Laid Back Comics Watches: Hulks Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

Superhero animation pretty much a standard now in the world, it has been for almost a decade now. But lately shows have been taking a lot of negative hits on-line. Be it from angry over shows being canceled over low toy sales. Or newer ones that haven’t taken well to the older crowd that had grown up with them and panned dramatically over the tone. It seems like no one can catch a break. But, that is not stopping companies from trying. The newest show is Hulk Agents of S.M.A.S.H. which is a team based show putting together all of the Hulks under one roof. At the time it was thought the hook of the series would be a reality show deal, but it is more updated as Rick Jones web series he is making. This makes more sense and allows for a much better concept than the first.

Last year SDCC Marvel TV Panel showed off the show in a sizzle reel promo giving the idea behind it and characters involved as well as the creative mind of Paul Dini handling the series as well. And while Paul has had a creative consultant credit with some of the newer Marvel shows, this is the first time it felt like he had more of a hand in development and execution, the second episode was written by him. The series has more look and feel to that of Ultimate Spider-Man than it does to Avengers Assemble, now some will read that and possible be excited or flip the table, but please hold off until the end then you can flip all the tables you want.

The writing on the show shares some of the humor of Ultimate Spider-Man but transfer it to more slapstick against the Hulk. Who is super strength but is constantly crushed, knocked around, or blow up to one side as the first episode goes on. With each time Hulk making the same ‘I am not amused’ face right before it happens, which is funny the first time around but by the end of the episode where you get these moments in rapid succession it wanes greatly. Though that gag does seem to subside into the second part of the pilot episode which makes the second the much stronger of the episodes.

It is like a muscled up Voltron Force.

Strength of the show here is with the voice cast, so far everyone seems to be able to pull off the characters with ease. It is always choice casting to get Clancy Brown on any show and here with Red Hulk he seems to be having more fun than I have seen in a while. Also nice to see he isn't playing a villain role. Seth Green is always fun to hear and able make a nice Rick Jones even at the most over the top humor lines it doesn't come off hammy but funny. Eliza Dushku as She-Hulk was an interesting choice as she hasn't had much work in voice acting, but she fairs very well as Jenifer in the role, Though less screen time as she comes in the second episode. And of course Fred Tatasciore as the main man to be doing the Hulk for several years now once again becomes the big gamma ‘monster’.

Ultimately though it begs the question if a Hulk series could stand on its own. This writer has been pretty much under the assumption that Hulk a great comic character, outside the medium he more of a great supporting character. Here though, they seemed to surround Hulk with his other Hulk counter points, Red, A-bomb/Rick Jones, Skaar, and She-Hulk. Who in light of being a full time lawyer in the comics has had her profession changed to that of a pilot? And surprisingly it seems to work for the show.

Outside of some the more childish humor thrown in at times the show can take a deep tone with Hulk, a hero cast out and yet accepting of it. Surrounding himself with others like him seems to build him up a little bit. As first episodes go, this one feels more fleshed out than Avengers and has the know with all to try and balance out the humor with more serious moments. This could easily be the show that could break the mold for Hulk and his supporting cast.

OVERALL: 7.0 out of 10

Hulks and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H airs on Disney XD Sundays at 11/10 C

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for The Broken Infinite, follow him on twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics Watches Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox

It is hard to believe it has been almost three years since the New 52 has come into the DC World starting at the very end of Flashpoint mini-series. I can still remember hanging out at my comic shop ready to pick up the final issue.  And in that short time, the mini-series has not transformed into an animated feature. This is one of the quickest turn around for an animated project of DC, and one that even though mentions in the title of Justice League, this is a Flash mystery movie.

One of the biggest tricks of taking something like the Mini-series Flashpoint and turning it into a movie is trying to fit in all of the story threads. There were several mini-series and side stories that tried to fully explore the world that Flashpoint was. In movie form it could only handle small doses of it, it give a background to the changed events that are leading up to the war currently being fought and short side pieces, but that is far as it can go story wise before dragging on for too long. The main story is with Flash and this worlds Batman, Barry having to re-connect with the speed force and the hopes of going back and changing all that has happened to the world around him.

The world of Flashpoint is a brutal in animation as in comics, while the impending war that is waging between Amazons and Atlantans is shown to be ready to destroy it, there is a lack of urgency with the story and characters as it speeds closer to the conclusion. By no means is the movie slow in any fashion, which Flash being title character would be ironic, but because of the quickness for the 80 minutes we get, characters and stories are quickly introduced and not too much longer quickly ended.  That has always been a major downfall of the direct to DVD movies DC has made, more often the time is cut so the story suffers from it. Here that same can be said as we didn't know the world as we knew it. And the mystery of who changed time is well laid out so when the reveal hits you sit and nod your head with the movie and saying, “Yeah got it.”

This is also something of a comics fan movie, anyone who may pick this up out of curiously might, no wait change that will be confused by the sudden motivations and characterization changes between timelines. But, a nice touch that is they animators threw in some cameos from Young Justice Show that was a treat to see.

There is also a big change to the animation style with this movie, a much broader and exaggerated look to

many of the characters, massive muscles to the super strong. The look is not one that many would say is pleasing to the eye, it is a distraction at times. But, there may been a reason for some, as Superman first seen (As pictured to the right) is compete opposite from the Flashpoint version it is staggering and standing next to Cyborg and Batman he seems so frail. Showing the world is harsh to even the most super of heroes. One must also bring up the CGI Flash that shows up every so often making it very noticeable at times. But, the action, the chase of Flash and Professor Zoom go through in the final battle makes up for it. The sense of speed and the way they flow back and forth though the shots is amazing to watch.

And of course I must finish on the voice work, which always a stand out on these movies and here they work out wonderfully. And while it may be sad to know Kevin Conroy only has a few lines as Batman to be replaced by his father Kevin McKidd, who brought the weathered Thomas Wayne to the screen and stole a few scenes. For the Flash Justin Chambers did a good job, but in key scenes his voice sounded more forced than I am sure he would have liked. Though he is welcome to be The Flash again at any time. I also think it is fantastic the Daily family is now passing down voice work for Superman and Sam Daily is a excellent addition to the cast.

