Wednesday, June 13, 2012

WE'VE MOVED & STEPPED INTO THE BROKEN INFINITE


  As stated before, we have moved. But more accurately, we have evolved. Hello Clashers. Former CBC EIC   Frankie Rodriguez here. I say former cause my title has changed twofold.

   From the earlier post, we have the new J1 Studios site where you can find all the stuff you used to find in sections all under one roof. You would just have to look it up and find it there. Everything is under categories. When J1 founder and President Jason Richardson decided to move forward, he wanted a unified site where everything would be in one roof. Comics, Anime, Gaming and more. All there. Like Kotaku. The one slight down side is that Comic Book Clash, The Reset Button and more are now no more. It is over. My title with J1 is now Comics Editor. But still, the site looks great. And while not all the CBC writers are there, you can join me, Hector and the rest of the J1 crew  at the new J1 Studios site.


  Now, I mentioned not all the CBC writers are in the new J1 site. But that is where I said my position evolved twofold. Behold, from the writers of CBC, welcome to the evolution of Comic Book Clash .. . The Broken Infinite. Every post on this site has been moved there besides a few. Just about every writer from CBC has come there with some fresh new blood. What is the Broken Infinite? Well, we are still primarily dealing with comics but we got some other stuff like tokusatsu and anime there. Also, many writers there have started a line of serials. Yes, brand new original stories featuring brand new characters from many writers including Darryll YTC Carter, Jeremias de Leon and of course, myself. The Broken Infinite wanted to be what Comic Book Clash was and more. And that is exactly what we're doing. We got stories, we got podcasts . .. and most importantly, everything that was part of CBC is there . . . just turned up to over 9000. *laughs* The Broken Infinite is vast and will be evolving, much like J1 Studios but in a different direction. So I am proud to unleash the new site, being the Editor-in-Chief there. We are committed to giving you what you had in Comic Book Clash and more.

  Comic Book Clash has evolved. What was once one is now two. With very few similarities. But that is the best part. Go onto the fun of J1 then step into the Broken Infinite.


So, Comic book Clash is Dead, Long Live J1 Studios. Long Live The Broken Infinite. So come along. Join us. We're waiting for you.


And we want to thank all our fans for all their support and love over the past year. THE BEST .. . is YET TO COME.


 Sincerely, 




Frankie Rodriguez
Former EIC of CBC

Comics Editor of J1 Studios
Founder & EIC of The Broken Infinite.

Friday, June 1, 2012

We Moved!!



We are not going away, but becoming the more unified J1 Studios that we were supposed to be. This blog will be moving over to the new home for all J1 Studios sections. 
There's good news and there's bad news. 
The bad news is that we won't have our specific section names. The good news is that what we post will stay the same quality if not better, and we will be able to post more often than once a week, that way you can come back at ANY time and find more and more news and reviews. We will also truly be under one roof. If you are looking for a specific subject when you get there, you can use our new search bar, or our Categories section on the right of the new site. Thank you for your cooperation. 

Come see us at www.j1studios.com

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Miles to Climb: Miles Morales as Spiderman

by Hector Ramirez



            Hola, gutentag, bonjour and hello clashers. Your friendly neighborhood clasher here continuing our year long celebration of the wall crawler. We’ve looked at two brave men who have taken on the Spiderman mantle and this month, we look at the latest man beneath the webbed mask; who, coincidentally, is actually not a man but a young boy even younger than Peter in any version of his assumption of the mantle. Of course, I’m speaking of  the current Ultimate Spiderman: Miles Morales. While visiting his uncle, Miles is bitten by a scientifically-altered spider and the rest as they say is history.

Since obtaining the spider powers, Miles wasn’t sure what to do. He was afraid, as any young child would be, and his father’s meta-bashing doesn’t help at all. He doesn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to be a super hero and he wasn’t exactly looking to be one. But even with the fear and the doubt, Miles heard the calling. He knew that with great power came great responsibility. Miles definitely brings something new to the Spiderman title. He’s very uncertain and having the first Spiderman to live up to makes him even more so.  As he gets use to his role as Spiderman, he becomes more confident finding innovative ways to use his powers by both studying Peter and coming into his own with his own unique powers like the camouflage and spider sting. Starting off, taking out the Kangaroo then proving himself to Nick Fury by bringing down Electro.

Watching Miles grow as both a person and a hero has been entertaining so far and is sure to be an increasingly great read. Seeing how he deals with Peter’s remaining villains, his uncle, his father and the new villains makes for great stories in the future. We’ll see if Miles can grow to be as great as Peter if not better. Lord knows he’ll pick up some pointers from Peter in Spidermen. Until next time friends, keep clashing.  

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

COMICS ON SCREEN: THE ROBIN MOVIE


The Robin Movie: An Unhealthy Obsession
Film by Saul Kramer
Review by Hector Ramirez




So Frankie and I were enjoying Free Comic Book Day when I’m approached by one Mr. Saul Kramer. He had noticed me in my Robin caped t-shirt and figured me a Robin fan. So, he came up to me and pitched this movie that he posted on youtube to me. Well, I went online and looked it up.

Ok. Jay is a young man whose father left him with nothing more than an obsession with Robin the Boy Wonder. None of his friends understand why he likes Robin so much and the neighborhood bullies don’t make life much easier. Jay gets sick of the bullies and decides to put on his father's old Robin costume and take care of the bullies himself. Of course, he didn’t stop to think that all those to take on the mantle of Robin went through vigorous training whereas he thought he could simply beat the guys with a broomstick. His sister-in- law explains to him that he took things too far; that being kind and generous is heroic in its own right.

I’ll start off by saying it was well made for an independent film. The acting wasn’t bad and the camera work was great. The theme “you don’t have to be a superhero to be a superhero” was pretty cliché. If I recall correctly, it’s the slogan for the current DC charity campaign. The story was kind of weak.  It was like the beginning of Kick-Ass; a comic loving nerd tries to be a superhero and gets beaten senseless. At least he wasn’t crippled like Kick-Ass. Another thing, his sister-in-law tells him he went too far; yet him standing up to the bully was her idea. And I may be knit picking but he goes on and on about how Dick Grayson is the best Robin yet all his posters and comics are of Tim Drake or Damien Wayne and his costume was similar to Jason Todd’s. All in all, it was good for what it was but not great. I give it a Tim Drake Robin (3 out of 5). Next week, I take a look at Tokusatsu Spiderman as part of our year long celebration. Until then friends, keep clashing.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

WEB OF REFLECTION: BEN REILLY


THE MANY SPIDER-MEN PART II:

WEB OF REFLECTION: BEN REILLY

by Hector Ramirez


Hello Clashers, your friendly neighborhood Clasher here. It’s that time of the month where us Clashers become crawlers swingers and slingers, of the wall and web variety that is. It’s time for another 50 year anniversary celebration of the spectacular, sensational, amazing and just recently fantastic, and avenging SPIDERMAN. Now last month  I took you all into the future for a look at how Miguel O’Hara did things as the wall crawler. Well this week we take a look at Ben Reilly and his reign as the web slinger. So follow me through New York as we take a look how Peter’s clone filled in for him.

