"Deadpool: Paws" by Stefan Petrucha

 

            The following is a review of the prose novel “Deadpool: Paws” by Stefan Petrucha.

            Okay, this is another one of my standard Marvel prose novel reviews. For those who have never read a review of a Marvel prose novel that I have written, I have a particular structure. First I give a brief description of the main characters for people who know nothing about characters in the book (in this case, Deadpool and a few supporting characters). Then I tell the main plot trying to avoid spoilers (unfortunately, they do slip in). After that, I give my thoughts on the novel, and I’m usually very hard to please). Then I tell you what background knowledge I recommend you know before reading the book (accessibility, as I call it). Finally, I give it a numeric score from one (the book was so awful I regret reading this garbage) to ten (I love this book so much it’s back on my queue of books to read) and my reasoning for this score. Then I apologize for ranting as long as I did and thank you for being THE BEST by staying and reading up to my standard sign off.

            So, first, I’ll give a background crash course of the character of Deadpool in six sentences. Wade Wilson had cancer. He wanted a cure. He went to the Weapon X program to save his life. It gave him a healing factor making him virtually unkillable. It unfortunately severely disfigured it. He then became a mercenary.

            A supporting character was Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division/Supercharged Housekeepers Into Employing Lackeys for Dirty Jobs (S.H.I.E.L.D.) Agent Emily Preston. (The second acronym is a Deadpool joke, not official, and I did not personally make that up, I’m not THAT clever). She is actually a Life Model Decoy (LMD). The REAL Emily Preston died, so they made a robot of her as close to how the real Emily Preston was when she was alive. She’s usually no-nonsense, but does tolerate Deadpool to a certain extent.

            We also had Althea (Blind Al). She’s blind (Blind Al does actually describe her accurately) and a longtime friend of Deadpool. She has a warped sense of humor, usually laughing at people’s (especially Deadpool’s) misfortunes.

            The main villains were Dick and Jane, but that’s all I’ll say because anything more would be a MAJOR spoiler.

            Petrucha also gives the reader a few guests. It featured Peter Parker/Spider-Man, May Parker/Aunt May, and Bruce Banner/the Incredible Hulk. I’ll leave their parts out just to add to your desire to read the book.

            Okay, I’ve explained the characters, now let’s talk about the plot. This actually won’t be long for two reasons. The first is that the storyline is straightforward, all one story that builds on itself, so there’s really not all that much to tell. The second reason is because this blog site is restrictive of content and I want to keep this blog G-rated.

            In this book, Deadpool is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. to round up dogs that have been experimented on to become giant monsters. First, Deadpool must locate these dogs before they turn into monsters, then Deadpool must find who created these monster dogs and put a stop to their nefarious plans. That’s basically all there is to say to avoid spoilers and save this post on the site because of content.

            Now I’m going to give my thoughts on the book. The narrative was rather interesting. Anyone who has had experience with Deadpool (either with the comics or the movies) will likely know Deadpool breaks the fourth wall. In other words, he talks directly to the reader and is aware that the Marvel comics are all works of fiction. Well, the narrative is told in first person-present tense. In other words, the story is told by Deadpool personally to the reader as the story happens (there are also points where the narrative timing is broken, but that is just meant to be a joke from Deadpool). The personal touch, letting Deadpool talk directly to me while I read this book gave me a sense of intimacy with Deadpool and totally built up suspension of disbelief. I was totally in Deadpool’s mind, which was really fun. I should mention Deadpool is nicknamed “The Merc with the Mouth,” and he constantly jokes. There were several times I smiled, BUT! I NEVER LAUGHED OUT LOUD! The jokes were just never funny enough. This was VERY disappointing as when I read Deadpool comics and watched the movies I get laugh out loud moments all the time. So being in Deadpool’s mind told by Petrucha was just not Deadpool enough for me. There were also points where I didn’t feel like Petrucha doesn’t truly know Deadpool’s character. I’ve been reading comics with Deadpool for almost twenty years and there were points I felt were out of place for Deadpool’s character. This was also disappointing. The chapter lengths were also an issue. Sometimes I felt the chapters were not long enough and broke off at inappropriate points in the narrative, where the train of though was broken at points that should have been longer. That said, this does often happen in first person present tense novels, but I’ll say there were chapters that ended and began at places that should have been more connected. But the shortened chapters made for an easy read. Sometimes easy reads can be good, sometimes easy reads can be bad. This book actually tends towards the latter. Not spending enough time in the narrator’s mind coherently is very hard to enjoy. There’s a joke where Deadpool skips chapter 13 and goes from 12 to 14 just didn’t seem funny, and also came out rather annoying, and there is a chapter that suggests dissociative identity disorder and was not at all amusing to me. I was just feeling like I was hoping for more.

            Okay, I’ve dumped on the book long enough, let’s talk about accessibility. I feel like if you know nothing about Deadpool to maybe watch the movies or pick up some Deadpool graphic novels before you read this prose novel. I think a non-fan might have a difficult time picking up Deadpool’s sense of humor and his appearance isn’t described well enough. Petrucha also didn’t give much of Deadpool’s backstory, so if you’re just reading this post out of loyalty for my blog with no Deadpool knowledge, I’d suggest not just jumping into this book.

            Well, let’s move on to the ever important numeric score. We’ve established EVERYTHING leading to this score, so I’ll just throw the number out there: four. It’s not that I didn’t like the STORY, I didn’t like the way it was TOLD. I think there are some writers who could take this story and present a better narrative, sorry to say Mister Petrucha, but I think that with his particular writing style there are other characters he could tell me a more enjoyable narrative. If he wrote other Marvel prose novels, I’d likely give him a chance. This book just didn’t do it for me.

            Alright, it’s time for my signoff. This blog has TONS of prose novel and graphic novel reviews, as well as short stories, editorials, complaint pieces, and free-verse poetry here already and plenty more upcoming, so I hope if you enjoyed this post there are other posts you might try to read as well. And if you’re here, still reading up to this point, you are THE BEST! I appreciate your support. Feel free to leave comments (you will be the first as no one has EVER left comments), if you found me on Twitter please follow me, and until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"X-Men: Second Genesis" by Chris Claremont, Len Wein, Bill Mantlo, and Bonnie Wilford

 

            The following is a review of the “X-Men: Second Genesis” graphic novel by Chris Claremont, Len Wein, Bill Mantlo, and Bonnie Wilford.

