Cosplay is fun and exciting, but sometimes you want to wear something that shows your nerdy pride and doesn't take weeks to make --- and maybe has some pockets. Casual cosplay is the perfect way to embody your favorite character while still wearing something work appropriate.
This gift guide has a ton of recommendations for the casual cosplayer in your life, from cozy sweaters to screen-accurate jewelry.
Lula, Chimi, and Ronny are in deep doo-doo! The flatulent witch wants her revenge, and with Lula and Chimichanga lost in her forest, there is no way they can escape her stink! Will Lula lose her glorious beard to the witch's mystic potions-or will Ronny's ugly face finally come to their rescue?
The post Chimichanga: The Sorrow of the World's Worst Face #3 (EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW) appeared first on CBR.com.
Comic Book Questions Answered – where I answer whatever questions you folks might have about comic books (feel free to e-mail questions to me at brianc@cbr.com).
Reader Greg S. wrote in to ask:
Something that has confused me for years (decades?) started with Uncanny X-Men #254. That issue launched a new era of the team, complete with iconic costumes, the same premise as All-New All-Different (actually one better – they really thought the former X-Men were dead). They even had the obligatory big-muscled-guy death in an early adventure, just like Thunderbird. The Muir Island X-Men were featured or depicted in a few issues… and then the focus totally turned back to Wolverine and friends.
Clearly their tenure was short, but… why have the Muir Island X-Men been completely retconned out as not being official? When Marvel does “complete” ensemble images, they never include characters who were only Muir Island X-Men. Why the snub?
Things began in “Uncanny X-Men” #253 by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri and Steve Leialoha, where Sean Cassidy, the former X-Man known as Banshee, rescued former X-Man Polaris, who was going through some weird changes to her powers (she was now super-strong and caused emotional instability in the people around her)…
At the same time, Amanda Sefton had shown up in England to find Nightcrawler for some help. Instead, Excalibur was out of this dimension, so she instead had to find help with Alysande Stuart, whose brother had been taken with Excalibur….
The issue ended with Donald Pierce and his cyborg assault team known as the Reavers preparing to attack Muir Island and destroy it and kill both Banshee and his girlfriend, Moira MacTaggert, who is the head of the mutant research facility on the island (the facility held the surviving Morlocks from the Morlock Massacre)…
In “Uncanny X-Men” #254 (by Claremont, Silvestri and Dan Green), Alysande and Amanda showed up on Muir Island, where Banshee met them. However, in the first barrage of the attack, the Reavers shot Banshee with a sniper rifle. Luckily, Amanda could teleport, so she headed back to the facility with Banshee…
And so, the siege of the island was on, with the facility being defended by Tom Corsi, Sharon Friedlander, Banshee, Amanda Sefton, Moira MacTaggert and Alysande Stuart (with Sunder and Legion also involved, but Legion was just out of it, so he was alternately saving people and putting them into danger himself).
Luckily, help was called for, so Freedom Force (the United States government sponsored mutant strike force, made up of former members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) along with former X-Man ally Forge showed up in an awesome sequence by Marc Silvestri in the next issue…
So Freedom Force helps stop the Reavers, although Forge has to bail the rest of Freedom Force out at one point, in an also awesome sequence…
The issue ends with Forge and Banshee agreeing to team-up to find the missing X-Men…
So, Greg, it doesn't really seem like they actually formed a team. It was just a bunch of people working together to protect the island, with the costumes there just to protect them, not to serve as uniforms as a new team. So I am going to rule that the Muir Island “X-Men” are not actually X-Men.
Thanks, Greg! If anyone else has a question, let me know at brianc@cbr.com!
'
The post Were the Muir Island X-Men Actually X-Men? appeared first on CBR.com.
Future advertising executives of the world, take notice: the official Instagram account for 20th Century Fox's upcoming Logan is how you build up to the release of a movie. For the past few months, Logan has released a series of black and white photos that tease fragments of the new mutant-free world inhabited by Wolverine and Charles Xavier. Rather than simply share images found in the final movie, the Instagram account has put together a collection of photos meant to keep their social media audience engaged leading up to the film's release. The photos serve as a kind of art installation for dedicated fans of the X-Men franchise.