In the end, this was a solid movie put together with only a few bumps along the way in the story and animation. This of course is the first in a two part story as the end reveals that the second pass through time changed a few more things, much in the same way the first one did. As the next movie Justice League: War is a direct sequel to this movie in the same way when Flashpoint ended the New 52 began.

OVERALL: 7.5 out of 10

Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox is available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Digitally now.

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for The Broken Infinite. Follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics: Captain America #8

Early in the week, I was catching up my reading of Captain America mostly due to a back-log of comics I had not gotten to yet. Cap is one of my favorite Marvel characters and for the last several years has had a string of excellent stories behind him. When Marvel NOW came about Captain America would be changing hands to a new team and with that it would also be a dramatic shift in the story, which one often sees after a long run by one team ends and a new one jumps on. Rick Remender and John Romita Jr set out not only do something different, they jumped genres turning the book into a Sci-Fi dystopian dimension jumper  and at first it seemed to work, but as the series contained soon it started to feel like it was just starting to drag little by little to sit and wonder when will it end.

Issue 8 feels though things that been setting up throughout a lot of the series would be coming to head and in a way a possible end was in sight, of course it wasn't going to be easy for Steve having to face off with the son of Zola who he had help to raise and now on the end of another major beating. It is one thing the series I do feel is positive is the never give up and die aspect of Captain America, with the major revelation and now facing off with the consequence at hand. Sadly what would be dramatic scenes are filled with the clichéd speech of a child berating Captain America explaining how awful the country he represents really is.  It is odd to have a character in this brand new environment and yet we have familiar speech coming from one of the characters.

Tension to the issue is the key, like mentioned we are slowly seeing an end in sight characters like Zola and his daughter who has seemly turned against his teaching start to face off we also see a brilliant turn for Captain and Ian/Leopold. Steven using his short time fathering the child to hopefully bring him back from the reaches that his true father has tried to take him. Before getting suddenly silenced by the big reveal of the book, which in of itself wasn't too shocking the more you sit and think about it. It raises more questions than answers and they then leading to a new issue to come out. As close to the end of the story we seem to get another chapter seems to be added on.

Though John Romita Jr is doing one of the best Jack Kriby characters and worlds here that it would be amazing to see him try his hand at other Fourth World characters. Art alone is the shining light on the book, though while we get amazing scenes with his art, there seems to be struggles in other places, the faces change shape or look fish like with side lines. Group shots of seems to run into one another.  Dean White colors also are a little inconstant, one time dull and faded then moving to bright. Sometimes they would fit with one is happening on panel and others time it doesn't.

While the series so far has started off fresh both in writing and art has slowly turned into just another weird tale of Rick Remender along the lines of Franken-Castle. If I loves it then there is nothing to say, here I am just waiting for this to end and check out the possible next story.

OVERALL: 7.0 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for The Broken Infinite. Follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics: X-Files Season 10 #1

I got blood on my poster

Do you hear that, just in the behind you always seem to be moving when you try to look? A hint of a whisper in your ear or perhaps a whistle of a familiar tune floating in the air?  That was the feeling I got when I first heard the X-Files was coming back, well not to TV or movies this time we are heading back to comics with IDW’s X-Files Season 10. One has to wonder if this new series was something that would be like the other ‘season’ books like Buffy and Smallville where it just continues the story. From the looks like with some of some big plot points mentioned it looks like we are going that way.

Now some time has passed since we last saw our two heroes of Mulder and Scully who have now gone into protection with name and career changes, one of which might get a chuckle from Mulder fans alike. But, a lot of this issue is here to here for the fans to reconnect to these characters and world while giving a new threat to them as well. The way the threat is introduced is through the age old method of hacking into the FBI files and those possible that of the X-Files as well. Of course this leads to some strange group now targeting the former FBI agents and they are offering up a very creep mind controlling powers while they are at it.

The concept of TV shows turned to comics is not a new one, but the idea to continue the show after it has gone off the air is still a little new. And for such one can easily look to the ones currently offered to come to a quick idea on whether it is good or bad depending on the series, in the case of the X-Files here, it is a good one. Joe Harris and Chris Carter have in one issue put together the start of a story that already feels like early X-Flies, while keeping the shows later season stories in place. It is tense, suspenseful, and has a good mystery that I loved the X-Files for. Though at the same time going with something in this story so soon from the start does forget that many of the X-Files cases often ended with logical explanations to them, here it looks like it might be leaning towards the outer worldly. But, just like a good X-Files episode things may not be what they appear which will get me ready to come back next issue.

Issue #17 Topps Comics

Next point though is why you read through the book and begin to smile that this is the X-Files, that can also be a bit of a draw back as well. This is a book made for fans, anyone who may not be familiar with the series or maybe the few who fell out before the last few seasons will be lost when trying to read the book. 

The art work and color done was something I was pleasantly surprised with, other comics of this nature tend

to be more photo-realistic, they try very hard to make sure they look as close to the actors as possible, but often come off stiff and awkward. Here Michael Walsh sets up something that is more organic feeling, yes you can easily recognize the characters still, but there is more freedom of the world and how each one moves and acts. If there is any fault it is when the color turns to day time when everything is bright, it just seems overly so, but when the scenes go to night, it were a lot of the feeling of the show returns and helps in the drama of the scene and cliffhanger.

The return of the X-Files is something I welcome and IDW has put together a solid book that is made for fans of the show missing it and wanting to return to it. I missed the X-Files, glad it is back.

OVERALL 7.5 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for The Broken Infinite and comic book corrspondent on Nerd to the Third Power Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Special: BATMAN # 13 Dramatic Reading

 Here is an experiment I tried with both BAC of  Laid Back Comics and Xaos when the book first came out. After much deliberation, I decided to FINALLY release this. There was only 3 of us doing the voice so I am sorry if this could be better but I still think we did a good job and it was a LOT of fun. And now the dramatic reading/riffing of Batman # 13 - Seraph/Frankie Rodriguez

Laid Back Comics: Who Would Win Wonder Woman vs She-Hulk

It is Ladies Night in this Edition of Who Would Win where two of the toughest heroes will face off. In the Red white and Blue corner Wonder Woman and in the Green and Purple She-Hulk!


