Spawn 308 and 309 arrived simultaneously a couple of months ago. Therefore, after a Zendikar review that took far too long and a detour into the NFL for a couple of days, we are back to our bread and butter on the page. That’s right. It’s time for some nerd content. More specifically, I’m going to catch up on the comics I’ve missed the last couple of months and write some reviews.
Trying to catch up be like…
I’ve already read Spawn 308 and 309. I know, no large feat. However, it feels like I actually accomplished something simply by reading those two books. Now, I can try to plow through the other two dozen or so that I have from the last two months. That might seem like a massive undertaking since it took me a couple of months just to read the two Spawn issues. However, Tuesday is my lighter day teaching and I will have time (theoretically) to devote to reading. But, first, to finish this review of Spawn 308 and 309.
The Great
Ken Lashley’s Art: I have had a love/hate relationship with the art in Spawn since I’ve come back to comics. Sure, there have been some other books that I haven’t enjoyed the art, but this one has had some of the most varied art over the last couple of years. But, I texted Chris and said, “I like Ken Lashley’s art. It has a bit of Capullo vibe.”
The Good
Uncle Todd’s Writing: I was excited to have Uncle Todd back and writing for the old Hellspawn. I learned, again, that you should be careful what you wish for. Uncle Todd is good in small batches. However, when asked to carry a story for much longer than a few issues, he loses the thread a bit and things start to unravel. I’m not saying that’s happening here just yet, but the potential exists.
The Decent
The Story: Speaking of writing, I just can’t get into this story. I liked the “reboot” of issues 300 and 301. Ever since, this story of time traveling, cross overs, and Heaven’s War on Earth is just leaving me cold. These latest issues were slightly better. I’d rather they go back to the creeping terror of the “Dark Horror” story.
The Verdict (Spawn 308 and 309 are fine)
I titled this article, “Love letter to Spawn 308 and 309”. I wouldn’t say this reads so much as a love letter. Then again, they say that if you love someone, set them free. If they come back, then they’re yours. Otherwise, it was never meant to be. I don’t think that I need to set Spawn free again just yet, but I’m certainly not looking forward to new issues like I was before the pandemic.
And now, let’s talk about Zendikar Rising Notable Cards: Gruul Edition. We finally got back into the rhythm (somewhat) of posting gaming content on the page here. As mentioned in the last article, school started back up. With the added pressure of Covid-19 this year, it’s been a bit more hectic than usual.
Honestly, I feel good about being able to get things posted only a week into the school year. Hopefully, I’m able to keep that momentum going forward. As you no doubt know, it hasn’t always been easy for me to juggle school and the web page. Seeing as how school is my actual job, that generally takes precedence.
And I’m pretty good at juggling. I will have to practice more.
Well, I’m making a commitment to keep posting at least once (and hopefully twice) a week. I would like to keep the 3 times a week, but that might only happen on comics weeks. Speaking of comics, I know it is severely late, but I’m hoping to make next week comics week. For now, let’s look at some Zendikar Rising Notable Cards: Gruul edition. I promise I won’t give you the spiel again this time. I’m getting sick of writing it. You’ll figure it out. If not, check out one of my other notable cards articles for the skinny.
Red (Is Red Broken in this Set?)
Honorable Mention (Grotag Night-Runner): Hey, look, it’s a sh*tty Goblin Guide. That’s what I thought when I first saw this card. There’s not a ton in this set for me in red, but that’s not surprising. I have never been much of a red player and I probably never will.
Leyline Tyrant – Either I texted Chris or he texted me about this card. I don’t remember how the conversation started. It was probably him. He is our resident dragon whisperer. However it started, I think my main comment was, “Uh, that feels broken.” I admit that I haven’t been paying much attention, but there hasn’t been much hullabaloo about the card, so I clearly was wrong on that. It still seems like a fun and dumb card.
Valakut Exploration: You are about to recognize a pattern. We’ve been talking about patterns in my Geometry class. That has nothing to do with MTG other than I’ve never been one to shy away from non sequitur. The pattern here is that when I first saw this card, I immediately Googled, “breaking valakut exploration”. I found some ideas and I might play around with them on xMage. Again, seems like a dumb and fun card.
Green (The Land Serves Me!)
Honorable Mention (Lotus Cobra): Yes, the subtitle is from a completely different game. A game that I, yet again, swore off from playing a few weeks ago. However, it’s immediately what I thought of when I considered the theme of the cards I picked. I more or less picked this one because it is a staple in my terrible Gx cube decks that I always draft.
Skyclave Pick-Axe – I thought this was neat, because I’ve never seen Landfall on a weapon before. I might be wrong. I mean, there’s over 25 years of MTG history, after all, and I’m often surprised to see a card that’s an established part of that history but just never got played before. So, if there is another weapon out there with Landfall, don’t @ me.
