Back to the spider

It is hard to deny that the universe of Marvel is very wide and rich in plot twists or surprising events. One of the most interesting ones takes place in a comic book called The Superior Spider-Man which I am going to briefly introduce below.

The Superior Spider-Man is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics, running from January 2013 to June 2014. It was written by Dan Slott, Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos and Giuseppe Camuncoli (that is a lot of guys doing the work - absolutely worth it). The comic book features a reformed Otto Octavius, more commonly known as Doctor Octopus, who has taken over Peter Parker's body and being affected by Peter's memories, Otto is determined to become a better (superior) Spider-Man and actually a good person.

The very first issue of a storyline currently easy to purchase in our country (Ostatnie Życzenie). It includes the events from the last issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, so the reader isn't straight up thrown into the messy world of  new Spider-Man not really knowing what's happening, but the plot is very comprehensible and easily understandable from the beginning so you won't get lost no matter how complicated it seems before starting reading.


As usual, I don't want to spoil anything more than what I've already mentioned but I can assure you that this comic book will not disappoint any Spider-Man fan.

Task for you: What would you do if you'd every find yourself in a similar situation to Peter? Who would you tell that you are not in your own body anymore? Would anyone actually believe you?

See you in the next post!

When the hero grows old...

There is always that one particular character from a certain universe that seems to be the most recognizable. When it comes to The X-Men it is Wolverine for sure. Definitely a very rich figure (in terms of his experiences), with a whole bunch of ups and downs in his life. He has basically been through a lot and as weird as it may seem, when we consider his extended longevity and healing abilities, he's grown old...

Wolverine: Old Man Logan is a storyline containing eight issues from the Wolverine series. It was written by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven and just as a whole X-Men series it was published by Marvel Comics. It started in June 2008 and ran through Wolverine #66-72 officially ended in Wolverine Giant-Size Old Man Logan released in September 2009. It may seem confusing for some of the readers but the plot from this comic book is set in an alternative universe designated as Earth-807128. Marvel (and DC too actually) often does time/alternative reality switches in order to keep the series going and let any reader kind of start from the "beginning". Just to give you the idea what the story is about and not to spoil anything: heroes have been wiped out of existence, supervillains are ruling the world and only a few survivors are still hiding somewhere. One of them is Logan aka Wolverine and we can pleasently read about his encounters with villains and a journey which he starts.

It is absolutely a fantastic comic book with a high quality content, really worth checking out.
Task for you: How old Logan really is? (You're going to need the Internet for that one for sure)

See you in the next post!

Smile!

There are villains of whom most of the people has heard at some point. Either it is Darth Vader or Hannibal Lecter. But there is this one guy whose face (and this smile!) you will never forget once you see it. I present to you....

The Joker. Or as he is sometimes referred to - Mr J. The most recognizable enemy of the Batman and probably one of the most iconic figures in American pop culture. Joker appears in many comic books about Batman, but there is one specific one, which really gives the idea what kind of a mad man he is.

Batman: The Killing Joke was released in 1988 by DC Comics and it is a one-shot graphic novel with the main characters of Batman and the Joker. Written by Alan Moore and ilustrated by Brian Bolland it became an absolute masterpiece and a real artwork among comic books. The Killing Joke gives the reader the thing that all the comic book fans love - origin story. This time it concerns the Joker. It takes place over two timelines: Joker trying to drive Jim Gordon insane and Batman attempting to stop the clown. Not a lot of people realize it until they read this comic book, but the Joker is ironically enough, a tragic character. He is just a very unlucky comedian and what is more. a simple family man. As usual I don't want to spoil any of the fun which you'll deinitely experience reading this comic, but let me just underline that the Joker is far more of a complex personality than it looks. Many critics consider this graphic novel to be one of the best Batman stories ever published. It has won many awards and even got the movie adaptation from 2016, which to be honest was not nearly as good as a comic book. The Joker presented in the novel really gave the shape of other Jokers created in the following comics, games and of course in movies. Christopher Nolan actually claims that The Killing Joke is his favourite comic book and he transfered a lot from it to his Batman's Trilogy.

Just like The Long Halloween, The Killing Joke is an absolute must have in any fan's collection and it is simply a great thing to read. Find out more about the Joker and you won't regret.
Task for you: Try to discover Joker's true identity and to analyze what happened to his sanity.
See you in the next post!

Late Halloween

Even though it has been over a month since Halloween and I probably should be ashamed of myself for not mentioning this comic book earlier, I still will write something about it. So here we are, switching to DC for a few posts but don't worry there is still a lot of Marvel comics to discuss. Previously, I indicated that if you haven't heard about Spider-Man you are defnitely a weirdo, well if you haven't heard about Batman...the answer is even clearer.

