Whatchu Talkin' 'Bout, Black Manta?

On this 2013 New Year's Eve we leave you with a call-back to a time long ago when an old white guy with two black kids was edgy television. Diff'rent Strokes was a staple of my childhood. The theme is also the song that pops in my head unwarranted more than any other.

Maybe if Philip Drummond took in Bronze Tiger and Black Manta at a young age they woudn't have turned to a life of crime.

I'd proclaim 2014 to be the "Year of McSoss," but I'm not that ambitious. Happy New Year, everyone!

-Gint

Gint's 12-24-13 Pull-List Review

Its not often I get a 2-book week for the Pull-List. My wallet was relieved.

Second Place:

Justice League #26

Geoff Johns flexes his giant bonersaurus for Cyborg on the last page of this book. So help me god if Cyborg is the linchpin to taking down the Crime Syndicate, I'm gonna be pissed.

This issue folds the origins of the other members of the Syndicate into one issue. What John's cleverly does is gives the us Power Ring, Johnny Quick, Atomica and Deathstorm origins while quietly developing Grid (the Syndicate's Cyborg analog) into one of the most interesting characters in this crossover. I have more sympathy for Grid in this one issue than I do a lifetime of reading comics featuring Cyborg. Sorry, he's just not Justice League material, Geoff. May as well put Vibe in the League.

The art in this issue by Ivan Reis and Co. is beautiful. His cinematic layouts are gorgeous. His Power Ring and Johnny quick origins are reminiscent of his work on Green Lantern where he made a name for himself.

First Place:
Forever Evil #4

Geoff Johns finally reveals how Sinestro gets involved in the strictly Earth matter of the Crime Syndicate taking over. Afterall, Sinestro shouldn't give a fuuuuuuck about what happens to Earth.

Batman has a secret Sinestro Corps ring (from the pre-New 52 story Blackest Night?). It has just enough charge for Batman to use once which presumably alerts Sinestro to its presence and draws him to Earth. If Sinestro doesn't show the Syndicate what's up next issue I'm gonna be pissed. He is, after all, Parrallax at this point.

Johns and David Finch do a really great job of making Power Ring really scary. He's so mentally unstable, that this is the first issue you really get the sense of how fucked up a character he is.

I don't know if its a matter of Geoff Johns writing all his favorite characters in one book, but Forever Evil has been great each issue out. Each character get their due and each one is interesting in their own right. Just seeing the banter/arguing between Luthor's team is enough to pick up this book.

Ps David Finch's cover is garbage. What's up with Lex's legs?

Panel of the Week:

This full-page of Grid by Ivan Reis and Co. is the coolest Cyborg will EVER be. And it takes an evil alternate universe version to get him there. Kudos to whichever colorist (Rod Reis, Tomeu Morey or Tony Avina) added those lighting effects to his eye. Nice touch.

-Gint

When All Else Fails, Resort to Physical Violence

I'm actually pretty okay with Marvel holding the majority of the Pie of Success when it comes to movies. Well-made comic book movies can only help comic books as a whole. So as long as Marvel is making good ones, and some others like Man of Steel get some positive looks, it only helps our chances of seeing that elusive Booster Gold film. Hopefully before this comic movie bubble bursts.

One thing Marvel's success with their shared cinematic universe has done is it gave Sony the bright idea that Spider-Man can be a successful franchise... with or without Spider-Man. Early rumors are that the villains of the Spider-U will branch off and we'll get Sinister Six and Venom stand-alone movies. I'm sure there's a market for that kind of thing out there. I can't help but think without the main character (Spider-Man) those movies will fall in the realm of The Wolverine, which has garnered the attitude of, "eh, I'll get around to seeing it."

Sony certainly isn't going to dump the kind of money into these films as they would an ACTUAL tent-pole film, so while the theory sounds promising, I think the execution will fall short of what we want those movies to be.

Maybe Sony should chill out and wait til Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a success before they start developing an entire universe out of what could be a mediocre movie.

Oh yeah, I think Henry Cavill would totally kick Andrew Garfield's ass.

