Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1 review

 

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1 review: @comicbooger was right. This is pretty much a shameless promotional advertisement for the other Marvel Comic series at the time (Thor, Captain America, Fantastic Four, etc.). Even the cameos of the other Marvel superheroes feels very corny and forced, especially Dr. Strange’s cameo (ugh). What got me thinking that this annual wouldn’t be as great as I expected was the whole Doc Ock with a “mental ability” to control his mechanical arms even after getting them removed from this body (I mean...really? That’s so stupid even by comic book standards). I also thought the annual would provide a good plot with Spider-Man losing his powers (similar to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, which Raimi probably took inspiration from this annual, I’m guessing), but that plot point was pretty over and done with when he starts battling Electro. I thought the losing powers plot point was pointless for the most part and could’ve been done better to make it more memorable and meaningful. I also found it really stupid that they don’t all attack Spidey all-together instead of attacking separately. I mean, come on, what the hell is the point of forming up if you guys haven’t thought of the idea of gaming up on Spidey all at once? Even Spidey points out that flaw to Doc Ock 😆. Oh well, at least we get some fantastic art by Steve Ditko, and some cool concept art and background info on the characters, Spidey’s skills, agilities, gadgets, etc., including a cool behind the scenes comic of Lee and Ditko’s “The Mighty Marvel Method”. Overall, you aren’t missing much if you skip this issue, especially being the first appearance of the formation of The Sinister Six, it’s just a lame annual and a forced Marvel Comics advertisement. It would’ve probably been a lot better if the Marvel superhero cameos were removed to make the story a little bit bearable to read.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Public Scrutiny review

Missed it for #webheadwednesday but thought I still share this Ultimate Spider-Man book I have and do a review on it. One of the first comic issues I ever read back when I started reading comics when I was a kid were Ultimate Spider-Man issues of the “Public Scrutiny” storyline. I remember being mesmerized by the art and really liking the story and dialogue, even with all the heavy stuff going on in the issues. These Ultimate Spider-Man issues probably has the best Mark Bagley art ever, and it really shows since he really took his time drawing the art when he worked on the Ultimate Spider-Man series. This is the comic book storyline that got me into comics, especially the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, and I’m glad I got my start there and have grown very passionate for the comic book medium.

Thief: the Dark Project (Gold edition) review

Thief: The Dark Project review: Great game 🙌 still holds up (for the most part) with its great level design (most great, some not so much), great stealth gameplay, and excellent story and characters. Hard for me to pick a favorite level since this is a game I probably won’t be going back to playing often anytime soon, but if I had to choose one that I would replay multiple times, it would be the Opera House level. Was a unique level, especially when robbing valuables and money pouches from nobles which was pretty neat. I do highly recommend this game despite some levels being frustrating like the last 2 levels before the final level, and not being as well-polished as the sequels, but it’s definitely a great game to start with to get into the Thief video game series.

I caved in and bought the Witcher books

 

Well, I caved in lol. In all seriousness, I wouldn’t have bought these books had it not been for Denis Gordeev’s artwork for the Russian edition of the Witcher stories that convinced me otherwise and got me interested in the stories, characters and its world despite having some plagiarized elements from Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melnibone series. I have played Witcher 2 and 3 before, and I still hate them lol. Not because they’re terrible, they’re pretty decent and fun games. It’s just that 1) I got mad after getting the bad ending for Witcher 3. Petty, yes, but I did not know that I was doing anything wrong that would determine the outcome of the ending. 2) Despite being fun, they’re not fully-fledged RPGs [at least, they’re a departure compared to the first game, which does play like an RPG instead of having “RPG elements” like Skyrim and the like]. Also, I think for the first game, it’s really arrogant of the developers to claim that their game was a “true RPG” compared to Mass Effect, yet they used the same engine as Mass Effect [the egos of this company! Also, thanks for contributing to the plagiarism, numbnuts]. 3) They’re a bit of a far-cry or departure compared to the Witcher books and fairly different of their portrayal of the main character (including the inclusion of silver swords to kill monsters) despite their series being a continuation of the books. These books are not the Russian editions (obviously), nor does it include Gordeev’s Witcher illustrations, but I’m always gonna have his interpretations of the characters in mind when I get around to reading these short stories. Looking forward to reading them.

Fehérlófia (Son of the White Mare) review

 

Fehérlófia (Son of the White Mare) review: Just finished watching this pretty obscure Hungarian animated film from 1981, and it was great! Really enjoyed it a lot, especially the stunning animation. I’m glad this film resurfaced recently after many years of obscurity, especially for Western audiences. It’s a very simple good vs evil story, but since this was based on an ancient Hungarian myth, I didn’t think anything less of it nor have a problem with it since I dig ancient mythologies like Norse, Celtic, even Slavic mythologies and fairy tales. I’m glad to have found out about this film, and I definitely consider it one of the best animated films ever. Highly recommend it!