In The Name Of The Moon

Please be advised that this following blog post is written by a ghost writer and the usual comic posts will resume next week. Enjoy!

This post will focus on the iconic pretty soldier that was the center of obsession of every little girl's heart - Sailor Moon. While there were a variety of different representations of Sailor Moon through manga, cosplay and anime, I will focus primarily on Sailor Moon through the English television series (yes English - even though the Japanese version was better). This pretty soldier whose human name is Serena, is notorious for being a cry baby, immature and ditzy. Despite her lack of independence, Sailor Moon is the leader of the sailor scouts and is mentored by her talking black cat, Luna. Throughout the series, Sailor Moon experiences a variety of transformations and different power attacks, which is always better than the previous one.

One of the attributes that I love most about Sailor Moon in spite of all the annoying cries, is her unbreakable loyalty to her friends, her loved ones and the planet. This magical warrior will do everything to protect planet Earth and the moon kingdom from the evils of the Negaverse. She has risked her own life time and time again in order to achieve peace, love and justice.

Another theme that I really enjoyed throughout the series is Sailor Moon's loving relationship with Darien, who is also known as Tuxedo Mask. In the beginning of the show, Serena despised Darien, thinking he was arrogant and obnoxious and therefore had crushes on other male characters. However, as Serena and Darien's true identities were revealed and their real memories of their past life came to light, Serena's love for Darien never wavered. As Darien went through challenges such evil brainwashing and memory loss, Serena never gave up on him or their love, as she believed they were destined to be together.

The absolute best concept that I love most about the Sailor Moon series, is her transformation to the "Sovereign of the Earth," also referred to as Neo-Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo. When Sailor Moon becomes Queen Serenity, she can no longer be a sailor soldier but is still able to fight and defend her kingdom with her strength through the imperial silver crystal. Seeing Sailor Moon's growth and eventual maturity to reign as queen is quite astonishing as she is no longer a child and instead is a woman with class, power and confidence. I believe that Neo-Queen Serenity is the best drawn royal character in anime overall.

Reflecting on Sailor Moon has really made me nostalgic of the past and also very excited for the future as Sailor Moon will officially be rebooting this July! It will be very interesting to see how this great childhood show will be portrayed in 2014.

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This week's On My Shelf item is a Sailor Moon figure which was just released last month. This item was sold out instantly at all the comic shops and is considered a rare item. With the rebooting of the Sailor Moon series, there are legalities issues with Bandai and therefore obtaining any Sailor Moon merchandise can be very difficult. I believe this figure is crafted very well and I hope to collect all the pretty soldiers.

Weapon of Choice

This blog entry will focus on the many weapons or special items that heroes carry that either gives them their powers or is an actual part of the hero. For this post, I won't be just focusing on Marvel or DC, I'm going to mix it up just because there are interesting characters on both sides.

The first weapon is the mystical hammer of Thor, which when I starting brainstorming about characters, had popped up right away. I cannot think of any character that symbolizes how important their weapon is to them. Ask any comic fan about Thor and they will always mention the hammer of Mjolnir which first appeared in "Journey Into Mystery" issue #83. Mjolnir translated means "Crusher" or " The Grinder" and it lives up to its name. There is also an engraving on the hammer that says that only those truly worthy may wield the mighty hammer. Another interesting aspect of the hammer is that Thor can summon lightning and when thrown at a opponent, it will always return to Thor's hand. In fact, if Thor were to ever drop the hammer and a villain attempts to use it against him, it won't allow the opponent to pick it up due to the fact that they are not worthy. Many a foe has fallen to the mighty hammer which was forged from the core of a star and I believe there will be more to come.