Scute Swarm – I played against a deck in MTGA that abused this card and ended up with something like 40+ tokens. I still could have won if I had drawn any of my mass removal spells. Alas, as is my luck, I did not and the deck ran me over while I held my removal spell in hand, unable to cast it due to drawing it too late. The main point is that they want to bring MTGA to mobile. How are phones going to handle 40 tokens on the field at once? I’m all for it. I’m just skeptical.
The Verdict (Zendikar Rising Notable Cards: Gruul Edition are also underwhelming)
Sure, there are some fun and potentially broken cards in red. However, aside from them, I haven’t been terribly impressed with the set so far. I think Chris is just right and they need to take a break from familiar settings at this point. Sure, there have been some new planes in recent sets, but we’ve gone back to Ravnica (again), Innistrad (again), and Zendikar (again). Heck, we even got another Theros set. I’m excited for new settings to explore.
Why am I doing a Scholomance Academy notable cards article? A couple of weeks ago, I texted Chris that I was done playing Hearthstone. He replied, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Ultimately, of course, he was right to question my commitment to quitting the game. However, if I’m being honest, I have no idea why I even play it anymore. I rarely have fun when I do and it usually ends up being a swear fest. And so it was with my latest threat to quit the game forever.
If you read the file name for this picture, it’s exactly how I felt.
I was playing as mage against a priest or a demon hunter, I think. Played the game pretty well. I mean, I’m not a pro player by any stretch, but I can usually hold my own in a game pretty well. That’s what I did in this game. I don’t remember how I ended up with an Archmage Antonidas on the board for lethal, but he was there. Well, at the beginning of my turn, Reno took care of all that. It cast Plague of Murlocs and I lost.
Live by RNG and die by RNG, right? Well, not so fast. Chris came up with an interesting conspiracy theory that I hadn’t considered. When I said something about the random effects, he responded, “Yeah, random.” I mean it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility. There’s literally a card coded to allow you to discover the “perfect” card for your situation. What if the whole game were coded similarly? But, that’s a discussion for another time. Let’s talk about Scholomance Academy notable cards.
The truth is out there.
Demon Hunter
Shuffle and draw effects are always fun. This one in particular could neutralize card advantage if it’s the last card in your hand and you are playing against a control deck that wants a full hand. Or, it could simply shuffle trash back into your deck to dig for better answers. I like this card a lot even if it doesn’t fit the Demon Hunter theme very well right now. Maybe they’ll move to a more control build in future sets.
Another shuffle effect, but this time it only targets your opponent. Hmm, maybe they are gradually moving to allow for a more control type build for Demon Hunter. I’d like that because the current aggro only builds are tired and I’m getting sick of seeing them in the game. Variety is the spice of life after all.
Druid
Druid didn’t get much in the way of druid only cards. A lot of their cards are dual class (yes, that’s a thing now) and I’ll pick a few of them last. Everyone else loves “Survival of the Fittest” of course, because it allows you to do broken druid things. However, I’ve mentioned in the past that I really like the discover mechanic and the discount on the next spell is so nice. The runner is cool because it virtually guarantees the card draw next turn.
Hunter got even less in the way of single class cards. At least, their list is much shorter than the first two classes. Back in the day, Huntertaker was the most broken deck, maybe in the history of the game. This card makes me think of that deck. Plus, it’s a discover and discount card!
Mage has gotten a couple of these cards in the past that are improved by spell damage. This one is neat because it ties card draw to the mechanic. Can you tell I’m a blue mage in Magic the Gathering? I doubt that it’s possible (Chris always keeps me in check when I ask about MTG), but I wonder if there’s a way to break this card. 2 mana, draw 9 or 10?
This is another one of those removal cards that is okay. It’s one more mana than Frostbolt and only does one more damage. However, with spell power it could be better. Also, like Betrayal, players have to think about positioning to avoid a potential board clear. Plus, it is versatile because it can be single target removal. It’s a well designed card.
Paladin
This card serves a couple of purposes. First, it lets me highlight that the Paladin only cards are kind of garbage if this one is making the list. Secondly, it lets me talk about Spellburst, which is the new mechanic. It triggers when you cast your first spell of the game. It is a neat idea with a lot of utility.
As long as the attack on this minion isn’t lowered in some way or another, this is a neat effect. It basically guarantees removal on any minion that you attack. The first one is guaranteed with rush. After that, you have to hope that you don’t run into some priest attack lowering nonsense.
Nothing about this card is new or interesting. It’s a “just priest things” card with Spellburst. However, it does combo nicely with some of the other “just priest things” out there and could make for some interesting interactions.
Speaking of interesting interactions, just once I want to combo this card with Myra’s Unstable Element to steal my opponent’s deck and then draw all of the cards. I know that Myra’s is a rogue card, but that would just be too funny in my opinion.
