JSA All-Stars #1 Review

So I recently just got caught up on DC's Justice Society series. Started with the Robinson/Goyer #1 and all the way up to when Willingham/Sturges took over. I love the JSA. Love the legacy and how it's about family and then became about "making better heroes".

I love Willingham's Fables and the only Sturges thing I had read as his novel, Midwinter (good read, I recommend it). So I went into this with an open mind.

My biggest complaint about the Geoff Johns run was the sheer number of characters in the book. I didn't think we got enough into the "minds" of characters like Cyclone, Judomaster, Citizen Steel, etc.. They were mostly background characters. We got bits and pieces but none of 'em got their moment to shine.

I loved that the art conveyed alot of the family and emotion of the team. How Hourman and Liberty Belle were always in contact with each other, even if it was just holding hands at a meeting, and how Citizen Steels cousins/neices/nephews were always showing up all over the place.

So I thought the introduction of a second book, splitting the cast, would be the way to go. Give 'em all more time to shine.

Now the book itself. The idea is that the the vets (Power Girl, Stargirl, Hourman and Magog... I'll get back to him in a sec) will take the "kids" and provide them training. Help them learn the ropes, learn to function as a "better hero".

That's a good idea. The problem is that alot of those that are the "rookies" have been around for awhile. Cyclone, Citizen Steel, Judomaster, Wildcat's son, etc.. they've dealt with Gog, the Black Marvel Family and other threats. They aren't rookies by any means.

And one of the leaders, Magog, he's the newest member of the JSA except for King Chimeara, the only true rookie on the team.

So the idea of training the rookies, makes sense to enable them to split the team, but it really is kind of flimsy. I think they should have gone with the approach Marvel did and just had teams on different coasts or something like that. Would have made a tad more sense.

Especially since two of the youngest members, Jakeem Thunder and Lightning (who is also a relative rookie compared to Cyclone, Citizen Steel and Wildcat) are on the "old" team. Mr. America is a relative rookie as well.

Oh well, I can live with that because the rest of the story is good. There's training, trying to form squads to handle different parts of a threat, some inter-team conflict. All the things needed for a good story are there.

And done pretty well. I enjoyed the read alot.

It was the art that made it hard for me to get into.

I don't like Freddie Williams at all. The art was detailed. But the figures were too angular for my tastes. I just couldnt' get into it.

He draws a horrible Cyclone in flight.

As a first issue, was enough to draw people in, even those that hadn't been fans of the JSA before. They do a good job explaining why there are two squads of JSA now and the cliffhanger ending is definately enough to make me want to come back for more.

Sturges does a good enough job to make up for the art and make me look past it.

DC enters the Red Circle

So I was kind of surprised that the Red Circle properties were the big announcement on JMS' (no I'm not spelling it out) entry into working for DC. Why these properties? They had failed before (last time being the horrible Impact line). So why did JMS want to do 'em and why in god's name did DC let him?

Oh yeah.. it's JMS.

So the idea is that JMS does this 4 "stand alone" stories and then other writers will take on the ongoing and co-features that the characters will appear in.

So these other writers have to hope that JMS pulls off interesting enough stories to make people want to buy the books without JMS' name attached to them.

Does that make sense?

No, not to me either.

So I read the 4 books.

Why on earth did this "project" get approved? Those books were horrible. Bad doesn't begin to describe them.

Boring characters. There were no hooks to make people interested in them. JMS also linked all the characters together.

Also, Didio went out of his way to say the books were going to be integrated in the DC Universe. So where was the integration? Instead of the Hangman being in Inferno, why not a mainstay DC character (and why do you need the Hangman when you have the Spectre??). When the Web makes his ad, wouldn't there be reaction from other heros?

So much for integration.

I don't see these lasting long. Yet another failed attempt at these characters.

Thanks for nothing JMS.

Mini-Review of the RoC Artic Snake-Eyes

I was going to avoid it at first. I didn't like it. The hood just seemed weird on a SE figure. Then I saw the movie. Okay, the outfit makes more sense.

Now I saw it in the stores. There was no hesitation, it was in my hand. The figure is awesome.

One of my favorite figures. It just looks like a snow commando should.

Great paint job, great looks. Yeah, it suffers the same fate as all those figures with the skirts, but I don't care. It's great.

The accessories.. He comes with a sword, a pistol and an ice pick for climbing. Wish he came with a rifle, but Marauder's can fix that.

The Resolute/ME Arctic SE ice shoes would have been perfect to put with this figure but that's okay.

But the backpack... OMG....

It's a string that runs thru it with 2 hooks on either hand. Yes, he can slide down the rope. There are knots near the ends so he won't go flying into stuff, couple inches away, so you can let him go and he'll stop before he hits anything (yes, I did test this real quick).

It's a new style backpack. It just doesn't go into the peg on his back, but it fits around him. More realistic. Also makes sense to help hold the backpack onto SE.

This guy gets a 4.5 out of 5. Iceshoes and a rifle would have made this a perfect figure.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra Video Game Review

It's fun. Is it earth shaking, ground breaking or anything like that?

No. But it's fun. I'm enjoying myself playing it.

The best part, it starts up right after the movie. I think this story will end up serving as a bridge between the movie and the sequal (or cartoon or whatever the next incarnation of RoC is). For instance, the Baroness is a prisoner and she gets rescued and the Joes find a Cobra symbol and have no clue what it is. So storywise, the Joes just know that M.A.R.S went rogue, they don't know that M.A.R.S. is becoming Cobra.

Another good part, the M.A.S.S. device makes it's RoC appearance.

Another good part, the PIT playset is there. It's the Joes mobile headquarters, so even though it wasn't in the movie, it makes it's appearance.

Also, only past the first level and already have seen (thru communications) appearances by: Stalker (looking like the Resolute version), Tunnel Rat, Dial Tone (female), Wild Bill, Snow Job and Data Frame (not looking like the old Mainframe but kind of similar to his DDP appearance when he had that big ol' ugly tech suit, but not that bad).

The bad: the voices, horrible. Really really bad. Hawk's is the only one close to his movie. The rest are bad.

The communications interplay between Dial Tone and Breaker gets a couple chuckles.

The gameplay. It's Contra. You have one direction to go and you basically take down everything in your path. The targeting is pretty simple, just look in the direction of the enemy and shoot.

There's nothing that "out there" about it. Just move thru the levels, mowing down enemies.

Got to drive the Snow Cat. Driving is a pain in the ass.

It's a fun game. Nothing complex, just fun.

Graphics are fine. They're not meant to be works of art, they're passable. Definately not ugly, but not stellar either.

As for the complaint that there's no online play. I don't care. Doesn't bother me in the slightest since I don't play console games online.

I'd give it a 7 out of 10. Worth the 50 bucks? No, probably not, but then I don't think any game is worth that much, but luckily I had a gift card.