            We’ll begin this review with a look at the characters, then an examination of the plot synopses of the book, then move on to my personal thoughts in reflection to the graphic novel, my accessibility reference, and finally my numerical score and recommendation of the book. Unfortunately and regretfully this will contain spoilers, and I apologize, but they are necessary for the point of reviewing the graphic novel as a whole, but these spoilers are not completely major, mostly minor, no it shouldn’t ruin the book by being revealed.

            We’ll start with talking about the X-Men in general. The X-Men are a team of mutant “super heroes.” A mutant is a person with powers that people don’t usually have. This is caused by a genetic mutation at birth. These powers typically manifest upon puberty. The “scientific” term of a mutant is homo superior. Because “normal” humans don’t have these powers, many are afraid of mutants, and a large faction hate mutants and want them all dead (the only good mutie is a dead mutie) or arrested and contained. The X-Men were brought together to learn to use their powers to benefit all mankind, with the vision of peace between mutants and “normal” humans. They often come up against “evil” mutants who wish to overtake “normal” humans and establish mutant dominance and superiority. Their base is Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, located in Westchester, New York (ironically where I live). This is where they live and train to use their powers and as a cover so their location is a secret. The X-Men are Scott Summers/Cyclops, Bobby Drake/Iceman, Jean Grey/Marvel Girl, Warren Worthington III/Angel, Alex Summers/Havok, Lorna Dane/Polaris, and their leader is Charles Xavier/Professor X. Professor X has a device called Cerebro, which can locate mutants all around the world. Cerebro detects a powerful mutant on the island of Krakoa, so strong it defies classification. Professor X sends his X-Men on a mission to locate this mutant. However, only Cyclops comes back, the other X-Men missing somewhere on Krakoa, potentially held kidnapped. Professor X feels he needs more mutants to go to Krakoa to find the mutant and rescue the X-Men, so he recruits a new group of mutants to do the task.

            We’re now going to talk about the team that goes to the rescue, but we’re only going to talk about three of the aforementioned X-Men before we talk about the rescue team.

            We’ll start with the founder and leader of the X-Men, Charles Xavier/Professor X. Professor X is considered the most powerful telepath on the planet. An accident has left him in a wheelchair.

            Scott Summers/Cyclops: he has powerful optic blasts, but has no control over them and must always wear glasses or visors made out of ruby quartz, the only thing that can hold them back.

            Jean Grey/Marvel Girl: she is a telekinetic and has minor telepathic abilities.

            Now we’ll talk about the rescue team in order of their recruitment.

            Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler: a teleporter with blue fur, three fingers, two toes, and a tail who in Germany is considered a demon and is about to be killed before Professor X arrived to rescue him.

            Logan/Wolverine: he has a skeleton coated in the unbreakable metal adamantium, three claws in in this hands, and a healing factor than can help him recover from any wound. He is also called “Weapon X” and is an agent of the Canadian super team Alpha Flight before Professor X recruits him and Wolverine offers his resignation.

            Sean Cassidy/Banshee: he is an Irish man who has been with Interpol, the NYPD, and even been a villain before Professor X recruits him. He has a sonic scream which he can use to fly with.

            Ororo Munroe/Storm: she controls the weather and in Africa she was considered a goddess before Professor X recruits her.

            Shiro Yoshida/Sunfire: a Japanese man who can fly and generate and control fire.

Peter Rasputin/Colossus: a Russian farmer before recruited by Professor X, who can turn his body into organic steel.

            John Proudstar/Thunderbird: an Apache with super strength and tracking skills.

            So, anyway, this group of mutants travel to Krakoa to find the mutant and rescue the X-Men and are surprised to find out the mutant is actually the island itself. Upon defeating it, the X-Men and the new group of mutants return to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. All of the new recruits except for Sunfire decide to stay and be the “New” X-Men. However, the “Old” X-Men decide they have stayed at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters long enough and are grown enough to move on with their lives and decide to leave. The only X-Man who decides to stay is Cyclops, who must say goodbye to Marvel Girl, the woman he loves.

            The “New” X-Men go on to train in the use of their powers, and are called to NORAD base in Valhalla when Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men have taken over and plan to unleash the nuclear missile upon the world, the Doomsmith Scenario. The X-Men are able to defeat the Ani-Men, but Count Nefaria attempts to escape in a plane. Thunderbird destroys the plane, but unfortunately does not survive the crash.

            The “New” X-Men continue their training and face several more threats, including the demon Kierrok, Eric the Red, the corrupted Havok and Polaris, the Sentinels, Steven Lang, and the X-Sentinels, and are brought to space during a solar storm. Marvel Girl was taken with the X-Men and uses her powers to land a space shuttle in Jamaica Bay. In the process, Marvel Girl becomes Phoenix and her powers are amplified, and gains several new powers.

            The X-Men travel to Cassidy Keep in Ireland that Banshee has just inherited, but are forced to battle villains like Black Tom Cassidy (Banshee’s evil cousin), Juggernaut, and Magneto.

            The X-Men are sent into another galaxy where the battle against the Shi’ar Imperial Guard to save the universe.

            Upon their return, the X-Men and Iron Fist clash out of a misunderstanding after Iron Fist faces off against Sabre-tooth.

            The X-Men also travel to New Mexico and team up with Spider-Man against a group of humans who believe they are reincarnations of Hindu gods.

            Finally, Spider-Man, Havok, and Thor team up to battle the Living Monolith.

            Yeah, okay, I know, that’s a lot of stories we covered. Now I’m sure you want to hear my thoughts and score, so I won’t disappoint you any further. Ever since I started reading comics regularly in 2001, I have ALWAYS been a fan of Chris Claremont’s work, and his early work did not disappoint me. I found these stories amazing, and did not want to stop reading the book, didn’t want to put it down, and I finished it in three days (which is actually slow for me, but I wanted to savor it, so I spaced it out). I liked the Easter eggs where Claremont snuck several Marvel staff (like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) into the panels, which some people would totally miss, but I didn’t. The stories excited and thrilled me. I just LOVED the book. I thought the team-up issues were great, and reading the first appearance of Sabretooth was a total treat for me. And “Iron Fist” was my favorite Marvel Netflix show, so I thought his issues were awesome, they did not disappoint. And the “Phoenix Saga” has always been a favorite of mine ever since I was a little boy and watched the “X-Men” animated series in the 1990s (I was born in 1988, by the way, so I was basically a ‘90s brat, and we had THE BEST animated superhero series’ back then, and don’t try to tell me otherwise because you WILL NOT win).

