Splitting Image! #2 Review

In the 90's several illustrators from Marvel left because of problems with ownership of characters they created. 8 of them went and formed there own company called Image comics. With the news of DC releasing a prequel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen, it kinda reminded me of this story. So for the next couple of weeks I'm going to review a couple Image books, especially since I never reviewed one yet.

To start off we are going to take a look at Splitting Image! a parody of Image comics, released by Image comics. Making fun of there most popular comics at the time as well as the people who created them. Such as WildC.A.T.s and Spawn.

Because this is really hard to make fun of. But I have a feeling we'll see this again soon.

There's not really a story, it's about a parody of Image founders showing off there new comics. The comics they show are obviously parody's of the ones that where made in real life, hence they where generic 90's comics with buff heroes fighting against various organizations, and women that are there because the artist wanted to draw women. The comic itself is funny sometimes but only if you know the history of Image and the story of the comics there parodying.

The comics art is not bad for 90's comics I guess. I just find it hilarious that some of there parody's have better art then what there parodying. Overall it's not the best, it's a bad 90's comic parodying bad 90's comics. It very obvious why it only lasted 2 issues.

Rating: 2/5

My Opinion on "Before Watchmen"

When I first heard about the possibility of a Watchmen prequel I was quick to dismiss it. I mean Alan Moore would never let anyone else "taint" one of his storys. But DC has announced 7 miniseries as well as an epilogue staring various characters from Watchmen called Before Watchmen. That's right there is going to be a Watchmen prequel. The specific miniseries are going to be Rorschach, Minutemen, Comedian Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, and Silk Spectre.

I'm really not sure how to feel about this. I mean on the one hand it could be cool to learn more about the characters, then on the other hand I don't want it if it ruins what we already knew about the characters. They really have to be careful otherwise this will be the Star Wars prequels all over again. The whole thing is kinda pointless anyway since everything we needed to know about the characters and there back story's are already there. But I wouldn't be a good comic fan if I didn't read them, at the very least The Rorschach one and the Minutemen one. Anyway I think I'm done for now except for one more tiny problem. The new DC logo sucks.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Review

Tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII, one of the most critically acclaimed video games ever made. Tomorrow is also the release date of Final Fantasy XIII-2 which isn't really that big a deal but I found it convenient that they where released on the same day. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of FFVII, I mean it is a great game and I see why people like it but my favorite was always Final Fantasy IV. Anyway to celebrate I'm going to review the sequel movie Advent Children.

The story takes place two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII. Cloud and Tifa live together but Cloud is distant due to the guilt of letting Aeris die. To complicate matters a disease called Geostigma has spread around the planet, and three mysterious people are looking for there mother in order to bring back Sephiroth.

Okay let's  begin with what I liked about the movie. The fight scenes are great especially the ones between Tifa and Loz as well as the fight with Bahamut. They also incorporate the battle music from FFVII into the fights, and the music itself is great. The graphics are good however it lacks color. It's usually grey and it make the film feel depressing. Speaking of depressing let's talk about Cloud. He is completely emo in this movie, which is redoing character development he had at the end of Final Fantasy VII. He wasn't this depressed and tortured through most of FFVII.

He totally seems Emo Right?

Then there are the Remnants of Sephiroth, they aren't that treating as villains. Especially since they never shut up about there mother which is a disembodied head. You know your a bad villain when you make Doctor Eggman look like a threat in comparison. I wouldn't mind as much but they have more screen time then most of the characters from FFVII. I mean the Turks have more screen time then the returning characters and there essentially comic relief.

 

The way they bring back Sephiroth also doesn't make much sense. You'd think that since all three of them embody different aspects of him all they would have to do to bring him back is fuse together but instead only one of them turns into Sephiroth while the other two just play dead. Overall this movie is bad but fans will probably like it, or hate it depending on if you became a fan pre or post Final Fantasy 7. Personally It's just to depressing and there are just to many plot holes. I guess TV Tropes really does ruin your life.

Rating 3/5

Street Fighter Legends Ibuki #2 Review

Today were going to take a look at a Street Fighter comic. Street Fighter is a popular fighting game created by Capcom. As with all popular video games it eventually spread out to other medias such as movies and of course comic books. This particular comic stars Ibuki who originally appeared in Street Fighter 3: New Generation.

The story is pretty much this, Ibuki is a girl who was raised to be a ninja. She wanted a normal life so her "father" let her go to school. She starts to find it difficult to balance the drama of School life with the responsibility of being a ninja. Things get even more challenging when one of her classmates Makoto, a hotheaded karate expert, challenges her to a fight risking her secret. The comic ends with her being tasked to fight a martial artist named Oro.

The art is obviously very manga like. It is very nice, and color and the shading is really good. There are a couple two-page spreads in particular that are poster quality. The panel layout is nothing special but when there's a fight scene it becomes more interlocking.

The characters are true to there game counterparts, and in some cases they expand upon them. To be honest it wasn't that hard to do that since they're from Fighting Games which aren't really known for there character driven and involving plots. Speaking of which the story of this book is a bit unoriginal, it's the story of girl trying to have a normal life, and Ibuki isn't the most interesting of characters from the Street Fighter games. Overall it's not bad but not the best, however it does improve later on.

Rating: 2/5

Comic Panel of the Week: Spidey's Supervillian Origin

Batman #5 Review

-----SPOILER WARNING-----

I usually try not to review comics that come out the week of the review due to spoilers and stuff. But I have to make an exception for this. This is one of the best single issues I've read. The comic starts where the last one left off, after pursuing the Court of Owls Batman get's trapped in a maze. The beginning of the comic tells us he's been MIA for 8 days, still trapped in the maze with no food and the only water is from a fountain that might be drugged. We watch Batman start to break down during this whole comic. Then it ends on a cliffhanger that I won't spoil.

The art in this is great, the contrast of the white of the maze and the black of Batman's costume makes it look very unique. The way the book is laid out helps to show that Bruce is going crazy or possibly drugged. They achieve this by shifting the book from the normal look, to side ways, to upside down, and then back to normal. All while the panels start to become more jagged and spread out. The whole thing feels claustrophobic which fits the narrative of the story.

Then there are the characters, first up is of course Batman. We see him backed into a corner, not sure if he's going crazy or is just drugged. Commissioner Gordon has a good scene where he keeps the Bat signal on all 8 days in order to keep up hope, and has some clever foreshadowing by his partner. Damian Wayne despite only being in the ending gets a really emotional scene. Overall this is a great book. I definitely recommend this book, as well as Scott Snyder's run on Detective Comics. It's hands down the best of the New 52. This one is going to be hard to top.

Rating 5/5

Comic Panel of the Week: Rainbow Batman

So much for being the night.