            Dr. Miles “The Jackal” Warren became obsessed with Peter Parker and his girlfriend Gwen Stacy and decides to clone them….repeatedly. After finally perfecting a Peter clone he convinced him that Peter was in fact the clone. A huge fight ensues which ends with Peter throwing the clone into a smoke stack, leaving him for dead. The clone, who actually survived, climbs out and instead of trying to interfere with Peter decides to start a life of his own. After spending several years traveling the world under the assumed name Ben Reilly (Ben in memory of his late uncle and Reilly Aunt May’s maiden name) keeping tabs on Peter through Aunt May claiming to be a long lost cousin, decided to return to New York. Dying his hair so that people wouldn’t recognize him as Peter, Ben takes on odd jobs around the city and wall crawling as the Scarlet Spider. Eventually Ben and Peter meet and team up keeping up the charade of Ben being a distant cousin. The two became close, (makes sense they’re basically the same person) so when Peter decides he wants to call it quits, Ben, reluctantly at first, takes on the mantle. (Not like many other people could.)

             To feel like his own man, Ben designed a new costume, which was a revamp (and in my opinion an improvement) on the classic red and blue costume. At this time Ben and Peter have been misled to believe that Ben was the real Peter under the orders of Norman Osborn. Because of the different costume the Daily Bugle ran a story claiming New York Had a new Spiderman but later dropped the story when given evidence to the contrary. Only a select few who knew Peter as Spiderman knew the truth. During that time Ben went through quite a bit, like being bonded with the Carnage symbiote for a short time. 



          Ben found a steady job at a restaurant before it was burned down by the Hobgoblin who framed Ben for the arson had his bank account frozen and robbed him of everything. Peter and Mary Jane returned to New York from Portland right before many of New York’s Heroes disappeared during the Onslaught incident. During this time Peter dawned his costume to help keep New York safe under the watchful eye of two Spidermen. Eventually this also came to an end when Norman Osborn finally came out of hiding. Mockingly admitting that it was he who had misled them to break Peter’s spirits and revealing was in fact the clone. A battle between the three ensues ending with Ben being impaled by the goblin glider and disintegratingas ben dies Peter leaves him wit the final words "rest easy ....brother"


    Ben Reilly brings new characters from his travels into the world of Spiderman, making it that much more interesting. When he wore the webs, there was a fresh twist on Spidey while retaining all that made the title what it was. Well, that's all for now. Until next time friends, keep clashing.



Wednesday, April 4, 2012

#47 VENOM: CIRCLE OF FOUR


            Hey there Clashers, Hector here coming at you with one "Hell" of a review. This week, we'll  be looking at a story that takes it's four heroes to Hell and back, literally, in this storyline Marvel brings together one of the most ragtag bunch of 3rd generation heroes and really give them their own purpose. So, grab your spf 666 and let us descend shall we.
            Story starts off with Flash "Venom" Thompson having gone AWOL after the government attempted to remove the symbiote from him. Thunderbolt"Red Hulk" Ross is sent after him to bring him in. Meanwhile , Johnny Blaze is training Alejandra, the newest Ghost Rider, who is less than grateful to say the least. At this time, Blackheart has launched a plan to bring Hell to Earth with Sin City itself as the doorway. Once Hell was brought to Earth, he planned on using an army of symbiote clones of X-23 to overtake his father as King of Hell. X-23 was on a mission to make sure her DNA wasn't used for such heinous purposes. Blackheart tricks Alejandra to open the portal and keep it open. Johnny agrees to take her place while she teams up with the other three to stop Blackheart.
            Hell on Earth has been done over and over again in  all forms of media but this was different. Storywise, it was enjoyable, not cliche or slow. Usually, in these kinds of stories, there would be one, shining, divine hero. Instead, we got 4 questionable heroes. It had action even with the hell mumbo jumbo. It was fast paced, exciting and different. The art was great. No complaints there. It really complimented the story. It wasn't too cartoony or artsy, yet not too realistic. Overall, it was a good book but not great. I dont know just didnt exactly blow my mind. I give it a Red Robin (3 out of 5).  Well, that's all for now. Until next time Clashers, keep clashing.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

THE FUTURE OF WALL CRAWLING: MEET MIGUEL O'HARA


Special Segment by Hector Ramirez


Hey there Clashers, your Friendly Neighborhood Clasher here. It’s about time we swing into the world of Spiderman and take a look at the future.

      Throughout the history of media the future has been a very popular theme with books like 1984, movies like Back to the Future, and TV shows like The Jetsons, it seems like we as a people just can’t help but to ponder what this unknown time holds for us. Marvel is no exception to this curiosity with their 2099 line in the 90’s, where heroic mantles are taken up by new avatars in the future where the heroic age is no more.
Imagine if you will a world where the police only protect you if you pay your monthly protection bill. Where the heroes are gone except in memory. With Thor back in Asgard and being worshipped as a full blown deity. A future where corporations rule all, and mold their great minds from childhood.

One of those great minds is Miguel O’Hara; brought up by Alchemax to be one of their greatest scientists. Miguel was working on a way to rewrite DNA and was getting very far with his research but was sick of his boss’s vindictive ways so was ready to quit. Not wanting to lose his greatest employee, the CEO of Alchemax injected Miguel with a drug that grafts to a person’s DNA so they can never be over their addiction. And what do you know Alchemax holds exclusive patent on this drug and as long as he stays with them Miguel gets a free steady supply. Miguel attempts to use his research to rewrite his own DNA with an untainted sample of his DNA. Unfortunately, Miguel had a lab partner who was not content with living in his shadow. In his jealousy, Miguel’s lab partner replaces his DNA sample with a spider DNA sample they were working with turning Miguel into a new Spiderman.