            Still with me? Have I bored you yet? If you’re still here, you are THE BEST (expect to see that again in a few paragraphs). Okay, my previous readers know when I review books and graphic novels, I give you my accessibility rating. In other words, if you’ve never read ANYTHING pertaining to these series, teams, and characters or haven’t seen any of their movies, can you just pick it up and read it without being confused? Well, let’s explore briefly the circumstances that led to the “New” X-Men. Stan Lee’s first X-Men story was released in 1963. Claremont took over X-Men in 1975. Prior to that, the “X-Men” comic series was literally dying. The stories were just not interesting readers and new issues were stopped, with just rereleases of older issue that they continued numbering from before the “fall” of the X-Men. Then, in 1975, Giant-Size X-Men #1 came out, with new characters who were older and of all different nationalities rather than just the white American characters. We had a German “Demon,” a Russian farm boy, an African “Goddess,” a Canadian, an Irish, a Japanese, a Native American warrior, and a Scottish scientist/housekeeper, such a variety. These characters were seen as more “interesting” and BOOM! X-Men was saved, and we all know now where THAT led to, the spin-offs, the cartoons, the movies, the video games, the trading cards, the action figures, and I’m sure I haven’t just named everything. So if you know nothing about X-Men, that’s fine, the history of the first ninety-three issues really doesn’t matter, it’s a perfect jump-on point, and if you ever want to start reading X-Men, this is where to start.

            So, now the important part: my score. For those who don’t know how I roll, I score on a scale of one to ten. One means don’t go anywhere near this book, ten being if you read this book we could be best friends. Hello new best friends! For the first time ever! I score this book at a ten! I felt this book was perfection! Comic book gold! Seriously, if you read this review and are even MILDLY interested, I want you to go out and READ! THIS! BOOK! Seriously, if you’ve read any of my previous reviews, you know I am VERY stingy with my scoring. So if I say it’s a ten, well, that means A LOT!

            So I’m going to sign off for this review, and paraphrase the late, great Stan Lee, face front, true believers, excelsior, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Age of Ultron"

            The following is a review of the Marvel Comics event “Age of Ultron” (as presented on Marvel Unlimited) and NOT a review of the Marvel Studios film “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

            Okay, some of you may not know the comic book history of Ultron, which is NOT the same as the film history of Ultron, so I am going to give you a crash course.

            Hank Pym was a founding member of the super hero team the Avengers. He is a scientist who works specifically with shrinking/growing particles and artificial intelligence. Pym created Ultron to be a resource to better the world. But Ultron became self-aware (he can now think for himself). All of the times he came to attack, the Avengers always beat him.

            But in “Age of Ultron,” Ultron finally won. He killed a huge amount of humans in his first salvo to rid the planet of organic life. Of course, some heroes had to band together to combat him, but there are not many. The heroes travel to the Savage Land (a tropical city in Antarctica with prehistoric creatures, including dinosaurs) to find a base of operations of S.H.I.E.L.D. superspy Nick Fury. The heroes learn that Ultron has been time-travelling and his base of attack is actually coming back from the future. They discover Doctor Doom’s (the prime nemesis of the superhero team, the Fantastic Four) time platform was there and still operational. So a team forms to go to the future to stop Ultron there and attempt to find a way to stop him from conquering the present. After the group leaves, Susan Storm-Richards (the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four) and James Howlett/Logan (Wolverine of the X-Men) decide, however, that the best way to defeat Ultron is to travel to the past and stop Pym from ever creating Ultron. The butterfly effect is mentioned (if you don’t know what the butterfly effect is, it’s a theory that doing anything in the past during time travel, even minor things, can have a significant effect on the present/future). But upon confronting Pym in the past, Logan decides the only way to truly prevent Ultron from being created is to kill Pym before he ever creates Ultron. Upon Pym’s death, Logan and Sue return to the Savage Land and though the time platform to return to the present, to discover a world without Pym is even worse than the Age of Ultron. The Avengers disbanded after Pym’s death, and a new team, the Defender rose in their place. Sue and Logan realize they must go back to the past and prevent Logan from killing Pym and find a new way to defeat Ultron.

            Okay, I hope I didn’t give any major spoilers there in case you ever decide you want to read it. And now my previous review readers know the most important point must be addressed (and those first-timers will learn it for now and for future reviews); my score. First, though, I’m going to explain how this works: I score on three things: my own personal thoughts, accessibility, and a numeric score.

            We’re, of course, going to start with my personal thoughts. I’m going to say that I rather enjoyed it. The story interested me the whole way through, I never experienced any dull points, but I do have to say the story would have benefited for a bit more dialogue and not pages with only artwork and no spoken words, so I will have to mark down for that. Also, Marvel Unlimited did not always put the tie-in issues in the right chronological place, but this has no true impact on my score, and I didn’t find it to completely detract from the story. And sometimes, as you know, time travel does not always work out in a story. In my opinion, it was executed well. It didn’t come off to me as a gimmick like some time travel stories do as well. It wasn’t time travel just for the sake of time travel. Some of you may have read my review of “Age of Apocalypse” and will recall I said how amazing it is that one person can make a difference, just like the classic film “It’s A Wonderful Life.” I also felt that the butterfly effect was properly executed, and it felt natural to me. I thought the members of the Defenders, their code names and true identities made sense to me. They didn’t just make a team of just random popular characters, and most of them were primarily founding members of the Avengers with a few more and a few less membership (such as Captain America then being Colonel America, Cyclops being Cable, to name a few). The tie-in issues were written to my liking, and I felt they fit in nicely (but not all correctly chronological, which is the fault of the programmers of Marvel Unlimited and not the actual writers of the comics).

            Okay, moving on, let’s go to accessibility. For you newbs, I tell you how easy it is to understand the story (which is mostly reserved for Marvel comics/prose novels, of course) to those who know nothing about the characters and storylines. I think the story is very accessible. The events were not written in a way that forces the reader to know the prior storylines in the comics, and most of the characters’ backstories had no effect on this story. It is almost, but not quite, an alternate reality. The beginnings of the event were all there, and I think casual/non fans could easily pick it up, read it, and understand it. Having prior Marvel knowledge would also help, but I don’t feel it’s necessary.

