comics – Finious's Folly

Review: Hellboy Vol. 3: The Chained Coffin and Others

Hellboy, Vol. 3: The Chained Coffin and Others by Mike Mignola
Hell Boy series #3
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My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
First Published: February 2004, stories first published in 1998
Read from: Apr. 1-13, 2016

A Number of Very Cool Short Stories. Possibly the Best of the Hellboy Graphic Novels So Far.

This is the third Graphic Novel collection of the original Hellboy comics I have read. The second volume I didn’t like too much. I had liked it so little in fact that I had decided if the next in the series was equally disappointing, what with so much other things to read, I would move on to something else. Well, I’m glad I gave the series one more chance. I think I may have liked this volume even more than the first volume. Read the Full Review

Review: Hellboy Vol. 2: Wake the Devil

Hellboy, Vol. 2: Wake the Devil by Mike Mignola
Hell Boy series #2
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My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
First Published: February 1994
Read from: Mar. 1-9, 2016

Better art, more characters, cooler bad guys… And ZERO story

I felt this graphic novel, the second volume of collected Hellboy comics, lay somewhere between “it was ok” and “I liked it”. While there was so much that was potentially great in this graphic novel, it was thrown in a barrage that had no consistent thread and did not stay long enough with any one element to build any interest in me with what was going on. In some cases I’m not sure what was going on even had any explanation. Read the Full Review

Review: Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction

Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola, John Byrne
Hell Boy series #1
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My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
First Published: 1994
Read from: Feb. 18-19, 2016

I liked the Hellboy movies, but had never read the comics from which they sprung. I decided I needed to correct that lapse. Read the Full Review

Review: Fantastic Four (2015)

Fantastic Four (2015)
0.5 out of 5 Stars

A supposed “reboot” of the Fantastic Four franchise. To put it bluntly, this was crap through and through. The worst, unforgivable sin to my mind was the god-awful writing — the barest outline of a plot further destroyed by horribly dull dialog and lifeless characters. Even if any of the writing had been decent, the director, cinematography, actors, music and even the effects for the most part failed to bring any life to the creation. Only thing I thought mildly interesting and somewhat original is the different approach they took to how the group receives their powers, but even that was horribly miss-handled. Read the Full Review

Reading Updates: 4 Book Ratings

Assassin’s Quest, L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories, V for Vendetta, and Old Man’s War

Haven’t felt much like writing reviews recently, but I have read quite a few very good books that I would highly recommend. So here’s my ratings and some “micro” reviews / comments. Continue reading Reading Updates: 4 Book Ratings

Review: “X-Men: Days of Future Past” Trade Paperback

“X-Men: Days of Future Past” Trade Paperback by Marvel Comics – Chris Claremont, John Byrne & Terry Austin
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Overall “Book” Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
First Published: Trade Paperback published July 2013, collecting 7 comic book issues originally published in 1981
Read from: Jun 27 to July 12, 2014

Better Than the Movie, But…

I checked this Trade Paperback out from the library after watching the “meh” movie VERY loosely based on in it, (see my review of that movie here,) as I did not recall having read the original comic story “back in the day”. I guess I was expecting more of a graphic novel, or a longer story, so I was initially disappointed when I first started to read this collection of “classic” X-Men… Especially after reading the first story of the bunch, which is pretty darn poor. The actual “Days of Future Past” story line really only takes up 2 of the 7 comics included in this collection. While the “DOFP” story line is fair to good, a few of the other comics in the collection are actually better than this “title” story.

I have rated, reviewed & provided brief synapses of each “issue” included in this trade paperback below. With most of the stories I have provided more details for those who are curious. The spoiler-laden details are hidden in “spoiler tags” so those who want to read the TPB without ruining anything can still read on, as long as they don’t click through to the spoiler contents… Read My Full Review →

Review: “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart
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The Days of Meh…

I went to the movie “X-Men: Days of Future Past” last night with high expectations. I had heard a lot of people who said they really liked it and was looking forward to some fun comic book entertainment. My final assessment however was simply, “Meh.” I liked it, but not nearly as much as I hoped.

Without giving away any spoilers, the premise of the story is that in the future, the world has gone to hell in a hand basket. The X-Men send Wolverine back into their past in an attempt to make a vital change to their time-line that would prevent the horrors of their time from ever occurring… Read My Full Review →