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thebibliomancer · 7 years

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100 Days of Comics! 072/100: Prophet #3 (1994)

And we return to Image with today’s selection from the box of mystery.

Maybe I’m too kneejerk critical of stuff that came from eXtreme Studios.

For example, would I perhaps think that a gun-toting cigar-chomping action movie star named and designed for Jack Kirby would be a hilarious tribute if it came from anyone else’s pen? I do like ridiculousness in general.

And Jack Kirby did serve in World War II and was by all accounts open to kicking ass.

So why is it particularly stupid here?

Anyway. Deathmurderbloodspray or perhaps just Bloodstrike has tracked down John Prophet and Jackson Kirby to an Alaskan research facility. Prophet has just succeeded in re-establishing a link with the D.O.C.C. satellite which I will be calling Dopey. Although to do so, Prophet and Kirby beat up many guards working for the federal government so the government off-the-books black ops team Bloodstrike is unhappy.

Bloodstrike of course has Cabbot (power of guns, probably Cable), Tag (if she touches you you’re paralyzed see its kinda like freeze tag), Shogun (power of more guns, being a big robot), Fourplay (has four arms and her head is cosplaying as Boba Fett), and Deadlock (Wolverine ripoff #324).

Bloodstrike gives Prophet and Kirby the option of doing this the easy way or the hard way and because this is a Image comic book, Prophet decides to do the the way that involves violence and flexing and a failure to grasp basic anatomy.

Prophet is highly religious by the way. The guy is just always talking about god.

Not Wolverine decides blasphemy is the best way to get under Prophet’s skin and boy is he right.

Not-Wolverine: “Great! We got ourselves a religious fanatic ta boot! Well, lemme tell ya, kid, yer god died on a cross -- bloodied and beaten, they buried him in a tomb. So what if he rose from the dead?! Big deal! We got that down to a science! If risin’ from the dead is enough ta qualify ya as the savior, then you should get on yer hands and knees an’ give me my due! I’ve seen the face of death more times’n I can remember! An’ it ain’t some bright light at the end of some tunnel, either! It’s a cold, dark, lonely place! There ain’t no god, kid! Your beliefs are a fantasy, kid! A joke! You can take that to yer grave!”

Not-Wolverine’s gloves also disappear between panels. Probably realized it was silly to try to claw people through gloves.

He’s a jerk but he raises very interesting questions about the nature of resurrection in a comic universe. But also he’s a jerk so Prophet punches him out.

Meanwhile, Jack Kirby, comics legend, fights Tag and Fourplay at the same time by ducking out of the way so Tag tags Fourplay because these highly trained government operatives never learned about crossfire or not getting in each others’ way.

But then moderately large robot Shogun attacks and wings Kirby through the shoulder with bullets. So Prophet rips off Shogun’s head.

But with Bloodstrike beaten, a new challenger enters the fray and blasts Prophet on their way in as a sort of warning shot.

It is Agent McCormick of the FBI in her ridiculous very patriotic spandex and her legion of robot people or people in robot suits. She tells Prophet that he is the property of the US government and they want him back.

If Prophet is Captain America (because he was defrosted) then I guess McCormick is like Sharon Carter? Look, all I’m implying is that there are few original ideas in here.

Oh and there’s an epilogue where a crackling energy disturbance opens up in a back alley and a woman steps through in a silly leotard with belts and pouches and face markings and a big gun and another less practical big gun.

God. Its like Liefeld’s wet dream spilled onto the page.

The woman (feeling very much like she’s taking a little inspiration from Terminator) announces that she is JUDAS and she’s here to kill John Prophet.

Gooood luck with that.

#100 Days of Comics!#Prophet #Rob Liefeld #Bloodstrike #i tried to be less of a snarky ass but I failed #i failed a lot #also theres not much plot here beyond the fight

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Loki Collectibles: Key God of Mischief Comics to Own for Marvel Fans

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When you really think about it, there is probably no comics character more responsible for more amazing runs of Marvel books than Asgard’s God of Mischief, Loki Laufeyson. This is partly due to the secretly high concentration of outstanding Thor runs through the ages, but, as you’ll see, Loki is largely responsible on page for the birth of the shared Marvel Comics Universe, which puts their horns in a lot of different comics pies.

Loki is about to be hotter than ever, which means that key single issues from his comics history are going to become even more collectible than before…and sound investments if you’re hoping to own some pieces of comics history that will appreciate in value over time.

