The Pop Culture of Gus Lequerica

At least this one was a good week for Marvel since it fused with Disney; a few of the highlights of this weeks are the debut of Necrosha, the 20th issue of X-Force Vol 3 and X-Factor #50 Vol 2 (which was interesting even if don’t negate some previous time-lines regarding Trevor Fitzroy but rather gives more questions about the Summer’s Rebellion and Layla herself).

 

The last issue of the “filler” arc of Not Forgotten; nothing really happened in this arc and it was only a filler story before Necrosha began. The story itself don’t give too much to the myths of the X-Force but it’s rather an interesting exploration about Laura Kinney (X-23) and that she is more than the perfect soldier.

 

Beside that explanation there is not much to give to the concluded story about the Not Forgotten but if you want to wait for something good wait until Necrosha’s X-Force comes up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is probably one of the best issues of X-Factor ever but at the same time is one of those issues that leave more questions than answers but at least many of those questions regarding the continuity of the title and Marvel in General.

 

There are so many points to speak about this issue and maybe the first one is about Layla Miller; this issue contradicts with the previous ones regarding her clairvoyance powers, explicitly saying that those weren’t her power at all but rather healing and resurrection at the cost of giving back life but without the soul of the resurrected individual and that her knowledge of knowing stuff comes from a meeting with herself after returning from the future thus by creating a time loop/ predestination paradox about how Layla knew about a lot of things and from time to time giving doubts to everyone when she didn’t knew the exact information about what was going to happen.

 

The second interrogation about this issue comes in the bonus content where Franklin and Valeria Richards appear in what supposedly to be a cross over with the Fantastic Four but that is not the issue, the issue is about Valeria displaying from what it seems to be some kind of flying ability or some kind of telekinesis but according to the comic book itself we have to wait until December to see what happens.

 

On the meantime I will continue this entry tomorrow.

Uncanny X-Men #516 in my opinion was another filler for introduction of what is going to be about the return of Magneto and what is going to be in the arc of Necrosha that is going to be released next November.

 

So far Nation X hasn’t showed anything interesting to the exception of the evolution of some characters and the apparition of a new Predator X but beside that nothing had happened and probably nothing will happen until the Necrosha arc. So far Magneto returned to Earth and explained that after his alliance with the High Evolutionary, the effects produced by the M-Day can’t be undone (so far this is the biggest revelation of all) but there was a machine that could restore or replicate the abilities to the mutants who lost them to the effects of the M-Day; much like the M’Kran Cristal did to professor X by restoring his telepathy.

 

Sometimes in the Marvel universe after playing a lot with the status quo, the writers tend to return to the basics because playing with a few characters mean the creation of fewer arcs but one piece of information that is true it’s that after the M-Day the Marvel Universe won’t be restored to his previous status at all, a world filled with mutants.

 

I don’t what is going to happen with Nation X and maybe some of the issues will be explained in Necrosha which looks more cooler than nation X but as many previous stories we have to wait to see if it develops well and if it has a good ending much like Secret Invasion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BESIDE THAT BOTH DIDN’T LIKE MEGAN FOX,

THEY COULD TRANSFORM!

X-Factor #44: There is something good regarding about X-Factor right now and that is, there is almost no melodrama like it was when Syrin was pregnant with the Dupe child and Layla Miller is back to the title now as an adult, which is something really cool as there is some more chaos to the live of the characters; also, we continue to know more about the Summers Rebellion and Bishop’s future. Also there is other cool thing about X-Factor Investigations, it is that Monet St. Croix took the role of de-facto leader of the team as well we can see more about Darwyn dynamics with the team and more about himself, like he is attracted to Monet and that he cannot get drunk because of his mutant abilities. So far issue #44 as well issue #42 and #43 have been really interesting because for sometime a little bit after Manifest Destiny and between Secret Invasion the title was a little out of touch and was some kind of random. I highly recommend reading this arc for another reason, it shows the femme fatale that is Monet is and it takes the character to a new level that separates her from her teenage persona in Generation X.

