Venom #28-29

 

I’ve really enjoyed the new Flash Thompson version of Venom. So when the character is off to Philadelphia, which happens to be one of my favorite cities, it was a natural jumping on point for me.

The story in these two issues has Flash sparring with Valkyrie. It’s kind of funny when you think about it; the only person who can “play” combat with the homicidal symbiote is an Asgardian. Anyway, during these playful (and by mean playful, beating the crap out of each other) scenes, you also find out that the two of them are kind of seeing/dating each other. This training session is ended as Flash’s pal Katy Kiernan (a reporter for the Daily Inquisitor) gives him a phone call. She is investigating something going on with contraband weapons and the phone call is abruptly ended by the U-Foes.

The rest of the issues have Venom battling the U-Foes around Philly, eventually with him having to call in his girlfriend for backup. Cullen Bunn threw a couple good one-liners into the script about the odd nature of Valkyrie coming to Philadelphia to help out some woman that she doesn’t know who happens to be friends with her boyfriend. I know Flash has the symbioite and all, but do you really want to give your girlfriend–who happens to be a Viking goddess of war–an inferiority complex?

So it’s good ol’ team V-Dub going up against the U-Foes. They’re helplessly outnumbered and Flash is about to lose control of the symbiote. Will he go on an uncontrollable rampage? Why do the U-Foes want this alien technology? Is Katy safe? Is Valkyrie jealous?

And that my friends is what we call a cliffhanger. Well done, Mr. Bunn. Well done. Needless to say, I’ll have to get what comes next.

 

Venom Moves To Philadelphia

Finally, Philadelphia gets a super hero! Entertainment Weekly reports that the city of brotherly love has a new resident in Venom. His ongoing series moves from New York City to Philly starting in December 19’s issue #28.

This move is the idea of the series’ writer Cullen Bunn who is a Philly native.

“I found the City of Brotherly Love to be a character in and of itself that I thought more fiction should explore,” Bunn said in the previously mentioned peace.

“I’ve always liked that Marvel superheroes are adventuring in the ‘real’ world. Certainly, there will be some fictional elements popping up in stories, but I’ll try to keep it as grounded in the actual city as possible. It’s time Philly gets a little Marvel Universe face-time. Local landmarks, neighborhoods, legends, and history will play a role in the book.”

Being a super fan of the city, I think this is awesome. I love everything Philadelphia and will love to see it prominently featured for what I think is the first time in comic books.

Bunn said that the book is going to show Flash Thompson balancing his personal life with his responsibility of being Venom symbiote-powered black ops agent for the United States government. And something else about his new girlfriend Valkyrie from the Thor comics.

This certainly sounds interesting and will definitely wind up on my pull list.

 

The Last Emperor’s Secret Wars

Good pal Pancuco from Action Figs & Things! shared this great clip of Philadelphia based rapper the Last Emperor’s track “Secret Wars”. Last Emp tears it up, describing what would happen if some of the greatest MC’s tussled with some of the best super heroes. Pay attention to the verse about KRS-ONE and Professor X where he just kills it. Check out some more tracks from Last Emperor here.

Project Defense Day 4: The Spirit of 1776

Keeping Philadelphia safe from super villains, criminals and even irate sports fans, its  the Spirit of 1776!

ORIGIN: Historian Julius Dawkins was examining the Liberty Bell and was struck by lightning. After recovering, he noticed that he noticed that he was stronger and faster then before. Strongly influenced by his love of the American Revolution, Julius created a comic book and set out to keep his city safe.

POWERS:  Spirit has above average strength and speed. He is also extremely dangerous in hand-to-hand combat, as he is a highly ranked mixed martial arts practitioner. His costume is made of bullet and fire proof material.

OTHER:  Coming up with this character was a little difficult, especially since my first impulse was to do some Agent 76 type Nick Fury character. Instead, I decided to make his appearance over the top and go with a more Golden Age styled character. His name is a bit of a tribute to the Julius Erving/Darryl Dawkins squad in the early 1980s.

30 Things I Like About Comics—#7 Comic Show Sketches

One of the best things about going to comic book shows is getting sketches from artists. Not only do you wind up getting a unique piece of art, but its a great opportunity to talk with your favorite comic creators. I’m going to share the story of my first comic sketch, and how it wound up being Nightwing wearing Thor’s helmet.

I remember it like it was yesterday; it was Wizard World’s Philadelphia show in 2004. At the recommendation of a friend, I set out to get sketches. The first stop was Tom Raney who was signing and sketching at the DC booth. I was a fan of his then-current work on Outsiders, as well as his previous work on Thor.

As I waited online for a long time, I started wondering what sketch I would ask for. After all this was very important; it’s my first sketch. I decided that I wanted a Brother Blood sketch; after all he was a prominent villain in the first couple issues of Outsiders. Before I knew it, I was next in line and then things got weird. I’m going to write this out like a script so you can get the full effect.

Raney: (finished signing everything) So what would you like a sketch of?

Me: Brother Blood would be awesome.

Raney: Do you have a reference? Chris did those issues.

(Now I’m embarrassed, because I confused his issues with another artists. Eep)

Me:  (mutters something intelligible and feeling really awkward) Ahh….could I get Nightwing wearing a Thor helmet?

Raney: Sure!

And then Tom crafted the above sketch, which is just flat out awesome! It was very nice of him to do something that was so ridiculous.

And that’s how I got my first comic sketch. You can see more of his work at his blog or his DeviantArt.