Shaman
This card is very expensive and it’s effect is on all minions. Even so, the lifesteal effect is powerful and can help late game against a wide variety of deck types. You know what. Honestly, I have no idea why this card impresses me so much.
I don’t know that there are a ton of lower level shaman spells that will cause this to be recursive in the way that some of the other cards with a similar effect are. However, those are the most fun cards. When you discover into discover into discover and then toss down a mana cyclone for a bunch of spells.
Warlock
All of the Warlock only cards are garbage.
Warrior
Warrior weapons have had cleave for some time now. This one is more difficult to trigger because of the Spellburst requirement. However, with something like Shield Slam, it more or less guarantees a board clear. I mean, is Shield Slam even a card anymore? I guess it could be in the right deck. Oh, the warrior studies card could be fun, too.
This is just a big dumb card that sticks around for 9 turns unless it is silenced. It’s like a persistent, er persist (keyword from MTG) card that is sure to get maximum value for one of my opponents sooner or later.
Neutral
I’m not sure what the running gag is at Blizzard that they keep printing these Rager cards. Every single one of them is garbage (other than the rush one is decent in Arena, or it used to be) but every so often, here comes another one. I guess this one could eat an Earth shock. *shrug*
I’ve seen this card played a few times on streams. I just like the design of the card. It’s card draw, tethered to a condition. However, that condition is generally met on any given turn by pretty much every single class. I have a feeling this one is gonna see heavy play in Arena, too.
Blizzard messed around with a scry like effect with the Demon Hunter card. This one is much more in line with actual scry. With that being said, a Mage played this against me on the first day of the release and lost. Granted, that’s a small sample size and he might have been a terrible player. Still, we have one data point!
Multi-class
I think I mentioned earlier that I would get to Scholomance Academy notable cards for multi-class cards. Now is that time. I’m not sure what about this particular expansion made them create multi-class cards, but I’m glad they did. These cards were some of my favorites when I played the old World of Warcraft TCG. So, let’s take a look.
I’m just going to talk about these quickly because this article is getting kind of long and you probably stopped reading about halfway through. Wave of Apathy is a great card and it combos well with priest stuff. Flesh Giant follows the cost reduction of other giants and fits with both of the classes so well. Lord Barov is instant removal if you can give it rush. Runic Carvings is actually kind of dumb. Not sure what I was thinking including it. The Demon Hunter/Hunter weapon is neat because it has versatility. Finally, I love the combo effect. Having it in other classes, especially mage (and discover to boot!) is fantastic.
The Verdict
Those are my Scholomance Academy notable cards. This expansion introduces some interesting and cool mechanics into the game. The dual class cards are a great addition that is long overdue. I was frustrated with the game because of the Demon Hunter screw ups (and 5 rounds of nerfs) and the previous expansion was kind of lame. But, they made up for it with this one and I might actually play more. No, I won’t. Eff this game. (Just between you and me, I will, but I don’t want to lose face in front of Chris).
Welcome to my Umbrella Academy Season 2 Top 10 list. Sort of, but not really. I’m not much for lists, especially not top 10 lists. However, I wasn’t sure what to do about this article. Originally, I was going to have it be a review. The problem with that is (and I know I’m overwhelmingly positive to begin with) there wasn’t much that I didn’t like about the show. So, instead of calling it a review, I figured I’d just list everything I love about the show and this season.
I could have just cheaped out and listed all of the characters as 1-7. But, I respect you all far too much to pull that kind of nonsense.
I do love this show. I’ve watched Season 1 three times. I think I might have fallen asleep at times during the first viewing (mind you, that’s not an indicator of the quality of the show, just that I was working 60 hours a week and very tired) because I saw things the second time around that I’d missed. Then, I watched again because I thought that Aiden would enjoy the show. Spoiler Alert: He did.
And, so, we continue our travel through retro articles for the anniversary of the page with a brand new television show. Hey, I said I respected you too much to phone it in. I never promised that we’d actually stick to the topic at hand. Do stay tuned, though, because retro content is coming. I know I said this week. But, it’s getting pushed to next week. For now, let’s discuss Umbrella Academy Season 2!
The Hargreeves
I never read the Umbrella Academy comic. I never even knew it existed until I saw it on the Netflix menu. So, I took a chance on it. Completely sight unseen. I told everyone I knew about it after the first two episodes. I described it as a f***ed up X-Men. And, who are these f***ed up X-Men?
They are seven children, adopted by an “eccentric billionaire” shortly after they are born. They all have powers that are revealed through various vignettes and flashbacks in the first season. Moreover, they are all richly entertaining characters by themselves and in their interactions with one another.
At different times in the first season, I had a different favorite. As with most of you, I’m sure, number five remains my absolute favorite even if he was way more of a dink in the second season. However, I loved Klaus’ Vietnam story. I relate far too well to Diego as the one who always has to clean up the mess. Luther’s and Allison’s romance was great in the 2 “Days” episodes. Ben provides much needed comic relief and Vanya steals the show at the end.