 

 

 

The Initiative #24 Vol #1: I simply love the Art of Humberto Ramos and maybe is my main reason to collect this title that it seems is going to end really soon because there are no more ideas to keep the title fresh, except for the one at the end that (spoiler) Norman Osborn gives the Initiative to Taskmaster, so he can continue strengthening his own personal of super power individuals. This situation regarding Norman Osborn gives me the idea that maybe he is going to get killed at the end of Dark Reign saga because of the weight of his own acts… maybe Marvel is recycling certain ideas only with different settings, I’m watching another rise to the power by Harry only under the guise of American Son. I don’t recommend The Initiative anymore, in someway the title has jumped the shark and there are better titles right now besides this one and a few much better titles that are about to come.

Another week has passe, and is another week where my budget with amenities is restrained due the economical crisis and my own personal one; but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to enjoy one of my few indulgences, comic books (yes, even if I am 25 years old I like comics). One of the interesting comics that appeared this week was the Third Chapter of Messiah War which at the same time wasn’t that interesting *spoiler* as Stryfer reached Hope, X-Force and Cable; and we could get a glimpse of Apocalypse appearing at the end; maybe that means Archangel is going to join the baddies again, but in the weird Marvel time-line he appeared on issue #508 of X-Men, but I guess we need to wait to see what happens because we know Marvel time line is almost as messy as D.C. time line.

The art of Messiah War chapter three is a perfect ten, we have to applaud Clayton Crain for bringing the photo realism with this comic, as many comic books don’t have this kind style where reality is tried to be emulated until the last consequence. The writing is really cool Craig Kyle and Christoper Yost make a great team in terms of story telling as not many writers can achieve the suspense as this team gives, or as Michael Bendis who created the event Secret Invasion technically by himself.

With Messiah War, we are going to see the last consequences of Secret Invasion  and what role is going to be played by the so called Mutant Messiah.

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So… this is the beginning of the end of the Initiative? it better be, as the story seems to be running out of fresh ideas and I don’t think this title is going to be missed by many people and it sounds a good idea to that issue 24 or 25 would be the last one, and the members of the initiative would be placed on new teams or in the limbo where they are not going to be killed or anything. After almost a year the secret of the cloning of MVP has been revealed, Norman Osbourne closed Camp Hammond so what else is left for the Initiative, is difficult to speculate what is going to happen with all these characters, we can assume that some of them as Ultra Girl is going with the New Warriors an maybe Trauma is going with the baddies (if that happens is going to be cool) but what can the fans do?, just wait.

On a side note, I don’t know what to expect with the Avengers, there are what? 1, 2, 3 and 4; four teams of Avengers, The Avenger, New Avengers, Dark Avengers and Avengers: The Initiative; Marvel needs to do something with so many titles of the Avengers, is getting ridiculous, but what is getting really ridiculous is that there is no freaking clue about the Scarlet Witch, the real one.

Today April 08 we got the volume 2 of Exiles ; it was quite a shocker to see that this volume is a total reboot of the previous incarnation of the Exiles (so far with the first issue that is the idea we got), because Sage is no longer the liaison with the Panoptrichon and the one we got is Morph; but the biggest surprise is that the Blink we see in the cover so far don’t look like Blink we knew as she was surprised when she was assigned with the Talus or she don’t have any recollection of who is Morph’s.

 

I can’t make any judgment toward the story because is too early, and we have to see if this title has a link with the previous incarnation of the Exiles; but one thing that looks cool are the design of the characters (except Black Panther and Polaris who look the same as the mainstream universe) they look a little bit more hype  and I like the idea of the ninja look of Clarice Ferguson as well Forge looking more ninja (and a little bit more manga); but the only thing we can do is wait and see what issue number two brings to us, because issue number one wasn’t that good in was a little bit dissapointing.

 

But one last question, whatever happened to the last rooster?, if this at the end is not a reboot or a reimagening.

If you have been rickroll’d probably you have been left with the curiosity about what this meme things are, well a meme is a internet phenomenon which trough the use of multimedia has the objective to spread an idea or simple a joke, is basically an evolution on the original word that had the meaning of an imitable phenomenon; the meme evolved into that, it evolved in the internet as a imitable phenomenon when a video or photo ends successful other people want to mimic it as well.

