Iron Man 2 - Movie Review

The summer movie season has begun and what better way to kick off the season than with Iron Man 2. As with most sequels there are either two ways that they can go: completely fail or succeed their predecessor. Iron man 2 doesn't surpass Iron Man, but it doesn't fail either. The movie continues with character development, introduces new characters and reminds us why Robert Downey Jr. is perfect for this role.

The movie starts off continuing from the end of Iron Man with Tony Stark revealing that he is Iron Man. As this scene plays off on a television in Russia we see Anton Vanko calling for his son Ivan, Mickey Rourke, and tells him that he should have been the one on the television. We are then shown Ivan with a blueprint for the Arc Reactor with both the names of Anton Vanko and Tony's father, Howard Stark. As he starts planning his revenge and making his own reactor the movie flashes forward to six months later.

Video Game Time 5/4 Edition

Last week I talked to you about how I was still playing God of War III and was having trouble beating Zeus. This week, same story. I've had only a few times to play because I am just caught up with Super Street Fighter IV on the PS3. Now I haven't played online yet, because I'm getting my moves right, but this game really brings me back to playing it at the arcades back in the day. Read on about some new games announced recently and our first ever contest for Modnation Racers beta codes.

Now on to this weeks game news. If you have finished God of War III, unlike me, you will know that you are taken to the website SpartansStandTall.com which showed a mysterious figure standing in the rain with what looked like a countdown in the upper right-hand corner. Many people believed this to be a teaser for the next game and it turns out they were correct. Coming later this year God of War: Ghost of Sparta will be released for the PSP. I think it's time I invested in getting one of those.

Read this before you buy your children's medicine.

This was released last Friday, but I think that more people need to know about this.

Consumer Reports on Safety: Recall: All lots of children's liquid Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Zyrtec

Although it seems like there is no immediate danger, parents need to be careful when buying medication for their children. According to the article "some of the products included in the recall may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than specified; others contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements; and others may contain tiny particles." Please pass this around and spread the word to any parents who might be looking for these brands to take care of their sick children.

-Victor

Marvel's Always Trying to Keep a Brother Down

The Punisher is and pretty much has always been my favorite comic book character. I've never been a fan of the "leaders" or the really super powered heroes. I mean what's the point? Is it really bravery or heroic if you're bulletproof, can fly, blow stuff up, throw cars into the air, and shoot lasers out of your eyes? I don't know, I've always been more into the more "realistic" heroes. Batman, Punisher, Spider-man, I know, I know he's got powers but he also has a lot of real world problems and shit just never seems to go his way.

I also know the Punisher's more of an anti-hero, and in some stories and according to some heroes, he's a straight up villain. I just think his reasons, his motivation, is second to none. His methods can't be argued against, well the results can't be argued against, I mean why lock up the Rhino for the 100th time, you know he's just going to get out again. But I digress...I'm here to tell you all about the greatest, and by greatest I mean worst, issue of The Punisher ever. Maybe.

I know Marvel and DC, hell comics in general love messing with characters. Retcon-ing storylines, killing characters and bringing them back to life, but has anyone been f'ed with as much as poor Francis Castiglione. First off, they throw him into Vietnam, then after going through that, he comes home only to see his family murdered in front of his eyes. Okay, so we needed that for him to become the Punisher, fine. He kicks ass for a while and then they kill him off. Or he kills himself off if I remember correctly. He comes back as a weirdo angel and that doesn't last long. He's back to being himself for a while again. Now in the last year he gets sliced and diced by Wolverine's son only to be brought back to life as a friggin' Frankenstein...err...Frankencastle monster. (That storyline is actually pretty good)

Anyway, in the middle of all that, this might be the worst thing that they've done to the Punisher.

 No, it's not that they made him black you jerks, it's that they put him in this story. I mean, the whole pigment thing is pretty stupid but whatever. If I remember correctly a few issues later it kind of just wears off or something. Oh before this he was cut up by his buddy Jigsaw and somehow a junkie in a first aid station fixed him up, but let's just move on...

Before this particular issue Frank had been blackmailed by the Kingpin, thrown in jail, and cut up by Jigsaw. He escaped, but went on the run, Microchip hooked him with some ex-junkie/hooker/plastic surgeon who fixes Frank up. However, the Kingpin is still after Frank so he decides to head to...as he puts it...to "Chi-town."

Ugh.

Really Marvel? Okay maybe he would have called it Chi-town even if he was still white or an angel or whatever. Moving on...

So Frank drives about nineteen hours straight to get to Chicago. The hooker/junkie/doctor gave him some speed if he needed it, but do you think that the Punisher is going to use trucker's speed, hell no, he's too hardcore for that. However, he's not hardcore enough to keep from dozing off and getting pulled over by...Alabama's finest?

Now remember, this is supposed to be Chicago. Granted this takes place about twenty years ago, but it's still Chicago. In 1991.

 
Although 1991 was the year Rodney King got beat down, hmm...maybe the writers were trying to make some kind of point?

I think my scanner is also trying to make a point, the most racist parts got edited out, but basically the cop pulls Frank over for swerving and asks him for his ID. Frank doesn't have any so he just keeps quiet, at this point the cops says, and I am not joking:

What's the matter, boy? Cat got your tongue?

Maybe the coon's got his tongue!

Answer me when I'm talkin' at you son!

You know the Punisher isn't going to take that crap from anyone. He gets into a melee that he's not going to win, but as luck would have it Power Man, Luke Cage...er...I mean Cage shows up and saves the day.

They get the hell out and head to the South Side. Frank passes out for a while, I guess major plastic surgery, driving for nineteen hours, and getting beat down by cops can do that to you. He wakes up, tells Cage that he recognizes him, and then makes him an offer he can't refuse.