Umbrella Academy Season 2 gives us more of all of it. Ben plays a huge role and gets one of the most emotional send offs I’ve seen in a television show. Vanya gets to be happy. Allison gets the socially aware storyline of the season. Diego is still cleaning up after everyone. The only stories that had minor quibbles with are Luther and Klaus. Especially Luther. I feel like he got robbed this season. Maybe he will get redemption in Season 3.
The Setting
My lifelong obsession with the Vietnam war and an appreciation of the hippie movement plus enjoyment of the music all notwithstanding, I’m not as much of a fan of the 60s as a decade. I mean, they’re better than the 80s and I liked the 90s, which were basically the 60s redux. Okay, maybe I like the 60s just fine.
However, I was born in the 70s. So, I guess it makes sense that I relate more to that decade than the 60s. Growing up, I loved Saturday Night Fever and I railed against anyone who would listen that disco wasn’t dead. 90s rap vindicated me on that one a bit when they sampled many disco beats. Speaking of retro, I also like 80s and 90s video games better. What do you mean they didn’t have video games in the 60s?
What’s the point? Who the hell knows anymore? Oh, right, the choice of the 60s as the setting for season 2. If I had any questions about the setting, I was wrong. For the most part, the stories were fund and entertaining in spite of the fact that they were simply trying to stop the apocalypse again. Heck, they even made the “Save JFK” story entertaining even though it’s been done many times before.
The Stories
So, other than JFK, what are the stories? Well, without going into too much detail, Luther is an underground fighter with ties to the mob (that already gives away a lot if you know history), Five is still dealing with the commission (and if you remember season 1, very familiar faces from the past/future/both?), Klaus is a cult leader, Ben learns that he can possess people, Vanya is working as a live in babysitter (it’s more interesting than it sounds), Diego finds love in the nut house (again, there’s more to it, but that about covers it), and Allison…
Allison finds herself in the middle of the racial strife of the time. Again, this isn’t a particularly original story. But, given the current political environment, it hit me pretty hard. Even Aiden said, “Why are people so dumb?” And, I never have an answer to that question.
I mean, I understand racism from a “scientific”point of view. However, I will never understand how things break inside of people’s brains and make them so angry, bitter, and hateful. Actually, that’s not entirely true. What I don’t understand is why people can’t change their beliefs when presented with contradicting evidence. No, wait, I get that, too. If I’m being honest, even though I understand each component individually, I don’t actually understand any of it. Does that make any sense? Probably not. Then again, neither does racism.
With all of that being said, the story was interesting. And, if can help some people learn that racial injustice didn’t start in the last year, or decade, or even century, then that can only be a good thing. I don’t know if a super hero show on Netflix can have that kind of impact, but I remain hopeful.
The Villains
Spoiler alert? Perhaps not because nobody is ever truly dead in a show like this.
One of the great things about this show is the moral ambiguity of many of its characters. You don’t truly know who is a hero and who is a villain in most cases. Sure, a guy like Diego runs counter to this theory. But, there will always be exceptions. What about someone like Hazel? Is he a villain because he is a hit man? Is he a hero for giving all of that up to be with the woman he loves?
Even one of my favorites, Number Five. He’s on the side of the heroes most of the time. However, he does fall in with The Commission and becomes one of their best assassins. Plus, as I said earlier, he’s just a dink overall. Some of that can be attributed to time travel “madness” or whatever, I suppose.
The point of it all is that characters that I would universally define as a villain like our lady friend that I used as an example up there are still compelling and worth watching. Yes, she is detestable. She is manipulative. Her only agenda is herself. And, yet, when her fate is revealed in season 2, I cheered because I genuinely like having her around. Maybe that says something about me as a person. But, admit it, you cheered, too.
The Verdict
Umbrella Academy Season 2 is an absolute success. Someone asked on Facebook if it was better than season 1. I responded that I wouldn’t say better, but a different energy and still fun. I haven’t watched it a second time to see if I missed anything. But, winter is coming and coronavirus has halted all production, so season 3 won’t be around for a while now. I have time to watch a second, third, and then binge the whole series a 4th and 5th time if I want.
DC Comics July 2020 was not a disappointment. Well, that’s not entirely true. While there were more books in the shipment than Marvel this month, the books were less than stellar. I will just chalk that up to the mid summer lull that the entertainment industry goes through to give movies a chance to have their blockbusters.
Covid-19 doesn’t care about your blockbusters.
I’m not saying that the books were bad. I’m just not saying that they were good, either. They were, in the immortal words of Magic the Gathering players everywhere, medium. So, I guess without further delay, let’s talk about medium DC Comics July 2020 books! Are you psyched?! Get psyched!
