Jumping in Headfirst

This plus the Ill Will battle being posted after KOTD and UW had such dope events is a really good look.   SMACK is big enough that they can just keep doing them and not lose much steam.  As far as this battle: YIKES.  I wondered what would happen if Myers went up against someone with nowhere near the skill of Rum Nitty, and here I got my answer.  Myers KILLS this dude in the first round, then comes back to desecrate the corpse in rounds two and three.   The only thing I remember of Miner's is that X-Men scheme, and that was the only time the room wasn't fucking dead for him.   Each time Myers started up though, you could almost feel the energy in the room change and the hype fill the air.  I love it--we need as many new guys as possible. 

Woo, this a lot later than I planned.  So let's just jump into it? Justice League 27 Really, Geoff?   I mean, I miss 90's comics as much as the next guy but are we really going so far back as to give entire mini-origins (defining trait + real name + superpower + superhero name) in single speech bubbles?  Who talks like that?    All-New X-Factor 01  What you're looking at here is what will likely be the focal point for PAD's secondary X-Factor run.  It's a fairly interesting idea, considering that as it stands mutants being the next evolution of man doesn't make sense (what are these evolutions helping us deal with, if not just existence itself?).  But unfortunately, it's one of those ideas that's so wide in scope that while it demands being utilized by the rest of the universe from whence it came, it probably won't ever be spoken of again after PAD stops writing the team. All-New X-Men 22 I'm waiting for the day when...

Aaaand, we're back.  Bit of a full week this time... Amazing X-Men 3 "Claremont's Rule: The longer two superheroes of matching sexual orientations remain on a team together, the closer the probability of a serious relationship tease gets to 1."  Storm and Nightcrawler have been on teams together since Giant Size X-Men #1 in the mid-70's, so despite having never heard of anything remotely close to them liking each other...here we are.   Something to remember when I start back working on Alpha Squad .  Astro City 8 The thing I love the most about Astro City in comparison to every other superhero universe is just how much work goes into the world building, and how casual Kurt does it.  This page is essentially this world's Big Three (Winged Victory, The Confessor, and the Samaritan) staring down a list of Winged Victory's rogues' gallery, but its done in such a nonchalant way you'd never notice it if you weren't paying attention t...

With this, you can probably consider the Picks series of columns done for now.  I just think it's more effective to discuss actual thoughts on series now rather than merely predictions.  As I discussed before, Fall 2013 was actually the first season last year that managed to become something truly decent, helping drag anime from the moe filth it had been drowning in for three seasons straight.  In my Fall picks article I had over a dozen series I intended to watch, so let's see how that turned out: Tokyo Ravens: If you recall the First Impressions , you'll know I dropped this as of episode 2.  I just wasn't in the mood for any derivative idiocy that season, so it was an easy cut. Coppelion: Despite GoHands' beautiful work bringing this anime to life, I just couldn't get into a series about a trio of high-school aged girls exploring a ruined post-apocalyptic city.   Imagine that.  Honestly, I gave this series the boot after the first episod...

The word you're looking for is "bars".  All fucking day.  I'd never heard of KG the Poet but after he blacked out in Round 2, I guess I have to pay attention to the dude from now on.  Lotta did pretty much what I expected him to do since I saw his battle against Syahboy, which was turn this into something epic.   We're a week away from Hollow vs. Loaded Lux: The Event and Blackout 4, which means hopefully in the near future I can stop linking shit from last year.  We'll see. 

Something I'm doing instead of picks, for now. Nobunaga the Fool : Nobunaga the Fool is slightly reminiscent of Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon , only far better explained.  Utilizing the Rule of Cool to mix giant robots with old eastern/western design aesthetics , Nobunaga takes advantage of having Satelight as their primary animators to create a world that's both unique and beautiful to look at in its first episode.  With guest appearances from historical figures such as Jeanne d'Arc, Leonardo di Vinci and Magellan, this anime would have the potential to be one of the most distinctive series this season if it weren't for a certain other anime that happened to tread very similar ground. Most likely I'll finish this out, unless King Arthur turns out to be a villain, or just overall lame.  (I admit I have specific rules, but time is so precious because its limited, so I think it's best spent doing things one enjoys.) Hamatora the Animation :  I had z...

