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.