All posts by Ian

Rant Timing #6: The Invasion Becomes Not So Secret

Rant Timing #6: The Invasion Becomes Not So Secret

Today, I made a mad rush to the comic book shop the minute I left work. I needed something in particular, before I could get spoiled. I needed a book that will change the face of the Marvel Universe for years to come. Even though I am getting it FOR FREE in two weeks, I still spent $3.99 on Secret Invasion #1. Am I in Marvel’s pocket now? Probably, but you know what? I could care less. Spoilers to come after an image of The New Avengers as Skrulls, from one of the 12 different Secret Invasion #1 covers.


This comes from a post I made on the forums, but I figured it was good and long enough to warrant posting it here on the web site as well. Once again, spoilers ahead, so you have been warned.

Call me crazy, but do you think “He loves you” is a trigger phrase? Maybe it is indeed simply a variation on a Beatles lyric, which would also lead nicely into being explained by John the Skrull in the upcoming MI:13 series? A battle cry of sorts, stemming from when Earth music was first beamed into space, which might have been what called Skrull attention to our planet in the first place. Crazy, but I love coming up with crazy explanations.

Now, as for the heroes that just returned to Earth, I say some will be Skrulls, while some will be originals. If I am correct about there being sleeper Skrulls, there will be some heroes that do not even know they are aliens. During the Skrull-Kree War, some heroes were captures and brought to a cell with other heroes that were already “captured.” I believe that the Scarlet Witch that came to Earth is our Scarlet Witch. This explains why there is no Chaos Magic quite well, as it was created by a Skrull to explain away increased powers. The Beast of the group is ours, with the feline Beast being a Skrull; the secondary mutation was simply shape manipulation. Our White Queen is real, but so is the Phoenix that just came back. Best explanation for the multiple Jean Greys anyone can have: there was always just one; the rest were Skrulls. Now Scott will have to choose once more between two women who have his mind in the palm of their hands, and his heart too.

Up in the air is Hawkeye and Wonder Man, I highly doubt Ms. Marvel is a Skrull, and it would be evil to have Jewel be the real Jessica Jones after all the character building Bendis has done for her over the years. Luke Cake, the Luke Jessica married, is a Skrull. Hence the baby is half Skrull, half human.

The Vision will be the easiest to debunk, since he is an android. If this one is not an Android, it is a Skrull. Spider-Man is not a Skrull, since that would be too damn easy.

Mar-Vell is Kree, attacking the enemy. One of the Thunderbolts is a Skrull, and my money is indeed on Norman Osborn. Although if it is Penance, that would be fun too.

Mockingbird is human, meaning that if our Clint is the real Clint, he’ll have to choose between Maya and a women he thought he saved from hell to get to heaven where she belongs.

Iron Man and Captain America from space are Skrulls, and are part of the group of heroes I mentioned were in holding from the start. They are the leaders, so of course they would be the ones to copy.

Sue Richards? Tough one. No matter which way you slice it, there are problems.

Finally, we have Wolverine from space. Skrull. No way will they get rid of thirty years of Wolverine’s history like that. He will cause problems however, as it is likely his “senses” will “smell” Skrulls, while our Wolverine will still have no ability to pick up the scent.

There, I think that’s all of it. Once again, I spent $3.99 on a book I’m getting free from Heroes Corner this month because I couldn’t wait to read it. $3.99 well spent I must say.

Keep it coming, Bendis, you’ve got me hook, line and sinker! Again. I am a junkie, coming back for more Bendis multiple times a month. Anybody got a spare hit?

Comic Timing – Episode 59

For Episode 59, Brent and I are joined by Erica Hesse, artist and creator of The Key! Erica gets into a discussion with us about Women in the Comic Industry, which then switches over to a nice question and answer session about her career, her life, and some ridiculousness that can only stem from letting the forum ask questions. Sheesh! Thanks to Erica for joining us as it was a lot of fun, and I hope to see some of you this weekend at Anime Boston!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and we shall see you again next time!

Comic Timing – Episode 58: Megacon Part 2

Part 2 is out! The last two days of the Megacon is covered here, featuring the talents of Raph, Brent, Brandon and myself, as we cover the last two days of the convention. What we picked up, who and what we saw, yaoi vs. yuri, and so on. Also, we have interviews with Travis Earls and Sean Cummings of Codename: Power, Lee Bretschneider of Wheelchair Romeo, Mark Waid, current editor in chief of Boom! Studios, Jon and Jin of Two Monocles, artist Christine Bottoms, Marvel cover artist Greg Horn, writer/inker Jimmy Palmiotti, and Bryan Deemer, Brian “Pants” Christman and Adam Murdough of Comic Geek Speak, with a glomping by Peter Rios.

We had an amazing time at the convention, and we hope to see you all next year at Megacon, and in a few weeks at New York Comic Con!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and listen to our final bit of Megacon wrap on Geeks Unite! later this week.

