Alpha: Big Time #4

Why?!  Why is this mini-series almost over already???  Seriously, what am I going to do when I can no longer get my monthly Alpha fix?  Is a world without Alpha a world I really want to live in???  Hmm, I know, I'll just pull all of Alpha's appearances and reread them!  Forever!!!  Problem solved.  Now, it's time to read the penultimate issue of the greatest mini-series ever put out by any comic book company in the history of the UNIVERSE!

Alpha: Big Time #4(of 5):

Summary: This issue kicks off with Alpha getting hammered by the Miller.  With a real hammer.  Not whatever you were thinking...  Thor stops by and strikes Alpha and the Miller with lightning, which ends the "threat" of the Miller.  Thor hands out some advice, and talks about the importance of women and mead before taking off.  From there, Alpha is blown off by Soupcan, who apparently only wants to be friends...  Ouch...  After that crushing blow, Alpha hears some commotion going on at the hospital and rushes over, discovering that the mugger he put in a coma had become some sort of energy(and people!) absorbing creature.  Oh, and the mugger had absorbed like 400 people in the hospital.  Meanwhile, the head mobster in Pittsburgh, Boss Cohen, sends some of his goons to Alpha's grandmother's house, where they proceed to torch the place, while Alpha's mom and grandmother are still inside.  Alpha manages to hear his mother's call for help and abandons the battle with the energy absorbing mugger and heads to his house, arriving to see it completely ablaze.

Thoughts: This comic...  I love it SO MUCH!  The humor is great(I love that everybody kept mistaking Alpha for Nova, since they look NOTHING alike), Thor's cameo was great, even Alpha's interactions with Soupcan ruled.  Besides the humor, Alpha STILL feels like the most realistic hero in either Marvel or DC.  When Alpha left the fight with the energy mugger to get home, that's what I would have done.  Or really, any normal person.  Now, if it was Spider-Man for example, and Aunt May was in trouble, he would somehow manage to defeat the energy mugger and then rescue Aunt May.  The true "heroic" thing to do is to save the greater, while sacrificing your own happiness.  Comic book heroes do it all the time.  But would I?  If I'm being honest, no, I'd watch out for me and mine before I worry about the city.  And if you're honest with yourself, I'd think an overwhelming majority of you would do likewise.  So yeah, great character, great issue, great mini-series, all means I'll be pulling out all my Alpha comics to give 'em all a reread once the next issue drops.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Best of the Rest! April 10th edition.

Hey all, X here to herald in a brand new BotR post.  Not only that, but this is the 3,000th post here at the blog!  That's A LOT of posts!  Speaking of a lot, I picked up a slew of comics on Wednesday, so it should go without saying there are gonna be A LOT of comics covered in this post.  As always, I'll get things started and JT will pitch in towards the end of the review.  JT's text will be in blue.  With so many comics to dig into, let's end the intro and get to the main event.

Alpha: Big Time #3: In this issue, Alpha DOESN'T screw up!  Huzzah for the greatest hero ever!!  He saves that girl he likes in school from a fire(and she naturally knows who he is, because she's not a moron), and talks to Doc Parker about his powers, which seem to be growing.  However, the main villain of Pittsburgh takes umbrage at a hero being and town, and since everybody knows who Alpha is, decides to pay his family a visit.  So yeah, this comic?  You know I loved it!  I read it from cover to cover with a smile on my face.  I just can't help but to love this character, and this series.  Alpha is honestly what all teenage heroes SHOULD be.  Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Ultron #1AU: With all of the other Runaways dead, Victor has been saving whatever kids he could find in destroyed Los Angeles.  Luckily for him, the various Ultron patrols can't seem to figure out what he is, and as such haven't killed him.  Oh yeah, and Victor has been hiding his powers from the kids he was rescuing, while subtly using them to hide from Ultron.  At least until one of the kids sees him doing robot-y stuff, and the Ultrons attack.  It's then that Victor decides to stop slinking around in the shadows, afraid of Ultron and finally fights back.  This was another really good comic.  Man, with the exception of AoU #5, I have been having some GREAT luck with my comic reading this week.  I liked the art, and the writing nailed Victor perfectly.  This is a character that needs a much bigger place in the Marvel U.  Score: 9 out of 10.

