Corey’s Comic Corner

Edition 18

Welcome back POP ROC’rs to another edition of Corey’s Comic Corner etc, also our first edition of 2023!

The holiday season has officially come to an end and with it, outside of a couple smaller holidays, most of us now get to look forward to the longest and darkest part of our winter until Spring finally arrives a few months from now. Thankfully we are slowly starting to get back a few extra minutes of sunlight each already. 

We mostly celebrated with family over this past weekend since everything was kinda put on hold Christmas weekend due to blizzard. My family did manage to sneak out and see Avatar during the past week and as expected it was packed in the theater. We saw it in digital 3D. I had hoped to see it in IMAX 3D but I was overruled in 2-1 vote with my wife and daughter due to the comfort level of the seats in the IMAX theater being less than suitable for a 3.5 hour movie. I personally would rather hang suspended from the ceiling upside down with spikes in my eyes than miss seeing a movie like this without the full capabilities of IMAX but that’s me. haha. The movie was indeed long but it lived up to the hype as far as being the cinematic visual experience of the year. Maybe of the decade! Cameron fleshed out his characters and their world a little more in this movie. With the potential for at least 2-3 more sequels it’s clear his main focus is world building. The storyline was decent but I didn’t feel it was a lot different than the prior film. I actually found myself getting sleepy a couple of times. I’m afraid without the 3D and the amazing visuals I’m just not sure it’s a movie I’d revisit very often. I think I sat through the original one time since I saw it in IMAX when it was released and it just wasn’t the same. The plot just wasn’t enough to sustain my interest without all the 3D VFX. My wife and daughter loved it and my daughter specifically can’t wait to see it again. It’s also very close already to earning back the 2 Billion price tag worldwide it needed to break even. It will be interesting to see how profitable it ends up over the next few weeks and into February. There really hasn’t been any competition so anyone who is currently going to the theater is probably going to see Avatar. Time will tell. All I can say is if you haven’t seen it yet and plan to don’t skip the 3D and if you swing it and don’t care about comfort make sure you catch it in IMAX too. 

COMIC BOOK REVIEWS

“This week I had a chance to read Pulp Bytes #1, Star Wars The High Republic - The Blade #1, Burning Man #1 and MurderWorld Spider-Man #1”

MurderWorld Spider-Man #1

Published by Marvel

Written by Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes

Pencils by Farid Karami

Rated T for Teen

Available now!

The underground Murderworld stream continues with Arcade testing hero’s, villains and human competitors to the brink with his challenges and games. In this one shot the contestants learn amongst them all are 3 assassins that will start thinning the herd! 

This was a fun issue to read overall. I love the idea of this underground life or death competition run by a mysterious villain. It reminds me of so many things that I always enjoyed that came before it such as Escape from NY, The Running man and even more recently Squid Games or SAW. The only down side of the issue is that it doesn’t really involve Spider-Man in any way. While there are a few short panels with multiple Spider-men combatants the issue itself doesn’t really focus or deal with Spider-Man at all. From this standpoint the issue doesn’t make a whole lot of sense by title but it’s a neat enough story that you are curious what this whole thing is leading up to. The art and writing is fine and simple and it moves forward at a quick pace. The ending of the issue definitely has a twist that will leave you curious for more and may be the issue's saving grace. If you have been reading the whole Murderworld event up until this point this may be considered essential reading given the twist at the end but if you were hoping for a Spider-Man centered story you are out of luck. 

Star Wars The High Republic - The Blade #1

Published by Marvel

Written by Charles Soule

Pencils by Marco Castiello

Rated T for Teen

Available Now! 

Another High Republic Spin off title set years before the Skywalker saga telling the origin story of one of the most fiercest Jedi’s in history Porter Engle and his many quests with his partner and fellow Jedi, Barash. 

