BENDING STEEL REVIEWS: Iron Man, DC Universe #0

Let’s start with Iron Man.

W

o

w.

Good movie. Very funny, great action. Robert Downey, Jr pulled it off. The whole cast pulled it off. If you want a synopsis of the movie, here it is: Tony Stark is rich. Tony Stark sells weapons. Tony Stark gets kidnapped, then builds the first Iron Man. He gets away. He goes home, and builds the new Iron Man suit. He fights crime.

If I told you anymore, I’d ruin it. Go see it, it was worth the price of admission. (Of course I didn’t pay to see it) And stay until the end of the credits! I didn’t and I regretted it.

5/5

DC Universe #0

It was a 50 cent advertisement. Oh, and Barry Allen is back.

1/5

How about a real review?

Action Comics #864

A nice bridge between the 6 issue “Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes” story arc and the up-coming “Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds”. This story features a narrative by the Time Trapper, a classic Legion villian. His narrative seems to imply that he is the force behind the upcoming story.

Batman visits the Fortress of Solitude. When he walks in, he finds Lightning Lad (Garth Ranzz) from the future, chatting it up with Clark. (Background time: Lightning Lad and the other Legionnares used to come back in time, to Smallville, to pick up Clark and take him back to the future. He would go on adventures with the team.)

Bruce pulls Clark away. While arguing about bringing heroes from the future back to the past, Bruce points out that he has met three different Legion teams. Clark tells him that they are probally from three different parallel Earths. The World’s Finest have no idea that, in current DC continuity, there are 52 parallel Earths.

So why is Bruce really there? Gotham City Police discovered two bodies. the bodies have Legion Flight Rings. “Countdown” wrap-up time. The bodies are Karate Kid and Duo Damsel. Karate Kid died on Earth-51, his body ravaged by the virus that ended civilization on Earth-51. Duo Damsel, well, one half of her (She was originally Triplicate Girl, a hero who could split into three separate people. one of her bodies died in an old Legion story. the other is in the future.) was killed by the creatures created by the same virus. Lightning Lad shows up… and he’s pissed. Argument ensues. They are cut off by a Legion distress signal on Garth’s Flight Ring. So they go visit the last Legionnaire in the twenty-first century.

Starman of the Justice Society. Starman is a little crazy. He was Thom Kallor, Starboy of the Legion. Prior to the “Lightning Saga”, a JLA/JSA crossover, Brainiac 5 of the Legion sent Starman back in time, except he went to the wrong Earth. he ended up on Earth-22 and suffered through “Kingdom Come”. Then blasted again into the Multiverse, he made it back to our Earth. His mind was already damaged when Dream Girl filled his head with visions of the future. So he lives in a sanitarium in Opal City.

Clark, Bruce and Garth visit Tom in the sanitarium. Thom questions whether Garth is “the lightning off to save the universe from you-know-what”. (Probably means Barry Allen, The Flash, as implied in DC Universe #0) He tells Garth not worry about Triplicate Girl, “Wait until you see what happens to her!” Thom tells Garth he’s staying in the 21st century. he’s going to get a secret identity, call himself Danny Blaine. This fulfills some comic book pre-cog from James Robinson’s Starman series from a few years back.

Garth puts the bodies of his friends into his time machine to give them a proper burial. After he says his goodbyes, Garth looks over Clark’s shoulder at Bruce and says, “I wonder what he would’ve turned out if we’d gone to get him, too.” So do I, Garth.

Geoff Johns is slowly puting together his 31st Century masterpiece. I wasn’t happy that there was almost no action in six issues of “The Lightning Saga” and that it took six issues of Action Comics to tell a Legion story in a Superman book. I’m not a Legion fan. But I can’t say it’s not good. Johns’ work has been stellar. I liked the art in this book, Joe Prado isn’t bad at all. I like the way he did Batman’s cowl. It reminded me of “Batman Begins”. Since I’m already this far deep into the Legion’s story, I will read “Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds”.

4/5

JELLY AND CHEESE: April 30, 2008

Blogger’s note: I tried to post this last Wednesday. I typed this up on my XP wordprocessor. when i copied and pasted it here, I couldn’t get my spacing to match up properly. So here it is. Finally.

This is the first Jelly and Cheese: just a bunch of random thoughts that wouldn’t make good single columns. Let’s start with… jelly and cheese. Once upon a time, some 20-something years gone by, I revealed to my mother (through alot of screaming and crying) that I did not like peanut butter. I did not like it with a goat, I did not like it in a boat. I would not eat it here nor there. I did not eat peanut butter, Ster-I-Am. And most certainly would not eat it with jelly. So she gave me a piece of cheese, just to shut me up. I put the cheese on the jelly half of my sandwich and ate it. My big ole belly was born.

