Summer Recommendations: What to Watch and Read

Trying to find things to watch or read this summer? Well here is a list of some 5 shows or movies on DVD or Blu-ray and comics in trade paperback to read that I recommend getting for the summer:

DVDs/Blu-ray:

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender Seasons 1-3 – Even though this is a show produced by Nickelodeon by watching a few episodes of this cartoon/anime, it's hard to classify it as one of the two, you would not be able to tell. It is a story about a world that is split into four nations: the Water Tribe, the Air Nomads, the Fire Nation, and the Earth Kingdom. In each nation there are some people called 'Benders' that are able to manipulate the element corresponding to their nation (Waterbending, Airbending, Firebending, and Earthbending). While most 'Benders' can only use one element there is a one person born every generation, called the Avatar, that can bend all of these elements. The story revolves around the latest Avatar a twelve year old named Aang who is the last remaining Airbender, won't spoil why that is, in his quest to stop the Fire Nation who now control most of the world and are trying to control the parts that they don't. This series is split into three seasons, all out on DVD. The show is masterfully done with its epic story, some of the best fighting choreography, and all out stunning animation that you will be hooked on the show.
   
   
2. Chuck Season 1 – Maybe one of the most underrated show that was close to cancellation after its second season this year, but luckily it will come back for a third season. This is a great comedy/action show that center's around an everyman-type character named Chuck, obviously, whose life changes after his ex-friend turned nemesis, or so he thinks, sends him a program that basically installs a computer in his brain with a bunch of government secrets. The CIA and NSA find out Chuck has all of their information and each sends their best agent to protect him, one of which is named Sarah who may be the hottest woman on TV ;). Even though I might not have done the show justice with my brief synopsis of the show it is still a very entertaining show that has some great comedy and action.
   
   
3. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (Blu-ray) – If you're as big of a Final Fantasy as I am this Blu-ray is a must have. Even though the movie came out on DVD a few years back this new release on Blu-ray actually has 30 minutes of more footage inserted into the film. And all of the CGI work on this movie is just breathtaking. Even if you're not a Final Fantasy fan I can guarantee that this will probably be one of the best looking movies you will have in your collection. All of the CGI work on this movie will make you jealous at how beautiful everything looks.
   
   
4. PSYCH Season 1-3 – Now officially the third season won't be released on DVD until next until next week this is still a great comedy show about a guy who uses his heighten observational skills to make people believe he is a psychic. Even though this is a crime show it is not to be taken as one as the mysteries only help to lead the main characters through some great comedy and should not be taken seriously. And if you're a fan of a lot of 80s and early 90s movies and TV shows this is one show that has a bunch of references to those movies and TV shows which works great with the comedy.
   
   
5. The Spectacular Spider-Man Season 1 – If you are looking for the best comic book cartoon there is, next to Batman: The Animated Series, then look no further than The Spectacular Spider-Man. This is the show that any fan of Spider-Man, young or old, will enjoy. The creators behind this show nailed every aspect that made Spider-Man one of the most popular comic book characters. This show is just pure fun. The first season just came out on DVD which contains all thirteen episodes and is only $20. I definitely recommend buying or renting this show as I sure even the mild Spider-Man fan will enjoy.
   

Trade Paperbacks/Comics:

1. Astonishing X-Me Vol. 2 – For all of its delays Joss Whedon and John Cassaday run on Astonishing X-Men was maybe one of the best X-Men runs in the past decade. This hardcover collects the last two story arcs of their run and for all of the problems with the current X-Men this, along with the first two story arcs, is definitely a must for any X-Men fan. And if you are looking to get into comics and/or the X-Men this is a collection that can get you into these characters without having to buy much more than this and the previous volume/softcovers of Whedon and Cassaday's run.
   
   
2. Batman: Hush – Now I put this trade on the list for new comic book readers than the older ones. Say what you will about Jeph Loeb's current work but there was a time when he was a competent writer and his Batman: Hush storyline is a very good read and a great jumping on point for new readers. Even though the current direction of Batman has someone else under the cowl, Dick Grayson, Loeb's Batman: Hush is a good way to get into comics. And even for Batman fans this is a good storyline that while having its weak moments was an overall well told and entertaining story.
   
