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Because I get to do what I want, I'm going to post awesome clips/pictures of my favourite scenes from each of the MCU movies. (Since Ant-Man appeared in Civil War, he is added to the roster.)

Technically, Captain America should be the first of the films to watch, but I'm going to treat it as a "flashback" movie and stick it before the Avengers, because when Cap wakes up, a lot of the events in the first two Iron Man movies, the Hulk, and Thor have already taken place.

(Because I tend to love ALL the scenes from the movies, I'll limit myself to a total of five per movie - I'll aim for three, but I can go up to five. Does that seem fair? Thank you s' much.)


Iron Man 1:

Iron Man 2:





The Incredible Hulk:
(I have only watched The Incredible Hulk once, and this was after I'd seen The Avengers and had embraced Mark Ruffalo in the role of the Hulk. So, I didn't much care for Ed Norton as the Hulk, but he had some cute vulnerable scenes, and the movie overall had some good parts.)






Thor:






Captain America: The First Avenger:







The Avengers:

Ugh! There are too many good scenes in the Avengers! I'll do my best to only choose five of the best... even though I could pretty much post the entire movie and say, "I loved it all!" But the best scenes, IMHO:







Iron Man 3:







Thor: The Dark World:







Captain America: The Winter Soldier:







Avengers: Age of Ultron:







Ant-Man:






Captain America:  Civil War:

 This movie had more scenes that broke my heart than probably any other MCU movie out there. I think it's because Steve and Tony are my GUYS, and having them angry at each other was the hardest thing in the world. Steve is the man who is already on the moral high ground and who we aspire to become, and Tony is the man who gives us the hope of attaining that moral high ground by conquering ourselves more and more each day. I couldn't stand to see them fighting.

So this is more a collection of favourite bro scenes/scenes that broke my heart (there are more pictures here because there were too many good ones NOT to post...):












And that's all for now, folks! I hope that put you back in the mood to rewatch all the Avengers movies (in order, of course!) and get totally caught up in the character development again.

Until next time, that's a wrap!

God bless!

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• You must link back to Bella! No exceptions!
• You must tell Bella when you post so she can read your Civil War Wonders!!! (She even Pretty Pleases the request, so maybe give her a head's up.)

• You should follow her! (She Pretty Pleases this with ice cream on top, so yeah, give her a follow.)
• You shouldn't be mean to people who are on the opposite team! No being mean! There's nothing wrong with a little friendly banter and what not, but No. Being. Mean!!!!! Meanness is not allowed!
• You must absolutely must choose a side! (even if, in your humble opinion, there IS no side, just two stupid men who refuse to compromise a teensy bit in favour of maintaining friendship.) You don't have to feel guilty about this. This isn't about who you like better, (though that can obviously come into the equation.) This is just about who you would most likely join because you agree with them.
• You have to have fun! Have lots of fun!

Day One is PICK A SIDE (even if you don't feel that there is a side - just two stupid men unwilling to compromise a little in the name of friendship).

Here's my problem. Iron Man and Captain America are my TWO FAVOURITE AVENGERS. The stupid thing about Civil War, it pitted my TWO FAVOURITE AVENGERS against each other.

WHAT?! NO!

I admit to being more of an Iron Man fan. His was the first actual Avenger movie I saw, and I fell in love with his character arc. The first Iron Man movie was probably the best, but in every single one of his movies, as well as the Avenger movies, he always has this character arc that I ADORE. So I loved him, and was prepared for Civil War, being Cap's movie, to be skewed in favour of Cap and I was bracing myself against an onslaught of Iron Man hate.



I totally get both sides. For Steve, he has this Brooklyn tough guy attitude that absolutely will not lie down and let the bad guys beat on the small guys. He has to step in and DO SOMETHING, even if that something may be a little outside the boundaries of the law. He has to DO SOMETHING, and I love that about him. In this case, his DO SOMETHING attitude ended with Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, saving his life, but accidentally killing dozens of people in the process. So to have the governments all siding against the Avengers and demanding they be kept in check - I didn't really blame the governments, but I didn't like the idea.

"While a great many people see you as a hero, there are some who prefer the word vigilante. You've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's something the world can no longer tolerate." - General Thaddeus Ross

"Our job is to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody."

However, and I say this with total and complete understanding, if it weren't for Bucky, I don't think the Civil War would have happened. Whenever Steve hears the name "Bucky," he loses all perspective, and I get that. I do. For him, it's only been something like five years since he thought Bucky died, and only about two years that he's known Bucky is alive, but still lost in the persona of the Winter Soldier, and that grief and loss is still sharp. He wants to save Bucky so badly, and he will do anything it takes to do so, even if it means splitting the Avengers apart.

"You know I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice. But he's my friend." - Steve Rogers

In my opinion, Steve was willing to risk everything to save Bucky, and I love that, but if you look at the repercussions, this could cause some serious international incidents. I mean, he goes into a foreign country, dressed as the obviously American superhero, to protect a suspected terrorist responsible for the death of Wakanda's king. That's some serious crap.

"He said 'Bucky' and suddenly I was that 16-year-old boy from Brooklyn again." - Steve Rogers

So, at first I kind of agreed with Steve. I wouldn't want to sign the Accords. I wouldn't want the government telling who I can or cannot save. 

"What if this Panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we need to go and they don't let us?" - Steve Rogers


BUT...

Let's take a look at Tony's side.