 

The next weapon is The Amazing Spider-Man's web shooters. Some may say that it's not much of a weapon compared to the other big hitters in the Marvel universe. This may be true but no less an important item in Spidey's limited arsenal. It's these web shooters that have gotten Spider-Man out of some sticky situations and for me, it made for some great moments. I can remember a time when Spider-Man is fighting a villain and his web shooters will run out or he needs to change the strength of his web fluid depending on the opponent. The way the web shooters work is that it is wrapped around the wrists and there are cartridges all around his wrists so that when one shooter empties, it switches to the next. With all his incredible abilities, it's Spider-Man's web shooters that most fans love.
 

The next weapon on the list is Captain America's shield. I feel like there is no other hero that is defined by his weapon than Captain America. If you take a good look at Cap's shield, it even holds the same colour code as his uniform. An interesting fact about the shield is that Cap has used different versions of the shield over the years. His first shield wasn't even circular - in fact it had a badge shape to it and it was made of a bullet proof alloy. Later on in 2001, we find out that one of the elements in Cap's shield is vibranium: which is an alien alloy that is very strong and powerful and this adds to the uniqueness of the weapon. I personally love Captain America's shield because not only is it visual appealing, but it's a symbol to his enemies that like his shield, Captain America is strong and will protect innocence from harm.

Next on the list is Batman's utility belt. I want to make an important point before I get into the belt and its importance to The Caped Crusader. I believe in my years of reading Batman books that it is Bruce's mind that is his ultimate weapon and not any gadgets that he carries. He is the Sherlock Holmes of the comic universe but more badass! It's important to realize that being mortal in a world that has power houses like Superman and Wonder Woman, it's Batman's intellect and perseverance that helps him stand among the heavy weights. However, I'm not going to focus on Batman's mind but rather his belt that in its own right, is just as incredible. At first glance, it doesn't look like much but if you look at the buckle it's actually a camera and sometimes a recorder. Then you have a back compartment which holds his batarangs. Batman also has little capsules that help him when dealing with a gas attack from his enemies or if he's been poisoned. In his pouches which are located near the front of the belt, he usually keeps things like gas pellets or he might have a piece of kryptonite just in case. By the way, if you're thinking that it's probably easy for a villain to steal Batman's belt...think again!! His belt is created where if you're not Bruce Wayne, you're getting the shock of your life!!! So for these reasons I listed and much more is why Batman's utility belt is not only iconic but also reflects its owner's personality.

 

Last on my list is Green Lantern's power ring. This ring is among the most synonymous weapons that a reader identifies with a character. When asked, "what's the first thing you think of when talking about Green Lantern," it's always the ring. I'm not a huge fan of Green Lantern but I find the power ring a really cool weapon. Imagine you can create weapons or cars or even a whole city with one thought. Well this can all happen if you're wearing the ring because it gives the wearer the ability to create any object with a single thought. This comes in use when fighting an enemy under water where you might have to create a submarine. Let's also say you have to fight an underground opponent and you might need a drill to dig deep into the earth? With your power ring, you just envision it and it comes to life!! Another aspect of the ring that I love is that it's powered by will. Therefore in a battle with an opponent that is stronger than you, it's ultimately your will and the power of the ring that will power you through. If there are any limits or flaws to this weapon is that it's weakness is to the colour yellow. This weakness makes it difficult for Green Lantern to battle opponents such as Sinistro and his yellow Lanterns. However this weapon should be admired for simplicity and it's great power!

Well that's it for this blog post and I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs because I have really enjoyed writing them. I will do an anime themed blog post soon so keep an eye out;)

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In keeping with the theme of heroes and weapons, this week's On My Shelf item is the first appearance of the X-O Manowar armour which premiered in issue # 1, February 1992. This Valiant comic had a low print run of 40,000 copies which makes it a really rare book!

Does The Man Make The Suit?

For this new blog post, I will focus on the many suits in Spider-Man's history. Over the many years, we as readers have always been treated to the classic blue and red costume created by the all-star team of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. In those days Spidey's red and blue costume was as common as apple pie and the fans loved it!!! However decades later, Spider-Man has dawned a few new costumes and not all have been received with open arms.

