Wednesday's comic release list

Not too much to speak of this week, so the timing is perfect that DC is releasing the first issue of the Black Adam mini-series this week. There's also the next installment in the Sinestro War in Green Lantern #22, and the next installments of World War Hulk with Incredible Hulk #109 and Front Line #3.

DC:
Batman #667
Batman Confidential #8
Batman Strikes #36
Black Adam The Dark Age #1
Cartoon Network Action Pack #16
Countdown #38
Deadman #12
Devil Does Exist Vol 11
DMZ #22
Fables #64
Gen 13 #11
Green Arrow Year One #3
Green Lantern #22
Jack Of Fables #13
JLA Classified #41
Outsiders Five Of A Kind Week 2 Katana Shazam
Stormwatch #10
Un-Men #1

Marvel:
Amazing Spider-Girl #11
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #2
Avengers Classic #3
Blade #12
Civil War Chronicles #2
Criminal #8
Daredevil #99
Exiles #97
Fantastic Five #3
Ghost Rider #14
Hedge Knight 2 Sworn Sword #3
Incredible Hulk #109
Marvel Illustrated Man In The Iron Mask #2
New Avengers #33
New Avengers Transformers #2
New Excalibur #22
Nova #5
Omega Flight #5
Powers #25
Punisher War Journal #10
Ultimate X-Men #85
Wolverine Origins #16
World War Hulk Front Line #3
X-Factor #22

Others:
Archaic #8
Army Of Darkness From Ashes #1
Boys #9
BPRD Killing Ground #1
Casanova #8
Consumed #2
Ghosting #1
Glister #1
Kiss 4k #3
Nicolas Cages Voodoo Child #2
Phantom #18
Red Sonja #25
Ripclaw Pilot Season #1
Sadhu The Silent Ones #1
Star Wars Legacy #15
Star Wars Rebellion #9
Uncle Scrooge #368
Walt Disneys Comics & Stories #683

End of Spidey and MJ?

Marvel, yet again, dropped a teaser on Tuesday to breaking up Peter Parker and Mary Jane in the upcoming "One More Day" event.

This image was released with the caption "The End of An Era: Amazing Spider-Man #545"

It sure looks like Marvel is finally going to break up their marquee couple, after years of Joey Q openly saying how much he hated that Spidey was married.

Joe has said numerous times how you can tell so many more single Peter Parker stories than married Peter Parker stories. Personally, I think that's just a damn lazy thing to say, and reflective of the lack of imagination the "House of Ideas" has nowadays.

Now, first off, I'll say that I doubt this will come to pass, simply because it is being teased to so openly.

Second, I'll say that, while we may get some quality stories out of this breakup (if it comes to pass), it will be kicking sand into the face of every Spider-Man fan under the age of 25, and every big fan of the movie. While Peter Parker may have been a darned interesting teenage single hero back in the 1960's and 70's, he has now been a happily married mid-20's character for decades.

DECADES.

And plenty of readers love this older Peter just as much as the older fans love younger Peter. Plenty of readers love Mary Jane as much as the older fans love Gwen Stacy, too.

Why is it that Marvel cannot let any married folks just be happy, and bring havoc into other parts of their lives instead? They broke up Scott and Jean, they're giving Reed and Sue hell, and now this.

You don't see Lois divorcing Clark. Hell, Justice Society #8 just made me fall in love with the married couple of Liberty Belle and Hourman.

If MJ and Peter's breakup comes to pass, it would just be damn lazy writing, and that offends me as a writer and as a fan.

Report on the 4400: "No Exit"

There was an episode of Saved by the Bell, in which the whole gang sleeps in the Mall overnight in order to buy U2 tickets, and for most of the time they are running around hiding from two men chasing them.

Unfortunately, that's all I could think about while watching this week's episode of The 4400.

By the end of the show, when all the secrets were out in the open, it wasn't AS BAD as I first thought. It was interesting at best. At worst, it may have been a shark-jumper.