-Gint

Soss' Pull-list Reviews 12/26/13

The Superior Spider-Man #1-12

Over the holiday I purchased a subscription to Marvel Unlimited. This is a service which grants you access to the majority of Marvel's comic book achieves. While I'm looking forward to diving into some classic tales I felt the first order of business should be to check out the first year of The Superior Spider-Man. 

I've been boycotting this title since Marvel decided to shuffle Peter Parker off to the great beyond and replace him with Doctor Octopus. I can't wrap my head around why Marvel would think it was a good idea to replace it's most popular hero with one of his enemies. With several arc's under it's belt I thought this would be a fair way to judge this new direction.

The first thing that jumped out to me was the improvement of this new Spider-Man's crime fighting efficiency. Why go out on patrol when you can have an army of spider drones do it for you? Who needs spider-sense when you have high tech spider vision googles that tell you everything about your foe in the blink of an eye? Spidey is even working hand-in-hand with the police force instead of always being at odds with them. All of these changes make sense and I even like some of them, but it's not something I'm looking for in my Spider-Man adventures. 

I'm glad to see that the writers didn't ignore the fact that Peter/Doc Ock's personality would be drastically different and EVERYONE would notice. Strangely......some of the characters LIKE the new more confident, arrogant and highly motivated version of Mr. Parker. 

I can say that the art is pretty great. Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos and Giuseppe Camuncoli all provide top notch pencil work. The new costume design is even pretty cool. 

In the end, I don't see myself purchasing a Spider-Man book until Peter Parker is back in his rightful skin but The Superior Spider-Man is an interesting way for Marvel to transform the web slinger into the dark knight. -Soss

Panel of the Week: The Spider-Slayer never looked so menacing

The Season of Giving… Handys

I know these masseuses have a job to do during the holidays, but there's something really strange about being rubbed down by a tiny Asian man in the middle of a hustling, bustling mall during the busiest time of the year. Or any time of the year for that matter. Even if it was a hot chick, I don't need the patrons of the mall watching me get a rub down, whether its the naughty or nice kind. The mid-mall massage is awkward for everyone, folks.

McSoss wraps up another year of comic strips, comic reviews and new to this year, a podcast. I can speak for Soss and myself, and by extension Image Matt and Dom that we get an immense amount of enjoyment out of creating the McSoss content and would probably still do it regardless of who else enjoys it. But what really makes it special for us is you, the fans. The fine folks that come back day to day, or month to month in the Brizzle's case and enjoy our specific brand of silliness with us. Knowing that we can make you laugh like we make ourselves laugh is the icing on the cake.

So thank you McSoss Fans for making our lives a little more special.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

-Gint

Gint's 12-18-13 Pull-List Review

The week of December 18th sees another book get cut from the Pull-List. Heads are rolling. Books are going to have to start entertaining me or, in the immortal words of Sebastian Bach, "get the fuck out."

Sixth Place:

Wonder Woman #26

This book has the same problem Brian Wood's Star Wars does: things happen, but it feels like nothing happens. We've been trying to protect Zola's baby Zeke for 26 issues now. Isn't it about time to wrap this up?

The standard issues apply to this issue as the last however many. Diana has no personality. She's essentially just a badass fighter. I suppose she's also introspective, but she's boring. The entertainment and excitement from this book falls on the shoulders of the other characters who are WAY more interesting than the girl whose name is on the cover. Also, if Brian Azzarello wanted to write a book about Greek gods, DC should just let him and let someone else write a book about Wonder Woman. Because this isn't it.

I've been expecting some kind of large payoff for a long time now. I don't think its coming. Don't expect to see Wonder Woman on the Pull next month.

Fifth Place:

X-Men #8

Ah, ye olde bait and switch. Put a hot Monet drawn by Terry and Rachel Dodson on the cover... and then don't feature her in the book. Anywhere. Not even her name is mentioned.

Marvel continues the Artist Carousel having Barry Kitson fill in some pages between Terry Dodson's work. Its not bad by any stretch, but it IS a change from Dodson. Every Marvel book I've read over the last few months has had this artist problem. Why can't one artist do an entire run anymore?