First off, we see him struggling with guilt over the death of his parents, that he didn't properly say goodbye to them before they were gone forever. Right after that, he is confronted by a woman who blames him for the death of her son, when the Avengers were trying to stop Ultron in Sokovia and pretty much decimated that city. Directly after that, all the active Avengers are called into a meeting with the Secretary of State, who shows them a film chronicling all the casualties of the wars they've fought, which hits everyone pretty hard. The Secretary then proceeds to lay down the law - either the Avengers agree to sign the Accords, which will put them under the supervision of a governmental panel, or they retire. Tony suspects that if they don't sign now, they will be forced into an Accord that will give them zero ability to assist people. (Plus, he's also got the guilt of the Sokovian boy weighing on him, and I think that played into his distrust of himself - the fact that he feels there needs to be someone the Avengers are accountable to.)

"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree. 3.6 GPA... He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia. He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we DROPPED a building on him while we were KICKING ASS... There's no decision-making process here." - Tony Stark

"We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game."

Through the whole movie, I kept swaying back and forth between Steve's point of view, and Tony's. They were both acting in the way their consciences dictated, so neither of them was at fault. However, there did come a point where it seemed that Tony was more focused on keeping the Avengers safe, keeping them together despite the Accords, keeping the team alive while appeasing the governmental powers, and Steve was entirely focused on saving Bucky and no-one but Bucky.


He wanted to save his team. He didn't want any of them to be forced to "retire." He wanted to protect everyone, and if that meant bowing to the will of the Accords, he was going to (and this is a man who doesn't bow to anyone). I think if it had just been a matter of the Accords, the trust and friendship between both sides would never have been questioned. It was the way everything escalated, building off one set of incidents, which led to another, and to another, until finally it was no longer just a difference of opinion and conscience, but complete disregard for the law and a duty to uphold the law, even at the cost of friendships.

"If we can't accept limitations, we're no better than the bad guys." - Tony Stark

I liked how Steve did his best to solve the Bucky problem on his own, only assembling his team when the only other choice was to admit defeat and sacrifice his best friend. But I hated that he turned on Tony to do so.

Tony - "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart." Steve - "You did that when you signed."

I liked how Tony did his best to protect Steve from the repercussions of the law, and how he tried to protect the entire Avengers crew, even at the cost of coming off as arrogant and self-serving. But I hated that he lost Steve's friendship to do so.

 
So I guess I'm Team Iron Man, because everything Tony did was to try and assure a better outcome for his team. He kept Wanda housebound, not only to protect the world from her, but also to protect her from people who would see her as a threat.

"She's confined in a compound currently - She's not a US Citizen and they don't grant visas to Weapons of Mass Destruction." - Tony Stark

He tried to keep Steve safe, to talk the Secretary of State into overlooking Steve's few misdeeds which occurred after the signing of the Accords. He even tried to assure a better future for Bucky, despite all Bucky's crimes done as the Winter Soldier. (Yes, I know he was brainwashed and he wasn't himself, nonetheless, as Bucky himself said, "But I did them.")

"We need you, Cap. Until nothing further happens that can't be undone, please... sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych center instead of a Wakanda prison." - Tony Stark

When it was discovered that Bucky had been framed for the Wakandan King's death, it was Tony who admitted he had been wrong in believing Bucky was the terrorist, and tried to make peace with Steve. And it probably would have all been smoothed over then, if it hadn't been for a certain video (played by the movie's antagonist intent on destroying the Avengers from the inside out), which shows Tony's parents getting killed by the Winter Soldier, thus destroying all attempts at peace.

(I'll be honest - I totally understood Tony's reaction. Watching Bucky kill his parents - that had to hurt.)

I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted this movie to end with friendships restored, and while it didn't exactly end the way I wanted it to, at least it left it open enough to show there was some healing going on, and that eventually friendships would be resurrected and mended. (At least, they'd better be, Marvel!) I still wouldn't say there was a Team Captain America or Team Iron Man. Both Tony and Steve had totally valid points as to why they would or wouldn't sign. But all in all, I think Tony's actions were more what I would follow. I don't know if I'd be willing to step outside the law to save someone who has been an assassin for years, no matter how much Captain America believed in him. I think I'd rather side with Tony and try to protect my team at all costs - even if it meant giving up some freedom of action.

And that's a wrap! I'll do my best to do Day 2 tomorrow, but depending on how busy I am, that may or may not happen. Until next time...

God bless!

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Since its release in January, Lego Marvel’s Avengers has been entertaining kids and adults alike. The game has managed to expand on its MCU confines with content based on Captain Marvel, The Masters of Evil, and Civil War. Today the MCU’s surprise hit Ant-Man will join the game in the new downloadable content pack exclusive […]

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The barrage of mobile Marvel games keeps coming. A few days ago Disney released Avengers Alliance 2. A sequel to the turn based social media game where players assembled strategic teams of heroes and villains to poke each other until you inevitably ran out of game currency. It was probably the only time you ever dug through […]

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A new challenger has entered the arena!

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What's our take on the first chapter of the brand new Avengers crossover and the debut of Power Man and Iron Fist?

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Marvel’s 2015 is best boiled down to one core idea that influenced the entire line: Secret Wars. For the most part, the event was successful, and sold gangbusters in spite of production delays.  Several promising concepts from the event and its tie-ins made it into the mainstream Marvel Universe, giving the re-launch a unique flavor that […]

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I read and very much enjoyed Ms Marvel, Volume One, No Normal earlier this year so I was really looking forward to volume two, Generation Why. And I wasn’t disappointed!