            Of course, now you’ll want to know if I felt this story is a good read. I score on a scale of one to ten, one being this is stinky garbage, ten being amazingly awesome and I will talk about it nonstop to anyone who tries to talk to me for the next week. This is going to surprise you if you have been a regular reader of my blog because you’ll know I’m very hard to please, I give it a nine. It’s rare for me to give a ten (and I don’t think I’ve ever given one before) so a nine is a very high rank. There were a few complaints here and there, but I found it very enjoyable, and I honestly hope that, if you decide to read it after my high score, you’ll enjoy it too. I feel it’s worth the read.

            Well, if you’re here now, you’ve either read this whole post or just scrolled around some parts, but whatever, you are THE BEST! Your support means a lot to me, and I hope you’ll return to more of my posts. I don’t just do reviews, either, I write editorials, short stories, poetry, all kinds of things which I hope you will come to enjoy if you decide to come back. Please feel free to leave me comments, follow me on Twitter and retweet, that’d be great and really help me decide what else this blog will need, feel free to give me requests for content and I will try to fit you in, just please come back and check out my other fifty-some-odd posts I’ve done so far, and until next time, Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Planet Hulk" Graphic Novel/Prose Novel Comparison

            This is a comparison piece of the graphic novel and prose novel of the Marvel comics storyline “Planet Hulk.” If you’re reading this, note I have also given separate reviews of both the graphic novel and prose novel, so you can either pop over to them now, or finish reading this then pop over. If you read my separate reviews first, you are THE BEST! (Expect to see that again). My point of this is to give you an idea about “Planet Hulk” and if I feel none, either, or both of these presentations are worth the read.

            Now, here’s the clincher. Parts of the graphic novel AND all of the prose novel have been written by Greg Pak. I feel that that might make you interested in either or both as there is the same writer. BUT! And here’s the major BUT! There are several differences, and I will talk about a few and try not to give spoilers.

The main point of the story is as follows. Robert Bruce Banner had created a gamma bomb. During a test of the gamma bomb, Bruce ran into the test site to save a boy named Rick Jones, but Bruce was caught in the explosion. He survived, but now when angry, scared, or stressed, he turns into a green monster called the Hulk, which Bruce then has no control over and stays in Hulk form until the Hulk is calmed down and reassured. But the Illuminati, (Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Black Bolt) felt the Hulk had done too much damage. Hulk was tricked to go to a satellite in space. The Illuminati THOUGHT they were sending Hulk to an uninhabited planet. But the ship was sent off course and he landed on the planet Sakaar. The Red King lords over Sakaar with a despotic grip. Hulk is weakened by the long trip and by the obedience disk and is sold into slavery at the arena. He forms a Warbound who fight for freedom so they can escape the arena and take the battle to the Red King.

           

            First off, there is a character in the prose novel, the Fifth Prefect, who either did not or only minimally appear in the graphic novel. Just so you know, my separate reviews of the prose and graphic novel have been read and completed at several times, so my memory might be a little wonky, but I’ll hopefully steer you in the right direction. But in the graphic novel, the words “Fifth Prefect” to my knowledge did not appear, while this character in the prose novel had a recurring story.

            Second, the character of Elloe Kaifi was featured very differently from between the graphic and prose novel. In the graphic novel (which came out several years before the prose novel), Elloe is part of the Warbound, the Hulk’s group of allies. And yet, her participation in the prose novel was rather limited. To me, her role in the graphic novel was enjoyable, yet her shortened role in the prose novel was a bit of a detraction. (Again, these posts have all been written at different times, there are DEFINITELY contradictions that seem vastly different over these three posts, but I felt differently at each point of me writing these posts, so just roll with me here (is that really a phrase? Or did I make it up? Whatever, it’s not all that great a phrase).

            Third, the role of Caiera in the prose novel built up steadily. In the graphic novel, it was spots here and there that featured her. Her characterization as a major character in the prose novel was more compelling, compared to her now and then appearance in the graphic novel.

            Fourth. The character Amadeus Cho in the prose novel was featured slightly more compared to his brief solo story in the graphic novel. I actually enjoyed his phone conversation with Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four), his snarky attitude, overconfidence, and intelligence in the prose novel. He was an afterthought in the graphic novel.

            Fifth, the ending was VERY different between the graphic and prose novel. So automatically, I have to tell you that if you read one of the other, then ending is not the same, pretty much, at all. The climax in the graphic novel was lengthened a lot more, and in the prose novel, there was very little climax, just an ending. This was rather disappointing to read in the prose novel. Note that I read the graphic novel before I read the prose novel, that’s pretty important to know.

            Now I’d like to talk about the religious view featured between the two adaptations. Hiroim in the prose novel told much more of a religious history than in the graphic novel. Hiroim was called Hiroim the Shamed due to his expulsion from the Saka religious coven. There was a prophecy on the planet Sakaar, of the Sakaarson and the Worldbreaker. So this being, Hulk, from another planet, showing up to save Sakaar from its corrupt ruler meant that Hulk is either the Sakaarson or the Worldbreaker, which I can’t tell you if he is neither or one of the beings in the prophecy without spoiling the story. But the prose novel does include several pieces of Saka scripture which the graphic novel did not contain.

            Now, I’ll say a few things I felt while preparing to read the prose novel after I read the graphic novel. I expected the story to be almost EXACTLY the same, what with the story done by the same writer. I expected the prose novel to be an enhancement of the graphic novel, featuring the same story with minor changes and more fleshed out bits. This I DID NOT get. So did I have a problem with that? Yes.

            Moving on, I’m going to discuss whether I feel if the graphic and/or prose novels are worth reading, the accessibility needed to understand the story, and finally which adaptation I preferred.

Let’s start with the graphic novel. If you are a major Hulk fan, I recommend it. It’s a relatively good effort. The story does sometimes feel dragged on though, which is common when a storyline is determined to be a certain amount of issues where either more or less content is needed to fill the demand. Maybe if the story were an issue or two shorter, it could have been better. This would be a good book for those who like Hulk, and for those who like sci-fi comics, and readers who enjoy dystopian-style stories. We’ll get back to that in two paragraphs.

Now we’ll examine the prose novel. I recommend you read my reviews of the graphic and prose novel separate posts for full effect. But is the prose novel worth it? If you’ve read the “Planet Hulk” graphic novel and enjoyed it, I feel you should give it a try. If you like novels based on comic books, science fictions books, and the Hulk, I recommend it.

