Its time for Tom to share some more news and opinions on the latest video games! Pokemon X and Y is just a few days away, and the Pokemon Bank is a few short months away. Beyond Two Souls is out and kicking ass, (also known as absorbing all of his time). The Wolf Among Us has a release date, and of course comics are amazing.  Tune in!

This is a guest post from RAMcon5000

“Peacekeepers” does a great job of riding the highs of last week and taking them higher. We even  see new characters shine and are left with a cliff-hanger.

Summary: (SPOILER ALERT)

Now that the Water Tribes are in the middle of a civil war Korra and team head back to Republic City. During a peaceful protest against the Northern Water Tribe a bomb goes off in the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center. Mako is front and center for the bomb and after fire bending the explosion around him, (in a word ‘sweet’!) we see his potential as a character for the season.

Photo – Merdock1993 tumblr

While Korra and the rest of the city blame the Northern Water Tribe, Mako doesn’t believe it could be them. His opinion however leads yet another fight with Korra, which ends in their break-up. This is the best or worst thing depending on whom you talk to.

This break up is the perfect mechanism to move the characters story forward.

Korra’s path is leading her closer to the Spirit World, a place that Mako could never hope to go. Whereas Mako’s path is keeping him grounded here on earth. This investigation only has good places to go.

We also get to meet President Raiko in this episode. He agrees with Mako about the Water Tribes innocence and though he refuses to send troops, helps negotiate a diplomatic solution. Korra is upset and decides to take matter into her hands. Now I think that the President is in cahoots with Unalaq. Simply because everyone else thinks it was also the North who planted the bomb so why shouldn’t the President? Because he’s evil that’s why! Only time will tell, but you know I’m right. 

To balance out the heavy stuff in the episode we have Bolin and Meelo. Bolin and Varrick hit the town and Varrick shows him the “real” Republic City at night. Meelo has caught his lemur Pokey and started training him (making him a Pokey Trainer…) Tenzin steps in and shows him the “right” way to train a lemur and he ends up “catching them all.”  I hope you’re ready to see Meelo as the lemur king, because it is happening folks. 

REVIEW: (Spoiler Free)

Overall the episode was great. From the scheming to the break up it kept me enthralled. Props to Mako for having the stones to break up with The Avatar! Though getting his desk air kicked across room was as Lin Beifong put it “getting off easy.” We also got to see some an awesome bending fight between Korra and her cousins Eska and Desna as The Avatar is heading to the Fire Nation. This fight was particularly different because it all took place on the ocean surface. Then you add in the giant evil spirit, Unalaq sent which I think or it’s just a giant coincidence that the spirit finds Korra the same time the twins do. The episode ending with Korra almost “spirit bending” the demon into submission and instead being swallowed whole was a great way to finish it and admittedly not something I saw coming. Now the question remains is Korra in the Spirit World or will she bust out of the foes belly and resume her trip to the Fire Nation?

Photo – Meelo via K Pop Stars

I have to end with a nod towards the writers for the last two episodes. Though Tenzin’s story arcs with his kids are short we get to really see who the real Tenzin is by the lessons he teaches and learns from his kids. Last week was Ikki and this week was Meelo. To me the way Tenzin feels about being a Air Bending Master is summed up when his son whispers sadly, “being the alpha lemur is lonely.” To this Tenzin replies “I know…” I think Tenzin regrets how hard he was on Korra and vows to fix it when he tells Meelo to forget about training and just go play instead. Though none of this is spoon feed to us I think that is where the genius in the writing really shines.

Sidenote: if you have heard that the time Korra will air has changed Nickelodeon has confirmed via their Twitter that “The Legend of Korra” season 2 will remain on Fridays, but will air at 8:30 pm EST instead of 7:00 pm EST.

Can’t wait for next week!

