Sauce Dog

yeah it was very straight forward...but it seems only one of us has reading comprehension Yup...totally could go either way. Same issue most critics seem to have, not that they don't know anything about comics, but it felt like stuff they've seen before. Thor first appeared in DC's Adventure Comics in 1942 so at best maybe DC is stealing from themselves ;)

Come on Bosco, you seem to hate when people claim you say things you didn't and yet here you are doing it for reviews you don't find favourable. Do you really think that he was saying DC ripped off the Thor character? It clearly reads that he thinks the movie felt like a re-tread of one of the Thor movies, and that if they were going to stick so close to the story beats/tropes of those films they might as well have picked one of the good Thor movies.

They have a very brief moment at the very end, but it really just comes across like Black Adam trying to be nice towards the resident dummy

Yup. I think the movie will do very well at the box office in the short term, as there are many things to draw a wide variety of people to it for at least a single viewing. I'm interested in seeing what, if any, legs it has and how word of mouth will be among non-comic book fans.

I didn't expect a strong story though, It's about expecting the same basic care for -script/plot/arc composition that I expect from all films by default - comic book movies do not get a pass just because some might dismiss them as 'theatre movies'. Consider that they could have ended this movie with Black Adams capture after the plane scene and it would have felt like a natural stopping point - as the build up to Sabbac, or the notion of the dangers he could unleash, wasn't at all a driving force in the narrative (or why he should not physically sit on the throne all of a sudden). A -script and movie overall can be very messy yet still be enjoyable, which is why I think most fans will find this movie is a perfectly serviceable single viewing experience. Nostaligia for Doctor Fate and the JSA means seeing this film made it worth my money in the end, but it certainly doesn't feel like it would be worth it for the vast majority of people that are not invested in some way already.

Just got out of it as well....it certainly is one of the superhero movies of all time. I'm happy we finally are at a point where the filmmakers are confident in the audience to not get confused when a handful of brand new characters are introduced without elaborate origins or exposition. Pretty much every character feels authentic to their comic book counter parts (with the lone exception of Atom Smasher, which felt like it is now a rule if you have that mask you by default have to act like the token goof/deadpool). Effects for the most part looked okay, though there are some very poor scenes that looked outright laughable in quality (landscapes, faces pasted on different bodies poorly, and most shots involving Sabbac). The Rock was very good as Black Adam, and obviously Doctor Fate stole each scene he was in (its entirely possible I went into this movie too hyped up just because of how much I've been looking forward to seeing him). The origin 'twist' for Black Adam I felt was handled well, and was perhaps the best part of the story (though it would have been nice for the trailer to not spoil that entire reveal) Structurally the film is messy though, and features some very cumbersome dialogue (which was very repetitive at times...I don't think they could resist going five minutes without saying the words hero, kill, good/evil...just in case you forgot the themes of the movie since the last scene). It being so heavy handed and on the nose with its messaging isn't necessarily a bad thing, but YMMV with it and how cringe you might find it. From a technical/film standpoint (plot, pacing, --script, editing etc) and the fact it didn't do anything that felt fresh, I can totally see why critics are justifiably hating on it. For comic fans however, especially starved DC fans, the characters being done right with fight scenes feeling straight out of a comic (though too much slow motion) is enough to feel the movie delivered and perhaps allow fans to be more forgiving with its many shortcomings.

Will CGC grade this? If yes I'll be back in the club very soon! https://bleedingcool.com/collectibles/limited-edition-spider-man-x-cinnamon-toast-crunch-boxes-swing-on-in/

As he should, because it's fantastic camp and we would do well as a society to get back to fun Batman once and awhile.

The film appeared before this publication though (unless I'm missing something and this 'June' cover date was released earlier in the year), as it was shown starting May 3, 1934 (though the films official release date was June 7th and 9th, the latter which was also made to be Donald's birthday).

Honestly, if you follow Gail for even a single day (which I recommend doing, but watch out for her troll side that riles fake-fanboys up everyday) on Twitter you would see how off the idea of her shilling for WB is (at least that was the implication I got from your comment because she is in the industry). She is one of the few vocal positive and passionate comic book creators online - her review sounds more like what I'm seeing from fans, not critics, and might be one of the more honest reviews posted thus far. More often than not she gets passionate about finally seeing characters come to life on screen and will always try to cast a positive light on these movies regardless of what the critics are saying due to that joy alone.

Saw it mentioned about reducing the amount of sets and perhaps requiring a minimum amount of comics to qualify for a set...this feels like a bad idea as it discourages collectors of every type away from the registry. Heck, if a minimum was set my winning Moon Knight set (only 6 issues) could be on the chopping block, right? It wouldn't make sense to axe an entire volume of a characters release just because it was cancelled after a few issues (and some have much less). This is fundamentally an issue with the database - not with set amounts - so the solution is unfortunately the hard job of addressing the actual DB and system, not cutting countless sets that people might feel strongly about. You want MORE sets, not less (this entire registry should be striving to become basically the Pokemon game, gotta-catch-em-all fever, for comic collectors and encourage more set building and competition) It sounds like the system is too far gone for any real easy solutions, as it would be much better to have every score generated from a set of specific point variables and only if an exception is entered for a specific issue would the default point value be ignored (for perhaps notable key issues).

As above, it's not rare so would be better to just sell and spring for another low grade universal. The only case that would make this a good conservation candidate is if the book overall looked like a high grade copy other than the split (so a very nice looking cover) and doing work on it would take it above a VG range. However based on those notes it sounds like a beater copy at best, so not worth the investment into conservation.