Journey Into Mystery #85

Just two issues prior to this one, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby had relaunched a Twilight Zone-ey anthology book into Marvel’s home for big, booming Norse god superheroics.

Journey Into Mystery #85 continued the development of that world, and brought Thor’s trickster brother into the Marvel U. This is a fairly straightforward Marvel silver age book, with a silly plot and some stunning, boldly imaginative art from King Kirby. The costumes and characters aren’t quite settled in iconography yet, but much of what Loki will become is here in these pages.

Journey Into Mystery #85 is massively collectible already, and will only be worth more as the show makes him more popular, but it’s also an indelible piece of comics history: Lee and Kirby are really cranking up the Marvel universe here, and you can see the green shoots of the inventiveness and brilliance that makes Kirby the greatest ever on some of these pages. If you’ve got a couple thousand bucks lying around, that is – in addition to being the first appearance of Loki, Journey Into Mystery #85 is the first appearance of Odin, Heimdall, and Balder as well. You’re looking at spending at least $2,000 for a copy, and probably a couple times that if you want one in decent shape.

Buy Journey Into Mystery #85 here.

Avengers #1

There came a day like no other, and that day set the stage for the Marvel Universe as we know it. Avengers #1 is the true birth of the shared Marvel comics world, the first time Marvel characters stopped being guest stars in other books and started existing within them, just off screen. And it’s all because of Loki. Imprisoned on the Isle of Silence by their brother, Loki uses their magic to trick the world into thinking the Hulk is rampaging. That brings together four heroes new to the world: Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and Iron Man. Those four team up to defeat the God of Mischief, throw him in a lead tank, and then agree to work together moving forward. And the rest was history.

Avengers #1 was always highly collectible, but it’s also extremely popular, so you’ll have lots of chances to snag a copy if you can’t afford to spend $30,000 on an authentic, quality copy from the 1960s. The book has been reprinted several times, most recently in 2016, with its original cover. And there are convention exclusive reprints with J. Scott Campbell covers (sketch and colored) that can be had for only $30.

Buy Avengers (1963) #1 here.

Thor #353

Walter Simonson may be the definitive Thor storyteller in Marvel history. His behemoth run was the foundation text for arguably the best MCU film, Thor: Ragnarok, and saw him give the defining takes on just about all of Asgard, from Thor himself all the way to minor, secondary villains like Skurge the Executioner or Lorelei. But not many characters did better under Simonson’s watch than Loki. Thor #353 is one of many high points of this run, featuring Loki and Thor fighting alongside Odin to stop Surtur’s rampage.

Compared to earlier entries on this list, the Simonson run as a whole is MUCH more collector friendly. Thor #353 can be had in perfect condition for cheaper than many new books. In fact, you’re as likely to find this issue as part of a lot of Simonson Thor comics as you are to find it alone. And that’s great – the whole run is worth your time.

Buy Thor #353 here.

Thor (2007) #5

It’s hard to believe now, but there was a period in the early 2000s when Marvel just stopped publishing Thor comics. They ended one run with a magnificent Ragnarok, let Asgard lie dormant for almost 3 years, and then brought the Norse gods back in a big way, and nobody was more changed by that return than Loki. She returned from the post-Ragnarok nothingness as a woman in this issue, written by J. Michael Straczynski and dazzlingly drawn by Olivier Coipel. Expect this to be referenced in the new series.

Thor #5 is almost certainly underpriced as of publication. You can find copies of the regular cover for close to cover price, while the issue’s lone variant by J. Scott Campbell is going for in the $25-$40 range. This is almost certain to go up because of the show, and if Loki spends any serious screen time as a woman, it should go up by a lot. Now might be a good time to get in on the ground floor.

Buy Thor (2007) #5 here.

Journey Into Mystery #622

No run of Loki stories has likely had a greater influence on the MCU’s take on Loki than what Kieron Gillen did with him, starting at the end of the big Siege crossover, Loki dies at the hands of The Sentry, and is immediately resurrected as a preteen version of himself. From there on, Kid Loki becomes one of the most beloved Marvel comics characters of the past decade: tricky, razor smart, self-aware, and ambiguous.

This issue in particular, with excellent pencils from Doug Brathwaite, is an incredible deep dive on who Loki is and what role they serve in the story of Asgard, and the combination of quality and intermedia importance is helping this issue do some numbers online – the second printing in particular, featuring a photo cover of Tom Hiddleston fully be-horned in his movie Loki getup, is going for between $75 and $100. That will probably calm down some after the show, but I’d bet not by a ton, considering where the story might go.

