Sunday, September 29, 2013

Godwheel Mini-Series by Malibu Comics

 This is the first of the ultimate plan when there is a completed run of a series.  I want to have all the images link to the posts here on the Blog so there is a quick reference for people.  I decided to start with the Ultraverse Godwheel series.  I will have these series listed on the sidebar area as well.  That is the hope and the goal with things like the Mantra and Mutant X runs.  Sorry for those who have read each post consecutively each day.  If you stumbled upon this post through a search, then enjoy.

BDS







Friday, September 27, 2013

Flashback Friday: Godwheel #3

We conclude the week with the end of the Godwheel Mini-Series from Malibu Comics.  As I said, I felt this story was advanced to use as a start to the Marvelication of the Ultraverse.  This is the issue that Thor will at last appear and that all this fighting over the Crucible of Life will conclude.  It is a satisfying end and doesn't let off the accelerator as we speed along to the end.

When we stopped there was one team and one item left on the quest for power.  Lukasz and Warstrike had teamed up to find the Crystal Crown and by doing so stop Argus in his quest to return to ultimate godhood.  It was no surprise to the reader that Necro Mantra would be the one that they would face.  Why they were surprised was funny in a way as they should have realized it would come down to that match up.

The battle is strange and at one point Eden Blake takes control back from Thanasi.  While the romantic angst is playing out Warstrike finds and dons the Crystal Crown.  It activates his pre-cognative abilities and he sees the Earth drowning in blood as people are mutilated around a throne.  Warstrike sees himself on the throne and he is served by Necro Mantra.  This vision melts his mind.  In the end Necro Mantra retrieves the Crystal Crown.

I could bore you with the action, but I will instead hit the high points.  The Crucible of Life is activated.  Pressure stumbles out as we find out she has been replaced by Rune during the Quest.  Boneyard might be dead.  Necro Mantra betrayed Argus.  Argus outsmarts her by using Primevil.  Millions of tiny Lord Pumpkins.  Big old fight.

Rune attacks Necro Mantra and Thanasi flees leaving Eden Blake as Mantra.  Mantra plays a big role as it is her magical interference that brings Thor over.  Of course with Thor rallying the Ultra Heroes the day is won and we get a extra crossover as Loki slips into the Ultraverse unseen.  It is here that I felt maybe new Ultra character would be used if the buyout had never happened.  Maybe even Ogma being returned and the start of an area where secrets of the Ultraverse would be told and the battle between Rex Mundi and The Alternate brought in.

Over all this is a great read.  Having knowledge of the Ultraverse would help, but is not necessary to enjoy.  It is too bad that months from now Marvel will beging a round of lay offs and budget cutting that will destroy the Ultraverse as if Argus had won this battle.

BDS

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Godwheel #2

This is the bridge issue of this mini series.  I call it that because we are at the point where much must occur to cross into the climax and final confrontation.  Here is where the fight to gain the three items of power begins in earnest.  The items are The Windsword, Roc's Egg, and crystal crown.  In issue #2 here we will see the acquisition of the sword and egg.

I wish I had more knowledge of the characters from the FREEX comic.  I would be more understanding about Feline, Cayman, Flygirl, and especially Pressure who acts very strange according to Cayman.  Not knowing her I would think this Valerie is a smart and knowledgeable woman.  We watch her understand the science on this godyacht and even how to operate these systems at first glance.  Later she seems cold and uncaring.

We also have more distrust of Boneyard.  Knowing him it is clear that they should not trust the guy.  What we have in terms of action is division into teams to retrieve the items and Argus waiting to see where they go and sending his operatives there.  Cayman, Feline, and Pressure go after the Windsword and face off against Primevil.  It is here that we watch Cayman get swallowed and being digested by Primevil.  His teammate Pressure stands there and watches him being killed.  The shock comes as Feline takes the Windsword and chops Primevil's head off and frees Cayman.  Now Cayman looks less like a human crocodile and more like a man that has portions that look like a crocodile.  Feline has bonded with the sword and Pressure seems very unhappy.

