The Marvel universe as we once knew it is no more! An event years in the making and one that culminates in the Secret Wars crossover event, Marvel Comics has destroyed what’s left of its multiverse by smashing the last two planets together. All that’s left is Battleworld, a patchwork of lands from different points in Marvel history. I generally avoid crossover events like the plague, but the promise of total annihilation was too hard to ignore. So far, I’m glad to to be in!
comics
Niagara Falls Comic Con 2015 Recap
Taking place just north of the border was Niagara Falls Comic Con. While Steff and I are no strangers to the Falls, it was our first time heading down there for the convention. Arriving just before opening on Saturday, thousands were lined up around the building, anxious to get in. Though we in Toronto are spoiled with a number of conventions of our own, I was really glad to have gone out of town for this one.
Going to Niagara Falls Comic Con!
Niagara Falls Comic Con, here we come! For the first time, Steff and I will be heading out of town for a convention. Not expecting the scale of Fan Expo Canada, but I’m definitely looking forward to a Saturday of quality nerd time.
Some of the headlining guests include David Hasselhoff, Alfonso Ribeiro and Scott Wilson, best known as Hershel from The Walking Dead. Personally, I’m most pumped for the Howard Scott Warshaw panel, as he’s the guy that made E.T. on the Atari 2600. It would be an honour to have him autograph my copy!
My shopping list for the day is looking pretty thin, but maybe that’s a good thing. My gut says though I’ll have no problem breaking the bank once I get there. If you’re heading out to the show, hope you have a great time!
Buy Secret Wars Now From Amazon.com
Uncanny X-Men #600 delayed from May until after Secret Wars and what it could mean
Fans looking to close the book on the Marvel Now edition of the X-Men are going to have to wait a while. Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of Uncanny X-Men and All New X-Men confirmed on his Tumblr page that Uncanny X-Men #600 has been delayed from May to October 2015 for “editorial and commercial reasons”. Besides the obvious time difference, there are other, more scummy reasons why this delay sucks.
Merideth and David Finch Make their Wonder Woman Debut
Jumping off of its pages with a striking art style, juicy stories and a powerful heroine that demands respect, Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang rocked my socks in a huge way. That series immediately became one of my favourites and converted me into a huge fan of the character. I have since tried to track down more Wonder Woman content by other creators, though none of their works have captured my imagination like Azzarello and Chiang.
I wish they could have stayed with the Amazonian princess forever, though their run concluded with issue #35. Picking things up at issue #36 is Merideth and David Finch. Based on their debut outing, are we in for a new Wonder Woman dynasty?
Board Game Night Playlist: Superhero Games
Whether it be on the silver screen, Saturday morning cartoons, or lunchboxes, superheroes have existed outside of the comic book pages for almost as long as they’ve existed. I, for one, knew of Spider-Man and the X-Men first from their cartoon exploits, while my first real exposure to Batman was from the Michael Keaton movie back in 1989. Superheroes have also had a presence in the board game space for decades, though the vast majority of these efforts were shoddy cash grabs.
Some of the modern superhero games still are poor titles that are excuses to make a quick buck, though both DC and Marvel have made honest efforts to improve their board game portfolios to the point where they both have games that are great by any measure. If you’re in the mood to live the superhero experience in tabletop gaming form, try these ones out!
How Matt Fraction and David Aja Made Hawkeye Cool
Over the course of Hawkeye’s 50+ years of existence, he’s probably had some high points in terms of his popularity and importance to the comic book universe. With my limited comic knowledge, I can’t say for certain what those points were or if they ever really happened. To me, Hawkeye was the purple Robin Hood-like guy in the Spider-Man arcade game, and who would choose Hawkeye in a game where you could play as Spider-Man? Many years later, he was mostly just a guy in the background of the Avengers movie. Maybe I’ve been looking at him the wrong way, or others who haven’t framed him in the right context, but based on the first 11 issues of Hawkeye as depicted by Matt Fraction and David Aja, I think they’ve got it.
Time for Spider-Gwen and Silk to Shine
Around this time last year, comic fans were anxiously awaiting the triumphant return of Peter Parker as Spider-Man. He’s been on a hiatus of sorts, as Doctor Octopus had taken control of his body for a few years thanks to a heinous mind swap. With Peter back in control, we wondered how he’d cope with all of the changes that Doc Ock made to his life.
Roughly one year and one potentially-cataclysmic Spider-Verse run later, Peter Parker is once again pushed out of the spotlight. This time, it’s by Spider-Gwen and Silk; two new characters introduced during Peter’s return.
Wolverine is Dead. Long Live Wolverine.
The immortal Wolverine was finally forced to face his own mortality after losing his healing factor a few years ago. During that span, he had many close calls and time to think about what awaits him on the other side. Last October, the inevitable happened, as Logan finally kicked the bucket in the four-part Death of Wolverine mini-series.
He’s one of my favourites, but I was alright with seeing him go. Even as a new comic book reader, I felt like he was in way too many books and he as a character kind of lost his identity. Furthermore, stories he was the focal point in were mostly bad, including the tale of his own demise. Death is rarely permanent in comics, and a character of Wolverine’s stature is guaranteed to come back eventually. But are we even getting a chance to miss him?
Comic Content Hiatus
Just over a year ago, I discovered the wonderful medium of comic books and made them a part of my everyday life. During this discovery phase, I wrote about comics a lot. I even dabbled a little bit into video content with the In Third Person Comic Book Show. The comic situation today is a bit different. I still read, though it’s been months since I’ve posted about them in earnest. What gives?
In Third Person 