   
3. Immortal Iron Fist Omnibus – This omnibus collects all of Fraction and Brubaker's run on this title that was vastly underrated when first released. Fraction and Brubaker do a great job reinventing Iron Fist to be a much more appealing and powerful character than he was before. Through their run they tell a great narrative and if you are a fan of old school martial art movie fan and a shonen manga fan this is a great series to get you into comics.
   
   
4. Stephen King's Marvel comic novels (Dark Towers and The Stand) – While it has been about 6 or 7 years since I read Stephen King's Dark Towers and The Stand book this reminded me of everything that was great about that novel. Even though these collections do not hit every plot point from the book, which would be impossible to do in a comic, it is still able to capture the setting and tone of the novel perfectly. Dark Towers has some great artwork by Jae Lee this is definitely a couple trades/hardcovers that will look great in your collection.
   
   
5. X-Men/Spider-Man – This mini-series is one of my favorite mini-series that came out last year. If you are a Spider-Man or X-Men fan this is a great mini that spans the different eras of both franchises from the beginning to the pre-Dark Reign stuff. This is a series that definitely provides the necessary nostalgia and reminds you why you love these character. If nothing else this is a mini-series that is beautifully drawn by Mario Alberti whose art style is a bit reminiscent of how Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko use to draw the characters.
6. edit - Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader - I decided to add this trade on the list after considering how great the story is and it is a story that all readers can enjoy. It is a story that explore all of the Dark Knights history and how much the character has meant to the lives of so many people he has met. It truly is one of the best Batman stories that can be enjoyed by all especially with some great artwork from Andy Kubert.
   

This is just some of the things to get this summer and if there is anything on the list that you felt was left of the list let me know.

Legacy Shorts: Comic Book Reviews for 3/4/09

Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?

Creative Team
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Dustin Nguyen (The Veil), Guillem March (Vicki Vale), ChrisCross (Stephanie Brown), Jamie McKelvie (Leslie Thompkins), and Alex Konat and Mark McKenna (Harvey Bullock)

Story - Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?

Review
With this issue we officially kick off Battle for the Cowl. And all I can say is that I was a bit underwhelmed. Nothing against this story but this one-shot would have been much better served if it came out the same week as or after Battle for the Cowl #1. The only thing that we get out of this issue is that Gotham City has gone to hell without Batman around. But this is something that is not new since the past few issues of Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, and Robin have all explored this aspect of Gotham without Batman. At this point I am already set for Battle for the Cowl to begin since we already had type of story told. Also after the Batman and Detective Comics two-part issue that involved The Veil I still don't find the character anymore interesting than she was in that story.

Still I'll give Fabian Nicieza credit for giving a sense of were Vicky Vale, Stephenie Brown, Leslie Thompkins, and Harvey Bullock some of the spotlight as they will probably only be playing minor to no role in Battle for the Cowl. Nicieza has a nice grasp of how each character feels after all the events they been individually involved in and how each character seems to have hit crossroad in each of their careers. The only thing I found annoying is that I would have like to see Leslie Thompkins reapperance happen in another story that happened after Battle for the Cowl instead of a short appearance in this comic.

On the art side we had one artist doing one characters story each and as always a artist by committee never works and this issue is no different. While each artist did a nice job with their part of the story they were given to draw once it is all put together the art styles of each artist does not blend well for a single issue. Though I'll say each artist was able to convey the dark and chaotic setting of Gotham without Batman. The only exception being Guilliem March who drew the Vicky Vale story was a bit to bright and colorful for the type of story being told here that the beginnning of the issue felt more like a scene from the Daily Planet than a Gotham City newspaper company.

Issue Rating
Story: 6/10 - Nicieza did an good job showing how Gotham looks without Batman but the timing of this issue keeps it from being as good as it should be.
Art: 6.7/10 - Each artist did a fine job illustrating their segment of the story but when put together the different art style do not mix well with each other.
Overall: 6.35/10 - Timing aside this issue might have work better if we also had some more cameos from other major players for Battle for the Cowl since this was the first title that is a part of the event.

Terror Titans #6

Creative Team
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: Joe Bennett
Inker: Jack Jadson
Colorist: JD Smith

Story - One Second to Midnight

Review
It may be because I have lowered my expectations of getting anything great from most team books, outside of Guardians of Galaxy, especially when it comes to the recent portrayal of the Titans franchise but I actually enjoyed this issue for what it is: one big battle sequence with little substance. Most of my enjoyment from this issue, and this whole series, has been Ravager as she continues to be the most interesting Titan, even if she is not officially on the team, right now. It was good to see her finally take down the Clock King and get her revenge for being used. Though I don't know how I feel about the Terror Titans still being around since I find all the members to be one-note villains and would have like to see Ravager cut loose and killed each one of them.