Brian Wood's doing a great job with this story. Now that events and interruptions are over, he's able to concentrate on his own story. Lady Deathstrike is back teaming up with Typhoid Mary to steal Arkea (a sentient supercomputer that can destroy he world) from the X-Men. The only guy in this book is the villain John Sublime. I don't know anything about him, but the way Wood writes him wrapped up in this female-centric story is very entertaining.

Fourth Place:
Animal Man #26

Well, this was a strange issue. It picks up on last issue's cliffhanger where Buddy gets transported to an alien planet. We find out what its about and it doesn't make sense to me to start a whole new idea on this book with only three issues left.

Buddy gets transported to the Seed Planet, which is sort of the hub of all the Red, Green and Rot in the universe. Buddy kills a giant monster and is deemed the new Bridgekeeper of that planet. What that means is when the current Bridgekeeper dies, Buddy will take his place no matter what. So Buddy agrees so long as this being sends him back into the Red to save Maxine. It felt like a really convoluted way to get him entrance to the Red after the totems shut him out many issues ago.

Not Jeff Lemire and (fill-in) Cully Hamner's best issue, but it doesn't hurt how good this book has been overall.

Third Place:

Rogues Rebellion #3

In a much different vein than Brian Azzarello's Wonder Woman, Brian Buccellato's Rogues Rebellion is able to clearly round out each character's personality in this ensemble cast.

The Rogues are the everyday villain. They'd be you and me if we had superpowers. We'd use them to make money and live a comfortable life of excess. We wouldn't be inspired to save the world, but we'd help out if the need arose. That's the Rogues. And with Captain Cold helping out in Forever Evil proper, Mirror Master takes the lead in this issue and Buccellato gives the character more depth and makes him more likeable than a lot of other characters that have come through the Pull-List lately. I'm looking at you Rocket Raccoon.

Unlike characters like Venom and Harley Quinn (who I don't think are grey-area-enough villains to be the lead in a book) the Flash's Rogues have enough character and a great dynamic with each other to be a book I'd buy monthly.

Second Place:
Batman and Two-Face #26

What can I say about Peter Tomasi and Pat Gleason's Batman And... title that I haven't said already? If you're not buying it, you should be.

In this current arc, Batman, and by extension Bruce Wayne, are in more of a supporting character role. The story revolves around the relationship between Erin McKillen who killed Harvey's wife Gilda after breaking out of the prison Harvey put her in. What Tomasi and Gleason do so well is make you feel sympathy for both characters, who are both reprehensible murderers.

Tomasi and Gleason have such a symbiotic working relationship that it makes whatever they're working on a pleasure to read. I'd go out of my way to find this creative team.

First Place:
Saga #17

Saga is reminding me of a lesson The Walking Dead taught me long ago: don't get attached to characters. Without giving away any spoilers, SOMEONE dies this issue. And its a bummer of a way to go. Actually, TWO people may die this issue, but I'm pretty sure Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples will leave it at one.

Staples pulls out the big guns this issue for a pretty graphic scene of what Prince Robot once saw during a life and death experience. Nothing like a little porno with your comics, I always say! I think the fact that this book has a planned ending really allows the creative team to plan which characters befall which fates and how their deaths will play out later in the series through other characters. Also, in a finite series, when a character dies, they're probably staying dead.

Each issue sets up more potentially great stuff to come. Its going to be a pretty sad day when this book finally wraps up.

Panel of the Week:

Something about Patrick Gleason's Bruce Wayne in this panel really stood out. Maybe its the lack of thick blacks around the eyes I'm used to seeing from Gleason.

-Gint

Your Script Licks My Nuts

The above comic happened essentially as you see it (Flaming Trashcan not included). And that IS the current story arc of Greg Pak and Brett Booth's BatmanSuperman book. Its so goddamn silly, but not in a fun way. My excitement for Greg Pak joining DC after years at Marvel has been immediately murdered and buried in the backyard. They seemingly gave him too much freedom to do whatever he wants... which involves a bunch of XBox users controlling the real Superman and Batman. Silly.

