Superior Spider-Man Finale Review and General Thoughts

---SPOILER WARNING---

Yep! More Spider-Man. Why? Because Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes out latter this week, and I thought it was appropriate. Today were going to talk about Superior Spider-Man. This surprising lasted much longer then I expected, although in my defense when I wrote my review of Superior Spider-Man #1 I didn't know that it was going to come out bi-weekly. But hey in that review I also said I was going to continue to reading the series but after re-reading #1 after I wrote the review I dropped the book and didn't pick it up until the 2099 arc.

The whole thing just seemed like a publicity stunt, and I knew they weren't going to keep Doc Ock as Spider-Man for very long. I even thought they were going to make this a reason to undo "One More Day." I mean can you blame me, this was the cover to issue #2:

However they went in an entirely different direction then I thought it would. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This is a review of the Superior Spider-Man #31 after all. So let's begin. The comic opens just after the event's of the last issue, where Doc Ock sacrifices himself to finally give Peter his body back in order for Peter to save Ock's girlfriend Anna Maria from the Green Goblin who has pretty much taken over the city.

However before the final confrontation Peter explains why he's been acting so strange lately to Carrlie Cooper and Spider-Man 2099. He then teams up with Spider-Man 2099, and they go to Alchemax to confront the Goblins. But not before dealing with Menace, and "saving" the Goblin's grandson Normie and Liz Allen.Spidey then goes up to the roof to confront the Goblin who still thinks Ock is in control. One sarcastic remark later, and the Goblin realizes Peter is back.

The Goblin starts to panic since his plan didn't account for Peter coming back to life. This gives Peter the upper-hand, and he is able to remove the Goblin's mask to reveal that the Goblin had his face alter. He did this because his face was too well known, and he was trying to make a legacy for his Grandson. But since he wasn't wearing the mask anymore the tech developed by Ock can see him again, allowing a bunch of Spider-Bot's to inject him with a cure for the Goblin Formula. The Goblin starts to fall unable to keep his balance on his glider anymore, and Spider-Man catches him as well as Anna Maria who was able escape while the two were fighting.

They swing down to the streets below where Peter is about bring the Goblin to the police when Liz "accidentally" uses the Spider-Sense Jammer to incapacitate Peter so the Goblin can escape. She tells both Spider-Men that she didn't mean it and Peter believes her but he has his doubts. It's right about now that I should feel I should mention the art. It's not that it's bad. It's just during all of Goblin Nation the art felt weirdly familiar. Until it finally hit me when I saw these panels:

It turns out the guy who does the pencils for this book, Giuseppe Camuncoli, also did Hellblazer. Most notably #300 which was that series finale too. Which came out around this time of the year. So I pretty much can't look at this comic anymore without thinking about this:

Anyway, sorry to go off on such a tangent. Peter get's Anna Maria medical attention, but all she's worried about is whether or not "Peter's" okay. This leaves the real Peter feeling sad that Ock had to die in order for him to be here, since him and Anna Maria really did love each other. Meanwhile The Goblin starts to make a new plan to change his identity again, and this time he could be anybody.

Peter goes to his friends and family, and apologizes for the way he's been acting recently. Some except it, other don't. Like MJ who doesn't want anymore of this craziness in her life, and says it's stuff like this that made them drift apart.(and Mephisto, don't forget about him) Peter leaves and MJ talks to Carlie who is leaving town for pretty much the exact same reason MJ's mad at Peter, J. Jonah Jameson resigns as mayor of New York, and the comic ends with a preview of Dan Slott's run on Silver Surfer for some reason.

This comic was pretty good it had some good moment's and some bad. It was decently written, and the art was nice. Overall this series will probably be forgotten about in a few years though. But I think it was decent, nothing special, but it wasn't worth all the anger and death threats. Seriously there are much better things to be doing with your life then to send death threats to a Comic Book writer because he killed off your favorite character. Your teetering on the edge of obsessive fan and becoming the killer in a Stephen King novel. But I think this series deserves a tiny bit more attention so some time down the line I'm going to review my favorite story arc of Superior Spider-Man. See you then!

