified by the raw power associated with Rey's abilities. There are also, quite noticeably, a lot of inspiration from the classic Empire Strikes Back where it seems they have all but recreated the iconic battle for Hoth. There is a wide panel view of ATAT adjacent machines and a birds eye view of Kylo leading what appear to be Snow Troopers through a rebel installation. Luke is also not having a good day as for most of the trailer he appears bludgeoned and bleeding. 

What is most interesting to me about this trailer is Snoak, or more accurately who he is addressing throughout the trailer. At the beginning of the trailer you hear Snoak speaking and when you are looking at it for face value, it appears as if he is talking to Kylo. Talking about how when he discovered the subject to whom he's speaking, the sheer power they presented was impressive. However, as the trailer goes on and you witness Rey's powers unfold and the terror they present to Luke, one begins to wonder if Rey was in fact the person he was actually talking to. It is made even more interesting as there is a scene that feels awfully reminiscent of Luke getting fried by the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. The trailer's end throws me for a loop as well as it shows Kylo seemingly offering a friendly hand to Rey who has just vocalized a need to be shown her place in the force. This has me beginning to wonder whether this episode will see a redemption arc for Kylo Ren, OR show Rey fall to the dark. Either way things are looking very interesting 

Luke Skywalker's peaceful and solitary existence gets upended when he meets Rey, a young woman who shows strong signs of the Force.

 Well this has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and I will see you next time!

Generations: A Return to Form for Captain America

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

This past week has had a lot of heavy hitting comics. Tim Drake is starting his escape from Dr. OZ in the most recent issue of Detective Comics, and on the Marvel side they released the first issue of Legacy. While this release has been the subject of a lot of chatter on forums and what have you, I was honestly not too impressed. Don't get me wrong, it has the promise of something great, and I am interested in a lot of things going on, but nothing really happened in the issue. There were a lot of cool reveals, but nothing of substance happens and in that I was fairly disappointed. However, what Marvel did release, and isn't getting talked about near as much, is Generations: The Americas.

The issue is written by Nick Spencer (Secret Empire) and the art is done by Paul Renaud. The first panels open with Sam Wilson, in full Captain America Attire being interrogated by what seem to be SHIELD or some other government agents. It is revealed that during the final battle for Washington in Secret Empire, that the Avengers disappeared and reappeared in the span of one minute (this one minute of time sent the avengers to this thing called the Vanishing point where many of them interacted with their predecessors in a solo adventure, this being the entire concept for the Generations titles). They are wondering what he experienced.

Sam Wilson Leading the Tuskegee Airmen

Sam Wilson's journey through the Vanishing point sent him back to the early 40s before the US got involved with World War II. He arrives in costume like he was in DC, but quickly adapts to the time, puts away the costume and works in a restaurant kitchen. When war breaks out, he joins the army and gets to experience first hand the segregation of the time. However, even discrimination can't get in the way of Sam Wilson being a hero. We experience a new first meeting between Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers. This time a young and inexperienced Steve Rogers is under heavy fire with his soldiers and Sam Wilson leads a squadron of Tuskegee airman in a retro version of his modern flight suit. After pushing the German forces back, Sam finds Steve behind the line letting go of his lunch because of nerves and all the carnage he has witnessed. Steve thanks Sam and expresses a worry about not being able to live up to the idea of a symbol that people are expecting him. Sam gives his friend a boost, telling his old friend that he's meeting for the first time a great piece of advice:

Listen to me "Captain America." Something tells me that when the picked you, they weren't looking for the soldier-- they were looking for the man. And Something tells me that you're more than up for the job.

Sam goes on to describe how they fought on many more battlefields together, and that Steve lead them to victory, and because of this, Sam made it home. The same, unfortunately couldn't be said for Steve.

While Steve was under the Ice, Sam came home and started a new life. He started a ministry, met a woman, got married, had children. Then in the 50s and 60s Sam answered the call of another kind of war. A war for Civil Rights. From Freedom Riding to Marches, Sam was at the front of them all, leading people and taking the brunt of brutality. When victory came for those causes, Sam continued to fight for the people. He did so as a minister and a civil servant helping at shelters and kitchens. Finally, after all that time "the man who taught him to be a hero" woke up from the Ice.

You think I'd ever forget my Wing-Man?