Basically, everyone in the cast wakes up randomly in NTAC, with no knowledge of how they got there. By the end, they find out they are only there in virtual reality (possibly deadly virtual reality), brought into a "game" by a promicin positive.

And I mean, EVERYONE you know from the show was brought in. Collier, Kyle, Isabelle, Shawn, Maia were all there, in addition to the NTAC regulars Tom, Diana, Megan and the three theory room musketeers.

As it turns out, one of the two theory room guys that's not Marco took the shot and brought everyone there in an effort to bring peace. Which did answer the question of why, all of a sudden, were we seeing all the theory room guys often and not just Marco.

To make a long story short, Tom and Jordan sacrifice themselves together to win "the game," gaining a newfound respect for one another.

It all just felt very forced (which I guess is fair, since the group was forced to be there) and cheesy that only the characters we know were brought together for this little game.

I dunno, maybe I'm missing something. But this does just feel like a filler episode, and an excuse to have Shock Moments, like Shawn and Isabelle waking up in bed together and Megan "dying."

Here we go, RANDOM THOUGHTS!

1) Remember a couple of weeks ago when I said THIS: "And I'll give you one prediction right off the bat on this subject -- New NTAC Head Megan IS A MEMBER OF THE MARKED. I'll give you one better -- Tom is going to be the one to find out, after she and Tom get very chummy, if you know what I mean, and he gets real close to her ear."

Well in the preview for next week, Tom and Megan are kissing, and she's reaching for his EAR... be ready for an "I told you so" in 7 days!

2) And speaking of Megan, I'm hoping she's purposely trying to seduce him for evil purposes, because otherwise she's just been pathetically throwing herself at Tom.

3) Oh, and Richard's back next week! Hells, yeah!

4) Now that we're rid of the big theory room guy, we need to get rid of the smaller one. That guy annoys me.

5) Why is Isabelle acting like killing someone with a scalpel is so unsavory, when just last season she was slaughtering people left and right?

6) I wonder if Jordan or Tom has hung up yet?
"No, you hang up, Tom!"
"I'm not going to hang up, you have to hang up first, Jordan!"
"OK, we'll hang up on three. One, Two, Three!"
"You didn't hang up!"
"You didn't hang up either!"
"Well I'm not hanging up first, Jordan!"

7) Kyle's acting when approaching Tom after Shawn's death was pretty tight.

8) Why is Maia so concerned with Marko? She's a Ben fan... and for that matter, what does Marko want with Diana's meatloaf if she's not going to cook him dessert?

9) I was just about to say how funny I found one of the Sonic Restaurant commercials, when I realized I just last week said how they were growing on me. What is it with me and Sonic? I've never even been to one!

10) I wonder if my girlfriend knows how to hotwire an armory room?

This week's video game releases

Say hello to my little friend!

OK, I know, I stole that from a T-shirt... which stole it from Scarface, anyway. The point is, this week we get plenty of Mega Man, three games in all, for the Nintendo DS.

Personally, I don't think the little guy has been the same since making the jump from the 8-bit world, but if you're still looking for a little Mega action, either buy the "Captain N: The GameMaster" DVD set, or pick up one of these three releases.

August 6
Pet Alien (Nintendo DS)

August 7
Mega Man Star Force: Dragon (DS)
Mega Man Star Force: Leo (DS)
Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus (DS)
Boogie (Wii)
Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars (PSP)

August 8
Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PSP)

August 10
Combat Mission: Shock Force (PC)
Attack on Pearl Harbor (PC)

-cough, cough - one week until Madden - cough, cough

Best of July

So, I'm sitting here bored in the office listening to Stephen Lynch sing about Nazis, and somehow that all reminded me that I haven't posted my monthly posting of my favorite three posts from the past month. So.... let's do that now.

1) Sony drops price on current PS3, announces new model

2) He want to be your SLEDGEHAMMER

3) Teen Titans/Comic Con

Two bad guys in Superman 2?