The first of Spidey's costumes was the black and white (Venom/Secret Wars) costume. This costume marked the first time in Spider-Man's history that Peter has worn something other than the classic one (and mind you it wasn't by choice). This short version is during the Secret Wars where Spider-Man got his costume torn and there was a machine that repairs costumes.

However for some reason, Spidey picked the wrong machine and actually freed an alien symbiotic creature that bonded with Peter. This new costume of black and white was greeted with mixed reviews. Among the many complaints was the "if it isn't broken why fix it" argument. This change was hard for me at the time because I'm an old school guy but on the other hand, I also thought the new costume was badass!!! The weird part is, decades later the fans loved the black suit look and sometimes I will catch a Spidey fan say, "man I wish they brought back the black suit" and I can't help but agree with them.

However the next couple of costumes that Spider-Man wore were not as great and in fact in my opinion should not have even made it to print. One case in point was the spider armour costume which appeared in Web of Spiderman: Vol 1 Issue 100 and was a total disappointment for me. It's one thing to change a look and even a colour but to make him a metallic, goofy looking spiderman was awful. This ridiculous suit also slowed him down and for a hero that needs to be quick and agile that made no sense!

Moving right along, we get into the Civil War Iron Spider-Man suit which some fans liked and others like me did not. This suit was just a cheap marketing gimmick by Marvel to sell more books during The Civil War crossover event and for a moment it probably did.
In fact, the suit had the Iron Man colours and even looked like something Iron Man would wear. I find that when Marvel tries to add these little weapons and gadgets to Spidey's costume it takes away from the sleek look of the character.

It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions with fans over these suit changes, but ultimately isn't it the love of the character stronger then what he/she puts on?......

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This week's On My Shelf item is Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars # 8. This is the origin of the black costume (Venom origin). This issue is really a landmark for any passionate, Spider-Man comic book collector. Since this comic is from the 1980s, it's a hard to find back issue so happy hunting!

An Adventure In Time

I wanted to write this blog entry discussing a show that I recently started watching called, "Adventure Time". I first want to start by saying that I purely discovered this show through a co-worker who suggested I should give this show a look at the very least. So eventually I came around on the idea (plus I had nothing else that I was watching at the time) and borrowed season 1 from him. I have to admit, the first few episodes I had no clue what I was watching and things were happening so randomly that it had almost no structure at all. However this did not take away from me being introduced to Finn and Jake!!! These two main characters were soooo funny and engaging that I couldn't stop watching them. Let me give you a brief background on the show: Adventure Time takes place in the post apocalyptic land of Ooo (yes that's the name of the place). We as viewers don't get to see much of what happened to Earth other than some background destruction of cars and some mentions of "mushroom wars" which is reference to the nuclear war that destroyed the Earth which left Finn as the only human alive. What I really love about this show are the supporting characters that make the show very enjoyable. The first character is Princess Bubble Gum who rules the Candy Kingdom and is made of bubblegum. I feel like she gives the show a bit of a romantic tone by her interactions with Finn. Another fun character is The Ice King who is the lonely antagonist on the show. Through his antics and constant pursuit of all the princesses in the land, this character adds to the humour element of the show. Moving right along we get to the main characters, Finn and Jack who are the best of friends on the show. One interesting fact is the character Jake, who is a dog that can talk and stretch his body in all directions which is a cool thing to watch. Most people love Jake and find him humorous, but my personal favourite is Finn. If there's any character that stands out and takes us on this bizarre and funny adventure, it's Finn. I'm a huge fan of Finn and his character along with Jake as they compliment one another perfectly. All in all, this show is exciting, funny and quirky with not much continuity between episodes but is a roller coaster ride of laughs and adventure. I highly recommend the show!!! You shall not be disappointed. 

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My On My Shelf item is this 1991 Wizard Collectors Edition # 1. I was a huge fan of Wizard in its early years of inception and with great aspects like "hidden gems" and "top 10 books of the month," Wizard really set themselves apart from any competition. Sadly, Wizard has stopped making its price guide books but it's great to remember the early years when this magazine had every comic nerd salivating!!!

