Archives 2020

Something is Killing the Children #10

Something is Killing the Children

It has been written “For behold, I am sending among you serpents, adders that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you.” Damned if they didn’t end up in the book of Something is Killing the Children, chapter 10, verses 1-32!

This revelation of carnage is related by James TynionIV!
The foreboding images by Werther Dell’Edera!

The official plot:

“When Erica’s handler forces a confrontation on the street of Archer’s Peak, Erica must decide where her loyalties lie-to her employers, or to the people who need her?”

BOOM!

That’s a little bit of a mash-up really. That handler, he is really a dick, but the confrontation has nothing to do with him. Once it happens though, there really isn’t much decision making going on…it’s sort of a fight-or-flight thing.

Something is Killing the Children
In Aaron’s defense, this guy is a whiney little nuisance.

My Impressions:

  • A little character development for Erika…nice to see them adding some dimension to her.
  • Aaron, by the book and towing the company line, represents a great foil for our protagonist. I hope that he somehow survives.
  • Visually the book is inconsistent…the more important the character, the better they look…and vice versa.
  • Mature content incoming!!!!
Something is Killing the Children
Sorry dude, I think you’re guess is a little off.

Notable Appearances/Events:

  • Erika takes a stand
  • Aaron dies…pretty sure he’s not coming back from that…
  • Everyone else is on the menu

Bottom Line: 3 Stars!

This issue is a bridge between action scenes. It’s not bad, but it really isn’t all that impactful (in the grand scheme of things). However…it does go for a little shock value. (If you don’t believe me, you must have missed the picture above.) In the end, this is a set up for what feels like a rather messy confrontation. If you’re not reading this series, I question your nerd-worthiness!

Superman #25, “Mythological” part 1

Superman

“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” Learn the perils of jealousy in Superman, chapter 25, verses 1-32!

Harken to the words of Brian Michael Bendis. Feast your eyes on the vision of Ivan Reis.

The official plot:

“A colossal new threat to Superman, the planet Earth, and the DC Universe arrives on the scene in this special issue! The unique warrior called Synmar was created to represent an entire alien race. He’s trained his entire life – but for what purpose? As the antithesis of everything Superman stands for, Synmar launches his aggression toward Earth – to destroy the Man of Steel and every being on the planet! This is what Superman was born to protect us from!”

DC Comics

For the record, much of this solicitation doesn’t come through. At least not in this issue. In fact Synmar is kind of silly looking and pathetic until the last page of this issue. No doubt there’s a fight coming…I just hope it is more exciting than this issue.

Superman
Mid-fight and Superman can pick out his high school crush snapping a photo!

My Impressions:

  • Head Scratcher: Um…Lana is a professional competitor of Clark Kent, why would he give her an interview? I mean…he can literally write the article for his own paper, himself, right???
  • Having two stories presented side-by-side is just annoying. I’d have rather seen Synmar’s back story as a flashback somewhere down the line.
  • Error!: Lana gushes about some high school times with Clark. (Except it isn’t THIS Clark! This Clark is from the pre-New52 universe!!! Her Clark is dead!!!
Superman
Flashback to Lana as Superwoman.

Notable Appearances/Events:

  • Superman (Kal-El / Clark Kent)
  • Synmar Utopica (Eisno Alkor) 1st Appearance!
  • Superwoman (Lana Lang)
  • Lois Lane
  • Lex Luthor (cameo)

Bottom Line: 2 Stars!

If it wasn’t a first appearance issue, I’d say skip it. My money says that unless you’re a huge Superman fan, you won’t care about anything in this issue. Additionally, Bendis should avoid trying to comment on social issues like platonic relationships, he isn’t good at it. Oh, and if he’s trying to set up a love triangle with Superman, he really doesn’t understand the character.

THIS WEEK IN FOOTBALL! Rise of Claypool!

football

Let Ole Jack tell you about the latest Football news and how that affects your cards!

Hello Jackolytes!
With the NBA Finals in the rear view and we are starting to take our light jackets and hoodies out, drink pumpkin spice aloe waters and start to sweat the upcoming holiday season. We did it! The first quarter of the football season is over, with horrible season ending injuries and coach firings, not all of us have come out of this unscathed.
The HOLY SMOKES
SERIOUSLY! Holy Smokes! I hope you watched the Steelers game against Philly this weekend. You would have seen a young man from the University of Notre Dame play a game in which he scored 4 Touchdowns! Reggie Bush was the only other player in History to have 4 TD’s in a single game in his rookie year. Does anyone remember the one that got called back with a suspect offensive pass interference call? Chase could have had 5 TD’s…

Let ole Jack put that in perspective for ya. Scoring 75 points in a NBA Game by yourself? James Harden scored 34.3 ppg last year. Which is 5 points higher then the second player on that list MVP Giannis Antekounmpo. So in closing, hope you all have plenty of Claypool for your PC. From this point his card value will only increase.

football
“I wanna get blacked out after a game like that!”

