Laugh Along At Not With Snelson: PREVIEW of Snelson #4

Laugh Along At Not With Snelson: PREVIEW of Snelson #4

Laugh Along At Not With Snelson: PREVIEW of Snelson #4 – this article in quotes was first published on MajorSpoilers.com:

Spoiler Alert

“Cue up the laugh track! Comedian Melville Snelson doesn’t know how many oxycontins he took.

(Laughter) His shows are bombing.

(Laughter) His website is attracting trolls who threaten violence.

(Laughter) A comic he identifies with just committed suicide.

(Laughter, applause) Time for a near-death experience with the possibility of a fatal encore. (Crickets) Plus: prose & pix, AHOY-style!”

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Snelson #4, Here’s The POWkabam Comics Take

This comic series by writer Paul Constant and artist Fred Harper is a unique and brilliant take on cancel culture through the voyage of one Melville Snelson who seeks to gain infinite reaches by purposefully getting himself canceled.

No one makes art like Fred – it is extraordinary – and few write this intelligently in comics as does Paul here.

Snelson is a series for the ages, and I for one hope there will be a followup series from Ahoy Comics.

Be sure to pick up the final issues ASAP!

Check it out Via AHOY COMICS here http://www.comicsahoy.com/

Ghost In The Shell Vol-1 By Masamune Shirow Is Incredible

Ghost In The Shell Vol-1 By Masamune Shirow Is Incredible

Ghost In The Shell Vol-1 by Masamune Shirow is incredible for its art and its prescient story.

In the 1990s, The Ghost In The Shell Volume 1 must have left readers in a state of utter incredulity.

It does so today as well, but the 21st Century depicted in the epic manga series has hit on many eerie notes that are developed or in development in the modern age, the digital age.

The following review of The Ghost In The Shell Volume 1 is *Spoiler Free*

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If cybernetic limbs can lead to cyborgs with implants, why cannot a brain, a soul, a ghost, eventually be uploaded into a full-on cyborg model.

That concept in and of itself may not be very original.

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick was one of the first to combine this AI and/or soul-brain into machine concept along the rough and jaded lines that were foundational for cyberpunk: gritty, grim futures with deadly and often seemingly unnatural additions in the forms of robotics to humans and to the bots themselves.

Make no mistake: the first volume in The Ghost In The Shell series is not to be missed!

It is the myriad facets of the storyline, the characters, and, yes, the tech and the way it is used that is well established as innovative, even today.

Having humans fully rely on and take advantage of semi-autonomous robots that seem completely human – West World, anyone? – is also well established, but Shirow pits the humans that are fully integrated into robots against ghost hackers that begin to override human-cyborgs that have a brain and presumably a soul and completely control them.

The protagonist of The Ghost In The Shell Volume One is Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg federal agent with the utmost skill in taking down the big threats.

But what if the people being controlled, the ghosts being hacked, and the political atmosphere is not what it seems?

Kusanagi is at the greatest risk . . .

It is rare that a talented artist gets the opportunity to write their own comic book, or manga, series, and like Katsuhiro Otomo came out of Japan blasting apart the 80s with a 21st Century magnum opus in Akira that would forever stretch innovation and art, so too has Masamune Shirow impacted the cyberpunk and science-fiction genres.

That is not to say that Shirow’s work is equal to Otomo’s, or vice versa, but both are absolutely amazing works of art.

The art in The Ghost In The Shell is stellar, full of detail, brazen and fantastically depicted action that greatly reflects the deep story being told.

I highly recommend for English readers a Kodansha publication of the manga; I read reviews that some of the English written books were censored in the US, and so I got the dual language, written in both Japanese and English version of the manga published by Kodansha and it reads right to left and is 346 pages of awesomeness.

This is the cover of the bilingual edition that is uncensored:

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REFLECTION: Bleak Tomorrow’s Detective Tale Of Visceral Noir

REFLECTION: Bleak Tomorrow’s Detective Tale Of Visceral Noir

REFLECTION: Bleak Tomorrow’s Detective Tale Of Visceral Noir is a new gripping Aces Weekly comic, by Jok and Santullo, and it scores a 10/10 in our POWkabam Review.

