2015 Reading Challenge Book 081 Avengers West Coast Darker than Scarlet...

TITLE-Avengers West Coast Darker than Scarlet...
AUTHOR-John Byrne,Roy and Dann Thomas
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-Gift

This is a trade collecting the abrupt end of Byrne's run on the title. And then Roy&Dann Thomas wrap up the plot threads Byrne had started. Of course with Byrne writing the title he also does the pencils. Once he leaves Paul Ryan takes over.

So what and how is the story. Scarlet Witch does her first that I know of heel turn in this run. After having ,in the previous storyline before the trade,the Vision's brain wiped clean which stripped him of all his emotions Wanda is slowly losing her mind. Then the secret behind her twins is revealed and she teams up with her father Magneto.

While all this is going on we have a side story of the golden age Human Torch trying to adjust to the modern world. Plus there are hints that Hank Pym and the Wasp might be getting back together.

I loved West Coast Avengers/Avengers West Coast since the 4 issue mini series. But about a year before John Byrne took over I had stopped reading it. And came back right around the time Byrne brought the golden age Human Torch back. And somehow never read the end of his run.

Avengers West Coast Darker than Scarlet gets a 3.11 outta 5.

3 Toys from the Junkbox 6/12/2015 edition

Doing a theme this time. It is all Superhero teams. And everything is from the same toyline. Back in the mid 2000s the Marvel Superhero Squad line of mini figures started. About the size of the Smurf PVCs every kid in the 80s owned,these have a bit of articulation. And were normally sold in packs of two. My local Walmart started putting them all on clearance back in 2008.I bought piles of them.

Fantastic Four (Mr Fantastic,Invisible Woman,Human Torch and The Thing) vs Doctor Doom

It is hard to tell in the photo,but Sue Storm's feet and lower legs are see thru. And Torch is floating on a ball of fire.The sculpting on the four heroes is great. I do wish the Thing figure was a bit taller.Dr Doom ,besides the almost smile,is impressive. The details on his armor are well done. I must own 30 Superhero Squad figures.With only two of them being villains. Dr Doom and Super Skrull,I wish I had put Super Skrull in this pic.

 The Avengers (Ant Man/Hank Pym,Wasp,Captain America/Steve Rogers,Hawkeye and Vision)

This team I didn't start off buying figures to make it. Ant Man came with another figure I needed. Pretty sure Cap and Hawkeye came in the same pack. Grabbed a Avengers boxed set that had Vision in it. That boxed set came with another Captain America. Where his shield is on his back.That version is on the dash of the Newt-mobile.I like how every figure I got in this team are all long time Avengers.

Defenders (Silver Surfer,Dr Strange,Namor and The Hulk)

Yep the original Defenders line up. The Defenders are my favorite Marvel team. And to not only be able to get all the original members,but to get a Namor in the outfit he wore in the early Defenders tales is amazing.Dr Strange was the first Superhero Squad figure I got. Huge fan of him,and he was packed with Ant Man.I am kind of pleasantly surprised and pleased that they used Namor's short lived 70s outfit.Sadly Surfer has no articulation at all. It doesn't matter I got the original Defenders. All I need now is a Valkyrie,Nighthawk and Son of Satan Superhero Squad figures to boost the membership of this team.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 065 The Marvel Encyclopedia

TITLE-Marvel Encyclopedia
AUTHOR-Various
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-X-mas Gift

Back almost a decade ago I got this along with the DC Encyclopedia for X-mas. If you remember the old Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series,this is a mass market version of that.

From what I remember,I really haven't read much from Marvel since the late 90s,it seems to be fairly accurate.And most of the time the artwork is pretty good.The selection of heroes is well done. You get all the big names,plus a decent amount of lesser known heroes.

I think there is a newer version out now. So finding this one cheap shouldn't be hard.

The Marvel Encyclopedia gets 4.11 outta 5.

Ultimate Avengers 2

Ultimate Avengers 2 Rise of the Panther
2006
Lionsgate DVD

Released about 6 months after the first film,this DTV animated film was the second of the now long running Marvel DTV animated films.

We have the same team as in the first film. But early on in the film we get introduced to Black Panther. Who is the King of the African country of Wakanda. After the aliens from the first film attack and do massive damage to his country Black Panther has no choice but to go ask the Ultimate Avengers for help.

What I liked about this film was that the animation is much better than the first film. Plus the story ,at least to my knowledge,isn't adapted from the Ultimates comic. So when I watched it I had no idea what was gonna happen next. Another thing I enjoyed was Black Panther. I have always been a fan of this hero. I like how how he is not only a superhero but the king of a country.

The DVD  sadly this time doesn't have that many extras. We get a featurette about the Ultimates comic. A gag reel. The same DVD-ROM game that was on the first DVD. And very short looks at the Iron Man and Dr Strange DTV animated films.

I get the feeling that this DVD didn't sell that well. The reason I think this is cause it has now been 6 years and we haven't gotten a sequel. Where as after the first one we got a sequel the same year. Hopefully with the mega success the Avengers film is having ,we might get another Ultimate Avengers DTV film. Ultimate Avengers 2 Rise of the Panther gets a C+.

Ultimate Avengers animated movie

Ultimate Avengers the Movie
2006
Lionsgate DVD

This was the first of a series of animated direct to DVD movies that Marvel started doing in the mid 2000s. Semi based on the Ultimates comic. The Ultimates comic is the Ultimate universe's version of the Avengers.

The film starts off in World War II. With Captain America stopping the Nazi's from launching a missile. He discovers that some of the Nazi's are actually shape shifting aliens. Cap ends up on another missile that gets launched. And when it explodes he falls into the cold waters of the North Atlantic. This causes him to go into a form of suspended animation. We jump ahead to the present day and Cap is found and revived by a team of Shield agents led by Nick Fury. Fury ends up recruiting a bunch of other heroes. They are Ant-man,Wasp,Iron Man,Thor and the Black Widow. And this newly formed team ends up having to fight off an invasion of the same aliens Cap discovered back in World War II.

Before seeing this film I had read the first series of The Ultimates. And really enjoyed it. I liked the different take on Captain America. Well the film is a weird mixture of The Ultimates comic plus the Marvel 616 continuity.Now I have heard some people say the animation in the film isn't that good. I would have to disagree,I thought the animation was pretty good for a direct to video film.

The DVD has a few extra features. The only one I really liked was a trivia track. When turned on the trivia track will give you various bits of information while the movie is playing. There is also a featurette,that seems to be mainly aimed at people that don't know much about the Avengers. The DVD also has a "What Avenger are you?" feature that you have to use a computer to access. I have never bothered to try this feature out. Ultimate Avengers the movie gets a B.