Walking Dead #109: This issue dealt with Jesus and Rick putting their plan to attack Negan in motion.  Rick informs certain people from his group(Andrea, Carl, Michonne), while Jesus tells a select number of folks at the Hilltop.  However, by the end of this one, Jesus seems to realize that one of the guys he told was in Negan's pocket.  This was an okay issue.  I mean, nothing really happened, I wasn't blown away by it, but it was a fine way to kill a few minutes.  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Hawkeye #9: This issue gives us a look at the four most important women in Hawkeye's life(Mockingbird, Black Widow, Kate and Spider-Woman).  Plus it advances the story with the mob having it out for Clint by having an assassin kill Clint's neighbor, Grills.  So we had action, comedy, and Kate calling Clint a bitch.  Yup, this one checked all the boxes for me.  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Thor: God of Thunder #7: Current Thor and Future Thor get together and prepare an attack on Gorr's planet.  Meanwhile, Gorr captures Young Thor and forces Young Thor to work on Gorr's master plan...  A gigantic bomb.  No complaints with this one.  Gorr is still a great villain, and I enjoyed seeing the two Thors interact.  The reveal at the end wasn't something I was all excited over(so Gorr has a big bomb...  Even though he's killed most every god without a giant bomb...), but I'm sure Jason Aaron has a reason Gorr is concocting that bomb.  So yeah, again, good stuff here.  Score: 7 out of 10.

Secret Avengers #3: AIM's scientist supreme and a few henchmen drop in on a weapon's expo, claiming they had every right to be there since they were members of a UN recognized country.  Needless to say, that leads to Nick Fury(jr) and Daisy Johnson fighting AIM.  A US senator ends up getting killed during the ruckus, and AIM escapes with the Iron Patriot armor, which they seemed interested in using Mentallo to pilot.  Also, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Mockingbird find a half destroyed Jocasta at a wrecked AIM base.  Hey, I liked this comic too!  What's going on this week?!  I'm still not 100% sold on AIM as the main antagonists here(they seem too faceless without somebody like MODOK leading them), but I'm slowly starting to get into this story.  Plus, anytime you throw Hawkeye, Black Widow and Mockingbird into a comic I'm gonna be a happy camper.  Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Fantastic Four #6: Reed decides to take the kids to the Big Bang.  For SCIENCE!!  While there, they find a body floating around in the void and rescue it.  It turns out the body is an older version of Blastaar, and he attacks.  Franklin uses his powers to send Blastaar back outside before the ship is critically damaged.  Ah, there we go...  I knew my comic reading luck was too good prior to this issue.  So yeah, I didn't like this issue at all.  The F4 are too cardboard for my tastes here, and the two kids are incredibly irritating.  Like to the point where I've stopped reading their dialogue because they piss me off so much.  Besides that, there's nothing interesting happening here...  Oh no, something mysterious is wrong with Ben!  Oh no, Reed has a mysterious disease!  Oh no, Sue is pouting!  This series just isn't for me, so I'll be dropping it come Wednesday.  Score: 2 out of 10.

Superboy #19: This issue actually gives us SB's full origin(um, shouldn't that have happened in the zero issue?), as well as Harvest's.  Harvest is from a future where humanity is at war with the meta-humans, who have taken to abusing their powers.  As for SB, he is a clone of Lois Lane and Superman's son, Jon.  Jon was taken in by Harvest after his parents thought he had died.  Why?  Because Harvest intended on using Jon to kill every meta-human, since Jon was the most powerful of the metas.  However, Jon was messed up due to his hybrid Kryptonian/human DNA and wound up in a coma, so Harvest created a clone to try to help Jon(who he came to love like a son).  So yeah, SB is the clone of the son of Lois and Supes, and that?  That is SOOOOO much better than SB as the clone of Supes and Lex, or Supes and a random scientist.  I have to say, this issue was really good.  Like, surprisingly so!  I'm usually blasting Scott Lobdell's work, but he brought his A-game here.  Harvest became a deeper character, while SB has an origin that I like.  I still don't understand why we didn't get this in issue #0, but hey, at least we got it here.  Score: 8 out of 10.