Buy Journey Into Mystery #622 here.

Young Avengers #1

Gillen’s time shepherding Kid Loki continues as the trickster teen assembles yet another cadre of Avengers. It features a team of Marvel sidekicks and legacy heroes echoing their predecessors – the children of Vision and Scarlet Witch (Wiccan and Speed) and Wiccan’s boyfriend Hulkling; Kate Bishop, the second and better Hawkeye; kid Loki; Noh-Varr, the Marvel Boy from an alternate reality; depowered mutant genius Prodigy; and alternate reality ass kicker Ms. America.

So between it’s likely importance to the future of the MCU (this team is almost guaranteed to be the foundation of the inevitable Young Avengers MCU entry) and the staggeringly gorgeous art from Jamie McKelvie, this book is a must buy. Fortunately, there are lots of options – Marvel knew this would be a hit when it launched, so they had multiple variant covers (from both Skottie Young and Scott Pilgrim’s Bryan Lee O’Malley, as well as the now-traditional blank sketch variant). You can find original covers for a little over cover price, and variants in the $10-$25 range. The second printing of the first issue – with a black, white and blue sketch version of the O’Malley variant – can be found in that range too.

Buy Young Avengers (2013) #1 here.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #1

If Kieron Gillen’s story is about what Loki means to the story of the Marvel Universe, Al Ewing’s Loki: Agent of Asgard is about what Loki means to their own story. As Young Avengers wrapped, Kid Loki was destroyed and replaced by a Hiddlestonier older version, one obsessed with establishing their own heroism. So they cut a deal: the ruling All-Mother triumvirate in Asgard would wipe old Loki stories from Asgardian records in exchange for Loki completing missions on their behalf on Earth. Agent of Asgard is half heist comic, half deep character piece, with an evil old version of Loki being the series’ recurring villain. Ewing and artist Lee Garbett turn in a witty, fun book that has some of the finest Loki character work in all ten realms.

Prices on this book have risen steeply of late, likely in anticipation of everything with Loki’s name on it getting hot. As such, you’ll be hard pressed to find a copy of even the first printing going for less than $15, and the real heavy hitter here – the sketch variant of Frank Cho’s Jim Steranko homaging Loki cover – is up over $200.

Buy Loki: Agent of Asgard #1 here.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #8

In this issue of Ryan North and Erica Henderson’s top-tier Marvel run, New York is under attack from Ratatoskr, the trash talking squirrel who runs messages up and down the World Tree. Squirrel Girl battles Ratatoskr’s rumor mongering with the help of Loki, Odinson, Jane Foster Thor, and SG’s roommate, Nancy Whitehead, who it turns out is the author of a great deal of Asgardian fan fiction. Only with all the Norse Gods replaced by cats. Loki, of course, finds this hilarious, and spends the rest of the story with Cat Thor’s head, and it is utterly delightful for everyone except their very frustrated brother.

It’s not an impactful moment in Loki’s history. It does nothing to the MU’s metanarrative, and until they decide to bring in the Netflix properties and use Squirrel Girl as Jessica Jones and Luke Cage’s au pair like they did in the comics, this will have nothing to do with the MCU. So you can find this for cheaper than cover price, or as part of lots that are cumulatively MUCH cheaper than cover price. And that’s great: these Squirrel Girl stories were terrific. They’re worth every penny at twice the price.

Buy Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015) #8 here.

Vote Loki #1

Christopher Hastings and Langdon Foss do something interesting with Loki here: instead of using him to comment on the Marvel Universe, they use them to comment on ours. Vote Loki was a send up of American electoral politics, mocking the…ever-changing nature of the American electorate by having Loki campaign for President as an open, avowed, amoral liar. I’ll be honest, there are moments where this one still lands a little shakily, but it’s certainly improved since its unfortunate release timing (in the middle of the 2016 election). It’s smart and fun, and from the looks of the Loki trailer, probably important.

Like everything else with Loki in the title, the market has gone a little crazy for these of late. The main covers are going for multiple times the cover price, and the variants (particularly the Valerio Schiti incentive cover for the first issue) up in the 3 and 4 figures. Wild for a book that’s this new.

Buy Vote Loki #1 here.

Thor #4

Some of these books are here because they’re brilliant investigations of comic storytelling, or deeply personal character studies of complex, multifaceted comics characters with a half century of history. And some are on here because they have a scene where Thanos tells the Norse goddess of death “It’s not you, it’s me” in the middle of a sham wedding in Hel. Thor #4 is almost at the big War of the Realms, the culmination of Jason Aaron’s nearly ten years writing Thor, and it’s an absolute blast. If you read the excellent Aaron run from start to finish, this will be one of your favorite issues.