What I love about Kamala and the whole Ms Marvel thing is that she is not a white, blonde super-babe with curves and cleavage. And more than any other superhero comic, this one is real in a way they others often aren’t. Kamala struggles to figure out who she is and what kind of person she wants to be. She has to find a balance between being a good daughter, a good Muslim, a good student, a good friend and a superhero. She has a friend who knows about her abilities but she keeps it a secret from everyone else. And since she doesn’t want to put her friend in danger, she thinks she has to do the superhero stuff by herself.

In volume two Kamala learns an important lesson, that you need allies and most of all, sometimes you need help. Wolverine from X-Men shows up and there is some giggle worthy fan girl moments when Kamala tries not to squee but utterly fails. We also learn a little about the green mist that gave Kamala her abilities and I know just enough about the Marvel Universe (Agents of Shield! Avengers movies!) to have enjoyed a shiver of recognition.

Kamala is also being watched over, and even rescued, by the mysterious Medusa, ruler of New Attilan and Queen of the Inhumans. Medusa sends a gigantic teleporting dog named Lockjaw to keep an eye on Kamala and be her companion. Lockjaw is the best sidekick ever!

Along with her do-gooding, Kamala also offers up a healthy dose of inspiration and encouragement. In this story problem teens are being kidnapped and used as a power source for the evil villain’s killer robots. The “worthless” teens have all been convinced that being used as a power source will allow them to do something good instead of being parasites. Kamala of course sees things differently. She needs their help to defeat the villain and convinces them that they should not give up on themselves or their generation.

What is it with adults telling teens that their generation is no good? When I was your age, blah blah blah. They are only kids! How can anyone know what they will do when they are older? As a member of Gen X I recall hearing over and over how my generation was nothing but a bunch of cynical, do-nothing, slackers. Barack and Michelle Obama are in the gray area between generations but I’m claiming them for X. Same with Mark Zuckerberg. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are definitely Gen X. So is Angelina Jolie. No one would dream of calling any of them slackers.

Ok, veering back on course now.

Ms Marvel is a wonderful comic series and I wish comics were like this when I was a kid. I would have gobbled them up for sure. The nice thing is though that even not being a kid anymore, I can still enjoy them. And if you are looking to try an entertaining, well-written and empowering comic, you really can’t go wrong with Ms Marvel.

Filed under: Books, Graphic Novels, Reviews Tagged: Avengers, generational stereotype rant, Inhumans, Ms Marvel, When is there going to be a Black Widow movie?

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Lego Marvel's Avengers was the best game of PSX and here's why.

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Marvel Comics has an interesting problem on their hands. If you’ve been following the comics publisher or even the Diamond sales charts, it may have been brought to your attention that Marvel is unleashing a ton of brand new #1’s in advance of the conclusion of the landmark Secret Wars event. However these #1 issues […]

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Marvel’s landmark Secret Wars event has been beset with repeated delays, but the House of Ideas is moving ahead as scheduled with their full line relaunch, giving birth to the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe. We at Comics Beat are dedicated to praising great comics, and with so many potential winners out there it can be hard to discern […]

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The weirdest thing happened in Marvel last week. The publisher’s landmark Secret Wars event has been delayed repeatedly, but Marvel is moving ahead as scheduled with their full line relauch, giving birth to the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe. We at Comics Beat are dedicated to praising great comics, and with so many potential winners out there it […]

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An exclusive look at the BEST cosplay of #NYCC2015.

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Hot on the heels of a relaunch and the not quite finished Secret Wars comes marvel's first crossover of 2016.

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Cosplay is a thing. Variant covers are a thing. And now cosplay variant covers are most definitely a thing. Marvel will have 20 cover adorned by photos of cosplayers depicting the titular characters.

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Okay… I was typing up the big schedule for Disney’s D23 Expo. Nothing too difficult, mostly formatting and pasting.

In the big “Hall D23″ (7500 seats), there will be a Disney Interactive presentation on Sunday, at 11 AM.

Now, yeah, there’s Kingdom Hearts and Infinity 3.0 (now with Wookies!) and Star Wars Battlefront. A lot of it has been announced at E3, except the D23 Expo allows the fans to get their hands on hands-on play demos.

But here’s something I heard tangentially via all the E3 hoopla last month:

Disney has this setup called Playmation, launching this October in partnership with Hasbro. (PR is here.) Basically, you’ve got wearable toys, like Iron Man’s repulsor or Hulk’s fists. It communicates with figure bases (similar to what you get with Infinity) which can host superheroes (for training) or villains (for beating the crap out of).  In a nutshell, it’s like playing Cowboys and Indians with Lazer Tag by way of HeroClix.

Playmation Marvel’s Avengers uses familiar technologies including smart toys, wearables, wireless technology, motion sensors, and more, but applies them in ways that are completely new to create an experience that’s never been possible before. Playmation is purposely not tethered to an Internet connection so players can run around and explore each adventure from anywhere they want—a bedroom, living room, or yard. With multiplayer modes, recruits can sync their Avenger Gear to tackle missions and combat arenas together, or face off in competitive play.

No CGI, it’s all in the player’s imagination.

So yeah, pretty dang cool, right?  Joe Quesada thinks so.