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REFLECTION is battered around the edges in all the right ways.

The artwork, writing, and storytelling provide an otherworldly experience, while still being tied to the darkest aspects of our present world.

And there is nothing like the art in REFLECTION!

Jok and Santullo’s unique style was evident in Aces Weekly Volume 34’s “Merlin and Hector – Excalibur”, which provided a magically fantastical landscape for an Arthurian tale in the Dark Ages.

But REFLECTION is a step into darker puddles, messy cityscapes and a realistic neo-future that emanates the best of detective mystery crime stories with a hint of Philip K. Dick and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner thrown in.

The degradation of the setting only magnifies the violence and emotions of the characters living in the world.

The following review of REFLECTION, from Aces Weekly Volume 39, will contain mild Spoilers*, but since the serial book has not released its finale on Aces Weekly, what is sure to be a compelling ending is wholly absent here.

We start with a grizzled Detective Reynoso is panting as the middle-aged vet searches frantically through a garbage-strewn alley, his handgun – a massive mix of a giant barrel and rifle – is drawn.

Sweat beads on his head.

The heavy breaths are emphasized with both visuals and lettering.

An oddly shaped machete pierces the seasoned, alarmed man wearing a trench coat, and stops him dead.

The woman, who had risen silently from a dumpster, forced her blade through his back and out his chest.

The next day, the detective’s old partner, a tall, foul-mouthed, gray-haired cop named Walsh barges onto the murder scene and refuses the order and rule to not work on a case for conflict of interests.

The red-headed woman, Baffo, and her lanky partner, Kirby, are the detectives put in charge of the case.

She is silent as they purvey the scene.

The night before her phone woke her from a nightmare.

In that dream, she had been the one murdering Reynoso in the rain with a machete, and upon waking her reflection seems to haunt her.

Her odd silence is even noted by her partner as they work.

The story provides many traditional film noir and detective crime tropes and fun.

In terms of quips, threats, and heads being slammed into tables as a method to coax information about the murder from slimy criminals, the reader is fed hard-boiled-ness.

The use of language and art to show the emotion, in fury, fear, and puzzlement on the part of the nervous potential murderer in Baffo makes for a truly impactful experience.

REFLECTION is riveting and does not stop to pump the brakes on the intensity!

POWKABAM Score For REFLECTION = 10/10

  • Writing: 10
  • Art: 10
  • Dialogue: 10
  • Innovation: 10
  • Intrigue: 10

“REFLECTION: Bleak Tomorrow’s Detective Tale Of Visceral Noir” was written by R.J. Huneke.

Get in on ACES WEEKLY here!

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Major X Brings Booming New Mysteries To Marvel At

Major X Brings Booming New Mysteries To Marvel At

Major X brings booming new mysteries to Marvel at in Rob Liefeld’s tale from the X-Force and X-men universe.

Apparently sprung from an idea masterful writer and artist Rob Liefeld had in the 90’s, Major X #1 begins an epic new series of mutant events and a host of new twists and characters.

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Mr. Liefeld did create Deadpool, Domino, and Cable, after all.

These mutants have been fan favorites and it is not hard to see why: they were introduced and immediately intertwined brilliantly for intense storylines, great lines adding to greater personalities, and, lest we forget, they each have signature badass looks.

Spoiler* ALERT for Major X #1 by Rob Liefeld, Adelso Corona, Dan Fraga, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and VC’s Joe Sabino.

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That Major X #1 kicks off like a blitz of action, mystery and suspense gives readers a phenomenal new wrinkle in time for mutants in the X-Men and X-Force universe.

Major X starts off having thoroughly kicked Cable’s ass.

And much of the X-Force, too, have been taken out.

A weirdly colored and much stronger Hank ‘Beast’ McCoy is fighting alongside the stranger in a soldier’s uniform and helmet of sorts.

There seems to be some kind of power emanating from a crystal-like piece in his chest, and Major X proceeds to go toe to toe with Wolverine.

His sword locks with Logan’s and the Major reveals it is adamantium.

The grizzled mutant inquires as to where anyone could have gotten enough of the rare substance to fashion such a sword.