If you get this issue’s James Harren variant – obtainable at less than $10 – you’ll be very happy with yourself for doing it.

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Buy Thor (2018) #4 here.

The post Loki Collectibles: Key God of Mischief Comics to Own for Marvel Fans appeared first on Den of Geek.

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grabey · 7 years

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Horsing around

After watching the Darksiders III trailer I’m surprised Gunfire Games didn’t take the opportunity to retcon out Vigil’s bizarre decision to rename Famine and Pestilence. Instead we are left with a game featuring that famed horse rider of the Apocalypse, Fury (the other one is Strife).

The series has always seemed weirdly reluctant to make full use of the cool premise of the Four Horsemen battling against Heaven and Hell. Darksiders II was set largely in a fairly generic fantasy world with the Apocalypse pushed into the background and Death portrayed as an elite warrior rather than the actual Grim Reaper.

I don’t know if they’re just worried about stirring up religious controversy, but I can’t help but feel the setting would be more interesting if it went deeper into the Book of Revelation inspirations. TGN Professor

GC: It’s almost certainly the religious aspect, particularly with regards to the American market. As you imply, we can’t help but feel they would’ve been better off making up their own fantasy universe from scratch.

Stuck in time

Hooray!

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been playing through Darksiders, having enjoyed the sequel a few years ago. I was just thinking about what they could do for a third entry then saw the news about the new game which is great. Although watching the IGN reveal trailer I’m a little disappointed to see that the story doesn’t seem to have moved on at all.

Darksiders has you as War trying to clear your name. Darksiders II has you as Death in a concurrent story to the first game – trying to clear War’s name. The trailer for Darksiders III starts with War in chains, so it looks like his name is still not cleared yet?! Don’t tell me Fury now has to clear his name!

I was also thinking the format might have changed slightly. It’s probably a bit ambitions for a smaller studio (assuming Gunfire Games are smaller studio compared to a company like Bungie) but maybe they could have or will do something like a four-player co-op where you each play one of the horsemen and have to take on Destiny style raid dungeons. Anyway, can’t wait to hear a bit more info.

If Darksiders III does OK, it’s pretty certain we’ll eventually get a fourth staring Strife but let’s just hope it’s not all about clearing War’s name again! PsillyPseudonym (PsillySeudonym – gamertag)

GC: According to IGN it’s ‘set around the same time as the events of Darksiders II’, so we think you’re right. It certainly doesn’t look like War’s name has been cleared in the trailer.

Big impression

Can I just say what a wonderfully creepy game Little Nightmares is. I think walking through the dark with all the mannequins around toward the end was great/nerve racking!

But I’d also like to draw people’s attention to the PS Store, where, if like me, you were happy with the news of a third Darksiders game there is a bundle of both remastered games for £16. Which considering it’s £16 for the first one alone is pretty good! Liam

Furniture land

Thank god Bethesda chose to release a Prey demo, indeed. Wanted to write in to defend against Phil’s point. I was always planning on getting Prey based on the premise, alone but was probably going to wait for some sales first.

After playing the demo on hard difficulty I was not disappointed by the previews suggesting it was ‘a thinking man’s game’, which is undoubtedly a dig at the Call Of Duty crowd. It was a challenge of nerve and mind, like a cross between Garry’s Mod prop hunt and The Thing. I raised my wrench against any and all mugs and chairs. Playing with headphones on, even mop buckets I knew were black spiders made me touch cloth because of that damn music sting!

After multiple playthroughs of the demo I now have a good idea of what skill trees to level up (hacking seems like a very useful starting point) and have now pre-ordered the game (£40 on Amazon Prime). Really looking forward to exploring the rest of the game and I hope it’s not too short. And I’m really glad Bethesda decided to release a demo.

They got extra money out of me by doing so, as the demo convinced me to buy as soon as possible because it is so different from the majority of other first person shooters available now. I never got round to playing Dishonored 2, so I can’t comment how much of a clone Prey may be to it but I like Arkane and hope they do well. Beware the chair! Stretchy Grunt

The second year

I’m seriously beginning to wonder whether the Nintendo Switch could be a hit on the scale of the Wii. Every time we hear a new story about it the situation seems even more positive than before. And despite what it seemed like before launch I think the release schedule is working out pretty well, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe clearly off to a great start and Splatoon 2 likely to do very well too. I’m not so sure about ARMS, but I’m beginning to think it won’t be ignored as others were predicting a few months ago.