Comic Timing – Episode 58: Megacon Part 1

Megacon baby! Brent, Brandon, Raph, Ian, all talking about Day 1 of the big Orlando comic convention. And for the first time, Brent is live and in person! No Skype! Wowsers! Also, Raph has a quick interview with Chuck Dixon, while I talk a bit with the artist of the Wonder Girl miniseries and the upcoming Wu Tang Clan graphic novel, Sanford Greene. We will have extensive updates throughout the convention, and will try our best to release an episode recapping Day 2 and 3 live from our hotel room, and of course there will be a final wrap as an after thought once we return home.

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and we will see you tomorrow for more Megacon coverage and interviews!

Geekspeak Report – Episode 5

Episode 5 of The Geekspeak Report is here! I am joined by contestant two in the Geekspeak Co-Host Challenge, Michael Yanni, known as The Yanni on The Comic Forums. Here is a complete list of what we discuss on the show:

We will be back next time with the third contestant in the Co-Host Challenge, Troy Mata, alias number6. You can e-mail the show at speakgeekspeak@gmail.com, and make sure to check out the Geekspeak Report forums, where you can spread the love for Michael.

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and see you next time!

Rant Timing #5: New York Comic Con Roulette

New York Comic Con Roulette

So, for those of you who were hoping we were done with New York conventions taking place in the middle of winter, it ain’t over yet. The following was posted on Newsarama at their Blog@ blog, in a response about NYCC being the weekend of Passover this year:

The unfortunate reality is that these were the dates we were given at the Javits Center. Javits is unlike most places in that the demand for the space far outstrips the availability, so customers, such as NYCC, are left with little to no choice as to what dates we are given. To that point, I’ll announce here first that the show will be moving back to February next year – because we want to be in February? Not really. Quite simply, these are the only dates we can get next year.

See, this is the worst part about trying to run a convention in New York. There is only one real convention center in the largest city in the world. I don’t count Madison Square Garden as that is certainly more of an arena than anything else. This convention hall can only hold so much, and it is in the ass end of the borough, three or four avenues down from the nearest subway. They are planning to extend the 7 train so that at least one train will be down there, but that is still at least a few years away from completion. There have been proposals to expand the Javits Center in order to make room for more events, but is this truly what we need? I would love to have a place in the heart of the city devoted to a convention atmosphere, but New York is simply not built to support such an addition. And so our convention center remains where it is.

As for the Passover problem of this year, I doubt is it truly going to affect the majority of the crowd. While Passover is an important holiday for the Jewish faith, I know that my family celebrates it with a family gathering, and that is it. Religious Jews will have their hands full that weekend, but how many religious Jews were planning on attending the convention in the first place? Not to be insensitive, but I doubt the number was very high. As previously stated, next year this will not be a problem, so save your money and go elsewhere instead, or wait until 2009 if there is a conflict.

New York Anime Fest, the other event run by Reed Exhibitions, will be moving to September for its second year, avoiding the winter cold as well. But will this return back to December the year after that? All I know is that most conventions have a set month to rely on, and no New York convention will ever have that luxury. I love my city, but sometimes it can be quite the pain. Anybody got a spare plot of land they’re not using? It would be awesome if you did, and decided to build a convention hall on it. Anyone? Well, crap.

Rogues Gallery #6: Ian Nottingham

It is time once again for Rogues Gallery! This time, Damian (Lord Shaper) of the Kryptographik Podcast tackles a villain from the world of independent comics! Specifically, the world of Witchblade. Yup, and his name is Ian, so that makes him a favorite of mine. Ian Nottingham is one of the biggest baddies in the Witchblade world, so enjoy Damian and his in depth coverage of the character.

If you would like to e-mail Damian, you can get in touch with him at lordshaper@lordshaper.com, and you can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Comic Timing – Episode 56: Part 2

John Mayo and Bob Bretall of Comic Book Page, Tim thefreakytiki, Brent Kossina, Ian Levenstein, all finishing the discussion on Online Ordering and the LCS. Enjoy!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and see you folks next week.

BKs Bullets: Invincible

Brand spanking new addition to the Comic Timing Family! Well, sort of. Depends how you look at it really, as technically the Flash episode was released a while back, but hey, technicality on that one. For those who do not know, Brent puts out a segment for Raging Bullets called BKs Bulets, where he reviews something DC related, whether it be comic book or media, in about 15-30 minutes. Well, Brent is taking BKs Bullets and expanding upon it, so any non-DC related material will be released here! This time, he goes through the 1st volume of Invincible, Robert Kirkman’s Image creator owned title that began the Kirkmanverse.

Give us your thoughts on this episode on the forums, and thanks for listening! Oh, and thanks to Brent for choosing Comic Timing.

Comic Timing – Episode 56: Part 1

Part 1 of our discussion on Online Ordering is here! We also touch on the LCS, what makes one great, what drove some of us away from going to ours in favor of online, and so on. The panel is Brent, Just Bill of The Comic Book Drawerbox, John and Bob of Comic Book Page, and Tim, thefreakytiki!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and I shall see you next week for Part 2!