Got an idea for a future match up of Who Would Win, leave a comment or follow Bryan "BAC" Clendening on Twitter @BAClend and give him a heads up.

Happy Anniversary Broken Infinite ... Along Came An EZ Rider & More

AND IT ALL BEGINS .. . AGAIN


            Yes. I am stealing the line from both WWE & Freddy Kruger. But this really feels like a great new start. 1 year ago today, I decided to break away from J1 Studios and start Broken Infinite … and built the site. Yep. One year ago, I was busy putting in code and getting the site launched. It was a very big turning point for me and for those who follow me. Speaking of which, those who followed me as we started BI were Jeremias de Leon (Xaos), Jeff Williams (16 bit Jeff), Durga (Eric McLeod), Darryll B Carter, & Hector Ramirez.

            There have been quite a few people who have come & gone from BI since then. There have been a lot of new blood lately. TWK, The Navigator, Yamiangie, Bobbert33, Ed the Crimson, Mahogany Cow, MadShadow42, Darkon633, Pugsly6883, Wheelchair21, BAClend of  Laid Back Comics, Visible Ninja, Brotha Doug, Devin Walker, Big Cheese KIT & more have filled up our ranks. The site is very different from what it was.

            I always wanted Broken Infinite to be a place where people can be themselves and really enjoy what they love be it comics, gaming, anime, tokusatsu & more. This site has grown so much in the last year and I am proud of what it is becoming. We are moving into another phase in its development.

             So, Broken Infinite is one years old. What will happen next? Over the next 24 hours, you are gonna see content from a bunch of our contributors, every hour … on the hour. Plus, I’m am pleased to announce that EZ Rider himself will be official joining.  Yes. You’ll be seeing Toku Time and all of EZ’s works now here … in the Infinite. So please, welcome EZ with your views & comments.

            In honor of you, our readers, viewers, contributors and friends … we will have a new post of content every hour on the hour with some other content. We will be showing you much of our coverage of Wizard World Philadelphia 2013 including interviews with creators, footage, pics & more. So, it’s a celebration … enjoy. We here at the Broken Infinite thank you.  Thank you to Valiant Comics for being with us for a year now & showing their universe. Thank you to Aspen Comics & Action Lab Entertainment for helping us a long and letting us into their worlds. Thank you for anyone who contributes, had contributes and/or help BI over this last year.

            And from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Time to Break the Cycle again. Get ready cause you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Laid Back Comics Watches: Avengers Assemble!

Back when I went to SDCC I had the pleasure to see a trailer of an early version of Avengers Assemble and watching it I was a bit, underwhelmed. Of course it was just a animation and voice test, to give the audience there an idea and feel of the show, so it was a little rough, and that was just the stand in voice cast. Now here we are almost a year or so later and the show has debuted and it is still a tad rough but for the most part watchable.

To say Marvel wants to capitalize on the Avengers movie success is the no brainier statement of the day. And Assemble does little to nothing to hide from that fact, for the most part the two casts are completely identical save for the addition of Falcon being added to the team, who Tony first had suggested to use War Machine suit before Sam ignored it and get the suit he wanted. That wasn't the only real difference to the whole first two episodes.

The story takes place sometime after the Avengers disbanded for some reason that isn't fully explained just yet. But, Tony is keeping tabs on everyone in the Big Brother fashion when he sees that Red Skull suddenly killed Captain America. This is the events that leads Tony into bringing the group back together and go out and Avenge Cap by finding Red Skull and MODOK and bringing them in. And here is where the show begins to struggle a bit as that while the group does want to help after hearing the news, it was a lot of bickering back and forth between the characters on the way to the arctic to find villains. Once there they end up fighting some unnamed soldiers and more bickering and in fighting. That is main theme going out through the first two episodes here where if this was just a stand alone would fall under the more annoying side, but as the second episode hits we see that getting pushed much further with some nanobot help.  The big free though is this will be a constant thing as the series progresses and will start to feel old and forced the more it is used.

The story also has some problems like motivation of Red Skull who is dying, though never explained why. So he switches brains with the not so dead Captain America, but when that fails he just steals Tony’s armor. In hindsight that plan seemed to be the much easier one, heck had he gone that route there would be a good chance the Avengers wouldn't have reformed.  But, in the end they push for the humiliate route which ends up giving the heroes reason to stay together. But, they aren't the only ones, the hook at the end of the second episode is Skull asking other villains to combine their forces as well. That could be interesting in its own right to keep watching the show.

What hurts the show the most I feel is the voice casting and animation. While we get some returning voices from EMH we are also getting some new ones and they don’t sound right. Tony sounds extremely young and Red Skull is a few accents shy of a bad stereotype.  And the animation can go from wonderful fluid and detailed, but then you get these static shots were a frame of animation is paused and then slide across the screen, it is obvious and jarring to see and it is used several times.

In the end even with all of these negatives, there wasn't one time that I would call the show bad in anyway. But, I said the same thing about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and half way through the first season it hit its stride and became an excellent show. So here is hoping the same thing will happen to this one and in a few months’ time we will be all in love with this new show. Hopefully it being connected to Ultimate Spider-Man scare too many people away.

OVERALL: 6.0 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for Broken Infinite and you can follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics: Green Lantern #20

Turn back the clock nine years ago, you walk into a comic shop and see an issue with a pretty simple title, Green Lantern: Rebirth.  A story that brings Hal Jordan back to life and takes center stage again for the Green Lantern mythos, the writer of this Book Geoff Johns has taken his first steps to revamping not only the character of Hal Jordan but everything we knew about Green Lantern. Now with the latest issue out, it comes to a close an end, not with a whimper but a bang.

