Back to Sunnydale

That program brought back a lot of great memories, even though I am old enough to remember only half of those games. I can clearly remember watching John Riggins' run to glory behind the "hogs" in Super Bowl XVII. To this day I cannot watch highlights of Super Bowl XVIII with Marcus Allen sprinting through the Skins' defense to give the Raiders their last SB triumph in 1984. 

Some of my favorites are SB XII when Dallas beat Denver. Though I am not a fan of the "doomsday defense" that particular show is very well done and I am glad the Broncos lost. I also love SB XIV where Pittsburgh captures its fourth title by beating the Rams. Again, a gorgeous program with superb narration by John Facenda. Another game which was clearly stamped on my mind may have been one of the best football games in modern times, the clash between the Giants and the Buffalo Bills in the 1991 game. It's memorable because the Gulf War was going on at the time and we weren't even sure if there was going to be a super bowl that year. Thankfully, the game was played and Whitney Houston's rendition of the national anthem before the game was one of the most moving I have ever witnessed. I am sure nobody will ever forget poor Scott Norwood's kick sailing wide.

Thank God NFL films was around all these years to capture the pageantry, the excitement and the drama of sports' greatest spectacle.

Plot: Wolverine bursts into the X-Mansion where Rogue is currently in charge, busts in on Sabertooth, who has been a sanctioned member of the X-Men for a while now and seeks an all out brawl with Creed to end their long running feud once and for all. In a totally unrelated story, Wolvie gets his memories back and retells the tale of his Candian encounter with the Incredible Hulk while he was a rookie member of the Alpha Flight team.

Comments: There are two stories in this book, and the second story in the second part of the comic is by far the best of the two. It uses that dot matrix type of coloring to invoke intentionally an “old school” feel in an homage to Wolverine’s first appearance in Incredible Hulk #181, but the best part is I can actually read this story and figure out what’s going on which is more than I can say for the first tale of the issue.

Though the art work is excellent, the first story uses very dark hues. I am tired of reading dark comic books. I am not sure if it is an editorial decision to make the action seem grittier and more adult oriented in theme or the colorist's fault for employing these palettes, but it lessens the impact of the final scene of the first half of the comic. The reader can’t even fully make out the pivotal message left in blood on the wall because of the dark tones, nor could I 100 percent discern what was happening in the fight with the Lupines which opened the story. It’s a trend that is becoming more and more prevalent in comics these days, and I am starting to really resent it.

I am also tired of Wolverine/Sabertooth fights. It would be cool if one of them did end it, but it’s been done so much, it’s lost its impact. It’s like Venom being killed off by too many appearances in Spider-Man comics. At some point it becomes trite. I found myself bored halfway through this story instead of salivating with fanboy enthusiasm which I guess was the intended effect. Wolverine and Sabertooth’s showdown in the Morlock tunnels in Uncanny X-Men #210-213 was suspenseful and thrilling. This not so much.

Like I said, the second story is the best part of this comic. Wolvie uses the exact same dialogue in his battle with Hulk as he does in the original Hulk comic, but what is cool is that with some clever use of retconning, Loeb explains away the reasons for Wolverine’s raw look and his somewhat hackneyed fight banter. There’s even a good twist at the end of the battle which ends the proceedings on a heck of a cliffhanger. The thing is, I am not even sure you can call it retconning because strictly speaking, the changes that are made, except for the final climactic panel, don’t really alter the original story; rather, they enhance it, which is what good storytellers are supposed to do. My kudos to the entire production team for this.

The good: The artwork by Ed McGuinness in the second story is amazing. He has done some good work in the past, but here his Hulk looks truly menacing and formidable as he should I enjoyed his work on Superman for DC, but this is really impressive stuff. The artwork in the first story isn’t bad either, but Bianchi and Silvestri’s work is mired by the poor choice of coloring.

The bad: I am sure that this book will be marketed as an extra sized comic with a larger page count. What the Marvel hype machine will fail to tell you is that the book suffers from the usual Marvel “panelitis” sydrome which I have always had mixed feelings about. I have always maintained that the bigger panels cheat the reader by actually giving us less story by cutting down on the number of panels per page. It’s hard to dispute this fact, but when the art is as kinetic and as gorgeous as it is in the second half of this comic, that’s a gripe that I almost hate to make.

Final word: Despite some apparent flaws, this comic book is still a good anniversary issue for our favorite feral Mutant.

Our utter dissappointment over the Chargers' loss in the AFC divisional playoffs last week almost prevented us from fully enjoying the AFC championship game. Nevertheless, we muddled on and watched as Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts mounted an inprobable comeback win against the Patriots. I detest the entire Manning family and Eli especially for refusing to play for San Diego but I think it is only human nature to root against the team which beat you so I loved every minute of the Patriots' second half collapse on Sunday.

Though it made me sick to my stomach to watch that fiend Irsay who owns the Colts accept the Lamar Hunt trophy, it was the lesser of two evils.

