Sunday, March 22, 2009

WE'RE BACK!!!...

I was going to make this about Super Smash Bros., but something truly wonderfully awesome has happened tonight and I feel the need to spread the joy around. After several years of spartan music selection (considering what came before), the hard drive with all my digital music, every song I've ever gotten and put on the computer, has magically began to work again! It is a true miracle and I am happier than you can imagine...

Now, those close to me might say, 'Hey, what about you and Tara and the big to-do and all...' That is for another post for another day. You know, after the fact. No, tonight the joys of my own music selection are almost back to where I was before I moved up here. Thousands upon thousands of songs are mine once again, and once I combine them with the iTunes (eventually) and all the songs I acquired whilst up here, I shall feel a certain amount of peace of mind...

So here's my advice to you, kiddies: Don't put all your crap in only one format. If that format becomes lost (say, a crashed hard drive or assholes take your collections out of your car cause you are too damn dumb to lock your car...), have at least one back up in a different format. Since I thought I lost both in a very short time lapse, it was more devastating than I would care to explain. Even if you burn your cds onto a drive, don't get rid of the hard copies. Store them away until you need them again or run out of storage room or whatever. Such relief you can't buy...

Next: A Smash Bros. post...

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Part DUECE!!!...

Finalizing the review of Hulk vs Thor, so here it comes...



The story involves Loki, god of mischief and Thor's brother, trying to find a way to kill of his brother once and for all. And, despite all attempts in the past, the only thing that came close to beating Thor was the rage machine himself, The Hulk. So Loki, along with the Enchantress, capture Banner, turn him into the Hulk, then proceed to physically REMOVE BANNER FROM THE HULK!!! Ok, I can't actually be that upset over this. I had to accept it when Jean Grey did it during the Onslaught saga. So, with Banner gone, Loki gains control of Hulk and sends him rampaging through the streets of Asgard. As can be expected, Big 'n Green mows through gods (yes, plural), dukes it out with Thor a bunch, Loki loses control, Hulk rampages more, and then Hel (Norse goddess of the underworld, kids) gets involved, restores Banner to Hulk, and that's where it ends. I gotta say, after I wrote 'Hulk rampages more', that was where I was comfortable stopping...

Gotta make this good, so the good points first. Like Hulk vs Wolverine, the costumes and art are spot on, if a bit stylized. If you want my opinions on that, check out the other post. But I actually have to praise the art further, because, unlike in HvW, there was more material to be faithful to. They really did nail it and it was all believable in the context of this story. The other item that made it a bit more enjoyable than the movie that came before it was the ending, and more like it actually had one. While HvW ends ambiguously (groan), HvT ends with Asgard being saved, Hulk returns to Midgard (Norse for the Earth, kids), and the heroes win the day, or as much as you can call getting your crap kicked all over the mythological planes by the avatar of all destruction (apparently)...

That segues nicely into my biggest problem with this pile: Hulk takes on the majority of the Norse pantheon and rips it to shreds with barely a mark on him. Yeah, I know, the madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets, but this is plain retarded. Big movers and shakers like the Norse gods barely slow Hulk down, but Wolverine holds his own? What kind of precedent is being set here? Are we allowing Wolverine to be this powerful or is it just that the Norse gods can't get their shit together and, oh I don't know, BANISH HULK FOR ALL ETERNITY TO SOME ABYSS IN THE ABYSSAL PLANES?!?!? (ok, I lost my way in that rant). Still, I know Hulk is the 'ultimate wrecking ball on legs', but these are FREAKING GODS!!! I kind of want to see what kinds of berzerkers and barbarians would have worshipped Hulk as a god now. Friggin' sweet...

The other issue I have is that, even though Loki lost control of Hulk, Hulk continued rampage and destroy his way to the sleeping Odin, I guess with the intention of destroying him(?). The Hulk I remember reading wouldn't mindlessly go towards a shiny light to destroy it. He'd make his way out of Asgard in a couple of leaps, just to be left alone. That's all Hulk really wants in the end is to be rid of Banner (check, at least for a while) and to live alone. After Loki was gone, there would have been no motivation or remote reason to go after Odin. A liberty that must have been taken, I suppose...

Style: See HvW, mostly. As I said before, way to go artists for making the art incredibly faithful, despite your own spins on it. Get these guys and gals more jobs and better scripts to work with...

Story: While HvW was in the realm of the absurd, HvT went with acceptable and Buh-Horing. It was predictable, flat, and not all that interesting to watch. Yes, this ending was better, but that was the best part about it. It was over...

Voices: Meh. Nothing really worth writing about. Not great, not awful...

Grade: D+ to C- and a plea for a redo. Art alone cannot make this piece all that worth my while. They could have stepped it up a little, but I get the feeling someone was trying make an easy buck with this two set. Gave my copy to my roommate. He couldn't get through them both, that's how disappointed he was. If you want to opinion on this, post here. Or better yet, find me, ask for my copy, then give it back with your own review. Tell me I'm wrong with this review...