Brave New Worlds

SHARON VENTURA…aka SHE-THING and Ms. MARVEL!

Sharon Ventura was created by Mike Carlin and Ron Wilson and made her first appearance in The Thing #27 in 1985 . If there can be a She Hulk why can’t there be a She-Thing?!

read her wikipedia entry here

read her comicvine entry here

Be sure to check back next week to see who or what I pull out of obscurity to showcase here in A Character To Learn More About!
Also if there are any suggestions for whom you may like to see here in this section shoot me an email with any suggestions [BRiAN]

We are welcoming a monthly Munchkin game back to Brave New Worlds Willow Grove beginning March 13. So break out your cards, wake your friends and get ready to Kill the Monsters, Steal the Treasure and Stab Your Buddy.

Our monthly game is perfect for everyone, fans of the game, beginners (we will teach you, and try not to steal all of your stuff).

So now is the time to jump back on the bandwagon. Join us and we travel to the dungeon, kill everything we meet, backstab our friends (because what are friends for) and steal their stuff. Don’t forget to grab the treasure and run.

Looking for that final piece to finish off your Hammer of Thor HeroClix set? Well look no further than Brave New Worlds as we have received Thor’s Mighty Chariot for the Hammer of Thor set.

Your team will be nigh-invulnerable with this figure on the board. Beware all who attempt to defeat you.

So make sure you stop by today, before Thor’s chariots take off for good.

Hulk #19 this week had it all – the Fantastic Four, M.O.D.O.K., Klaw and oh yeah, Red Hulk. Plus add-in Ed McGuiness on pencils and you have an instant classic (seriously).

It has been awhile since the entire Fantastic Four has been in a story together and I was ready for an all-new adventure with Marvel’s first family. Lucky for me Hulk #19 fit the bill and felt more like an issue of Fantastic Four than the Hulk. But, there is a reason for this if you have been following the Fall of the Hulks story line by Jeph Loeb.

This week saw the inevitable return of the Frightful Four, all souped up and ready to take on Reed and the gang once again. Without giving too much away, wackiness ensues (of course) and it is up to the Red Hulk (that’s right) to save the day.

I have to say, I am really glad I gave this once-maligned title a try. The Fall of the Hulks arc has been enjoyable and this issue definitely moves that story forward. Also, if interested, you should try out the Incredible Hulk as well as some of the Fall of the Hulks tie-ins as this story is finally moving towards a resolution.

And I still say all the Red Hulks are really Betty.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …

Admit it, for most of us, despite our feelings towards the prequels, these words still get us all sorts of amped up, like drinking Red Bull while eating a couple of jelly donuts – good times.  But I digress.

Say what you want about the prequels, Star Wars is still a lot of fun.  And despite the generations that worship the original trilogy, there is an entire new audience enjoying Star Wars for the first time that is living the dream we once had, based on The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

So, where most of us had to suffer with just the three original movies on VHS for years and years, this new generation gets all-new weekly adventures bridging the gaps between Episode’s II and III with Cartoon Network’s Star Wars Clone Wars.

This all-new animated adventure continuing the saga George Lucas began over thirty years ago is very satisfying, and surprisingly dark.  The second season, which currently airs on Friday nights and is available for free on Star Wars.com or on iTunes, has really pushed the story-telling envelope, especially visually.

In one of the second season’s first episodes, we watched as Cad Bane the bounty hunter tortured a Jedi Knight to death.  Granted, it was not bloody or violent (this is still for kids) but it was just as intense, especially for an unsupervised little one.

The episode that has sold the entire series for me came recently where Obi-Wan and Anakin have to retake Genosis from the Separatist.  The episode felt like a scene taken directly out of the opening of Saving Private Ryan (if Saving Private Ryan took place in space).  It was an intense battle that was really powerfully told as we watched the heroes come under a non-stop bombardment.

If I still have not sold you on the merits of Clone Wars, then think about one more thing.  We finally get to witness what the movies only really teased us with, seeing Jedi Knights wield their lightsabers and use the force like true samurai’s.  It really is a lot of fun, for the kids and for the kids still in all of us.

And, if the cartoon has you geeked out for more adventures, stop by Brave New Worlds for Dark Horse Comics digest collections and monthly comic series.

This week sees the return of James Robinson’s Starman… sort of.  While Jack Knight is nowhere to be found in these pages his murdered brother returns as a Black Lantern – with all of city’s hero’s dead or out of town the citizens of Opal will have to look to ex-super villain The Shade for rescue.

By James Robinson, Fernando Dagnini and Bill Sienkiewicz.

$2.99, 32 pages, full color

Haven’t read Starman before?  One of the best series of the 90’s is currently available in softcover trade paperback and really nice hardcover omnibus volumes.  Stop by the store to check them out.

Welcome to the first edition of Random Retro Comic Review.  Here is the situation, twice a month I will dip my hand blindly into the Brave New Worlds back issue comics vault and pull out a gem from yesteryear that I will in turn read and share with you.

This month’s first adventure features “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!” and was the second part of a two-issue tale that began in (you guessed it) Avengers #190.  The cover itself sells the issue and promises a good time as “The Avengers Felled by the Grey Gargoyle!” and “It’s All-Out Action in the Avengers’ Tradtion!”  Awesome stuff.

Joining the story in progress, moments before the splash page, the Avengers have unwittingly (of course) released the Grey Gargoyle from his stone prison and he in turn repaid them by turning Iron Man and Daredevil (who was just tagging along because in New York that is what heroes do) to stone.

