Category: Super Comics

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #31

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

We’re back with even more Sonic goodness, and sadly I have not lived up to the principals of my one true idol.  I have not in fact been “Going Fast” recently as I’m a good month behind on this book, though it is somewhat fitting that I’m taking a somewhat lackadaisical pace at reviewing these issues since the book itself is in something of a lull after completing the Zombot arc.  Yeah, let’s pretend I meant to do it like this.  ANYWAY!  With Sonic in another dimension and peace having been restored to his home, what will our heroes do now that they have some well-earned vacation days on their hands?  Let’s find out!!

Much like the last issue, this is mostly about reestablishing the status quo now that we’ve finally come to the end of the story arc, but where the last issue was a bit overstuffed with new conflicts this one manages to find the right balance between story progression and character building; starting off of course with Sonic who has found himself in the Sol Empire.  It seems that the cool blue dude lost his memory after crashing into the ground at what should have been terminal velocity, and so Blaze has to sit here trying to get him to explain not just who he is but how IMPORTANT he is and why he needs to get his memory back sooner rather than later.  What’s fascinating about this is that despite being told he’s essentially the woodland critter chosen one, he seems cagey and aloof in a way that clearly indicates how little he wants anything to do with whatever it is he’s expected to do now.  It definitely goes with the character as he’s been established as the first few issues of this series were about him trying to avoid responsibility and being free to go wherever he wanted before the return of Eggman eventually made that impossible, and I’m curious just how far this amnesiac version of him will go to refuse a call to action.

“Seriously; Sonic the HEDGEHOG?  What about me looks the LEAST bit like a hedgehog?”
Continue reading “Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #31” →

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #30

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

We’re back with another issue of everyone’s favorite video game AND furry comic!  Sonic certainly covers a lot of bases, and yes I am aware I’m WAY behind here on these issues which hopefully won’t happen again, but considering my track record with these I’m guessing there’s ALREADY some special issue based on a mobile game or whatever that I’ve overlooked and need to catch up on.  ANYWAY!  With the Zombot arc over, does this get things off to a right start, or were the Zombots merely a symptom of some greater problem with the series that won’t be fixed just yet?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins with everyone reeling over the climatic explosion in the sky that sucked away the Zombot virus as well as Sonic the Hedgehog.  This is all part and parcel with being an unflappable hero however, and the only way this could stick is if Sonic had a much more powerful son to take his place.  Knuckles knows what’s up at least, though everyone else is gonna need a bit of time to get on the same page.

“Will you two be quiet!? I’m concentrating here!” … “Any minute now…”
Continue reading “Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #30” →

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – Annual 2020

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

Somehow this book came out like TWO MONTHS AGO and it just completely flew under my radar which probably says something unflattering about me as the release dates for these is something I actually TRY to keep an eye on. In any case, it’s better late than never and frankly it’s a good time to look at it as the first issue of the new story arc has just come out, and perhaps taking one last look back before moving forward will give us a bit of perspective… or more likely just reiterate how eager I was for the book to go in a new direction. In any case, let’s take a look!
First and foremost, this happy looking cover where everyone is celebrating and looking cheerful? LIES!! This is the annual celebrating the year of the Zombots, and like most of the issues we got during that time, this is filled with enough sorrow and hushed contemplation to make The Walking Dead dismissively roll its eyes. That said, at least it doesn’t mercilessly drag things out as each self-contained story in here is rather quick and there’s a decent amount of cleverness to go with the grim atmosphere. The first story is BIG’S BIG ADVENTURE which admittedly doesn’t SOUND like a harsh and dreadful romp, but take one look at that art style and tell me you’re not supposed to feel an icy chill in the pit of your stomach!

