Pads & Panels

C2E2 – The Photo Gallery

Photos by Bill Jones, Matt Peters and Archie Easter

The annual Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo took place once again April 13-15 at McCormick Place in Chicago, bringing with it comic book writers, artists and celebrities who walked the floor and hosted panels, as well as a plethora of costumed attendees and plenty of merch. Bill, Matt and Archie all walked the floor over the course of the weekend. The following gallery shows some of the best images they captured, respectively. (more…)

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Title: The Usual Suspects

Format: Limited Edition Blu-Book

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Spacey, Suzy Amis, Benicio del Toro, Giancarlo Esposito

Studio: MGM, 20th Century Fox

Film Rating:

Blu-Book Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

The Usual Suspects is part of the lexicon for most film buffs at this point, whether for its big twist ending (and how to execute that ending in a way that lends itself to repeat viewings), its ensemble cast, as the film that catapulted the career of director Bryan Singer (X-Men, Valkyrie) and of course for Keyser Soze and the film’s unreliable narrator.

As the years have passed, many critics have had differing opinions on whether the story of five top-tier criminals who maybe not-so-coincidentally wind up in a police lineup together en route to hashing their next major heist is great or terrible. Many love and some hate the twist ending that involves all but one of the crew being murdered aboard a boat in the middle of their mission gone awry. (more…)

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Title: X-Men: First Class

Directed By: Matthew Vaughn

Written by: Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, Bryan Singer

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, January Jones, Kevin Bacon

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Rating:

Review by: Matt Peters

X-Men: First Class is one of those rare films that earn its franchise a second wind. After the poor showing of X3 & Wolverine, it seemed as if the series had run its course. Fortunately, a Bryan Singer-infused script and an inspired Matthew Vaughn decided to try a different approach than what preceded them.

Setting the film in the 1960’s is a good choice. Some mutant powers like Professor X’s mental abilities have more of a “wow” factor in a time before mobile phones were widely available. Also, the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis provides a common, undeniable issue that must be dealt with by the CIA, and in this case, their covert team of superpowered mutants. Little tweaks like this also add credibility to the otherwise unbelievable premise that a trust-fund psychic would a) graduate from Oxford without cheating and b) decide to form a team and use his powers for good. (more…)

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The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Warriors Vols. 1 & 2 DVD

By Bill Jones

Marvel and Walt Disney Studios couldn’t have timed the release of an Avengers animated television show much better than they did with The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Season 1 aired last year, and hits DVD just in time for the release of Thor in theaters. With Captain America coming this summer and The Avengers’ big-screen debut planned for 2012, the animated version offers viewers a nice primer into the world of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The first two volumes of the show comprises 13 episodes over two, individually released discs, each in shiny slipcase covers. The first volume features seven episodes, using the first five to introduce the characters one at a time – Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Ant-Man – followed by the two-part “Breakout” story. The second volume introduces a few more characters over six episodes, and features battles with Klaw, Baron Zemo, The Enchantress and some Gamma-Mutated Monsters, ending with the two part “Gamma World” story.

Both volumes offer a sneak peak at Season 2 of the series, which has yet to air on Disney XD. The first volume also contains the bonus feature, “New Looks, New Heroes,” with the show’s creators taking a look at the evolving characters and storylines of Season 2. The second volume offers a companion featurette in “New Stories, New Threats,” with a look from the same creative team at what makes the Marvel heroes and villains unique.

Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of the volume releases, as opposed to full seasons. I’d rather have one box with several discs than smaller installments. But for what it’s worth, I like the direction of the show thus far. The individual character introductions work well, and the whole thing has the vibe of the X-Men animated cartoon we all grew up loving. The first two discs are a nice introduction to the series, and a great look into the background of The Avengers for noobs looking to get caught up before summer’s other big comic-movie event hits.

For more info, http://disney.go.com/xd/avengers

Pads & Panels received copies of the DVDs courtesy of the studio for review purposes.

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Title: Wolverine and the X-Men: Final Crisis Trilogy

Format: DVD

Written by: Craig Kyle, Greg Johnson, Chris Yost

Starring: Steve Blum, Jim Ward, Nolan North

Studio: Marvel Animation, Lionsgate

DVD Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Lionsgate has strangely offered the first season of Wolverine and the X-Men in segments throughout this year and last, before finally offering a complete set. But the Final Crisis Trilogy – Vol. 6, containing the three-part “Foresight” story – goes to show why it’s not a great idea. One thing Wolverine and the X-Men handles extremely poorly is lead-ins from one episode to the next. The action simply continues to happen, and so to pick up this set after a break from the last is somewhat disconcerting. The plot features the X-Men battling to survive when The Inner Circle captures Jean Grey to harvest her Phoenix powers, while Magneto and Mystique launch a Sentinel attack on Genosha. Emma Frost is ambiguously caught in the middle of things, and Master Mold is using Professor Xavier in an attempt to execute all mutants in a mish-mash of stories taking place in two different time periods. It’s more confusing than fun, though the animation is solid, with audio commentary by Craig Kyle, Greg Johnson and Chris Yost doing more to be silly than offer any real info. The Final Crisis Trilogy is an example of too many cogs turning at once for its own good, and there’s no point in purchasing it out of the context of the rest of the season. (more…)