This week in comics had a wonderful mix of everything. If you couldn’t find something to give you a visual fix, you weren’t looking hard enough. There were event books from the Big 2; a surprise final panel in Green Arrow that I’m trying very hard not to spoil; a large dose of funny from Valiant courtesy of Quantum and Woody #4; hard hitting independent books like Lazarus from Image and Hit from Boom!; and a double dose of the 80’s courtesy of G.I. JOE from IDW and He-Man from DC. I didn’t get a chance to read them all, but I did my best. Here’s what I think the best 8 moments in comics were this week.

I’ve really missed Peter Parker.  While Doc Ock continues to inhabit our friendly neighborhood Spiderman, take comfort in the reboot of the Marvel Knights line with Marvel Knights: Spiderman #1.

Straight out of the Tardis is Who? It’s me mentioning Francesco Francavilla yet again. He captures the 9^th Doctor in that puply style for Doctor Who Prisoners of Time #9.

I love Mitch Gerads. I’d hassle him for previews on the iFanboy comment boards and he’d always oblige. He never ceases to amaze with a cover that makes me nostalgic for some Modern Warfare or some Ice Climbing. It’s a good thing I’ve got Grivel Quantum Tech’s and the ice is on its way!

Speaking of getting up and moving, check out DC’s The Movement #5. I don’t have a good reason why I’m missing out on Gail Simone and Freddie Williams II, but this cover by Dan Panosian is a great reason not to.

Jock. Yes, Jock. Take it in bub, because the cover to Savage Wolverine #9 is spectacularly visceral.

I’m not going to save the best for last, I’m leaving the funniest one for that. As for the best panel this week? Well I was “God Damned” mesmerized by Rafael Grampá’s The Batman in Batman Black & White #2, so this one gets my pick.

Bendis continues to make me look like a man that has lost his mind when inevitably someone catches me laughing at another Iceman joke. As much as I like modern Ice Man, I think Gandalf the Ice is now my favorite.

Quantum and Woody has made us wait through four issues before revealing what the goat has to do with the story. What makes him so special? Well, he ain’t got no freakin’ dukes! No I’m not going to spoil exactly what the goat is doing. Go pick it up and give it a read to find out for yourself. The book is full of great one-liners and background visual jokes

That’s all for this week you shiny true believers. Sound off in the comments below, or reach me on Twitter @MarkAvo, to let me know what you think about my picks. If you’re the shy types don’t worry; because, I’ll be back next week, same bot time, same bot channel!

Al Ewing and Greg Land made an outstanding opening statement with Mighty Avengers issue #1, and their follow up attack is more of the same. Greg land continues to deliver on pencils despite what his detractors would say. The diverse group of characters comes to life on the page with Land’s restless style – which is perfect for the electric dialogue provided by Ewing. Al is extremely humble on his Twitter feed. He was handed “yet another” Avengers book and has made it intriguing to anyone suffering from event fatigue. The story is bigger than life, the characters are compelling and funny, the stakes couldn’t be higher, and there’s still a nunchaku wielding neon Spider-man.

Despite being an Infinity cross-over, Mighty Avengers is easily read as a standalone. Despite that, in Marvel style, it still fills you in on what’s going on over in the main Marvel Now event. It’s refreshing that this rag-tag bunch of super-heroes gets to take on Thanos and his minions but it’s a treat when the Watcher shows up in this comic just one week after appearing over in Guardians of The Galaxy.

The book starts with Dr. Strange being manipulated by Thanos’ Knight Maw into performing dark magic against his will. We then meet up with the latest member to make an appearance, The Blue Marvel. He responds to the attack on New York because it’s a “level 7” and his monitoring system has only ever seen a level 4. While he speeds towards New York, things get out of hand and our Mighty Avengers are taking a beating. That’s when something beautiful happens and the citizens of New York call on the Avengers to assemble. Proving they may be down but not out, this new Avengers team still led by Luke Cage, gives the beating right back.