John pulls few punches as this issue not only wraps up his run on the series but also on the Story-line “Wrath of the First Lantern”,  a long story arc that brought all of the Lantern books facing off with a reality changing villain. It showed some highs and lows as the story progressed but ended hitting every beat a conclusion like this should. This brought in a lot of the elements that Johns has added over the years, the different Crops adding on, Nekkron of Blackest Night appearing as well as the entity Parallax which was the first item Johns added to the Green Lantern books which is safe to say a perfect note to end on.

The issue in of itself wasn't a perfect issue sadly; the story did seem to move at a break neck pace with one event happening right after the other leaving some holes that really needed to be filled. Some could say that mirrors the last few stories of Green Lantern and if you title your head it works in a almost madding way. In a way that your mind trying to point out some of the flaws but once you finish the book you can’t help feel like you have enjoy yourself in some way. It also goes on to say that this isn't really an end, characters are set to go on different ventures throughout the galaxy. This is only a chapter in the stories of them and it left with more excitement to see where they might lead. 

The one small down sided to it though may be that while certain items were removed from the book, some things were added back in which feel like trying to re-shift the book backwards instead of forwards. While I feel this time was something that was the right thing to do, it does seem to retread ground we have seen once before and limits possible futures.

The Art Team on this was just amazing, and I do mean TEAM, yes Doug Manke has been the main penciller here, he is added by Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mac Deering, Mark Irwun, Wade Von Grawbader, Tom Nguyen, Not to metion Patrick Gleason, Cully Hamner, Arron Kuder, Jerry Ordway, and Ivan Reis. On I am not done yet as there was also Ethan Van Sciver, Alec Sinclair, And Tony Avina.

Not done just yet as we continue with the Colorist Alex Sinclair and Tony Avina, and last by very not the least Dave Sharpe as the letter for the issue. It might seem like a long way to pad out a review to add every single name that seemed to work on the book, but they all deserved it and deserve to be mentioned and not passed over as, the artist and left at that. If I could add applause to a column I would.

In the end this was a enjoyable end to a long running work Geoff Johns has been working on, going out with a bang has never been so appropriate here. Here is hoping for the same for those talented people coming on the books now.

OVERALL: 9.0 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening Writes for Broken Infinite, follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics: All-Star Western #19 Guest Staring Booster Gold

There is one thing to say about this, Jimmy Palmiotti is a man on a mission with All Star Western. When the gate-fold “WTF” covers were first announced he kick up the gears and started promotion the book to anyone and everyone he could. Why? The answer was simple, the guest star that would be joining the book of course.  A certain time traveling hero by the name Booster Gold, who hasn't been seen since Justice League International book. This was a twist to be sure.

All Star Western is honestly best be described as a cult book, the best book you may not be reading, and many others. It is mainly because while it may have be a book placed in the same DC Universe it stayed in its own corner because it took place in the past, with little connections to the bat books. Here though is a full injection to the rest of Universe as Booster now thrown into the mix. The book itself is broken down into four different sections, the meeting, the villains, Boosters arrival, and the back up Stormwatch. With the first two sections of the book flows very naturally it only feels like it trips a little when we get to the area where Booster first appears as it was a sudden shift with very little lead in.

That is not to say the story placed by Palmiotti and Grey where Jonah Hex meeting the time traveler who now sudden wearing a sheriffs badge isn't still a good read. Hex calling Booster out on his tough guy act and pretty much giving him an idea that this world he has entered is not some polished western, where violent gangs will do horrible acts just for some possible cash is done and you need a bigger bad gang to catch them. And now he has a bit of a comic foil to follow him around which has been a small staple of the series. Gray and Palmitotti though aren't pushing a pure comedy though and as much as I would love to see the Booster of the old JLI days working with this cowboy, we are seeing the slightly more serious side. It shows in how they write him and what he wants to do to criminals as to what Hex will do as well.

There has to be a lot of credit on how much one enjoys the issue thanks to Moritat on art, but also colorist Andre Szymanowicz who did something sublet with Booster as with everyone else. The world is slightly dark and at times dirty like the old west should be, but Booster comes off bright and colorful at times, he stands out and as a man from the future it makes sense. He still ‘clean’ as opposed to Hex and the world he lives in. It is this little touch that gives this book something a little more special than a small guest star.

The other item this book has been doing lately are these small backups of other western heroes and villains. Here is a story of Gun Fighter coming to the rescue of a convoy of women from raiders and werewolves. With that running around it is no wonder Hex wasn’t fazed by a time traveler.

Overall All Star Western is a great book that doesn’t get the newsworthy notes that it should. If you’re a fan of Hex or Booster than this is a perfect time to pick up this issue and the issues that follow.

OVERALL 8.5 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for Broken Infinite, follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics OP/ED: Kickstarters and Animation

Kickstarter and comics may have had a short relationship together but it has become one of the main places creators both in art and writing have gone to try and get personal projects off the ground.  Something they can do without higher up companies taking too much from them or just out right rejecting ideas leaving them to never been seen by the public.  I have given to some of these Kickstarts, All right I have given it to one, but it was an awesome one done by MST3K star Bill Corbett. Then something happened just the other day which has raised everyone eyebrows just a little bit more.

We really need to let this show go.

Creators of the Veronica Mars TV show set up a Kickstarter asking for two million dollars to make a Veronica Mars movie.  It sounds like a lot of money to gather for a movie based on a show last seen in 2007. But, low and behold not only did they hit their mark; they did so in less than a single day. It took me by surprise for the most part and I am sure it took fan of the show and possible the creators by surprise. And this has suddenly turned from what could be just little blip of news story into a whole other topic of discussion all together. I mean once we get over the ‘Hey this can work for Firefly too!’ fans coming out of the wood work. Sorry guys but it got a movie and still didn't really do much to help return it to the screen, nor will the success of the Avengers under Joss Whedon help return it to the screen. You all are starting to sound a tad cultist.