The Avengers find the frozen body of Steve Rogers, and he wakes up. There are parades, celebrations, photo ops, you name it. Sam decides to get dressed in his class-A's (military dress uniform) and head out to one of those events. A face among a crowd, Sam watches his old friend from afar, but with time leaving its scars all over his face, Sam doesn't expect to be recognized. Much to his surprise, as Sam is walking a way a familiar voice cries out: "Wait," Sam turns back to Steve Rogers reaching out for him. The two embrace as old friends in one of the warmest scenes in comics recently.  The two go off for lunch and Steve talks about how he's not sure there is a place for him in the world. That perhaps too much time has passed, and that maybe he can't live up to these people's expectations. Sam assures him that he will, and offers to keep his door open for Steve and that he will always lend an ear to his struggles.






We get to see Steve come and visit Sam a few times in this vanishing point timeline (although Sam told Steve his name was Paul in vanishing point to prevent suspicions from arising). Whenever Steve had a moment where he felt torn on an issue, he would appear at Sam's church. They'd pray and talk. Sam would even watch Cap fight along side the younger version of himself from this world. Eventually all things led to a certain moment. Steve had just lost the super soldier serum and had come to his minister to ask advice about passing the mantle of Captain America on to his friend, Sam. He is wondering if it is fair to ask this of his friend to assume this great responsibility-- is it a blessing or a burden? Sam (the old minister) tells Cap that his partner isn't under any delusions about this being easy, and that the real challenge for his partner is Steve himself. That Steve casts a long shadow and that some people just don't have to the natural ability to take on the world and inspire the way Steve did. However, Steve has some words of his own.

Paul, you helped me win the war. You were a hero who saved countless lives--and no one even knows you did it. Heck you had to hide the fact that you were doing it from the same military you were fighting for. You came back home and You marched for civil rights. You stood up against racism and prejudice and have the scars to show for it. You spent decades ministering to generations of people-- feeding the homeless caring for the sick. The entire time you did all this you never sought any recognition, never asked any reward. Best I can tell you didn't even want anyone to notice. you just did those things because you knew they were the right things to do. So who do you think inspired me? 

Cap leaves Sam with that, and it's the last time he sees Cap in this world. Suddenly, to Sam, all of his achievements were his own. That after a lifetime of feeling like he was in an another man's shadow, he felt like a hero in his own right. With that Sam felt the pull back to reality. Sam is back at the facility being questioned about the location of Kobik, the sentient cosmic cube that started this mess. He walks out, meets with the other Avengers. Thor asks what he saw and Sam replies:

How much ground can shift under a man's feet over the course of his days. How much progress can be made. How far he'll still want to go. 

Sam ends up tracking down Steve Rogers who, after his return in the finale of Secret Empire, has been on his own. From a distance, Sam throws the shield to his mentor an friend, and Steve catches it. Attached to it is a note. The note gives Steve a mission to overcome this, just like he has overcome everything else he has endured, that he will grow to inspire again.

This book serves as the final chapter and the first in the story of Captain America. The door closes on Sam Wilson as Cap, and opens the door for Steve Rogers once again. It is honestly a bittersweet feeling. A lot of people had mixed reception about Sam becoming Cap, myself included (mainly in costume design, though it grew on me). However, his time in the costume has provided a  great look at a lot of modern injustices that needed to be shown. While I am glad to see Steve return to the mantle, Sam Wilson did a more than admirable job. It's also, I believe, an exit to Nick Spencer writing Captain America. I realize that a lot of people were not enthusiastic about his run. He made some decisions for the character that were not well received and even had some negative influences on the public. However, I feel that's less on him and more on Marvel for how they advertised his arcs. The writing that Spencer did for the character was great, and while his arcs were controversial, this is a character that started by punching a world leader in the face back in the 40's (before our country was involved mind you). Controversy is what this title is about, and in that aspect Spencer remained true to Captain America's purpose. I hope people read this book and are able to put their personal feelings aside, because it truly is a phenomenal book.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you next time!

Batman Day: Comics to Read and Celebrate the Caped Crusader!

