MARVEL MANGAVERSE X-Men #1 Review (Digital)

The OELManga Version X-Men
Until this date there was Japanese Manga X-Men. Not very well known and to date out of print in terms of the volumes brought here and localized.

The idea of Japanese done X-Men I guess really didn’t hit its zenith until MadHouse and Sony did it with the Uncanny X-Men. And Wolverine. Along with Blade and Iron Man. But that’s years away when this came out.

So Rogue is recruited by the very Japanese X-Men. In a group where Jean Grey is kinda slutty, and I guess possessing the Phoenix Force. Or…

Wolverine is a big hulking dude. Nightcrawler is a bit of a smarmy ass, and Cyclops kinda looks like he is wearing his later Krakoa outfit sans the giant X visor helmet.

It’s a mixed bag for me. It’s ok. Storm and Jean and Nightcrawler are the stand out designs. While Wolverine and Magneto (a giant hulking brute named Magnus) is just disappointing.

Long story short you meet the team, they fight Magnus and his Brotherhood, and Rogue absorbs Jean Grey’s powers to become… The Scarlet Phoenix Witch?!? No. No I don’t know why Rogue is now one half Scarlet Witch.

Rogue runs… Flies away… I think she shows up in OMEGA… And that’s it. The last of the month long one shots.

Best was Spider-Man without a doubt. It’s a hard pass on the rest… Kinda. The FF would have been great if the one shot that was here was out into a sold separately prelude month event, and the one shot was more focused on the Kaiju Hulk situation.

We didn’t need The Punisher (sorry Peter David). We needed She Hulk from Peter David. We didn’t need Ghost Riders. We needed Dr. Strange Sorcerer Supreme. Also needed Iron Woman.

Anyway it’s Omega. Don’t be too surprised when you find out that Banner and Kaiju Hulk are two separate entities. I spoiled that all the way back in Alpha. Anyway the end of the month long event.

After that. Ongoing!… All 7 issues of the Ongoing. Yeah… I didn’t say it was a successful Ongoing! Tomorrow? OMEGA. See you.

MARVEL MANGAVERSE Spider-Man #1 Review

Straight Up The Best Of MANGAVERSE Month
Maybe the best of the original run. Though being the best of a one month event and seven issues of a short lived ongoing? Maybe not such a great feat.

But if all the MANGAVERSE, this one actually had a Post Mangaverse mini series if I remember right. So hey. It’s pretty good. Highlights of this issue is the full page spread fights, and the interesting Ninja take on Spider-Man and Venom.

No Spider powers. No alien symbiote. Just full on ninja training. Also in this universe Venom was Sensei Ben Parker’s student and… Son? Before Venom killed his master.

We have Mary Jane. And if this series had a longer run this version of Mary Jane might have exploded in popularity like My Adventures With Superman Lois Lane. Also brief cameo by Gwen Stacy.

The issue is Spider-Man fighting Venom and his ninjas. Why? Because the gigantic powerful… But not that powerful… Kingpin wants Spider-Man dead. And Venom almost kills him.

He goes to the afterlife and talks to Sensei Ben, comes back and takes down the ninjas and Venom. But before he can kill Venom and avenge his Sensei… They’re interrupted by Kaiju Hulk.

In this story Kaiju Hulk presents young Peter with a challenge. Kill Venom, or save Mary Jane. Left with no real choice he leaves Venom, and saves Mary Jane… Well, saving in progress.

Venom? He completely ignores his Kingpin orders to kill Spider-Man. He instead goes to Fisk Tower and kills the Kingpin. Suddenly Venom has a great respect for Peter… And it teases a conflict that sadly never really was fleshed out…?

Maybe it was. To this date I have not seen the follow up mini. Maybe that completes the fight between Spider-Man and Venom? If it’s not in this Omnibus I’ll go find it digitally to review.

