PC POST #155: -PREVIEW- Thunderbolts #12 & Infinity!

posted by @Ivo

This new issue marks the beginning of a new era for Thunderbolts with Charles Soule as the driver of this truckload full of anti-heroes. This marks the return for this issue of Steve Dillon at the pencils. I'm really looking forward for this issue.

At the bottom of the page there is some hints about the Thunderbolts role in "Infinity".

THUNDERBOLTS #12

-PREVIEW-

 @CBR

For the Infinity news Charles Soule opened up a little bit the veil of the upcoming issue #14 of Thunderbolts...

“Thunderbolt Ross made the same offer to each of these operatives,” says incoming writer Charles Soule. “‘I have a bunch of gamma-related messes in my past that I want to clean up, and I need a team to do it. If you do one for me, then we’ll do a mission for each of you.’”

Seasoned killers like Punisher, Elektra and Deadpool tow plenty of ghosts in their wake, haunted by missions gone awry, challenges unmet, and targets that got away. The chance to attack those pet projects with a robust vigilante squad proves hard to pass up. With Frank Castle’s name drawn from the proverbial hat, the mercenary points to a notorious New York crime family long due for eviction.

“When INFINITY happens, obviously all of [the Punisher’s] meticulous planning goes straight to hell,” Soule says.

Surfacing in lower Manhattan, the Thunderbolts need to navigate up to the Bronx.

“New York City traffic and transportation is bad enough at the best of times, and certainly getting up to the north end of the island in the middle of an alien invasion is no joke.”

Frank Castle refuses to abandon his quarry, even in the face of extraterrestrial strife or transit delays. Of course, gridlock represents only part of the problem. The crime family at the center of the mission slams down on the panic button. 

“The alien invasion forces them to bunker up, making the job all that much harder,” shares Soule.

@MARVEL

PC POST #154: Marvel Heroes MMO - Punisher Insight!

posted by @Ivo

MARVEL HEROES MMO 

PUNISHER INSIGHT!

After some time testing, i think i can finally do some basic review about the character.

This character isn't available for free you have to buy the Starter Pack or if he drops in-game.

When you buy the starter pack you have 2 suits to use: Modern Punisher and Classic Punisher.

Modern Punisher.

Classic Punisher.

You got two more suits that you can buy it on store or if you buy the Ultimate pack..

Trench Coat Costume.

War Torn Costume. (Sorry about the cursor).

The last costume "War Torn" i don't remember seeing it in any Punisher issue and i pretty read almost every Punisher issues.

Next section i will talk about the bars of status, we got Health or HP, Spirit, Vengeance and the Experience bar.

Health - is to show your health condition;

Spirit - Some powers uses spirit as a source. If you use them you will see the points decreasing;

Vengeance - If you increase your killing spree the more points you will earn for this bar. Which is good because instead of you spending spirit you can spent vengeance.. It's basically free source;

Experience - shows how much experience you have to level up.

Now we are going to talk about the "Powers" in this section we got "three main trees": Firepower, Assault and Explosives. The last two uses Spirit and in some special ocasions it will use Vengeance.

 FIREPOWER

Rifle Shot - Fire a shot that damages the first enemy in its path

Driven by Vengeance (passive power) - Your powers occasionally cost vengeance instead of spirit. This power allows you to use your secondary resource bar instead of spirit when you use powers that require spirit.

Deadly Barrage - Hold down the hotkey to fire a continuous stream of bullets.

Armor Piercing Shot - Fire a shot that pierces all enemies in its path. Hold down the hotkey to increase damage.

Lock and Load - Regain some spirit.

Shotgun Blast - Blast enemies in front of you.

Impact Shot - Fire a powerful shot that knocks back an enemy.

Flachette Blast - Blast enemies with shrapnel, causing them to bleed.

  

ASSAULT 

Steel Toed Kick - Put your boot into enemies in front of you, knocking them back.

Quick Escape - Roll out of combat, stunning enemies in your path.

Pain Tolerance (passive power) - Pain don't hurt. This power increases your defense.

Killer Instinct (passive power) - Deal extra damage to enemies that aren’t attacking you, and gain vengeance when striking fear into your enemies hearts.

Cold Blooded Crusader (passive power) - When you defeat an enemy, nearby enemies flee in fear.

Combat Lunge - Lunge into combat, stunning all enemies at the end of your movement.

Show No Mercy - Ruthlessly stab an enemy that is stunned for knocked down.

EXPLOSIVES 

Explosive Rocket - Launch a rocket that explodes when it hits.

Flashbang Grenade - Launch a grenade that stuns enemies in the blast.

Proximity Mine - Throw a bomb that explodes when an enemy approaches it.

Punisher The Guilty - Attach a bomb to an enemy, who flees in FEAR until the bomb explodes.

Chemical Mine - Throw a bomb that explodes when the enemy approaches it, slowing and weakening each enemy in the blast.

Sticky Mine - Throw a bomb that explodes when the enemy approaches it, trapping each enemy in the blast in sticky glue.