Batman: The Long Halloween was released as a 13-issue limited series  written by Jeph Loeb in cooperation with Tim Sale, who did awesome job with the arts. It first came out in 1996 and was obviously published by DC Comics. Originally it stood as a follow-up to Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials (later reprinted under a name of Batman: Haunted Knight). Loeb and Sale made Long Halloween such a success that their shared piece of work resulted in releasing two concurrent sequels: Batman: Dark Victory and Catwoman: When in Rome.

The action takes place during Batman's early crime fighting, although, in my humble opinion, it is Bruce Wayne/Batman at his finest. The atmosphere in Gotham during winter is absolutely astonishing in this one. You can nearly hear and feel everything the characters say and express. Not to spoil you the plot to much, let's just briefly introduce the it, so that you can check if you're interested (of course you are). It is a story about a serial, mysterious killer, who murders people on certain holidays, one in each month. Batman, along with district attorney Harvey Dent and  captain James Gordon, races against the calendar and tries to stop the crime war between two powerful family gangs of Gotham - Maroni and Falcone. However, you will encounter  famous Batman Universe villains, no worries.

Not only will you experience an unusual, mystery climate but the plot itself with the twists will absolutely fascinate and surprise you. This comic book could definitely called an iconic position on any Batman fan's list. It influenced other media too. Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy featured the story of Harvey Dent and DC Universe Animated Original Movies made an interesting full movie adaptation of it.  Video Games also touched the subject a couple of times, Batman: Arkham City, Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight feature certain elements of Long Halloween which works amazing.

You definitely need to checkout this comic book if you want to consider yourself a Batman fan. It is a must have on any geek's bookcase. See you in the next post!

Task for you: So...who's the killer?

Star Wars comic books - are they any good?

A big part of the Star War's expanded universe are comic books. They started for real when Dark Horse comics acquired the rights to the franchise, which lasted until early 2010's with the Disney's takeover. These early comics focused mostly on the events after Return of the Jedi, and actually have never been considered canonic. The same goes for everything from expanded universe, which got crazier and crazier with every year. You see, there were no "restarts" as in DC or Marvel, even though the number of comic books being pumped out was considerable. This led to numerous contradictions and silly ideas, altering the entire franchise by killing off major characters and so on. So, looking at the Dark Horse era, which ones are worth reading?

Dark Empire was an instant hit and perpetuated the Star Wars comic book industry. From then on, many more trailed its way of speculation about what could have happened after the original trilogy. It's important to remember, that prequel trilogy was not out yet and many ideas may seem out of touch now, while some of them are  indeed very wrong, for example assuming that Darth Vader wore his suit before being maimed. Even though, they are a very good read - just consider them as elseworld stories, a kind of "what if?" in an alternative universe. Especially interesting to me were comic books taking place in the ancient era, thousands of years before the events of the movies. How did the Sith came to be, powerful wars impacting entire galaxies can be found. Such a distant timeline gives authors more freedom, because they don't have to worry about trampling all over the established Star Wars canon.

Exar Kun, a powerful Jedi turned Sith

Naga Sadow, an ancient Sith leader

Darth Bane, the creator of The Rule of Two

This creative freedom led to birth of numerous memorable characters that etched their way into the timeless pantheon of Star Wars. It's hard to discern now, which ones were created in comic books first, as the Expanded Universe was being developed simultaneously in many forms. This created an environment full of interesting ideas, interweaving with each other in many situations. 

The best example that comes to my mind is Darth Bane, the most important Sith in the whole Star Wars expanded mythology. His story was mentioned in every Expanded Universe medium, which in turn led to his introduction to the TV series "The Clone Wars", making him a part of the new Disney canon. The same can be seen in the case of Grand Admiral Thrawn, but that I will discuss in the segment about the books of Star Wars. The bottom line is, that when you make something great, it will stand the test of time.

With the Disney takeover, Marvel Comics are in charge of Star Wars comic books. This means bigger budgets and better talent. The new canon direction is also overseed by one creative team to ensure that no inconsistencies occur. I fear that it may mean less frivolous use of the license and we will never see some more wild ideas and ancient eras. Right now, the best new series is definitely Darth Vader, which knocked it out of the park with its first six-issue story simply called "Vader". This in turn led to a crossover event "Vader Down", which did not disappoint.

 

The future is bright for any comic book fan interested in Star Wars. Marvel can definitely make its run worthwhile for all of us. It also means bigger distribution and, in turn, lower prices!

QUESTIONS:

1. When do the current Star Wars comic books take place in the universe? 

2. What is your favourite cover art of a Star Wars comic book? Search the internet for candidates if needed!

In the nerdy web of Peter P.

Let's make it clear right away - if you have not heard about Spider-Man, you either are very busy trying not to be a nerd or you've been living in some kind of a hole in the forest for the bigger part of your life. So for now let's just focus on one of the most famous and recognizable American superheroes ever or to be more specific, on an amazing comic book series about him.