Al Ewing has been very vocal about his passion for this book and these characters. When I asked him over Twitter why he was so excited about the Mighty Avengers, he answered me very succinctly tweeting, “It’s fun super heroics with a communitarian streak. It’s the people’s Avengers. This first arc, I get to lay out those concepts.” The community aspect he was talking about comes through clearly in this issue. The heart of this book really is the about the people’s Avengers, and that’s what makes it so good.

To keep the conversation going, follow Al Ewing on Twitter @Al_Ewing and Me, Mark Avo @MarkAvo.

During the month of Halloween, Dark Horse Comics is on a mission to remind us that they’re the place to go if you’re into horror. Dark Horse is releasing something from every sub-genre of Horror and I couldn’t be more terrifyingly happy about one story that could fit them all. Colder is a story that rides many sub-genres all the way to a disturbing but satisfying ending.

There’s a little Psychological Horror, a dash of Supernatural Horror, and Dark Horror. There’s some Hauntings and Gore, as well as a pinch here and there of the Occult. It’s a true Cross-Genre horror story in the vein of the FX television series American Horror Stories. Sure it’s not the same story as American Horror Stories, but like season 2 of the popular show, it starts in an insane asylum and from there it goes in every direction you couldn’t possibly have anticipated.

Despite the Cross-Genre of the comic, most of the book is psychological and follows the mental trauma of Declan Thomas, and his kind and lovely caretaker. Declan starts as an inmate in the asylum when a tragic accident during testing on patients sets the asylum on fire. The asylum is full of the insane and the evil, both who die in all kinds disturbing ways. It’s the insanity that attracts the villain, Nimble Jack, from a parallel dimension of horror to the asylum. Jack has the look of a casually dressed hipster in Goth makeup but that façade only hides the monster until later.

Nimble Jack craves the psychosis swimming around the dark edges of a persons mind. When he feeds off of the mentally ill, he leaves them empty and dead. He also happens to have a discerning pallet. He leaves Declan with a curse of colder that stops him from aging but slowly chills his body. It also leaves Declan with an ability to pull the madness out of people, but at a cost to himself. At some point he’ll get too cold and run out of time. That is when Jack plans to find Declan and dine on the slow cooked lunacy inside his mind. Jack believes he is hunting Declan but Declan is tired of the demonic gift that is his curse, and the curse has made him powerful.

Colder TPB is the collection of the five issue mini-series of the same name from late 2012 by Paul Tobin, the writer behind Bandette; and Juan Ferreyra, the artist ofRexMundi and the just released Kiss Me, Satan.  The trade is full of the standard faire with variant covers and concept art which is why the added content not included in the single issues is so exciting. Next year, 2014, we’ll be getting a volume II from the Dark Horse tentatively called The Bad Seed.

One look at the cover and you’ll know the ride you’re in for. The good news for those who are squeamish though, is that those moments are doled out by the storytellers at a thrilling pace. Paul Tobin’s storytelling is carefully measured, which allows Ferrerya’s style to lure you into the reality they’ve created. Ferrerya is a remarkable talent. He makes Tobin’s dialogue pop with characters expressions that have real emotional vibrancy. When their faces are pulled by Jack Nimble like taffy the horror of the images is incredibly visceral. Colder will leave a chill down your spine long after you’ve put the book down.

Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Cover Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Genre: Horror, Action/Adventure
Publication Date: October 09, 2013
Format: FC, 110 pages; TP, 7” x 10”
Price: $17.99

Preview Art Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics

Want to talk more about Colder or Kiss Me, Satan? How about what I had for second breakfast? Find me on Twitter @MarkAvo or sound off in the comments. In fact, why not do both?

These are my five favorite covers this week. I like a book that grabs my attention or has a uniqueness to it. I love great stories, but comics are also about great art. In comic’s it’s common place to judge a book by its cover. A cover is, in many ways, like the opening to a movie or TV show. The cover sets the mood and prepares you for the 20-24 page adventure you’re about to go on.