The Great
Justice League Dark #22 and 23 (Ram V, James Tynion IV, Alvaro Eduardo Martinez Bueno): There’s only one book in the great section this month. Anyone who’s been paying attention won’t be surprised at the selection. Of course, it’s Justice League Dark. I will say, though, that the book had been falling off a bit before quarantine. I think that Tynion splitting his time between this and Batman wasn’t getting his best for either book. With Ram V coming in to help, the book is great again. Plus, Swamp Thing is back!
The Good
Action Comics 1022 (Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr.): I have made no secret of my disappointment in the BMB experiment on Superman and Action Comics. However, I can admit when I’m wrong. I mean, it’s my opinion, so it’s not like I can be wrong. Okay, I’m getting away from the point. This issue made it into the “almost great” category. I like this story so far and I hope that the book is finally realizing the potential that DC saw when bringing in Bendis.
Batman 92 and 93 (James Tynion IV and Guilleme March): I have also made no secret of my disappointment with Tynion’s run on Batman so far. However, these two issues were really good. It seems that all he needed was an event to get him started. Joker War is next and I am so ready for the “final showdown”.
Detective Comics 1022 (Peter J. Tomasi and Brad Walker): I very much like this version of Two Face in this story. The Joker, not so much. Hopefully Tynion can do a better job in the Joker War.
Wonder Woman 756 and 757 (Steve Orlando et al): Wonder Woman is facing a war on several fronts. That’s all I wrote for this one. I’m too lazy to go upstairs to get the books and flip through them, either. Seems like this one is close to the Decent pile.
The Decent
Aquaman 60 (Kelly Sue Decconnick and Migueal Mendonca): Once upon a time, I was close to putting this book in the great category. The quality has eroded gradually over time. However, this issue looks like a decent filler/set up issue for whatever is coming next.
Catwoman 22 ( Paula Sevenbergen and Aneke): This issue had a neat campy retro art style. I wrote that the story was only meh, but in light of the art style, it actually makes sense. I could be persuaded to move this into the Good category. Either way, it seems as if they are just biding their time until the 80th anniversary issue.
Justice League 46 and 47 (Robert Venditti and Xermanico): This has become a good ensemble book since Venditti took over from Snyder. However, I’m not at all enjoying this Spectre story. I can’t wait for them to move on.
Superman 22 (Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Prado): I have no notes for this book. While it would seem that Action Comics is realizing some potential, this one is still floundering under the BMB banner.
The Verdict
See, I always give you the TLDR at the beginning of the article. This month wasn’t great for DC and it wasn’t terrible, either. The books, overall, were just medium. Even so, they seem to be setting up for big things and I don’t just mean their Super Summer Crossover Spectacular, Dark Metal. Each book looks to have some good stories to run parallel to that one. Can’t wait for next month!
Marvel Comics July 2020 felt like a cruel joke. I mentioned in my previous article that I was overjoyed to have Spawn back. I don’t mean to imply that I wasn’t equally joyous that Marvel comics were in my box. However, there were only two. Granted, two is better than zero. I mean, that’s just math.
Then again, a random YouTube video I found while searching says that 2 = 0, so I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Nevertheless, I was disappointed that there were only two books in the shipment. But, when life gives you lemons, I guess you have to make lemonade. Well, you don’t have to make lemonade. You could make lemon meringue. That actually sounds better. Why would anyone make lemonade? Easier perhaps. But, taking shortcuts is the path to the dark side, right? Okay, I’ve drifted too far. Let’s talk about Marvel Comics July 2020.
Immortal Hulk #34
The Great
Solid Story: The Leader (what? who said anything about The Leader?) is such a dynamic and unique villain. I won’t say that there aren’t any other comic book villains out there like him. I haven’t read all of the comics, so I will just say that there aren’t many like him. Mr. Ewing takes advantage of this and crafts a story that fits the character. I’m going to miss this book. Wait, what? More cryptic references to the future?
The Leader!: I already touched on this in the previous section. But, I’ve always liked The Leader as a Hulk villain. Too often, the book concentrates on the Hulk’s strength and tries to make villains to match that strength. Rarely is the intelligence of Banner considered. The Leader does that. Bravo for introducing him into this iteration of the Hulk before it goes away. Wait, what?
The Good
Disjointed: I had this same complaint about Spawn this month, so maybe it’s me. Perhaps I just can’t stay focused enough on the story to enjoy it as much as I should. I guess we’ll see in future articles if I have to change my reading habits to get a better grasp of the books.
Just a Set Up: The story was good, even if I just said it was a bit disjointed. Even so, it is just a set up issue for (hopefully) the next few. I’d like to see The Leader stick around for a couple of issues. Okay, I feel better. Peeked at the next couple of issues and it looks like The Leader will be around at least through 36. So, that’s fun. Can’t wait to see where this story goes.