By this being completely interesting is more to the business side of Hollywood. How often have you heard of something failing because for some reason it didn't make enough money, despite the quality of what is involved. Or how many projects go under funded because a studio didn't want to take the risk of spending the money and then losing it ‘if’ it wasn't to succeed. But, here there was this new step not taken into account before. Now I don’t know any of the details of how this came about, but I am sure that a studio has to be involved in some way, Veronica Mars is not an independent franchise. A studio must be helping this project in some way or fashion. The Kickstarter might just be a way to build up some of the budget and show it to them to remove a set of the risk involved in just making it. It is a clever way to try and get over that very first hurtle. If creators can get the money to help invest it removes the amount of risk and the studios easily take up some of the funding and get a bigger payout. Now this is all well and good but, what does this have to do with comics or as my title implied comic book animation?

Well, this past weekend saw the finale episodes of well-regarded shows of Young Justice as well as Green Lantern the Animated series. What killed these shows? Answer;  same thing that kills a lot of animated shows from the early days to today, the dreaded double edge sword that is toy sales. Seems there wasn't enough revenue on that end to keep the higher ups of Cartoon Network happy to keep the show going, Green Lantern especially with the expensive CGI. On one hand relaying on mostly toy sales to drive a show has always felt short sighted, but at the same the success of shows solely based on those sales is staggering at times, which is why many want to repeat it. But, with this new idea in Kickstarter one can wonder if that can change?

In the news the shows were not going to be picked up again, there was a lot of sadness and anger (Lots of anger, maybe too much) and of course groups started to form and turn to the one thing they think can help. Petitions, mostly online ones now and not so much pin and paper. The thing is you have to look at this through the eyes of executives, if you show up with a piece of paper with let say, 60,000 signatures they will only see the paper and a ‘maybe’ we can get those 60,000 to actually watched the show.  But, with Kickstarter those names could be added with dollars amounts next to them. 60,000 people donating $10 a person, suddenly you are looking at $600,000 dollars now. The executive’s eyes might clear up a little bit more.

Now, I am not saying this is something the producers of the show SHOULD do, there is a lot I am not familiar with in both how Kickstarter works or how the Veronica Mars one works as well, there are some cons I now for a fact I am overlooking mainly because I don’t know them yet. But, I do like this alternate way of funding for shows, comics, and movies like this. We are always asked when we see a show failing or about to be axed to try this reactionary save it at the last moment routine to be heroes, we rarely that ever works out.  But, here we are putting money directly into something we want to see, doing this at the start can possible boost these projects, remove a lot of the risk, make them last maybe a tiny bit longer because more of the sales of merchandise makes it to studio/creators.  If anything this opens up a new possible road for people to look to in trying to get something they love made. This to me feels like a win-win for both parties.

Bryan "BAC" Clendening
Twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics: Age of Ultron #1

It took a little bit longer than we all first thought, and I am sure longer than Marvel wanted it to start with, but Age of Ultron has finally made it to print after first getting teased back in 2012 on Free Comic Book Day and also in Avengers #12.1. What was a bit of a mystery to the story of the book and how this would connect into the Marvel Universe in another major shakeup event or would possible be a standalone possible story line like Age of Apocalypse back in the day? It turns out that it is more the former while also adding a little bit of the latter to this mix. Before the issue hit the stands there wasn't very much to know about the story other than a simple premises that Ultron Won. And if you get that the first issue of the series just goes straight into this world without really stopping to let you in on the when and how that happened.

One of the things to take away from this first issue is just how lucid it is, Bendis is often criticized for being able to only write a book of talking heads issue in and issue out. Here though he seems to show he can add in straight forward action from page to page. Without disheveled Hawkeye running into a building to rescues a teammate and friend in Spider-Man, Which version of Spider-Man classic Pete or newer Octo-Pete is yet to be determined. With Hitch able to draw out the action in such wonderful ways. Hitches art also lends well to the environment around the city given off the destroyed world and mixed with the techno metropolis that is replacing some of it around.

In an odd twist though while the setup lay out, and action of the book makes for the book to be an enjoyable read, the fact I wouldn't mind some back story to how and why this happened would be a bit refreshing as well. So far a lot of information about this world is in the dark, if issue one is just the hook to the series one can hope some questions will be answered in the upcoming ones as well.

There is also a lot of choices in the art work as well, She-Hulks extremely short hair, Tony’s Tron look, 

Wolverines as well. The body scanning to see if they are 'clean'. All of this might leave a reader more than a little confused on what is going on and what suppose to be going on. 

This might all just point to this to this alternate time line story that is being built and might just be one and done items for this time line. The biggest problem is this newest event could all be too much too soon.  From so short of time since Avenger’s vs. X-Men, to the Marvel NOW launches, one could easily get overwhelmed by such a massive event going on right now. But, that could be all for nothing though, if this just alternate time, once it is done it might just be something to look back on much like Age of apocalypse. All in all it is a good read with just a few blank spots that needed to be explored as the series continues.

OVERALL 7.0 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for Broken Infinite as a comic reviewer. You can follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics: Batman Inc. #8

To say that below my following review will be full of spoilers is pretty redundant at this point seeing as we got the new from the New York post about the big moment in it. We will get to that a little bit later as there is a good amount of story that happened as well.

Batman Inc. has seemed like a slow beast getting to this point of the Leviathan Story line but we are soon getting to the end and here is one of the, if not the darkest chapter in it. Do not be fooled by the title of the series, this is a straight Damian story from start to finish. While the rest of the Batman Inc group is struggling to fight their way to get to Batman, currently trapped, it is Robin who comes flying in to suddenly even the odds, taking the fight straight to the tower. And while this is going on, it shows how far Damian Wayne has gone as a character in the books. He might have first shown up and pushed the idea he was ‘the proper’ person to become Batman and take control of his legacy, here it is more about wanting to save his father and call off his mother in her actions.

The best scene in the whole Book is when Nightwing and Robin get to work together again even for the briefest of moments. They lay down the feelings on how much they meant to one another. It is a wonderful written scene harking back to the period of time Nightwing was Batman. Times almost forgotten now save for Morrison who wrote it. It also has this wonder action quality to it all with them sitting and talking this out while hail of gunfire is upon them, before moving out with smoke bombs and classic 60’s style fight sound affects right out of Adam West show.  But, with the knowledge we knew going into this, it was bitter sweet as we knew what would be coming very soon.