Ultimates #23: The leader of California sends Tigra and Quake from the West Coast Ultimates to attack Cap at the White House.  Meanwhile, WCU member Vision has stolen Tony Stark's nuclear satellite and has sent it hurdling towards Sacramento   The leader of California figures that will be seen as an attack on California and will lead to the west coast states banding together against Cap and the rest of the country.  This issue was kind of a snoozer for me.  I just never got into it.  So yeah, that's all I have to say about this issue, actually...  Score: 5 out of 10.

Batman and Red Robin #19: In this issue we're introduced to Carrie Kelley, a college student that had apparently been tutoring Damian for thousands of dollars, as well as her blonde roommate that wears purple. (Hint, hint?) Anyway, She goes looking for Damian at his home but no one answers. Bruce starts looking into her life and when he tells her that her services are no longer needed, she asks where Damian is, causing Bruce to leave without answering. Also, Batman heads off to find Frankenstein with the intent of having him help resurrect Damian. Frankenstein is not on board with this, and neither is Red Robin, who finally pops up when Alfred asks him to go check out Bruce's location. Tim tries to stop Bruce but ends up getting punched in the face for his troubles. Sensing that Batman will do whatever he has to, Frankenstein blows up his lab/lair, leaving Batman at square one, now very pissed at Tim for interfering on his quest to resurrect Damain. This was a weird issue, considering Red Robin was barely in it and his name's in the title, but it was far from bad, plus Bruce dealt with Denial on his first of the five steps of grief. Next is Anger, and Red Hood is involved! Score: 6/10

Wolverine #2: In this issue, Logan is pursuing a child that seems to be mind controlled by some kind of alien-like being, as we see it's mind controlling other people as well. Logan wants to stop the being without hurting the kid, but he has a laser gun that basically disintegrates people on impact. Logan tries to talk the mind controller down and distracts it long enough to disarm the kid, who then leaps off of the building while still being controlled. Logan leaps after him and catches the kid, then lands with his body taking the impact. Logan and the kid survive, but someone else now has the laser gun, but they're dealt with by Nick Fury, who shows up to help Logan investigate the mind controllers. The issue ends with The Watcher showing up, meaning this is a big problem. I enjoyed this issue, It's weird how a story with Wolverine facing a kid could be this entertaining but it was, also Cornell has a penchant for mind control, doesn't he? Score: 7/10

Saga #12: This issue starts with us seeing some of Prince Robot's time on the front lines during the war, where he's saved by a medic that promptly dies afterwards. From there we see him take a call that basically motivates him to find Alanna and Marko and get home to his family. Prince Robot heads off to meet the author of the book Alanna read when she fell in love with Marko, and the author basically says he wrote it for a check and doesn't believe in what he wrote. He and Prince Robot share some words before the author reveals his son, a former war hero, hanged himself in the bathroom upon returning home from war. Prince Robot calls his son a coward and the author pulls a weapon on him, but Prince Robot shoots him in the leg first. Prince Robot decides to wait at the house for Marko and Alanna, knowing they'd seek out the sympathizer, but doesn't realize they're already there, hiding upstairs and aware of the Prince's presence. I enjoyed this issue, I like that everyone is humanized so no one really feels like a bad guy, everyone has motivation so it seems real. Prince Robot, The Will, Marko and Alanna, even Gwendolyn to a degree. Score: 7.5/10

And that my friends, is the Best of the Rest. I'll be here tomorrow with the final review of the comic week, Uncanny X-Men #4. And I probably will have short reviews for the week after while I play Injustice until my eyes bleed. Lol, anyway, til next time, this is JT, signing off!

Alpha: Big Time #2

Alright, it's Alpha time!!  This is definitely the comic I'm most looking forward to reading every month, so the hell with a fancy intro, let's get right in to the action!!