The Decent
#50 🙁 I heard rumors a few months ago that the book might be ending at 50, but they were quickly squashed by all involved. Then, out the blue, Chris texted me that they were, in fact, planning on killing the book after issue #50. I find that personally offensive and wish to speak to the manager of Marvel. This book is the most fun I’ve had reading comics in a long time. It’s definitely the best that Hulk has been since the original Planet Hulk. To kill it, even if it’s a year away, is a travesty.
I might need to unleash Darth Karen on them.
Thor #5
The Great
The Story is Picking Up: I wasn’t a huge fan of the Thor before this Thor. I liked the story, but I didn’t enjoy the art. Then, I wasn’t really a fan of the story of this new Thor even if the art was better. That all seems to be coalescing and the story in this particular issue is definitely picking up and starting to make more sense.
Conclusion?: With that being said, this looks like the conclusion of this particular arc. It’s either this issue or the next one. I know they need to open it up for their latest Super Summer Crossover Spectacular, but still. It’s kind of a bummer that it’s ending right as it’s getting good. Leave on a high note, I suppose.
The Good
Galactus Twist: The twist at the end of (spoiler alert?) Galactus as the herald for the Dark Winter or whatever it’s called was unexpected, at least by me. Thor as the new herald of Galactus confused me, but it makes a bit more sense now that the (whatever, I know it’s literally on the cover up there, but it scrolled out of view) Winter pulled the strings, it makes more sense.
The Decent
Beta Ray Bill: I gather that Beta Ray Bill is a popular character. They’ve used him to sell various events in video games that I’ve played. Maybe it’s just a meme. I mean, I’m not an obscure Marvel character aficionado by any stretch. I do admit to liking Tier B and C characters. But, I don’t get the Beta Ray Bill thing.
The Verdict
Marvel Comics July 2020, as limited as they are, are very good. Immortal Hulk continues to chug along as the best comic book that I’ve read in the past few years. Thor picked up steam and I’m looking forward to the next few issues. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going and build another good title. Thanks, as always, for reading and until next time, Excelsior!
I can’t remember when I learned about Minecraft: The Island. Furthermore, I’m not exactly sure when I made the connection that it was written by Max Brooks. Yes, Minecraft week is bleeding into a second week. I wanted to say “again” there. Because, it feels like the last time we did Minecraft, it took over two weeks. What can I say? We really like Minecraft around here. Okay, with that being said, let’s get to the introduction.
Max Brooks is the son of Mel Brooks. He is also the author of World War Z, one of my favorite takes on the zombie genre. In fact, I have started to write my own zombie short story in a similar fashion. Sorry, I know this isn’t self promotion time. I was just discussing on Facebook with a friend this particular story and I think that I should start writing it again. I’ve always wanted to release that particular collection around Halloween. That gives me 4 months.
Okay, now I’m done with the self promotion
Instead, I’m going to promote another guy’s book? Someone who probably doesn’t need my help? I guess that just goes to show what a great guy I am. Okay, seriously, though, let’s get on to the review.
The Great
It’s Minecraft: How much longer can I get away with this gimmick? Since only about maybe half a dozen people actually read this page, probably quite a while. Again, though, I have to add the caveat that it is as much like Minecraft as a book possibly can be. So, like the game, it is obviously limited. However, anyone who has ever played the game knows exactly what the book will be about even if it wasn’t titled as a Minecraft book.
It’s a good story: This should come as no surprise. Mel Brooks, even through the satire and stupid humor, has always been a good storyteller. Clearly, like Joe Hill, his son has inherited that particular talent. World War Z was an amazing story and this one is, too. If you’re anything like me, you will simultaneously want more of the story and want to play Minecraft after finishing this book.
The Good
Young Adult: The book is YA, which is a catch all these days for anything that they’re not entirely sure how to categorize. That’s not a bad thing mind you. I would love for my kids to read both this book and The Hunger Games even though you might think that both books are very different in content and themes.
Thankfully they’re not pictured here, but I don’t wish Twilight on anyone.
What I’ve learned from the world of Minecraft: This note at the end of the book hit particularly close to home. I resisted Minecraft for a while because I wrote it off as a silly or stupid game without much in the way of a story. While the last part is mostly correct, I’ve been able to craft my own stories as I’ve played, and Quinn has done the same. I’m not entirely sure about Aiden, but he has regaled me with stories of his adventures from time to time. The game has provided an outlet and a way to connect with my kids that is priceless. I appreciate that it has the same effect on others.
The Decent
Short: Minecraft: The Island a short book, but that’s to be expected from YA. Again, this isn’t a bad thing necessarily. However, as I mentioned earlier, I was thirsting for more by the end of the book. Oh well, I can just go play Minecraft and make my own stories.
My Idea!: Okay, that’s not entirely true. I’ve never had the idea to actually write a Minecraft story. But, I have had the idea to put together a video series of a guy who wakes up in the Minecraft world and follow him as he learns about this strange new world. Yeah, I know, piss or get off the pot. Well, I’ve been updating the web page for a good few months now. I think I’m ready to piss YouTube videos. Ugh, sorry for that visual.