The next team is Flygirl and Hardcase.  The ship makes a great new costume for Hardcase and it helps us not have to look at his still messed up appearance after the battle he had in his book with the MN-E thing that is a bane to all the Ultraverse.  Flygirl hits on him and it is used I think to make us sympathetic for her later.  Lord Pumpkin arrives and he fights off both and even "kills" Flygirl.  I do not know for sure if she is dead, but from here own she is no longer with the rest of the group.  Hardcase freezes up seeing her "die" and suffers flashbacks to others he has lost in battle.  Lord Pumpkin attacks and is using the Roc's Egg to finish Hardcase off when Argus brings him back.

For his betrayal Lord Pumpkin gets his pumpkin smashed and all that is left is his candle.  Two objects found, one in the Crucible of Life.  The crucible is what will give power to the one who collects all the items.  All this and the war is explained by the simulation of Ogma as the heroes and Boneyard travel to the Godwheel.  Lots of explanation about the Godwheel and what will happen if Argus succeeds.

Lukaz and Warstrike are the third team and we all know who they will face next issue, right?  Necro Mantra is up and these are two guys that care for Eden Blake who is trapped in the body that Thanasi now controls.  The question is, will Warstrike kill Mantra to stop Necro Mantra?  Will Lukasz let him?  Still so questions left as we go toward the final issue and the climax of the series.

BDS

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Godwheel #1

So when we last left the series from Malibu Comics known as Godwheel, Necro Mantra had volunteered to kill all the other Ultras and serve Argus.  They flirt some and we have Thanasi show off the Necro Mantra powers and that he can be a better woman than Lukasz.  The magic sort of impresses Argus.  The thing is he needs three to collect the items of power.  So Necro Mantra is given leave to choose her allies.  Of course the first thing she does is pick Lord Pumpkin because every team needs a suit wearing Jack O Lantern.  Then we get the shock of the moment as she blast the Prime husk and gives it life.She names him Primevil.  All looks lost for the frozen heroes as death is to be there fate.

Now comes the fighting.  She Pressure was knocked out and not frozen.  She awakens in the nick of time to blast Argus and that causes him to lose concentration.  We have another free for all until a leader steps forward, Boneyard.  Yes, I was shocked as well.  Being a Mantra collector I figured he would weasel his way to Team Argus, but he decides that the heroes are the team to eventually betray.  This does help get some focus for the group.  Hardcase gets a wicked punch in that floors Argus and the heroes flee.  We also learn that Argus is losing power fast.

So the group is fleeing and really have no clue until Lukasz steps out of the shadows.  The soul of Eden Blake is shown with a relieved face.  Seems Necro Mantra teleported instead of disintegrating Lukasz.  Maybe Eden had a bit to do with that happening.  So the thing is that Lukasz found a ship.  It is alive and it was the Pleasure Space Yacht of Ogma named Zumas.  Poor old Pressure gets tossed and beaten all the time here and even has rocks fall on her before making it to the ship.  They fly off with a computer sim of Ogma telling them the need of finding the relics.  Ogma was the head god of these gods who killed each other.  He also shows us the Godwheel.

Thor has his first cameo as he is not fully shown.  It was cheesy and probably just some Marvel suit wanting a Marvel character in there somehow since Thor is being advertised all over for this series.  Next comes the team ups and the search for the items.

BDS

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Godwheel #0

Following the last installment of Mantra Monday is the Ultraverse Mini-Series called Godwheel.  It begins as many Ultraverse titles had characters disappear at the end of a story.  More on that in a bit.  I am going to state an opinion I have about this series.  it is purely speculation on my part and I have no idea if it is even close to the truth of the events that surround the story.

My opinion is that Godwheel was not suppose to have happened this quick in the growth of Malibu Comic's Ultraverse.  This is the origins of a comicbook Universe laid bare and a place you could change direction with characters and even jumpstart the Ultraverse with new characters.  I believe that the buyout by Marvel Comics brought this origin tale forward and it then became the way Marvel would try and market their characters through this purchase.

It just feels forced in so many ways.  Like it was rushed.  The reason for speculating that it is the origin of the Ultraverse comes from the pages included in the series that explains out the characters and the Godwheel.  It looks like a blueprint that writers would have had to know the origins, but never tell us until many years down the road.  Near the end when Marvel puts a footprint in the Ultraverse you can easily imagine a different outcome using characters unique and new.