The poster quality of Vertigo’s Wake #4 this week is really striking. It jumps off of the rack or out of the icons in your favorite comic book app. It isn’t the color that loses you, but the use of contrast between dark and light. I got the director’s cut of The Wake but this cover makes me want to check out what I’ve been missing.

Real West #1 has that “Old West” feel with silk screen color of yellow and teal that would look great on a t-shirt. This 12 page Western from MonkeyBrain Comics was a nice tale about honor. The artist, A.C. Zamudio, has won several DeviantAt.com Daily Deviation awards.

Next Testament #4 popped out at me when I was browsing this week’s new releases on Comixology. It looks to me like some crazy pastel version of the rapture.

Fiona Staples is terrific. Did you see her variant cover for Rat Queens #1? This cover looks epic and not in the frat guy use of the word. The cover to Saga #14 prepares you for the epic nature of the story you’re about to read.

McKelvie and Wilson probably drive a bus, because they’re taking so many cover artists to school! The Dimension powers of Miss America and the hungry villain Mother are perfectly on display here as the Young Avengers tumble through interdimensional space and time!

These are my three favorite moments in comics this week. Sometimes it’s just a panel, other times it’s a small sequence. In any case the dialogue and the art click in what makes for great moments in comics. My first one is a scene from Jupiter’s Legacy #3 that really shows off Frank Quitely’s take on the psychic abilities of The Utopian’s brother Walter. The fading colors to inks to pencils represents the incredibly illusion Walter has constructed to trap his sister-in-law.

The next panel is the reason why Rat Queens sold out. OK, it’s not the only reason, but it’s a great example of the one liner’s that make the book so much fun. I laugh every time I read it; I can’t seem to put the book down.

The final moment of the week is, by far, my favorite. Sophie has had a rough life. Her savior’s companion has now become her really good friend. Like all good friends, this one lets Sophie know she is a good person despite the trauma she went through. It wasn’t her fault what happened to her and the Lying Cat let her know she shouldn’t blame herself for being the victim of monsters.

Well, there you have it folks. Those were my eight favorite things in comics this week. I’m hoping to make Five and Three a weekly thing. If you like it, let me know. If you think I missed the mark, let me know. For that matter, next week you should tweet me (@MarkAvo) what you think the best things in comics are from the past week. I’ll be sure to take every suggestion I get over Twitter into consideration. 

Rat Queens is a new book from Images Shadowline division. The comic is like reading the conversations your RPG characters might have as they slog through yet another adventure – if your characters were surly, drunken wise-asses. The writer behind the hit Peter Panzerfaust, Kurtis Weibe, and relative new comer Roc Upchurch, have created what can only truly be appreciated through experience. The book is a must read if you’re any of the following:  looking for irreverent humor; a Deadpool fan; a gamer of the Dungeons and Dragons variety or even the MMORPG variety; a fan of different ideas in comics; and especially if you like having a good time. This book is so much fun!

The Rat Queens are a small group of female adventurers from various fantasy species. The team line up includes; Dee the human Cleric; Betty the Smidgen theif; Violet the red headed Dwarven fighter; and Hannah, the Elven mage. They’re very feminine but also prove to be fearsome and capable fighters. The Rat Queens can also hold their own in a profanity contest against the worst of drunken sailor. To that point, they’re also not sober for a good portion of the book. There is a great scene where they can’t remember if they were adventuring on mushrooms or if their trip turned into an adventure when the trees they stole the mushrooms from took offense and attacked them.
 
Without giving away too much more, their drunken escapades get them in quite a bit of trouble but it seems to be par for the course in their portion of the fantasy world. The main adventure that these characters will be questing on through the next few books is assigned to them through the local Sherriff. They, along with other adventurers, can either aide the citizenry or spend time in the dungeon.