Now, accessibility. These adaptations are understandable to major Hulk fans, those who have interest in him from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or those who like dystopian-like stories as either comics or prose. It is very much standalone. No prior knowledge is required. I think anyone can pick it up and read either version. But, if you want to read both, I’d say start with the graphic novel before you read the prose novel. Character descriptions in the novel will probably give you different mental images than what you’d see on the page. But, yes, I get that some people read prose novels before perusing into visual, such as movies or television shows. If that’s your prerogative, that’s up to you. I personally read the graphic novel first. Note that the graphic novel was released years before the prose novel was penned, so if you want to go by graphic novel first due to release date, you go right ahead.

Finally, I’ll tell you that despite its flaws, the version I preferred was the prose novel, but the graphic novel had its points where it was better than the prose novel. I always hate comparing prose to other formats when there are massive differences between the two, especially prose to graphic novel adaptations. Many of the events were similar, but the differences were highly contrasting. If you only want to read one version of “Planet Hulk,” I’d say you should tackle the prose novel.

Okay, you still with me? Awesome, you are THE BEST! (I say that A LOT but I always MEAN it). So let’s wrap it up here. Thanks for reading! I have so much other content on this blog, I’ve done over fifty other posts and I’m nowhere near done. I don’t just do reviews, I have all different types of posts, so check it out. So, till next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Planet Hulk" by Greg Pak

            This is a review of the prose novelization of the book “Planet Hulk” by Greg Pak. Note this is not a review of the graphic novel comic book event “Planet Hulk.” The graphic novel has also been reviewed in a separate post, as well as a separate post comparing and contrasting the graphic novel and prose novel.

            Okay, if you know nothing about the Hulk and did not read my review of the graphic novel, let’s go over the Hulk’s origin briefly. Doctor Robert Bruce Banner created a gamma bomb. During a demonstration, young Rick Jones entered the test site. Bruce was able to protect Rick, but was caught in the explosion. Bruce somehow absorbed the gamma rays and survived. But there is a side effect. If Bruce gets too angry, scared, or stressed, he turns into a rampaging, witless being called the Hulk.

            Okay, got that? Good, let’s get on to the ACTUAL book. Hulk lost control and destroyed Las Vegas. Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Stephen Strange (Doctor Strange) and Black Bolt (King of the Inhumans) decided enough was enough. Something had to be done. So this group (called the Illuminati) found a planet ideal for the Hulk. Vegetation, but no life. Nothing for Hulk to smash or get hurt. So the Illuminati lured Hulk into a spaceship under the false pretext of fixing a rogue satellite, and sent him on his way to the planet. What they didn’t account for was a wormhole, which sent Hulk in a completely different location, the planet Sakaar. Sakaar is rule by a young tyrant called the Red King, the Emperor. Upon Hulk’s arrival, he is discovered. He is weak from his transport from space and from remaining in Hulk form for the entire ordeal. He is easily overpowered, and tagged with an obedience disk (which zaps you with electricity if the owner presses the button on the remote) and sent into slavery. Hulk is bought and forced into an arena. He trades blows with the Red King, and is injured. Unnoticed at the time is his blood actually grows vegetation (it takes a while). This earns him the name “Green Scar.” Green Scar forms a bond with other slaves forced into the arena, Korg, Miek, Brood, and Hiroim, becoming the Warbound. The rules of the arena battles is if a fighter wins three rounds in the arena, they are free and are automatically a citizen of Sakaar. So, yeah, the Warbound fight and win in the arena, but still the fight is not over. They plan to fight the Red King and free Sakaar from the despotic rule of the Tyrant. The Warbound is challenged by more enemies, particularly the Spikes, and make new allies, Elloe and Caiera. So the Warbound set off to Crown City to finally defeat the corrupt Red King, once and for all.

            Okay, that’s the main story of the book. Now it comes to the important part: my rating of the book. There are usually three parts to my rating, my thoughts, the accessibility to new or casual readers, and, of course, my numerical rating, and this is done as is usually done. Okay, my thoughts. I think my favorite section of the book was the arena segment at the start of the book. The battle with the Silver Surfer was rather exciting. After they were free, however, my interest went downhill. Had more of the book been about the arena, my score would probably be higher. Also, I must talk about the chapters. I felt more of a division between chapters might have made for a better read. The reader gets a total shift of characters in two or three pages, focusing on all completely different characters. Some of the Marvel prose novels I have reviewed have had short chapters, and that made for a more leisurely pace. I feel if Pak had done more chapter divisions and less mixing of narrative, it might have been a more enjoyable read and not focusing on five or six groups of characters in one chapter. So in general to relation of chapter length, the chapters were sometimes longer than needed because of the cramming of separate events in one chapter, yet in general were not too bad. For me, the pace was okay, no fifty page chapter that takes three hours to read occurred (and who wants to read like that? Okay, I know some of you do, but the lack of this makes it a lot easier for people who don’t usually like to read, but because of my review you want to read it, the number of pages per chapter probably won’t be overwhelming).

            Okay, now the ever important accessibility. Note I do not give a numerical score to accessibility, but I stress the importance of background knowledge I feel is needed to fully grasp the story. If you’ve never read or watched anything with the Hulk in it, I don’t feel prior exposure is essential to understanding the book. BUT! And it is a MAJOR BUT! The descriptions of the characters’ appearances are not well included, so imagining the characters is probably is a little difficult and you probably might not imagine the characters for you like Pak intended. So, FOR BEST RESULTS I feel that you should consider reading the graphic novel of “Planet Hulk” before reading the prose novel. I know, pain in the butt, you have to do extra reading, but I think it will help you a lot. I’m not saying you HAVE to read the graphic novel but I recommend it.

            All right, we’re here, my numerical score. Some of you may have read my review of the graphic novel, which is a separate post, as well as my comparison piece also a separate post. Now, you might see contradictions between the way I feel about the book, but remember I am reading these books at different time so my memory might be a little wonky and the presentations of the events due to the difference of words and pictures are often what this is based on. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so looking at an image and reading a description can make a HUGE difference. So if I contradict myself, you’ll have to forgive me. I feel different on different days and there has been a bit of time since I reviewed the graphic novel. But enough of that. Let’s just get on to the score. This book kept me relatively interested. Again, the chapter structure will have to detract from the score a bit. Oh, and my score is a one to ten, one being trash, ten being gold. On this scale I give it a seven. The effort was there, but the arena part not being long enough for me to enjoy took the score down. Now, you may wonder if I recommend the book. If you are a Hulk fan, this book is probably for you. If you’ve read the graphic novel of “Planet Hulk” and enjoyed it, if you’re reading this review, read my comparison piece to give you an idea of if this book is for you. And I know some people are not reading this post because they think this is the same post, which it is not, but oh well, what can you do? But I do give out a recommendation to it, but again, read my comparison piece first to get a firm grasp on my opinion.

