Well comrades, I’d like to inform you that we’ve moved every post over to our new site, which can be found at:

http://nerdragereport.blogspot.com

Enjoy.

When you think of a cartoon that has effected the way cartoons are made today chances are this might not be on your list. However I bet one or more of the shows you named might be something that effected this show. Megas XLR was a trip into your childhood while at the same time making a spot for its self. The pilot aired during the 2002 Cartoon Network Summer fest with the title of Lowbrow. The Summer fest similar to 2000’s Big Pick aired pilots of shows that were waiting for approval. Needless to say Megas XLR was picked as a new show and soon made it’s way into the homes and hearts of many fans.

Megas XLR follows the story of three main characters, Coop Cooplowski and Jamie to average guys looking for something to fill the days. Then there is Kiva the time traveling warrior from the future that found her way to their time searching for Megas which was sent back in time during a battle in the first episode. Megas takes us were the most mech stories take the viewer. Into space and other planets but for no other reason then to fight/destroy everything the cast comes across. The show also follows the typical super robot style story telling of monster of the week. Where something happens in one episode but rarely follows over to others. Along the way we get to see some amazing parodies of classic anime such as Captain Harlock, Go Lion (Voltron), and many more then I can name. In fact Megas XLR was full of references to movies and other TV shows as well. It was one of the first cartoons of its time to really make one of the main points of the show, referencing other shows. Something that is very common in cartoons today and in other forms of the media to. Megas XLR will go into history as a great and timeless cartoon because as we all know you dig giant robots, I dig giant robot, and chicks dig giant robots.

The episode we’d all been waiting for. The last half of Season 2 and all of Season 3 have been building to this moment. Could it possibly live up to our expectations? Hit the jump to find out.

I’m gonna try to keep my fangirl-esque gushing under control for this entry. I apologize in advance if I fail.

Ok, I’m just gonna get right to it. This episode was FUCK AWESOME.

Oh, who am I kidding, on to the fangasm…

…DAMN!

AWESOME! IROH RE-DIRECT!

FUCK YEAH! ZUKO!

So, now Zuko is going to join the Gaang. And it doesn’t feel forced, he came to it honestly, and it feels right. He’s found his redemption now he just needs to find Iroh and beg for forgiveness. I can’t wait until the next episode, what is Aang going to find at the Western Air Temple? How will they react to Zuko? Where is Iroh? Can’t wait.

Oh, and one more, little thing, nothing really….

ABOUT TIME!!!

Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.

Best Messiah Complex chapter so far. Seriously, this is how things like CW and WWH should have been done. Tight, on-time, solid flow from one issue to the next.

This chapter is simply chock full of awesome moments (in no order whatsoever)…

Laura being protective. Pixie finding her strength. One minute before dawn. A great Wolverine/Gambit moment. An old X-Men tradition revisited. Something everyone has seen coming (two somethings actually).

I don’t want to talk anymore about what happens, if you haven’t read it. Read it. Now.

I’ve got to be honest here, MC has me more excited than I probably should be. I feel giddy like a kid again when I read it. Bubbly even. Is it the old style crossover? Is it the X-Men FINALLY doing something mutant related again? I don’t know, I don’t care. I don’t want this to end. I want the books to keep flowing one into another, I want things to just move forward from this, I don’t want there to be a “post-MC status quo.” This shouldn’t be the a line in the sand, past which things are suddenly different, I just want this to keep going. I hope I get my wish.

Another thing, Chris Bachalo, stay on the X-Books forever and ever? Please!? You are the best artist ever to draw anything with an X in the tittle.

I also recommend a soundtrack to this issue, The X-Men: TAS theme. Epic track for an Epic book.

Messiah Complex continues in Uncanny #493.

DMZ’s consistenly been one of my favourite series. I like Vertigo stuff as a whole, but this seems to be a departure from the normal future/fantasy/superhero stuff, which is good every once and awhile. For those who haven’t read, or even heard of the series before, it’s about a Journalist who has been stranded in the DMZ, the island of Manhattan which has been ravaged by a new Civil War. As he’s on the inside, Matty Roth must report on the people and goings-on of the DMZ without getting himself shot in the process.

(Click for larger image)

Every once and awhile, the series does a one-shot comic. Usually between arcs, it chronicles usually a couple separate members of the dynsfunctional community that inhabits the city. This issue, however, it opts to focus on one: a graffiti artist names Decade Later. An aging artist, he comes in conflict with the authorities and many other group while doing his craft, but by the end of the issue, his grand plan is revealed: a giant mural based on how the rail cars are parked in the train yard.

A very touching an uplifting tale; a true artist would appreciate it.

Chapter 4 – New X-Men #44

Blessed are the children, Blessings and Joy shall be theirs

Theirs is a Dream of Hope,

That they shall not be the Last

Children are the future, they are hope for a better world. But how can they themselves have hope when they are the last generation of their species?