Comic Panel of the Week: Evil Superman

Ultimate Spider-Man #200 Review

---Spoiler Warning---

It's almost been Three Years since The Death of Ultimate Spider-Man. I remember it well since it came out on my last day of Highschool. Time really does fly, and Spider-Man has been through a lot in the last couple of years. We got a new Ultimate Spider-Man named Miles Morales who was very controversial in the beginning but most people grew to like him. Thanks to Bendis' we finally got a crossover between the Main and Ultimate Marvel Universes in Spider-Men. Then the original Peter Parker followed the Ultimate Universe's example and died as well. Replaced by a surprisingly "Heroic" Doc Ock, in Superior Spider-Man. Thankfully though they've undone that with the recent Superior Spider-Man #30 and the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man #1.By the way someone get a phone because I Called It!

But I'm sure your not here to read my thoughts about that. So let's get started on Ultimate Spider-Man #200. As to be expected this is an milestone issue for the series, however it kinda feels like an Epilogue to me. The story takes place Two Years after Peter Parker's death, Aunt May is having a get-together at there house to commemorate the anniversary. Various characters from the old and new Ultimate Spider-man series' show up like Mary Jane, Miles, Ganke, Jameson, and Kitty Pryde. Just to name a few, and (in Ultimate Spider-Man tradition) they just talk. Mostly about how they all think Peter would be like if he was still alive. Some are really touching especially Kitty Pryde's:

Plus I'm pretty sure Iceman's is just the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. They then decide the best way to honor him is to do something nice for someone, and since they have plenty of food (thanks to a generous donation from Tony Stark as an apology for not being able to be there) they decide to give it to some homeless people at a shelter. The comic ends with everyone parting ways with new friendships formed, and old one rekindled as a mysterious person watches from the distance.

This has got be one of my favorite issue of a comic ever. Which is crazy because if I did a Top Five of my favorite single issues, 3 of them would be Ultimate Spider-Man. As for this issue I think the art is great, and like I said before the story is really touching. If your an Ultimate Spider-Man fan you probably already have this but if you don't It's a must buy.

As I mentioned earlier this feels like an epilogue to me, however that might be because I recently read through all of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man as well as various other Spider-Man books like Maximum Carnage, and Hobgoblin Lives. This was finally the comic that made me realize how much I actually missed Peter Parker, and if this was the last issue of  Spider-Man I ever read. I couldn't ask for a better one. But that doesn't mean I'm not excited for "Amazing Spider-Man #1" and let's not forget "Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #1". Until next time, keep on swinging.

Rating: 5/5

((Final Note: Wow It's been  9 month's since I talked about a Superhero Comic, and over a year since I reviewed one! I really got to work on that.))

Comic Panel of the Week: Gwen Stacy is the Best

Zelda Week: The Adventure of Link Review

---SPOILER WARNING---

I know what your thinking. Of all the Zelda games to play before the release of A Link Between Worlds why did I chose this one. Well it's complicated. Back when I was a kid my friend brought over his copy of Zelda Collections, at the time I only played Ocarina of Time so It was cool that I was finally going to play some more Zelda games. However since I was still a kid I obviously preferred to play the much more current games so I play Majora's Mask and the Wind Waker Demo.

I eventually got my own copy of the Zelda collections and played through Zelda 1. However everytime I tried to play the second game I just couldn't get into it. Around last week I saw that some Zelda games were on sale to commemorate the release of a Link Between Worlds on the Nintendo Eshop. One of them was Zelda 2. I decided then and there that it was finally time to play trough it, and so I did. So is it really a bad game? Let's find out.

The story of this game takes place after the first game. Impa tells Link that there is another Princess Zelda who is trapped in never ending sleep until someone gains the 3 pieces of the Triforce and uses them to wake her. This Zelda is actually the first Princess of Hyrule named Zelda, after her brother and a mysterious Wizard tried to gain the secrets of the Triforce from her the Wizard cast a sleeping spell which also costed him his life. Distraught the Brother locks her in the highest tower in Hyrule, and declares that every Princess born to the Royal family must be named Zelda in remembrance.

In the timeline the events of the Tragedy of Zelda I must take place somewhere between Skyward Sword and Minish Cap. Although Skyloft had a Zelda, but she wasn't a Princess and at that point there was no Hyrule. This also makes me think the Zelda in this game isn't one of the reincarnations of the Goddess Hylia since I don't think you can continue to reincarnate if your previous life didn't die, and she's been alive for the majority of the Timeline as well as every alternate one. Plus she is a red head, and the majority of the alternate Zeldas which are also reincarnations of Hlyia are blond. Although I do have to wonder why she keeps reincarnating herself as members of the Royal family was she just nostalgic for the name Zelda?