While my initial reflex is to dislike the idea of Hourman no longer being limited in his power anymore (he's not an HOURman anymore, rather a 24/7man), I know it is 100% an amazing idea that is leading to what actually made the original Hourman an interesting character - addiction (and not to miraclo, as many assume, but rather to thrill of superheroing and being powerful that caused him to neglect family, work, and basically anything not JSA related). Just hard to stifle the cranky old man reaction to change, even when I know what good it's leading towards

If I had to guess: Maybe the Rock has a rock solid cancellation clause in his contracts, which make shelving one of his movies a very expensive endeavour (especially one that he has been personally interested in for decades) But I honestly think it tested fine and see no reason why it would have not been made (everything makes sense on paper. Rock as Black Adam is pretty great casting)

Here's another one I sold awhile back to another boardie. Amazing eye appeal and looked better than other copies graded at 7.0-8.0 - perfect corners & edges, perfect inks, no crease or ticks...the problem: small stains by each staple due to rust (staples could be replaced for conservation but the stain damage was already done to the cover wrap) STAINS HIT THE GRADE LIKE A WRECKING BALL.

Check out this low grade. The problem? You guess it...stain! A stain on the back cover and minor foxing on the front cover (those tiny dots/blurs in the white squares on the door).

I'm familiar with the show, the point is when reflecting on the movie (the actual movie, not just conclusions from a trailer you've seen) it clearly reminded the critic of it - perhaps some actors chewed the scenery too much for his liking, or perhaps the dialog was questionable (both of these things you can find in Gotham), or like I said above he might just be using the reference as a literary shorthand (like saying 'its from the CW'). It might not remind others of the same references, but I 100% get the framing and meaning behind his critique (though I might not necessarily end up agreeing with it, but the message is clear to me)

You are reading the review too literally and expecting it to be making an exact 1 for 1 comparison; not all characters mentioned are from Gotham or the MCU - obviously, just that perhaps the feeling they invoked in the critic felt like something ripped from a show (in quality, or acting, or some other respect) or another film. The writer is simply using shorthand to express his idea - don't take it so literally. It's the same when people here say something looks like it was from the CW (they don't mean the character was literally adapted on a previous CW show) Doctor Fate could easily, and understandably, come across as something casual movie goers have seen before in the way of Doctor Strange, while the others are not necessarily bringing anything new to the table visually or story wise. This isn't a knock against Black Adam, it just makes sense at this point in the superhero genre things (power sets, costumes, origin stories, whatever) start to feel less special and played out, requiring something more to impress people in an otherwise average movie.

I told him if things change for him that he can buy it back from me for the same cost (well, adjusting for any inflation) and I plan to hold onto it at least until next year (or whenever I get an offer I cannot refuse, obviously), but it's 99.9% certain he won't ever be able to justify spending this amount on a comic again due to an ever growing family (but at least the hope is there).

Follow up to my above post; Book is now in hand after the signing (remained the same grade, which I'm happy for as I honestly expected a slight grade decrease) and looks aaammmaazzing in hand (no ugly color breaking creases or missing pieces, was only hit hard on grade due to stains that are only really obvious on the back cover). The inks really pop and the whites are nice and crisp. Not sure how long I'll hold onto it, but for now I'm all in the Usagi fan club (read a slew of his series before this arrived in order to properly catch up and appreciate it)

Joined the Black AT club with this latest purchase (it's where it's AT, as I never got into Cerebus and certainly don't care for Dave Sim so won't be hunting that down). Wasn't ever planning on buying this book but my friend had to sell it to cover financial issues and figure might as well (especially since the book looks amazing in hand and basically high grade due to no ugly color breaking creases, it was knocked down due to stains mostly only visible on the back cover). Now just the question is how long I keep it for.

Honestly, these reviews seem in line with what I expected, mid at best, but that's fine for these sort of things. I certainly don't believe there is some mass critic conspiracy (though I've read critics who actively said they would praise certain directors regardless as well, specifically ones for Woody Allen and Tarantino). If one is only reading critic scores for a final number, and is overly concerned with an aggregate score, then it's missing the point of critics (there are some I constantly read who always score stuff I like super low, but they frame it well and I appreciate hearing it). This one review below, which seems to have ruffled some feathers, feels authentic and a legit issue. The general audience are not comic book historians, so of course anything that is similar to prior releases will feel ripped off and if they are not doing something unique with these similar characters there is greater risk of landing flat (the point it; we've seen all this spectacle before, and in some cases those earlier/cheaper depictions might have felt better/fresh). And I don't think anyone here would argue that the Rock and the rest of the marketing team on this movie hasn't been over testing and working this movie hard for years (One of my two main concerns with this movie over the last year was it might succumb to feeling overly-refined-by-committee and the CGI wouldn't get the treatment it required, at least with the latter I have heard nothing bad thus far)

Okay, so I know that I'll want it real bad after a night of drinking. Good to know.

Foxing is a stain, which hits books HARD depending on the severity. Foxing isn't as outright bad as a full on liquid stain, but due to it discolouring the paper you cannot expect all instances of it to be considered a minor defect. None of those grades look out of line for those grader notes.

It's crazy. Overpriced IMO, the majority of bidders stopped at around $300 and it was two guys who drove it up the rest of the way. Remember decades ago one company thought to introduce a product that was a clear display which included dozens of tiny pieces from the most valuable key comics ever (pieces of Action 1, AF15, Batman 1, Cap1 etc basically like a comic version of the "Mini Museum" displays you can still buy today) and they were mocked and laughed off the internet without getting it funded...stuff like this makes me think they would have sold out had they waited to release it in these bonkers times.