“It looks just like the winter of our Discontent!”
Continue reading “Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – Annual 2020” →

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #29

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

STHIDW29-0

Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

I don’t know about you, but this is a day to celebrate because IT’S FINALLY OVER!!  The Zombot arc certainly had its high points early on, but the longer it continued the more repetitive it all felt which was not helped by an ACTUAL pandemic happening that not only delayed the book for a few months but made the overwrought narrative a bit TOO real.  This is it though; no more Zombots for the foreseeable future because the war is coming to an end as our heroes make our last stand!  Will this story end with a bang that makes up for a lot of its missteps, or is this the final hurdle we just need to get over to move on to new and hopefully better things?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins with our heroes in dire straits.  They may have collected MOST of the Chaos Emeralds, but they’re one short and are facing own an endless hoard of Zombots as well as Zavok who’s gone full Kaiju and is spitting atomic breathe at Angel Island.  For a story arc that had no problem taking its sweet time getting anywhere, these last few issues have certainly picked up the pace with this one in particular trying to do about five issues worth of content all in one go to finally bring this arc to a close.  Hey, I’m not complaining considering how much I grew to loath the Zombot arc (would have been MUCH better if they cut the number of issues in half), but that means there’s WAY too much going on for me to give proper context to here so I’ll try to explain.  We’ve essentially got one story going on with Metal Sonic, Regular Sonic, and Silver trying to attack Zavok and get that final crystal while everyone else on the Island gets to have their last-minute hero moment or tragic ending.  Knuckles starts having a fistfight with Zombot Shadow, Whisper confronts Zombot Tangle (though at least this time they don’t give her an over the top reaction), and Eggman acts like the total jerk-bag you see in every zombie movie; down to the humiliating death scene to punish him for his utter hubris!

STHIDW29-1
“NOT THE FROGS!!  MY GRANDMOTHER SAID IT WOULD END LIKE THIS!!”

Continue reading “Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #29” →

Super Comics: James Bond 007 9-10

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

JB007-9-0

James Bond 007 and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Dynamite Entertainment and Ian Fleming Publications

We’re back with two more issues of Goldfinger 2: Nostalgia Never Dies!  After Bond and best buddy John Lee were captured by the sinister Auric Goldfinger, mostly on purpose so that Lee can try and rescue Agent Kim from his diabolical terrorist organization, all three are now being forced to carry out the bidding of ORU to maintain their cover; but how far will they be willing to go to keep Goldfinger from suspecting too much, and will MI6 be able to look the other way if things turn ugly?  It’s certainly an intriguing premise that you’d want from a spy series, but with the book’s strongest points being Bond and Lee working together to fight bad guys, can the book keep things interesting when they’re working together to HELP them?  Let’s find out!!

.

Issue 9 (July 2019)

The issue begins with our three mind-controlled agents (James Bond, (), and ()) along with a VERY evil looking scientist dude arriving at the diamond mine that they’ve been instructed by Goldfinger to blow up.  Their cover is a group of delivery people for some sort of Environmental Remediation group and they agents manage to talk their way past the security guard; earning themselves a little bit of happy juice in the process!

JB007-9-1
“I also think you look good with your head shaved.”     “Why Mr. Bond!  Flattery will get you everywhere!”

Continue reading “Super Comics: James Bond 007 9-10” →

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #28

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

STHIDW28-0

Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

Do you know how long it’s been since the last Sonic comic came out?  It was March twenty-fifth; back in the halcyon days where we thought we could “prepare” for the virus and that we were going to take steps that would ACTUALLY make a difference instead of just delaying the inevitable backlash from the MY FREEDOMS crowd.  Needless to say, it has been a rough three months and having Sonic back is certainly something I’m happy for to distract me from the horrors of the world even if we’re still stuck in the Zombot arc which frankly feels a bit TOO relevant considering the way the world has changed but I’m frankly too exhausted to get mad at it anymore.  At least I HOPE it’s not bad enough for me to get mad at it again!  Is this issue a fun and fulfilling distraction that gets us closer to the end of the arc, or will I be begging them to wrap this nonsense up now more than ever?  Let’s find out!!

