The Path to Justice Looks at Lex Luthor

There are several characters in DC Comics’ stable of heroes and villains who will make their long overdue debut on the silver screen when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters on March 25^th. We will also be introduced to different versions of familiar characters with a new actor stepping in to fill the role.

Jesse Eisenberg will be the next contestant to play Superman’s arch nemesis, Lex Luthor. While the Academy Award nominee (The Social Network) has a diverse body of work on his résumé, the reaction to his casting has been met with mixed reviews. Some are cautiously optimistic that Eisenberg will fit the bill. Others find the 30-year-old Eisenberg is too stark of a contrast to the older and more established actors who’ve played the part.

Then there was a vocal group of fans who were extremely let down when learning that Bryan Cranston wasn’t even offered the role after rumors had him all but confirmed. Plus, Director Zack Snyder’s youthful “Wunderkind” description of this incarnation was hard for some people to swallow.

Old, young, hair or no hair, Jesse Eisenberg is tasked with making this mere mortal become the Man of Steel’s most villainous foe. There are many actors who’ve played a more traditional Lex Luthor. Most of them found a way to bring the character to life whether his superior intellect shined, or his ruthless nature highlighted his adulterated evil in various forms.

Click here to read the entire column at Forces of Geek.com

Lucha Underground: Don’t Call it a Wrestling Promotion

When people talk about their favorite television shows, for example The Walking Dead, they’re discussed with a favorable disposition that all culminates with one question. What is going to happen next? Conversation regarding WWE, however, consists of “Who booked this crap?” or “Why is that guy getting a push?”

Lucha Underground is changing the way people talk about wrestling due its fresh presentation highlighted by engaging storylines, unique matches, interesting characters, and great wrestlers. Last week’s season 2 premiere stirred up quite the conversation. Some feel that it’s a joke, while others believe it’s the best thing going today. Continue reading “Lucha Underground: Don’t Call it a Wrestling Promotion” →

Kanan: The Last Padawan #7: Review

Kanan: The Last Padawan #7 | The Road to Episode VII @ Force of Geek.com

Kanan has been the unsung hero of Marvel’s Star Wars comic line. While it hasn’t appeared in the top ten selling comic books such Darth Vader or Shattered Empire, it’s the critical acclaim that has extended this book from a 5 issue mini-series to an ongoing series.

A lot of the credit goes to Greg Weisman who helped shape and establish the character of Kanan Jarrus when he was a writer on the first season of the Rebels animated series.

Kanan’s backstory if rife with many turbulent moments with the catalyst being the death of his master Depa Billaba. Seeing these moments in previous issues augmented Kanan’s current trust issues with clone trooper Captain Rex on the TV show. Continue reading “Kanan: The Last Padawan #7: Review” →

Tag Team Wrestling in ECW

The design of Tag Team wrestling is to increase the amount of action and drama in a particular match. Four wrestlers can pull off certain moves and tell certain stories that two wrestlers alone could never do, such as blind tags and double team maneuvers.

ECW revolutionized the wrestling business in the 90’s with hardcore action, mature storylines, and highly technical and competitive matches showcasing different styles. Their tag team division was not only a pivotal part of the show, but they exuded the essence of the art by increasing the excitement in a promotion that was already extreme.

My latest column at What Culture.com reviews the best tag teams that ever graced the land of extreme. What qualifies someone as being the best? Championships do. Click here to check out 10 Best ECW Tag Team Champions Ever

Masters of the Universe is Kind of My Jam

Christmas of 1984, times were tough for my family as we lived in a crammed one room apartment. I was only four years old, so I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. I really had no concept of Christmas, so I was surprised when there were four wrapped presents waiting for me when I woke up that morning.

The first two were Superman and Batman action figures courtesy of Kenner’s Super Powers line. Presents three and four were He-Man and Skeletor of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe collection. To be more specific, it was the Battle Damage He-Man and Battle Damage Skeletor, not the regular figures. Continue reading “Masters of the Universe is Kind of My Jam” →

Planet Hulk # 1 Review

Sam Hunphries and Greg Pak hit comic book fans with a pretty snazzy 1-2 punch as they implement the beloved story arc of Planet Hulk into Marvel’s current big event, Secret Wars.