In my opinion there are really good memes around the internet, but the ones that I am going to talk now are mostly placed on the “poop” category, but what is a “poop” is just a video where intended to cause shock or amusement in the user. Take a look on this 10 examples that I am going to present that are commonly found in Youtube.

1.    YTP Inspector Pingas (Inspector Gadget & Robotnik’s Pingas)
Simple in the animation, is just the intro of the popular cartoon Inspector Gadget, but the key with this video is the mix of the track, is quite clever.

2.    Mighty Morpin Pingas Ranger
The track is not the best, but the edition in the intro is quite funny and smart. UltraMoron parodied in the same way how Migthy Morphin Power Ranger parodied Super Sentai, the only difference is that Mighty Pingas is way better than Mighty Morphin.

3.    Kirby’s Falcon Pawnch
One word for this “hilarious”.

4.    Rick Roll: The Literal Version
This one can be another video from the Rick Astley fad, but we to admit is really funny and the dubber did a good job in mimic the pitch of Rick.

5.    Hotel Mario Toaster Scene
WTF?! I don’t get it, how the toaster went outside the roof without breaking it?, only in the 80’s and 90’s we can find something strange as this. Enjoy the cheesy dialog.

6.    Obey Weegee
Utterly creepy!.

7.    How to poop
This video is the source of many nightmares. A freaking talking toilet, your parents being voyeuristic by watching, your dad happy because you soil a dancing happy shit and at the end a Japanese boy pooping?! This video is on the borderline of pedophilia!.

8.    Dr Chou Chou Theremin
Just watch it; this bizarre humanoid plays the Theremin a really fantastic instrument.

9.    Caballeros del Zodiaco Costeños
Is in Spanish, but is not the pride of the people of the coast of Colombia.

10.     Hare Hare Yukai
Don’t watch it, your eyes will burn and your bones will melt because of the bad!.

In 2008 one of the founding members of the Avengers was killed in Secret Invasion #8. I don’t know if someone really is going to miss Janet in her comic book death as she was one of the least prominent characters in the past few years in any major storyline. Probably in Secret Invasion she was given a part just to kill her because there weren’t any major plots around Janet (not to mention that the character was also killed in the Ultimate’s, I wonder if the writers grew bored of the Wasp?).

I found the death of the Wasp a little bit Deux ET Machina, something that appeared almost out of nowhere just to explain the removal of the character, but well you know that almost no comic book character remains death, except for Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacey.

There is one truth with the Boondocks, and that is not as commercial as many other series and is sincere compared to the many television shows that are today.

 

The Boondocks tells the story about two African-American brothers Huey and Riley Freeman; both as different from each other, but not as different as the sides of the African Community that they represent. Huey been the radical, political active who looks for a better future of the community; and, Riley, the side of the community that is influenced by the negative side of the mass media (such as the rap industry and the stereotypes many rappers portray).

 

The paradox of The Boondocks is that both brothers even if they are completely different, as far as they can be, they show mutual compassion to each other, which is a message that can be followed by almost any community in the world, that even with our differences we are the same deep in the end and just the color of the skin and dogmas are just a small fraction of what men really are.

 

Huey is probably the most complex character from the entire series, as he is the only one who shows a complete creed about how cruel but yet intricate society is. Although that serves as a “vehicle” to Aaron McGruder political dogma, which isn’t that far as the one given to Huey, but still we can see how McGruder sees contemporary society.

 

Riley in the other hand, is what in Mass Communication is called a “Mass Man”, someone who don’t have a self-identity but an identity taken from the Mass Media, used to fill the void of not having a self-identity. Riley can be portrayed as the classical individual who believes in everything that is seen in television and in the Rap Doctrine (a doctrine that today is more commercial rather than spiritual or personal) and he follows’ it with passion, even if most of his heroes are just manufactured products.

 

The deal with The Boondocks is that is appealing to many audiences, as it was said previously because the show is fresh and real than many today shows.