Flamethrower Blast - Hold down the hotkey to spray enemies with lingering fire.

ULTIMATE POWER

Activate when low on health or defeated to rise up with a mighty vengeance that terrifies your enemies. I love this ultimate. This power gives +20% damage and defense, and 25% chance to cause fear for 2.5 seconds.

 I have made a video to show you the powers in-game, only one power is left, it's the sticky mine.

And that's it, it is fun playing with my favorite character from comics. But there is flaws, specially in the "Explosives" section, i think developers should increase the damage for the explosives and add some mobility of the character.

If you want to finish the story mode it's sufficient but if you play in PVP things will get very difficult and the Punisher will be like a sitting duck.

Later on, when you finish the game you will unlock some levels to do with an increased difficulty. Sometimes in story mode you could beat some levels and bosses by yourself and now you're forced to hang in with a group.

PC POST #153: REVIEW: Thunderbolts #11

posted by @Ivo

Thunderbolts #11

Review

This issue begins with Deadpool and Venom talking in a parking lot about betraying Ross, Venom is troubled about what Mercy did to some people on Kata Jaya.

We see Punisher, Red Hulk, Leader and Elektra on a subway while Leader explains what happened with the cellphones of the people that were around them on last issue.

Then we see Orestez doing some publicity of his book and in the public, Orestez spot his sister Elektra. The Punisher tries to shoot him but she stopped Frank from doing it. Ross is with them too and he turns to Red Hulk at that time a bunch of crymson dynamos invades the room. 

Orestez begins to record on a cellphone all the battle inside the room, Elektra says to Red Hulk that Orestez wants to be a martyr and make them look like the real terrorists. Red Hulk doesn't care, in the heat of the battle we see the Leader going to a computer room and hacking all communications from CIA.

On other panel we see Deadpool and Venom capture an helicopter from the police. 

Back into the conference room Red Hulk is fighting all crymson dynamos all by himself.

Back on Frank while he is looking from Orestez he sees the recording cellphone and sees that Elektra is escaping with Orestez from the building.

Venom and Deadpool rescued Ross from the building when he beat all the crymson dynamos. Frank reached Elektra and asks her about her brother and she said he was gone.

On the last page we see Leader talking with Mercy and talked about how much he has learned about himself since he was awaked by Ross. Mercy says to that his true purpose is to lead.

-OPINION-

Well this issue marks the end of a cycle, Daniel Way will leave the book to pass the torch do Charles Soule. 

Unfortunately in the beggining of this arc i got high hopes for this book but it ended as a huge let down. I even think that it went worse than the first arc.

About this issue, almost everything was done wrong the only thing i liked was the dialogue between Deadpool and Venom about betraying Ross, it's a cool dialogue between these two characters. I would wanted that Venom could ask Ross why Mercy incinerated that people on Kata Jaya, why thinking on betrayal when he could avoid that and ask him directly.

In the last review i mentioned that Frank wasn't doing nothing relevant for two issues, but with this one the count increases for three issues. He appeared more on this one but he didn't had any relevant action for a character like him. 

Why he is on this team, when we don't see what he does best? 

Why Red Hulk got all the action by himself and the other characters didn't had any activity or action by themselfs? Is this really a team book?

And why did i get the feeling that we didn't saw too much of a threat to this team, in two arcs?

Why Daniel Way keeps showing us split scenes without link them? In the last issue Red Hulk escaped with Elektra and the Leader from a possible bomb, leaving Frank behind. Red Hulk probably jump a few miles away from the possible bomb radius and in this issue we see them all together in a subway. This is just an example there are more in this issue.

One thing interesting is that i got the feeling that Mercy got a secret agenda and wants to turn the Leader against Red Hulk or the team. Her plans are unknown but in the upcoming issue it will be explained, i guess.

About the art, don't know what happened to Phil Noto and GURU eFX this book seems that somewhat they ended it in a hurry, the art went worse and the coloring didn't help a bit. What GURU eFX helped in the first arc and has done a good work in the beggining of this arc they throwed away all that i said about them previously...

The cover art was ok.

One interesting note, it seems that GURU made some mistake by coloring Orestez while escaping with Elektra like he was the Leader.

I don't have nothing to Daniel Way he make me believe on the potential of this team, i was always a ceptic about Frank's integration. Way have done good stuff but it wasn't enough to satisfy what i was expect from this book, i wish him the best for his upcoming projects.