Holy Smokes! First and foremost I wanna wish Dak Prescott a speedy recovery. Person to Person, I most definitely cry for sure if my bone was sticking out of my skin. This guy just lost $50-$100 million this off-season. No doubt about it the Cowboys will try to bring in Aaron Rodgers Next year… HOT TAKE! Jerry Jones trades 2 first round picks and 2 second round and like a 4th and a 6th rounder, cuz the pack are the pack. Dak Prescott signs with Green Bay to compete with Jordan Love! That would be a wild scenario, but you heard it here first!

Holy Smokes! Herbert is the man! Justin Herbert the First Round Selection from the University of Oregon has had a wild start to the season. 1st game Patrick “Don’t call my son Pat announcer guy” Mahomes, finding out 5 mins before the game that he is now the starter. Teddy B nobody cares, because the next game was the GOAT himself Tompa Baydy. Which Justin went blow for blow with Brady and came out with an “L”. Goes to New Orleans and throws down with another GOAT in his own right, Drew Brees. Losing… on the leg of the Money Badger… bahahaha. DOINK! So ole Jack is going to give ya perspective, but ole Jack has got ya… Herbert has not won a game, that is right the LA Chargers are 0-5. This Rookie has been in every single game, 4th quarter last possession wins type of games. Throws and amazing ball and guess what… Burrow won a game and nobody cares!! It seems Herbert is pulling ahead on the Rookie QB of 2020!
Hobby wise he is cant miss, which the list looks something like Joe Burrow, Herbert, Tua, CEH, CeeDee, Love, Taylor the best of the rest is Claypool.

football


Let’s Say Goodbye with a So Longggg!

So Longggg! Le’veon Bell. He was able to play his way out of job as the starting running back for the New York Jets. Hot Take! He did the right thing. That’s right! So Lev sat out a whole year while playing for Pittsburgh. Do you think this man really minds sitting out during Covid Season? The Jets are bad right now. Gase isn’t the guy. Darnold is not even starting. Flacco is ELITE, brightside if there is any.

football

Places I think would be interesting spots for Bell to land. Pittsburgh, because it would just be great to have him quit on the team a second time. I wanna hear the gasps from the 412 when this happens. Arizona, every former “washed up” RB Great has landed there. Miami, he can literally just go back and hole up in the strip clubs to quarantine. Because I was living in Pittsburgh during Le’Veon’s hold-out and I remember seeing so many snap chat and IG vids of Bell at the strip club. Do you, Sir!
So Longggg! To the SF 49ers chance at doing anything this year besides being second possibly in a tough NFC WEST. With the loss of Bosa and Thomas both to ACL’s, I’d be lying to if this scenario playing out didn’t make me feel good. I remember last year’s NFC Championship Game. The 9ers beat up on the pack so bad it, Randy Moss even was like DAMN! So burn all of your Bay Boys cards? Ok, or try looking into Aiyuk as a bright spot in an otherwise total loss of a year. What are they going to do at QB? Garrapolo can’t put pressure on his ankle to throw at least a lame duck, he literally threw geese! Cheer up 49ers nation. Just remember you could have had Brady…
So Longggg! My fantasy trophy… that I haven’t even held in my hand in my family league. None of which are actually related to me. Does that really matter? Ok so Lamar Hasn’t panned out as of yet. Lazard went down all year with a core injury? Just lost this week on a covid-by-law stating in the event the players game gets bumped or rescheduled you are granted the average points of that players games. In all fairness to the other team. He put up a good week. As did I, but not good enough to pull out the W. I had the perfect line-up and missed with Koo on the return. Kept rolling with Seattle. Fantasy Pick-ups to get right now if you can. Chase Claypool, Chase Edmunds, Vinny Chase… Fulgham the former packer. Count on me, Ole Jack wont steer ya wrong.
We have a responsibility to take of ourselves and others. Just think about things a little extra right now. Sanitizer never hurt nobody. Even my mouth breathing ass got used to wearing a mask. Please, make smart choices out there whether its voting or not licking door knobs but don’t lick knobs.
Thank you for checking out my post!



