Reggie Blogged

You'll never guess who crashed the party on yesterday's episode of Spectacular Spider-Man. Well if you saw the episode, I guess you would know. Or if you looked at the above picture, you probably know who I mean. Quick history lesson. The Green Goblin made his first appearance way back in Amazing Spider-Man #14, 1964. Much like The Joker in the Batman comics, the Green Goblin has caused Spider-Man a lifetime of misery and grief. The episode "Catalysts" introduces Spidey's greatest foe. I assumed Alan Rachins was going to voice the Green Goblin since he provides the voice of Norman Osborn, the Goblin's alter ego. I also assumed the Goblin sounded Irish from the promo that was on the Kids WB website. Well, I've learned not to assume too much. Steven Blum stepped up to the plate to voice the Goblin and he hit a home run right out of this solar system. Blum makes the Goblin sound like one nasty, sinister little monster, despite his elf-like looks. The way his ...

One of the many trade paper backs I bought in 2007 was Batman: Detective. This trade contained five issues on Paul Dini's run on Detective Comics. For those of you that don't know, Paul Dini has worked on many of my favorite cartoons in the DCAU (DC Animated Universe) like Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League Unlimited. Having this guy write one of DC's biggest icons had to be a no brainer for the company. But I digress. As I read the stories in Batman: Detective I quickly realized that each story began and ended in the same issue. No single issue had anything to do with what came before it or what would follow it. As much as I like continuity, stories that start and finish in one book are quiet a treat. These days many writers are so busy trying to wow us with multi part story arcs. A good solo story has all but become extinct. I suppose that could be the of the primary reasons why I enjoy Marvel Adventures Spider-Man so much, even if children are...

Look, I don't mean to keep beating a dead horse but this isn't going to go away anytime soon and now that Brand New Day has concluded, I figure now would be a good time to say a few more things about it. In my opinion the only thing good that ever really came out of BND was Wells/Bacholo's arc in Amazing Spider-Man #555-557. As stated in a previous blog entry, I enjoyed Spidey's interactions with Wolverine and Dr. Strange in ASM# 555 and Bacholo's artwork was quiet a treat. Peter was written in character and as a result, I actually cared what happened to him in the story. Vern the hobo, a character that came into the story in ASM#556 was the only new character to appear in BND that I liked. He lost his booze helping Spidey save New York from the Mayan threat and at the end of ASM #557, Peter finds him and gives him all the money he has, $20. Now that is the Peter Parker I've come to known. OK so we have three story arcs I didn't like versus one that I did l...

There wasn't anything of particular interest in the way of new comics on Wednesday so I ended up picking up a couple of older comics. Silver age Spidey has some of my favorite stuff. One of my personal favorite stories that I feel doesn't get enough attention is the return of Doc Ock in Amazing Spider-Man #53-56. The last time we'd heard from Otto was in Amazing Spidey #33, which was part of the Master Planner Trilogy. When Doc Ock comes back, he's up to his usual tricks and he even fools aunt May into thinking he's a sweet, mild-aged man (though I guess back in those days, it really didn't take much to fool her). Anyway, one of Spidey's battles with Doc Ock happens in aunt May's house and she's so shocked by the sight of "that awful Spider-Man" that she faints. Ock takes his leave, leaving Spidey a nervous wreck. I never thought Peter would take off his mask in aunt May's presents, but he does so in ASM # 54. She was unconscious at the...

Did you read about the good news ? 2007's The Sensational Spider-Man one-shot annual has been nominated for an Eisner award! How cool is that? This title would have slipped under my radar if not for the review I'd read over at SpiderFan.org about a year ago. For those of you not in the know, this story, told from both Peter and Mary Jane's perspective, describes just how these two crazy kids got together and stayed together, despite the many hardships that is Spider-Man's life. This book is without a doubt one of the best Spider-Man comics I've ever read and does a wonderful job of showing the strength of Peter and MJ's love for each other. I have always been a big fan of Spidey being married. In my eyes, it never took away the core aspect of what Spider-Man was about. There's all this talk that marrying Peter aged him too much and that someone like Peter never should have ended up with a babe like MJ. Kinda hard to believe that these comments have sprung o...