Miguel wasn’t exactly thrilled to have his DNA grafted with that of a spider; especially with the police force in Alchemax’s pocket and chasing down the “mysterious spider-powered intruder” but as he runs home he sees this as an opportunity to get back at the tyrant running Alchemax. Dawning an old day of the dead costume he got in Mexico, Miguel starts publicly attacking Alchemax as well as trying to bring them down from the inside. While attempting to escape the police Miguel sees how people outside of the corporate bubble still need heroes and takes it upon himself to be one.

Miguel O’Hara is definitely his own Spiderman. Because of the way he was raised, first by his hot headed father then by his cold hearted boss, he himself can be both hot heated and coldhearted at times. He’s nowhere near as free-spirited as Peter nor does he know much about a nurturing loving upbringing. On the same token however Miguel was living in the lap of luxury since he was 10 years old. The futuristic New York definitely adds a new dynamic to both the story and the characters themselves. The living conditions of the poor side of the city has people doing the craziest things to survive. One man calling himself the Vulture uses a flight harness similar to that of his namesake to protect the people under his watch. Seems heroic but any who dare threaten his followers…. Are killed and eaten. Miguel at one point teams up with the Vulture to protect innocent people but after finding out about his….”special diet” Miguel ends up at odds with the cannibal. Another interesting dynamic is the use of technology. Being set in the future gives it a certain science fiction element. At some point Miguel winds up in a virtual reality program trying to save his brother from a living virus.

Besides names and powers, Spidey 2099 is in no way like Peter Parker; comparing them would barely make sense. If you blurred out titles and Spiderman from th books you would never think to link the two. The variety is in my opinion a good thing so your not jut reading about a knock-off Peter Parker. Im glad they also made Miles Morales his own Spiderman as well but that’s a segment for another month in this year long web of celebration so until next time friends, keep clashing.                



Wednesday, March 21, 2012

#44 - JLA: FOREIGN BODIES - BODY SWITCHERS



Justice League-Foreign Bodies:The Fastest Dark Knight of Steel Amazon Ruler of Atlantis!?!?!

written by Len Kaminski
art by Val Semeiks
review by Hector Ramirez

            Hey guys and gals, your friendly neighborhood Clasher here. So it's that time of the week again. Good ol' Wednesday, new comics discounted Whoppers and of course new stuff from us here at the Clash. this week we take a peek back to 1999 back when people thought we'd lose all technology the next year so we bought things in bulk and prepared for Y2K. Meanwhile Kobra had his own endgame in the works and the Justice League was in for a whopper of a different kind.

            Apparently, Kobra believed himself a Messiah and needed a strategically placed palace. Choosing the JLA Watchtower on the moon, he hatched his heinous plot; throwing the world into chaos  and drawing out the League. He deploys a psychic kamikaze bomber that switches the JLA's minds around in each other's heads so that Kobra could usurp the watchtower in the confusion. As with all body switching stories they all learned more about each other after walking the proverbial mile in one anothers shoes yadda yadda you're my best friend in a world we must defend.

            The book is definitely a fun read I would recommend it to all JLA fans. The art was good detailed but not extremely realistic.story wise it was well put together the ending was a nice twist but on the same token you feel like you've read it before. The underlying themes are way too apparent as well as overused. All in all this recieves a Tim Drake Robin, the strength of the cliche was too overpowering.This concludes our program for today tune in next right here at j1studios.com until then friends, keep clashing. 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

#42 THE CAPE: Look Up in the Sky, It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Psycho with a Magic Cape!!!

THE CAPE 
#1-4
Written by Jason Ciaramella
Art by Zach Howard
Based on a short story by Joe Hill
IDW Publishing




Hey Clashers,  Hector here and do I have a review for you. This week, we’re looking at IDW’s The Cape. If you decide to read this I must say reader discretion is advised. So without further ado strap on your magic cape and please no bears or chainsaws in the air.

Have you ever known someone who is going nowhere in life and constantly blaming their failure on others. I think we’ve all known someone like that if not have been that person at some point in our lives. Take that emotional disposition and add the power of flight and enhanced strength and we have our story. Enter Eric, our main character who as a child somehow came into the possession of a magic cape that endows him with the afore mentioned powers. As Eric grows older he does little in the ways of advancing his life and is a loser who lives with his mother. His paranoia leads him to attack his loved ones, starting with his girlfriend and the cops investigating her murder. This causes his brother to retaliate…fatally, taking the  cape into his possession.

I must say it was an interesting tale but not really worth the wait. The pace of the story was slow with very little action yet it was compelling. The characters were well developed for such a short story and you really get to know them. The downside would be the inconsistency with which the book was released which almost caused me to drop it because the books were not very eventful. I am on the fence about this book because it was compelling yet slow. The art was kind of sloppy but not entirely bad in closing I’d give this a Red Robin not good not bad in the middle. Next week, I take a look at the 5 men to take on the Spiderman mantle. Until then friends, keep clashing.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

#40 - JUSTICE LEAGUE : ENTER DARKSEID!!


 Justice League 1-6: Enter Darkseid  
Written by Geoff Johns
Penciled by Jim Lee
Inked by Scott Williams

Interview by Hector Ramirez

Rating System:
 I will start with the rating system; it’s relatively simple based on Batman and his sidekicks. Jason Todd being the publics lowest rated Robin, Red Hood is the lowest rating then it goes up to Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing, and of course Batman himself. Like I said it’s simple if ever I need to rate something between the two I’ll use an obvious in between for example a 4 ½ would be a Grayson Batman. And that’s it clashers any confusion just ask in comments I do welcome feedback.

 Welcome Clashers to another action packed adrenaline rush all packaged neatly into a review of the first story arc of Justice League.  They call me Hector and I’ll be your tour guide to Apokolips and back. Please, don’t feed the parademons.

 So, it starts off with Batman running after one of Darkseid’s minions while also dodging Gotham’s finest then in comes a very arrogant Green Lantern by the name of Hal Jordan. After dispatching the strange alien, it drops a strange box. They discuss aliens which brings them to the subject of Superman over in Metropolis and decide to go after him. They get there; the classic misunderstanding and good guy vs. good guy fight ensues. Hal calls in the Flash for help but Batman clears up the misunderstanding. The box, which was one of many, explodes releasing parademons; as do all the others including one in S.T.A.R. labs where Victor Stone is arguing with his father for not taking his football career seriously. The blast nearly kills him so his father fits him with robotic parts turning him into Cyborg. He runs away from his father in anger and encounters parademons. He fights them and ends up teaming with our original quartet who have been joined by Aquaman and Wonder Woman.  Cyborg absorbs one of the boxes merging with its technology. Darkseid shows up and gives the league a great fight hitting Superman with an omega beam and leaving him to a parademon to be taken to Apokolips to be dissected to create a new army for Darkseid. Batman goes after Superman while the other five fight Darkseid with little avail. Superman returns knocking Darkseid back through a portal back to Apokolips and Cyborg closes it.