PLOT: 2/5

ART: 3/5

COVER: 3/5

ENTERTAINING LEVEL: 2/5

FINAL EVALUATION OF THE ARC: 2/5

PC POST #152 - Avenging Spider-Man #22 Review

By @neil4LOST

WRITERS: Christopher Yost

ARTIST: David Lopez

COLOR ARTIST: Rachelle Rosenberg

LETTERS: VC’s Joe Caramagna

COVER: Paolo Rivera

EDITOR: Stephen Wacker

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Axel Alonso

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Joe Quesada

PUBLISHER: Dan Buckley

EXEC. PRODUCER: Alan Fine

Release Date: July 12th, 2013

Published monthly by Marvel Worldwide, INC.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

Price – $3.99

WRITING:

I have personally read every single issue of Avenging Spider-Man. It has been not only an enjoyable read as the Amazing and Superior companion book for Spidey but it has also stood completely on it's own. Being completely formulaic in it's approach of one and done style stories Yost has kept readers engaged every step of the way. Even with all the changes that have happened this past year with our favorite web-crawler Yost hasn't lost a step in his continuity of the story he is telling. It is sad that Avenging is now coming to a close but it is exciting to know that Yost will continue to write Spider-Man in an upcoming team-up series. We will see if that is a successful as AVS-M has been. 

In this particular issue however, Yost beautiful calls back Frank Castle and Parker's past by exposing a conflict of the two heroes attempting to take down the same villain. Yost plays on the changes that Spider-Man has gone through to allow for both Spidey and Castle to see eye to eye...possibly for the first time ever.

Rating – “A-”

ARTWORK:

The artwork in this title by Lopez is mediocre. It doesn't live up to the work that has been done on past AVS-M titles, which is a letdown. The cover calls back to vintage comic days which is a plus but the actual action and dialogue seems seem to be lacking quite a bit.

Rating – “B-”

STORY:

(WARNING – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

This issue's premise is simple. Spider-Man is bored. He has come to the point technologically where he can pick and choose in advance the type of crime he fights. One particular crime, a bank robbery, interests him and he discovers in the process that there is an imposter mysterio running the streets. In the process of trying to take the imposter down he runs into the Punisher, who is trying to kill the villain. This forces Spidey and Castle into a confrontation where Spidey admits that he now understands the reasons for what Punisher does and will allow him to continue in them as long as Castle stays out of his way. Castle takes note of this revelation in his War Journal and comments that if Spidey ever crosses the "line" that he will come after Spider-Man himself. This to me could set up some really good future conflicts between these two characters who have a long history.

Rating – “A-“

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:

This issue has intrigue, action and relationships that have developed over decades. It is great to see the Punisher cross paths with Spider-Man again and to see the reaction Castle has when Spider-Man says that he now understands the Punisher. 

Rating – “A”

OVERAL RATING OF ISSUE:  “B+"

PC POST #151: -PREVIEW- Thunderbolts #11

posted by @Ivo

Here goes the last issue of Daniel Way in Thunderbolts...

PREVIEW: Thunderbolts #11

@CBR

PC POST #150: Punisher solicitations for July, August and September

posted by @Ivo

It's been awhile since we posted solicitations, so here goes some books and appearences of our favorite character.

JULY

THUNDERBOLTS #12-13
CHARLES SOULE (W)
Issue #12 - STEVE DILLON (A)
Issue #13 - TBD (A)
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
• First, a look at the Punisher’s role on the team...does he trust his teammates?
• Then, delve into the secrets of the most mysterious thunderbolt...Mercy!
32 PGS. (EACH)/Parental Advisory ...$2.99 (EACH)

AUGUST

THUNDERBOLTS #14
CHARLES SOULE (W) • Jefte Palo (A)
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
INFINITY TIE-IN
• New Ongoing Creative Team!
• While the Avengers are away…the THUNDERBOLTS STRIKE!
• Can they take out all of NYC’s mafia before…anything goes wrong?
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$2.99

THE SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #2
NICK SPENCER (W) • STEVE LIEBER (A)
Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Cover by PHIL JIMENEZ
• With superior villains come superior problems as the year’s sleeper hit continues!
• Out of bail and aiming to stay out of jail, Boomerang must get his cronies on target – but does the PUNISHER have them targeted already?
• Nick Spencer (AVENGERS) and Steve Lieber (HAWKEYE) continue this most evil exploration into the Marvel U!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99

SEPTEMBER

THUNDERBOLTS #15
CHARLES SOULE (W) • JEFTE PALO (A)
Cover by KRIS ANKA
INFINITY TIE-IN!
• Thanos’ hordes come crashing down…
• …right in the middle of the Thunderbolts’ mission!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$2.99

THE SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #3
NICK SPENCER (W) • STEVE LIEBER (A)
Cover by Michael Del Mundo
Variant Cover by MARK BAGLEY
• With superior villains come superior problems as the year’s sleeper hit continues!
• Out of bail and aiming to stay out of jail, Boomerang must get his cronies on target – but does the PUNISHER have them targeted already?
• Nick Spencer (AVENGERS) and Steve Lieber (HAWKEYE) continue this most evil exploration into the Marvel U!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99

PUNISHER: TRIAL OF THE PUNISHER #1 (of 2)
MARC GUGGENHEIM (W) • LEINIL YU (A/C)
• The unthinkable happens when the Punisher surrenders himself to police!
• The trial of the century begins as Frank Castle admits to murdering a district attorney!
• Is this the end of the Punisher’s war on crime?
32 PGS./Parental Advisory…$3.99