So Planet Hulk is the latest straight to DVD animated film to be thrown out at us by the awesome Marvel Animation and Lionsgate Home Entertainment partnership, and after catching it I have to say that for the first time I really wasn’t blown away by what up to now has been a pretty exciting surge in comic book-related film releases.

Based on the comic “Planet Hulk” storyline by Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan, Planet Hulk basically throws Hulk (from the phase when he was still the half intelligent green guy instead of the constantly morphing Bruce Banner to Hulk mode) off of our world thanks to some combined super hero ingenuity and sends out towards an uninhabited planet where he can’t be harmed and more importantly, can’t harm anything around him.

Unfortunately the plan goes slightly awry and Hulk finds himself cast upon an oppressed world where he is enslaved and tossed into the gladiator pits to become a fighter that will entertain the crowd as well as the all important Red King, the tyrant that rules the people of this planet in his iron grip.

However, Hulk’s appearance coincides with the natives’ legends of a saviour for their people and as Hulk slowly begins to gather followers (whether he wants them or not), the tide begins to shift as the Warbound, basically his band of fighters, continue their quest against ever stronger opponents to earn their freedom – and perhaps even that of the planet while they are at it!

While there is certainly nothing wrong with the story itself, the pacing just feels horribly wrong and we are shuttled from sequence to sequence, sometimes making huge leaps in the story being told and then simply be expected to fill in the details and make the mental leap ourselves. Stripping away everything else, this is pretty much a gladiator film and worse, a pretty tired gladiator story with the only new thing being aliens in Roman gladiator dress instead of humans.

The animation is pretty okay and the battle scenes are nice and fluid, though the visuals are kept pretty simple in terms of line count and colouring, and there isn’t all that much in terms of atmosphere created by the line art are shadowing. Also, I kept wondering to myself where Hulk’s nose kept disappearing to – for some reason they seemed intent on giving him the cutest little button nose whenever the opportunity arose! :P

Of course, as with all these new breed of animated films, there is a fair bit of animated violence to contend with, including the squishing of bug aliens by a huge brick monster. Nothing that should induce nightmares in kids, but something certainly worth taking note of.

The musical score and voice acting on the other hand are all pretty good and although I didn’t recognise most of the names on the voice roll call, I thought that just about everyone put in a pretty fine performance.

So in summary, a pretty average outing delivered to us courtesy of director Sam Liu, and it must be said that I can’t help but think that the work he delivers for the DC stable of animated films continues to be stronger than the work he delivers for Marvel. Still, it is an animated movie, it does feature the big green rampaging giant and so for any Marvel or comic book reader, this remains a film that should be watched and will bring joy to those fans of the jolly green giant! :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Hulk_(film)

We haven’t had much time for machine gun-wielding women on Cosplay Sundae as of late, so how better to get back into the swing of things by making this week’s hot cosplay entry of none other than the Baroness, Cobra Commander’s right-hand girl!

So distracting you might not even notice the machine gun in her hand!

The Baroness is a cold-hearted killer of a woman that serves as Cobra’s intelligence officer and lieutenant to Cobra Commander. The quintessential femme fatal, this ruthless black-haired beauty has for long been a thorn in the side of G.I. Joe.

Although the character wasn’t in the original G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero release back in 1982, the Baroness is however in fact the first character to make the crossover from the comic books, into the animated series and then finally into the toy line, making her debut as an action figure in the 1984 series.

Today’s sizzling cosplay comes to us courtesy of the popular Filipino (and fairly well know around the world) cosplayer, Alodia Gosiengfiao who as you can see puts on the absolute perfect face of everyone’s favourite badass femme fatal, the Baroness! Nice.

Baroness gracefully adopts a pose to dodge a bullet

Strong biceps are what are needed to hold up that machine gun you know

Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroness_%28G.I._Joe%29

Another week, another comic book related t-shirt from Pick ‘n Pay that makes its way onto my shelf back home. This week’s t-shirt marvel features none other than the ultimate bad boy of the comic book world: Wolverine!

