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Licensed tie-ins are a good way for a comic company to make quick cash. In order to keep churning out original work, Valiant spent some of the early 90's making comics about the WWF. We literally had Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko drawing the Big Boss Man and the Undertaker while a young Dwayne McDuffie was writing a surprisingly solid Ultimate Warrior short story. A lot of the time, these comics are forgettable and are just comic companies exploiting the franchise without giving it much effort. Sometimes these hot properties will become part of mainstream comics canon, much like how Rom: Spaceknight, an obscure toy, became part of Marvel's cosmic scene and existed in a comic that lasted years longer than the actual toy. To this day, people wish Marvel could get the rights back just so we can get more adventures of Rom, or at least official releases of his series. Yes, sometimes licensed comics can knock it out of the park. Other times you have something like the official Mega Man comics from Brazil or Ken Penders' Sonic the Hedgehog. Total horseshit, basically. So from the good, the bad and the loving bizarre, here's a place to discuss them.  I'll start us off with NOW Comics' Terminator series. NOW did a Terminator series that lasted 17 issues, then got a wrap-up miniseries and a two-issue limited series that showed Kyle Reese going back in time. The series is terrible, but at the same time completely fascinating. Why? Because it came out in 1988, three years before Terminator 2. As awesome as the first movie was, it was only the beginning of the series and the sequels could have gone in different directions with that foundation. Terminator 2 chose to double-down and solidified what kind of tone and story we'd constantly associate with the franchise. We don't have that in this comic. In fact, the idea of revisiting the plot of the first movie by having a good Terminator vs. an evil Terminator isn't even an obvious concept. Understandably, the only thing they could really think of was elaborate on the future war. The series takes place during that future war, several years after Kyle was sent back. The comic mostly follows Sarah's Slammers, a team of rebels who take in a little boy who turns out to be Kyle's little brother. This doesn't sound too out of the ordinary so far. The weirdness comes from the way they portray the Terminators. Since Terminator 2 hasn't happened yet and they haven't told us "Keep going with the Arnold model. Don't diversify it," they instead go with different human-looking designs. Only they have personalities. For the most part, Terminators talk like generic villains.  Like, why do they even have human heads and robot bodies? The whole point of Terminators having skin was to infiltrate. The Terminators also show fear at times, which totally goes against Kyle's big speech about how terrifying they are. But luckily, the resistance has an ace up their sleeve named Konrad. See, before SkyNet went haywire, man had colonized the moon and people would visit every now and then. They also have their own android guy who is in no way related to the Terminators. Konrad has a terrible 80's design and basically acts like a normal action dude.  The series isn't all bad, though. There are stories not involving the main characters that are quite good, such as an arc about a Terminator who stumbles upon a tribe of indigenous people in a rain forest who were so separate from society and technology that they slipped completely under SkyNet's radar. You have a tribe of dudes with spears trying to take on a cyborg and it's kind of rad. The series trails off for a while and just kind of ends. The follow-up Terminator: The Burning Earth is a completely different comic. It's more fondly remembered not only because it actually FEELS like a Terminator story, but it's the first published comic with Alex Ross art. Gone is all the camp and instead you have five issues of the resistance trying to shut down SkyNet once and for all.
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Dec 8, 2014 10:58
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Davros1 posted:That' the one where Ross worked "Now Comix Sucks" on the cover, isn't it? That would be it. I don't have the issue on me at the moment, but I think it was "NOW COMIX BLOS" due to them loving him over on pay. NOW Comics was like a bizarre proto-IDW that was mainly known for having a ton of licensed comics like Ghostbusters, Fright Night, Speed Racer and Green Hornet. Terminator wasn't even its weirdest comic. On one hand, you had Neal Adams' Mr. T and the T-Force, where Mr. T went around cleaning the streets armed with nothing but a camcorder. It lasted for 11 issues before NOW collapsed. Then there was the Married with Children comic. The only thing I remember about it was a storyline where the Bundys were blasted with cosmic rays from their exploding TV and became superheroes called the Quantum Quartet (with Kelly made of rocks). Just typing that sentence gave me the douche chills.
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Dec 9, 2014 22:53
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Hakkesshu posted:Maybe I should repost my reviews of the Dark Horse Aliens sequel comics here, if anyone's interested? Don't wanna be too self-indulgent and they are fairly loving big posts. Definitely do that. Those were keen.