“With Playmation Marvel’s Avengers, the very best of Marvel storytelling is infused into every aspect of the system to further spark imaginative, active play,” said Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer, Marvel. “Playmation offers kids a dynamic way to interact with their favorite Super Heroes – I wish it was around when I was a kid!”

It. Gets. Better.

Oh… you have no idea…

No, I’m not talking about the Frozen and Star Wars systems in development for 2017 and 2016. (Yeah… no more “pew pew” or using Christmas wrapping paper rolls as lightsabers.) Nor the possibility of a Google Glass eyepiece display which adds extra data to the gameplay.

Take a look at this image I managed to find on the home page:

One of the locales is A LIVING PLANET. Ego.  There’s also “Dino World” and the Moon, and Hulk’s hometown, and Kirby only knows who’s incarcerated on The Raft…

[Oh, please, Marvel Studios, PLEASE have Ego be the villain in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel… and have Thor show up, if you can manage…]

So, what comes in the $120 starter pack? Oh, nothing that amazing really…

Includes Repulsor Gear, 2 Power Activators, 2 Smart Figures (Captain America and Iron Skull), instructions, and 25 embedded missions

That is not a typo. Iron Skull. Here’s his dossier:

Red Skull leads the evil organization Hydra seeking to conquer and rule all of humanity. After stealing one of Tony Stark’s suits, he evolved into the super-powered Iron Skull. Until the Avengers can neutralize his devastating Hydra Moon Laser, no human on Earth is safe.

(Oh, Marvel, why haven’t you crossed Captain America’s clone with Iron Man’s tech before? Maybe in the next Captain America movie?) As if the character isn’t cool enough, he has a freakin’ “Hydra Moon Laser”! 

Wondering what other villains are available? Utron. Ultron Bot (hacked Iron Legion soldiers). M.O.D.O.K.

YUP. Mother lovin’ MODOK. Leader of AIM.

Myself, what with MODOK, Iron Skull, Ultron, and Ego… it seems all downhill from here. Those are some mean mother lovin’ villains …unless they add other franchises and characters from the Cinematic Universe, or from Avengers Assemble (the origin of the Iron Skull) and other cartoons. Can they use Galactus? X-Men? The Celestials?

Meanwhile, if you prefer to stay indoors in front of a computer all day long, Disney Infinity is adding more Marvel characters, and allowing universes to interact in certain modules.

You can preorder everything now by visiting Disney’s store. Select Disney stores will also be hosting demos across the country!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to process some XML files for work.  “We did dig dig dig dig dig dig dig / In our Mine the whole day through…”

---

 

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Lego Marvel’s Avengers held a rockin good time with its host Kinda Funny’s Greg Miler. The group consisted of Arthur Parsons Director at Tt Games, Matt Ellison Producer, Bill Rosemann creative director Marvel Games, and Mike Jones executive producer Marvel Games. Combined Arthur and Matt have worked on almost all the Lego games. Bill Rosemann who worked on comics for 20 years at Marvel is the authenticity gatekeeper for the Lego Marvel franchise. This Lego franchise has gatekeepers between Marvel, Lego, and WB.

The currently circulating trailer for Lego marvel’s Avengers was rolled for the two people in the room not familiar with the game. This new game focuses on Marvel’s Cinematic Universe using the Avengers film as a jump off point. Lego Marvel’s Avengers is more a spiritual successor than a straight sequel to the previous Marvel Super Heroes game. The game’s main mission sees players go through key events of the MCU while blending the unique humor everything involving the blocks is known for.

Characters who haven’t yet appeared in the MCU will be included on the game’s roster. A few clips from the game’s E3 demo were shown where Bruce Banner rides in during the battle of New York to punch out the Chitari monster. Team up moves are a big selling point of the game we’ve seen Cap throw Black Widow off his shield and during the panel a few others were shown such as Throw hitting cap’s shield.

This new game takes everything gamers love about the previous and puts a layer of new on top of it. Once example saw Hulk super jump his way across the city. Clearly the team has added missing elements such as a form of flight for larger characters

100 new characters coming to Lego Marvel’s Avengers. One of the cornerstone philosophies of making the game was to

Stan Lee just invaded the panel to announce himself as a fully playable character. He’s sort of the Iron Stan as he goes through suits similar to Iron Man. New Quicksilver and Vision gameplay also got demoed. Pietro’s speed effects don’t rely on a bunch of blast lines, instead it makes gameplay

Young Avengers Wiccan, America Chavez, Crossbones, Detroit Steel, and Sam Wilson Cap will also be part of the roster. TT is dead serious when they say they’re going deep in the Avengers bench.

Going through different character variations is also updated to feel like Lego Batman. When using Iron Man a push of the button goes into Tony’s HUD which then let’s the player change into different suits with unique abilities.

Audience questions rounded out the panel which included “who would win in a fight?” The answer of course being Marvel characters.

Greg Miller himself tweeted a request for Spider-Gwen during the panel.

Another fan asked about an expansion for the open world New York. Different places will used in the game as Age of Ultron was a global film.

A touchy subject of drone characters filling in the boasted number of characters was brought up. The team promised 100 new characters not 100 drones.

To close the panel a laundry list of wishes were shouted including the new Ms.Marvel and again Spider-Gwen.

Lego Marvel’s Avengers releases on major game consoles this winter.

