Alan Rapp

X-Men: First Class

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: X-Men: First Class
  • IMDB: link

x-men-first-class-posterAfter jumping ship to make a largely forgettable remake of Richard Donner’s Superman, and leaving the franchise in the hands of Brett Ratner, Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men universe as a producer for a relaunch of the series (of sorts).

The newest film, which in some ways feels like a prequel and in others more of a half-hearted full-relaunch that lets part of the original film series stick around, is a period piece set duing the early 1960’s, specifically set around the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

After a short introduction of a handful of the characters as children (including an expanded version of the early footage of Magneto in a concentration camp we saw in X-Men), the film fast-forwards to 1962, where most of the story unfolds.

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Season Finales – The Mentalist

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Mentalist – Strawberries & Cream Part I & II
  • wiki: link

mentalist-strawberries-and-cream

For three years we’ve seen former psychic and con man Thomas Jane (Simon Baker) help the California Bureau of Investigation solve crimes while hunting down the serial killer responsible for the death of his wife and daughter. The Third Season two-part finale finally brought the pair face-to-face. Caution, spoilers follow.

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The Mission #4

/ / Comics

the-mission-4-coverWhat if someone you never met, walked up to you and demanded you perform unspeakable acts? And the consequences to you and the lives of your family, should yo refuse, would be dire? That’s the basic premise behind The Mission.

The latest issue finds Paul with a much simpler, and he hopes fall less bloody, mission. All he need do is break into the Iroquois County Museum of History and steal a single artifact. Let’s just say things don’t go exactly as planned.

With only two issues to go I have to say I’m a little mystified how Jon and Erich Hoeber plan on wrapping up a series that’s done its best to keep everything close to the vest. We still don’t know who the mysterious man some believe to be the archangel Gabriel truly is, who he really works for, why Paul was chosen for assignments he seems ill-suited for, and who the mysterious “the other side” is as well.

This issue once again gives us an egaging story where Paul finds quickly spiraling far out of his control into a bloody mess. Would we expect anything less from the screenwriters of Red? Worth a look.

[Image, $2.99]

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Deadpool #37

/ / Comics

deadpool-37-coverSporting a serious death wish, Deadpool seeks out to antagonize one of the few creatures in the Marvel Universe who might be able to kill him – The Hulk (the original one, not one of the dozen or so other versions Marvel has running around now).

As an added incentive Deadpool has bought himself some nuclear bombs from the black market in hopes that they’ll help the Hulk decide to give Deadpool the one thing he wants – death.

There’s plenty of action in this issue including some very humorous panels involving Deadpool stuffing grenades down the Hulk’s throat before detonating them. Although the rest of the art is fine, I’m not sold on Bong Dazo‘s take on the Hulk which looks more like a giant green Bane on serious Venom bender than the Hulk.

As an idea, this one works fine for a single issue, although I’m not sure we need to see it continue for another month. Still, there’s fun and plenty of insanity to be had here. And isn’t that what you want from a Deadpool comic?

[Marvel, $2.99]

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Kirby: Genesis #0

/ / Comics

kirby-genesis-0-coverKurt Busiek and Alex Ross, the team that gave us Marvels, reunite to give us a new story featuring the creations of Jack Kirby.

After acquiring the rights of Kirby’s catalog Dynamite Entertainment set out to create a new universe populated from the same mind that gave us countless comic icons such as Captain America, The Fantastic Four, Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, the Silver Surfer, Uatu the Watcher, Doctor Doom, Galactus, Magneto, The Challengers of the Unknown, Darkseid, and many more.

The choice of Busiek and Ross gives the event an epic feel right out of the gate, but also, perhaps unfairly, raises the bar as to how good this series will have to be to be considered a success.

This introductory issue plays much like one of Marvel Comics’ classic What If…? stories. In 1972 Pioneer 10 was launched by NASA to explore Jupiter and the far reaches of the solar system. Included in the probe was a simple plaque about the Earth for any who might come across it. Jack Kirby created his own idea about what should be on the plaque for the Los Angeles Times.

In this story it’s his version that is sent into the outer reaches of known space, and his version which is discovered by a race of beings not dissimilar to the imagination of the artist (given the name Kirby in the comic) who drew them.

Busiek does a great job at setting up the world and giving us a solid narrative around the probe’s journey, which is actually far more interesting than the Kirby creations (at least the early glimpses we get). At on $1 this one’s an easy recommendation, but I’m still more than a little wary of shelling out $4 for the first issue. Worth a look.

[Dynamite, $1.00]

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