Superherohype.com is reporting that Superman: The Man of Steel will have not one but two villains. Go to THIS LINK for the story.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say one of them is Lex Luthor. It's just a hunch. It's not like Lex is the ONLY villain anyone ever wants to use or anything, making it terribly predictable or anything. Nope, it's just a hunch.

Who the second one is is still anyone's guess. I doubt Brainiac, or Darkseid, or Mr. Myxleplik since Bryan Singer likes sucking the fun out of things.

In fact, since this is Bryan Singer we're talking about, he's probably just going to bring back Zod, and movie two will bomb, hard.

If you ask me, though, the biggest villain in the second movie will be the fact that they GAVE SUPERMAN A KID!!! How do you not have the damn kid not be a big part of this movie after having him at the center of the last one? And if you give him a big part, then how can the movie be any good?

I'm a li'l cranky today.

Wii Madden Party mode?

I'm beginning to think that you're not allowed to make a game for Nintendo's Wii if you don't include a "Party mode."

OK, know that's not entirely true, as I just played Mario Strikers and there wasn't quite a party mode in that, but still, most Wii games are party-centric.

Case in point: Madden NFL 08 on the Wii. visit IGN.com at THIS LINK to read all about the 23 different mini-games that come packaged with Madden on Wii. Some sound fun, some sound repetitive, but overall it sounds like a nice trade-off in return to giving up the traditional Madden experience in buying it on Wii.

But, the one point that really stands out to me... You can use your Wiimote as a Telestrator! I've been wanting a telestrator video game since 1991!!! Hell, I may buy two versions of Madden just so on one I can telestrate. Eat your heart out, Mike Fratello!

Saturday's Gaming in the Journal

On Tuesday I saw a couple of college buddies I haven't hung out with in a while, and we spent almost 10 hours running Nintendo Wii's "Mario Strikers Charged" through it's paces. Afterward I realized -- I'm a professional game reviewer, I should be reviewing the damn game while I'm at it!

So, on Saturday in the Journal's Gaming page (page 5C in the Sports section) I have written a full review of the surprisingly addictive Mario Bros. soccer title. I loved it, but read the story to see why.

We also have reviews of NASCAR 08 and Forza Motorsports, as well as the weekly fantasy baseball advice column.

So pick up a copy and enjoy!

Team USA on NBA Live!!!

Apparently EA Sports has reached an agreement with FIBA to be the exclusive game that features the World Basketball Championships in NBA Live 08, complete with real rosters and names and player models and the whole chabang!

I love this news for two reasons:

1) One of my favorite goofy basketball games ever was 1992's Dream Team basketball for the Sega Genesis, which featured the World Championships and the Olympics with real International rosters and players like Toni Kukoc and Aryvidas Sabonis.

2) Finally, Pau Gasol and Spain can teach the world what basketball is all about! Viva Espana!

Of course, with the NBA news we got today about Juan Carlos Navarro coming to the Grizzlies, we'll basically get to see the Spanish National team 82 games a year anyway. All we need is for the Raptors to trade Jose Garbajosa to Memphis and we'll be set!

Super Smash Bros. Adventure mode?

IGN has an interesting feature talking about the single-player Adventure mode that will come in the Wii's Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

That's a right, a whole side-scrolling single player game. You can read the story HERE.

As if the fans of this game needed any more incentive to buy, this just puts the game over the top.

GTA Delay will help Sony

I'm sure by now you've heard the depressing news, Grand Theft Auto IV has been delayed until at least February of 2008.

While Rockstar has been tight lipped on the reasons for the delay, saying simply that the game is not quite polished, you really have to wonder what the problems are, when the Xbox version of the game looked complete a couple of weeks ago.

Regardless of the reasons, though, this will only help Sony and their fledgling PlayStation 3. Microsoft already has bonus episodes in the game that the Sony version will not have -- the October release date, with Xbox owners outnumbering Sony owners 4 to 1, would have been a landslide in Microsoft's favor.

