Master of Kung-Fu commission by Paul Gulacy

Cap and the Howling Commandos by Joe Jusko

Avengers: Age of Ultron - Spoiler Free Review!

 Last night, I peaked at the Rotten Tomatoes rating and was a bit discouraged to see it at 84%, a respectable score, but a bit lower than I expected (the 2012 Avengers scored 92%). And now I'm startled to see it drop down to 75%.

The movie opens at a breakneck pace and only slows down a bit in the middle for some great character moments before rushing headlong into the climatic confrontation. The film's strength centers on the characters and Whedon leverages that to insert some clever, strong original bits, like Natasha and Bruce's relationship and Hawkeye's backstory. The relationship between Natasha and Bruce was a nice development that had a lot of weight in the story. Nice to see something that originated from the movies that hasn't already been done in the comics.

The story's main premise revolves around artificial intelligence and the role the Avengers play in the world. The execution of it works well and the character angles Whedon chose to focus on was really effective. He dissects the team's chemistry and really puts a lot pressure on specific points that take the team to the brink of despair, but then rebuilds it even stronger.

Spader was good as Ultron. I wasn't bothered by his voice as others were, but I would have liked to have heard a bit more of a metallic sound. What did bother me was that his motivation for such a megalomaniacal course was weak. I would have liked to have seen a deterioration of the relationship between Ultron and Stark.

Whedon adeptly handled the abundance of characters and his dialog was dead-on as usual. The Scarlet Witch surprised me although her powers were a little undefined. Looking forward to seeing more of her and it was nice to see some hints at her relationship with the Vision. Quicksilver was also a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed Evan Peters' portrayal of the speedster in X-Men: Days of Future Past and didn't expect to like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but I did.

The Vision was impressive on all levels. Beautiful CGI captured his look and Paul Bettany nailed his character, both voice and presence. The only thing I could complain about was that he didn't have trademark collar on his cape.

The Hulkbuster vs Hulk battle was one hell of a brawl. There's also one great scene in the climax where the heroes have all gathered to make a final stand that explodes from a comic book in a sequence that's frame like comic panels. You'll know it when you see it.

Sadly there's no 2nd teaser as the end of the film. The first one's great, but there's nothing after that.

Avengers: Age of Ultron was a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying film that builds on the Marvel movie franchise, specifically Whedon's 2012 Avengers. A fun blockbuster movie to kick off the summer! Glad I'm going to see this one again on Saturday with the kids.

1979 - Anatomy of a cover - Marvel Two-In-One #51

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1039972&GSub=87468

1988 - Anatomy of a Cover - Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #1

By Jim Steranko!

Nick Fury by Mike Zeck

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1042729&GSub=147942

1986 - Nick Fury by Art Adams

Found over at the Fans of Arthur Adams Facebook Page:

1983 - Captain America #284 Colour Guides

Found over on ebay: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1-OF-A-KIND-1980s-CAPTAIN-AMERICA-284-MARVEL-COLORGUIDE-ART-PAGE-27-SAL-BUSCEMA-/360488879905?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53eecfc721

1989 - Anatomy of a cover - Marvel Fanfare #47

1983 - Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

By Jim Steranko.

Happy 87th Birthday to the Legendary Joe Sinnott

Happy Birthday Howard Chaykin

Marvel Comics' Solicitations - September 2013 1980s Goodness

FANTASTIC FOUR BY JOHN BYRNE OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC
Written by JOHN BYRNE, MARK GRUENWALD & ROGER STERN
Penciled by JOHN BYRNE, MARK BRIGHT, JERRY ORDWAY & RON WILSON
Covers by JOHN BYRNE

Superstar John Byrne’s legendary run concludes with one of the most innovative periods in Fantastic Four history! The sensational She-Hulk replaces the Thing, Sue Richards becomes the Invisible Woman, and Mr. Fantastic is tried for crimes against the universe! Also featuring the return of Dr. Doom, the fate of Reed and Sue’s unborn child, the resurrection of Jean Grey, and more — as the FF confront deadly foes including the Mole Man, Dr. Octopus, Terminus, the Beyonder, Mephisto, Psycho-Man and Annihilus!
Plus: the unfinished “Last Galactus Story,” reprinted for the first time!

Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #261-295 and ANNUAL #18-19, ALPHA FLIGHT (1983) #4, THING (1983) #10 and #19, and AVENGERS ANNUAL #14; and material from SECRET WARS II #2, EPIC ILLUSTRATED #26-34, WHAT IF? (1977) #36, WHAT THE-?! #2 and #10, THING (1983) #7, FANTASTIC FOUR ROAST, and FANTASTIC FOUR SPECIAL EDITION #1.
1224 PGS./Rated T …$125

S.H.I.E.L.D.: NICK FURY VS. S.H.I.E.L.D. TPB (NEW PRINTING)
Written by BOB HARRAS
Penciled by PAUL NEARY

SHIELD faces its greatest threat — from within! All that stands in the way of its enigmatic inner agenda is Nick Fury himself…but Fury falls from grace when SHIELD’s ruling council, commanded by the mysterious Deltite, frames him for treason and sends him running for his life. The network Fury built turns against him, and even he can’t fight an army alone. Going underground, Fury gathers allies — but the Deltite’s cult have targeted Fury’s few remaining loyalists, replacing them with Life Model Decoy androids. Which agents are true to Fury? Which ones aren’t even real? And which, if any, will survive? Must Fury destroy the organization to which he’s devoted his life? In a world of lies that he constructed, who can a master spy trust?