So what was Godwheel?  Basically you have a Supergod who is dying.  He comes home to find it in ruins and the other gods dead and gone.  Three items of power have been scattered across this massive cosmos spinning wheel where vast geography and beings make up a place where power comes from.  This Supergod is named Argus.  He has been followed by the creepy Ultra Rune and a fight between them gives Argus the ability to use the gems that Rune had to see and call forth beings of power to find the items.  He just brings them to this place called Vahdala.

He brings a very beat up Hardcase, Lord Pumpkin, Boneyard, Warstrike, four of the Freex (Feline, Flygirl, Pressure, and Cayman), Prime and Mantra.  The problem is he does not get Prime, but a Prime husk that is frozen to keep it viable.  Mantra is not Mantra as we know from Mantra #17, it is Necro Mantra.  Of course Lukasz in his new male body is brought as well because of him being Mantra.

Basically those with grudges begin beating the stuffing out of each other.  Necro Mantra strikes Lukasz and seems to disintegrate him.  Lord Pumpkin and Boneyard have a history.  Throw in Warstrike being confused by Necro Mantra and you can see that this is a great confusing battle.  It is until Argus freezes them all, except Necro Mantra.  In the end she, the male Thanasi, flirts and schemes her way into his good graces.  She even declares that as a show of loyalty she will kill the rest of the Ultras.

This is a very action packed start to a mini that will redefine the Ultraverse.  As I said, it feels rushed.  Stay tuned for the next issue of Godwheel.

BDS   


#Ultraverse  #Godwheel  #Mantra

Monday, September 23, 2013

Mantra Mondays: Mantra #17

Welcome back to Mantra.  We take up where we left by looking at issue #17.  It is not strange that things would take a fast pace in the Ultraverse.  In fact I wish there were a way to have DVD type commentary about the stories of certain companies and the comics they produced.  I have mulled it over and think that this story gets made because of the buying and merger of Malibu Comics by Marvel Comics.  See, I think that maybe there was to be a longer build up to what happens in this issue and the mini-series that starts directly at the end of this story. 

We get a great deal of story in this one issue.  Lukasz infiltrates Aladdin's hidden depths to find information that will lead him to freeing his soul and Eden's from the same body.  They have fallen in love and now want to be together, but we still get that old song and dance of Lukasz wanting to be a man again.  It is fun watching Mantra use stealth by way of her powers.

The funeral for Uncle Moe, the nearly dead senior that Mantra trapped Thanasi inside, and it reveals that maybe Thanasi is not gone.  We quickly get to something good.  Lukasz spending time with the kids and we find out it is Christmas time as well.  It is good to have him being a mom and enjoying it.  Plus Eden can enjoy her kids.  Little Evie reminds us that she knows her mommy is Mantra before the two who share one body are off to find J.D. Hunt.

Hunt is one of the Ultraverse's standard villain and Ultra creator.  He made Electrocutie of the Strangers and we see her replacement as Mantra battles Pinnacle (Penny).  She appears as a new bimbo made to order for Hunt, but she is an Ultra and the fight is cool and the magic mixing with science gives us a great outcome.  After Hunt is being mind controlled there is a great scene that does not translate well in comic form of Penny walking Hunt into a wall.

Male body made and it looks like Lukasz and Eden can find happiness.  Enter Thanasi.  A man that is very comfortable taking a female form.  Little back and forth before we have both the newly self named Necro Mantra and Lukasz disappearing.  That is where Godwheel begins.  Many other Ultra books have similar disappearing tales that leads us to this explanation in a way of the origins of the Ultraverse.

The question really needing to be asked is what has happened to Eden Blake?

BDS

Friday, September 20, 2013

Not feeling the Flashback Today

I have a few comics that I could throw up as a Flashback Friday, but its been a rough week and I don't feel very creative and would probably be really bland.  I probably will do a Black Panther comic soon as for two years now that has been a keyword in searches.  Be smart to help bring people in I guess.  

If all goes as planned you should see a return of Mantra Mondays this Monday and then the four issues of the Godwheel mini that accompanied Marvel's takeover/buyout of Malibu Comics.  I am at that point in Mantra's book and it would be neat.  

On The Malibu front I have recently increased the Hardcase series by ten issues and the Strangers and Solution are in good standing as well.  I am not sure how far I am going with this collecting of Malibu Comics.  Should I just stay small and go for a few titles or go big and aim for the entire Library of Malibu?