-Gint 

McSoss Podcast Episode 37: Paul's Black Heart

Happy Holidays! For the final episode of our first year the McSoss crew details our Toy’s For Tots shopping trip, voice our opinions on The Big Bang Theory and give a review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

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McSoss Toy's for Tots shopping trip

Here are the items that we picked up this past Friday. This wouldn't have been possible without your help so thank you to everyone who donated! I think that together we made the holidays brighter for alot of kids this year. 

 

McSoss Podcast Episode 36: McSoss Gossip Podcast

This week was flush with comic related news and the McSoss crew is here to get you up to date. Join us as we review The Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer, share our thoughts on Gal Gadot’s casting as Wonder Woman and ask the question “ Can a Batman show without Batman possibly be entertaining?”

There is still time to donate to the McSoss Comic Book Podcast Toys for Tots Charity. Click the donate button at the bottom of this page and you can help us help kids in need this holiday season. Any amount is appreciated. The deadline is December 12th.  

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Soss' 12-17-13 Pull-List Reviews

Uncanny X-Men #15

Hey girl hey!! Girls night out! Emma and Kitty take the students on a shopping trip to London. Normally I'd be annoyed by an entire issue devoted to girls going to the mall but Bendis is able to work some character development between the Stepford Cuckoos and Jean Grey that sheds new light on their relationship. 

Kristafer Anka's pencils fit nicely with this teenage girl-centric issue. This issue feels like an Image coming-of-age piece right up until the Inhumanity tie-in where dudes start popping out of cocoons. Overall, a welcome change of pace to a book that has been dragged down by it's dark tone for months.-Soss

Panel of the Week: Wake up Illyana! This isn't Photoshop class, you have to be awake for this.

Hurry Down the Chimney Tonight

While I dislike holiday music in general there are a few songs that just plain creep me out. Santa Baby is at the top of the list. Who does Eartha Kitt think she is asking for a convertible, a yacht and a duplex! -Soss

Gint's 12-11-13 Pull-List Review

50% of my books this week were pretty satisfying. If that was my batting average I'd be in the hall of fame.

Sixth Place:

Star Wars #12

Besides Carlos D'Anda's art, this book is really losing me. After twelve issues I feel like nothing has really happened. This issue felt more like a spy/intrigue story than space fantasy. And maybe that's what this book is missing so far?

A New Hope is a fast-paced action-adventure movie. This book, its chronological sequel, is slow and introspective, yet thoughtful. Writer Brian Wood gives us a nice behind the scenes of where Luke and Leia are emotionally, but I think this could be done in a more exciting way. Instead, we get a whole spy story surrounding Mon Mothma and her nephew who may or may not be a double agent for the Empire.

Issue number twelve here looks like a fresh start. There are some interesting subplots that will keep me around, but overall, this book better get better.

Fifth Place:

Green Lantern Corps #26

What started off with a lot of possibilities is grinding itself into tedium. Each issue is, "boo hoo we can't use the emotional spectrum because its killing the universe." I understand there's some creative earth to mine when you say, "what if the Lanterns' weren't allowed to use their rings?" And maybe there's some real-world environmentalist subtext happening that I should pay more attention to. But I miss the simple task of just sending the intergalactic police out to bust bad guys. What's wrong with that?

And the Durlan's are hatching some scheme in the background to "destroy the Green Lanterns." Sigh... c'mon. Isn't it time we have a moratorium on a big bad trying to destroy the Green Lanterns?

Bernard Chang's artwork is great as always, he alone will keep me reading, but the overall business around the creative team on this corner of the DCU needs some work.

Fourth Place:

Justice League #25

Last issue was the origin of Ultraman. This issue is the origin for Owlman. Seeing the evil alternate universe versions of the origins we know so well has been a lot of fun. Geoff Johns gives the Owlman origin a nice twist I didn't see coming.

This issue we see who Owlman is and more of why he wants our universe's Dick Grayson protected. Its a pretty interesting way to go about redefining who the one-note villain was previously. Johns also sneaks in a little cameo/origin of our Earth's Eel O'Brien (Plastic Man).

I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the get go, but most of the Forever Evil books I've read have been pretty damn entertaining.

Third Place:

Superman Wonder Woman #3

The weakest issue of Charles Soule and Tony Daniel's run so far is basically a lot of setup. And when I say weakest, that doesn't mean it was bad.