Secret Invasion Finale

By: Gustavo Lequerica
As I predicted, Avengers won and Skrulls loose, but still the 8 month arc was cool to read, and we had different theories about the infiltrated agents, and how it was going to win, I guess it was a little obvious that they won instead of the Skrulls, that could had been more fun to the eyes of the readers, but not complains after all.

The story itself it wasn’t disappointing in my opinion, really well written, the narrative gave to the reader a certain sensation of paranoia because you wouldn’t knew who were the Skrulls from the heroes and everyone could be a Skrull, even I thought that Secret Invasion was only a simulation of the Skrulls to invade Earth due certain clues that I won’t going to mention, I mean there were a lot of possibilities that everything could happen… I guess ones of the things that I wanted to see more is the Skrulls role on the House of M; you can make a complete side story of that, to see the Skrulls acting in the House of Magnus.

Speaking about another positive aspect about Secret Invasion, and I don’t mean the tie-ins, the art was really cool as the narrative, you felt like been watching an animation in those pages, it was something positive that I expect to see in Dark Reign, and not some “boring” art like the one in X-Factor, nobody wants to see a square jaw character with little fluidity.

What revelations were shown in the arc of Secret Invasion?, I guess not many, the biggest surprise was the dead of The Wasp; I thought her “comic book dead” was more like an deux et machina rather than anything else, I mean Bendis killed The Wasp just because it was needed, and it wasn’t given any explanation about the method Skrull Henry Pym used on her, only one book before; I found that kind of lame coming from a talented writer as Michael Bendis, of killing one character just because he wanted.

Overall, the arc was cool, I give it a ten in both writing an art, and if you couldn’t buy it before due any given problem I recommend buying the graphic novel as soon is on the market, as it’s something worth of reading.

Hello to my few readers,

So December came, and practically another year passed by, it wasn’t a bad a year… well in terms of entertainment it wasn’t a bad a year, the strike ended and several of our favorite shows returned and other rest in peace in the graveyard of TvLand, for me it marks the first year I live away from home in my new home, a year that I have grew, a year filled with experiences, and a year that I don’t regret.

We can say that 2008, has been marked with several changes probably the most significant one is that the first African American was elected president of the United States, Marvel revitalized his franchise and D.C. sucks big time when they decided to killed Bruce Wayne the only good thing left in the franchise, as I say Batman is not Batman behind Bruce Wayne, but well I don’t care I don’t read D.C. main titles (as my friend Salima says Vertigo Rules D.C. drools) as well many other things, one thing that I am excited about is the new arc in Marvel Infernus, but you probably had read it by now the small recap in Wikipedia, yes I am going to buy it but not all the only that seems to be promising are the X-Men related titles…

I guess is late and I am going to bed, see ya later everyone.

A new character introduced soon after the death of Mister Sinister, at first we thought that maybe Miss Sinister (or Claudine Renko as she used that name in Original Sin #1 and #2) was only a pastiche of the original product, but even after her short debut Miss Sinister had proven to be a character of her own rather another version of the original counterpart.Still being a new character to the Marvel Universe, we can’t assume too much about her or speculate about her past, the only real thing we can know is that she was involved with Mister Sinister as Xavier and Shawn, we can’t even assume she is a clone or the next reincarnation of the original villain because her powers as personality are completely the opposite, as even she expressed to have a name, but we can’t assume that Claudine is that her real name as the reason the character is not fully developed yet

The character looks really promising, as the reason I said previously she is not Mister Sinister with a corset and that is what she is so interesting. As Original Sin is on, we have shown that Miss Sinister is quite manipulative, she is not afraid to use her sensuality as a weapon and she seems to be attracted to Daken (Wolverine son) and I don’t think Mister Sinister was bisexual… maybe I am heading too far with the possible ideas about who is Miss Sinister, maybe we can compare her to X-23   if she is a clone of Mister Sinister, since X-23 evolved differently from Wolverine.

So at the end we have to wait, what ideas the group of writer implement to Miss Sinister and what past they are going to give to her.