The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously, with a brief interruption in 1995, until its relaunch with a new numbering order in 1999. In 2003 the series reverted to the numbering order of the first volume. The title has occasionally been published biweekly, and was published three times a month from 2008 to 2010. A film named after the comic was released July 3, 2012.

The overall story about Spider-Man concerns the life of Peter Parker, A shy, nerdy and very intelligent student from New York living with his aunt May and his uncle Ben. Peter has never been very popular and didn't look to be really. One day on a trip to a local laboratory, in order to observe some of the genetically modified insects, Peter takes a couple of photos. Unfortunately (or fortunately as some would love to gain powers like Mr. Parker), one of the spiders from the lab bites him in the hand. From now on Peter notices that his body is changing, his hands are very sticky, he feels stronger, more fit and his senses are sharpened. I wouldn't like to spoil anything so if you want to learn more about Spider-Man's adventures, or how Peter became one at all, grab a comic book and start reading. There's a lot of good stuff coming out from Marvel, Spider-Man is a huge part of this universe, no doubt about that.

Task for you: How many Spider-Man's identities has Marvel invented so far?

See you next time *flies away using spider's web*

Special powers everywhere

It is fairly difficult to choose the most iconic and essential issue or a whole series for each brand. However, some of them can definitely be pointed out in our list and it is unlikely that any comic book fan would disagree with these choices.

Starting our list with Marvel publishment it is "Uncanny X-Men" series with its first issue from 1963, originally published as The X-Men. It is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X-Men, a group of mutants with superhuman abilities led and taught by Professor X. The title was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, met with a lukewarm reception, and was eventually cancelled in 1970. Interest was rekindled with 1975's Giant-Size X-Men and the debut of a new, international team. Under the guidance of David Cockrum and Chris Claremont, whose 16-year stint began with August 1975's Uncanny X-Men #94, the series grew in popularity worldwide, eventually spawning a franchise with numerous spin-off "X-books", including New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, X-Force, Generation X, the simply titled X-Men, and a number of prefixed titles such as New X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Essential X-Men, All-New X-Men and Extraordinary X-Men.
In the very first issue of a series (not spoiling anything don't worry) young X-Men try to stop Magneto who has taken over a missile base, making a first day in Professor X's school memorable for the teenagers.

Another equally important and iconic series is without any doubt "Civil War" by Mark Millar and Steven McNiven from 2006 also published by Marvel.

The plot of the series follows a framework story line in which the U.S. government passes a Superhero Registration Act ostensibly designed to have super powered individuals act under official regulation, somewhat akin to law enforcement. However, superheroes opposed to the act, led by Captain America, find themselves in conflict with those supporting the act, led by Iron Man, with Spider-Man caught in the middle; the X-Men take a neutral stance. The superheroes in support of the law, such as Iron Man, Dr. Reed Richards, and Ms. Marvel, become increasingly authoritarian. In the aftermath of the war, Captain America surrenders and is imprisoned. The conflict between freedom and security is an underlying theme in the story line, with real-life events and discussions, such as the U.S. government's increased surveillance of its citizens, serving as a backdrop for the events in Civil War. A sequel, Civil War II, debuted in June 2016.

The series received polarized reviews but was a commercial success. The series is the basis for the Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War, which likewise features Captain America and Iron Man in opposition to each other.

Task for you: Share your favourite comic book in the comments.

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Comic books

We've all as a kid wanted to explore areas beyond our reach and out of our world. Science fiction movies weren't so easily accesable and books...boring to the extreme, from child's perspective of course. That is why we wanted something easy to read and entertaining at the same time. So as any of young readers discovers comic books - his/her life becomes 3 times better.

Even though it all started with a huge variety of subjects and the fields of interests covered in comic books are extremely broad, the most popular genre among the comics is the superhero topic. Originated in 1911 with "John Carter of Mars" Edgar Rice Burroughs, followed by "The Lone Ranger", "Conan the Barbarian" and "The Phantom", obviously with many more between them. However, the growing interest for superheroes was caused by these we know today - Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, X-men and The Avengers.

Let's focus on two main American publishing companies. 

Marvel Comics is the common name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc. Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications and by the early 1950s had generally become known as Atlas Comics. Marvel's modern incarnations dates from 1961, the year that the company launched The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others. Marvel counts among its characters such well-known superheroes as Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the X-men.

DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner. DC Comics is one of the largest, oldest, and most successful companies operating in American comic books and produces material featuring numerous well-known heroic characters, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl and Green Arrow. The fictional DC universe also features teams such as the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, the Suicide Squad, and the Teen Titans, and well-known villains such as Joker, Lex Luthor, Darkseid, Catwoman, Ra's al Ghul, Deathstroke, Professor Zoom, Sinestro, Black Adam and Brainiac. The company has also published non-DC Universe-related material, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta and many titles under their alternative imprint Vertigo. The initials "DC" came from the company's popular series Detective Comics, which featured Batman's debut and subsequently became part of the company's name.