Say Sony. Need more Animated Spider-Man? How about a Ninja Spider-Man movie? That would be nice. We could really see this world come to life, and all the possibilities of this new take on Spider-Man. Just a thought…

We end the month before OMEGA on Thursday with… X-Men. It’s like the Japanese did X-Men… Oh wait no. We already saw MadHouse do Wolverine and X-Men so no… It’s campy Antarctic X-Men. Sorry but this is just kinda painful.

Too OELManga To Be Hip X-Men. Wrapping up the one shots before OMEGA. Tomorrow. See you.

MARVEL MANGAVERSE The Punisher #1 Review

WHY PETER DAVID?!? WHY!!!
Ugh. Today is The Punisher. Not Frank Castle. It’s a Japanese woman fighting the Yakuza or crime in general with her tools of punizhment… That’s she’s actually quite good at using.

She can deflect bullets with her paddles so hey. Some and skills… Also people usually pay for this kind of punishment don’t they? These crooks are getting it all free.

Also she has a Bucky like… Female sidekick? With a lightsaber and stuff and she’s The Punisher’s back up. Which she will need in the tail end of the comic.

So yes. No Kaiju Hulk. And let’s just get through this because a possible crime against a Spider-Man may have been committed if tomorrow’s review focus wasn’t in Spider-Man Across The Spiderverse.

So we have a female Punisher who is a skilled fighter. Doesn’t kill her targets seemingly. She just… Punishes them. Huh. She’s also the headmistress of a posh school that her sidekick attends.

Tired of being punished, the Yakuza bring in a woman who somehow has the prop in her possession to summon a demon? Anyway the Punisher gets into serious trouble.

So her sidekick has to save her by slicing up the demon with her lightsaber. Anyway they escape this trap, no Kaiju Hulk, the end… Bleah.

Has about as much to do with the month as Escape From Tarkov’s attempt to back pedal it’s $250 per player mistake was them actually backpedalling. All in all? I wish this had something to do with the actual month.

But I suppose this is what Peter David wanted to do. So yay on him for getting this into MANGAVERSE Month… Sigh. Tomorrow? That’s the biggest thing of the month. Spider-Man.

Did anyone see a Ninja Spider-Man in Across The Spiderverse? Trained as part of his family Ninja heritage by Uncle Sensei Ben? Who was killed by Shredder 2012-2014 looking Venom? Master of the Not Foot Clan?

If not then… How would you know he wasn’t there? Well… Guess you’ll get to see him for yourself tomorrow. The only actual success of the MANGAVERSE. As sometime after this all ended? He got a mini series. The only character people got more of.

Time for your dose of Barely Teenage Not Quite Mutant Ninja Spider-Man. No relation to Tokusatsu Spider-Man from TOEI. Tomorrow. See you.

MARVEL MANGAVERSE Ghost Riders #1 Review

Sons Of Satan Might Have Worked Too…
Also? Cover promises John Jameson Werewolf By Night… Ehhh… Not in any real impirtant, Mist talk about way he might have appeared here… So yeah. I’m already being jipped.

So this focused on Damon Hellstrom (sometimes misnamed Hellstorm). The Son of Satan. As opposed to Lucifer from DC, who accordingly his Series of several years is the Son of God.

God aka Morgan Freeman. Which I guess is why they casted the way they did despite Morgan Freeman not being in the show. Anyway he’s recruiting Young Johnny Blaze. Son of Satan.

As opposed to actual Johnny Blaze. Fused with Zarathos aka one of the Spirits Of Vengeance aka Ghost Rider. Created by Mephisto… Who only later became Satan in Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance. Aka the second Nicolas Cage Ghost Rider movie.

John Jameson? Ok to fair only the Maguire Spider-Man hinted at John Jameson. And they didn’t make him into Werewolf By Night… But they could have.

Anyway Kaiju Hulk is finally here… Then goes away as the church Gozer Stafpuft stepped on in Ghostbusters 1985 explodes. From the fire pours out demons… And barely clad Satana.

She’s got more page time than Kaiju Hulk. In all her barely clad nudeness… Fan service? Sure. But why stop there. Wait until next time and The Punisher!