 

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The more things change, the more things stay the same.  We’ll find out just how quotidian the new Marvel universe is this October when the company leads into the All-New All-Different launch with Avengers #0, an issue of short stories that solidify the team lineup following the conclusion of Secret Wars.

AVENGERS #0
When: October 2015
Written by MARK WAID, JAMES ROBINSON, G. WILLOW WILSON, AL EWING, GERRY DUGGAN
Penciled by MAHMUD ASRAR, LEONARD KIRK, GERARDO SANDOVAL, KENNETH ROQUEFORT, RYAN STEGMAN, VICTOR IBANEZ
Cover by KENNETH ROQUEFORT
Variant Cover by ART ADAMS
The kickoff to the All-New AVENGERS line begins here, with new stories of the ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS, SQUADRON SUPREME, A-FORCE, NEW AVENGERS, ULTIMATES and UNCANNY AVENGERS! Someone is carefully studying the movements of the Avengers and those in their orbit—but do they mean to harm, or help? Find out the first clues in this special launch issue!
56 PGS./Rated T+ …$5.99

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By: Nick Eskey

It’s that time again, legion of toy lovers; The Wednesday update for the Funko toy exclusives for San Diego Comic-Con 2015.

Well known for their super popular POP! Toy collection, Funko strives to “cover as many beloved licenses and characters as possible to remind every Comic-Con attendee why they fell in love with these stories in the first place.” As a reminder, there will be no pre-buy option available this year. So if you need or want any of these beauties, best to pick them up at the Funko booth, or see if you can bribe a random person (we do not condone the practice of bribery).

Not to hold out any longer, here are the latest additions:

Though not one of her better remembered ensemble, this Star Wars Princess Leia [Boushh Unmasked] POP! is still pretty fetching. You’ll wish this bounty hunter was looking for you.

Just when you thought you saw every scary robot to date, this Grinning Ultron decidedly takes the cake. We don’t know why he’s so happy, but let’s hope we never find out. He’s sure to give a few nightmares.

Before we know it, we’ll have an army of these Lil’ Gruesome figurines in a rainbow of colors. Joining his green and yellow brothers, this Red Hannah-Barbera character is my favorite so far.

At the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, did you find yourself a little misty eyed? No? Just me? Well… I’m sure this Nova Rocket with Potted Groot will find a way to tug at those heartstrings.

Any machine that can become liquid, a solid, or take the shape of any person is pretty sweet. This T1000 figure from the Terminator 2 movie is sporting his kick-butt Hook Arms, as well as vintage-esque packaging from when toys were simpler than the crazy articulated ones of today.

And lastly, this Vinyl Idolz from the Ghost Busters movie is a gooey exclusive. Marshmallowed Egon Spengler comes with his ghost containment pack, ghost detector, and white marshmallow splotches. I hope that stuff can come out in the wash.

As we’re getting closer and closer to San Diego Comic-Con, expect a few more toy leaks on the way. Stay tuned doers of all things nerdy!

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When Marvel takes news to big outlets like The Wall Street Journal, they usually have something sizable to announce, a new artist for the main Avengers title after Secret Wars, shipping schedule, an Alex Ross cover debut, and roster confirmation are little details that add up to news.

The Free Comic Book Day Avengers issue already revealed the roster of the team after the Secret Wars eight months later event. Marvel even gave us what looks like a (fairly) stable creative team in Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar. But today, they revealed that artist Adam Kubert will be switching storylines with Asrar. Also, they shared this Alex Ross cover: which is kind of insane. In addition, this comic book will be shipping more than an issue every month. The Avengers will first come together to fight someone that Marvel Studios film watchers and Nova fans will be familiar with: Warbringer, a Chitauri alien warlord. This new set of Avengers will be low on money, (I guess the whole Superior Iron Man thing burned some bridges?)

“They’re poor, and they have to manage their assets,” said Marvel Executive Editor and SVP of Publishing Tom Brevoort. “Another new wrinkle: Half the team goes to school. They’ve got hours of operation, and if they get stuck in Zimbabwe, somebody’s going to have to write the absentee slips.”

Marvel isn’t looking that bad when comparing their Avengers to DC’s Justice League strictly in terms of diversity. The Vision is a robot. The team has not one, but two women. It’s great to see three younger kids joining the Avengers ranks as well — all three are powerful and with the support of Vision and Tony Stark as Iron Man, they have nothing to worry about. How long with the new Thor be around? Her character is very ill and may have precious little time left to serve as an Avenger. Hopefully Waid will naturally integrate Sam Wilson into the Captain America mantle in a way that doesn’t seem forced, AXIS did some damage to his new role in the Marvel Universe. As ComicsAlliance pointed out as well, this roster is slim, a far cry to the massive Jonathan Hickman-penned multi-character Avengers world concept. As interesting as that story was, it’s time to take the franchise in a new direction, and Marvel seems to be doing just that with the new effort.

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When you think of Marvel games you think of… WB? I know it sounds strange but lately the best Marvel games have come from the corporation that owns their competition. Last time developer, TT Games did a game licensed from the “House of Ideas”, Lego Marvel Superheroes was an open free roaming good time full of laughs for everyone. This year they’re bringing block building magic to the MCU in Lego Marvel’s Avengers.

