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!!!