BENDING STEEL REVIEW: Mario Kart Wii

This game is… AWSOME! I purchased this game the day it was released and me, my wife, my 21-month old son, and the guys at the Post Office cannot stop raving about this game. It’s pretty much like every other Mario Kart with some Wii-ness added in. First of all is the steering wheel. A wheel comes bundled with the game, with additional wheeels on sale at your local game retailer for $10-15. The wheel changes the gameplay experience and it is really fun. the Wi-Fi option (if your Wii is connected to the internet) Is a blast. You can take on racers around the world (or just a group of friends around the neighborhood with friend codes). I haven’t unlocked the other tracks yet, but two of the four available cups feature tracks from the previous incarnations of this game. Mario Kart Wii will be one of thise games the Wii is famous for: when you host a get-together an everyone wants to throw down.

5/5

BENDING STEEL PREVIEW: Iron Man

 

I am a DC guy, there is no doubt. But when it comes to super-hero movies, I’m there. And I am there to see Robert Downey, Jr. Downey is made for this role: a recovering addict playing a billionare drunk. The previews are very promising and the CGI looks tremendous. On top of that, Downey has a cameo in The Incredible Hulk, due out later this summer… and he is playing Tony Stark! I like the continunity building in the Marvel franchises. My wife is the former manager at a local cinema down here in FL, so she’s my hook-up. Not only will I get in free, I get to see it a day early, without the fan boys behind me yelling, “I’m the Juggernaut, Bitch!”

MEANWHILE: At Arkham’s Asylum http://arkhamsasylum.wordpress.com/

Marc has some new cards up and a good overview about a seldom used character in the Arkham Asylum mythos.

TRUTH AND JUSTICE: DUN and Out

Every day I update the previews of the MUN set on the Arkham Asylum forum http://z15.invisionfree.com/Arkham_Asylum/index.php?act=site and I feel like I’m getting stabbed a little bit in my side (might be a medical condition). No more DC for the forseeable future. So I am jumping on the bandwagon and will be sending a personal letter to Dan Didio at DC Comics. When i get the letter written out, I will copy it into the blog and share with you guys.

THE AMERICAN WAY: Friend and Hero No More?

 By now, any one interested in politics has seen this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc2FCJ7zWEQ On Tuesday, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) cut off all the to The Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright. Dr. Wright was Sen. Obama’s pastor for more then 20 years. Dr. Wright baptized Sen. Obama’s children. Dr. Wright was a spititual leader for the Senator. I guess it doesn’t matter when the presidency of the United States of America is on the line. Your faith, your belief system, the things that make you who you are, who you’ve been, who you will be, all these things can be tossed away if it doesn’t agree with the polls. I hope Senator Obama hasn’t sacrificed an important part of himself just for political gain.

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BENDING STEEL REVIEW: My Friends Tigger and Pooh

Yep, you read that right. Tigger. And. Pooh. They’re always there for each other. “My Friends Tigger and Pooh” is a computer animated children’s show on Playhouse Disney, a block of preschool TV programs on the Disney Channel. The idea is theis: Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger, along with human friend (and newcomer to the Pooh mythos) Darby and her dog Buster, are sleuths solving problems within the Hundred-Acre Woods. Pooh and Tigger dress up like super-heroes and become The Super Sleuths. The shows consists of a character having some sort of problem, then raising a flag to denote their location, finally, the character blows a horn. Tigger, Pooh, Darby and Buster race to the “Changing Tree” and become the Super Sleuths. Afterwards, they head to the location to solve the problem. the show teaches problem solving techniques and the idea to “think, think, think”. What I like about this show is that they don’t always solve the problem. Example: Tigger could not figure out how to whistle. The Sleuths, along with the other Woods’ residents, tried their best to help him, but in the end the only advice they could give him was, “keep trying.” I was on youtube with my son, watching the opening themes to all his favorite shows when I stumbled across this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se6mqCKaWGg She is a hottie.

4/5

Speaking of Playhouse Disney hotties, this is Genevieve from Choo Choo Soul: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPlkiN2e6bg

On a personal note, pray for Nancy. Nancy and I joined the Catholic Church at the same time. She’s not so good right now, and we may lose her sooner then later.

Until next time I get around to this, C-YA!