Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm cover

Reintroduced to the Marvel Universe in Mystic Arcana is Ian McNee, the teenage magic prodigy created by Roger Stern and Charles Vess.  He made his first and last appearance in Marvel Fanfare #7 where he challenged Dr. Strange for the title of Sorcerer Supreme, to which he faced a humiliating defeat.

In Mystic Arcana, Ian has a vision that starts him on a quest to retrieve four mystic items – the Sword, the Rose, the Crown and the Mirror – to restore the spirit of the ancient Egyptian Sorcerer, Heka-Nut and then begin to repair the structure of Magic itself.  These artifacts are known as The Cornerstones of Creation.

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Dear Marvel,

My name is Mike Rapin. I’m a pretty big fan of almost everything you do. There are a few things here and there that I disagree with (How you dealt with Xorn, Gambit becoming and unbecoming Death, Mini-Marvels, the last of Kirkman’s Ultimate X-Men) but for the most part, I can deal with it. I really can. You tend to bring things back and make me, the reader, 90% happy all of the time. Not saying that you couldn’t do 95%, but you got to 90% and that’s better than what other companies (NBC-Heroes, Disney-Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Warner Bros.-Alexander) can do with an extremely brilliant staff of writers, artists and creators.

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Runaways Vol. 2 Cover

Previously in Runaways: After six teenagers realize that their parents are part of a super villain organization known as The Pride, they run away from home – vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy. Little do they know; they harbor super powers of their own.  But when The Pride frame their children for the murder they committed, the fugitive runaways go into hiding.  Unbeknownst to them, one of the runaways is a mole and vows to stay loyal to The Pride.

At this point, my enthusiasm for Runaways has grown, what with Volume 1’s cliffhanger ending.  And after reading Volume 2, my enthusiasm is still as strong, despite a few slips here and there.  The second volume of Runaways may not be quite as tightly put together as the first, but certainly has its perks.  As we settle a little more into the series, Vaughan and his artists, Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa, took the time to explore the characters a little more, as well as add guest appearances by “new kid” Topher and B-list superheroes, Cloak & Dagger.

**minor spoilers after the break**

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Some of you may be visiting the site today, expecting to see my Rapid Reviews for the week. I am sorry to disappoint, but I still haven’t finished all the comics from last week. The massive amount of releases combined with my busy school schedule and my total laziness led to falling behind. Luckily, this week there aren’t very many comics on my list, so I should catch up.

So, just to keep you entertained today before I do my weekly previews tonight, I thought I would post a little something personal. I’ve been reading the fabulous Fantastic Fangirls blog recently and got some inspiration. They have been writing their origin stories into comics as the first posts and I thought this was a great idea. Now, I could never hope to write as well as they do and I don’t really want to rip them off completely, so I am going to do my own little spin on this concept. I want to tell you why I read and love comics, and maybe a little more about myself.

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For the few of you paying attention/giving a damn, so far all the Classics Corner reviews have been about DC books. I’ll admit, I prefer DC. This is not to say I dislike Marvel, though. Marvel has the ability to sustain a character for years, creating not just strong story arcs but strong runs, some of which go on for over a decade. It’s just easier for someone getting into comics to stick with short bursts of brilliance rather than, say, Brubaker’s entire Captain America run.

Considered the greatest X-Men story ever told and the peak of Chris Claremont’s record 16-year run on Uncanny X-Men, The Dark Phoenix Saga is a landmark in comic books and one of the most influential stories ever told in the medium. It’s an incredibly moving tale that incorporates personal tragedy, epic action, and strong characterizations of the entire X-Men team and not just one or two members. However, it’s not without flaws.

**spoilers and more after the jump**

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Every now and again, I have my fits of nostalgia.  I reflect back upon graphic novels from yesteryear and even the not-so-distant-past. I know all of you have felt that way more times than you can count.  Everything I’ve written thus far has been of graphic novels of the past – partly because I’m still catching up, and partly because there are so many fruitful ideas emanating from them.  Reflecting back upon past events and how they lead up to the most current events is, I believe, crucial to understanding most aspects of a universe as a whole.  However, deciding where to start reading is not an easy task.