Over on the NFC side, the Bears easily dominated the game and took care of Drew Brees and the Saints. It is a shame that New Orleans' dream season had to end this way, it would have been nice to see Brees (a former Charger) get a ring but c'est la vie. In the end, the Chicago defense which had been brilliant all season proved to be too much as they racked up turnover after turnover and sent the team to their first super bowl since the much celebrated 1985 team which many rightfully consider as the best defensive unit of all time.

I had a bad feeling about the Saints' chances when earlier in the week I saw Brees on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Chicago's defense playing at home and the dreaded SI cover curse was too much for Brees and the Saints to overcome. The stage is set for the ultimate showdown: Chicago's defense against Indianapolis' pass happy offense. Is there any doubt who we will pick to win it all? Da Bears!

This week I am reviewing a couple of new titles for Marvel, the most promising seems to be Silent War #1 a six issue mini by David Hine and artist Roy Allan Martinez which comes out next week.

This comic is a direct follow-up to Hine's excellent "Son of M" from last year which starred Quicksilver. This one follows the conflict concluding in that series and stars Marvel's moon dwelling mutants the Inhumans. I will have a complete review of this issue posted on the silver bullet comic book website next Sunday, but for now suffice it to say that I really enjoyed the book and recommend readers who are fond of the characters to pick it up. It may also be a good book for fans of the Fantastic Four as they are prominently featured in the first issue.

How does this series reconcile the events in the other popular Marvel war which is now ending? What happens when Medusa and other members of the Inhumans' royal family ideologically clash against Black Bolt on the issue of war against humans? What part will S.H.I.E.L.D. Quicksilver and O.N.E. play in the silent war??

The other Marvel book I am reviewing is Wolverine #50 which is the long anticipated anniversary issue written by superstar Jeph Loeb and featuring some stunning artwork by Simone Bianchi and Ed McGuinness. Not sure when this book will be out but if you can't wait for my review, you can check out a preview courtesy of the pop cultureshock website. 

Though I have yet to read it, it looks like this issue re-visits the historic meeting between Logan and the big green goliath from his origin in Incredible Hulk #181 which is now a modern classic tale from the 70s. I love the fact that they are paying tribute to Len Wein, Herb Trimbe and John Romita Sr. as well they should for creating such modern Marvel classics. Be sure to get your copy, looks like it will be a keeper.

It took me almost a full 48 hours to get over the shock of San Diego's disappointing loss in the NFL playoffs. It will take me the entire off season to fully understand it. Despite the fact we went 14-2 on the season and were obviously the best and most prolific offensive team in football this year, the Chargers were victimized by bad breaks, turnovers and a bad second half of Sunday's game against the Patriots.

Sometimes the best team doesn't win. Ask the 1998 Vikings who went 15-1 only to be upset by Atlanta and ask this year's Chargers squad.

What's worse is the loss brought our overall playoff prediction record to 5-3 one game behind the New Agency blog's 6-2 record. I went 2-2 picking the winners while they were 3-1 thanks to the Patriots inprobable upset.

A lot will be said about New England having more experience than the Chargers but I want to go on record saying that the Patriots didn't beat us, as much as we beat ourselves. Eric Parker, relibable most of the season fumbled a kick return and despite picking off Brady to seemingly secure the win, the Patriots made a good play on special teams to rip the ball away and to cause the turnover which turned the game around.

It was a very disheartening way to end a brilliant season.

We think that the Patriots will get crushed by Indianapolis in the upcoming AFC title game, though we probably won't be around to see it. The Colts' resurging defense playing at home in the RCA dome will be too much for New England.

We have no recourse other than to root for our former quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints against the Bears in the NFC. Rex Grossman should have another subpar performance and the Bears' defense and special teams won't be enough to bail them out this time against a potent New Orleans offensive barrage.

Our super bowl pick: New Orleans beats Indy to win their first ever NFL title.

Before this weekend's slate of NFL playoff games roll by, I have to make my costumary NFC predictions. Thus far we are tied with the New Agency blog in picking the playoff winners but that may change soon enough.

I don't have a clear favorite for the NFC since I am a Chargers fan, though I have been picking San Diego to be in the big game ever since the season opened and we are 2 games away from making it happen.

As far as the NFC, one intriguing matchup features the Philadelphia Eagles taking on the New Orleans Saints. The Saints' QB Drew Brees as everyone knows is having a phenomenal season putting up league MVP like numbers.

Even though the Saints have been inconsistent at home this season (4-4) and the Eagles are a good road team (5-3), I look for the Saints' potent offense to operate well at home this game. Jeff Garcia can make things happen for Philadelphia and Brian Westbrook has been coming on of late, so I look for this to be a close game with the Saints pulling out the victory.

the pick: Who dat says they can beat the Saints? the San Diego Chargers that's who!