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Jan 11, 2015 22:02
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Right now I'm working on an article where I'm reading every single RoboCop comic book. Over the years, RoboCop's been part of Marvel, Dark Horse, Dynamite, Avatar Press and now BOOM Studios. I'm currently trying to power my way through Frank Miller's RoboCop by Avatar Press. Guys, it's so bad. For those who don't know, it's Steven Grant writing a comic based on Miller's original screenplay for RoboCop 2. Between Miller's uncut lunacy and the Avatar Press art style, I'm seriously feeling physically ill reading it. What's interesting about it is that in the movie, the main villain Cain was addicted and selling a drug called Nuke. In the original script, the main villain is literally Nuke from Miller's Daredevil. Like, it's so blatant that he's supposed to be Nuke that it's kind of sad. I really hate this comic.
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Feb 20, 2015 07:00
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McSpanky posted:There was a really good article about that Robocop 2 comic once but I can't remember where it was now. I hope someone knows what I'm talking about, I think it compares the comic with the movie and how both of them are kind of inane in their own ways but the comic is seriously batshit nuts. It might have been i-Mockery, since they did a pretty high-profile look at the comic. They put it best in that it makes you want to rewatch RoboCop 2 immediately after just to get the bad taste out of your mouth. I think I might consider Frank Miller's RoboCop to be an even worse comic than Dynamite's Terminator/RoboCop: Kill Human. And that's a comic that ends with RoboCop causing the death of John Conner because the ends justifies the means, only at no point is it in any way expressed what the "ends" is even supposed to be.
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Feb 20, 2015 23:39
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The Marvel RoboCop series is interesting. It's basically split into two halves with a fill-in in-between. First you have Alan Grant writing it where it's mostly decent, but really feels like RoboCop shoved into your average early 90's Marvel comic. It's way too futuristic for what the movie established, constantly featuring flying motorcycles, flying cars, cloned dinosaurs, wise-cracking sailor robots, etc. If anything, it's worth checking out for a two-issue story about people dressing up as superheroes and becoming vigilantes which reads like a less gross Garth Ennis comic. Then Simon Furman takes over and it becomes really good. I really wish they just had him write the second and third movie instead because his poo poo was way better. His first arc especially would have made for a good basis of RoboCop 2 where OCP is so interested in following up on RoboCop's success that instead of "let's make a serial killer a RoboCop because no way will that blow up in our face" they cut corners and kidnap people off the street, lobotomize them and try to make a secret army of RoboCops.
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Feb 22, 2015 07:12
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Davros1 posted:Wasn't the Marvel comic based on the Saturday morning cartoon? RoboCop had TWO Saturday morning cartoons. And a live-action show aimed at kids too. Where he fought Roddy Piper as an insane vigilante. The Marvel comic isn't based on any of those, though. It definitely takes place in the movie universe and after RoboCop 2 came out (as well as the Marvel adaptation), there were a couple references to the events. Mainly the whole thing about Murphy's wife and how RoboCop had to lie to her and claim he wasn't actually Murphy. The last couple issues deal with that especially. I still have some reading left to do, but so far it seems like Dark Horse's comics (including RoboCop vs. Terminator) are the only ones that actually take place after RoboCop 3. All the comics that come afterwards appear to be all "Yeah, that movie never happened. We don't like to talk about it." Mainly because the movie's release was delayed for about a year. So all these Dark Horse comics came out prior to the movie (and its adaptation) and practically spoiled a major part of it. More specifically, the fact that Anne Lewis is completely missing and RoboCop's constantly working with Dr. Lazarus.
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Feb 22, 2015 15:57
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Here's my look at the history of RoboCop comics. Almost 30 years, 5 publishers, over 100 issues. The best being Miller's Terminator crossover, Simon Furman's Marvel stuff and the current Boom Studios series.
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Feb 25, 2015 18:23
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it's Friday the 13th and I volunteered to read every Friday the 13th comic. Hoo boy. Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash 2 is the worst, guys.
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Mar 13, 2015 19:10
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catlord posted:I never got that chance to read The Nightmare Warriors, that does sound rather dire. On the other hand, the Avatar comics were absolutely dreadful, only marginally better than the Texas Chainsaw Massacre ones. Good article, any chance we'll be seeing overviews of the other New Line horror comics? Great idea. I'll definitely pitch that for around October. Waterhaul posted:How I Spent My Summer Vacation is by far my favourite of the Friday the 13th books and a good short story in it's own right. It'd never happen now but I'd love to see Aaron do another story, Jason just fits his writing style perfectly. It reminds me of the early Freddy vs. Jason screenplays that tried to portray Jason as an anti-hero, only Aaron was able to actually pull it off.
