Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I don't have cable and because of that, I'm not exposed to too many commercials or too much hype about brand new shows. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., however, has been plastered everywhere for the past five months. There was so much hype about this show, that I was a little worried it was going to pander to mainstream audiences too heavily. After the pilot episode premiered on Tuesday on ABC, I was not disappointed. I should have had a lot more faith, actually, seeing as how this series was created by Joss Whedon (and it shows).

There is definitely the "misfit crew" theme that permeates throughout much of Whedon's TV work. Part of me thought about the "Scoobies" from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and I also was reminded of the crew of the Firefly. It was also great to see a guest appearance from an actor on Firefly, who shall remain nameless. It's better off being a surprise. It was also great to see Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders or Robin Sparkles) to tie the show into The Avengers movie.

Don't be mad if I talk about Agent Coulson. He was obviously featured heavily in all the commercials for the show, so he is obviously alive. Don't take it as a spoiler though, because there is much secrecy about his "death" in The Avengers. It seems like the higher-ups of S.H.I.E.L.D. is telling him his death was faked, but it seems like there's a lot more to it than that.

It's comforting to see Marvel on TV on a weekly basis. The first episode definitely did not disappoint and I would recommend this show to pretty much anyone. If you don't like Marvel comics or superheros, you could at least be entertained by the humor and dialogue. I'm scoring the pilot 9/10 and I can't wait for next Tuesday.

How I Got Into Comic Books

When I was starting to read as a child, my family used to buy me Archie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comics (the first ones!). Yes, I'm that old. Other than that, I lived a fairly comic-less life until around 2009. What sparked my interest was watching a trailer for The Watchmen. I thought it looked amazing and I was very intrigued. It's funny because I wasn't really that impressed with the movie itself. However, I'm one of those people who have to read the book before the movie comes out. I think I read The Watchmen all in one sitting because I was so hooked, and basically my story goes from there.

After finishing The Watchmen, I wanted to try more comics. For some reason, I was really turned off by the idea of reading traditional superhero Marvel/DC comics. I was mostly just intimidated because at the time there were over 600 issues of just Batman alone. How was I going to find time to read all that? So, I picked comics based off of things I was familiar with, such as comics based on movies I had already seen and comics I had heard friends talk about. My next choices in comic books were 300, V For Vendetta, Sin City, and The Crow. Around that time, the Scott Pilgrim movie was announced so I read that too.

Since I was in school to be a nurse at that time, I broke down and decided to read Arkham Asylum, since I thought it was relevant to my studies, with it being a mental hospital and all. After that, I became hooked on Batman and Arkham Asylum remains one of my favorite comic books of all time (ironically, I am now a psychiatric nurse). I started reading absolutely everything I could on Batman from Year One to The Killing Floor. I also started picking out certain storylines that interested me from the main issues.

Anyway, I thought the only superhero I would follow was Batman, but I ended up being wrong about that. I saw all the Marvel movies coming out like X-men:First Class, The Amazing Spiderman and The Avengers and decided to delve into the Marvel Universe. By this point, I was trying to keep up with Batman while reading old Amazing Spiderman and Uncanny X-men.I started watching Comic Book Men on AMC and then my love for comics exploded even more.

Now, I do read mostly Marvel Now titles, as well as keeping up with New 52 Batman. I also love Saga. I do know a lot about other comics outside of the Marvel/DC universe. That's just what I happen to be reading right now.

I'm definitely open to suggestion about different comics to read, especially ones that aren't so "mainstream" as the ones I read right now. Let me know what you read or if you have any suggestions of what I should read next in the comments below.

Batman 23.1 Joker #1 Review

Where the hell is Batman, because Joker is going ape-shit! Literally! One of the many DC bad guys/girls is of course, the VIP villain of Gotham, The Joker.

In this issue we get somewhat of a back story on Joker, but for the most part, this issue is as random as Joker himself! We get some insight into his upbringing by an evil Aunt which is paralleled by Joker raising a baby gorilla he names Jackanapes into adulthood. See what happens when Gotham City Counsel tries to shut down the city zoo and put down the animals, including Jackanape's mom! After reading this issue, I think I'd like my own evil gorilla to do my bidding.

Deadpool #15 Review

Deadpool is oddly paranoid, feeling like he's being followed by "The Butler." So what does he do? Puts on a butler's uniform, makes some Downton Abbey jokes, and serves Wolver‌ine breakfast in bed.

Deadpool 13 -14

 

I just finished reading Deadpool #14 and loved it. These images are from #13 which leads up to this week's Deadpool. Basically, in #13, the writers try to pass off the issue as a "long lost issue from the 70's," even though we all know Deadpool's first appearance was in 1991. #14 is the modern day consequences of what happened in #13. I love seeing Deadpool in his pimp attire and afro. These issues are definitely worth the read.