We played a small portion of the game on the E3 show floor, what follows is a bit of what you’ll get when the game releases this Fall. The slice of the game we started in put us right in the middle of the battle of New York from the first Avengers film. This part of the story had us switching between Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. As usual you’ll rescue civilians, smash things, and build new Lego creations out of the rubble. We battled countless Chitauri aliens using new team up attacks. Captain America is able to bounce Black Widow off his shield and while she’s in the air will obliterate the enemies using her dual guns. Puzzle solving also utilizes this feature as you’ll need to give agile characters a boost to reach high ledges and scaffolds.

Hawkeye has much of the tactics, Batman used in Lego Batman 3. He’ll be able to shatter glass using a “sonar arrow” and melt gold bricks with a… let’s call it “heat arrow”. Once the Chitauri scout was taken down, our gamed transitioned to the bridge where we were met by Thor. His lightning attacks are more devastating this time around. Our session saw us get to the part where Bruce Banner rides in on a motorcycle and punches out the giant flying alien as he turns into the Hulk. This time around he takes a victory selfie. During this part players will need to work with Iron Man to target the monster’s weak spots. At the end of the demo we built a missile to launch at the invaders just as when Iron Man flew it into the portal at the end of the film.

One thing we noticed while playing was the voice work in the cinematic seemed to be ripped from the movie. It didn’t feel like it was recorded for the game. No word on if this will be the final product or if voice will be added. Avengers has boasted to players about having iconic Marvel Cinematic Universe locations to visit. With some of those not being in strictly the Avengers movies, it’ll be interesting to see how TT Games handles voice work.

Fans can expect the same free roam world full of MCU easter eggs, Stan Lee saving cameos, and tons of characters from both Avengers films. WB, some Lego Infinity Stones might be nice.

Lego Marvel’s Avengers comes out this Fall for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation4, PlayStation3, PlayStation Vita, WiiTMU, Nintendo 3DSTM, Windows PC. 

Find more on the game’s Facebook.

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Not to be outdone by this Friday’s release of Lego Jurassic World, WB Games UK debuted the first trailer for Lego Marvel’s Avengers on their YouTube channel.

The game centers around the Marvel cinematic universe and as you can see by the footage the epic battle of New York from the first Avengers movie just got adorable. This first trailer also featured the reveal of Ultron. While most of the footage we’ve seen depicts events from only the first movie, this is the first hint we’ve seen about any content from this year’s Age of Ultron film. Another prevalent detail dropped was the game’s release window. Fans will get to bring home Lego Marvel’s Avengers this Winter on all PlayStation and Xbox consoles as well as Wii U, DS, and PC.

We’ll get some hands on time with the game next week during E3 and talk about its Easter egg connections to the MCU.

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After Easter and the jury duty kerfuffle...

...to which I didn't have to go!

Happy dance, happy dance, everybody happy dance!

... I got a rejection on a query I sent to an agent about a month before.  Technically, she never responded to the query, which per the guidelines basically meant the same thing.  No reply, no acceptance.

Tears may have been shed.

But that's okay.  I dusted off my poor weeping query, gave it a little spruce up and sent it bravely back into the big wide world of agents.  I may have whispered a prayer to send it on its way.

Or rather:  Design ALL the flowers!

Talk? Talk?!   What makes you think I'd want to chat?  I haz nothing to say.  Unless we speak geek.  Then perhaps we speak.

Then we got BACK from the wedding and the weather has been liek dis:

Grey

Rainy

*snarf, grumble, grouch

*whaaahaaahaaaaaa!

It hasn't been NICE.  It has been the opposite.  It has been DARK.  My mood goeth downhill.

Source

Socializing, for me, can be physically more draining and damaging than a solid week's work, so piling MOTHER'S DAY WEEK on top of that was... was...


However, good news.  Before driving back from the wedding in Bakersfield, we stopped at Target and all four of us who had attended the wedding picked up copies of the Target Edition of Josh Groban's STAGES, which contains 17 tracks and are all of them amazing.

Make sure you get the TARGET edition with 17 tracks! The normal version only has 13, so make sure it 's the special TARGET edition you're getting!

*Oh Groban!

Speaking of Superheroes and Marvel, I also watched the first two episodes of Daredevil on Netflix during that wedding weekend, so when I got back from the wedding I proceeded to watch the other 11 episodes.


Matt Murdoch is the best!  I refuse to say anything, because, as Yoda say, "If Netflix you have, Daredevil you should be watching."  Seriously, he's a new favourite Marvel superhero.  He is so amazing and cool!  Unfortunately, now that I'm done with those 13 episode, the next season won't be up until 2016!  Netflix, why? Why? Whyyyyy?

Source

After this, Teresa and Jack and I started watching Harry Potter.  I have never really watched Harry Potter.

I know, right?

I had read up to the fourth book (which *I* thought was horrifying) and then watched the fourth movie which, IMHO, did NOT live up to the fourth books horrifyingness (which is not a word, but I don't care.  I'm a writer.  I do what I want).  Frankly, the fourth movie rather bored me, so I gave up on the series.

Then, I dunno, after the final book had been published and was no longer talked about, I thought I might as well finish the book series, and while I thought J.K. Rowling did a fine job with writing, I wasn't entirely sold on the series.  I don't know why.  I just wasn't a fan.

Sorry.

So I have had no urge to watch the movies until after Valentine's Day, when after a long grueling day at work I came home, ate something fortifying and turned on the TV, and discovered The Chamber of Secrets was playing.  Having nothing better to do, I watched it.

I mean, after all, why not?