            I must be boring you by now. But, if you have read this far without any skipping, you are THE BEST! (Note I say that a lot, but really, each time I mean it). And now check out my review of the graphic novel and my comparison piece, and you really are THE BEST! So I’ll say goodbye to this post, and leave you with three words (two being a proper name), Tim Cubbin… out! 

"The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect" by Peter David, Jerry Novick, Frank Lovece. and Barry Dutter

            The following is a review of the Epic Collection presentation of “The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect” graphic novel by Peter David, Jerry Novick, Frank Lovece, and Barry Dutter. It contains the two issue titular storyline, as well as several issues that tie in to the titular stories.

            Okay, so some of you may know nothing about the Incredible Hulk and are reading this review anyway, so I feel a brief explanation of Hulk’s origin story is required for your understanding of this review or you may have no idea what you’re reading and give up after a paragraph or two, which I totally do not want, and if you read this review all the way to the bottom, you are THE BEST! (If you’ve never read any of my posts before, note that I say that a lot, but my regulars will know I say this a lot, and if you’ve ever read any of my posts before and are returning to a new post out of like for me, or for obligation, you still are THE BEST!) Okay, let’s start. Doctor Robert Bruce Banner is a nuclear physicist. He created a gamma bomb that would be very useful if it ever were needed as it is VERY destructive. So Banner, of course, had to test it. He had it starting the countdown to detonation when he noticed teenager Rick Jones driving into the testing site. He rushed out to save Rick. He got Rick into a ditch, but could not save himself from the blast. Instead of dying, he absorbed the radiation. Then, in times of anger, stress, or fear, Banner would turn into a muscular and green and uncontrollable and unintelligent creature called the Hulk. Hulk wanted to be left alone, but the United States military decided they wanted to capture him, reproduce the effects of his accident, and destroy him. Hulk, of course, did not want that and had been on the run for quite a while. General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was the most adamant in the Hulk’s capture because, as Bruce, Bruce was in love with Ross’s daughter Elizabeth “Betty” Ross. Bruce and Betty eventually got married, and Bruce was stuck in Hulk’s body but still maintained Bruce’s personality. He teamed up with a group of demigods called the Pantheon and became a true super hero.

            Okay, maybe that wasn’t a brief history, but I feel it was needed, especially since the last two sentences are not known to casual Hulk readers who did not read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s (including me) are aware of, and if you’ve never read anything of the Hulk before, it is definitely needed. Of course, those of you who have seen the Marvel Studios film “Avengers: Endgame” know what the Banner Hulk is like as this was the persona of Hulk in the film, so this may not be as alien to you as it might have been to those who haven’t seen the film or read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s.

            Now, this graphic novel, being an Epic Collection, had three main storylines in it and the supporting chapters around them. We’ll start with “The Troyjan War.” This was about an alien prince named Trow-Mah (also called “Trauma” as a wordplay) who is in love with Pantheon member Atalanta and is forcing Atalanta to marry Trauma or else Trauma will destroy all the other members of the Pantheon. Hulk and the Pantheon travel into space to confront Trauma and stop the wedding of Trauma and Atalanta, teaming up with the Silver Surfer (the former herald of the planet eating being called Galactus) and the space pirates called the Starjammers along the way. I leave the rest of the story up to you if you wish to read this book following the conclusion of this review.

            The next and titular story is “Future Imperfect.” This takes place ninety years in the future. A nuclear war had occurred, and a lot of the humans on the planet are now dead. One of the surviving areas is called Dystopia, where the humans living there are lorded after a monster called the Maestro who is actually an aged Hulk. Some of the surviving rebels obtain the time platform created by the long-time archenemy of the Fantastic Four named Doctor Victor Von Doom (Doctor Doom for short) and bring the Banner Hulk of the 1990s to their future to confront the Maestro. One of the rebels is the granddaughter of Rick Jones. Rick is miraculously still alive, but none of the heroes of the Marvel Universe have survived to this Future Imperfect and Hulk is their only chance of survival.

            Finally, we’ll touch on the story of the wedding of Rick Jones and his longtime girlfriend Marlo Chandler. I think that’s all I should say, but this wedding has some interesting guests (including photobomber Drax).

            Okay, I know you want to know how I felt about this book in an effort to aid you in deciding if you want to read this book or not, which is vitally important to you. Then I’ll discuss how much knowledge of the “Incredible Hulk” you must know in order to have a total understanding and appreciation of the book. Then, of course, my numeric score of the book. This will all be done as one storyline at a time, then as the book as a whole. Some of you might think I’ve done contradictions when I score, but I assure you, there are none.

            First, let’s start with “The Troyjan War.” As I previously said, I did not read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s (the issues in this book range over the course of 1992-1994, when I was alive but much too young to read this book), so some of the background story was unknown to me, but I pieced it together in the origin story, but if any of that is incorrect I thoroughly apologize to you. Okay, I loved the presentation of Banner Hulk. This was just so fun for me. Sure I know and like Banner/Hulk separate conscious to this day (which was recently “The Immortal Hulk” and I don’t fully understand it), but I think I rather prefer Banner Hulk from the 1990s. Sometimes Hulk being an unintelligent brute isn’t compelling for me (but if he is for you, I respect that. I am, after all, entitled to my own opinions, and I totally wish for you to formulate yours as you and I are not the same person and think differently.) HOWEVER! This story was not to my liking. I didn’t feel satisfied by the events, the creatures at Loch Ness, the Troyjan Trauma, and the Hulk/Pantheon/Silver Surfer/Starjammers team-up.

            Next is “Future Imperfect.” This fascinated me. I found the setting of ninety years into the future of the world after a nuclear war and the location of Dystopia to be very compelling. I could actually imagine the Future Imperfect world (but not the events with the Maestro) was actually believable to me, especially as I’ve always believed World War III could happen any day. The Maestro as Hulk’s dark reflection was compelling for me. We all have our dark side, but seeing the possible future of the Hulk’s transformation into the Maestro was interesting for me, especially since the Maestro was not a witless brute like the Hulk I’ve always known. He was intelligent, yet corrupt, but surviving a nuclear war would always change a person’s life, so it made sense to me.