This was a pretty great introduction to the new character  Porter Engle and his history as a Jedi. The issue clearly paints him as a quite the bad-a** and the art only helps drive this notion home. It’s a fun little adventure story with some witty dialogue and action sequences. It’s very clear why they call him The Blade. He looks pretty cool too and at one point he’s shown using The Force to whirl around what appears to be some playing cards in the air almost like Gambit. There’s also somewhat of a likeness to Hellboy as he appears to have two large circular bones that protrude from his head which we don’t really know anything about at this point. The art is solid overall and while it’s nothing groundbreaking it doesn’t take anything away from the story and seems to fit nicely enough. In general this looks like it will be a great new addition to the Star Wars Canon and I can see Portel Engle playing a huge role going forward. He has potential to be a huge and popular Jedi. I picked up on that right away!

Burning Man #1

Published by Bad Idea Comics

Written by Peter Milligan

Pencils by Juan Jose Ryp

Rated M for Mature

Available now by pre-order only

Another new offering from Bad Idea Part 2 follows what appears to be a career criminal who potentially gives up his soul via some type of voodoo ritual so that he may rescue his associate and also girlfriend, from hell! 

I feel like I keep saying this lately but every time I have had a chance to read the latest Bad Idea book it instantly becomes my favorite! This first issue was fantastic! The dialogue, the art, the mood, the style in general all a perfect score for me. Milligan is always great when writing this horror/drama stuff and he’s perfect for this book. Ryp only adds to the story with some pretty detailed and wicked looking panels. The premise is great and there is an excellent twist in play as well. One of the interesting ideas behind this book is that it could be potentially endless and depending on how you choose to read it moving forward, will dictate how the story actually plays out. It’s an interesting choose your own adventure style story with different paths outlined in future other books. Only Bad Idea could come up with something like this and all I can say is that I'm definitely intrigued. I just hope all these different possibilities don’t lead us to an ending that drops the ball as that would unfortunately knock the whole train off its track. Overall though it’s off to a great start, it’s funny, dark and it appears there will be a good deal of drama as well. If anyone else has read this yet I’d love to hear your thoughts! Bad idea. The gift that keeps on giving…

Pulp Bytes #1

Published by Scout Comics

Written by Pat Higgins

Pencils by Pat Higgins

Rated M for Mature

Available now! 

A fun little issue of short horror type stories set in the modern tech world from writer and artist Pat Higgins. The first of which is about a little beauty pageant girl and her competitive mother who will do anything to win and the second about a couple on date night who disregard the fine print! 

This was pretty cool. Starting with that super cool retro monster movie cover! Two short stories in the vein of Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. The art overall was light and fun. It has that whole retro palette much like the throwback cover which I pointed out above. It instantly gives the stories that whole B-movie, late night at the drive-in vibe. Since Higgins pulls double duty on this book he gets to control the flow of the art, dialogue and panels in general which lends a lot to this style of storytelling. Neither story is very long but I could see either on the screen. I hope there is more of this and it’s not a one-shot as I love to read anthologies or collections like this!

MOVIE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WEEK!

The Banshees of Inisherin

Distributed by SearchLight Pictures 

Directed by Martin Mcdonagh

Rated R

Available now on HBOMAX

If you have seen either “Three Billboards” or his earlier film “In Bruges” which also starred Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, you know you are in for a treat when it comes to Martin Mcdonagh and his trademark style for witty dialogue and fascinating characters. This movie was released in theaters a couple months back but was instantly praised and given Oscar consideration for its acting and screenplay. Farrell and Gleeson are awesome together and I couldn’t wait to see this film after seeing their chemistry prior with “In Bruges”. There is a good chance this film walks away with more than a couple awards and I highly recommend seeing it! It’s billed as a dark comedy which is what Mcdonagh typically deals with so it’s worth a watch especially if you fancy those types of films. 

That’s it for this week folks! We’ll be back at it again next week with some more banter, comic reviews and movie recs! In the meantime, as always stop in to POP ROC and see what’s going down! You will not be disappointed. 

Corey Newell

 “Just a guy who loves comics”

⁃ Independent blogger, dad, dork, comic nerd and pop culture lover hailing from Spencerport, NY