Since then, I've been off again, on again wanting to watch them, and we started our sporadic marathon about two weeks ago.  While the first four were nothing special (for me, anyway - and btw, the fourth movie is NOT as boring as I remembered it being.  Perhaps one needs to have been away from books and movies for a significant amount of time or something), we just finished Deathly Hallows part 1, and I'll admit the 5th, 6th and 7-1/2th movies engaged me more and made me feel a bit more connected to the characters.  (Though, and I'm speaking from my experience of having read the books YEARS ago, I am pretty certain the scriptwriters could have clarified Harry as being The Chosen One.  That shtick sort of makes an appearance in the Half Blood Prince, and while I *think* it was clear in the book, it was NOT AT ALL CLEAR in the movie(s), and I honestly can't remember how or why or who or when Harry became this Chosen One or even what it has to do with the plot.)

I feel ya, Minion

I don't think I'm still (yet) techinically a fan.  I haven't entirely finished the series, after all.  Deathly Hallows part 2 will possibly (probably) happen tonight, but now that I've watched the movies I can see why people have become fans.  I will be honest even more and state that I do have a bad tendency to quote HISHE or Honest Trailer lines during crucial moments of the movies (such as, Wizzzzard lightning battle! or, Look out, Harry, he doesn't have a nose!, or, "Just saving your life.  And countless others.  In the future.  It's a long story.")  But overall, my favorite characters are Snape, Professor McGonagall, George and Fred, and Harry.  I like Ron and Hermione, but those first five are my favorites.

Source

Lastly, to bring my month to a close, the query I'd dusted off and sent back out came back with a request for the agent to see the full manuscript.

I may or may not have woken up my sister at the obscene hour of 5:00 a.m. to show her the joyous news.

So I sent the full manuscript to the agent, and now I must wait up to 60 days to see what she thinks.  It's a bit torturous, but she was nice enough to admit that it was torturous, which was good to hear.  Empathy, empathy.  So all I can do now is pray... and hope... and pray... and, you know, hope.

So, that's been my month!  I hope yours has been just as exciting and eventful as mine, albeit less gloomy.  *Rain, rain, go away, come again some OTHER day.*

Until next month...

Cat! :)

Leopold!

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Secret Wars #1

 

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artist: Esad Ribic

Color:Ive Svorcina

Letters: Chris Eliopoulous

Publisher: Marvel Comics

 

 

The time for talking and teasing is over, Marvel’s “mega game changing” event Secret Wars is upon us. Now, it’s time to see if the real thing can possibly live up to the hype. Free Comic Book Day gave readers a zero issue that served as a primer for anyone not caught up on current events in Avengers titles. Issue one of Secret Wars marks the real kickoff of the collision between the Marvel universe we’ve known for more than 75 years and the Ultimate universe launched back in 2000. With a lot of ground to cover we’ll keep it short and major spoiler free.

The opening chapter isn’t so much about the Battleworld or fighting Beyonders as it is a reckoning of the cataclysmic incursion between Earth-616 (regular universe) and Earth-1610 (ultimate universe). Before Secret Wars, writer Jonathan Hickman had set a chain of events in motion during his Avengers run where alternate universes could only survive annihilation by destroying other universes. It all gets extremely lightly touched upon in the opening through the dialogue of the evil Reed Richards from the Ultimate universe, but doesn’t explain all the events leading up to the end of the worlds. Hickman instead made this first issue a massive Marvel fight between Ultimate Nick Fury’s forces and the Avengers of the regular Marvel U. In the midst of battle, the good Reed Richards (616) attempts a last ditch effort to gather essential people on Earth to his life raft (that’s literally what they called it) in order to continue the human race once doomsday obliterates everything. The end of issue one is where the meat of Secret Wars battle for reality begins, but we’ll have to wait till issue two to see how things really take shape.

An action packed story relies heavily on an artist who can cinematically capture it all. Esad Ribic’s work in the book is solid. The scale of the lens readers witness events through is massive and his panel layout choices move everything along at a break-neck pace. He does sacrifice fine detail in the drawings, but fortunately doesn’t skimp on the small details in the panels particularly the impact moments. Where the visual really pops is in the color work of Ive Svorcina. It brings out such a distinction in the contrast of the 616 and Ultimate universe that adds the much-needed definition between the sides in battle. Marvel’s AR app also gets a really great workout from the art in the book, if you haven’t used it, make sure you download it for this series.

Overall, enjoyment of Secret Wars #1 is fragmented and where you find yourself depends on how closely you follow Marvel books. If you’ve been following Hickman’s Avengers titles then this series is a can’t miss payoff for your loyal reading. However, Marvel’s ambitions for Secret Wars went far beyond that audience. The publisher didn’t spend a year bombarding us with –teaser after teaser– and –press announcement after announcement– just to solely reward Hickman’s core audience. A highly touted PR campaigned combined with the timing of releasing right after the Avengers: Age of Ultron film hit theaters meant Marvel wanted to bring in everyone who’s ever read or even thought about picking up a comic book to buy this book. In this regard they didn’t make issue one as new-reader friendly as it should have been. If you haven’t been reading Avengers routinely then your level of indulgence from reading Secret Wars will depend on if you can accept the premise of this book without knowing the intricate moves that initiated it.