Alpha: Big Time #2(of 5)

Summary: So yeah, last issue Alpha totally decked some mugger and may have killed him.  Not knowing what else to do, Alpha takes said mugger to the hospital and prepares to turn himself over to the cops for hitting the mugger too hard.  The cops aren't interested in arresting Alpha since the guy he hit was a scumbag, and let Alpha walk.  The whole episode weighs on Alpha's mind, so he decides to head to Horizon Labs so Peter Parker can take away his powers.  Again.  However, on the way there he runs into, and defeats, a massive monster.  Defeating the monster gives Alpha some second thoughts about giving his powers up, but he goes to Horizon anyway and waits for Peter.  While waiting, he spots a newspaper that says the mugger he hit last night was going to survive, so Alpha decides not to tell Peter about what happened, and leaves with his powers.  From there he heads to the hospital to apologize to the unconscious mugger, but is shocked when the mugger grabs his arm, ending this one.

Thoughts: This issue was okay...  I guess...  I loved Alpha's inner monologue, where he was completely conflicted about giving up his powers.  I mean, who wouldn't be conflicted?  If anything, it shows growth as a character that he was even considering giving up his powers.  Other than that though, nothing really happened...  Alpha fought a big energy monster.  And went to a coffee house.  And was grabbed by a mugger.  So yes, I enjoyed this one because I'm about the biggest Alpha fan you'll find, but honestly?  This comic was kind of skippable...

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

If I was more artistically inclined, I'd write songs dedicated to the awesomeness of Alpha.

Alpha: Big Time #1

First new review of the week is a comic I've been looking forward to for months now!  Literally months!  Yep, it's Alpha time!! (And JT Time!)  For those of you not in the know, Alpha is basically what Peter Parker would be if he were more realistic.  I mean, I love Peter as much as the next guy, (Not if the next guy's me!) but come on, nobody is THAT altruistic! (I am...)  No, Alpha is what most of us would be if we were to get powers.  Not a saint like Peter, not a crazed murderer like the Punisher, but a flawed person who wants to do what's right.  Enough talk, I have SO been waiting to get my hands on this one...  Let's dig in!!

Alpha: Big Time #1: 

Summary: We get things started here by finding out that Alpha's parents ended up splitting up, which led to Alpha and his mom moving to Pittsburgh.  Basically Alpha's life at school is even worse now than it had been, as instead of being ignored by his fellow students, he's being bullied. (Who wouldn't bully an Ex-Hero?)  So yeah, losing his powers has ramped up the sucktitude (nice vocabulary, buddy...) in his life tenfold.  However, Alpha is met by Dr Peter Parker, (picker of peppered pickled peppers) who tells him he wanted to give him his powers back, provided Alpha acted more responsibly with them.  In actuality Doc Parker (who is now Dr. Octopus, for those of you living under rocks) wants to harness the power of the Parker Particles like the real Peter never could. (Somewhere, Hank Pym is so jealous.) So now Alpha has 10% of his awesome powers back!  Huzzah!  Alpha celebrates by taking a flight around the city where he assists some firemen in putting out a fire. He then hears a woman cry out for help and interrupts a mugging in process.  Alpha (After hilariously calling himself Beta...) warns the mugger to back off, but being a criminal, the mugger isn't exactly bright (although he is surprisingly up on current events...) and decides to shoot a gun at Alpha.  Alpha easily deflects the bullet and punches the mugger in the face.  End of problem, no? (Yes?) Well, unfortunately for Alpha, he uses too much power in that blow and apparently kills the mugger! (Bet you're regretting that Punisher line from earlier now...)

Thoughts: Oh, you KNOW what I thought about this one! (Bet he tells us anyway...) Of course I loved it!  Come on, it's an Alpha story!!  Even though Dan Slott isn't writing this mini, I never had any doubt that this comic would be good, as Joshua Hale Fialkov has proven himself to be a good writer in his own right with DC's "I, Vampire". (And the new writer of Green Lantern Corps and Red Lantern)  And he proved here that he knows what he's doing by crafting a good, strong, engaging tale.  We see how Alpha is doing, learn that his life sucks, he gets his powers back, we find out why he gets his powers back, he tries to do good with them, and naturally, because he's Alpha, screws up.  I seriously couldn't ask for much more.  So yes Alpha fans, this was a very good comic, and I am eagerly anticipating the second issue. (You're not the only one!)

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Alpha is the greatest super-hero ever.  There, I said it.