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Title: X-Men: Psylocke

Publisher: Marvel

Writers: Chris Yost, Chris Claremont

Artists: Harvey Tolibao, Jim Lee

Rating:

Review by: Eric Stuckart

No return of a popular member of the X-Men would be complete without a proper storyline to tell it, and that’s where this book comes into play. After finally coming to her senses after being brainwashed by Madelyne Pryor’s evil mutant super-group, the Sisterhood, Betsy Braddock has a lot of issues to resolve. She goes to Japan to try to make peace with her past and put her former body to rest (long story). This plan gets completely shot to hell, as she is ambushed by the Hand, a group of mystical ninjas, leading her to believe that Matsu’o Tsurayaba – a Hand assassin that she knows all too well from her past – had sent them to kill her. On the way, she encounters a Jinn that Matsu’o crossed, also on a mission to send him to his grave. Chris Yost’s story will have readers guessing all the way until the end as to exactly who was behind everything and what was at stake, which makes for a great, fast-paced tale of revenge and redemption. The book also features an older story, penned by Psylocke creator Chris Claremont and penciled by Jim Lee, detailing one of the older stories when she went astray from the uncanny mutants. (more…)

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Title: Agents of Atlas: Turf Wars

Publisher: Marvel

Writer: Jeff Parker

Pencils: Gabriel Hardman, Carlo Paguyan, Dan Panosian, Paul Rivoche

Rating:

Review by: Aaron Ray

Composed of 1950′s Atlas Comics characters integrated into the current Marvel Universe via (mildly contradictive) retro-continuity, the Agents of Atlas show there is more to being a team than having catch phrases or Wolverine.

Jimmy Woo, a former S.H.E.I.L.D. and FBI agent, has become the leader of the ancient criminal ATLAS organization. Woo’s idea is to turn this organization into a force for good, by masquerading as a criminal. He has help – his secret “inner circle” of Gorilla-Man, Venus, M-11 the human robot, Namora and The Uranian. Armed with a flying saucer (seriously) and the counsel of a talking dragon (seriously!), they traverse the globe looking to right a couple thousand years of wrong. (more…)

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Title: X-Men [TV Series] Volume 5

Format: DVD

Producer: Marvel Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Review by: Thomas Braaksma

There was a simpler time when children’s television screens weren’t a barrage of Hannah Montana, Zac and Cody and numerous other Disney abominations. The simpler times held greats like Batman: The Animated Series, Beast Wars: Transformers and even Power Rangers. Among these, standing tall was a cartoon of one of the greatest superhero teams ever created, the X-Men. Marvel has been releasing this stupendous animated series over five volumes, either as a marketing ploy to make more money, or just a way to spread the 76 episodes out for easier purchase…most likely marketing. (more…)

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#7 – Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3, 360, PC)

Publisher: Warner Bros. – Developer: Rocksteady

Our Review

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I still remember when I first started seeing screens of what was to become Arkham Asylum in magazines and online. The graphics looked phenomenal, but the number of times Batman has fared poorly in the game realm combined with my general distaste for licensed games over original IPs left me incredibly skeptical about it. Sometimes it feels so great to be proven wrong. Not only is Batman: Arkham Asylum one of the best games I played all year – from the brilliant Scarecrow moments to the general ability of Rocksteady to turn Batman’s traits into a game, successfully – but it is so faithful to the property, with a great new story written by Paul Dini, a great use of the villains and a setting that left me in wonder as it changed throughout. I know at some point I’ll regret it, but Arkham Asylum quickly changed my impressions from skepticism to begging for more of this comic property. –Bill (more…)

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Title: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Edition: Blu-ray

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Gavin Hood

Developer: David Benioff and Skip Woods

Producers: Fox, Marvel

Film Rating:

Blu-Ray Features Rating:

Review by: John Gustafson

Blu-ray Features

After what seemed like an eternity awaiting the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine on Blu-ray, the emotionally wrenching and heart-string-pulling drama has finally released! That is what is called sarcasm, yet if someone was to say that to director Gavin Hood, he would take that statement as a compliment and most likely add to it with some gibberish about the underlying duality of Wolverine’s struggle to cage the beast or bay at the moon. (more…)

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