All-New X-Factor 01 So, here's your high concept for the "All-New X-Factor".  Although "first corporate superhero team" is a bit of a misnomer.   There's the Power Company over at DC, and Wildcats 3.0 for WildStorm (though that's technically DC as well now), both of which predate this idea by about ten years, plus many more.  I wonder if any of them would sue over this claim... Avengers A.I. 8 It seems Artificial Intelligence doesn't care much for the idea of Anon.  Or fake user names, for that matter.  In the robot future, only normal names will be accepted.  (But then, what if your name really was Cool Sex Falcon?) Avengers World 1 Sunspot and Cannonball are the Booster Gold and Blue Beetle of the Marvel Universe, apparently.   Not the worst idea ever, either: superhero comics these days are full of so much seriousness it's nice to have a break from time to time.  Anyway, Avengers World 1 is probably the comic mos...

Battle rap in its truest, most raw form.  No personals.  No unnecessary, fake-ass aggression knowing good and gotdamn well you dapping up with dude after the battle and suddenly ya'll cool again.   Just all fucking bars.   I present you with your Chilla Jones vs. JC of 2014.  Not because it's the best battle of the year, but because it's a great fucking battle that few will ever watch, while people bitch about Hitman Holla vs. Conceited but that shit is near 900,000 views in only three months. 

Yesterday I showed you what it was like for me in 2013 as an anime fan.  To put it kindly, it wasn't a pretty sight.  Fortunately, today we're looking at what 2014 has in store, and it's doing quite a bit better than last year already.    However, between Winter and Spring there's roughly 64 anime coming out between January and April, so we're just going to hit broadstrokes and talk about a lot of the heavy hitters. Space Dandy If you follow anime much at all--even if its just watching Toonami on the weekends--you've heard of this by now.  Essentially, this is a comedic version of Cowboy Bebop, brought to you by the people who made Cowboy Bebop.  Everyone from mastermind director Shinichiro Watanabe, to screenwriters Dai Sato and Keiko Nobumoto, to fan favorite animation studio BONES has teamed up together to create what pretty much everyone's hoping to be the next anime masterpiece.   In fact, Toonami had so much faith in this product that...

This must be what its like when guys see their favorite sports team win.  Watching Charlie Clips give this 3-0 out is probably one of my favorite moments in battle rap this year.  Tsu Surf says some ridiculous shit in his rounds sometimes, and seeing Clips dismantle that shit?  Amazing.   Favorite bar: " And I hate when you be throwing shots/You swing, and your bars go over top.  So you say shit like 'Urn in Ash'--that's nash./Nigga, no it's not.  'Urn in Ash' is Urnash, with your bird-ass/if you WERE Nash, you wouldn't understand that until your third pass." Between that and the Big T gun sounds?  Hysterical. Now I need all the fans to stop lying.  This didn't look different on cam.  This ain't no close battle.  The first round isn't debatable.  This is a fucking 3-0 loss.  Surf just had a off night--he's got a match against Calicoe this month, it's not like his career is dead. 

As the new year begins, I thought now was as good a time as any to look back on what last year brought us in terms of anime, video games, comics and other forms of entertainment. As someone who's been following (on this blog, even) each season of anime for roughly six years, I was honestly surprised at just how good Fall 2012 was.  There seemed to be something for nearly every kind of anime fan: comedies, action series, parodies, manga adaptations of both classics and newcomers--both the variety and quality were unparalleled.   Being me though, I always like to check out the next season to see what I have to look forward to.  I admitted to myself that Winter looked weak, but I had faith that the season would eventually fill out with some interesting latecomers; they always do, after all. Unfortunately, it didn't. .  The Winter season was one in which nearly 40 different anime television series aired...and I could only think of five or six I actually wanted ...

The last comics of 2013.  What up. Aquaman 26 When a creative team switches, it's customary for you to give the next team at least one issue to see if they've got the stuff.  If they don't, you stop reading; no harm, no foul.  Fortunately, it seems as if writer Jeff Parker does indeed have that "it" factor necessary to keep me reading.  Which is apparently Godzilla-sized crustaceans.  Well, that and continuing what Geoff Johns started in showing Aquaman and Mera to be complete bad-asses.   Flash 26 This book wins purely off the virtue of having a Flash fact.  Oh, and being a one-shot.  That's truly impressive, all things considered.  The new team for this takes over in either February or March, but I do hope we see Christos Gage on more DC stuff.  They could use more writing on this level. Guardians of the Galaxy 10     The interesting thing about this book is the idea of ...