Now, with the delay, GTA will be released into a world that has already gone through the Holiday season, when plenty of people are projected to pick up a $499 PS3 while they last. Sony's version of GTA will stand a much better chance against this Microsoft GTA in February.

4400 Marathon Saturday

Just visited USA's The 4400 Web page and saw that Saturday there will be a marathon of the season's first six episodes (all of them except for the current ep "Till We Have Built Jerusalem").

The marathon begins at 9 a.m. -- the perfect jumping on point if you've been intrigued by the idea of this show, but have not felt comfortable jumping on in the middle.

Personally, I got involved with the show during one of these marathons in Season Two, and I haven't looked back.

One curious note, though, I wonder if the starting time of this marathon is indicative of USA's lack of trust in the show's ability to win ratings? Previous marathons have started at like 1 p.m. and run up until prime time. This one will be done at 3 p.m. Curious... I mean, it was around this time of last year that we heard the show was picked up for another season... hopefully we get that announcement again soon...

Buy Pile Report

It's been a long time since I bought five or more comics in a week, and none of them sucked.

This week, I bought five, and all were pretty good. A couple were even really pretty good.

The see-saw ride that is the Hulk's attack on Earth got good again in World War Hulk #3. In this installment, we see the U.S. Army, led by Thunderbolt Ross, attack Green Scar with adamantium bullets (and fail) while Dr. Strange attacked psychically/mystically (and fail). Dr. Strange's attack was one of the young event's highlights, though, with Stephen actually getting through to talk to Bruce Banner's true rational self for a few moments... before Hulk came back and crushed Strange's hands. All good stuff.

However, I am not entirely sure this series will remain on the right path. Hulk is apparently changing Madison Square Garden into a Gladiator arena (call Russel Crowe), where he will pit hero against hero. Also, Dr. Strange has apparently ingested a demon named Zom (a demon which exists only to destroy and is more powerful than Dormammu) in order to attack the Hulk.

Do I even need to ask? Why would Doc Strange think Zom's presence improves things? and more than that -- why the bloody hell isn't big bad angry Hulk just KILLING PEOPLE?!?

The other damn near great issue of the week was Justice Society of America #8. This is one of the finest standalone stories I can remember in a long time. In one big swoop it gives a complete background story on Liberty Belle's evolution (her childhood and history as Jesse Quick), explains how she and Hourman got together, and then Geoff Johns lets her use it all to comfort Damage, who is a bit out of his mind looking to blow up Zoom.

Honestly, before this issue I really did not know much of Liberty Belle or Hourman, and I could give a damn about Damage. This issue alone has made all three of them living breathing characters to me, and Liberty Belle and Hourman are damn likable.

There really isn't a great way to summarize exactly what transpires in the issue, its a flashback mixed with a present day narration and adventure. But, trust me, if you're a JSA fan or simply a DC Universe fan, this is a well-written read.

Speaking of the DC U, Countdown #39 didn't suck. That's like the third straight time Countdown didn't suck! Not enough really happened worth going into, as each issue just tends to give like 4 pages to each story, inching each plotline along, but what was written for each story DIDN'T SUCK! If you've been on the fence with Countdown, maybe you're feeling safer about buying for the duration. If you had gotten off the bandwagon, maybe it's time to give Countdown a second chance.

Another good news, bad news weekend for Sony

Good News: Rockstar announced a brand new series of games, which will be created specifically for the PlayStation 3. The company says it is going to "make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc." Check out IGN for more details HERE.

Bad News: The rumors of an imminent Xbox 360 price drop are becoming reality, with several retailers listing the Core system for $279.99, the middle package for $349.99 and the Elite for $449.99. And Bungie says that little game "Halo 3" (I don't know if you've heard of it, it's a little indie game that could emerge from out of nowhere to make a little splash on the Xbox in September) will now definitely have four-player Co-Op over the net.

The Onion smells good

Just saw this on G4's "Feed" news updates, from The Onion:

Sluggish sales for Activision's Sousaphone Hero