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

Hello everyone! I apologize for the long absence, I honestly have kinda been overwhelmed by life, and there has been so much going on here between movie announcements, the finale of Secret Empire, the ongoing Metal series, that it's honestly hard to narrow a single thing down to write about, and for that I apologize. It's not an excuse, but at the end of the day, I am just one person, so it's a bit daunting. Honestly I got 3 quarters of the way through a September 11th post for you guys that I had to delete because it took me too long to put out (thanks work). Anyways, today we do have something to celebrate in that it is another year under the belt for one of comics most revered comic book heroes: Batman. It's the birthday of the night prowling, Gotham vigilante and so today we celebrate him and the massive universe that he belongs to. What better way to do that then by putting a list of great Batman stories for you guys to check out!

Dark Knight Returns

When it comes down to Batman Stories, it's impossible to not discuss Frank Miller's iconic Dark Knight Returns. This story shows a Bruce Wayne that had stepped  away from the cowl after the death of the second robin Jason Todd, and is looking for a proper exit from life, a good death. However, in his absence, Gotham has reverted, criminals no longer look over their shoulder and the city is the worst it's been in a long time. Sickened by the city's lack of will to fight back Bruce dons the cowl once more and restarts his war on crime. The story serves as an amazing commentary on the morality of Batman's crusade and shows us a much darker look at the Dark Knight, delving deep into the character's psychology.This story in particular has served as inspiration for Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises and even Snyder's Batman vs Superman. It has also been adapted into animated form and the animated feature as Peter Welling (Robocop) voicing the aged Batman. It's a fairly polarizing book that provokes a lot of thought. 

Court/City of Owls 

As a whole, the 2011 reboot of DC universe, New 52, can be described with one word: disappointing, there were some silver linings, and one of the major ones was the Batman run. Written by  the acclaimed Scott Snyder and art done by Greg Capullo, the New 52 Batman run was stellar from the start. Kicking the series off with Court of Owls and City of Owls, this dream team introduced quite possibly one of the most pivotal members of the Batman rogues since the Joker. The Court of Owls is an Illuminati style organization of the top 1% of Gotham that work the strings of the city behind the scenes, in the darkness. "Be good or the Court will send it's Talon out for you," is how the nursery rhyme goes for the children of Gotham. This arc is filled with everything that you need in an amazing Batman story: layered mystery, detective work, visceral fights, and most importantly an opponent that proves both a physical and mental match for the Batman.

Batman: Year One

Frank Miller might have the most polarizing writing record when it comes down to the Dark Knight. One day he'll do something amazing and game changing like the aforementioned: Dark Knight Returns and then the next he'll pop out something like All-Star Batman and Robin and make the entire community cringe. Batman: Year One is one of his better stories. Frank Miller re-imagines the origin of Batman in this classic story line. The story focuses on both Bruce Wayne, who has just returned from abroad and is becoming Batman, and Jim Gordon, who was transferred to Gotham as a pseudo punishment for exposing corrupt cops in his old beat. Jim is tasked with tracking down the Gotham Bat, and Bruce Wayne must take on Gotham's criminals as well as their corrupt police force. The comic has more than a few iconic moments, and one of them landed itself in Christopher Nolan's Batman begins where Batman uses a sonar device to summon a swarm of bats to provide the concealment he needed to escape from GCPD's Swat. It's a great story and a truly worthy reimagining of Batman's beginnings. 

Batman: Zero Year

Frank Miller wasn't the only person to re-imagine the story of the Bat. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo published the arc Zero Year to show the first year of Bruce being Batman in the New 52 universe. The arc puts Bruce coming home to a Gotham war torn by crime syndicates and the rise of a nefarious criminal named Red Hood. The story also serves as a launching point for several different Batman rogues such as the Riddler. 

Batman: War on Crime

When you think Batman there are a few names that come to mind: Frank Miller, Jeph Leob, and Paul Dini. The latter of which is one of the many genius writers behind Batman The Animated series, co-creator of Harley Quinn, and even wrote the script for Arkham City and Asylum. So when you take the genius writing of someone like Paul Dini, an pair it with the hyper realism art style that is Alex Ross, it's going to make an impact. Batman: War on Crime shows Batman contemplating on if he would still be doing his crusade if he weren't born into a life with the means by which to do so. Throughout the story Batman witnesses similar events unfold to a young boy named Marcus that happened to Bruce when he was 8. The slope is slippery and Batman sees this young man faced with the same darkness that Bruce faced as a boy, but instead of conquering the fear and loneliness, begins to succumb to them and be worse off. The story in and of itself is brilliant, as one should expect from a part of the wonder team that produced BTAS (Batman the Animated Series), but the thing that really stands out about this book is the art. Alex Ross truly is a master of his craft and delivers beautiful painting style panels that bring Gotham a breath of life that not even live action films have been able to accomplish. His emphasis on dark and light really highlight the moral ambiguity of the character and his environment. 