The other intriguing contest features the conference's best team the Chicago Bears taking a banged up Seattle Seahawks team in Chicago. If it weren't for the fact Rex Grossman has been very inconsistent all season long playing under center for the Bears, this game would not be even close. His quarterback rating has been going down since September. As it is, Seattle's defense had a solid outing against the Cowboys in the opening round but their victory was as much do to luck and to Tony Romo than their own skill. Besides, you have to figure that the edge on special teams goes to the Bears who can score in more non traditional ways than many other teams in the league today.

The pick: Take 'em Bears playing at home over them lucky Seahawks. Seattle's luck runs out this weekend.

The NFL playoffs are finally underway. Now that we are into january, the superbowl tournament has begun and already we have had plenty of action in the wildcard round!!

In the AFC the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Kansas City Chiefs mostly on the strength of their defense. Tired of hearing how maligned their run defense has been this year, Indy had a strong showing while their d limited Larry Johnson to under 50 total yards while stuffing the Chief's offense. In fact, KC did not have a first down until midway through the third quarter! Indy advances to play against Baltimore this weekend.

My pick: take the Ravens and their powerful defense which playing at home should be too much for even Peyton Manning to overcome.

The other AFC contest was a hard fought victory for the New England Patriots who outgunned the New York Jets in New England and advanced to play my San Diego Chargers in the divisional playoffs.

My pick: San Diego should edge out a win at home over the Patriots. Much has been said and written about the fact this will be Phillip River's first playoff game, but I gotta believe that our strong offense (which posted more points than any other in Chargers history) and our defense which includes pro bowler Shawn Merriman and Shaun Phillips should catapult the bolts to victory.

I will post my NFC picks a little later on!

...comic book of the past year 2006 was by far and away Marvel's epic Civil War. Hate it or love it, the 7-part series was a commercial (if not altogether a critical) success for the house of ideas with its premise of a superhero registration act which polarized the Marvel universe into two camps: those favoring registration under Iron Man and the rebels who opposed it guided by Captain America. Though I wasn't too crazy about Steve McNiven's artwork at first, the Ultimates' artist managed to turn in some spectacular visuals insuring that the main series at least looked impressive. Was it perfect? Not by any means, nor was it altogether original, the premise of superhero registration had been presented before in such seminal works as Watchmen but writer Mark Millar manages to insert enough new wrinkles into the story to keep it interesting.

What can't be denied is that the series Wizard called "the event of the year" boosted sales of every other book with some very good tie-in issues, the best of which was Amazing Spider-Man. I recall going into the store and asking the clerk if Ms. Marvel's CW tie ins were best sellers and he responded, "Everything related to Civil War sells."

There were also slugfests, surprises (Peter Parker unmasks in issue #2 and the Thunder God Thor makes a return later in the series, well sort of) and cliffhangers a plenty. No other series kept me as riveted in 2006 as this comic did and unlike last year's House of M,CW promises to have some far reaching repercussions for every character in the main Marvel U. For this alone, Civil War deserves the title of best comic book of 2006.

It's been a crappy start to the year and it's only 4 days old. On wednesday I lost my new pair of glasses. I paid $300 for them and though I vowed not to lose them as I had my previous pair back in 1999 somewhere between Jack in the Box and a trip to the bookstore I plugged them off my face to put on my sunglasses. When i realized they were missing I went back and retraced my steps, but by then of course it was too late, they were long gone, somebody swiped them or threw them away.

I'm angry at God for giving me bad genes, making me nearly blind, giving me clear vision, and then taking away said vision.

Now I have to wear my scratched old pair of glasses until I can afford to save up for another pair, even though I had the last one for only 3 months. It must be some kind of record.

The rest of the time I have been reading plays, awaiting my return to work at the college next week while also taking occasional trips to the library to do research for articles I am writing for the Weekly.

New year's eve was pretty crappy, I was going to go  out with my frien Lopez in L.A. but since the Chargers were playing that same day, I didn't bother doing so. Wendy was sick so we spend the night watching the Twilight Zone marathon on the Sci fi channel.

I have big plans for this year though which include investing in the stock market and passing enough classes to get into Cal Poly. Also, I want to go on an Alaskan cruise over the summer.

Enter Scottish scribe Grant Morrison. Eary in 2006 he launched DC's newest All Star Line with All Star Superman #1. I'm not going to rehash my review of that excellent comic book here, you can read my review if you are interested, suffice it to say that Morrison infused new life into the character by going back to basics.

"Superman is America at its finest," Morrison was quoted as saying in Wizard, "Superman loves us. He's your brother; he's your lover. He doesn't kill. [All Star Superman] is my love letter back to America. It's saying, 'You can be a Superman if you want.' " Wizard named Supes their hero of the year and with good reason: thanks to "All Star" and his participation in the Infinite Crisis maxi series, Superman was ensured an elite status in the DC pantheon of superheroes where he belongs. This only makes sense considering the last son of Krypton is responsible for kickstarting the entire industry waaay back in 1938.

For these and many other reasons, Morrison's "All Star Superman" is my pick for #2 comic book of 2006.

Next, my pick for the past year's best comic book. Miss it at your own peril!