The Peoples Comics

Battle Scars # 6

John Berry — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:30:31 +0000

Well the big surprise on who Marcus Johnson was was ruined for me about two weeks before the issue that had that information came out. There was some irresponsible facebooking and somebody just dropped the bomb right in my feed with no spoiler alert or any notice. This did in fact piss me off since this mini series is costing me about eighteen bucks and six months to read. That being said the second I heard who Marcus Johnson was I knew where this comic book was going. I don’t want to spoil it for you as it actually is a good read. Let me just put it to you like this. Marvel Comics has a policy that whatever is in the movies has to look like what is in the comics. This mini series is a vehicle for one such conversion. It is a little silly, however I liked it.

The Semi-Magnificent Cecil the Superpunk #2

John Berry — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:34:09 +0000

The wait is finally over. We have a new issue of The Semi-Magnificent Cecil the Superpunk.

John Berry

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

John Berry — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:45:24 +0000

If there was ever a need for a comic book movie franchise reboot, this is it. the first Ghost Rider movie was just terrible. Nicolas Cage was a total mis-cast, and the whole affair was just unwatchable. No good villain, no good fight and no good scripting. So time passes and the horror that was the first Ghost Rider memory begins to fade. However as I believe it to be the Marvel movie franchises revert back to Marvel if no movies are made in a timely manner. So instead of losing out on the IP a decision is made to make a sequel with another Nick Cage performance. Over the years photos are leaked and the talk is about how this will be a darker more awesome movie than the last one. Eventually a new trailer appears and It does look like an improvement. There is a whole new look to the movie, new costume and new motorcycle. Personally I liked the way Ghost Rider looked more in the last movie. I felt it was truer to the comic book than the latest “tar” coated costume. But hey lets make it “darker” right? Wrong! This movie is not darker. It has all the same stupid comedy that didn’t work in the last movie. The only thing “darker” about this movie is that Nicolas Cage looks half dead. Time has not been kind to old man Nick.

Funny thing is that I haven’t read a Ghost Rider comic since World War Hulk. I was not surprised to see Johnny Blaze back as Ghost Rider. Recently however Ghost Rider showed up in the Venom Circle of Four storyline. Guess what, the new Ghost Rider is a chick. Kind of threw more for a loop. I say Bring back Dan Ketch, he was the coolest of all Ghost Riders.

The Incredible Hulk issue 2

John Berry — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:19:41 +0000

One awesome thing about reading the Hulk over the years is following the changes and transformations that the character goes through. Green Hulk, grey Hulk, smart Hulk, dumb Hulk, king Hulk, and so on and so forth. There have been to many iterations of The Incredible Hulk to even list them all. So for Marvel Comics to find yet another direction to take the Hulk is really rather amazing. Perhaps I should have used incredible instead of amazing, we are talking Hulk not Spider-man here. So the Hulk and Bruce Banner are now separated and living separate lives. This is not a new concept it has happened before. The difference this time is now Bruce Banner is becoming the monster and the Hulk is becoming the man. An interesting twist and quite well written indeed. To top it off the art is awesome. We are only two issues into the fifth volume of The Incredible Hulk and I am hooked. Of course the Hulk is always an easy sale with me. All we need now is more Hulk-sword

The New Avengers issue 18

John Berry — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:12:45 +0000

Norman Osborn is back! And he is assembling a new team of Dark Avengers. This issue doesn’t have a great deal of action. In fact it doesn’t really have any action. What it does have is a good amount of build up. It looks like the team being assembled is capable of giving The New Avengers a run for their money. If Marvel Comics delivers on the promise they are making here then we are in for a ride. Honestly I am more excited about the New Avengers/ New Dark Avengers throw-down than I ever was about that whole Fear Itself thingy. The only thing I don’t buy about this issue is Skaar working with the bad guys. I just don’t see him as the getting involved in events outside of The Savage Land at this point, and if he did I don’t see it with Norman Osborn. That being said I am glad to see the son of Hulk back in circulation.

Ultimate Spider-Man issue 4

John Berry — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:35:59 +0000

After four issues the all new Ultimate Spider-Man has finally piqued my interest. With this fourth issue The Trials of Miles Morales finally seem to catch up with the current Ultimate Universe. Essentially this latest issue runs parallel with the Ultimate Fallout mini-series. This includes some rehash of scenes we have already seen. It is handled well however as we see the events from the perspective of Miles Morales. Finally our newest Spider-Man begins to interact with characters from the original Ultimate Spider-Man series. Including a cliff-hanger ending that involves a certain female clone of one Peter Parker. Now I don’t always agree with where Marvel Comics takes its characters, and it is no secret that I was against the killing of Peter Parker. I haven’t changed my mind on this. I really enjoyed that series more than any other Spider-Man series and I would have liked to have seen it go on for ever. But that is no longer an option. If the Bring Ultimate Peter Parker back it will be lame. So this is what we have. This is the reality of the Ultimate Universe. After issue four I am feeling just a little bit better about it. In fact this is the first issue that I find myself anticipating the next issue.