Everything this issue had leaded up to was Damian fighting against his much larger self, The Heretic. And it is a brutal one at that. It was more than really just a drawn out fight, this move was enough of a distraction for the group to grab what Heretic was holding and stop Talia if only for a brief moment. And Damian went down swinging and insulting his mother’s followers. And hopefully in this last effort try and convince her to stop this brutal fighting between this and his father, though that may have cost him his life in doing so.

The art work put forth by Chris Burnham in these last few pages is what sells this as not just some would be comic stunt, but a genuine moment in the history of Batman. Yet another tragedy in an already tragedy filled world of Bruce Wayne. And while the cynics of the world may have this off as another Robin dying, we soon forget this was a blood relative of Bruce, and the last time he lost one of these was when his parents died on that night in Crime Alley.

While the artwork though out by Burnham was all around wonderful, there is a credit to Jason Master who did a few pages as well. And while there is a moment where he tries to use the same style, it is slightly noticeable in the two change overs. It isn’t bad art work in any shape, but if you are flipping through it would be little jarring.

The whole series and death is very sad, Damian when introduced was an unlikeable character at first, but the more he was used and groomed under Alfred, Dick, and then later Bruce he was a fresh voice to the Batman Family, he was accepted as well by the fans slowly. So for him to be ‘gone’ is a sad one even it was planned for a while. Will he stay; well I don’t want to be one of the few who says it will only be a matter of time before his return happens. But, never can really say in the world of comics anymore. Though if this is the finale story of this Robin, then it would be a fitting one.

-TT-

OVERALL 8.5 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening

Twitter: BAClend

Laid Back Comics: X-O Manowar #10

Robert Venditti has spun a tale of a man out of time gifted with powers he could hardly understand and hunted by the beings that made it, enslaved him, and want the armor back and him dead.  Worse yet his best friend thought dead now hangs in the grip of his enemy almost dead.  It is a familiar situation seen over time in comics, Television, and movies.  And it plays out much like you think it would, what makes this better is the connection the two main characters here have with one another.  Well established from the series start that Aric and Gaft were always close and would do anything for each other.

It is a human moment in an otherwise amazing Sc-Fi adventure going on currently around them. But, of course that doesn’t stop Trill from being the bad guy that he is. The whole sequence leads up to show us that Aric may have been holding back how powerful he really is. The just full hatred he has hidden within him seeing his once thought dead friend almost end up that way again, Trevor Haisine seals that notion though his art and the anger and pain brought on by all of this on Aric.

We also get a better look that Aric is still the warrior he was when first introduced, he may have the X-O armor now and having pretty solid control over it. We are still shown that without it, he can at least hold his own using more of his wits than shoving a sword though whatever the problem may be. Helping heal his friend and then talking him down has Gaft dawns the armor was the main story that leads to a sad conclusion, but the set up to Planet Death making it us realize it isn’t Planet Earth that will be the place Planet Death take place on.

Which is something I am happy to see frankly, Earth invasions while fun, can feel played out here seems to be the reverse of the situation a human setting course to return to the alien world planet as the invader is a fresh take on the whole idea.

Looking forward as Planet Death we are left with a lot of different questions and some concerns, the first is how will the race respond to Aric coming in and will he turn the home world into the planet of death ever so hinted at? I know Aric will be looking for revenge but will he loose himself in it? All of these is why readers are coming back to this book.

X-O Manowar takes what should be considered cliché and boring and is able to make it fun and exciting, a test sometimes other comics fail to pass. Here we are getting a new level of sci-fi action as Planet Death approaches and looks to take our hero a journey to face off with the alien force that has changed his life so much. It is time to get on the bandwagon now of Valiant Flagship title, otherwise you will be sad you missing this series.

OVERALL: 9.0 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening is a comic book reviewer and sometimes video producer. Follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Laid Back Comics: Secret Avengers #1

Not fond of this cover either

It is no shock I am a fan of Secret Avengers and I was very nervous hearing about Marvel NOW coming in as it might scrap the book for perhaps something else. But, I was relieved hearing that it was going to be coming back with a new writer in Nick Spenser and another roster change-up ; though upon reading the issue I did wonder if this was the right change to make.

If anything the book having the word ‘Avenger’ in the title seems a bit false. Make no mistake; this is a S.H.I.E.L.D. Book from the cast and the missions, which is not the only real secret the book is currently hiding. For what it is worth the first two ‘recruits’ Hawkeye and Black Widow didn’t seem interested in joining and then suddenly all read for the chance a panel later. Of course we don’t know why the sudden jump but only one of the many questions the books leaves us with as we get through it. The next plot point to all of this was that Hawkeye and Black Widow get nanoparticles that allow memories to be altered remotely. This all sounds pretty comic book super science which I have no real problems with. So in the end the missions are so secret they won’t even remember being on them or in the case of poor Hawkeye why he was in Bubdapest to start off with.

There are two things wrong I feel with this book and to start out it is trying very hard to connect with the Avengers movie using the ones who were working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Heck they even manage to make Coulson here look like actor Clark Gregg even though his first few appearances had him look nothing alike. But, if anyone is going to see this and expect the same Agent Coulson we fell in love with in the movies, we are sadly going to be disappointed. This Coluson along with Nick Fury ‘Jr.’ are out to save the world and in some way screw over Hawkeye and possible Black Widow. The reveal at the end to me seems to point to that happening sooner than later.

Spencer writing has never been bad, but never something I could say has blown me away either. Here is a book that has a lot of dialogue, and at times very witty, but low on the actually action portion.  It is hard to get behind a book that has so many talking heads and then quick action or off panel action. Art is much better with Luke Ross though wouldn't mind Black Widow having her zipper a few inches higher. I often don’t mention this and should but Matthew Wilson on color for this book did an amazing job and little disturbing job with a scene involving demon possession!

But, as the book comes to a close I felt more depressed than I was excited for the future issues. Maybe under has this been promoted as an S.H.I.E.L.D. book proper my expectations would be different and not blinded by volumes past. Here this title just lightly jogs in and stands around not doing much at all and doesn’t have much of a hook to keep me coming back.