Anyway, I am tired and felt bad all week I am gonna sign off.  Thank you to everyone who reads this silly little Blog of mine.  I appreciate it more than you know.

BDS

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Demon Knights #23

Ah, The Demon Knights have come to an end.  I must say that overall I enjoyed this book very much.  It had its bumpy period with the Vampire story.  The Vandal Savage torture of Jason Blood also helped meander the tale a bit.  The last arc however sealed the book up with a nice neat bow.  We have that Black Diamond used and resolved as a plot device that never really did anything in this book until now.  Sir Ystin is healed of the vampiric taint and has secured the Holy Grail.  Horsewoman can now walk so DC is making a statement about the handicapped I guess.  Maybe the Internets has blown up with outrage that another redhead got the use of her legs back.  It did make sense in terms of showing the amazing powers of the Holy Grail.

If only Vandal Savage could have been shown in his blown to bits status.  Still, it was a funny bit of story to see him blown up after the Demon Etrigan had faked out a Giant and set his huge gag looking bomb a flame.  It was a slapstick moment as the lit fuse went down.  It all really did show the ability of this early team and as I said wrapped the entire series up in a nice neat bow.

One thought I had was to have a series of Demon Kinights one-shots.  Each would highlight characters like Horsewoman, Ystin, Al Jabar, and Exoristos.  It would be neat to see some of their solo adventures.  I doubt that it will ever come to pass as this book was always a tie to what was happening in the current time of the New 52.  I sense that in some ways these characters will be seen as throw away characters now that the book has ended.  Still, in some future year a writer might dust these heroes off and give us one more ride of the Demon Knights.

Good run, but glad for the drop in one title from my pull box as the wallet is hurting right now after Trinity War.

BDS

Friday, September 13, 2013

Flashback Fridays: Action Comics #665

Here is an oddity for you this Flashback Friday.  I bought a four pack of comics at a store called Five Below and had some great mixture of books in there when buying for really only one that I knew I wanted.  This book will probably go into the sale box, but it did give a great story of Lois Lane and her strengths as a character.  It also has a great back-up photo album and remembrances by Ma and Pa Kent.

This must have occurred as the romance that would lead up to the wedding was happening.  We have Clark and Lois supposedly on a date to meet the Kents as a way for Clark to realize Lois might be in trouble.  Seems Lois has gotten a break on a story about stolen military equipment and she makes a decision to jump on a moving truck to follow the story.  It means she never shows for the date.  While we see Lois as the cool reporter it highlights some things that are cool about Clark and his alter-ego Superman.

Clark is able as Supes to read a scribble indention about a person Lois was meeting.  As Clark he interrogates the guy and soon learns what the story is about.  We watch Superman use his powers in interesting ways to find Lois.  He is using heat vision to see the after effects of heat residue.  We watch as he is a CSI unit unto himself.  Of course Lois is eventually out-gunned and out-numbered in the hidden base she has been lead to at the end of the truck ride.  Needless to say that Superman shows up and kicks butt, although Lois stealthily takes the bad guy's gun away when Superman provides a diversion.

This is a cool little story.  The back-up pages are sweet and look at Clark's life through scrapbook pictures.  The talk of the pictures they could not have was endearing as they were shown.  

BDS

Thursday, September 12, 2013

If I Had Superpowers..........

I wrote a Google + post not so long ago about sometimes wanting the power of the Spectre to dispense punishment in this chaotic world.  The past few weeks concerning Syria have had me thinking about superheroes in our current world.  It sure looks like the younger Assad has and will be getting away with killing his people in mind boggling numbers.  Many by the use of Chemical and Gaseous weaponry.  There is no one in the world willing the avenge these dead, especially the children that were so brutally killed.  Probably good I have no powers like those I read about.  It would be hard to restrain myself from just killing those responsible in the most painful ways I could imagine.  In reality I just watch as my party bemoans the mistakes of Iraq and goes to the extreme of peace and the Republican Party start their normal isolationists ideas when there is no money to be made.  Russia plays a game with the politics and the rest of the world just watches.  All the while my country has set itself up as the power of all powers in the world and we turn our backs.