From the looks of the final pages of this issue and the cover for the next issue of Teen Titans it looks like Miss Martian, Aquagirl, and Static are going to be on the team. Maybe with the addition of those characters we will get some interesting character interactions which is something Teen Titans has been missing for a while.

Issue Rating
Story: 6.8/10 - McKeever did nothing special but it got the job done as this series is now over.
Art: 7.8/10 - Bennett did a good job with his artwork and was the only highlight of this mini-series as he provided plenty of nice action sequences
Overall: 7.2/10 - I can only recommend this series for long time Titan fans who have been reading the current titles. Just don't come in expecting much from this story or else you'll be disappointed.

X-Men and Spider-Man #4

Creative Team
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Mario Alberti

Story - The Mutant Hunter

Review
Even though the last issue was the weakest issue in this mini-series this still has been a well told story that has explored various periods of the X-Men and Spider-Man's history. Christos Gage has done a great job capturing Spider-Man and the X-Men through the various eras and the changes each character has gone through since the start of their superhero careers.

I found myself smiling as Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men joked about how Wolverine has spent a lot of time with Spider-Man since they are both part of the New Avengers. It's just funny seeing how Wolverine gets defensive about it since it is known that he usually appears in about half of Marvel's titles right now.

The plot of Mr. Sinester creating his own mutant hunting clone using the DNA of Kraven and combining it with the original X-Men is nothing we haven't seen before in comics but like any good comic writer Gage was able to take this story and pack it with some great dialogue and action. Gage keep this issue on a nice flow as Spider-Man and the X-Men realized that they were not just fighting a Kraven clone called Xraven but also themselves as the Xraven used all of the original X-Men's powers with great proficiency.

Even though Gage did a great job with all of the dialogue it was Mario Alberti's artwork that is the real star of this mini-series. Alberti, like Marcos Martin, has done an excellent job with his artwork having a Jack Kriby feel to it. All of the artwork in this issue has a lot of energy with plenty of detail that at times while reading the issue I would just look at Alberti's artwork as the X-Men and Spider-Man try and fight off Xraven.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.3/10 - Gage does a great job packing mixing this issue with plenty of good dialogue and action.
Art: 9/10 -Alberti provides this issue with plenty of great artwork that I hope we get to see him get a run on Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men, or any other Marvel title.
Overall: 8.65/10 - If your a Spider-Man or X-Men fan I highly recommend you get this mini-series when it comes out in trade paperback as you will enjoy all the reference to the various stories in both franchises history.

Legen--wait for it---dary Comic Book Highlight for 1/14/09

Cover of the Week: Amazing Spider-Man #583 (Variant Cover)

With the inauguration yesterday is there even a doubt that the Amazing Spider-Man #583 featuring President Barack Obama wouldn't be the cover of the week. If there is one thing Marvel does better than DC is their marketing campaign for their major releases and Obama appearance in Amazing Spider-Man was marketed all of last week.

Final Crisis #6 Highlights

And here ladies and gentlemen is the ultimate deus ex machina: The Miracle Machine. There is no doubt we have not seen the last of the Miracle Machine. It will probably be used to move everyone to the new Earth and "fix" some problems DC has wanted to "fix" a long time ago.

Was an enjoyable chick fight. And I am glad we got finally got rid of this slutty Mary Marvel since she has been an annoying character for the past two years. Now let see how DC is going to rehabilitate Mary and the rest of the Marvel Family (I smell mini-series).

Yet again Wonder Woman is giving nothing to do while Superman and Batman are both given their time to shine. If DC really wants to make me believe that Wonder Woman really is part of the Trinity than they need to give her, her own moment to shine and save the universe like Superman and Batman have in almost every major DC event.

Lord Eye is a cool concept and I like that it is named after Maxwell Lord and Brother Eye. Though I question presenting this weapon this late in the game and giving all this power to Renee Montoya of all the characters in the DCU.

For all the build up of Libra being this great supervillain he went out like a little punk to Lex Luthor. Though we will probably see him appear somewhere in the next issue.

For characters that are named the Flash this plotline involving Barry and Wally has been one of the slowest moving plots in this series. And all we get here is two pages of them showing up.