Where we last left our heroes, they were in the midst of a massive guerrilla attack on the Deadly Six who have taken the Chaos Emeralds for themselves and are underway in taking over the Zombot blighted world.  Amy and Tails got the emerald held by Zomom which went well enough, but despite Cream and Gemerl getting Zeena’s emerald as well, they were essentially lost in the battle.  This issue covers the rest of the teams getting their emeralds so thankfully they aren’t mercilessly dragging these fights out like I had feared, and for the most part, they’re fun little action set pieces with a variety of tactics and character moments.  First up is Silver and Whisper taking on Zor; the resident Goth of the Deadly Six.  Zor is fast and it’s taking all of Silver’s power just to keep him occupied while Whisper and her Wisp buddies set the trap.  Apparently, Whisper’s gun fires a REFRACTABLE beam of energy, and so the wisps surround Zor holding crystals to essentially encase him a flurry of lasers; one of which hitting the Chaos Emerald and detaches it from him.  Without missing a beat, Silver grabs the emerald and takes them all back through the portal to Angel Island; leaving Zor to his fate that he seems a little TOO pleased about.

STHIDW28-1
“Gosh, why didn’t I just lose in the first place!?  This is WAY better than enslaving the world!”

Continue reading “Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #28” →

Super Comics: James Bond 007 7-8

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

JB007-7-0

James Bond 007 and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Dynamite Entertainment and Ian Fleming Publications

Is the world still crumbling around us?  It sure as heck is, so after a few days (weeks, months, who can even tell anymore?) of watching Simpsons reruns until my eyes bled, it was time for me to get back in the saddle and use some of this time to read even more James Bond comics!  With the mastermind of ORU revealed to be the one and only Aurc Goldfinger and agent John Lee being captured by him, it looks like this story will be going down some very familiar paths!  Will Bond be able to bring an end to ORU and Goldfinger without having to take out his friend Agent Lee, or is this a challenge even the great James Bond is not ready to face?  Let’s find out!!

.

Issue 7 (May 2019)

The issue begins on a rather familiar scene of Bond entering a Casino and flirting with the ladies while a bad guy is doing something under the watchful eyes of stern-faced henchmen.  This however is no ordinary day in the life of Bond as the bad guy in question is Auric Goldfinger and the henchmen are his good buddy John Lee and the captured Agent Kim; both under control by Goldfinger’s nicotine patch looking mind control devices that you’d think the spy agencies would have picked up on as a mark of being an ORU agent!  You’re telling me the FBI can figure out what the heck Juggalos are and classify them as a street gang, but it took James Bond for everyone to figure out what’s up with the giant glowing neck thingies!?  In any case, his orders are to follow Goldfinger and find out what he can about his next target.  Being the leader of the terrorist organization ORU, he’s certainly very dangerous and can’t be up to any good even if he needed to capture and brainwash South Korea’s two top agents.  Now the question is, how much of this is going to be a straight retelling of the movie Goldfinger, and how much is it going to be its own thing? Well, they did go through all the trouble of getting the new Oddjob to be his henchman which indicates the former, and they have a nice moment in this scene that plays out similarly to the opening of Goldfinger.  Mr. Goldfinger is cheating at a game using some sort of communication device and Bond manages to interrupt it to cost him the game; though sadly there’s no giant telescope involved.

JB007-7-1
“Good thing you folded on the last hand too!  All I had was a Joker and a How To Play Poker card!”

Continue reading “Super Comics: James Bond 007 7-8” →

Super Comics: James Bond 007 5-6

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

JB007-5-0

James Bond 007 and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Dynamite Entertainment and Ian Fleming Publications

We’re back with even more of the John Lee Adventures with special appearances by James Bond!  Yes, the chemistry between Bond and Lee has been holding this series up through its somewhat rocky narrative, but with two more issues to look at, perhaps we’ll finally understand what the bad guys are up to and why our heroes should care!  After all, it took A View to a Kill like an hour and a half to get to the part of the movie that ACTUALLY matters, so the least we can do is cut the comic book a bit of slack on its pacing.  Do they finally kick things into high gear or at least give us a solid glimpse as to where this series will be going?  Let’s find out!!

.