Having not finished the most recent issues of Avengers, I found myself scratching my head at some of the exposition all the different factions represented here are having in their conversations. However it didn’t dramatically hinder my enjoyment of the action and tension Secret Wars #1 was filled with. When you compare Secret Wars to DC’s Under the Dome; Marvel is making up serious ground. Though DC’s Convergence had more emotion in their opening; the current slow pace isn’t doing it any favors. While Secret Wars doesn’t quite live up to the hype, Marvel opened it with action movie like entertainment, and sometimes that’s all you really need to get hooked.

Note: Though we can’t talk about the tie-in series just yet. It’s important to note that after reading some of those #1s, Marvel is so far keeping to their promise of keeping Secret Wars main series as the only one you need to read. Check back later today and we’ll post a code for a digital copy of Secret Wars #1

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When the “House of Mouse” bought the “House of Ideas” in 2009 it opened up infinite synergy possibilities we’re only seeing the cusp of in film,television, and publishing. Without Disney; things like the Big Hero 6 movie or the new flood of Star Wars comics have a harder time getting made, maybe even impossible. One area that the deal has yet to see noticeable fruit in is the Disney theme parks.

Outside of a rumor about the possibility of a Marvel themed roller coaster we haven’t heard much about future plans for incorporation of their characters to the happiest place on earth. Before the closure of Hall of Innoventions inside Tomorrowland, the only signs of Marvel inside Disneyland were meet-and-greets with cast memembers dressed as Captain America and Thor. Note, if you ever want to be weirded out and amazed at the same time then meet Captain America at Disneyland. The cast members do a tremendous job of having an in character conversation with kids and adults alike; it’s the next level of taking pictures with someone in Cosplay.

I’m not the Disneyfile that most of my friends are, in fact I only have an annual pass to the parks because of peer pressure. Before Thor and Captain America were brought in there wasn’t really anything about the parks that felt like it was for me. From the first time I waited in line for the Marvel characters, I knew these were my “princesses” and now I want Disneyland to bring even more Marvel in. In the spirit of waiting for Avengers: Age of Ultron to hit theaters Friday, here’s 5 Marvel attractions Disney needs to bring to Disneyland:

1. Spider-Man’s “Swinging Over New York”

In the tradition of Disney California Adventure’s “Soaring Over California” ride, Marvel could be incorporated in a similar attraction that Mary Jane’s the audience on Spidey’s back as he web swings all over the city of New York. The 5 Burrows, Coney Island, The Brooklyn Bridge; all are just part of what could be an adventure that connects you with Spider-Man like never before. This could even cameo various heroes from across the Marvel Universe. You could pop over the X-Mansion, Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, or Stark Industries tower. Plus, how cool would it be to swing over Hell’s Kitchen and glimpse Daredevil beating the tar out of some mugger. Probably not the most kid friendly moment but you get the idea.  This ride could even take a page from Star Tours and change up between different scenarios giving it a lot of repeat value.

 

 

2. Inhumans: Find Your Gifts

We don’t know anything about the upcoming film. From what we’ve seen so far in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Marvel wants the Inhumans to have Guardians of the Galaxy level of appeal with audiences. One of the quirky things about Disney parks that’s always good for a kick are the exhibits that let you “find your spirit animal” or tell you “what disney character” you are. The Terrigen Mists are the perfect delivery system for an exhibit that let’s kids and adults find out what Inhuman power they’d unlock. You’d walk through the mist and have exhibits where one (through the magic of Disney imagineering) could lift a car, teleport, shatter a piece of the planet with a whisper, or just have deadly hair. Attilan could definitely rise at Disneyland.

 

3. Deadpool’s “4th Wall Break”

Sure it would be hard to justify Disney building a ride that would –in a round about way– promote a Movie they’d have nothing to do with, but this is all just hypotheticals. So let’s build a Carsland Racers style ride that takes you through the inner madness of Deadpool with twist and turns traversing the characters funniest moments right before a drag race that shatters a giant comic page at the end of the ride.

 

4. Marvel Midway

If Marvel attractions were built into California Adventure by the pier area they could take over the midway carnival games section. Imagine characters like the Punisher running the shooting gallery, or the test of strength with Mjölnir. We could even have Professor X guess your weight. A carnival atmosphere complete with Marvel prizes and Hulk cotton candy. Here’s another novel approach for something like this; publishing could even operate a newsstand style Marvel comics shop here complete with their own Skottie Young variants and all where kids could get exposed to the latest comics after they see the movies.

 

5. Captain America and Friends Character Breakfast

One of the best ,and albeit, most expensive things to do in Disneyland is the Minnie and Friends character breakfast at the Plaza Inn. It’s an all you can eat breakfast buffet, but what really makes it special are the costumed characters that roam around greeting you and taking pictures with you while you dine. It’s a value for anyone who hates waiting in long lines to meet Disney characters and the interactions feel more personable. Marvel has over 700 plus characters in their library that could rotate on different days of the week. Though I don’t think I’d want to look at MODOK while I eat breakfast. I definitely wouldn’t mind having the Hulk playfully try to steal my waffle or Black Widow greet me as I’m scarfing down my bacon and ham omelet. Even the food could be themed, if they can make waffles in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head, a Captain America shield should be no problem. Maybe even give the villains some love with Green Goblin eggs and ham, or Baron Zemo biscuits & gravy. Also you could have this…

 

With the D23 Expo this August in Anaheim, we might finally get new information on any plans Disney has to incorporate more Marvel themed attractions at the parks. In the meantime I’ll say this “Make Mine Disney Marvel!”

What are some of your ideas for a Disney Marvel themed attraction?

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