There, now you can censor it and not have to look.
The Verdict
Minecraft: The Island is one heck of a book. It was a bit surprising that it was such a good story. No, not because I didn’t trust Max Brooks to tell a good story. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true. I have seen other authors who venture into YA territory and you can tell that they’re not giving their best efforts. Max Brooks didn’t take that route. I’m glad that he didn’t. If you want to kill a day at the beach, you could do much worse than this book.
Time for M21 notable cards Gruul edition. Of course, in the last article, I wrote about the white, blue, and black cards in the set. If you missed that one and you don’t want to go back to read it, I will give you the highlights here. There are a ton of cool reprints in this set. Teferi is blue and he does things at instant speed. I think that about covers it.
Actually, I do have a couple of other things to say. I like the set so much that I ordered both bundles on MTGA. I know that Chris is going to give me crap about that, but I like the game. It lets me play MTG, especially since I’ve had time over the last few months with the stay at home due to Covid. And, as I mentioned last month, there haven’t been any comics.
My other mention is that I went out of order this time. I like this set so much more than Ikoria that I skipped right over Ikoria to purchase my traditional box and bundle of M21. I will go back to buy Ikoria eventually. My completionist brain won’t let me not have that binder. However, for now, let’s see why I made this decision in the first place.
Red (Oh, you like your face? I like your face, too. However, let me rearrange it a bit for you.)
Fiery Emancipation: This card is stupid expensive and mono red will never see the payoff in traditional formats. However, in the right Commander deck, it could do some damage and potentially be tons of fun. I don’t know enough about Commander to know which decks, but I’m sure you nerds will find them
Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner: I have a terrible Alesha, Who Smiles at Death tiny leaders deck. I was inspired by Chris’s friends Darren and Jason. They’re the only “real” people I’ve played against besides Chris and randos at various prerelease events over the last few years. Plus, I really like the tiny leaders format. It’s fun. maybe I can do something similar with this card.
Honorable Mention (Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge): Speaking of tiny leaders. This guy qualifies. I have a feeling it would be quite easy to put together an artifact deck to make this guy work. I’m not the dragon guy, though. Chris is.
Green (You Want Lands? Well, here, play all the lands!)
Asuza, Lost but Seeking: I learned about this card during the Amulet Titan crisis of a couple of years ago. They sort of reprinted this in Theros Beyond Death with the Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and now it’s back in full glory. I just texted Chris that with both of those cards, you could play 4 lands per turn. I’m not entirely sure how to exploit that, but it will be fun to try.
Garruk, Unleashed: I am not a green guy. I’m a blue mage to my core. However, when playing cube, I often gravitate to Gx as my default strategy. Usually it is GB and there was a Garruk card that was always open. So, I’ve sort of adopted Garruk as my favorite green planeswalker. I’m glad there’s a Garruk in standard again.
Honorable Mention (Quirion Dryad): Hearthstone had a deck that was called Miracle Rogue. The same strategy has been tried in druid and maybe other decks. Druid and rogue were the two most popular, though. In digging, I found that the decks had roots in MTG with this card.
The Verdict
Thanks for reading my M21 notable cards Gruul edition. As with the Esper edition, there are some fun cards in this set. I think I get to open my product on MTGA tomorrow and then my paper product should be in the mail in the next week or so. Oh, and I can’t wait to see what this set does to the Cube in Arena. The power level is definitely going to go up!
My MTGA cube first impressions are that it is decent. There’s your TLDR right at the beginning of the article. See you in a couple of days for hopefully some Mortal Kombat content. I’ve been meaning to talk about the new expansion for a few weeks now, but it keeps getting put on the back burner for other material. Who knows? This week might end up being MTG and Pokemon again because I’ve been playing a ton of Pokemon Go. Plus, the expansion for that is coming out. Mortal Kombat coming soon(ish).
When I texted Chris about this after he told me that he was facing peer pressure to play MTGA, he said that his other MTG friends had just texted him the announcement. Guess we’re all excited.
I’ve only done one draft so far on my smurf account, so these are truly my first impressions of the cube experience on MTGA. I’ve played cubes before, mostly on xMage. However, I have done one or two on MTGO and I’ve watched numerous cubes on streams. Mostly, those are Legacy or Vintage cubes, so my sense of power level might be a bit warped. Bear that in mind as you read.
The Great
Trigger warning: I’m about to be cliche. It’s cube! On MTGA! Okay, so what does that all mean? Well, limited formats are my favorite, for sure. I don’t mind constructed, but there’s something about cracking 24 packs and trying to make a cohesive deck from the nonsense contained in those packs. I’m not the best drafter, by any stretch. Hell, I might not even be a good drafter. But, I love drafting.