OVERALL: 5.0 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening is a comic book reviewer and sometimes video producer on the internet, you can follow him on Twitter by Clicking Here.

Laid Back Comics: Batman #17

Death of the Family has been played along these past few months bleeding outwards into the other Bat family books, but all that came back to head in to the latest and finale issue of the story in the Batman proper. And….Holy S&*%! Sorry that is a bit of an unprofessional way to examine a comic. But really, this was just a story that had amazing journey to it and to get to the end of it, you just wanted to sigh and fall down in the chair you were reading it in and take it all in. And in some sick and twisted fashion this story was not just a Batman vs the Joker, it was a love story between them.

A jaded lover that wanted nothing more than to see his 'King' returned to the glory that he knew. To remove the weakness of him, to be the only real member of his family.

Synder has been teasing the readers with each different step of the story and hinting at certain items. Where is Alfred? What is Jokers plan in all of this? Does he truly know everyone behind the mask? What is under those tray covers! And in a rare time for me as a reader I couldn't guess and point it all out. That shows the writing put together there. And with each little page turn and reveal left me with sighing in relief or back to the edge of my seat. For fans of Alfred everything is well with our favorite butler, there was a time I thought he would not make it out of this alive or in great condition. Then you have to think though with a title of story being ‘Death of the Family’ and here it stands with no one actually dead what seemed to be the point of it all.

Well, in some way Joker has if only a short amount of time killed the idea of the family aspect of Batman. His family was taken to the edge and some learned many things about one another, this has left them separate from one another, a metaphoric death in them working so close together if even for a small amount of time. And speaking of metaphors about the relationship between Joker and Batman is getting titled to one side in this, the idea of why Batman just doesn't kill the clown is brought up and examined from Jokers eyes as well as forcing Batman to admit that simple idea that killing him means the Joker wins. But, that is laughed off and added that there is maybe even a fear behind killing the Joker. That keeping him alive is the safer route than killing him and something worse come after him.

It sounds like something discussed before by fans and creators alike, and this isn't to say this is the right version, but with how the story unfolded it makes sense for Batman to have these thoughts and the Joker to challenge him on it. And the reveal towards the end that Joker is it this for the long game, he doesn't truly care about who Batman really is or who is family are. He just wants Batman.

And never before have had I really seen art work put together like this book. Greg Capullo has taken scenes that would scare even the most harden people and having us yell. HOLY S&*$%! Dang I did it again. But when you see Joker finally reveal what was on the trays and you see the eyes of the Bat family around them finally having the idea they were victims in all of this Or Jokerfied Alfred coming on to the scene. If really there is only one item I may not like about Capullo’s is his Bruce Wayne, he tends to give him this odd sleepy eyed look to him, but even then that could be a another mask he wears during the day.

Synder and Capullo have made Batman theirs, each time it seems like we might know where things are going or things might be the same old same old. They throw you into a brand new direction like this one and floor it all the way. It is cliché to consider how great Batman is now, but with stories like this, you can see why we say it.

OVERALL: 9.5 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening is a comic reviewer and sometimes video producer, you can follow him on Twitter by clicking Here

Laid Back Comics: Bloodshot #8

If X-O Manowar is the sci-fi adventure flag ship of Valiant, then Bloodshot is the dirty gritty action film and we like it like that. Last issue saw Bloodshot and crew break through defenses of Project Rising Sun but not finding what they wanted, instead children that Bloodshot once captured while an agent.  This issues takes the familiar part of any story where the plan suddenly take a turn in the direction the heroes didn't see and now must quickly recover and soon.

For Bloodshot it comes down the worst, he was very close to what he thought was learning all about him, only for it to be removed and replaced with another mystery he needs to solve with the kids that are now running loose. And they know him and do not like him in anyway. I like the nick name the kids of given Bloodshot, “The Boogieman”. It is simple and yet freighting for these kids to sudden be captured and makes sense. Writer Duane Swierczynski very much wants this mystery to plan out longer in this arc because as soon as the kids are re-introduced to Bloodshot, they are quickly separated again leaving him with his current and a tad ugly enemies to try and finish him off.

Of course that is also a slight weakness to the book, there is a bit of jumping around between some of the characters, so much at one point one seems to have vanished and just get casually explained off. There was a lot that was trying to do at times, there are seeds to the upcoming Harbinger War that look to be planted and new characters introduced that could become important later on, but these quick looks tend to distract from where the story is or right now isn't going. We aren't lead into what these characters plan to do next, we moving from fight to fight trying to keep up and catch our breaths.

What really great though is Manuel Garcia artwork through the whole issue, even when at times it can be a little gross. There is one point in the book I did have to put it down and thank I wasn't eating something. But, that is just the details he goes into the characters. I could only imagine the challenge it is to make and draw these techno-bodies of Chainsaw and it should be looked on as an accomplishment as they are very unique.

My only issue is that this feels a lot like stretching out the current story line just a little longer. Nothing moves any closer to resolution. It seemed closer to filler than it was a chapter in the ongoing story. It not a bad thing really, it is something that happened with serialized comics so it was a matter of time before Bloodshot has his own. But, don’t take that as a damnation of the comic, it still the action film that I mentioned above. It really stands out as nothing like any comic on the rack and should be read to be believed.

OVERALL: 7.5 out 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening is a comic reviewer and sometimes video producer on the internet, you can follow him on Twitter Here

Laid Back Comics: Fearless Defenders #1

There was a time I wasn't sure how I could approach this title, you see When The Defenders title was canceled not too long ago I was a bit sad by it going. I Then saw this title pop up with the Marvel Now I crossed my arms and seemed to grumble at how this somehow might been the reason behind why the other was cancelled, like there couldn't be two ‘Defender’ titles out. After coming to the notion that idea was completely dumb I warmed up to Fearless coming in based on the first two characters showcased in Misty Knight and Valkyrie. Two characters that have been supporting roles in other books I have enjoyed so be reasonable the same will happen here.