And the Major reveals that it was made from Wolverine’s bones in the future!

A mutant utopia is abruptly destroyed in Major X’s time, and the one mutant who has sustained it has gone missing.

Is this an old Charles Xavier?

We do not know.

What becomes quickly apparent is that a foul tongued mutant, seemingly Deadpool bashes in and proceeds to try and murder Beast – who he calls a wookie – and the Major.

They want to know who hired him.

Clearly the mystery of the collapsing utopia comes down to this assassin’s benefactors.

But he is too much for them.

Until the real Deadpool, from Cable’s timeline in the present, drives a motorcycle into the room and fights off the new mysterious villain, Dreadpool!

After seeing the fight, I noticed the subtle change that Dreadpool had more of a helmet than a mask.

And Deadpool himself, using that iconic humor, makes fun of Dreadpool’s shoulder-pads, which is Liefeld clearly poking fun at himself who used many large shoulder pads on his drawn characters in the 90’s when it was popular.

The intertwining of many great characters for fantastic story is here again in Major X #1.

What concludes the book?

Why the revelation that the Major is in fact Alexander Summers, Cable’s future son.

Hold onto your butts, because this is an epic new comic book series in the making!

“Major X Brings Booming New Mysteries To Marvel At” was written by R.J. Huneke.

major x, major x #1, rob liefeld, deadpool, cable, domino, dreadpool, wolverine, beast, x-men, x-force

Avengers: ENDGAME Spoiler-FREE Review POWkabam

Avengers: ENDGAME Spoiler-FREE Review POWkabam

Avengers: ENDGAME Spoiler-FREE Review POWkabam has to give the ultimate culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe a 10/10 score, or hell, make it an 11 out of 10!

This “Avengers: ENDGAME Spoiler-FREE Review POWkabam” will talk about the feelings and the power of the flick.

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And I vow to do my best to not even hint at a possible outcome of the movie’s events.

As a lifelong comic books fan, with a favorite of Thanos from the time when The Infinity Gauntlet dropped, the use of the title Avengers: Infinity War brought about conflicting feelings.

That was before seeing the Russo brothers’ film.

I was conflicted because I knew that the writing of genius Jim Starlin and the character he created was not going to be portrayed with much from the Thanos Quest, The Infinity Gauntlet, and The Infinity War books.

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There are mild Spoilers* to Avengers: Infinity War.

Well guess what: the MCU has done nothing short of a remarkable job with nearly all of their comic book adaptations and as much it is its own thing, it kept the spirit of Starlin’s opus intact and brought audiences an awesome ruthless tyrant in Thanos on screen.

The movie had so many surprises and showed off the big purple chin’s intelligence, resolve, and triumph.

And so I loved it.

I did not expect to, but I did all the same.

And so with the finale I went in with less expectations.

Anything could happen in Avengers: ENDGAME.

I had one guess only, which I will not utter here, as to an outcome of the plot, but otherwise was really enamored with the infinite (pun intended) possibilities of Avengers: ENDGAME.

I had no idea where they were going, what they were going to try and pull off, or how ambitious it might be.

It is so damn good that I would compare its predecessor with the Babe pointing his finger into the stands and then with Avengers: ENDGAME being the point where he hit the ball out of the park!

The film is one of the funnier of the MCU assembly, and it is so so very moving.

Emotions run high, low, and everywhere in between after the snap of Thanos’ finger in the Infinity Gauntlet turns half of the universe, including earth and its web-head Spider-man, into dust.

But this is only the setup to Avengers: ENDGAME.

Surprises in the character arcs, the lines, and the plot seize the audience and play on foreshadowing, false foreshadowing, and plot points from more than a dozen films.

It all comes to a head.

And it has to be one of the most impactful and rewarding super hero movie experiences of a lifetime.

POWKABAM Score For Avengers: ENDGAME = 10/10

  • Writing: 10
  • Art: 10
  • Dialogue: 10
  • Innovation: 10
  • Intrigue: 10

“Avengers: ENDGAME Spoiler-FREE POWkabam Review” was written by R.J. Huneke.

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