And, now I can on MTGA. MTGA is my go to for Magic the Gathering right now. When it first got released, I called it MTG: Hearthstone Edition, but I’m eating my words now. I guess I just saw too many digital MTG products come and go with little to no support. This one got support and I’m glad. Especially with Covid-19, I can still play Magic on a regular basis.
The Good
And you draft against real players! Drafting against real players is awesome. The bots will usually just take the perceived best card without regard for what’s open, what you can hate draft, etc. Most people are like me, in the middle when it comes to drafting, but our decisions are based more in our priorities and perceptions of what others are doing.
The Decent
I mentioned that I’m used to Legacy and Vintage drafts. So, I’ve seen cards like Massacre Wurm (back in standard!), Elesh Norn, and Jace the Mind Sculptor. So, it’s a bit of let down when I look at the card pool for the MTGA Cube. Thanks to more powerful recent sets and some strategic reprints, there are some powerful cards like Mirari’s Wake, Thalia, and the pictured Liliana. Overall, though, the power level is what you’d expect for a Historic/Pioneer card pool.
Note: This might change with M21 because as I eluded with my Massacre Wurm parenthetical, there are some insane reprints coming with that set.
The Verdict
Like I said earlier, my MTGA cube first impressions are that it is decent. I enjoy the cube experience and I’m glad that it is in MTGA. With the power level being a bit lower and drafts still costing money if you want to draft more than about once a week, I don’t see it becoming my go to Magic the Gathering experience any time soon. I will still mostly just play Standard/Historic on MTGA and do my cubes on xMage where they are free.
Now, for Marvel Comics June 2020 Review. Before that, it’s time for honesty. This week was supposed to celebrate the release of Mortal Kombat: Aftermath. Instead, I celebrated staff meetings and report cards. I didn’t want to totally lose the momentum I had been building on the page, so I decided to shift to comics this week.
And, so, I reviewed the four DC comics that I received from DCBS yesterday. Likewise, I only got 3 Marvel comics in that shipment. But, as I emphasized in the previous article, it’s good that we are getting any comics. After a two month hiatus, any amount of books is good news. So, let’s talk Marvel Comics June 2020. Like my DC article, each book gets its own section.
The Amazing Spider-Man #43/Legacy #844 (Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley)
The Great (Classic Spidey): Every since Nick Spencer took over writing for Spider-Man, I’ve loved the book. He is able to capture the fun of Spider-Man in a way that some others miss on a huge level. I understand that comics have grown with their audience. However, maybe Spider-Man is just supposed to stay the goofy guy we always knew and loved.
The Good (Bromance): I’ve been all in on the Spidey/Boomerang bromance since the beginning. There was less focus on it in this issue, but it was still fun to have in the book.
The Decent (Kingpin?): Look, I’m all for a good old fashioned Spidey/Kingpin showdown. I loved that part of Into the Spiderverse. However, it just didn’t feel like it fit very well in this particular story. It felt like a definite filler.
Avengers #33/Legacy #733 (Jason Aaron and Javier Garron)
The Great (Lesser Known Avengers): Instead of being reduced to cameos, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider take a headlining role. Later, Black Panther and Thor try to play hero, but nobody can take down the big bad, Moon Knight! Very cool to see these hereoes front and center.
The Good (Nothing but fights): This book was a good old fashioned (using that term a bit in this article) beat em up. Sure, there was dialogue. However, it was mostly in the service of getting to more punching. You may know that I’m not usually a fan of this, but every now and then, it’s fun.
The Decent (Why?): My notes say, “Where is this story from?” But, that seemed like a long subheading, so I just went from why. I feel like lately I’ve been missing a lot in comics and I don’t just mean literally missing them. I mean, a lot of this is going over my head. Why the heck is Khonshu pushing Moon Knight over the edge? Hopefully we find out.
Venom #25/Legacy #190 (Donny Cates and Marc Bagley)
The Great (Eddie’s Recap): I’m not normally a fan of Cates’ writing in some other books, but he has a feel for Venom. I like the voice he gives Eddie. He also brings and edge that the book needs. This one is Eddie telling the Avengers about his time on Venom island and I’m completely here for it.
The Good (Bonus Story): Being a “milestone issue” (latest new number 25), they have a bonus story at the end. It’s a fun little story and it has an Easter Egg. They give the name that Eddie and the symbiote might have chosen in a different Marvel Universe.
The Decent (Knull, etc): I’ve made no secret that I’m not a fan of the Knull storyline/retcon. It’s not that I don’t like it. I just don’t completely understand where it came from and why it exists. I’m not sure that it adds much to the overall lore.
The Verdict
Marvel Comics 2020 hasn’t quite picked up where they left off. However, other than the fact that they were planning another super summer crossover event, I was very excited about the direction that marvel was taking with their books. So, the Covid-19 sabbatical hit them harder than DC. As long as they find their momentum again, I’m excited that Marvel can get back to where they were and hopefully DC can join them.
