New York Comic Con 2012

So finally, the biggest event of the year for me arrived, and I must say, I am disappoint. Not that I didn't have fun, but it's all that went down in between the fun. First off, it was actually a hassle, just to get tickets for the convention itself. These ticket prices are too damn high! My first time going to NYCC was back in 2010, and three day tickets were just a measly 50 bucks. Shouldn't be too hard to save up that much. The year right after, the price spikes up to $65. Of course you may thing, well what's an extra fiteen bucks? Everything! That extra $15 should be going to metrocards to you can actually get to the blasted place. New York's not cheap to travel around in you know.

Luckily though, I won a raffle and got a free three day pass. After three tries mind you. I would've  tried going for press passes, but that was another hassle in itself. You had to sign up for an account on their website and give all your info, only for them to send you some form you had to print and give in the SAME EXACT INFORMATION!!! They apparently don't even like independent producers like me, cause they ask for an assignment letter from your boss. Who the heck am I gonna get a letter from? Eric Schmidt!? So I said screw it, and decided to look into other methods. So all that's out of the way, now it's just time to prepare for the day of.

She-Hulk v.s. Wonder Woman

Power of the gods, versus the power of gamma radiation. Which would win?

Avengers by Egoraptor

I always said he needed to be careful when summoning that thing...

EVO 2012

So this was my first time actually ever streaming EVO. Never knew much about it before, except the infamous Daigo vs Justin Wong match from way back. This time, I was finally able to follow up on it, due to constant reminders by some of my favorite youtubers, namely the announcement of fighterpedia's Woolie being pitted against Daigo in round one. (He lost of course.)

I must say, it was quite enjoyable, from what I did catch (Bad internet is bad!) I didn't exactly know who to route for, considering practically all of these guys were new to me. I wanted to root for Justin Wong, considering he did make it his start here in NYC, but I couldn't say the other performers didn't do well themselves. He didn't win any of the tournaments though, but still did great.

Something sparked while watching the King of Fighters matches though, and I found myself getting really excited watching. I really wanted to root and cheer, but figured there wasn't much point since I was merely watching from a computer screen, plus I didn't want to draw attention from my family. (Not that they really give it much though...) It was just so exciting, seeing all those combos performed, and with such amazing precision. Finally I realized what went on through peoples heads whenever they watched a sports game. They really aren't all crazy. Though that's still up to debate. Honestly. I went to some wrestling a little while back with a friend, ( i was dragged) and I had to say, it really was not worth it. The show was pretty decent and all, but it was so not worth standing out in the hot sun for two hours, listening to the fans bicker on and on about nothing.

I think events like this should actually be considered a sport, really. I mean, there were teams, like Cafe ID, a group of Korean KOF players, and the Street Fighter X Tekken matches were all team-based. There was some great sportsmanship going on, unlike what I've seen and heard about of other "official" sports leagues, and its already got its audience, so why not? You can't say these people aren't athletes eithes either. Movements like those take immense skill, and the brain's the best muscle we've got, so come on! Anyone with me?

Overall, it was a great experience. Like I said King of Fighters was my favorite match. Unfortunately, Super Street Fighter 4, and Street Fighter X Tekken, despite being my favorites to play, didn't do much for me. The matches were okay, but just didn't have that great a level of excitement. Mortal Kombat was okay, Marvel vs Cap was okay, and surprisingly Virtua Fighter 5 was pretty good. I was never into the series before, not having a console to play it on, seeing those matches really makes me want to get into the series. I wish they had Skullgirls though, and I can't wait to see Injustice, and Tekken Tag 2 next year. What did you guys think?

The Avengers Movie Review

So the other day, a buddy texts me, asking if I wanted to go with him him to see the Avengers. Now, I'm not really much of movie buff anymore anymore, actually having not even gone since like what? 08, 09? I dunno, it's just not my thing anymore, specially considering some of the terrible things that have making it on screen, specially when it comes to adaptions, *ahem* Green Lantern *cough* but I reluctantly said alright, and everything was set. Boy do I regret not planning to go sooner.

No, tickets weren't sold out or anything. It was just that damn good. Honestly, it was not at all what I suspected. Yeah, I saw all the lead up movies on DVD, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America, Thor probably being my personal favorite, and I enjoyed them all, but I never really regretted not going out to see a theatrical release, but this. This was sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, not even noticing the two and a half hour clock in time.

The thing didn't even betray it's comic book counter part at all, except of course, the replacement of Giant Man and Wasp, with Hawkeye and Black Widow, but it was fine, although Hawkeye could've really used a whole lot more screen time. I'm not really of him in the comics, Ultimate or 616, but they could've really portrayed the reasons as to why I felt that way, but oh well. The reasoning behind that loss did benefit the story. Oh yeah, about that story...