The Ultimates issue 3

John Berry — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:01:30 +0000

I don’t know what to say. This comic book is awesome. I wish there was some way for Marvel Comics to produce a graphic novel of The Ultimates every week. There would be no reason for me to buy any other comic books. Of course that is not an option, however it sure would be awesome. I love the art, the action and the intrigue. I a m dieing for next month’s installment. The only flaw I see

Fear Itself 7

John Berry — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:18:27 +0000

Well the conclusion to Fear itself is finally upon us. Marvel Comics has been hyping Fear Itself issue 7 as having one of the biggest baddest super hero brawls in comic book history. That is quite a bold claim and it is very difficult to back up. We have seen some pretty awesome battles over the years and unfortunately I do not think this issue is one of the best. But hey don’t feel to bad Marvel, you got my five bucks. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the hell out of it, and there is an epic nerd-gasm moment that will be talked about throughout the entirety of comic book history. At least that is my opinion. I am not going to reveal the particulars of that moment as that would be a spoiler and I dont want to take away from anyone’s enjoyment.

It is definitely worth the read, but it does not deliver on the promises we were made. How many issues did they tease us with Tony Stark and the dwarves making magic uru weapons? Well we finally get to see them in action, for a few pages and then back into the pits of Svartalfheim. I mean you barely even get to see Iron Man in his Destroyer armor. What a waste. They should have let loose with the magic weapons a couple of issues back or let the heroes keep them or something. I just don’t feel fulfilled. Actually to be perfectly honest I don’t think the weapons were as cool as the could have been. Iron Fist had a cool kusari-hammer that was super cool, Dr. Strange had a cool new staff, and of course Iron Man’s Destroyer armor was sic. The finale just didn’t live up to the hype

Demon Knights #2

John Berry — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:25:08 +0000

Let’s fire up the way-back machine. It was at some point in the eighties and I saw a cool looking four issue mini-series called The Demon all neatly bundled and at a discount. So I decided to pick it up. It featured a yellow Demon Named Etrigan that I had never heard of. Well I never finished the first comic in the series. I found it to be so boring and wordy that I just couldn’t be bothered to finish it. Well first impressions are lasting impressions. So over the years I have seen Etrigan in titles and I have always had that bad taste in my mouth from that first impression.

So here we are 2011 and I am looking at a list of the new 52 that is about to come out. On the list of course is Demon Knights which appears to be an ensemble title featuring Etrigan and a bunch of DC Comics other fantasy themed characters. None of which I know a single thing about. Well needless to say it doesnt make it onto the list of titles that I intend to give a shot.Â However I saw it in the store the week it came out and briefly thought about picking it up. I didnt however in the back of that weeks DC Comics it got one of the two spotlight pages and I gotta say it was slightly intruiging.Â So the next week when I went to the local comic book shop they still had copies and I went ahead and picked it up. I was not disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It pretty much plays out like a high level D&D adventure. You get all these diverse archetypes meeting in a tavern. There is some good-natured jocularity and ribbing and then all hell breaks loose and the heroes team up to defeat the evilness. I have to say that this title is definitely one of my favorite of the new 52. Etrigan is not the boring old stuffy talking high folluting demon I remember from the series in the eighties that I could never finish. Issue 2 has some dragons and a lot of action. I am absolutly looking forward to issue 3.

Ultimate X-Men #2

John Berry — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:30:05 +0000

Two Ultimate Universe comic books this week. How awesome is that? Ultimate X-Men issue two came out and delivered. This comic has the action that a fanboy like myself requires. The art is also well done. Definitely worth picking up. The title is called Ultimate X-Men, however there currently is no team called the X-Men in the Ultimate Universe. This title focuses on the spread out remnants of the Ultimate X-Men. I was kind of hoping we would see more of the team put together by Jean Grey in the Ultimate X mini-series, I am always down for more Hulk. I guess that team however is going to be busy backing up Hawkeye over in his mini-series. At this point the core of the team is a leftover grouping from the Ultimate Spider-Man comic. Kitty Pride, Bobby Drake and Johnny Storm jump in and help Rogue against some Nimrod Sentinels. Who knows what team is going to take over as the Ultimate X-men, I just hope it has the Hulk in it.