Bounty Battle the Glitchy Brawler

Bounty Battle

Have you ever wanted to punch a luchador with an elf or brawl as a character from Battle Chasers? In Bounty Battle you can!

Bounty Battle from Merge Games is a meta fighter that doesn’t require a classic fight-stick. Huge vortexes have opened and pulled dozens of heroes from not just different video game titles but different genres as well. As these vortexes pull our different combatants to the field of battle the throws you right into the game with your menu. For this game I started on the tutorial, more so because I assumed there would be an achievement. The tutorial takes you through the basics of the game, focusing mainly on grapples, hard and light hits.

By performing different chained attacks and hitting the opponents you build up a combo which gives you an increasing amount of bounty points. Get defeated and lose your points. It’s rather straight forward. The goal is for you to defeat all of the characters in the multiverse and bring glory to your home world. What’s unique about this brawler is that as you get wounded your character starts to glitch. We’re talking like Penelope in Wreck it Ralph but without the benefits.

Overall I found the game to be easy to pick up and learn but found it severely lacking in terms of story. This is brawling for the sake of brawling.

Dark Harvest ~ A Warhammer Horror novel

Dark Harvest

Dark Harvest follows the exploits of Harran Blackwood, a Warrior-Priest that must confront his past if he is to survive in this novel by Josh Reynolds!

Harran Blackwood was a Warrior-Priest, meaning he was a priest of Sigmar that was also a warrior in the first Warhammer Horror novel Dark Harvest. When I requested this book from the Black Library for the sake of review I hadn’t even read the details about the book. Simply put I saw the name of the writer and the cover and that was enough for me.

The story starts with Harran receiving a letter that reminds him of some rather painful memories. Arriving in the town of Wald in search of the sender finds something far older and more evil in the area. The story focuses more on slow building tension than outright horror. Along the way you learn that practically everyone in Wald is not someone worth redeeming. Told in a first person perspective Harran comes off as surprisingly relatable. He’s constantly trudging along despite his growing unease, while simultaneously battling with his own inner demons and the lies he tells himself.

Overall I found this book to be quite engaging and well worth the read. Josh Reynolds as always knocks this out of the park!

CATCHING UP ON Paramount MOVIES- PART 1

Paramount

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO PARAMOUNT PICTURES I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON SOME THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Paramount Pictures (their home page is here) had sent me a code to some of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. Part One discusses Overlord and Instant Family and Part Two focuses on Bumblebee and What Men Want! Part Three discussed Isn’t it Romantic, Pet Sematary and Wonder Park. Part Four discussed Rocketman, Addams Family/Addams Family Values Anniversary Edition, Light of My Life, Galaxy Quest Anniversary Steelbook, Crawl, Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Night Hunter! Part Five discussed Official Secrets, Playing With Fire, Shutter Island Anniversary Edition, A Quiet Place Steelbook, Gemini Man, Terminator Dark Fate and Beverly Hills Cop Triple pack! Part Six covered Like a Boss, Clueless 25th Anniversary Steelbook and The Hunt For Red October Anniversary Steelbook. Strap in and grab some popcorn and let’s get started! For our first segment of this series with NerdCultOnline we are resuming the series with a new numbering with Part 1 and discussing the classic film Airplane.

Paramount

Airplane 4k

The film follows Ted, a man who is afraid to fly, take over the plane and help it land when the pilots become sick. This film is a classic that I had honestly never seen before now and boy did I miss out! This film holds up under the 4k release and is worth the pickup, I would just advise that this release did not include a digital copy.

THANK YOU TO PARAMOUNT FOR SHARING THESE FILMS WITH US!

SO WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THESE FILMS FROM PARAMOUNT? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

Red Mother #8, The Box is Open

Red Mother

Fear the many deceivers that have gone out into the world!” Trust not those who hide their true intentions! Save yourself by learning from the book of the Red Mother, chapter 8, verses 1-32!

Only a cult member or spy would have this much inside info, on which side does Jeremy Haun stand?
What about you Danny Luckert? Are you one of the converted, or are you a spy?

The official plot:

“Daisy always suspected that Leland Black had ulterior motives in hiring her, but when the truth finally comes out, Daisy could never have expected how far his reach goes. What does Leland have planned for Daisy-and what does it have to do with the Red Mother?”

BOOM!

This is not exactly how I remember things going down in this issue. Yes Leland is a bad dude…he’s involved in the puzzle box, so that’s a given. However, this solicitation makes it seem like Daisy has been investigating the cult and just found a major piece of the puzzle. She’s not and she hasn’t.