The story is pretty much standalone so far, there is no lead in with other titles. It is a sight forward threat is being made and this group will have to be formed and face off with whatever it may be. Now the characters of Misty Knight and Valkyrie have two very different backgrounds and often face off with very different threats. Cullen Bunn knows this and actually plays around with the idea for some fun moments. For Misty, you first see her taking on some artifact smuggler somewhere on ocean which is something that she seemed just run of the mill for her to do. That is until rocket launchers are pulled out and used against her.

And while the smugglers did get away Misty did manage to bring back something for her friend and new character to the book in Dr. Annabelle Riggs an archaeologist who unknowingly reveals a secret that the artifact Misty brought back can raise the dead. And now Misty is facing off with several undead Vikings. And this of course brings Valkyrie into the book proper.

The opening book is very action oriented with just brief moments of exposition in between to give it a good breath before diving into undead bashing. I wouldn't call these things zombies just reanimated bones. This all seems to lead back to Valkyrie and the release of the Doommaidens rising. So in the opener of the series we get not only introduction of three main characters so far, but also the threat in a well-paced fun opening issue.

The art work though while looking well and nice, also carried with it the stigma of the female form that has been traveling around for a while now. Meaning there are moments you title your head and go that cannot be good for the spine. There was major fear with that as the series was first announced and it is a trend that we do see in the book.

The other major aspect of the book and one that got many headlines is this is an All-Female book, the first of Marvel NOW, and what was first thought of as just an all-female team, the book actually takes the All-Female to everything. Main cast is not only all female it looks as if the threat is as well with the Doommaidens. So in essence we are getting more than just a team, it could be an almost All-Female book period.

In the end the book is fun start to this new series that already has two very strong leads and is looking to expand on as the first arc continues, it is one of the better new books debuted under the Marvel NOW banner.

OVERALL: 7.5 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening is a comic book reviewer and sometimes video producer. You can follow him on Twitter Here.

Laid Back Comics: Green Arrow #17

Green Arrow’s recent title in the New 52 has been meeting with pretty much lack luster on almost all accounts. Things were not working be it in the story or the characters and things looked bleak for the Emerald Archer. This is ironic considering his first live action debut has been meeting with recent success. But, seems the fans weren't the only one to notice this as writer Jeff Lemire takes the task of trying to shoot new energy into the title at hand.

The question how he would go about this was one in the forethought on my mind. We have seen Green Arrow deal with some challenges but nothing that really stood out for the character. So instead of just continuing of the normal, we get the start of a complete stripping down of the character. Not only the stripping of Ollie’s money and company. Many items and characters first introduced when the book debuted have been removed, at times violently.

While Lemire was stripping down the character what is impressive is that he is also trying to build something more. Hidden forces conspire against Ollie, the force responsible for the actions leading up to this. That he may not have had the chance to reach his full potential on the island he was lost on. It is a fascinating look into the system where Lemire is using the books current continuity and giving a reason behind it, while with moving the story in a new direction and in the eyes of a lot of readers trying to correct it. The question of is it working or not still won’t be answered until much further down the line of the book. But, I can no longer call it a Batman with arrows as I once did. It is completely different.

Even the art work put together by Andrea Sorrentino is a reflection of the changes the books is going through and will be going through. Inside at certain moments colors were removed save for the color green for obvious reasons, or at times just black and white. These are things you often get drawn to it, something is happening right there that is important. Times it might be something small and other very big and crucial to the story.

The end of the issue might have removed nearly all of the items from the previous arcs, it still introduces some new characters a ‘dark archer’ and a man eyes were gone only to have ‘x’ where they were. And the reveal like mentioned that Ollie had left the island too soon. There does feel like there is more life in this book than before, a new beginning to a struggling title. We can very well see people coming back to this title more. This also well get those wondering, are there other titles that could benefit from such a drastic storytelling method. A complete overall from the ground up? If this new Green Arrow continues to do as well as this issue that could be our answer.

OVERALL 8.0/10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening is a comic book reviewer and sometimes video producer, you can follow him on Twitter Here.

Laid Back Comics: Harbinger #0

Issue zeros can be a tricky beast in comics, the idea of it being a prelude to a possible start of the series like a prologue. It is even trickier when you have a zero issue after your series has already started. Valiant is taking that risk with Harbinger.  Here the origin of Toyo Harada comes to light for the readers and it is a powerful visual and reading experience.

The issue has two sides to it, while on a mission Toyo starts to tell a story of his past, his childhood in Japan surviving the Atomic bomb being dropped. Each time the story goes back to that the art switches as well. This isn't a new technique and it is one that sometimes doesn't work, but here it works perfectly.  The art helps sets the mood of a child who just survived on of the biggest horrors in human history and in that short time lost his innocent as he gained his special powers. But, it was just the one thing that he always wanted as a child would, his family. It has times a dream like quality to it with how the color shades work on each of the characters. It at times is more of a nightmare than a dream. Mico Suayan had a task to take something that was terrible incident and give it something to send even more chills down your spine.

And when we come back into the present day the art remains chirps as it flows, it could easily be jarring to move from one arena to another but never does it fall into the trap. And Pere Perez is the one that has to do with it. If there was one problem it might be that he had more mundane of the duties when it came to the art. There were few action pieces for him to use.

The story Joshua Dysart has put forth with Toyo is one of sympathy and also slight fear. Toyo wants to fix a broken world. A world where he is a short time lost everything he held dear to him. But, he also not clear cut in terms of good. He doesn’t hold back to get what he wants and get the job done. And he plays it to perfection and as a reader you may feel conflicted while reading, but always intrigued. That real the strength of the writing in the book, he isn’t a pure good or bad character, Toyo is that shade of grey you want to 

learn more about.

This is a fanatic look at Harbinger and a perfect introduction to the book to anyone who may be on the fence of picking up the series. You read this; you will want more and will be ready when Harbinger Wars starts next month.

OVERALL: 9.5/10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening is a comic book reviewer and sometimes video producer. You can follow him on Twitter at his name @BAClend