A Green Mushroom

One of the recommendations I got from a few people after the comic podcast was to check out the first two runs of The Ultimates comics. It turns out these are fantastic. The Ultimates is definitely a huge source of inspiration for the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of The Avengers.  The Ultimates is the start of it's own separate universe from the main Marvel comics so they're not burdened with all the history of all the characters.  It gets to assemble it's own Avengers for the very first time and it does a great job. The pacing of the story is fast and I love that about it.  Every issue moves multiple storylines forward which is something very few comics can say. I don't really want to spoil anything about the plot because it's so good. My main takeaway is that this is going to go into my back pocket as a recommendation for people who ask me what comics they should check out.  I think most people will like The Ultimates and The Ultimates 2.

Agents of Shield is a weird series for me.  I really wanted to like it when it came out.  I watched the first handful of episodes but it completely failed to captivate me.  I drifted away around episode 6 or so. I just came back to the series and finally picked up where I left off.  A lot of people I trust told me that it gets better but you have to give it time. This is very true.  Around episode 16 the show starts tying into the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier where Hydra has infiltrated Shield and basically destroys Shield from within. Before this, the characters started growing on me, but the plot was basically worthless.  It was super boring.  But, once Hydra makes their move and starts destroying Shield from within the plot picks up a lot.  Not to mention that you never know which one of the characters might be a sleeper agent. I still wish it were paced better.  The first half of the season isn't that great and th...

This book hooked me.  I started it not really expecting much and ended up finishing it over the course of one weekend. It's a biography but it's mostly about his history of creation in media.  It doesn't focus much on his childhood, and it's all the better for it.  Instead, it's broken down by what he was working on and when that happened.  There are multiple chapters devoted to some of the longer works, like Buffy, but it covers all of his film, video, TV, and comics up through The Avengers and prepping for Age of Ultron. The book gives lots more context for his work and it's made me appreciate things I already liked, but in a new light.  I have to admit, as soon as I finished it I re-watched Dr. Horrible.  It's probably my favorite made for the internet thing ever. Mostly, it just makes me excited to see what his next project will be.  I understand Joss Whedon as a creator so much more now and I'm definitely already interested in all  ...

I don't always know exactly how to refer to the comics that I've been reading on Marvel Unlimited.  There are so many comics with such similar titles about the same heroes.  After reading a bunch of character centered comics that started in 2012 I also decided to try to get into the Avengers comic that was started at the same time and used those same versions of the characters. I thought Avengers (2012) would be a surefire hit for me.  I loved the ensemble cast in the movies with the friendly banter and inter-squad tensions.  I think they make for great storytelling.  But now I'm realizing that a lot of that might be because Joss Whedon knows how to write dialog and not because the Avengers themselves are a great plot device. The Avengers comics that I read didn't click with me.  They brought in so many different characters that I couldn't keep track of them all.  I hadn't even heard of most of the characters that were in these comics.  Th...

Superheroes!  Link-up!  Superheroes Link-up! Feel free to drop any of your favorite links from the last week into the link-up below. But today, our theme for discussion is Superheroes!  I've never been a big comic book guy, so I don't have a huge encyclopedic knowledge of Superheros.  Most of my Superhero knowledge comes from the 90s Superhero TV shows I grew up with, videogames, and friends who know more about them than I do. That being said, I love a good Superhero movie.  Marvel has been knocking it out of the park lately and I've been eating it up.  They've had some misses along with their hits, but movies like The Avengers and Captain America: Winter Soldier show that they're on the right path.  I'm super excited for the next Avengers movie and I'm really curious to see what they do with Ant Man.  The Marvel movies are helping me get a new appreciation for superheroes as a genre. I've been less impressed with the DC movies, except...