Eventually Kaiju Hulk returns. She thinks she can beat him… He shoves her back into her hell portal and banishes her back to Hell. Otherwise Hellstrom turns Blaze into a very manga Ghost Rider… And that’s it.

There are far better Ghost Rider comics out there. Heck. There’s even a better Hellstrom comic out there. This is… A thing. A thing that exists and I reviewed it. But why stop there.

See that end pic down there? That’s MANGAVERSE Punisher. A woman who dressed up like a Japanese geisha and punishes crime… In a very fetishishy manner. Also why is her sidekick Lady Bucky??

This wasn’t fetish enough for you? Maybe tomorrow will be even more fetish. Ugh. The Punisher #1. Tomorrow.

MARVEL MANGAVERSE Fantastic Four #1 Review (Digital)

Braver Than The FOX Reboot of the 21st Century.
Something braver than Fant4stic? Really? Well… Yes. Welcome to Adam Warren’s Fantastic Four. Maybe what Fant4stic should have been. A top down reimagining of the Fantastic Four.

The villain is not Kaiju Hulk. Again. Nope. It’s major FF villain Annihilus. Reborn as a giant robotic Kaiju monster. If course he was. No Negative Zone required… Maybe.

To fight Annihilus we have a young Native American woman as the new Human Torch. A woman with seemingly Phoenix level powers given how powerful her flame form is.

Our new Ben Grimm isn’t the Thing. But he can build around himself a gigantic Thing like Golem body that he controls from the inside. Also since this is Adam Warren? Sweating is a must.

Funny. I thought Adam Warren was only a potty pen in his early days of manga. Like early B&W Dirty Pair trades. Nope. He was still potty penned when he tackled this One Shot… Sigh.

Sue Storm is ok. Her power is a bit strong but shes… Force fields I think as opposed to invisibility. Finally Reed Richards. Who only stretches the neuron fibers in his brains… And our suspension of disbelief as apparently every woman wants to hang him. Warren!!

Somehow this one shot convinced MARVEL to let Warren play in the big mainstream FF title for a few issues. Why? Dunno. Ask MARVEL. Art wise it’s impressive. Story is ok but the new directions the four was taken is the real highlight.

Who knows. If Fant4stic was inspired by this version of the 4? Maybe it would have been a success. Maybe. Anyway it’s a good story so I’m not complaining too muvh. No Kaiju Hulk but… Eh.

He finally shows up Monday. Ghost Riders. The questionably sus one shot. With… Well… You’ll see. Sigh. You’ll see. Coming up.

MARVEL MANGAVERSE Avengers Assemble #1 Review (Digital)

Short Story That Goes Into What If Territory…
So as you might notice in this issue, Tony Stark is now a talking head with no body.

Ok. This came years before Tony had his body rebuilt by nanotechnology in the main Iron Man. Also urgh. Seriously? A talking head. Why.

The Avengers. Iron Head, President Captain America, Vision (so very Mega Man looking), Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye. No Black Widow. Don’t forget she might have died back in ALPHA.

They’re supposed to fight Kaiju Hulk. But in order to do so they need to gather Stark’s new Super Sentai vehicles he had built and hid in an ancient temple in Asia. Except they first must fight… Apocalypse and random X villains.

WHY??? I don’t know. But ugly as all heck Apocalypse has to fight the Sentai Avengers. And has the ability to grow himself large without the power of Rita Repulsia. Seriously why.

It’s an ok fight. Pointless as all buck as they tease Kaiju Hulk, but the entire fight is the Avengers vs Apocalypse’s team. Then giant Zord Iron Man vs Apocalypse. With the lot flying off to fight Kaiju Hulk. The end.

Super Sentai Zord Iron Man with all the Avengers? They return in OMEGA… Don’t get too excited. It won’t last long. The actual Zord Iron Man vs Kaiju Hulk fight.

Came here to watch the Avengers fight Kaiju Hulk? Sorry. You need to move on to Adam Warren’s Fantastic Four… Maybe. Where Ben Grimm is a normal person that… You’ll see. Human Torch is a Native American woman. We already saw Sue Storm in Alpha…

Oh. And Reed Richards can only stretch his brain’s fiber pathways… And our acceptance of Adam Warren’s MARVEL approved fan porn. Because the guy nails a lot of women… I.e. Sex. Ugh. Seriously Adam Warren you did that and MARVEL still rewarded you?!?