 First off, I love the Justice League I always have and the new 52 has been phenomenal thus far this story arc is no exception. DC pulled out the big guns right off back going straight for a Darkseid fight to bring together the League.  The fights were brutal, there was action cover to cover and the art was amazing. Jim Lee is definitely no slouch and he brings a great new look to the legendary characters. I really like how the story has character development so that you know a little about each character without going too far into detail so you really want to pick up their solo titles. Overall, with a great story awesome art and a beautiful set up, this story gets the coveted Bruce Wayne Batman. That’s all for now friends. Next week, I look at IDW’s The Cape until then…. Keep Clashing!!!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

#38 - SPAWN : THE CLAN- POETIC JUSTICE


Spawn#30 The Clan: Poetic Justice
Art and Story by Todd McFarlane 
Additional Art by Greg Capullo 


Review by Hector Ramirez

Welcome back Clashers to another action packed edition of the Comic Book Clash. This week, we’re taking things back to April of ’95. In honor of Black History Month, we’re taking a look at Spawn #30; a true testament to karma and poetic justice. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

After his fight with the Anti-Spawn, Al gets stuck down south. On his trek back to New York, he comes across an African-American gentleman, Brad Armstrong; who’s just had his lawn set ablaze by the KKK. Being a black man himself, Spawn decides to go after the culprits himself. Upon confronting the clansmen, Al takes a bullet to the head and is lynched. Brad finds him lynched and gets into an altercation with two clansmen but is saved by Al, who they believed to be dead. Brad, who was knocked out when his attackers were dispatched, takes the matter to court but the case is thrown out. Unknown to Brad, the judge was the clansmen’s leader. One by one, Spawn goes after the clan leaving the leader for last, waiting until the rest of the clan was nearby; Al turned him into a black man so that his own clan would lynch him. He then gives Brad files that prove the clan’s guilt, and thusly justice is served.

The irony behind the judge’s death was poetic justice at its finest. This was little more than a filler story but as far as filler stories go, it was pretty good it had a message to it and went to some pretty far lengths to get that message across. The story itself was kind of weak it had nothing to do with any other storylines in the series. Truth is besides spreading the message, and the side story with Sam and Twitch, there was little point in printing this issue. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, the art was great the usual McFarlane style the message was gotten across in a big way and part of the plot moved forward. All in all the series could have probably survived without the issue but I’m glad Todd wrote it. That being said I give this book a Red Robin. Spawn books rarely disappoint this issue being no exception. Until next time friends, keep clashing.        

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

WEB OF LOVE: THE MANY APPLE'S IN PETER PARKER'S EYE


    Hey there Clashers! Love is in the air as we hit Valentine’s day and one guy who knows quite a bit on the subject is our friendly neighborhood Spiderman. Peter has built up quite the little black book over the past 50 years how about we check it out. Sorry guys but phone numbers are not available for these lovely ladies.


By Hector Ramirez

LIZ ALLEN
Let’s start off with the first girl he ever liked, Liz Allen. Although Peter never had  a relationship with Liz it wasn’t for lack of trying.  Peter was always into Liz but it wasn’t until he started to exhibit a newfound confidence after becoming Spidey that she took interest in the shy bookworm. Liz eventually agreed  to go on a date with Peter but he had to miss it because of his crime fighting duties. It upset them both and although they never tried again Liz remained interested in Peter until she eventually married his best friend, Harry Osborn.

BETTY BRANT
Wanting to pitch in to help with bills at home Peter starts taking pictures of himself as Spiderman to sell to the Daily Bugle. It’s there where Peter meets the lovely Betty Brant. Filling in for her sick mother as Jameson’s personal secretary. Betty was a quiet girl, impressed by the bravery of Peter in taking pictures of  Spiderman. But after her brother died in the crossfire of a fight between Spiderman and Dr. Octopus, Betty started to hate the web slinger and distances herself from Peter . She is currently in a relationship with Flash Thompson .

GWEN STACY
After graduating high school Peter went on to Empire University where he met Gwen Stacy. Although she at first was not interested in Peter she soon found herself wooed  by his charm and they fell in love. Due to his life as Spiderman their relationship was rocky to say the least and Gwen’s father  dying while during a fight between Spidey and Doc Ock did not help the situation . But through it all  they stuck it through until tragedy strikes…After recovering from slight amnesia and remembering that Peter is Spidey Norman Osborn kidnaps Gwen and  takes her to the Brooklyn Bridge. She’s pushed off and when Spidey shoots a webline to save her the sudden jerk snaps her neck.

DEBORAH WHITMAN
After  losing  Gwen, Peter was distraught but he eventually started to date again. The shy Deborah Whitman  was very interested in Peter but Pete wasn’t really into her. Deborah, a schizophrenic soon became obsessed with  the possibility that Peter was Spiderman. To save her sanity Peter confessed to her but she refused to believe his confession. She then ran off with an old flame Biff Rifkin.

FELICIA HARDY
After discovering her fathers true origin as a famous cat burglar, Felicia  Hardy decided to follow in his footsteps. Becoming the Black Cat she perfected the art of cat burglary.after Spiderman failed repeatedly at catching the beautiful thief  she started to fall for the webslinger. In order to win his heart she turned over a new leaf becoming his partner in crime fighting and love. Feeling she could help her lover better with powers she acquired bad luck powers. Only problem was those close to her including Peter fell victim to her powers. Pete enlisted the help of Dr. Strange to remove the powers behind her back; getting her seriously hurt. Feeling betrayed, Felicia ended it with Peter.

MARY JANE WATSON
Although  May Parker and her friend  Anna Watson have tried to set Peter with Anna’s niece  Mary Jane since they were 14, it took until they were in college before they actually dated. But their romance ended when Peter fell for Gwen so MJ dated Harry Osborn until  Harry became addicted to drugs. After Gwen’s death MJ comforted Peter  and they ended up together. Although she knew about Peter’s double life, she highly disapproved  of it interfering in their relationship but through all the ups and  downs the two truly loved each other and were eventually married and things remained just as hectic if not worse. After Peter reveals his identity to the world things get real bad and to fix things they gave up their marriage to Mephisto. They remained good friends and, to me, it seems they could get back together.