But of course with E3 approaching it only makes me wonder more about what Nintendo has coming up next. Super Mario Odyssey should be the perfect way to end the year but what about after that? We know about literally nothing at the moment and they’ve already used up all their biggest franchises: Zelda, Mario Kart 8, and Super Mario. If Nintendo think they can follow that up with second-stringers like Pikmin and Kirby then I would’ve hoped they’d learned their lesson by now.

Maybe a new Metroid, since it’s been so long since we’ve had a proper one, but they need to keep with the new franchises. Splatoon worked out great and ARMS might do too. That’s what we need more of, not diminishing returns with a new Donkey Kong and a new Star Fox, until they get down to franchises not even their biggest fans care about. The Switch in 2017 seems to be working out great but it’s the Switch in 2018 I’m worried about now. Goose

You get what you pay for

Well, I just bought one of them retro game controllers from Argos with 200 games on it (you know the one where it’s in the shape of a joypad the size of a matchbox, priced at a tenner). However, I wasn’t expecting much for the price. Unfortunately, I will never know because my two-year-old LG 4K UHD smart telly hasn’t got the phono plugs to plug the game controller in so I can play it.

Now I not what you’re all going to say – why didn’t you go and get a converter to play the Damon thing? So off I went to my local Maplin store, only to be told it would cost me around £50 to buy a converter so I can see it on my screen. Or go and buy a new telly with the phono jacks already built into it. I wouldn’t mind but the whole gaming box only cost me a tenner in the first place.

So my question is how do other people manage to have all these other retro gaming devices like your new retro Ataris, Mega Drive, and the Nintendo gadgets to work on their tellies, because mines at least two-years-old now and surely any newer telly made after mine is just not compatible for these latest retro-crazed gaming devices to be played on due to the phono plugs. JAH

GC: We don’t know about the others but the NES Mini uses a HDMI cable. We assume you bought this, but it doesn’t seem to contain any real retro games – just a bunch of cheapo Flash games (there’s a PDF list here).

Oldest school

All this talk of remasters from gaz be rotten has got me thinking. I’d like to see much older games put onto games consoles, ones that were invented long before video games.

When I was growing up in Mevagissey many years ago my mates and I used to enjoy a jolly game of Poohsticks. I sure that some sort of video game could be made out of that.

Here’s hoping for some Inbox magic The Dark Fud

Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here

Making the list

I have just finished playing Titanfall 2 and although it’s a great game, it doesn’t quite beat the other multiplayer shooters I’ve played in recent years.

My list goes in reverse order: 4. Titanfall 2 3. Overwatch 2. Star Wars: Battlefront (controversial!) 1. Splatoon (of course)

I’ve got a feeling not everyone will agree with that list. One thing I’ve noticed in all four games is the lack of emphasis or downright absence of a free-for-all mode. Titanfall 2 obviously has one, but the wait for a match was 10 times longer than the team modes – making it very unappealing to actually play. Free-for-all used to be the only game in town, with several different variants, but slowly it is being wiped out by team modes/games.

It seems a real shame as I am naturally a lone wolf player and free-for-all is a much more fitting mode for me to play. Not that I don’t enjoy team games at all, with Splatoon my favourite game ever, but I miss the more cutthroat and chaotic play of having everyone out to get you. Free-for-all is something I’d love to see as an option in Splatoon 2, I’m sure they could find a way to make it work. Ryan O’D PS: I know some would cry foul that they weren’t included already, but I hope they release new DLC tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Inbox also-rans

What’s everyone assuming Bethesda’s two new games at E3 are? Wolfenstein must be one of them, but what’s the other? The Evil Within 2 by the sound of the rumours I’d say. Ollie

Do you know what Link’s favourite song is? A Good Heart These Days Is Hard To Find by Feargal Sharkey. DMR

This week’s Hot Topic

The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Steiner, who asks how much money do you spend on gaming a month?

Do you have a specific budget that you stick to, or some other kind of system to make sure you don’t spend too much at once? What do you do when multiple games come out at the same time? And do you try and have money in reserve for the launch of new consoles and other hardware?

What percentage of your games do you buy for full price and how much do you take advantage of sales? Do you resell your games or buy second-hand, and how are your habits changing as digital downloads become more prominent?

from Blogger Darksiders III reaction, Titanfall 2 free-for-all, Nintendo Switch

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