Yes, it would be nice to have someone with the power to go in there and strip Syria of all the Chemical weapons and even the conventional.  Every time either side fought around civilians, have a person able to protect those caught in the crossfire.  The question comes on whether you can force peace on anyone.  It just hurts seeing all the bad.

What really stinks is what I saw on the BBC report I watched tonight.  A father in Pakistan threw his One and a half year old daughter into a river to kill her.  He threatened his wife against reporting him, which she did after a week.  He confessed, but it seems the authorities are going to turn away and he will be released.  They are starting to question why the wife didn't report him sooner.  Idiots.  He told her if she had another girl he would kill their first born, the daughter he drowned.  It is part of a standard thing in that part of the world.  Oh how I would torment those men, both the sorry fathers and the officials that are allowing it.  Again, it is good I have no abilities.

All I do have is Hope.  Hope that good people will continue to strive to make this world better.  Hope that world leaders will remember the history that has happened when we ignore this type of atrocity.  Hope that we can be better than the evil seen in this world.  Remember that all it takes for evil to thrive is for good people to stay by and do nothing.

BDS

If you would like to help the children impacted by the violence in Syria please follow the link to WorldVision.  They are an organization I have raised money for with my Church Groups in the past and have one of the best records in the world concerning the use of money raised.  Thanks if you do, you are being a hero. 


Friday, September 6, 2013

Flashback Friday: Fantastic Four #267

Been a hard week coming off of Labor Day and the trip to the Hillsville Flea Market.  I picked up 76 comics and this was one of that lot.  Part of the reason for picking this issue comes from my stupid choice of clicking on a link about the current writers of Batwoman leaving over editorial differences.  The focal point being a possible concern over the topic of marriage between to women in that book.  It got me thinking as I was reading through the pile of comics I bought and I came to FF #267.

I have to think that in 1984 when John Byrne wrote this issue that it was controversial.  It sure blows the term "funny books" away as a way of describing comics.  Whether you like Byrne or not one has to give him props for his run on Fantastic Four.  He did some interesting stuff in his stories and it will always be a memorable run.  I guess I should call SPOILERS before moving on.  This is a very old book, but still it has a an ending that was very emotional and shocking for the time.  I also have placed the last page in this post because of the power of that scene and how it was rendered.

We have a hospital opening with the tops of that day in terms of Radiation Specialists in the Marvel U.  Michael Morbius, the Living Vampire and Blood Specialist, along with Bruce Banner and Walter Langkowski who are the tops in Gamma radiation research and accidental exposure.  They have been asked to oversee the care of a member of the Fantastic Four.  It is a heavy scene and we are going to be given a solo story of Mr. Fantastic very soon.

OK, I rambled enough that any who wish to not know about this issue's secret can be able to leave and not read about it.  It is a pregnant Susan Richards that is facing a difficult birth because of radiation from being trapped in the Negative Zone.  She and the baby are not well and it is a dire circumstance that leads all three of the men consulting to suggest another for Reed to turn to for help.  That man is the criminal Dr. Otto Octavius.  He is another expert in radiation.  So the adventure begins as we watch Reed use his contacts to get Doc Ock released into his custody.  All seems alright at first, but soon the robotic arms and the ever present reminders on billboards of Spider-Man have Ock off his rocker completely. 

The arms escape police custody and seek out the Doc and find him as they attack Reed.  It is a weird battle that is drawn very neatly as the story progresses.  Doc Ock soon is reunited with his arms and then defeated by Reed.  That leads to Mr. Fantastic begging for help as Doc Ock is paranoid and unable to see reason.  It all falls apart.

We are given the shadow of sadness as the tale turns back to the Fantastic Four's family and friends are still at the hospital.  Reed arrives to the news that he is thirty minutes too late.  The baby is gone, miscarriage.

Even today that would cause the Internet to flame up as news spread.  Back then I can only wonder at the letters that Marvel received.  It is a powerful story.  It didn't dumb down anything and I think that is why books like this one stand up to the test of time.  It was not just a tale of "lets kill Sue's baby" but more a look at real life and how even those with power, money, and status cannot stop death when it seeks to take a life.  It is relatable.  As kids grow older they gain the appreciation for the story as a craft that was once just a sad tale of the FF.

It reminds us of what seems lacking in today's comics, especially at Marvel.

BDS