Fantastic Four. As envisioned by Adam Warren. Lots of fighting… Annihilus. I think. Also fan service and stuff… Wanted Kaiju Hulk? Oh… He might show up. Maybe. See you.

MARVEL MANGAVERSE ALPHA Review Part 2

Do You Want To See Tygra Reference Gold Digger? No? Too bad!
Ok let’s get through this ending of ALPHA. Remember this happened before Heroes Reborn & the Ultimate Universe. So Samuel L. Jackson Fury doesn’t exist yet.

We find out Banner is the lead of this month long event because he somehow created infinite power. Power HYDRA wanted. They stopped HYDRA and mind wiped Banner.

But HYDRA knows the secrets of infinite power still exists in Banner. So they’re going to try and kidnap him for that knowledge. Led by Baron Von Strucker, evil Sorcerer Dark… No. I don’t know why Strucker is apparently occult now.

Not like this is the last tweaking of a Strucker. Who remembers the Strucker family from FOX’s other X-Men series spin-off The Gifted? Anyway I’m This universe he is aligned with Namor.

Why? Because Namorita needs to save Banner at the start of OMEGA. But that’s the end of the month. Oh. Also in this universe? Black Widow is evil. Really… Ok.

See that buff brawny dude she’s with? He’s actually a dangerous character from the Midnight Sons opening crossover event. He is one of the demon vampire Lilith’s children. A murderous avatars who killed his own family on Lilith’s orders.

A character… Kinda punked out and dies weakly in this universe. Then again? Looking at Ghost Riders… Maybe it was for the best he didn’t live long enough to see the state of Mangaverse Horror.

We find out Dr. Strange The Sorcerer Supreme is some punk dude. Who employs Tygra (who now looks very Fred Perry Hold Digger-female… Hence her obsession with Gold Digger) as his assistant.

And since HYDRA is now fully occult? They are also aligned with Baron D’arque… Oh no wait. It’s Baron Mordo. He only looks like the artist grabbed issues of Shadowman (Valiant) and based him off Master D’arque. Never mind.

Because they’re using occult magic to kidnap Banner? It brings Strange into conflict with Mordo, while Tygra tries to save Banner. Only because Atlanteans Widow gets him into a mini sub.

Then she makes the mistake of trying to break the mind wipe and reveal the secret of infinite power. Except… Guess what… Being caught by HYDRA and tortured? Birthed the Hulk in him.

EXCEPT something goes wrong. The Hulk manifests, and seemingly kills Widow and her ally… But we won’t find out until OMEGA that he manifested free of Banner. He’s not constrained by Banner in this Universe.

But we won’t learn that until OMEGA. All you know in the here and now present is Black Widow freed the Hulk. And… He’s now a Pacific Rim sized Kaiju. Because of course he is. If he’s intelligent? He’s probably Godzilla intelligent.

So that begins the month long MANGAVERSE. We will look at Avengers Assemble #1 tomorrow. Aka when Tony Stark created Voltes V Avengers. With him, President Captain America, Wasp, etc.

Oh. Also Stark’s daughter also has a giant robot Iron Man suit to pilot because… Ben Dunn. See you.

Square Enix The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious Volume 6 Review Chapter Fifty-One Part 2 (Digital)

Friendship Restored
So. When your trapped (but not really trapped) in a random igloo? With A former friend? You have time to reflect.

We find out that his parents wanted to adopt Yuri after his parents deaths. But he refused. Unwilling to abandon his family home. The last thing he has of his parents.

Running away from others, it turns out, is easier when you justify your actions with nice sounding rationale. I’m This case? Yuri couldn’t accept the help of his friend’s family because he didn’t want to ask for help.

Which is great in theory. Until you explain to your friend that you didn’t shun him. You just shunned him because you didn’t want to ask for anyone’s help… So yeah. You shunned him.