With an ever-growing series of comics being published, finding a place to call home is overwhelming, intimidating and unnerving.  When I was very young, I started becoming interested in comics and quickly fell into my niche with the comic, Bone.  But afterwards, I found it extremely hard to get into anything else, because Bone was a standalone.  After finishing the 1000+ page graphic novel, I was completely lost.

Sure, I was reading manga at that time, but that was different.  It just wasn’t epic enough for me, I guess.  I didn’t know what epic meant until I got my hands on Crisis on Infinite Earths – luckily, I found this gem in my high school library, and it changed everything.

**Forgive me for the spoilers**

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I’ve been putting off this film for a long time because I’ve never really liked Superman to begin with. Sure, he’s got some great and defining stories, but overall he’s just too idealistic, naïve, and, frankly, powerful for his own good. However, the first two Superman films, even though they don’t hold up well at all, were the first real classics of the superhero genre, and pretty much stayed that way until 2002 when Spider-Man came out (sorry Burton Batman, but you aged worse than Supes and he’s older). So, given my new found interest in comics, I figured I should watch this to see why Warner Bros decided to entirely reboot the franchise only two years after this. Well, I’ve seen it, and I can see why.

Superman Returns takes place five years after Kal-El leaves Earth to find the remnants of his home world. In that time, Lex Luthor was released from prison and breaks into the Fortress of Solitude, where he apparently watches the first two Superman films given that we see Marlon Bando again. That’s a fairly smart move actually and more bad guys should do this when they’ve been beaten in the last movies. He also steals some of Kal’s crystals. Meanwhile, Lois Lane got engaged, had a kid, and wrote a Pulitzer-winning article titled “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.” Clearly, there’s never been a time when the world has needed him more.

**spoilers and more after the break**

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Yeah, I know this has been out for a year and, as an event, has been covered to death not only by reviewers but by Marvel themselves. However, I am making an effort at reading current comics as opposed to trade-waiting for everything, so I felt the need to familiarize myself with the events of Civil War so I could understand Secret Invasion (not to mention all the series that were drastically changed).

Few things are as daunting to a comics newbie as an “event.” Why, you ask? Because every single comic book event promises to be a cataclysmic, universe-altering moment in which not only “everything will change” and “nothing will be the same” (if you take a shot every time Dan DiDio or Joe Quesada say that you will die, I guarantee it), but your own faith in God will be shattered and then rebuilt. Also, every event comes with about eleventy-seven tie-ins that are nothing but a nuisance.

**spoilers after the jump**
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Comics superstar turned director Frank Miller is bringing The Spirit to movie theaters this December.  My initial impression was that Frank Miller based the film, The Spirit on his graphic novel – later did I realize it was being adapted from a graphic novel by Will Eisner.  After leafing through the deceased writers work, I was baffled to see it be stripped down so carelessly in the upcoming film.  Miller has taken Eisner’s boy in blue and revamped him into something of a superhero, which he most definitely isn’t.  The masked vigilante detective is just a regular tough guy with a sense of justice and one hell of a lucky streak.  Luckily for Miller, he has a near free-reign on The Spirit adaptation.

By the looks of the movie clip on Mike’s post, the film’s action sequence seems to take on the humor of the originals, but the official movie trailers seem otherwise.  They’re so similar to Sin City (a no-brainer considering Frank Miller directed this film as well), and though visually stunning, they are alien to the originals.  I can’t imagine this adaptation will do the comics justice.  Will Eisner must be turning in his grave as we speak.

Though not all is dark and dismal in Central City…

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Zack Snyder, the man behind 300 and the Dawn of the Dead remake has without a doubt wooed audiences with his cinematic prowess, truly a director worth watching.  However, when ambition overrides common sense in the world of film, it can only lead to disaster and humiliation.  The film in mind is none other than Alan Moore’s groundbreaking graphic novel, Watchmen.  First images of Snyder’s ‘vision’ appeared online late last year and captivated Watchmen devotees everywhere - even so, disapproval was not uncommon, and rightfully so.

Then this past month came the trailer of the film, that’s when things started to get interesting…

I’ll admit, initial views of the trailer were orgasmic – at the time, I had only read bits and pieces of the graphic novel, in itself, a bad way to go.  I had reveled over movie scenes mimicking unforgettable splash panels, actors identical to their graphic novel counterparts, and visuals that fail to displease the eyes – the adaptation to end all adaptations.

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