SARAH RUSHMAN
At one point Mary Jane goes missing, believing her dead, Peter starts dating Sarah Rushman, who turned out to be Marrow of the X-men. Upon Mary Jane’s return their romance ended.

MS. MARVEL/CAROL DAVERS
Spiderman has worked with Ms Marvel on many an occasion,  at one point Spidey requested a date in return for his help and she agreed. The date went horribly but after being possessed by the Venom symbiote for a bit it was revealed that Ms. Marvel was also attracted to Peter as well. Although they never pursued a relationship the two remained close friends.

MICHELE GONZALES
Michele Gonzales is the sister of Vin Gonzalez a cop who roomed with Peter for sometime. When Vin went to prison for trying to frame Spidey as a serial killer, Michele moved in with Peter. They never really got along. She grudgingly agreed to accompany Peter to Aunt May’s wedding. Peter gets nervous due to Mary Jane’s presence and gets extremely drunk and ends up in bed with Michele. The next morning he remembered nothing so in her rage she tried to kick him out. But the Peter she attempted to kick out was in fact  the Chameleon who seduced her into letting Peter stay. Upon Vin’s release, Michele returned to Chicago.

CARLIE COOPER
Harry Osborne was dating the lovely Lily Hollister until she was revealed as Menace and to be sleeping with his father. Her best friend, NYPD CSU officer Carlie Cooper, alienated her but continued her friendship with Harry and Peter. At a going away party for Harry, Peter proposed a relationship with Carlie who accepted. Soon, she too was upset about  Peter’s constant disappearances, as were his girlfriends before her. So upset, in fact, that she almost got a goblin tattoo to piss him off. Instead, she got a Spidey tattoo which Peter was thrilled with. When Peter was way too in tune with his spider powers during Spider-Island, Carlie deduced he was the real Spiderman and left him for his dishonesty.

Well that concludes our show for this evening folks please tune in for our regularly scheduled program. Until then friends keep clashing.



Wednesday, February 8, 2012

#36 SAVAGE DRAGON/HELLBOY & GORILLA HITLER?!


Savage Dragon/Hellboy Crossover: Attack of Gorilla Hitler

Written & Art by Erik Larsen 


Savage Dragon created by Erik Larsen


Hellboy created by Mike Mignola


Review by Hector Ramirez


Hey Clashers, Hector here, reviewing a crossover from the 90’s that probably should have stayed there. I’m talking about the 2 part Savage Dragon/Hellboy crossover from Dark Horse and Image. This is going to be a bumpy ride folks so strap in and hold on tight.

Our story starts in 1945 Romania where Hellboy is fighting what appears to be a big Nazi robot, but then he knocks the head piece off to reveal Adolf Hitler who had been believed to have committed suicide years before. Amidst the battle Red hit’s the robot suit in its chest causing it to explode with Hitler inside leaving nothing but his head. A masked Nazi takes the head in hopes of salvaging Hitler’s brain. Fast forward to the 90’s where a pissed off gorilla, with a brain in a bowl on his head, named BrainApe, is chained up being told if he wished to be free he would have to serve the new leader of the sinister circle. BrainApe is sent to kill Savage Dragon and grudgingly agrees. BrainApe finds Dragon at a train yard helping Hellboy in a fight. Upon seeing Red, memories of….wait for it…..Hitler’s life come rushing back to BrainApe and his hatred for our demon friend puts him in a frenzy. He uses his telekinetic powers(yes Hitler Gorilla is telekinetic) to turn Dragon and Hellboy against each other hoping they will kill each other getting his revenge and completing his task in one shot. Dragon overpowers Red easily and takes the fight out of BrainApe’s telekinetic range giving him the chance to fight the gorillas hold. Dragon then knocked Hitler’s brain off of the gorilla but the brain…..I cant believe I’m about to type these words….the brain grew legs and started to run away. Dragon throws a knife at it killing Hitler’s brain for good.

So yeah. Hitler’s brain on an ape. um….WTF!?!?!?! What in God’s name was the writer thinking?! That being said, it wasn’t that bad of a story. It wasn’t overbearing or forced, like some crossovers are it just kind of worked. The art was pretty good; I had no complaints. I’ve come to expect that with my experience with Image comics. So all in all, the story telling was good, art was good. It is just elements were just out of  left field insane. That being said, I give this crossover a Red Robin. Until next time friends, keep clashing.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A WEB LINE THROUGH TIME - THE MAJOR MOMENTS IN SPIDEY'S HISTORY


A Web Line Through Time- Major Moments in Spidey’s History  

By Hector Ramirez

Hey there Clashers! It’s 2012 and with that comes the 50th year of everyone’s favorite web slinger. Every month this year, your friendly neighborhood clasher, yours truly, is doing a special piece on the wall crawler; starting with this timeline of some his biggest checkpoints thus far. So grab your web shooters, shoot out a line and lets go for a swing.




ORIGIN 

   A very familiar story to all true fans of the medium. Meant to only fill a few pages in Amazing Fantasy # 15, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko wrote the story of a 15 year bookworm by the name of Peter Parker. A social outcast, Peter spends his time at science demonstrations and museums. While at one of these demonstrations, a spider became irradiated and bit young Peter; giving him the speed, agility, and proportionate strength of a spider. Using his powers, Peter became a wrestler which made him kind of cocky so when a thief robbed the arena he was performing at he stepped aside allowing the man to escape. That same man broke into his home killing his Uncle Ben and it is then that Peter heeds his uncle’s great advice “with great power comes great responsibility.” While this story has been told and retold time and time again, that quote remains and as does the greatness that is Spiderman.    

ORIGINAL CLONE SAGA

  While attending Empire State University, Peter fell in love with the beautiful Gwen Stacy. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one. Professor Miles Warren was infatuated with the young Ms. Stacy as well to the point of obsession. To get rid of Peter, Warren created a clone of him. Believing himself to be the real Spiderman, the clone sought to destroy Peter. After the battle that ensues, Peter eventually throws the clone into a smoke stack believing him dead. As any true fan knows this sets up for a very important storyline, Marvel’s good at set ups.

DEATH OF GWEN STACY & THE "DEATH" OF NORMAN OSBORN

   Every great hero has equally great villains. One such villain for Spiderman has to be Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin. Willing to do everything and anything to hurt Spiderman, after discovering his secret identity the Goblin decides to attack Peter through his emotions. Norman kidnapped Peter’s beloved Gwen and takes her to the Brooklyn Bridge. Upon  Peter’s arrival, Norman pushed Gwen over. Spiderman shoots out a web line to catch her but the sudden upward jerk snapped her neck, killing her. Needless to say, Peter was distraught and a seemingly final battle between Spiderman and Green Goblin ensued. The battle ends when Norman attempts to impale Peter with his glider only to get impaled himself courtesy of Spider-sense. Osborn was seemingly killed but oddly enough his body goes missing. Cue dramatic music.  