Diana is trying to find a Christmas present for Clark, which is played up classily where it could have been fish-out-of-water silly. The big beat of the story is that Zod shows up out of nowhere in the desert. Not even he knows what's happened. Clark takes him in because so far, Zod hasn't presented himself as a bad guy. I guess this is Zod's first New 52 appearance. I'm curious to see where it goes from here.

In some ways it felt like the first issue of an arc: lots of setup for things to come.

Second Place:

Batman #26

The strangest thing about Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Zero Year is seeing the animosity between Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon. They play it out naturally and organically, but its still sad seeing a time when these guys weren't buddies.

Capullo's art is top notch as always as Bruce gets his ass handed to him by Doctor Death. Jim Gordon needs Bruce's help to go after him (outside regular police business) but Bruce is a raging dick and essentially tells Gordon to fuck off. Breaks my heart.

This is a book I can count on every month to be a good read. 

First Place:

Nova #11

Gerry Duggan's first full issue with Paco Medina is damn close to everything I'm looking for in a comic book these days. The dialog is smart, the art is sharp, and the story is both personal and extraordinary.

Marvel can't seem to keep a creative team on a book for more than three issues these days, so I'm hoping Duggan and Medina can stay at it a while. Their story kicks off with Sam's Nova helmet showing him different points in the galaxy where Nova's have died, presumably so Sam can collect the helmets. He's balancing this Nova task with his high school Earth duties like school, babysitting and being forced to join the chess club.

Its really what I want from the Green Lantern books that I'm not getting. Nova is hitting all the right notes.

Panel of the Week:

Something about Carlos D'Anda's 2-1B really moved me this week.

-Gint

A Man of Many Talents

It wasn't until we did Episode 35 of the Podcast where we talked about our favorite cartoons that I realized how much J. Michael Straczynski was involved in my childhood. Unknown to me he did a LOT of cartoon work. I've read a lot of his comic book bibliography and the only real stinkers were Superman: Grounded and Wonder Woman: Odyssey. Oddly, written both at the same time. If you're a fan of comics, cartoons or general nerdom, chances are JMS has done something you like.

In less happy news, Animal Man is ending. Its not being cancelled, DC is letting writer Jeff Lemire (who has written it since the New 52 launched) end on his own terms. On one hand I'm really bummed that one of my favorite books, and one of DC's best titles, is wrapping up. But I'd much rather Lemire write his own ending after 28 issues than bring on a writer that just doesn't "get" what Lemire was doing.

Between Lemire and Travel Foreman, Steve Pugh and Rafael Albequerque on art, its been an amazing run. Thanks for the good times, guys.

-Gint

Soss' 12/12/13 Pull-List Reviews

All-New X-Men #18

Kitty and the young X-Men have left the school and joined Scott and his team. Wait… am I reading Uncanny X-Men? Redundancy, thy name is X-Men comics.

As a sign that things have changed, Kitty hooks up the young heroes with fresh multi-colored duds. Part of the appeal of the original X-Men was their retro uniforms. Now they just look like bad mid-nineties versions of themselves. This book has really made a wrong turn after Battle of the Atom. Crossing my fingers and hoping it can right the ship. -Soss
 

Panel of the Week: Some nice non verbal story telling by Stuart Immonen

The Supernatural Diaries

The CW has to have the most diverse lineup of shows of the basic cable networks. You go from one extreme to the other with shows like Hart of Dixie and The Carrie Diaries to Supernatural and Arrow. They must be doing something right because a lot of the CW's current lineup has been around for a long time. The Vampire Diaries (much to my surprise) is in its 5th season and Supernatural is in its 9th.

Stretching back to when it was still The WB, the network has been responsible for cult hits and syndication standards like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 7th Heaven, Smallville, Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars.

I've been shit on quite a bit over the years for liking the The CW, but the numbers don't lie. The network has produced a lot of quality gems over the years. At least one of SOMETHING to fit in anyone's wheelhouse.

-Gint

Ps, I would LOVE to see the Supernatural/Carrie Diaries crossover. Supernatural has done tongue-in-cheek episodes before. Just need to get The Carrie Diaries on board.