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Mar 13, 2015 21:29
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Literally The Worst posted:I told you this years ago and you didn't listen. You should listen to me more. Even Bane's clock is right twice a day.
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Mar 14, 2015 17:43
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I'm currently reading through every single Terminator comic book, which is a lot and probably spans more publishers than any other franchise. One thing I've realized is how Frank Miller's RoboCop vs. Terminator is more brilliant as time goes on due to the ending. There are two constants in Terminator comics: 1) an excessive amount of obscured nudity* and 2) false endings. Seriously, nine out of ten of these comics appear to end the same way. "The war is over/the future is prevented... OR IS IT?!" Frank Miller decided to do, "The war is over/the future is prevented... OR IS IT?! ...actually, yeah," and it gets better with every epilogue stinger that comes after. *The most gratuitous of which is the Terminator 3 comic that adapts the story from the T-X's point of view. Before sending her back in time, SkyNet tests her by having her fight a T-800 and T-1000 at the same time in a big, naked brawl.
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Jul 6, 2015 13:19
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I never saw the TV show, but only the first and (from what I understand) new movie really do that. T2 ends with a vague epilogue and the other two are pretty blatant that there's a lot of robots that need killing. This would be more like if T2 ended with someone stumbling upon a big pile of Cyberdine T-800 blueprints that Dyson didn't get around to destroying.
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Jul 6, 2015 15:21
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Speaking of Terminator comics, Comixology has a sale right now on most of the Dark Horse titles. This includes the omnibus books at $5 each, which I definitely recommend for that price. Very few misses, all in all and it includes RoboCop vs. Terminator. Unfortunately, it doesn't include Enemy of My Enemy, which has one of the most badass of concepts. It's about a Terminator who goes back in time to kill this scientist before she can one day invent something that can be used against SkyNet. Meanwhile, there's a bounty hunter who needs that scientist alive and fights the Terminator to a standstill twice (while not fully understanding what she's up against). A third party steals the scientist away, so the bounty hunter and Terminator come to an agreement: they will work together to liberate that scientist. Once they succeed, then they will turn their attentions towards each other and only one will walk away alive.
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Jul 8, 2015 00:10
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Here's my article on the history of Terminator comics. Come for the panel of a Terminator throwing a burning stuffed bear at someone. Stay for the bizarre Cyborg Superman/T-X team-up.
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Jul 9, 2015 14:34
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Street Fighter X GI Joe is happening next year. Thankfully IDW is taking care of it, considering UDON's had some serious problems getting poo poo released for the past... ever. Sagat's gonna kick the poo poo out of Nemesis Enforcer.
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Jul 11, 2015 02:08
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Gaz-L posted:How long before Ryu and Snake Eyes throw down to find out who the truly strongest warrior is? Whenever Ryu and Snake Eyes are in the same room. That's why I love Ryu. He's the antithesis of a superhero. Superheroes want to get into adventures where they destroy bad guys but get sidetracked into fighting their friends. Ryu just wants to fight his friends and gets sidetracked into adventures where he destroys bad guys.
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Jul 11, 2015 02:15
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Wheat Loaf posted:Any man who strong enough to beat the crap out of Sagat is a man I want found. The only guy in Street Fighter canon who's been able to defeat Sagat legitimately is Adon and he still ended up in the hospital for a month or two despite winning. Then after Sagat regained his honor and improved his state of mind, they had a rematch and Sagat destroyed him. So yeah, don't gently caress with Sagat.
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Jul 11, 2015 04:42
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Nah. Ryu's fights don't take 20 episodes.
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Jul 11, 2015 05:00
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Howards Bellend posted:Didn't all the space knights get killed by the builders back in Infinity? Their planet got blown up, but they survived to fight another day I believe.
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Jul 13, 2015 23:33
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I read every single Nightmare on Elm Street comic, from Marvel to Innovation to Avatar Press to Windstorm. Check out my write-up, BITCH!
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Oct 28, 2015 16:29
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Endless Mike posted:Is this where we finally see you crack? I'm okay. It's the eventual Army of Darkness comics article that has me afraid.