My First Book

I would like to start this blog talking about how I got into comics as a youngster. When I was about 6 years old, I was on my way home from school and I stopped off at a nearby convenience store. As I looked around for the latest gummy or Twizzler, it was in that moment that my eyes locked on a comic that not only captured the awe of a 6 year old, but began my life long love affair with comics. This magical book was Amazing Spiderman #291. Don't get me wrong, this book wasn't some classic book like Detective Comics # 27 or Action Comics #1!! However, to a boy of 6 years old, it represented much more than a comic - it represented an escape to a world of hope and wonder. From that moment on, I could once a week take a swing through the city with Spiderman or fly the blue skies with Superman. From that point, comics didn't just represent fun and fantasy, it was my partner in life that would see me through difficult and trying times. So for all of you book worms and avid readers, don't forget that first book that set you on the path to adventure and wonder because you will always remember your first love.

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The On My Shelf item this week is not a book but something just as great. These two little guys you might remember from the Knorr commercials a few years back. The commercials were so cute and one day, I went online to see if you actually get one. Low and behold - you could! It took about 3 to 4 months later but I received them and now they share a space on my shelf. As a side note: these little guys have been known to fetch $100 and over on eBay (luckily I got them for just $15!!).

8 Bit As Good

Remember 8 bit games? I do and when I was digging out my closet the other day, I found some old GameBoy games. As I held these games I thought about how popular 8 bit games were 20 years ago and all of the countless hours I spent playing Super Mario Bros, amongst many other games. Understanding that the times have changed and gaming has advanced to the point that you can play an opponent from half way across the world, we have to respect the classic games that started it all and gave us such iconic symbols such as Zelda, Mario and Donkey Kong. Don't get me wrong, all the new games today being so fast paced, with graphics that are so real it looks like a movie, it's hard to play 8 bit games. However for me, 8 bit represents a journey back to my childhood. So the next time you're cleaning your room or accidentally come across an 8 bit game lying around, take a minute to respect and play it for 5 minutes. You won't be disappointed, I know that I wasn't.

My Favourite 8 Bit Games:

• Classic Mario Bros.
• Legend of Zelda
• Mike Tyson's Punch Out
• Burger Time
• Donkey Kong
• Pac Man 

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This week's On My Shelf item is a Hellboy pencil sketch drawn by Mouse Guard's fame artist David Petersen. I have a few of David Petersen's incredible water colours but among all of his artwork, this is one is my favourites. For more of David Petersen's work, check out this link: http://mouseguard.bigcartel.com/

The Savage Welker

In this looooong overdue blog post, I will be focusing on one of the all time greatest voice actors.. Frank Welker!!! For those of you who don't know who Frank is, well look no further than those 80's cartoons like Transformers. It was on that very successful show that Frank voiced the main antagonist and leader of the Decepticons: Megatron!!! One interesting fact of this native from Denver is that his first job in the industry was a commercial for Friskies dog food commercial. The most amazing thing for me is the fact that people love Peter Cullen's voice (Optimus Prime), but a hero can only go as far as the villian takes him. Welker's voice adds a strong presence and holds its own against the power deep monotone voice of Peter Cullen. As a young boy growing up, I loved Optimus Prime's voice as well as the character but now looking back over the years, it's both Peter and Frank that not only captivated a young man's imagination but cemented Frank Welker as one of my favourite voice actors of all time!

Frank's other notable roles -

1) Fred Jones, "Scooby Doo"

2) Marvin White, "Super Friends"

3) Dr. Claw, "Inspector Gadget"

4) Slimer, "The Real Ghostbusters"

5) Malebolgia, "Spawn"

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This week's On My Shelf item is Megaton Explosion # 3. This is the first appearance of Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon. Savage Dragon was one of the first founded Image character and for a brief time, had a televisions series.  With a very low print run, this book makes as a very rare jem in an any collector's vault.