The other part of the combination deals with a gladiator Steve Rogers and his trusty steed in the form of a giant red t-Rex, Devil Dinosaur kicking ass and taking names.

I couldn’t help but notice the bump up in price compared to the other Secret Wars tie-in books. The book is certainly thicker, but does it add up in the realm of content? Of course, all things in Battleworld leads back to Doctor Doom, who is now referred to as God Doom.

Seeing a beaten down Steve Rogers being forced down at the feet of Doom harkens back to Secret Wars circa 1984. Doom obtained ultimate power in that outing, and Rogers got into his head by turning his own hubris against him.

Their interaction in this current state of affairs dropped some hints about whether or not Doom remembers everything before Marvel’s version of the big bang. It would make sense considering he is the shot caller, but many of the characters remember bits and traces of their past without realizing what it really means.

Enough about Doom and Rogers, though. The book is called Planet Hulk, and you want to hear about how they wreck shop and cause total destruction. Greenland is the name of this Gamma-infested region that has been carved out for Hulk-like beings.

Sam Humphries sets things up nicely by establishing how dangerous this place is as it is conveyed to be the most feared place in Battleworld.

Greg Pak writes a nice little back story that shows life in Greenland before, well, it turned green. The cover had a retro sixties vibe, which almost seemed like a gag at first.

However, even though Battleworld is a bastardization of reality, these are still real people who live their lives until things took a turn for the worst. Pak’s gives Planet Hulk perspective through this origin story.

Most of the time, tie-in books fail to add any real depth to the overarching story they are trying to enhance. While it would have been nice to see more of Planet Hulk in its current form, Humphries did a great job of establishing everyone’s role where green goliaths appear to play background noise to a much larger issue at hand.

Score: 4 out of 5

Can Jon Jones Battle Back?

Jon Jones is an enigma for all the wrong reasons. While we should celebrate how he applies his combative gifts in the Octagon, instead we are constantly reminded that “Bones” isn’t the patron saint of MMA that we’ve longed for. He’s a great fighter, but he could be the greatest of all time.

UFC recently stripped Jones of the 205 lbs. title and removed him from the May 23^rd fight card due to his recent legal transgressions. I wrote an article on the matter for the Camel Clutch Blog.com titled Jon Jones: The Once and Maybe Future King.

The Monsters of Jimmy Crumb Review

The Monsters of Jimmy Crumb is a successfully funded Kickstarter project helmed and written by James Patrick, who’s been a writer on Batman and Harley Quinn books.

I had no earthly idea that this book was even a thing. Thanks to a strong recommendation from the nice lady at the comic book store, I took this home and dove right in.

The story wastes no time, making me wonder what I had gotten myself into. The eight-year-old titular character reads an essay in front of his class while a ghostly-looking female is murdering people in adjacent scenes. My thought process immediately came to the conclusion that Jimmy was somehow going to somehow incur her wrath. Continue reading “The Monsters of Jimmy Crumb Review” →

WrestleMania 31 Recap

The thirty-first installment of WWE’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania, took place at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California in front of a reported capacity crowd of 76,976. There were several big storylines going into this event.

Would this be Sting’s first, and last, WWE match? Could The Undertaker return to glory after his big loss last year? Would the fans reject the company’s new heir apparent, Roman Reigns, on the grandest stage?
Will John Cena stop the mad Russian and bring the U.S. title back to the states?

Click here to check out my review at Forces of Geek.com

The Fall Of A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #44 featured the death of Donatello which capped off a four issue story arc titled Attack on the Technodrome. A second printing has already been ordered and will be available on April 8th. Most comic book stores were sold out of the book within minutes of its release, which has made the first printing a tough item to acquire.

So, why kill Donatello? While the series is consistently one of the best reads on the shelf, it was the right time for something drastic to occur. Team members die and return to life in comic books all the time, which often cheapens eerie hold that death is supposed to hold over someone.

The team dynamic will be different going forward because Donatello was the smart one and his intelligence was often the key in getting the team out of sticky situations. That is gone now, and adjustments will have to be made which should provide for some interesting stories down the line.

I wrote a column at Forces of Geek.com reviewing the last five issues of the series which shows how this moment was set up along with everything else that was happening with out favorite turtles. Click here to check it out.