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Oct 28, 2015 21:34
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Street Fighter X GI Joe #1 came out today and so far the tournament brackets are kind of bonkers with the exception of one match. Snake Eyes over C. Viper Rufus over Baroness Hakan over Roadblock Jinx over Ryu The backmatter also gives one-paragraph descriptions of all the prelim matches. Here's how those went: Snake Eyes over Ken C. Viper over Munitia Baroness over Elena Rufus over Cover Girl Roadblock over Zangief Hakan over Shipwreck Jinx over Blanka Ryu over Overkill Guile over Crusher Gung-Ho over Dhalsim Chun-Li over Quick Kick Dan Hibiki over Sakura Storm Shadow over Fei Long Croc Master over Alex Cammy over Firefly M. Bison over Rock 'n' Roll
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Feb 24, 2016 20:17
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Endless Mike posted:Glad to see GI Joe character Dan Hibiki getting a solid win over a Street Fighter. I mean, it's a 32-man tournament featuring a bunch of characters from each franchise. It would be kind of weird if every single match was one from each property. quote:Gavok, is the comic actually any good? Nothing mindblowing, but it's fun for what it is. A handful of one-on-one fights with banter in-between and a ridiculous fighting game world domination plot that involves Destro and M. Bison hanging out together and clinking wine glasses.
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Feb 24, 2016 21:45
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Speaking of GI Joe, the fifth (of six) issue of Street Fighter X GI Joe came out and it went from fairly straightforward crossover told via fighting tournament to "What the gently caress am I even reading?" The tournament ends with Jinx tapping into the Dark Hadou to defeat M. Bison, which I guess sort of works, but the cliffhanger for the final issues is that Rufus is a giant, inexplicably powered by Bison's Psycho Power and Guile summoned a jetpack covered in missile launchers to stop him. 
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Jul 2, 2016 03:32
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My favorite story from the game was Murray talking about how he actually had a great time recording all of his dialogue. Then after leaving the studio, he's walking down the street, quietly singing the theme song to himself. He passes a couple and one of them says, "He still can't let it go. That's so sad."
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Jul 4, 2016 16:00
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Somehow I wasn't aware that this comic was still coming out until today.
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Jul 6, 2016 17:27
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Gaz-L posted:Lemme guess... until it was implicitly cancelled because WWE signed a deal with BOOM? It was released as a graphic novel, so the story is finished. Though it does end with a message saying that it's the last Papercutz WWE book and then showing a couple inked pages of what the next volume would have been. Namely a sequel to the WWE noir storyline, but with Roman Reigns and Sting fighting crime.
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Jul 6, 2016 21:55
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So, for those of you going to NYCC next week...quote:BOOM! Studios is proud to announce its publishing partnership with WWE to bring the Sports Entertainment leader back to comic shops everywhere. Join us for a power hour of special insight from behind the scenes with Managing Editor Bryce Carlson, Editor Eric Harburn, Associate Editor Jasmine Amiri, and writer Dennis Hopeless. Catch a sneak preview of November's WWE: Then. Now. Forever. special, plus some surprises! Moderated by DenOfGeek.com’s Gavin Jasper.  
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Sep 30, 2016 02:23
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Lurdiak posted:So Doink the Clown is going to trap the entire WWE roster in a death maze and kill all the popular ones? That's not too far from the batshit final arc and graphic novel follow-up that Papercutz did with the WWE license. Though Doink was a good guy in that story, hanging out with the Gobbledeegooker, Goldust, Stardust, the Bunny and their leader Dean Ambrose. BOOM!'s idea is to just expand on actual wrestling storylines by showing untelevised stuff to fill in the blanks. Pretty much what Lucha Underground's comic did in-between the first two seasons.
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Sep 30, 2016 03:34
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I got a new article up on the history of Halloween/Michael Myers comics. Not as fun or eclectic as the Freddy and Jason stuff, unfortunately, partially because it was a total of two writers across twelve issues and a prose story with art. That and the second writer has a huge boner for Michael and hits me as a guy who watched the first movie thinking, "That was pretty good, but it would have been better if he killed Laurie. And Dr. Loomis. Those two kids and the sheriff too. Maybe six more victims for the hell of it."
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Oct 17, 2016 19:55
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Just want to point out that next week's WWE: Then, Now, Forever comic features a backup story of Tugboat wrestling Earthquake drawn in the style of a Popeye cartoon and it's my everything.
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Nov 3, 2016 22:37
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