As far as the friend was concerned? He saw the facade that Yuri wife in public everyday. And thought surely all is well with Yuri. Just by stating at his facade. But Yuri tells him that he was anything but ok.

It wasn’t until he hired Lilith (who might be his hidden step sister) that he finally began to recover from the dark place he exiled himself to after his parents died. She helped him become himself again. That’s good. And he didn’t become Japanese Batman.

So a friendship is restored. They find out as the storm clears (with kinda Are You Kidding Me Jesus Skylighting) that they were here feet from the ski resort. Maybe even within sight of the teachers.

Anyway Yuri admits he thought someone was following him. His friend assures him that wasn’t the case. Except we know Lilith was following him and is following him so ok.

Tomorrow it’s the aftermath of the ski trip. What happens then? Find out tomorrow. See you.

VIZ Komi Can’t Communicate Volume 14 Review Chapter One Hundred & Ninety-Three Part 1 (Digital)

Knack For Food Runs In The Family…
We end Volume 14 with a good old fashioned festival. With plenty of faces we know from Year 1. Including the devious Old Rope Game Lady.

Another expected trope? Najimi dumping her responsibilities off on her friends. I’m This case conning Tadano, Komi, Rumiko & Katai into running a yakisoba booth.

Good news? It’s fun by Agari’s aunt, and get you can see where Agari got her good looks from. Bad news? Once she’s in full festival mode? She turns into the creator of Hell’s Kitchen!

Apparently the aunt is also the source of Agari’s passion for food… But not get insane rage when running a good stand. She does acknowledge that her mood swings has cost her workers before.

But this gang of four won’t abandon her… Even though stacking a group with four introverts vs the one extrovert (Rumiko) might have been a bad idea. But in the bright side…

We now have a staff that appeals to both EVERYBODY (Komi), Males (Rumiko) and Females (Katai… And probably Tadano?) So… Yay. Now ladies flick to the booth to be served by Katai! A giant and equally friendly Human version of a Ursian Bear!

But we are padding this out as we have lots of pages but a few Chapters. So tomorrow a cavalcade of cameos! Including the Yamai who bought 100 Komi made Yakisobas… She’s rich enough. See you tomorrow!

VIZ Fly Me To The Moon Volume 20 Review Chapter One Hundred & Eighty-Two Part 1 (SPOILERS) (Digital)

Who Wants A Few Weeks Of Padding!
That seems to be coming up. I guess we need padding. They’re just holding off the reveal that… Oh. Right. By now you know we are so deep in that SPOILERS exist every review. Yes?

Well there are spoilers in every review. Because we are finally near the end of the series. It ends this November at Volume 26! So yeah. Stop reading if you are watching the Anime and want no spoilers.

Ok? Ok! Ahem… Sigh. They’re just holding off the reveal that Ksguya is the so called Goddess Of The Moon that Tsukasa sought for lo 1400 years. I’m sure disappointment will come soon…

Anyway this padding finally gives us the back story on the two friends of Kaguya. Sisters by death. Their families were friends, but when one girls mom and dad died she was adopted by the other family. Instant sisters.

We find out that instant sisterhood was not easy. Especially as they are polar opposites. One girl was a tomboy who didn’t mind frogs… Or giant toads… The other not so much. Also didn’t appreciate wearing a toad on her head.

By Junior High one girl was moving up in the World as the smart one. The other one struggled. They ended up in the same Junior High, but one girl struggled to beat her “sister” academically.

So enter Kaguya. Who can pass herself off as a young human despite being a possible mutant of over 1400 years old. Even older than Wolverine! And that’s where tomorrow continues.

Sigh. I wonder… Just how much of this Volume is going to be filled to get us caught up on these new girls backstroke before we reveal Kaguya’s past in Volume 22? Guess we will find out.

And yes. Nobody has yet figured out that Tsukasa’s act of saving Nasa at the very start probably made him immortal. But I think Kaguya might have figured it out (as of Volume 15). Stay tuned.