Anyway I got way off topic. In order to break the spell Link must travel far and wide to find the 6 Palaces, and put the special crystals back into there pedestals. Meanwhile some of Ganon's Servants are still around trying to resurrect their Master by using Link's blood, but it's weirdly not that important to the overall plot. After Link put's all the crystals back he goes to the Great Palace  where he faces the Thunderbird who can be really difficult especially if you don't know you have to use the Thunder Spell to even damage him. After defeating the Thunderbird you find an old man who has the Third Piece of the Triforce but before you can get it you have to face Dark Link who is really easy if you know how to exploit him. That's it you beat the game, you use the Triforce to wake up Zelda, and she gives you a kiss as the curtains go down.

The difference between Zelda 1 and 2 is obvious at the first glance. The first game is a top down adventure/dungeon-crawler and the second is a side-scrolling Action RPG. That right you actually have Exp Points and Leveling up in this game. This is why Zelda 2 get's so much hate, it changed up the formula and people didn't like it. However I find it plays fine so I'm all for it. The gameplay feels good for the most part, however it sometimes feels like there's a bit of a delay when your attacking and sometimes Link can be a little bit slippery. This game also get's rid of the items from the first game so no bow, however you do get spells which can be useful like the Shield and Life Spells.

Where this game shines is the presentation. The world is much better designed then in Zelda 1. I didn't get lost nearly as much as I did in Zelda 1, and I only need to look up where to go once or twice. The sprites are pretty good, and very detailed in some places. The townsfolk while still suffering from a bit of NES era dialogue are actually helpful to you, at least more so then the Old Men in the first Game.













The biggest problem however is the difficulty. This game is the definition of Nintendo Hard. Plus new to the Zelda series is lives.Which is good and bad at the same time. If you lose a life you usually start back at the beginning of the room you were in with full health and magic. However if you lose all your lives you get a game over, and you have to start off at the room Zelda is in at the beginning of the game. Meaning you have to back track all the way back to were you left off just to try again. You can get 1-Up's which are scattered across secret areas on the World Map but there very few, and far between.

Overall it's a pretty good game. It changes up the formula, and fix some of the problems the first game had. Sadly the new formula and the overall difficulty of the game will turn a lot of people off, which I think is a shame. In all seriousness if not for the difficulty I would consider this a better game then the first game. But it's still a bit to hard for my tastes.

Zelda Week: Comic Panel of the Week

 

"Find a deep cave to hide in
In a million years they'll find me
Only dust and a plaque
That reads, "Here Lies Poor Old Jack""

Zelda Week: Skyward Sword Prequel Manga Review

---SPOILER WARNING---

I haven't done something like this since Batman Week a year and a half ago. The reason I decided to do this is because Zelda A Link Between Worlds is about to come out, and I'm pretty excited. So to start things off I'm going to the very beginning of the very complicated Zelda Timeline.

This is a 32-page Manga prequel to the Zelda game Skyward Sword that was included in the Hyrule Historia, a encyclopedia/art book of sorts that was released to commemorate Zelda's 25th Anniversary.. It tell's the story of the original Link, a Hylian Knight who the people of Hylia turn to in order to stop the invading forces of the Demon King Demise. They are aided by the Goddess that the land takes it's name from, Hylia, who gives Link the Master Sword.
























They fight back against the Demon Tribe however it is no use once Demise himself shows up. Link try's to ward him off but he is critically hurt in the battle. With his remaining strength he climbs on to the Goddess Hyila's Loftwing, and uses the Master Sword's power to send the Land of Hylia into the sky where it is safe from Demise. However Link didn't make it, and succumbs to his wounds.

Heartbroken the Goddess Hylia sends Demise back from whence he came. She then uses her powers to make Link's spirit live on eternally explaining the various Link's of the series. She then sheds her divinity so she can be reborn as a human like him, meaning that she will be reborn as the various Princess Zeldas. The comic ends Thousands of years later with the Link from Skyward Sword meeting his Loftwing for the first time.

This is pretty good. It gives a good explanation to the various Links and Zeldas, and what the world was like before Hyrule. It also set's up a bunch of things from Skyward Sword that I won't get into right now. The art work is very detailed, and the quality of the the paper is very high. I don't think the Hyrule Historia is worth the price if your just buying it for this short comic but if your a hardcore Zelda fan the Hyrule Historia is a must read! Zelda week is just beginning and I got a couple more things to cover before were through.