            Let’s finish off with the wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler. The bachelor party movie faux pas was unexpected, but I honestly didn’t like the objectivizing of Marlo, I felt it was not needed. The battle at the bachelorette party, however, gave me a laugh as it was almost a total deviation of Rick’s party. And the unexpected, yet invited appearances to the wedding entertained me (particularly Drax’s photobombing).

            Okay, time to move on to accessibility. My regulars know I don’t give a score, but I still give a warning. But, in this case, I honestly don’t have a warning. I found it to be rather self-contained. I didn’t know “Incredible Hulk” stories from the time period, but was easily engaging. If you don’t know anything about “The Incredible Hulk,” I think it might be a good excursion into the world of Bruce Banner/Hulk for you. If you know things about Hulk, but have only seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, or are a classic/recent reader but not a 1990’s “Incredible Hulk” reader, it might possibly your cup of tea.

            Okay, now the scores. I’ve gone on for quite a while, and if you’re still with me, you are (of course) THE BEST! So let’s get right to it. Oh, yeah, my scoring system. I score on a scale of one to ten. One is I thought that this was trash, ten is I thought it was an incredible masterpiece (no pun intended). “The Troyjan War”: six. “Future Imperfect”: I give it, possibly for the first time, as perfect ten! The Wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler: eight. The book as a whole, a complete Epic Collection: nine! I personally LOVED this book, and if you are a Hulk fan of ANY kind, I feel you should totally read this book! My regular readers know I am VERY hard to please and a very harsh scorer, so if I give anything a perfect ten (I don’t think I’ve ever given this before), it’s worth a looksee. A nine as a whole Epic Collection is pretty epic, even incredible.

            So, I know you must be getting rather tired of me prattling on for so long, so I’ll sign off for now. Expect more content from me soon, check out my past posts, come back again (you are THE BEST!) tell your friends (if you found me on Twitter follow me, and please give some retweets!) and I’ll be back soon! Well, until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Planet Hulk"

 

            The following is a review and analysis of the Marvel Comics graphic novel event “Planet Hulk” as presented on Marvel Unlimited. I will focus on the early stages in the storyline in ways to avoid spoilers as best as I can.

            Okay, first we’ll start with the story. There was a secret cabal of scientific and representative superheroes, including Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Doctor Stephen Strange, and Black Bolt (king of the Inhumans) who call themselves the Illuminati, who meet in secret, so secret that even their teammates are unaware of their group meetings.

Doctor Robert Bruce Banner was a nuclear scientist. He was caught in an explosion of gamma radiation, and in times of great stress, anger, and fear turns into a super strong and uncontrollable creature called the Incredible Hulk. The Hulk causes harm and destruction every time he transforms.

The Illuminati made a decision after Hulk’s latest rampage: he was just too dangerous to stay on earth. A satellite near earth was going out of control, and S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Directorate) called in Banner to fix the problem. The Illuminati take advantage of this and plot Banner’s spacecraft to send Hulk to a planet devoid of intelligent life where Hulk will not be able to hurt anyone, nor can anyone hurt Hulk, and finally be at the peace he has wanted ever since the accident. Unfortunately, a wormhole knocks Hulk’s spacecraft off course and ends up sending Hulk to the planet Sakaar. Hulk has been weakened during the ordeal and when he is found by the people of Sakaar, Hulk is sold off in slavery into the arena where Hulk is forced to do battle while given a control device causing subjugation and preventing resistance. While in the arena, he meets Korg, Brood, Hiroim, Elloe, and Miek. The gladiators form a Warbound (an alliance) to each other no matter what might come. Of course, this being a comic book, the Warbound escape and swear revenge on the man who forced them into the position, the Red King, Emperor of Sakaar. Hulk is also believed to be part of a prophecy, the Sakaarson, savior of Sakaar, or the Worldbreaker, he who will destroy Sakaar, and Hulk and the Warbound are determined to learn which he is and his contribution to the future of Sakaar.

Okay, I’m sure now you know the direction of the story, and this was only the first story arch of the event. There were also three other arches to the event, but going past this would be too much of a spoiler to the event and I don’t want to ruin it for you readers who are considering reading this event.

Now, you’ve probably been waiting for my scoring to help you determine if you might want to be interested in reading this event. Now, I highly stress that this is all MY OWN PERSONAL opinion. I honestly can’t outright say it was good or bad, that’s all for you to decide should you choose to read “Planet Hulk” (and if you do or have read the event I’d love to hear from you to share your opinion as well, that would be THE BEST!). Here’s the rundown of the following three paragraphs. I start, again with MY PERSONAL opinion on what I liked and disliked. Then I tell you the accessibility, how much I feel is important to know prior to reading “Planet Hulk” to fully enjoy the story. Finally, I give my numeric score based on MY enjoyment of the event.

First off, this event made me feel a little wishy-washy. There were parts I loved, and parts that I felt were dragged on too much, parts that bored me, and parts that I honestly didn’t like. And I also found this story to be highly predictable. From the start of him arriving on Sakaar and sold into slavery and into the arena, I knew how this story arch was going to go, and the ending just didn’t “wow” me. I did enjoy the Hulk’s battle with the Silver Surfer in the arena, BUT it seemed rushed and wasted and had almost no impact or payoff at any further points of the story, it was like he was just there to have a familiar face as every other character was created and original to the event. This also made it difficult to for me connect with the characters as they were only ever going to be in the one event. I only knew them from this story and will probably never see these characters again, so I just didn’t feel invested in the characters, their storylines, their history, I just didn’t feel for the characters. There were also parts that seemed a little too rushed, like if they had focused more on those parts and less at some of the other points that seemed slow. I just didn’t feel it was balanced.

Okay, enough on that, let’s move on to accessibility. This, to me, was very self-contained. As I said, the cast of all new characters just there for the event didn’t have history to the comics, so the backgrounds were, to me, self-explanatory. It wasn’t like they had these characters with history dating back to 1962 who appeared dozens of times with intricate storylines with all the characters in the Marvel Universe. Even the Hulk’s prior stories had no impact on “Planet Hulk.” I feel anyone could easily pick it up. So even if you know absolutely NOTHING about the Hulk, if you read this review and feel interested, even after my score, I feel you’d be able to pick up on the story with little to no problems at all. And I know that to some of you, this story might seem familiar, and if so, here’s why: part of the film “Thor: Ragnarok” was inspired by the “Planet Hulk” comic book event. So if you loved the film “Thor: Ragnarok,” I totally recommend this comic book event to you.