Pps, No, I don't watch The Carrie Diaries.

Gint's 12-4-13 Pull-List Review

We say adieu to a pretty freaking bad book this week. It shan't cast its pall on the Pull-List ever again.

Fourth Place:

Batman Superman #6

More horizontal format shenanigans from Brett Booth. Couple that with a god-awful story and this is the shittiest book I've read in a long time. In fact, this is the last issue I'll be buying.

This book had a lot of promise when Greg Pak and Jae Lee kicked the book off. But now we're getting silver age silliness and weak art from Booth. Somehow Superman and Batman have been taken over by Mongul who is using the heroes as characters in a live video game, controlled by online gamers, to take over the Earth. I don't even know how the science of that works. I expect better from Mongul. And I expect more from Pak. His first arc was mediocre, this arc is flat out shit.

I've done a fair bit of hanging on to questionable books to finish an arc or whatever. This book won't make the cut.

Third Place:

Guardians of the Galaxy #9

I think I mentioned this last issue, but I Francesco Francavilla is not an artist that should be on something like Guardians. Hawkeye? Yes. Some other ground level hero? Yes. But for big epic space battles he just doesn't feel at home.

The other problem with this book is Bendis' dialog. Everyone has a witty zinger in the chamber. How is every character in this book a comedian? Rocket Raccoon is nearly unreadable. He had a relatively understated comedy in the old Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning run, but Bendis just writes him over the top and aggravating.

The only think keeping this book on the Pull-List right now is the potential return of Richard Rider. But the book really isn't that good. Speaking of the old bait and switch (see above) Marvel keeps pulling it too. Offer me Bendis and McNiven... then give me Bendis and a rotating cast of artists. Lame.

Second Place:
Green Lantern #26

Gah, I just can't get over hating the finite reservoir of emotional light idea. No matter how much I try to focus on other things going on, like the Durlan's being the bad guys, I can't get away from the ridiculousness of the light reservoir.

So, besides that, this was a pretty standard book. Lanterns find some bad guys, Hal calls in reinforcements, Lanterns win... sort of. Robert Venditti and Billy Tan are really playing up the grey area of what the Corps does and should police. The Corps is in a real rough spot right now transitioning from the Guardians to Hal's leadership. That much is interesting. And the way Venditti writes Hal and the other Lanterns in spot on. But the reservoir business is dumb.

Following up Geoff Johns ICONIC run was going to be tough. Venditti and Co. had me the first couple issues, but I'm afraid they're starting to lose me now.

First Place:

DC Universe vs. Masters of the Universe #3

How is a silly concept like this at the top of my Pull-List all the time? I believe its because the creative team putting it together really cares about the characters and wants to make something good.

They're doing a great job. Three issues in and it looks like Dexter Soy is finally finding a groove drawing this book. After He-Man kills Superman, the Masters are on the run on Earth since Skeletor has magically brainwashed the Justice League. What we have is just a classic team up story. Pretty soon the Masters and Justice League will make up and go after Skeletor. But until then Tony Bedard and Soy are doing a great job showing us what comics should be about: fun.

I love this book. Its well crafted and well written. Something I can't say about a lot of books these days.

Panel of the Week:

Dexter Soy's splash of the B-list Masters and B-List Justice League going at it.

-Gint  

Holiday Spirits

You better watch out. You better not cry You better not pout. I'm telling you why. Mandarin is coming to town.

While I enjoyed Ben Kingsley's take on the Mandarin this past summer there still is a part of me that is sad that Iron Man's greatest villain served only as comic relief. -Soss

Soss' 12/5/13 Pull-List Reviews

Amazing X-Men #2

The X-Men are split between heaven and hell as they battle the followers of Azazel. Not a lot of Nightcrawler in this one but I do like that Bendis is showing restraint by not over using this fan favorite.

Ed McGuinness is winning me over with this book. I wasn’t a fan of his over exaggerated style but he has pulled back on that. Amazing X-Men is worth it just for his art. -Soss

Panel of the Week: A generation of Napster users will find themselves in the same predicament.