Cash money? Umm...is it me? Maybe it's me, I don't know, maybe I'm reading these lines with some sort of bias or prejudice, but I don't know. There are a few more in this issue, Frank starts out every other sentence with man. Man, I just want to keep them away from the gangs. Man, this used to be a fine hotel. Or maybe Frank is just trying to act or talk the way he thinks he needs to or perceives...hmm...I don't know. Anyway, moving on...

The deal is, Frank knows about a stash at some hotel. Full of guns and money. Cage gets the "cash money" and Frank gets the hardware. Cage reluctantly agrees, they battle some El Rukens or El Rubens, depending on who you ask or what page you're on, and they make it to Frank's stash. Problem is that the money is long gone, but the guns are still there. Cage got played and he's not too happy about it. However, he needs some backup cleaning up the 'hood and I guess the A-Team is too busy or whatever so he makes another deal with Castle.

Let's rock. I don't know what else to say, oh notice how there's like duct tape all over where his skull usually is. I'm speechless. I know that I bought this comic when it originally came out so I must have the next issue somewhere. The only reason I read it this week is because it was one of the free comics my dealer gave out on Saturday. Well, I think I've wasted enough of your time but I'll leave you with another doozy from this issue.

-Gil

Black Wii Confirmed!

After a purported leak last week and Nintendo not commenting on rumors, it has been confirmed today that a black Wii is set to release in North America on May 9.The new Wii console comes with, Wii Remote, Nunchuk, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and the Wii MotionPlus accessory. The bundle will be available in black or white for $199.
Being that I own a PS3 and an Xbox Elite, I think the black Wii will look great with my current set up and finally remove the eye sore that is the white Wii. Now the only other question that Nintendo has to answer is: Are they ever going to make a HD Wii? Maybe this is something that they are waiting to announce for E3 or maybe this will never happen.

C2E2 with my Little Girl.

With yesterday being Free Comic Book Day, it got me thinking about my experience this year at C2E2 with my little girl. Every year I usually go to Wizard World all weekend and geek out with my fellow comic book enthusiast. I plan my days, make list of what I want to buy and just enjoy walking around and seeing the many sights that the con has to offer. Most of the times I go alone because plans with my friends fall through, but for the past few years I have taken my nephews and wife on Sunday, which is normally kids day.

With this year being the first year of C2E2, it was also the first year that I had a group of friends going and I also had someone else coming with me, my daughter. Now my daughter is only eight months old, but I though it would be fun to enjoy this day with her. After dropping my wife off at work, I got home made sure everything was packed and waited for my friend Gabriel to pick us up. I was kind of nervous and excited to attend the con, but I guess I was nervous about how my little girl was going to act to all the people in costume.

When we got there, we met up with fellow Fandad Gil and walked around for a bit on the show floor. The great thing about being there was that I saw so many other strollers being pushed around and as we passed each other by we would just smile and nod. Being at the con was now a completely new experience, because I was sharing my love for comics with my daughter and seeing other dads doing the same thing with their children. I saw many parents and their kids dressed up in costumes. I saw fathers explaining to their kids who the costumed characters were. At one point I saw a father and son going through back issues and getting excited about their findings. This was definitely a brand new world for me.

Some of the cool things about having my daughter with me was: her stroller was like Moses sometimes and people would part like the Red Sea when we walked by. The cart gave us extra storage, so it made it easier for us to carry our findings. (I strongly recommend getting the Mommy Hook for your stroller, because it really comes in handy) Lastly, having my daughter in the stroller really saved my back from carrying her around all day. Don't get me wrong, I love holding my daughter, but after a while the weight starts putting a strain on you and you have to put her down.

For most of the time we were there my girl was just chilling in the stroller looking around, smiling at the people, waving at others or just napping. We were having a pretty great time, but then it happened. The one thing I worried about was: How was my daughter going to react coming face to face with a costumed character? Walking around a corner we saw a character standing there that made my little girl lose it. Who was this character? Why it was none other than Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba her favorite show. As soon as she saw Brobee she started shaking with excitement. She was petting him, smiling and just giggling to see him in person. This whole meeting could have gone one of two ways: her freaking out and crying or the way it did go down, with smiles and laughs. It was the best thing I saw all day and I'm glad I had someone there to take pictures of the entire meeting. Her smile was contagious, even I got excited to see Brobee standing there. After our time with him and the pictures we took, my little girl was still looking in his direction as we walked away. I called my wife and told her about the meeting, the baby's reaction and she wished she could have been there to see it.

This year being the first of C2E2 and taking my daughter with me made it a really memorable experience. I feel that she enjoyed seeing the different people, meeting Brobee in person and I enjoyed sharing this world with her. I did return on Sunday with my wife, unfortunately Brobee was not around that day, so we just enjoyed the day walking around and seeing the showroom floor. With Wizard World a few months away I'm interested in seeing how that goes, but I know for a fact that next year when C2E2 comes around it will definitely be on our calendar of things to do.

-Victor

Holy Mjölnir!! It's Thor!!

Either it's perfect timing, coincidence or brilliant marketing, but the first picture of Marvel's newest movie, Thor, has been released a week before Iron Man 2 comes out in theaters. This is great for Marvel because it already starts planting the seeds to the uninitiated fans that do not know anything about the Asgard warrior. By releasing the picture now, fans can start brushing up on their knowledge and become acquainted with the story of Thor.

The photo release might also have something to do with the rumored secret scene at the end credits of Iron Man 2. Is this picture from that scene? All I have to say is that judging from the picture Chris Hemsworth looks ready to do battle with Loki and all who oppose him.Thor is set to release in theatres on May 6, 2011.