Knowledge Waits is a feature where I just share some bit of comic book history that interests me.
Today, in honor of Venom's latest host from this week's “Venom” #1, I figured I'd show all of the Venom symbiote hosts over the years! We'll go in chronological order.
First up is Deadpool from “Deadpool's Secret Secret War” #3 by Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli…
That, of course, was followed quickly by Peter Parker in “Secret Wars” #8 by Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, John Beatty, Jack Abel and Mike Esposito (I don't know who specifically inked these pages, although I sort of presume it was Beatty)…
The next host was the one who first got the name “Venom” for the symbiote, and that was Eddie Brock, as we saw in “Amazing Spider-Man” #300 by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane…
During “Venom: Sinner Takes All” #3 (by Larry Hama, Greg Luzniak and Scott Hanna), Eddie Brock forced the symbiote to leave him to help save the life of his injured ex-wife, Ann Weying, by bonding with her…
There was a “Venom” series in 2003 by Daniel Way, Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco where this woman named Patricia Robertson bonded with a CLONE of Venom. I don't think that counts, but I figured I'd mention it…
Eventually, Eddie Brock becomes sick and decides to auction off the Venom symbiote to criminals and ends up getting paid 200 million dollars for it (he divides the money up between 50 charities). The winner was a mobster named Don Fortunato, who wanted it for his son, Angelo Fortunato. Fortunato debuted as Venom in “Marvel Knights: Spider-Man” #7 by Mark Miller, Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson…
The symbiote abandoned Angelo the next issue, and kills him. In “Marvel Knights: Spider-Man” #9 (by Millar and the Dodsons), the symbiote then bonds with Mac Gargan, the villain formerly known as the Scorpion…
It remained connected to Mac for a while, although he lost it at the end of the crossover, “Siege”. During the “Siege: Spider-Man” #1 one-shot by Brian Reed and Marco Santucci, the symbiote briefly bonded with Ms. Marvel…
The United States military now had control over the symbiote and they decided to militarize it. There were a few failed trials, so those people would totally count for this list, I just can't find them anywhere. Anyone? But whatever, Soldier 1 and Soldier 2, we'll call them, were tests at the idea of having a government agent using the symbiote.
Their first successful subject was Flash Thompson, as we first saw in “Amazing Spider-Man” #654.1 by Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos and Carlos Cuevas…
Early on, the symbiote was separated from Flash when he was back at base, which led to a weird issue of his own series, “Venom” #7 by Rick Remender and Tom Fowler, where the symbiote briefly bonded with a German Shepard (I know that doesn't count as a human host, but hey, it was funny, so I included it)…
Similarly, in “Carnage U.S.A.” #5 by Zeb Wells and Clayton Crain, the symbiote also bonded with a gorilla temporarily…
In “Venom” #14 (by Rick Remender and Tony Moore), Venom gave up his symbiote to the Red Hulk, who also was given the Ghost Rider's enchantment, so he was Red Hulk/Ghost Rider/Venom. It was pretty awesome…
Towards the end of his ongoing series, in “Venom” #39 (by Cullen Bunn and Kim Jacinto), Flash (who was working as a gym teacher) let his symbiote split to help save a student…
After joining the Guardians of the Galaxy, Flash lost control of the symbiote. Again, these aren't technically HUMAN hosts, but whatever, it's interesting still. So in “Guardians of the Galaxy” #21 (by Brian Michael Bendis and Valerio Schitti), the symbiote bonded with Groot…
Then the next issue, it bonded with Rocket Raccoon…
and Drax, as well…
Recently, Flash let the symbiote intentionally bond with a space pirate in “Venom: Space Knight” #5 by Robbie Williams and Ariel Olivetti. Does that count?
Finally, in this week's “Venom” #1 by Mike Costa and Gerardo Sandoval, the symbiote has been separated from Flash somehow and it is searching for a new host. It temporarily bonds with a homeless guy…
before finally finding Lee Price, a mob enforcer (a former soldier who lost a couple of fingers overseas) who becomes a new, fully villainous Venom…
And that brings us up to the present day!
If anyone else has an idea for something that they'd like me to feature in a future Knowledge Waits, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!
The post Meet All of Venom's Human Hosts appeared first on CBR.com.