The art is beautifully done. Pencils are tight and convey all kids of comedic character while maintaining a serious tone. The coloring makes the mood light even when there is a darker scene happening. Weibe proves that he can take an idea and spin it into a well fleshed out world. There is a depth of reality to the story that gives the characters life. If this book were a game, there would be many adventurers spending all their time in its digital world exploring and questing.

Rat Queens is $3.50 for digital or floppy. There is a special Fiona Staples variant that was available by pre-order. If you’re a fan of Staples you’re probably going to have to go out of your way to find that variant because this book is sure to be popular. It takes themes that geeks know and takes them into a fantasy world through a comic. It’s a comic geeks have been waiting for, even if they didn’t know it.

For more on Rat Queens from Weibe himself, go here.
To talk about the comic with me, send me a Tweet @MarkAvo 
Don’t forget to sound off in the comments, we appreciate the love.

The gripping conclusion of Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin: Vader comes out on top – but there’s more to this hit job than meets the eye! (more…)

The first arc of Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman’s work on Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 wraps up and the Sith impostor is blocking the escape for Ania Solo and her friends.
(more…)

If ever you’re in the mood for a book in the Star Wars Expanded Universe that gives you something you’ve never seen before, fills in a vital mystery in the Star Wars mythos, and is so well written it’s disgusting, Kenobi might just be your book.

Set in the weeks after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Kenobi sees our favorite Jedi master delivering an infant Luke Skywalker to the Lars’ and his struggles finding his place in this new life as protector, wizard, and crazy old man.

Surprisingly, Kenobi is more of a supporting character in his own book, playing the Byronic western hero in the middle of a dispute between the settlers (in this case moisture farmers) and the bad guys (in this case Tusken Raiders.) But John Jackson Miller takes the dilemma a step further: should Ben be helping the moisture farmers of Tatooine?

He’s there to protect Luke Skywalker and that is his only mission.

Would playing Jedi to settle local disputes attract unwanted Imperial attention to his secret exile?

There’s a transition between General Kenobi and Ben Kenobi that we haven’t seen in any medium, neither books and comics nor cinemas and television, and it’s long overdue.

The book reads like a western and plays heavily on knowledge that just about anyone getting into Star Wars would be able to appreciate it. But that doesn’t mean it ignores all of the best continuity from The Clone Wars and other bits of the Expanded Universe. In fact, some of the most poignant moments in the novel occur when Miller makes subtle mentions of characters like the Duchess Satine, whose fate played out before Kenobi’s eyes in the fifth season of The Clone Wars. Mentions to other places in continuity are relevant and placed in a context that anyone can understand.

The novel plays out in many of the same ways the classic western Shane does, right down to a brilliant, action filled climax with an emotional core to it that leaves you reading faster and faster.

The writing, however, is so good that you’ll want to take it slow and savor it for every moment you can.

It captures the feel of a Star Wars movie. It’s funny, it’s emotional, it’s action packed, it’s paced quickly, and when it’s all over, you feel like you’ve been some place. It’s just perfect down to the last letter.

At the center of the book is an incredibly strong female character who takes an interest in Kenobi, but things are interfering with her business, the lives of her children, and the Settler’s Call, a warning system designed to protect the settlers from the Tuskens. Often, it’s little more than a lynch mob.

We also get into the heads of the Tuskens, and I don’t want to spoil anything there, so I’ll simply shut up about it.

This book is top tier Star Wars writing and what the Expanded Universe should look like. It’s written with a passion and excitement for the source material, shows us something we haven’t seen before, and is wholly competent.

This book is, to my mind, instantly a classic of Star Wars fiction. It’s going up there with the likes of The Heir to the Empire Trilogy, Darth Plagueis, Shatterpoint, and the like. This is Star Wars fiction at its absolute best. It’s a Star Wars book that explores stories from the movies and television series, fleshes them out and adds further dimension to what we know or think we know.

Do yourself a favor and order the book now.

Read it. Quickly. You’re going to love it.