Well, I don't want to spoil a thing, but basically it all just starts up where Thor left off, Loki being up to his old tricks, which of course, how can you have an Avengers Mythos start off any other way? Ultron, or Aliens? Nah. It's gotta be Loki. Cap is trying to adjust to the grand new reality he's found himself in, while Stark is just being Stark. Thor doesn't come in til later, looking for his brother, while Hawkeye and Widow are just doing their jobs. If you saw Thor and Iron Man 2, there's nothing new there, and Fury was Sam Jackson. Nuff Said.

What, and who is new however was the new Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo . I wasn't really too sure how to take in the new guy really. He was nothing at all like the past two, being more soft-spoken, and confident, thought it worked, considering how at that point, he really would've been in more control of his counterpart, who admittedly, I was rather too excited to see. Took a while for him to finally change, the first time not under the prettiest conditions.

The action was truly on point. Every time Cap swung his shield, I felt it. Thors struck his hammer, boom. You get the idea. The Effects were amazing, rivaling that of Transformers. (Yes, they at least deserve that kind of credit.) Sometimes I literally had to remind myself that "no Iron Man's not really flying through the city like that, it's just CGI". The comedy was perfect. Very subtle, and never forced. Stark makes a funny, you laugh, and it's back to the action.

A little quip I did have with the thing though was the constant bickering, though that's kind inevitable when you put so many powerful men in one room. It was actually a pretty nice set up one time to show off Cap's leadership capabilities, which I loved most about his portrayal. I was also very worried about the lack of the Stan Lee cameo around the first act. Trust me, when you see it, you'd have completely forgotten about it.

Overall, this was an awesome movie. Nothing intense and graphic. No yucky stuff going on on top of someones car, or in a broom closet or something. Just straight fun. Bring your friends, bring your family, anyone. At the end of the day, it will be a great experience.

Avenger VS X-Men #1

So with another year, comes another Marvel event. This time, it's The Avengers Vs The X-men. This one actually gets started due to the incidents of a previous event "House of M." Since that time, the mutant race has severely declined, after the Scarlet Witch wiped away the powers of most mutants on the planet. Mind you, it was their powers that were lost, not their lives. Their POWERS! That's gonna come up as a huge point later on.

For a while now, we've been following the development of the young mutant Hope. She's literally the only mutant who's been born since Hous of M. It's believed that she is literally the last "Hope" for mutankind, and was adopted and raised in the future by Cable. Of course things went screwy, and is back in the present as a teenager, under the care of the X-Men.

The Phoenix Force, which has plagued the X-Men many times, ultimately forcing its host Jean Grey to kill herself, has been seen manifesting within her, and has the team worried. Finally, a huge force of it slips out, and this is where the tension finally begins. The team has no idea what to do about this, but Scott somehow convinces himself that this can be an opportunity for mutant-kind, since the Phoenix not only means death, but also rebirth, and we all know what he wants most.

Up in New York, a fireball is seen falling out of the sky, and hits a plane. The Avengers manage to the aircraft, and upon investigation of the fireball, discovers a severely injured Nova. We then cut to the team discussing the incident with the president, revealing that they found energies similar to the Phoenix force radiating off of Nova's body. Clearly it's heading towards us, and is looking for a host. Just then they get a huge signature of the same energy, coming from Utopia, as Hope has just awakened some of the energy that was withing her. So wait, there's two? Ah whatever.

The team consults Wolverine about what might have happened, and he reveals that it was definitely Hope, but he knows that of course, Scott being Scott, definitely will not hand her over to them. They arrive on the island, explaining the situation to Cyclops, but he proves Wolverine right, and refuses, arguing they need her, and an take care of the situation themselves. Captain America does not take this well, refuses to leave without her. They both call war, and here our even begins.

Can't say I actually appreciate this book. Everything that went was predictable since it was announced way back. I'm tired of stories that are only started over some misunderstanding. So of course I'm not a fan of Cyclops, due to his constant irrational behavior. One would think he'd have learned from the events of Schism, but of course "Character development? What's that? Derp." All these years dude? Really?

And now back to my point about the fact that the mutants only lost their powers and not their lives. Seriously. Why does it matter? First off, there are so many of them who've benefited from this, since many of them didn't even want their powers and can appreciate the effect, and also others who've bodies were very unstable, and could not even live a normal life. Also, they're all still alive! Literally there's been no harm done to anyone in this case. The evolutionary track has been slowed down due to this, but it really wasn't even stable enough to keep going anyways. What in the world would The Avengers even do to Hope anyways? Cyc clearly doesn't even know what he wants to do with Hope anyways. The whole idea of The Phoenix being used for rebirth was just a spur of the moment thing, and there's no way anyone else was going to agree to it anyways. He's literally the only fool looking into things in such a light.

I dunno. Maybe this thing will improve drastically within coming issues, but I can't see myself religiously anticipating every issue, and tie-in.