I guess not much has to be said about the short, gruff ball of muscle and attitude that is Logan, aka Wolverine, what with his jump from comic books to big screen movie adaptations. But for those of you who don’t know, Wolverine is a mutant with enhanced senses, a heightened healing ability that allows him to recover from just about any injury or illness and most iconically important of all, an adamantium fused skeleton that comes complete with three retractable claws on each hand!

This is one anti-hero who you really don’t want to make angry, even if he is primarily with those goody two-shoes the X-Men!

Bub, don't mess with me. After all I'm the best at what I do... and what I do isn't nice.

Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine_%28comics%29

Pick ‘n Pay doesn’t just do Marvel t-shirts as this latest purchase of mine indicates – no, even DC Comic get their fair turn! This week’s comic book t-shirt features none other than the fastest man alive: the scarlet speedster, the iconic Flash!

Many have worn the mantle of the Flash, the Golden Age’s Jay Garrick, the Silver Age’s Barry Allen and of course the Modern Age’s Wally West, the Flash I’m most familiar with. One thing of course stays constant for these three heroes, namely the super speed each one is blessed with, the ability to move faster than sound, faster even than light in some cases.

So if you are looking for a hero who knows how to think fast on their feet, you certainly shouldn’t look further than the Flash! :)

As for the t-shirt for sale, feast your eyes on this piece of class:

Heh, this one ought to just fly off the shelves you know! :P

Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_flash

Pick ‘n Pay is at it again with its awesome range of Marvel t-shirts and this week we a showcase a shirt depicting one of the classic Spider-man nemeses, The Green Goblin.

Although many have donned the mantle over the years, it all started with industrialist Norman Osborn whom ingested a serum that gave him enhanced physical abilities and intellect. However, a side-effect saw him driven completely insane, leading to him donning a halloween-themed goblin outfit and arming himself with a high-tech arsenal that included items like his feared pumpkin bombs and goblin glider. Responsible for some of the biggest tragedies in Peter Parker / Spider-man’s life, the Green Goblin is certainly not a man to be trifled with!

And as for the funky black t-shirt which I bought, well wonder no further, this is how it looks:

The fearsome Green Goblin, bursting right out of the funny pages and onto your chest!

Related link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Goblin

Apart from the pretty cool Hulk versus Wolverine short that made it straight to DVD in the form of Hulk Vs., Wolverine also managed to find himself going up against the unstoppable rampage that is the Incredible Hulk in Wolverine and the X-Men episode 7, entitled “Wolverine vs. the Hulk”.

Despite Wolverine's true intentions, I'm pretty sure that he kind of enjoyed this particular payback punch. (Besides, it's always safer to punch the Hulk when he's not actually around!)

Episode 7 of Wolverine and the X-Men is another solo Wolverine episode as he finds himself getting blackmailed by Nick Fury to lend a helping hand to S.H.I.E.L.D., this time to quell an apparently rampaging Incredible Hulk that seems to be destroying a great deal of small towns in the remote Canadian wilderness.

Of course, as with everything that involves Nick Fury, not all is as it seems and after a knockdown, fist bloodying fight, Wolverine and a transformed Bruce Banner finally get their heads around what exactly is going on here – not that it’s all that much of a help when it comes to dealing with the mutagenic Wendigo monster of course!

However, despite all the battles that come to pass, there is really only one thing on Wolverine’s mind when he finally comes face to face with good old Nick again – payback.

And this time it’s going to be courtesy of a rampaging Hulk!

(Though he might take a nasty flight through the chilly air to initiate it of course!)

Basically: "Oh shit, WTF have you done you lunatic". Or something like that...

You've gotta admit, the thought of the ever smug Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. and an angry Hulk should always bring a smile to one's face!

Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine_and_the_X-Men

The Fantastic – When ten-year-old scientific genius Reed Richards is chosen to be part of the United States top research and development programme, events are set in motion that will give birth to the world’s First Family of Superheroes!

Twenty-one years later Reed Richards leads a pioneering research team that includes Susan Storm, her hot-headed, younger brother Johnny and Reed’s oldest friend Ben Grimm, into the parallel dimension known as the N Zone. Disaster strikes however, during the teleportation experiment’s main test-run and a remarkable metamorphosis takes place, endowing the incredible quartet with fantastic powers: powers that draw them in conflict with the monstrous Mole Man!