There really hasn't been an episode of Spectacular Spider-Man that I didn't like. Some episodes are stronger than others, but there has yet to be an episode that I've hated. My favorite episode used to be "Market Forces," which introduced us to Shocker. That's right it used to be my favorite episode, but today, it has been surpassed. We had to wait a week for "The Invisible Hand" to air, but it was well worth it. In this episode, Alex O'Hirn gets transformed into the rampaging Rhino and he wants payback for all the times Spidey made him look like a chump when he busted up his robberies. As expected, Rhino is done great justice in this episode. The way he moves, the way he uses his brute strength is just mind-blowing. The Rhino is mostly known for his tough hide (which gave Spidey a lot of trouble in this episode) but one thing I've never seen him do is use his foot to stomp down on the ground and make the earth shake! I thought that was very ...

Manga. Japanese comics that are in black and white and usually follow the stories of teenage protagonists. The plots are usually heavily cliche' but you know what? I still love the stuff. In case you can't tell by looking at the visuals in this entry, some of my favorite manga is of the Shonen variety. In fact, Shonen manga was the first manga I ever picked up. I bought four graphic novels on a Thursday before work five years ago. What were they? Dragon Ball vols. 1-2 and Dragon Ball Z vols. 1-2. I would have bought InuYasha manga that day, but the asking price for the slightly bigger sized editions of those books was $15.99 so I passed I brought Goku and the gang instead. I've been hooked on manga ever since. Some of the most popular manga artists have admitted to being huge fans of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball (in Japan, the manga for second part of the DB series, DBZ is also called Dragon Ball) and you can see the influences in their works. As repetitive as it can ...

OK, OK. So I bought into all the internet hype regarding this comic. Really, it sounded like one of those tales that's just too good to pass up. I suppose having Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s names on the title was also a deciding factor in my decision to buy this comic series. By now I figure everyone on the planet knows the name of the book I'm talking about. Just take a look at the pictures in this blog entry. Still need me to mention the name? I, um, don't remember it. The name escapes me. Rhymes with lass. Alright I lied. Truth is I'm one of those old-fashioned types that prefers not to use curse words. Sue me! This is what I'm talking about. Now all six people who didn't know what I was talking about are up to speed. When I wanted to pick up the first issue of this comic, my shop didn't have any copies left. That sucker was sold out. So I came back a few weeks later and Icon had released a second printing. By that time, issue 2 was already ou...

Someone was kind enough to post a scan of the upcoming villains for the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon. If you've been reading my blog, you probably know that I have been a huge fan of this cartoon since day one. The show just keeps hitting all the right notes and is quickly becoming my favorite Spider-Man cartoon. Now that I know what the next few baddies will look like, what do I think? Green Goblin: I'd actually seen a picture of the Goblin's action figure a few weeks ago and I despite my love for this show, I wasn't all that impressed with it. Seeing the above image of the Goblin didn't really make me sing a different tune at first, but I've recently come to welcome the more modernized design. He looks just as menacing as Spidey's greatest foe should be and I love the red eyes and open mouth on that glider. Alan Rachins has done a magnificent job as Norman Osborn, and I've no doubt he'll voice the Goblin just as well. Rhino: He's never been ...

With all the talk on here about Spider-Man, one might think he's all I read. Yeah, he's my favorite super hero, but I'm no stranger to other great books. Speaking of great books, if you haven't read an issue of All-Star Superman, stop reading this blog and go out and buy the trade paper back of volume 1. Or if all the books stores and comic shops are closed, order that baby online. Issues 7-10 can probably still be found at your comic shop. If I were to describe All-Star Supes, I'd probably describe it as old-school stories mixed with new-school writing. Some of my net friends have told me that this the best Superman comic book out right now. I was skeptical at first as the first two issues in the vol. 1 trade I bought really didn't blow me away, but from issue 3 onward, I was hooked. Grant Morrison delivers a home run every time and Frank Quitely's art is right on the money. I just wish the comic would come out more often. The series began in 2005 and here ...

I'm no stranger to Zeb Wells work on Spider-Man. The man has written one of the funniest Spidey stories I've ever read, Fifteen Minutes of Shame in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #42-42, vol. 2. Even so, I have never been a supporter of Brand New Day and this is largely due to Peter being written as an idiot who doesn't know when to stop with the jokes, and misplaced his common sense. Amazing Spider-Man #555 really surprised me. For the first time in months ASM truly feels like Spider-Man to me. Peter is written in character and there are some funny moments between Spidey, Wolverine and Dr. Strange. The artwork is fantastic, on par with the writing in this issue. As much as I enjoy Steve McNiven's Spider-Man, Chris Bachalo's pencils amazed me. The scenes with the snow covered streets, the battle with the samurai-like dudes, epic stuff. The man draws a fine looking Betty Brant as well. I've never seen her look so hot since, well, ever. I read this issue at my comic sho...