Just like Libra, Darkseid went out like a little bitch. For being the ultimate bad guy all Darkseid has done/did for the six issues of Final Crisis is sit on his butt and do nothing but give the thumbs down.

This should have been more impact on the reader but Batman only other appearance on Final Crisis was in the first issue and a very short scene in issue two being placed in the machine he was hooked up to in Batman #682-683. Personally Morrison did a better job in Batman RIP showing Bruce Wayne's demise, even though he didn't die in that story but in here.

With only one issue left we are told that there is someone even worse than Darkseid. Great work Morrison (NOT!!).

The image everyone, well DCU fans anyways, are talking about.

Green Lantern Corps #32 Highlights

At least his/her parents can say that their kid had an exciting birth.

Typical, while the Green Lanterns are fighting for their lives the Guardians set in place a new law affective immediately.

Awkward! Hopefully Soranik isn't another one of Kyle's love interest that is killed by one of his villains and this plotline is given time to develop.

Predictably hundreds, if not thousands, of Green Lanterns give up their position rather than continue to follow the Guardians new law. With seven laws yet to be revealed I wonder how many more people will give up being Green Lanterns once the other laws are revealed.

"Mongul leader of the Sinestro Corps." That is sure to go over well with all the other members.

Nightwing #152 Highlights

It was nice to see the original Batman costume along with all the other costume Bruce has worn in his career as Batman.

Nightwing kicked some serious League of Assassins ass in this issue. And also it was cool seeing Nightwing drive the origina Batcar.
No Ra's Al Ghul appearance is complete without him having to talk to someone from the Batfamily around the Lazarus Pit.

Nightwing and Ra's had one serious sword fight similar to the ones Bruce and Ra's have had in the past. And it is great seeing Nightwing being able to go toe to toe with all of Batman's villains and actually winning.

It seems more and more that Nightwing will become the new Batman. Ra's has already given his approval to his "new" arch enemy.

X-Men/Spider-Man #3 Highlights

Sinestro and Carnage. This is certainly one team-up that I didn't ever see happening, or think of.

Mario Alberth artwork continues to be one of the highlights of this mini-series and I hope we see more of his artwork in one of Marvel's ongoing books.

Carnage has one weird appetite.

See not even Mr. Sinester can handle the train wreck that was the Clone Saga.

Legen--wait for it---dary Comic Book Highlight for 12/10/08

Cover of the Week: Detective Comics #851

Even though I was disappointed by this issue that brought the return of legendary writer Dennis O'Neil I have faith the his next issue will be much better. In any case I love the cover for this issue Detective Comics and gives more fuel to the fire that Dick Grayson will be the new Batman.

Detective Comics #851 Highlights

See comment for the next image.

These two images show how much respect Dick has for his father, Bruce. I love how O'Neil shows that Dick feels uncomfortable suiting up in the Batcave knowing Bruce isn't there anymore.

Final Crisis #5 Highlights

I hope this means that it will be Hal that is one of the big heroes of Final Crisis and it does not end up being Superman just like in all the other DC big events.

Finally our heroes do something about the hell they are other than talking.

We finally get the answer of why Mary Marvel has been acting power hungry for the past two years.

No DC big event is complete without showing the multiple Earths.

I really don't know were Morrison is going to take this development of the Monitor that regained his memory.

Green Lantern Corps #31 Highlights

The Guardians are seemingly writing there own demise with each new law they come up with.

I don't think this is what the doctor meant when he talks about giving a C-section.

Nightwing #151 Highlights

This was just a phenomenal scene and Tomasi has now made Two-Face to be Nightwing's arch-nemesis.

This whole skydiving sub-plot Tomasi started from issue one nicely highlights the difference between Dick and Bruce: Dick is a performer who enjoys life while Bruce is a soldier who is dead pan serious and only thinks of the next job never resting.

You can really feel how much Dick, Tim, and Alfred miss Bruce physical presence. Tomasi knows that scenes like this don't need any dialogue or thought bubbles/squares and allow his art team convey the emotion in this scene.

Superman/Batman #54 Highlights

Having powers sometimes only goes to peoples heads as Bruce we'll learn by the end of this story, while not having powers sometimes sucks just as Clark learns here.

X-Men/Spider-Man #2 Highlights

This was just a great fight scene and Alberti brought a lot of energy to this scene with his artwork.

With Kraven dead I wonder were Mr. Sinister plan, and what that plan is for that matter, goes from here.