Agents of SHIELD: SOS

Agents of SHIELD ends its second season with a two hour special. They clear the decks for next season pretty thoroughly. I’ve commented about Avengers: Age of Ultron being a clash of idealism, Tony Stark’s and Steve Rogers’. There’s a lesser version of that here, with Gonzales’ mistrust of supers running smack into Jai’s paranoia about SHIELD. A lot of what happens here comes from echoes or ripples from those two opposing mindsets. Too bad more of them weren’t listening to Coulson.

Comic Book Classics Revisited: The Avengers (vol. 3) #22

Welcome to Comic Book Classics Revisited, and our final chapter of my Ultron Handbook – The Avengers (1998) #22. Up to this point, the murderous Ultron has slaughtered and entire European country, kidnapped five Avengers (and the villainous Grim Reaper), and replicated himself a whole bunch of times. Simply based upon the cover, if you’re able to tear your eyes off of Scarlet Witch’s midriff, things don’t look so good. But the Avengers never give up and I’m willing to bet Ultron has another thing coming if he thinks he’s got this in the bag.

Moon Knight #14

This is another one-shot story, which is a nice change of pace and a dying art in modern comics. This one has Khonshu, Spector’s patron/deity, repaying a favor to another god. For such a divine case, the beginnings are mundane enough. Detective Flint, one of Moon Knight’s few allies in the police force, secretly asks for his help with a very strange case. Rich people are being mauled to death by packs of dogs. That’s strange enough in the modern world, but even weirder in New York City.

Princess Leia #3

Princess Leia is continuing her mission to get to the survivors of Alderaan before the Empire does. Unfortunately, word has gotten out that they’re being hunted, so paranoia and suspicion are growing rampant.

Daredevil Episode 5: “World On Fire”

Things take some ugly turns in “World on Fire,” the fifth episode of Netflix’ Daredevil series. It opens in the aftermath of Claire’s beating. She checks her bruises and wounds, and cleans herself up as best she can. She and Matt end up talking about his powers, how they work, how he sees the world with his gifts. His sort of almost vision is shown, and it really does kind of look like the title, “A World on Fire.” Claire makes a joke that, if that’s all she saw, she might want to punch things, too. They also talk about the strangeness of lawyer by day, vigilante by night. Claire makes a joke about not getting the “rich, playboy” type of hero she has heard about, which could be reference to Iron Man, a subtle joke about DC’s Batman, or just a general funny line. She passes along the name “Vladimir” that she heard while she was a prisoner.

Comic Book Classics Revisited: The Avengers (vol. 3) #21

Oh my are we really getting into some comic book, superhero goodness with today’s Comic Book Classics Revisited! What better way to enter into the last two comics in my Ultron Handbook than to have a reminder of how exciting these stories used to be? As The Avengers (1998) #21 starts, we are getting a recap of Ultron’s brutal invasion and decimation of Baltic nation Slorenia. The United Nations forces taking part in “Operation Metalstorm” are experiencing heavy resistance from the cybernetic/zombified former citizens of Slorenia. Just when the U.N. forces are sure they are about to be utterly wiped out…

Agents of SHIELD: The Dirty Half-Dozen

Agents of SHIELD has a very action packed episode with “The Dirty Half Dozen.” It starts with Raina getting more of her visions, none of which look really good. She wakes up find Jai watching her sleep, which is kinda creepy, really. They argue some about Raina’s powers, and how they will be used. Then Jai and Cal have an argument that turns into more of a discussion. It does appear that Cal is making some progress towards controlling himself. Gordon teleports back with bad news about Lincoln.

Comic Book Classics Revisited: The Avengers (vol. 3) #20

Ultron has returned and so has Comic Book Classics Revisited! Today, the Ultron Handbook will continue our last story arc as we feature The Avengers (1998) #20. In part one, Ultron got busy kidnapping some key people (including the Grim Reaper and Hank Pym) and then decided to level the small Baltic country of Slorenia. Now, the Avengers must fight back to finally put an end to this robotic monster!

Avengers: Age Of Ultron movie review

I have just returned from Avengers: Age of Ultron, or more accurately, an Avengers Double Feature special event. It was amazing! I can’t recommend it highly enough. This is a fantastic successor to the Marvel movies that came before it.

Looking Ahead to Netflix Defender Series

With the launch of Daredevil, Netflix is moving in to a corner of the Marvel Universe. The series has gotten great reviews, and within two weeks of the thirteen episode season one being released, they’ve announced plans for season two. I have to admit I’m excited by this, as I’m loving the first season and the ties to the larger Marvel Universe. Daredevil has a 97% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which if nothing else is generally a good sign.