Daredevil’s inclusion in the issue is just one of the things I miss from comics back in the day, where it seemed like Spidey, the Fantastic Four, X-Men and Avengers were always popping up in someone else’s book.  I know it still happens today, but it does not have the same surprise as it did back then.  But I digress …

Part two of a two-part story, “Back to the Stone Age” is a wonderful journey back to the way comic stories used to be told.  It was a lot of fun reading this issue and getting readjusted to the narrative of the time, where all the characters had thought balloons explaining everything they were thinking.  When someone wasn’t saying what was what, they were definitely thinking it.

Meanwhile, back to the story, Avengers #191 was a lot of fun to reread.  The issue’s big bad was the Grey Gargoyle, and David Michelinie gave readers a quick update on his whereabouts and his origin story.  Granted, it took up about a page, but for readers who might not be familiar with GG, it was valuable reading.

Of course it would not be much of a story if the Avengers took down GG right away, so he handles the current lineup which started in issue #181 (Iron Man, Cap, Beast, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon and Ms. Marvel, who joined in issue #183) with ease.  The Falcon manages to get away to track GG back to his lair (an old apartment) and with the help of his faithful falcon Redwing, slows GG up enough for the calvary to arrive.  Cap’s shield does the rest.

John Byrne’s pencils and storytelling were as clean as ever and Dan Green’s inks provided the final masterstrokes.

It was funny to see the Grey Gargoyle’s best shots were taking out the Scarlet Witch and Ms Marvel, and turning Redwing to stone.  Damn him.

The arc began an issue earlier with the Avengers being brought in front of a special senate sub-committee at Henry Gyrich’s behest, but their work against GG showed the committee how important they are and the government actually gave them more autonomy as a result.

There were a couple of other interesting moments in the story, including where the Vision noticed that Wanda continued to be “off” ever since she returned from Attilan, leading to her departure in the next issue.

Another cool moment was when Beast wondered aloud if they should run off after the Grey Gargoyle or stay and wait for Iron Man and Daredevil to revert to normal.  Turns out only Tony’s iron was turned to stone and therefore he could answer Beast’s question himself – “… he’d say go!.”

Although all of the action took place on the streets on in an apartment, there was still time for a brief appearance for Jarvis, cooking for the gang’s return.

Another part of the experience I enjoyed reading the old issue was seeing some of the old advertisements including a two-page Star Wars toy collection promoting the inclusion of the newest villain – Boba Fett.  Plus, there was a lot of candy ads.

The issue marked the end of a 10-issue run on the book by Byrne (his second as he also pencilled issues 164-166).  Overstreet prices the book @ $10.00 in NM condition.  You can actually pick it up at Brave New Worlds Willow Grove for $1.00 (remember our back issue sale) as our copy is between fine and very fine (7.0) condition.

Issue Skinny

Avengers #191 (Volume 1) “Back to the Stone Age”

David Michelinie (w), John Byrne (a), Dan Green (a)

Released: January 1, 1980

Collected: The Avengers: Back to the Stone Age TP (Out-of-Print)

Until next time …

•Phantom Stranger #42: With DC’s Blackest Night in full effect, at this point, they have started raising comics from the dead by publishing single issues of comics that were canceled in days/years past. I’ve been enjoying this concept of the event tie-in so far…I mean how could I not after in Weird Western Tales #71 they gave me a chance to see a Black Lantern Jonah Hex! This issue looks to offer not only another chance to possibly learn more about DC’s possibly most enigmatic character The Phantom Stranger but also it looks like this cover features Blue Devil,  Deadman, Zatanna and wait…is that Black Lantern Spectre and Black Lantern Deadman!? Holy crap how’s that going to work out? I loved writer Peter J. Tomasi’s take on Boston Brand in the Batman Blackest Night series and he has been fantastic on Green Lantern Corps [ both are series worth checking out if you haven’t already ] so judging a book by its cover I am very psyched for this book.

•Wolverine Weapon x #9: With this book all I have to say is Jason Aaron. His hard hitting crime/Native American Reservation series Scalped from Vertigo is one of my favorites currently being published. When I heard he was writing his own Wolverine titled I was really excited. Having already done a few runs on the main Wolvie book a little while back and with his brutal/gritty writing style translating well to the character how could I not be? Then he used Maverick in the opening storyline!…who was ruined in the movie btw [ he’s my favorite mutant character but I’ll save the fanboy stuff for later ]. The second and current arc reads more like a horror comic than your regular superhero story, which may be a tun off for some readers but has totally got me hooked. With Wolverine locked in an asylum, like something out of a Rob Zombie movie, his brain is being fiddled with, yet again, causing him not to remember how or why he’s there in the first place. Through brutal torture after torture Logan is put through a wringer that only he can survive. As his memories have started returning in the form of night terrors he has started fighting back against the crazed Dr. Rottwell and his Silent Hill -esque victims. Yanick Paquette’s heavy blacks and bold lines are reminiscent of Duncan Fegredo’s  style in the last few Hellboy arcs of that series. After the last few issues there is no way that this storyline will end in a non-blood spattered wince-inducing happy kind of way. It wont be for the squeamish. Oh yea, from judging by the cover there are X-Men in it too.

how can you not want to read this too!?!

Also Jeff Smith’s RASL #6 will be out tomorrow [ it comes out once in a Blue Moon ] and it has Frankenstein on page #1…so you know I want to read that too. But I figured that would be a given since this series has been something that both Rob and I talk about all the time.

Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. have teamed up again for Iron Man 2.  It’s going to  be one of the biggest movies this year.  You can see the trailer right after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

For a while now I have been posting a thing on the BNW Facebook page [why not become a fan?] that I was calling “A Character to Know More About” in which I spotlighted obscure and sweet [interesting] characters that you should probably know more about. Click to see who it is! Read the rest of this entry »