Collecting NICK FURY VS. S.H.I.E.L.D. #1-6.
304 PGS./Rated T …$29.99

THOR EPIC COLLECTION: WAR OF THE PANTHEONS TPB
Written by TOM DEFALCO, STAN LEE, JIM SHOOTER, ROGER STERN & RON FRENZ
Penciled by RON FRENZ, ERIK LARSEN, BOB HALL, CHARLES VESS & MORE

It’s the beginning of a new era for the mighty Thor — but it just might be the end of the Norse gods! With Asgard adrift in space, Thor must sacrifice all when he finds himself in a losing battle to protect the planet Pangoria against the unimaginably powerful Celestials! But when Seth the Serpent God unleashes an all-out assault on Asgard, can the Norse gods defeat his ruthless army without their greatest warrior? Plus: Thor takes on the Hulk, clashes with the Celtic Lord of Lightning, battles Quicksand and tackles the maddening Mongoose alongside Spider-Man! Earth Force targets Hogun for death! A watershed moment for Captain America! Surtur makes his demonic return! And introducing Eric Masterson and the Thor of the 24th century!

Collecting THOR (1966) #383-400.
472 PGS./Rated T …$34.99

THOR BY WALTER SIMONSON VOL. 2 TPB
Written by WALTER SIMONSON
Penciled by WALTER SIMONSON & SAL BUSCEMA

Few people have ever left their mark on one character quite the way Walter Simonson has. His work on the Mighty Thor swept the Norse God of Thunder to heights never before seen and rarely achieved in his wake. Spanning epic tales of heroism and treachery, love and war, Simonson’s work is often considered the definitive Thor. From the majesty and mystery of fabled Asgard to the gritty streets of New York City, Thor was never the same. That is the mark of a true visionary. This second volume continues the collection of Simonson’s epic run — completely remastered from the original artwork and newly colored by Steve Oliffe. Collecting THOR (1966) #346-355.
240 PGS./Rated T …$24.99

1985 - Ken Stacy Portfolio I

From Marvel Fanfare #22.

The Avengers (2012) - A Review (Spoiler Free)

I went into this movie with high expectations, generated by all the hype and overwhelmingly positive reviews. While I've enjoyed the Marvel movies, they've always seemed a bit off to me in terms of the stories and characters. I've always tried to see the movies as existing in their own universe. To be fair, I can't imagine the herculean task of trying to sort through fifty years of continuity and storylines and distill a two hour movie from that.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Avengers. It was better than I had expected which was a pleasant surprise. The cast really came together well, with Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) being the glue that kept them together. Director Josh Wedon outdid himself. Seriously. I'm a huge fan of Firefly, but didn't enjoy as much of his post-Firefly efforts, so I was a bit concerned. Those concerns were put to rest rather quickly. Each member of the Avengers gets a solid amount of storytime and development, even the supporting characters, like Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, and Maria Hill.

The story is fast moving and paced very well. There were more than a number of moments in the film that had the audience yelling out and cheering. There's a scene near the end with Loki and Hulk that is simply epic and capture the feel of the film in 30 seconds.

If you had an reservations about seeing this movie, don't, go see it now! I can't give this movie higher praise for a comic book geek point of view. The density of the material covered by the film might leave non-comic book geeks a bit lost, but it is a sweet reward to any Avengers fans.

The Avengers movie opens this weekend!

Who's going to see the Avengers movie this weekend? I already have my tickets for Friday night's late showing. Despite not being a huge fan of the Marvel movie franchises, I really enjoyed Thor and Captain America and can't help but get caught up in the positive wave of pre-release reviews!

1988 - S.H.I.E.L.D. ID card

1989 - Wolverine and Nick Fury

Wolverine and Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection
Marvel Graphic Novel #50
64 pages
Writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Howard Chaykin

“It seems like a surefire formula for success: Take two tough, no-nonsense heroes, add a story filled with espionage and intrigue, set it in a variety of exotic locales around the world, toss in some unexpected twists and surprises, have it written and illustrated by two of the top talents in comics, and what do you get? The Scorpio Connection”

   - Marvel Age #79 (October 1989)

“I've always liked Nick Fury, especially when Jim Steranko was writing and drawing his series in the 60's. I had to write several fill-in issues of S.H.I.E.L.D. when Steranko left, and I always felt that I never had the chance to give it my best shot. In the back of my mind, I always wanted another chance.”
   - Archie Goodwin, Marvel Age #79 (October 1989)

The Scorpio Connection is a decent story with enough twists and turns to pull you along. This story exemplifies the strength of Archie Goodwin’s writing. Bringing together to solitary characters and have them tackle some real issues. Chaykin’s art is always solid.

Howard Chaykin established himself with the Indy series American Flagg. He rarely contributed to either of the Big Two (DC and Marvel). Interestingly, it apparently took Archie Goodwin three years to write the script after Chaykin had drawn the graphic novel (Marvel Age #79 - October 1989).

Richard Ory did a wonderful job with the colours and in some panels the colours where used to fill in the background, like luscious Mediterranean sunsets or the grainy black and white flashbacks.

The basic plot is a pretty standard team-up. An event brings together two heroes. They each try to take on the threat on their own and fail. However, together they’re able to come out on top.

The event is the death of a mutual friend at the hands of someone posing as Fury’s late brother, Scorpio. However, things get rather complicated as the mastermind behind the situation turns out to be an old flame Fury played back in his C.I.A. days. Fortunately, he has Wolverine tag along with him to keep him in check. Things become a bit more personal when they find out who this new Scorpio really is.

This storyline continues in the pages the Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. ongoing series in late 1989.

Howard Chaykin wrote a 1994 sequel to this graphic novel called Scorpio Rising that brings all three characters together again.