Before the Decimation, Xavier’s was a vibrant place, a school for the next generation of mutants, a sanctuary from the flatscans who would see them burn. After M-Day, this all changed. What was once simply the latest batch of students to walk the halls of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, became the last generation of their kind.

And then, the killing started. But that is a discussion for another time…

This chapter of Messiah Complex finds the X-kids deciding to use this chance to take revenge on the Purifiers, for all the pain they have caused. All of them save for Dust, Elixir and David go to strike against the Purifiers. Little do they know what is waiting for them.

We also catch up with Layla and the Madrox dupe who have traved to an alternate NYC of the future, what they find there isn’t exactly pleasant.

The team of Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Wolverine and Angel have arrived in the Antarctic to confront the Marauders.

All in all, a very good chapter in MC, even though I have some issues with it. Very much looking forward to the next chapter in Adjectiveless #205.

Action Comics #859 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank was released this week. This issue continues the “Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes” storyline, a tale of Superman and his childhood friends facing persecution and peril in the far future. In the 30th century, aliens are hunted and imprisoned, all in the name of Superman. The Legion and Superman need to rescue their team members and avoid being captured by this future’s version of the Justice League. This shouldn’t really be a big deal for Supes, except for the fact that the Earth’s Sun is RED, leaving him powerless.

Take the jump for the rest of the review.

The issue starts off in the Batcave, during the year 3008. Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl (all aliens), are looking for proof that the planet Krypton existed. Krypton, of course, is the home planet of Superman. They argue about what to do about the people hunting them. Lightning Lad suggests just killing the Justice League to end their troubles. Saturn Girl disagrees, saying killing them would only make things worse, and asks the ubiquitous “What Would Superman Do?”

Apparently Earth-Man and his Justice League of Earth are destroying the Legion, and “destroying everything Superman stood for.” Before the argument can go any further, the Justice League comes crashing in through a wall, poses ready.

Mmm, Fishnets. 30th Century Fishnets.

After the fisticuffs, the Justice League takes the Legion of Superheroes to their headquarters in orbit around the Earth. The facility also doubles as a teaching center for children. Apparently, someone decided that having a super hero headquarters in the same building as a school was a good idea. The Justice League keeps the Legion locked up in tubes, just a hallway down from a classroom full of students.

A teacher asks the students about the origins of Superman. The students tell her (and us, the readers) about how Superman was born on Earth, granted powers by Mother Earth, and was the protector of Earth from extraterrestrial threats. This was discovered when Earth-Man found an ancient scripture telling of how Superman was from Earth, and hated aliens. Superman was such an influential part of the lives of those in the future, that people actually began to hate aliens because of this. Hate of aliens lead to imprisonment camps and much turmoil.

The Justice League, we find out, was comprised of humans rejected from the Legion. They took this rejection as a sign of elitism on behalf of the Legion, and with hostility.

The issue goes out with a whimper, as the cliffhanger is nothing special. Braniac 5, the leader of the Legion, is trapped in an alien prison camp. Superman and the Legion plan to rescue him. End of issue.

For a book about Superman, he barely appears in the book. Sure, his name is mentioned and he is talked about, but the actual character does not get a lot of page time. I really can’t be moved to care about the Legion from what I’ve read in this issue, and I don’t know if Geoff Johns can change that with another issue. On the upside, Gary Franks art is amazing, with very tightly rendered pencils providing detail and depth to a story that lacked it in the narrative. I’m normally a fan of Geoff Johns work, but his Superman is not impressing me.

Pick this up if you love the Legion and Geoff Johns. Otherwise, you could do without it.

 EDIT: To invoke discussion, tell me why I should care about the Legion. What issues do you feel are essential to understanding and caring about these characters and why?

Nice to see some awesome comic book writers in the mainstream.  Alan Moore is a tank.  Didn’t see the episode myself, but I probably will, soon.

So, every once and awhile Batman gets pissed off and decides that the Justice League are too goody-goody to get what he wants done. Superman and the others won’t lie, cheat, steal, or generally bend the rules to achieve what needs to happen, so he leaves in a huff, adds another child into his stable of assassins, and if he’s feeling especially randy, creates a super-team of his own. This my friends, is the premise of The Outsiders.

Anyways, this issue has a lot going on, but really doesn’t do anything but establish Batman and his new team are infiltrating some facility illegally (is there any other kind of infiltration?). You’ve got basically the same lineup as the previous Outsiders team, minus “big shot” B-listers like Nightwing and Arsenal. You’ve got Metamorpho, Grace Choi, Lightning, and Katana; the latter three are devoid of any real characters development besides “I’m tall, and a lesbian” “I’m black, and a lesbian”, and “I’m asian, and can fight well.”

Martian Manhunter’s also doing his shapeshifting trickery, which is always good fun. Catwoman’s there for the burglarizing, and I guess in part because she wants Batman in the sack. It’s a pretty decent read, with a revelation of an (or should I say the remaining) OMAC at the end, so next issue should be more than your standard “Now presenting….!” issue.

Hopefully.