Batman Beyond: Mark of the Phantasm

In the spirit of talking about the Animated Series, there is a comic that exists in the same universe that should be discussed. Batman Beyond 2.0 was a digital series that followed Terry Mcginnis in his adventures as Batman Beyond that extend past the events of the acclaimed animated feature Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. In this series, Terry has separated from Bruce and has instead been working under the supervision of Dick Grayson. That's not to say Bruce isn't around, but more along the lines of the fact that Terry and he aren't on speaking terms. Mark of the Phantasm is an event that explains just why that is, but more importantly, it is the returned in quite possibly the one of the most unknown rogues gallery members: Andrea Beaumont, better known as the Phantasm. Andrea made her first appearance in the cult hit, animated feature: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and to fans of the Animated Series, she is considered to be one of Batman's best villains. However, for whatever reason, DC criminally decided to NEVER  use her in anything else or bother to make her canon, so to say that fans were excited to see Andrea back in the spotlight and in the future going against Terry no less was an understatement. While the arc does a few risque things, it's overall a great read and completely makes you understand why nobody in the Beyond future likes Bruce at all. 

Batman Black & White: "Good Evening Midnight" 

Batman Black and White are a series of  black and white, short one shots about Batman made by various different writers and artist. All of them are excellent reads, so if you are looking at picking up the collection I would totally recommend it, but if you are looking for just one that stands out from all the rest "Good Evening Midnight." takes the cake. The comic takes place on Bruce's birthday, and it goes back and forth between Bruce saving kids on a hijacked bus, and Alfred reading a letter written to Bruce by his father Thomas Wayne. It's both equally heart wrenching and affirming to see how far Bruce has strayed from the hopes Thomas had for him while simultaneously growing up to be the very man that Thomas had expected of his son. They made a motion comic of it, and it's amazing. So watch, or read, either way is a more than ample way to spend Batman day. 

Batman: Hush

Every now and again there is a story that leaves a mark on you and becomes the iconic version of the character for you. For me, that book was Batman: Hush. Drawn by Jim Lee and written by Jeph Leob. Hush pits Batman against a good chunk of his A list rogues gallery in a mystery that constantly is unfolding a new layer. It has excellent moments for every character in it, and has an ending that I guarantee will surprise everyone who reads it. Hush is a villain who appears to be pulling the strings on various crimes around Gotham, getting members of his Rogues gallery to think outside the box. Hush has his face wrapped up in bandages to hide his identity and so Batman is trying to uncover who exactly this menace is. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but I will say that the puppet master pulling all the strings is a villain that until this point I had never taken too seriously and that this comic completely changed my opinion of him as a villain. 

Batman: Endgame

A lot of people consider Alan Moore's The Killing Joke as the most iconic encounter between Batman and the Joker, and while it is a great read, I don't hold the same opinion. There are a lot of factors that lead into that, one of which being a great disdain for Alan Moore (despite his clear talent as a writer, the lack of respect for the genre which made his career is honestly unforgivable to me), and on top of that at times the book feels like it is needlessly grotesque. However, if there is a story that perfects the dynamic of Batman and the Joker, it is Endgame by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Some seventy plus years of story telling have lead to this story and boy do they deliver. The arc revolves around the possibility of Joker being an immortal. Joker uses this to toy with Batman's brain and it is their ultimate showdown. Honestly, this is probably the best final confrontation between the Batman and the Joker that I have ever read. A lot of my love for this book also comes from the fact that just a few arcs prior DC had done Death of the Family during which Joker had cut his own face off. While there were certainly a great deal of people who appreciated this look, I was not one of them. Seeing the Joker with full face in tact and back to his usual schemes with Joker toxin was a refreshing return to form. Endgame provides a story where we see Joker at the scariest part of his game and Batman has to push himself and every resource he has to new heights.