Ultimate Fantastic Four: The Fantastic collects the first six issues of the popular Fantastic Four modernization series set in the Ultimate universe, written by acclaimed comic scribes Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar (who literally live worlds apart) and illustrated by the legendary Adam Kubert of the well known Kubert stable of pencillers.

Widely acknowledged as the first real superhero group, the Ultimate Fantastic Four updates the classic flying into space origin and instead replaces it with a secretive government-initiated parallel dimension teleportation experiment gone awry – resulting in the birth  of our four intrepid heroes, maintaining their original powers but making some significant changes in terms of age and personality to the four.

Of course what comes out of the six issues neatly bound to one another is pretty much the origin story, a little background history from each character, the initial awe and wonder at the new powers received and of course the obligatory first face-off – which just happens to be a particularly impressive lizard like monster that threatens all of Manhattan just by sneezing sort of thing.

It’s the classic tale revamped but with the new personality twists we get to see an awkward but intelligent Reed without his leadership abilities and a more direct and forceful Susan. Funnily enough though, despite their change in age, Johnny and the Thing pretty much stay as is, meaning that in the end there really wasn’t all that much that Millar and Bendis could throw at these two to initiate just that little bit of a change the Ultimate is so about.

In terms of writing, there is loads of depth in terms of story advancement and character building, but all beautifully wrapped up in some great dramatic moments tempered with a lot of humour and one liners, making it a great introduction for newcomers to the Fantastic Four lore but particularly satisfying to readers of old. These two widely differing in style writers have come together with a great collaboration that reads easily and well, maintains much of what makes Fantastic Four the Fantastic Four, but at the same time through a new slant on the story that is quite enjoyable to work through.

In terms of artwork, Ultimate Fantastic Four really shines brightly thanks to Kubert’s wildly energetic and detailed pencils, which he combines with some awesome and often quite exaggerated facial expressions that makes for a slick read. He nails the humorous moments right on the head and captures the intense action to great affect, making the Ultimate Fantastic Four quite the visual experience.

In addition to Adam’s great pencils, mention must be made of Danny Miki and John Dell’s great inks that do wonders to give that extra depth but maintain the crisp sharpness of the visuals, and paired up with Dave Steward’s great colouring palette, we’re let with a simply sublime looking product.

In summary, there really isn’t much not to like about this first collection of the Ultimate Fantastic Four comic series. Great writing with a modern twist on a classic storyline, good characters to relate to and some beautiful visuals, this is definitely one of those comic events well worth picking up – especially if you already fall well within the classic Fantastic Four fandom! :)

Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Fantastic_Four

At the end of last month, 22 February 2010, something big happened in the world of comic books, more specifically in the world of comic book collecting, when the previous record of $317,000 for an classic issue was easily bested by the auction of a rare 1938 near mint issue of Action Comics #1 for $1 million!

$1 million for a single comic book? Boy, some people have way too much money for their own good and obviously no conscience on how to better spend all that excess by, well I don’ know, setting up a bursary scheme and helping impoverished people build a better life for themselves perhaps?

But that said, the anonymous buyer and anonymous seller who made the auction company ComicConnect a very happy place to work, were trading what is considered the holy grail of Golden Age comic books.

This book marked the birth of Superman, the first real superhero who could fly without the aid of mechanical devices and who actually went to work in a city – where he would have to interact with normal, underpowered beings like you and me on a daily basis.

Of course Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s creation went on to spawn a whole genre on its own (hey, where do you think the term superhero originated from?) and became one of the most recognisable comic franchises ever created.

Still, a million dollars for a single book? Makes me wish I took better care of my couple of thousand odd comic books before I eventually tossed them all away! :(

Note: Not that I had anything remotely valuable in my collection of course – but 70 years down the line? Well, who knows how nicely I might have been able to pad my pension! :)

Honestly, it's as pretty close to mint as what you can get for an unrestored 1938 comic book!

Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_comics