Archive for Mini Marvels

Friday Night Non-Fights: Poetry Slam!

Spacebooger has declared a couple weeks of break-time for Friday Night Fights, but am I gonna listen to that guy? No way! We’re definitely going to keep the savage beat-downs rolling!

You just know tonight’s entry is going to be especially brutal, ’cause it’s based on 2007’s smashingly violent “World War Hulk” miniseries. So here’s the epic confrontation as interpreted by August 2008’s Mini-Marvels: Rock, Paper, Scissors by Chris Giarrusso:

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Admit it — you did the same thing, didn’t you?

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Pint-Sized Heroes

 

Mini Marvels: Rock, Paper, Scissors

If you’ve ever wondered what the Marvel superheroes would look like if they were drawn by “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz, look no further. This is actually a collection of the “Mini Marvels” comic strips that appear in the back of many regular Marvel comics, and they’re just impossibly adorable. We get Wolverine going out to get his favorite cereal, the somewhat depressing saga of Spidey’s paper route, Hulk taking Betty out on a date to the malt shop, Iron Man giving all his friends their own powered armor, and the brilliant, kid-friendly re-imagining of the “Planet Hulk” and “World War Hulk” storylines.

Verdict: Several thumbs up. Chris Giarusso’s artwork and writing are simply wonderful. Wolverine’s back-and-forth with the very dim-witted grocery store clerk is great, as is Hulk’s date with Betty and Professor X’s Charlie Brown hairdo, but the high point is absolutely the “World War Hulk” story. I’d really love to give away the funniest gag, just because it had me laughing so hard, but if you wanna find it, just look around for the stuff about haiku.

It’s about $10, but it’s worth at least twice that. Go pick it up.

 

Blue Beetle #29

Jaime runs into a couple of low-rent supervillains who are in the middle of a wrestling match to determine who will get to be the new Hellhound, while Paco and Brenda go on a “Not-A-Date.” Meanwhile, Peacemaker, who’s gotten involved with a Minutemanesque anti-illegal-immigrants patrol organization, and they try to round up some aliens who inject themselves with instant superpowers. Blue Beetle shows up to help out, but they’re able to get away after leaving a “hostage” behind. All that plus a connection to Intergang, the international crime organization run by Apokolips.

Verdict: Thumbs up. There’s a bit too much going on in the story, but I’m thrilled that the fill-in writers are still doing such a great job on characterization and dialogue. Probably the most embarrassing part of the book is the front-cover credits which say John Rogers wrote the story — come on, DC, Rogers hasn’t been writing this book in months. Get it together.

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