Batman: War of Jokes and Riddles

DC relaunched their universe for the 3rd time here in the past 5 years a few months back with the DC Rebirth. It was meant to be a return to form, but, in all honesty Batman was one of the only characters that had maintained true to form which led to a very tough job for Tom King, the new writer for Batman who was to replace Scott Snyder. While I personally enjoyed the opening arc of I am Gotham, I was honestly not impressed by a lot of what followed. I am Suicide (with exception to a few choice moments) felt largely anticlimactic and I cannot lie that Batman's choice in a Suicide Squad was disappointing to say the least. The I am Bane arc felt like a odd appendage to the I am Suicide arc, and really the only issue that had stood out to me since the first arc was the annual about Bruce adopting the dog. A lot of this just had to do with the fact that Tom was following a tough act, none of these arcs were bad, they just weren't as good as what Snyder and Capullo had been popping out their first few years working on the Bat. However, King finally struck gold with his current arc: The War of Jokes and Riddles. First off, a tip of the hat to quite possibly one of the best names of a Batman story ever. The title pretty much says it all, but to give a brief overview: the Joker doesn't find humor in jokes anymore, the Riddler is bored of riddles and its all Batman's fault. His constant foiling of their schemes have left both the Joker and Riddler out of wind. Riddler tries to talk Joker into working with him to be rid of the bat so they can go back to their normal selves. Joker responds by burying a .45 slug in Riddler's chest. Somehow Riddler walks away from that and the two start to recruit from the criminal class of Gotham, assembling two armies of Gotham's rogues for a criminal civil war that would rip through the collateral of the city. Batman must find a way to stop this war from taking more lives and it is quite the task. 

Batman: Under The Hood

Batman is a character that ultimately defines himself very much on the foundation of his own personal loss. If he were to make a list of personal failures, it is without a doubt that the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin, would be among the first of them. While most fans didn't really care too much for Jason, it is undeniable that this was a moment that shook the foundation of Bruce's mission and made him question if he was making the right calls. This would ultimately lead to one of the best character revivals of all time by transforming literally one of the most hated comic side kicks into a fan favorite center piece of the DC universe. Under The Red Hood  pits Batman against a new vigilante that has come to Gotham, one without the same penchant for not killing as the Dark Knight. Upon much investigation, Bruce discovers that this new vigilante, going by the Joker's old alias: Red Hood, is in fact the second Robin, back from the dead. Angry that Batman has not only failed to kill the Joker to avenge him, but that Batman had taken up a new robin in Tim Drake. Jason is out for blood. It's an incredible book that keeps you on the edge of your seat (they also made a fantastic animated feature of it starring the voice talent of Jensen Ackles as Jason).

Batman #51

Finally, to top off this list I have the final issue of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's run of New 52 Batman. This singular issue is so good, that it deserved to stand beside some of the greatest stories of the Dark Knight. What makes it so special? The answer is that it is a love letter to fans of the Dark Knight. At face value nothing happens in this issue. In fact, that's kind of the whole point. The issue starts with a power outage in Gotham. The security system in Arkham has went down and so Batman goes to investigate. While all this is going on a narrator is trying to answer the question of: "What is Gotham?" Batman continues to investigate this power outage, assuming the worst because, well, it's Gotham. No coincidences. He checks up on several leads from Penguin, to the Court of Owls, and no one seems to be behind it. He goes to the source of the outage and across the street he sees a flicker of light from an abandoned building. Batman crashes through the window to find a man who he had apprehended in the past, however, he has since turned from a life of crime and writes for the Gotham is column. He explains he was just trying to finish the column he was writing by deadline when the generator went off. Batman leaves him alone to finish his column and it is at this point it is revealed that the narrator has been this columnist. Batman goes around the city one more time seeing a city at peace, families safe in their homes, people being good to each other. The columnist addresses Batman in his column, hoping that while Batman usually sees the city at it's worst, that for just a moment the city can show him their best in return for all he has done. The issue closes with Batman staring out to a peaceful city, the outage a result of a natural tremor, the sun is rising, and the following quote: 

And so really, in the end, the answer to the question this column poses is simple. It's what we say to you, and you say to us. Gotham... is you, Always. 

I realize that there are plenty of other great Batman stories, and you are more than welcome to post them as comments. However, to me, these are the best at capturing Batman. That's not to say this list was easy to make, stories like Long Halloween, Darkest Victory, and Gotham by Gaslight are just a few examples of stories that I considered adding here as well. At the end of the day though, the stories I listed are the ones that have impacted me most as a fan, and I hope they have a chance to impact you as well!

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you enjoyed and we will see you next time!