Red Mother
When your apartment building looks like this, it’s time to move!

My Impressions:

  • It’s all about the mystery: I just can’t NOT read this. When I see this in my sub box, it immediately goes to the top of my reading list.
  • Visuals (pun intended): Creepy both paranormally and psychologically. Perfect for the story. (Note that I didn’t say pretty.)
  • Addicting: Yes…who/what is this cult? What do they want? What is the creepy monster thing that Daisy keeps seeing? Why isn’t she questioning her own sanity? Do they still have her original eye? The list of questions really doesn’t end…
Your boyfriend was dragged away and killed…why are you not RUNNING AWAY?!?

Notable Appearances/Events:

  • Daisy opens the puzzle box! (Think Hellraiser)
  • Even more people (all of them I think) are revealed to be part of the cult!

Bottom Line: 4 Stars!

Alright, look…this is psychological horror, and it’s effective. It sucks you in! In the first issue, Daisy loses her boyfriend and her eye in a brutal attack (possibly supernatural). The rest is pure suspense and mystery. There’s no way you’re not going to want to know what comes next.

Winter is coming so Save Your Nuts

Save Your Nuts

In Save Your Nuts players control various animals in search of hording all of the nuts. Will your animal come out as king?

Have you ever wondered which animal can horde the most nuts? Traditionally you would think the squirrels would be masters of their nuts but Save Your Nuts, from Triple Scale Games, puts players in command of various creatures to steal all of the nuts. Each animal has it’s own boosts like stronger hits, more durability or more speed.

Each game my son would insist on changing animal types to keep the game fresh along with new maps to enjoy the full experience. There are dogs, wolves, turtles, raccoons, squirrels and armadillos. Wolves are the quicker option that is more durable and because I’ve always had an affinity for wolves so they were my go to. Each map offered new obstacles and new ways to screw over the competition. The power ups can be quite entertaining as well- its hilarious to watch a 12 year old fall over laughing when dropping toxic poop piles all over the ground.

Overall I found the game to be great fun when playing as a family but against the AI it is more frustrating than enjoyable.

Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus game review

Mechanicus

Adeptus Mechanicus troops face off against Necrons in this latest issometric Warhammer 40,000 tactics game from Bulwark Studios!

Feeling old? I know I am! Join the Adeptus Mechanicus today to replace your aging parts with tested machines! In Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus players take control of a small band of adepts in search of new technologies to exploit in the name of the Omnissiah. Borrowing from the classic Tactics format of game play, Bulwark Studios brings us a smooth foray into the world of Warhammer 40K and specifically that of the Adeptus Mechanicus and Necron tomb worlds.

Game play feels like those classic and oh so good tactics games, taking advantage of the simple mechanics to build an engaging game full of 40k lore, characters and models. The fact that the weapons effects and overall graphics are stunning is not to be looked over either!

The timing of this release though seems interesting as only a few months after the initial release the Indomitus boxset with the new Warhammer 40k edition was released. The two main factions were Necrons and Imperium of Man- Space Marines. The Space Marines are not quite the Adeptus Mechanicus but they fight for the same team and fight together often. The fact that this was first release some time prior on pc/steam leads me to believe this is more of a coincidence than anything else.

The Clock – a bioterror story from Top Cow Productions

The Clock

Matt Hawkins has returned with another thriller with The Clock, this time centered around weaponizing cancer!

Before Covid-19 was even on the horizon, before anyone knew it was even in the United States, Top Cow Productions shared the first issue of The Clock with us.  This was back in December of 2019. Being one of my favorite writers I devoured this first issue wanting more.

Now this is where things get eerie. Weeks before I read the first issue I had already come into contact with Covid and by this point was already sick. Approximately a week later I was hospitalized and spent over a month in the hospital. By then listening to the nurses speculate about what had kicked my ass and doing the same regarding Covid (which everyone still believed wasn’t here), one of them asked what would happen if someone weaponized the virus and targeted the United States. For days I thought about the implications of that and was reminded of that issue of The Clock.

The story follows Jack Davidson as he is trying to identify why some communities are hit by a viral cancer and others are not. By the end of the first issue his wife was killed by lung cancer, seemingly unrelated to his research. Naturally inquisitive Jack quickly asks too many questions and as a result becomes targeted by the villains of the story.

The story flows at a steady pace for the first three issues but seems to make a major leap in the story in issue four. Normally I love the four issue format of his books but felt the finale should have been fleshed out just a bit more before then, meaning one to two more issues in the story. As a whole it was a dark story that was well told, I just wanted a bit more.