THE COURTSHIP & MARRIAGE TO MARY JANE

               While he was heartbroken at the loss of Gwen Stacy, Peter does eventually start dating again. While he’s dated a plethora of women the most prominent relationship in his history would have to be the one with Mary Jane Watson. The girl next door with a dark past, MJ was constantly running from her problems. At one point, she even ran from her feelings for Peter but eventually she settled down and married the web swinger. Their marriage wasn’t always ideal but I guess that’s the case when you marry a costumed crusader, I bet Lois Lane could attest to that. As with any marriage there are ups and downs the downs a bit worse than most but in the end it’s Mary Jane that was always there helping him get through things. The thought of going home to her is what kept Peter going.


  THE SYMBIOTE (BLACK SUIT) SAGA
 
         When the Beyonder kidnapped the worlds greatest villains and heroes to partake in the Secret Wars, Peter Parker’s costume needed to be replaced. He found a machine that produced a small black glob that enveloped him in a black costume resembling that of Julia Carpenter aka Spiderwoman which is what Peter wanted. Thinking it was some sort of alien nanotechnology he started using it in place of his red and blue suit. After a while Peter starts to notice something is off, his attitude is changing, and he wakes up feeling completely exhausted sometimes even finding himself out web-swinging with no recollection of leaving his bed. Eventually Peter finds out that the suit is actually a living organism bent on controlling its host. Peter manages to rid himself of the symbiote but it transfers itself to Eddie Brock who hates Spiderman. The black suit is definitely a fan favorite, even Felicia hated to see it go and made him a cloth version of it which he wears until Venom completely freaks out Mary Jane and she asks him to stop wearing it.
 

VENOM

    Speaking of Eddie Brock, the introduction of this particular villain/anti-hero into the web-slingers life as Venom gave Peter a whole new problem. With the symbiote and Brock’s combined hatred for Spidey, added with its enhanced spider powers its not exactly an easy feat for Pete to beat. And it doesn’t help that the symbiote has been in Peter’s mind and knows all his secrets; not to mention it nullifies his spider-sense so yea they’re a problem. Even though they have worked together and Brock does try to reform and does his best to help people, the symbiote’s vicious nature does tend to win over Brock’s attempts at being a hero until he eventually gets rid of it just to find out it gave him cancer. Ironically, his extended connection to the symbiote transformed his white blood cells into an Anti-Venom symbiote that fights radiation as well as crime.    

THE "DEATH" OF HARRY OSBORN

   After learning of his father's death in a battle with Spiderman, Harry Osborn swears vengeance against the wall crawler. Taking on the mantle of the Green Goblin, Harry winds up in multiple battles with Spiderman. Eventually losing his memory, Harry and Peter become friends again. Unfortunately, this is short lived when the Hobgoblin forces him to become the Green Goblin again. Harry defeats Macendale and considers becoming a super hero but Peter talks him out of it. Later, Harry suffers psychological trauma causing him to become the strongest he’s ever been and is re-consumed with his hatred for Spidey. Planning to kill Peter and all of his father’s enemies, Harry rigs his home with explosives and throws a dinner party not realizing his son and Peter’s wife were also there. Harry leaves Spidey incapacitated after a pretty one sided battle and arms the explosives before learning of Normie and MJ’s presence. Peter convinces Harry to save the two when he laid paralyzed. Realizing he left his best friend to die, Harry doubles back saving him but getting caught in the blast which triggers a side effect of his goblin formula killing him. But fret not Clashers, for Harry returns because of the events of One More Day.    

THE "RETURN" OF PETER'S PARENTS

   As quite obvious as it is, Harry Osborn was responsible for quite a bit of douche baggery during his stint as the Green Goblin but the one thing that really takes the cake is when he attacked Peter emotionally by making him believe his parents were alive. You see as some of you may know Peter’s stay with Ben and May was supposed to be temporary but while out on a top secret government mission his parents were both killed. Fast forward Harry hired the Chameleon to create to androids of Peter’s parents to pluck at Peter’s heartstrings, like I said douche baggery. Eventually his “parents” “die” revealing their falsehood. This infuriates our hero causing him to lash out against the Chameleon nearly beating him to death. This plotline is good because it shows that super heroes are people too and even they have breaking points. Some things are sacred and Harry and the Chameleon really crossed the line.


THE CLONE SAGA

    Remember that very important plotline I mentioned earlier? Well guess what? That clone Peter “killed” didn’t really die. SURPRISE!!!! Taking on the name of Ben(in honor of Uncle Ben) Reilly (Aunt May’s maiden name), he traveled the country keeping tabs on Peter through May whom he convinced that he was a distant relative. While touring the country another of the Jackals clones the wretch known as Kaine follows Ben around attempting to kill him believing he meant harm to Peter. Realizing this wasn’t true kaine backed and was later killed   After a few years Ben decides to return to New York creating the identity of the Scarlet Spider. At first he’s taken as a joke but after some impressive heroics he’s taken a bit more serious even though nobody remembers his name.  Eventually  teaming up with Pete. They work well together but at some point Norman Osborn decides to mess with Peter’s head by introducing the possibility that Peter is in fact the clone which haunts the both of them.

BEN REILLY AS SPIDEY

      After learning Mary Jane was pregnant, Peter decides he no longer wants to be Spiderman and hands over the mantle to Ben. Although reluctant at first, he does revamp the costume and take swing as Spidey. He makes a pretty decent Spidey; although he sometimes doubts he’s as good as Peter. Others notice the difference in the wall crawler too. He’s less experienced which leads to a few rookie mistakes. Peter and Mary Jane move out of NY for a more peaceful life but eventually come back and Peter reclaims the mantle. Norman Osborn, who has been presumed dead for years, returns to take credit for the turmoil the clone fiasco caused and tries to kill Peter with his glider. Ben jumps in front of the blades and disintegrated proving he was in fact the clone.