Now, here it is, the moment you’ve been reading for, the clinch to determine “Yeah, I‘ve got to read this” or “Hard pass.” My score is given on a one-to-ten scale. One is, like I said “hard pass,” ten is “Yeah, I’ve got to read this” I slam it right at the middle: Five. Did I hate it? No. Did I love it? No. It was okay, but it could have been better for me. There’s a word I want to throw in here: potential. Look at the title: “Planet Hulk.” Do YOU think it has potential? If you can answer yes, I actually recommend it. If your answer is no, however, then the chance of your liking it might not be there, but still, if you want to read it, feel free to read it. I leave it all up to you. You are not me, I am not you, this is my mind, not yours, I can’t make yours for you. This is the whole point of these reviews, or anything I do on this blog for that matter. I have opinions, I share them with you, that is it, that’s all I can do.

So, if you liked this post, I’ve done dozens of posts on this blog, totally keep coming back, I post regularly, I hope there’s other content here you like. I do other things than reviews, like short stories, poetry, essays, editorials, I do quite a bit. So pick my brain, come back, and I’ll just say, Tim Cubbin… out!

B'ings: Based on the Marvel Comics By... Part 2

            Hey, again, Tim Cubbin here, welcoming you back inside my mind for the next few minutes.

            Okay, this is another B’ing. What’s a B’ing you ask? I’ve done nine before, so go back and look at my other B’ings so you know what I’m talking about and I’d be very happy. I work hard on this blog, and don’t even get paid, I do this out of the goodness of my heart, so looking at my past works would be THE BEST thing you could do for me and you yourself are THE BEST! But, imagine, if you will, a word, a bad word, and my not wanting to use profanity on this blog, so I hope you get this now? Yeah? Good! No? Ah, well, keep reading anyway!

            Alright, you probably noticed this is “Based on the Marvel Comics by… Part 2.” Yeah, I did a part one, I’m honestly not messing with you, so you might want to go back and see the first “Based on the Marvel Comics by…” When I did that, I had no idea I’d be revisiting this topic, so this was unexpected, but there’s been more thoughts about it, and if I didn’t’ say “Part 2” and just edited the post, no one would notice I edited it and not read my edit, so “Part 2” was necessary.

            Okay, so I have been rewatching all the Marvel television shows lately. I’m currently rewatching “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and noticed something MAJORLY wrong. Last time, I focused my B’ing about crediting the movies to writers who didn’t write all the comics and the new writers not getting credited, putting credit where credit is due and not due. I watched the opening credits and noticed something VERY WRONG! “Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby” popped up. Now, why is this wrong? THERE WAS NO “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” COMIC SERIES BY STAN LEE AND JACK KIRBY! Yes, Stan and Jack created S.H.I.E.L.D. in their comics, but never actually wrote a series focusing ONLY on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And let’s look at our cast of characters. Phil Coulson, star of the show. BUT! Stan and Jack neither created Coulson, nor ever worked on ANY comics with him in it. But what about other characters? Melinda May. Nope, not Stan and Jack. Grant Ward. Um, no. Daisy Johnson? No. Leopold Fitz. No, not Stan and Jack’s work. Jemma Simmons? No, they did not create her. So how can you say this show was based on characters who, until very recently did not have characters in the comics corresponding to the characters in the show, in storylines not based on anything Stan wrote, how is this “Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby?” Credit where credit’s due? Not there. So how do I feel about this claim? FALSE!

            Now, that’s a main B’ing. I also have a secondary claim. Last time I talked about characters CREATED by certain writers. I can honestly say, upon reviewing credits of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, that there are examples where they do say a character is “Created by” a writer and artist. Yes, I saw “Captain America created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby,” but still in the same credits, “Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.” I hope you’ve read my first “Based on the Marvel Comics by…” post, or you’re totally not following my train of thought properly, so go and read it now, then come back here and we’ll… well, I was going to say “be on the same page,” but these are two pages, so I can’t say that, so how about… be in the same neighborhood. (Does anyone say that or did I just invent that? If I invented it, totally keep saying it in conversations, having my own colloquialism would be AWESOME!) Well, that might make my point seem all well and good, but here’s my B’ing. I watched “Thor: Ragnarok” and noticed it said “Thor created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.” Now, you might not notice my point right away, so reread my last sentence. “Thor created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.” Um, Thor was a subject of the pagan Norse mythology from, like, a few thousands of years ago? By the Norse people? They created him and told all kinds of stories about him, and Loki (who gets the credit “Loki created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby” in the “Loki” Disney + series)? A few thousand years ago? Was Stan Lee Norse? Living a few thousand years ago? He was ninety-six when he died a few years ago, so yeah, he and Jack did NOT CREATE Thor! I don’t know who created Thor, no one does, that’s why it’s mythology. So how can you say “Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby” when they weren’t around a few thousand years ago and start the Norse pagan mythology? YOU DARN WELL CAN’T! I know this might seem minor to you, but it’s MAJOR to me! Humor me, I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, many things people consider “little” is planet size to me. So what would be a good credit? Maybe “Thor adapted by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby?” Okay, that doesn’t sound all that good? “Thor as inspired by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby?” Hmm, still not all that good. There’s got to be a good way to word this, I just can’t come up with one on my own. If you’re reading this link from Twitter, totally feel free to let me know what you would feel would be good wordology. (That’s honestly a real word? I didn’t come up with it?) In fact, feel free to let me know anything you have to say about my blog in general. Send me something I could B’ing about if you want and if I can do it, I totally will, but if I can’t run with it myself, I’ll politely explain why I just can’t make it work. I’m always looking for feedback, by the way, if there’s anything you want to say, just type it in, that’d be totally awesome (I have yet to get any true feedback from people I don’t know, so if you’re the first, you are THE BEST)! I mean, yes, this is “From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin,” but you’ve got a mind too, I would love to hear from you! So comment, retweet, share with your friends, anything, I love having regular readers and new readers alike, keep the fires of my brain burning.

            Anyway, at this point, you’re probably bored. But when I can complain about something, BOY, I CAN COMPLAIN! I’d love to complain with you, by the way, which I practically said in different words, and man does that look weird? Well, since you’ve had enough, I guess I’ll have enough. So, till next time, Tim Cubbin… out!