Issue 5 (March 2019)

The issue begins with Moneypenny bringing the case with the golden dragon back to MI6 headquarters where she explains that this is a SPECIAL golden dragon with a long history to it.  I checked, and The Golden Dragon of Goreyeo doesn’t seem to be a real thing, but in any case, the thing must be worth a lot of money which is why ORU was son intent on getting it.  Good thing they didn’t get it and it’s now in Britain’s hands along with the Koh-i-Noor Diamond and other priceless artifacts from other cultures!  Unfortunately (or I guess fortunately depending on your point of view), the MI6 scientists open the case to find nothing more than a stack of bricks and shattered dreams.

JB007-5-1
“I swear to Christ; if their master plan is to open a spy-themed high-end restaurant together…”     “I bet they’d call it Live and Let Fry.”     “Or maybe Casino Royale with Cheese.”

Continue reading “Super Comics: James Bond 007 5-6” →

Super Comics: James Bond 007 3-4

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

JB007-3-0

James Bond 007 and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Dynamite Entertainment and Ian Fleming Publications

We’re back with even more of The Spy Who Adapted Me as we continue our journey following James Bond and his best buddy John Lee, AKA the new Oddjob, as they try to out spy each other in pursuit of a Russian man with an exploding luggage case!  So far Mr. Lee has been the main reason to read this book as he is ridiculously well-realized and utterly charming to boot, but Bond himself is no slouch and is always ready to impress when the moment calls for it!  Will these issues continue the fun and exciting adventures of our favorite new bromance, or have we already seen everything they’ve got to offer?  Let’s find out!!

.

Issue 3 (January 2019)

The issue begins with M from MI6 talking with a Mr. Park from Blue House which is basically South Korea’s White House.  It turns out that Mr. Lee, the new Oddjob that was introduced in the first issue, is in fact a South Korean agent and M has scheduled this little meeting so that they can get on the same page so that Bond and Lee don’t end up killing each other and losing Russian Guy in the process.  It’s too bad that M didn’t have the foresight to do this BEFORE Bond was jumping out of an airplane in Australian, but I guess hindsight is 20/20.

JB007-3-1
Dang!  Archer’s gonna be pissed when he sees how good that turtleneck looks on him!

Continue reading “Super Comics: James Bond 007 3-4” →

Super Comics: James Bond 007 1-2

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

JB007-1-0

James Bond 007 and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Dynamite Entertainment and Ian Fleming Publications

In case the fact that I tried to stream ALL the James Bond video games a while back didn’t clue you in (the series is NOT dead; just on hold!), I am a HUGE James Bond fan.  And the thing is, I’m a relatively new fan despite being such a big film nerd as I had only seen the Craig films, Dr. No, and From Russia with Love until I was what, twenty-five?   Sure a lot of them have aged poorly (even the REALLY good ones like The Man with the Golden Gun and Diamonds are Forever are full of cringe), but I’ve always found the character to be endearing and most importantly a character who can grow and change with times he (and hopefully soon “she”) is in.  Now yes, James Bond has dabbled a bit in comic books throughout the years, but they were all adaptations of the Ian Fleming books; even the VERY long running newspaper comic strips which are certainly interesting to look back on, but it wasn’t until Dynamite got the license a few years back that we got some genuine new adventures with James Bond in that format.  So since I, like everyone else, is basically stuck at home for the next few months (and Humble Bundle was so gracious enough to give me most of these books for a mere fifteen bucks!), I’ll be looking at a few of the series they came out with; starting with James Bond 007 which is their most recent run with the character!  Let’s get started!!

.

Issue 1 (November 2018)

The issue begins at an undisclosed location in Singapore where a Russian man with a rolling suitcase is meeting with a group of men for what I can only assume are EVIL reasons, but the meeting is cut short by the deadly chops and crushing kicks of a mysterious man in a bowler hat.  Dude tears through the party like tissue paper, and yet in all the confusion the Russian man manages to escape to the elevator and gets off at the casino floor below where you know who has staked out a spot at the bar!

JB007-1-1
“You ever see Austin Powers?  Okay, imagine that guy who threw a shoe, but he throws a hat!”     …     “NO, WHY WOULD I CARE THAT THE ACTOR IS IN JAIL RIGHT NOW!?”

Continue reading “Super Comics: James Bond 007 1-2” →