IDENTITY CRISIS/SLINGERS

  After being framed for murder Spiderman is marked an outlaw and with Osborn in control of the Daily Bugle he makes sure the word is spread. In order to keep fighting crime, and to try and clear his name Peter dawns four new identities. Using a flying apparatus invented by Hobie Brown aka the Prowler he becomes the Hornet gaining the trust of  Osborn by claiming Spiderman was  not an issue. Under the alias of Ricochet Peter found himself going up against the Black Tarantula again, teaming up with the revenge seeking Delilah. As Dusk Peter dawned a dark stealth suit he acquired in the Negative Zone and rescues the Trapster who has replaced him as the biggest bounty in New York with Spiderman’s “disappearance”.  Finally we have the golden boy known as Prodigy. With invulnerability, super strength and able to jump insane distances and a personality “so square it makes Captain America seem radical” as Peter himself put it. Eventually Peter gathers the evidence needed to clear Spiderman and as Prodigy presents it to the public to Norman Osborn’s displeasure. Later four aspiring young heroes take on Peter’s four new aliases and form the group known as the Slingers with the wall crawler as their inspiration.  



THE OTHER/ORGANIC WEBS/MORLUN

    After finding out he is dying of some unidentifiable disease, Peter also has to deal with the fact that the vampiric entity known as Morlun has returned from the grave to seek revenge on him. Spidey eventually encounters Morlun; who hands him the beating of a lifetime and rips his eye out, leaving him to absorb later. Pete is rushed to the hospital where MJ stays with him. Morlun attacks and Mary Jane stupidly tries to intervene. As Morlun attempts to end her life, Peter becomes a spider beast and kills Morlun before dying himself. To protect his identity, the Avengers take his body to Stark towers where it is reduced to a husk. A new and improved Peter later emerges from a cocoon. With new powers such as organic webbing, he has to fight his corpse that is being controlled by spiders. After being defeated, his spider filled corpse retreats to the sewers.


NEW AVENGERS/CIVIL WAR/ONE MORE DAY

      After the original Avengers disbanded due to the destruction Scarlet Witch unleashed in her bout of insanity, a new super team is needed and Spidey along with Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, Daredevil and Captain America heed the call. Electro knocks out the power at the super-villain maximum prison known as the Raft allowing for a massive prison break. The aforementioned heroes band together to contain the chaos but 42 prisoners manage to escape. Cap sees their banding together as fate and offers them membership in the Avengers. All but Daredevil accept and the New Avengers are founded. Of course, their first mission being to round up the escaped prisoners. Eventually the teamed is joined by Wolverine, Sentry & Ms Marvel.

               After 600 people are killed in Stamford, Connecticut because of the New Warriors and their haphazard behavior (CBC EIC Frankie Rodriguez : HEY!! That's my favorite team you talkin' bout there Hector), the government introduces the Superhuman Registration Act where all superhumans must register with the Federal government. About half of them comply including Peter but the rest refuse. Those who refuse go underground, joining Captain America's side against registration.and are joined by the wall crawler when things go bad with his enemies knowing his identity. A Civil War ensues hero against hero causing the majority of the New Avengers to become an underground vigilante group. Eventually the danger of people knowing his identity is too great when Aunt May is hit by a sniper bullet met for Peter. In order to save his beloved aunt, Peter goes to Mephisto aka the Devil (After going through nearly everyone he knows) who restores his aunt in exchange for his marriage to Mary Jane. The entire danger of  Peter’s leaked identity is erased but it backfires; only later to be fixed by Dr. Strange.  

SECRET INVASION/DARK REIGN

        Some of the superheroes in the Marvel Universe are replaced by shape shifting aliens named Skrulls. They try taking over Earth starting a huge war, with the queen disguised as Jessica Drew (Spiderwoman) since before the formation of the New Avengers. All of Earth’s warriors, regardless of alignment, jump into the battle.  But it is Norman Osborn getting the killing shot on the Skrull queen. SHIELD is disbanded and replaced by HAMMER, which is run by Osborn, who puts together his own team of Dark Avengers; villains who are actually take up identities of other heroes such as Ms Marvel taken up by Moonstone, Venom Mac Gargan being Osborn's Spiderman, Daken becoming Wolverine & Bullseye as Hawkeye to name a few. Most of the real heroes are forced undergroun,d including Spidey. Osborn uses his power to pursue personal vendettas; like trying to kill the web head, force the Cage family under his control and  try to kill Nick Fury, who continues to run SHIELD underground. Of course, he fails. Osborn makes his biggest mistake by teaming up with Loki and pushing the mentally unstable Sentry to attack Asgard which eventually gets him thrown from power and arrested.


BIG TIME

       Peter is banned from being a newspaper photographer ever again and winds up homeless. With a recommendation from Marla Jameson, he gets a job at Horizon Labs. Meanwhile, Phil Urich has gone completely insane and become the Hobgoblin by killing the original; adding to the Hobgoblin arsenal with  sonic laugh he kept from his time as the "good" Green Goblin. To battle Phil, Pete develops a special harmonics suit which makes him immune to the laugh. Also in this plotline, Alistair Smythe returns bent on getting revenge on J. Jonah Jameson. He turns people who hate him  (Jameson) into Spider Slayers and turns Mac Gargan back into an updated Scorpion. Here’s a kicker; they all have a spider-sense. In order to defeat them, Spidey develops a spider sense killing bomb. Unfortunately, he is forced to withstand the blast, losing his own spider sense in the process. Angered by the defeat of his Spider Slayers, Smythe tries to kill Jameson himself but his wife Marla gives her life to thwart the assassination attempt. Fed up with all the death in his life, Peter vows no one else will die on his watch; not even Smythe or the emotionless killer Massacre who were both to face the death penalty on Jameson’s orders.



FUTURE FOUNDATION/SPIDER ISLAND

      To prevent an Annihilation Wave (a massive, killing legion that are responsible for several planets destruction and nearly wiping out the Skrulls)  from the Negative Zone, Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch seemingly sacrifices himself. Believing Johnny is dead, the remaining members of the  Fantastic Four and Spidey watch his video will asking that the team not be disbanded and that Peter take his place on the team. Feeling that continuing to call themselves the Fantastic Four and using the same uniforms would be disrespectful, they renamed the team the Future Foundation and dawned uniforms made of unstable molecules that can be altered with just a thought. At this time, Manhattan is infested with bedbugs which have been genetically altered by Miles “The Jackal” Warren to administer a spider virus. This virus endows its host with spider powers but eventually turns them into giant spiders under control of the Queen, a failed super soldier who once fought Spidey and Captain America Steve Rodgers. Jackal resurrects the imperfect clone Kaine, renaming him Tarantula to go with his monstrous form and kidnaps Steve Rogers turning him into the equally monstrous Spider King. A huge battle ensues between heroes and spiders that ends with Peter administering a cure made of Eddie Brock’s Anti-Venom symbiote using a whole bunch of octo-bots from the police evidence locker even turning Kaine into a perfect clone.



