Midterms

Somehow, I was able to write this blog while being buried up to my neck in books and such for studying for my midterms this week. I've actually had these reviews done since Tuesday but I wasn't able to post them until now.  Who knew that music theory would be so demanding? Anywho, I've got two reviews this week: Ultimate (Comics) Spider-Man #154 and V's "Uneasy Lies The Head"

Ultimate Spider-Man #154



The issue starts off with Gwen and MJ having a moment, where Gwen tells MJ that she and Peter broke up and that Iron Man showed up asking for Peter.  Their talk is interrupted when they see the beam released by the Zodiac Key from last issue.  We then jump to Soho, where the battle between Spider-Man, Iron Man, Black Cat and Mysterio continues.  Iron Man tells Spidey that though his suit just deflected the blast from the Zodiac Key, that is all his suit has left.  Spider-Man jumps into the fray and, after Tony gets his suit blasted off of him, takes the Key away from Mysterio.  Cat and Mysterio plead with Peter to release the Key, knowing what could happen.  Spidey refuses to release the Key, which leads to a fight between Black Cat, Spider-Man, and Mysterio which ends with Spidey accidentally using the Zodiac Key.  He causes more chaos unknowingly and is obviously disturbed by what he just did.  After Pete drops the Key, Mysterio threatens to kill both him and Cat if they go near the Key.  That eventually leads to a pretty cool two page spread of Mysterio, Pete, and Cat fighting.  Just before Mysterio gets his hands on the Key, Tony appears and rips out Mysterio's operating system, showing that this "Mysterio" was actually a robot.  Tony takes the Key with him to examine it and, once Tony leaves, Pete goes to help the people with Black Cat's help.  Later, MJ finds Peter outside her window and Pete tells her about his rough night.  She invites him in and, as the issue ends, we see Pete and MJ standing in MJ's room.

The prelude to Death of Spider-Man continues this week and, even though very little happened in this issue, it was still more action packed than the previous issues.  It was nice to see the Zodiac Key storyline conclude for now, because I still believe it will show up at some point in the actual Death of Spider-Man storyline.  For this issue, Sara Pichelli tackles the bulk of the art with David Lafuente adding his talents in the beginning and the end.  This issue has made me into a Pichelli fan.  Sara's work on this issue was amazing and, for the first time, her Mysterio didn't annoy me.  I really hope that, after DoS, both Sara and David are back on the book. David's art was minimal in this issue and it seemed a little rushed in the beginning part with MJ and Gwen.  However, the art on the Peter-MJ scene was very nice and complemented Sara's art very well.  These two are a great team and, as I've stated, I would love for these two to return and switch arcs after DoS.

The next issue of Ultimate Spidey is the last Death of Spider-Man prelude issue, drawn by Chris Samnee. I've never seen Chris's work but, with it being the last prelude issue, I hope that it is good. UPDATE: I have now seen the preview from Comic Book Resources and I am very impressed with Chris's work.  Two interesting notes on issue #155: it seems to be Peter's birthday (16? 17? I think 17) and the cover has the Ultimate Sinister Six on it. I really hope that #155 is as good as #154 was.

Story- 5/5
Art- 4/5
Overall- 9/10

Uneasy Lies The Head Review

Okay, so I missed the first few minutes of the episode so I'll start where I started watching. Erica, still grieving over the loss of her ex-hubby and pain in the butt son, is now the full fledged leader of the Fifth Column, which is fine with everyone but Jack.  With the knowledge of Anna taking the Live Aboard's DNA, Erica and the gang break into a lab to steal a strand of flu that would completely mess up Anna's plans.  During the break in, Hobbs gets shot and Erica guns down the shooter, not knowing if he was wearing a bullet-proof vest or not. Jack makes sure he does and makes sure to confront Erica about it back at the HQ.  However, Erica doesn't really care about Jack's opinion, instead sharing another sensual moment with Hobbes. This storyline, with the Fifth Column learning that their virus could kill the hosts, is part of two other storylines.  The first one is with Anna, who is dealing with not only the Live Aboards dying, but also with making sure Lisa is ready to mate with anyone, not just Tyler.  Lisa, who starts getting close to Rafael only for Tyler to come in and act all douche baggish. Tyler throws a punch and Rafael starts to lose his inards. The other storyline is Ryan trying to get himself and his daughter off the ship.  Unfortunately, Ryan is only able to get himself off the ship, thanks to Lisa and Diana's help.  The episode ends with Erica and Hobbs banging each other on top of a picture of Tyler and his dad. Ew.

Diana seems to have her own agenda right now and I cannot wait to see what she has up her sleeve.  The new development with Erica are interesting but I do not like them. I feel so bad for Jack, who obviously has a thing for Erica. I really don't know what the yare going to do with Erica and Hobbes, but I hope they don't keep them together. Erica really needs to realize that what she is doing is wrong and, when she needs to repent, who else would she go to other than Father Jack.  I'm giving "Uneasy Lies The Head" a score of 7 out of 10.

Um, so I think that is it for this post. I thought that I had something else but I guess I don't. Oh well. I'll update the blog soon with my Death of Spider-Man theories plus my reasons for why Shadow of the Colossus is the greatest PS2 game ever.

Adios