And that was our history lesson for this month. Next month: The MANY LOVES OF SPIDERMAN! Until then, Keep Clashing.


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

#33 -WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN (#1-3) : BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT


Wolverine and the X-Men: 1-3 Back to School Night 

Story by Jason Aaron
Art by Chris Bachalo & Duncan Rouleau

By Hector Ramirez

RATING SYSTEM:


Red Hood (Jason Todd) -1
Robin (Damian Wayne) - 2
Robin (Tim Drake) - 2.5
Red Robin (Tim Drake) - 3
Red Robin (Dick Grayson) -3.5
Nightwing (Dick Grayson) - 4
Batman (Dick Grayson) - 4.5
Batman (Bruce Wayne) - 5






Greetings Clashers! Hector here and I’m here to take you to school. The Jean Grey school that is. This week we’re taking a look at  Wolverine and the X-Men , that being said watch that first step, it’s a doozy.

Starting off, I’d like to give a brief overview of X-Men Schism which split the X-Men up into the two factions they are now in. it all starts when Cyclops go to the U.N. in an effort to rid the world of the mutant hunting robots known as sentinels. At the conference Quentin Quire a.k.a. Kid Omega launches a psychic attack  on the leaders of the  world  causing them to admit their  deepest darkest secrets. Seeing this as an excuse to deem mutant-kind a threat to humanity the world leaders  scramble to get there hands on any bit of  sentinel technology they can get their hands on. Enter Kade Kilgore; who has just became the CEO of his family’s weapons company and Black King of the Hellfire Club, all at the age of 13. Kilgore built a giant Sentinel that drew in metal from its surroundings to build its body and sent it to Utopia to destroy the X-Men. With the rest of the X-Men dealing with the other Sentinels, Scott and Logan are left with the youngest recruits and that's where things take a turn for the worst. Logan believes that kids shouldn’t have to risk their lives in such a situation while Scott believed they should stand and fight as X-Men. This leads to an altercation that lead to the split.
 
Logan has decided to return to West Chester to re-open  the Charles Xavier school and renaming it the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. It is when the New York Department of Education sends two representatives to check out the legitimacy of the school when things take a turn for the worst. All the technologies that Hank programmed into the school are going haywire and the grounds themselves seem to be attacking. Turns out  that  Kade Kilgore and his little playmates in the Hellfire Club are making sure everything that can possibly go wrong does. Also, it turns out the grounds are attacking because beneath them lives a grandchild to Krakoa, a living plot of land. After penetrating the creature's mind, the unlikely hero of Quentin Quire saves the day by calming it down and convincing it that the X-Men are not the enemies. After cleaning up the mess, Logan sends Kilgore a little surprise in the form of a legal subpoena delivered by one Matthew Murdock Esquire.

I, for one, enjoyed this story. It really showed how far Logan has come. He’s not the irrational berserker he's been known to be anymore. He’s really grown and isn’t afraid to show his softer side. He really cares for the kids and he shows it by everything he went through to re-open the school; to give them somewhere to learn and grow where they won't be considered a mutant army the way Scott tried to make them out to be. As for the art, I liked it. It had a great balance of realism and artistry so that it wasn’t too cartoony. In closing, with a great story told with good art. I rate this plotline a Grayson Batman. Good work crew. This is definitely a title I will be keeping up with and I suggest you Clashers to do the same. Until next time friends, keep clashing!  


You can follow the Jean Grey School on Twitter with: Jean Grey School of Higher Learning

Please check out their live Tweet of the Future History Course, taught by Jean Grey's & Scott Summers' daughter, Professor Rachel Grey on January 11th, 2012 @ 2:00pm EST.


NEXT WEEK: CBC's EIC Frankie Rodriguez reviews Cyclops's side of Mutantdom with a review of Uncanny X-Men #1-3.


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

#31 GHOSTBUSTERS (#1-4): THE RETURN OF GOZER



Ghostbusters 1-4: The Return of Gozer

IDW Publishing


Written by Erik Burham


Art by Dan Schoening

by Hector Ramirez

RATING SYSTEM:
Red Hood (Jason Todd) - 1

Robin  (Damian Wayne)- 2
Red Robin (Tim Drake) - 3
Nightwing (Dick Grayson) -4
Batman (Bruce Wayne) - 5


      Happy New Year Clashers! Hope you had fun ringing in the New Year and good luck with your resolutions. My resolution to keep giving you my readers the lowdown on what’s going on in all comic universes.
That being said let’s take a visit to IDW’s New York where ghosts are going rampant so you have to ask yourself, “Who you gonna call?” everyone’s favorite paranormal investigators are back in their own ongoing comic series picking up where the movies left off.

      Gozer is trying to make a comeback and with the key master and the gate keeper gone Gozer’s third minion Idulnas has been sent to make sure Dr. Ray Stantz to choose a more deadly form for Gozer to return in. Meanwhile the ghosts seem a lot more threatening; even Slimer gave the guys a run for their money. To deal with the overpowered ghosts Egon developed Proton grenades and a mega trap. As the Selector, Ray has been having odd dreams about Gozer, with John Belushi in his Blues Brother character as his soul guide. In all the ruckus caused by the over powered ghosts Idulnas has kidnapped Ray and tries pumping his head full of terrifying avatars for Gozer. The rest of the Ghostbusters show up to save them just as Ray chooses the easily defeated Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as Gozer’s form and upon his defeat Idulnas also was defeated. What thanks do the saviors of New York get? A list of complaints and compliances they need to meet in order to get paid for their services delivered by Walter Peck, head of the city’s Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission.

Well Clashers, I enjoyed this story. It could be a good premise for the upcoming Ghostbusters 3 movie. It was a nice continuation with plenty of movie references. They even played on Dan Aykroyd’s role in the Blues Brothers series, random but pretty cool. IDW has done great things with the franchise. It was better than the old Ghostbusters comic series based on the cartoon series. I only read two issues of the series but they were pretty cheesy as most cartoon based comics are. Although I did like the art of the book better because it was identical to the cartoon where this series has extremely cartoony versions of the movie cast. I rate this a Nightwing. I really enjoyed the story but not too big a fan of the art, it didn’t really fit the feel of the story. Despite that I will be following this series and hopefully write more reviews for it. We may not fight ghosts but who you gonna call for anything you need to know about comics? J1 Studios and the Comic Book Clash of course. Until next time friends keep clashing.