Friday Slice of Heaven
This week: The Infinity Entity, and Daredevil Season 2
Welcome back, Donist World Denizens! For those of you new to our site, I’m Donist, and I am joined by Donist World CFO the Reverse Obie* (my friends’ Boston terrier whose fur recently swapped colors) and by our marketing director / administrative assistant / party planner / Daredevil enthusiast Tulip (my dog, Obie’s sister). Well, we only had one book in our pull this week, which is weird, so we are deciding to take a break from maintaining our status as a Fortune 320,000 company and decided to play hooky today by reenacting our favorite parts of the fantastic second season of Daredevil. I, of course, am pretending to be Matt Murdock / Daredevil, while Tulip is covering Karen Page / Elektra, and Reverse Obie wanted to be…Foggy Nelson. Foggy is an odd choice, and for a moment it seemed like Reverse Obie’s fur flickered back to his original colors as he brutally cross-examined me about the state of the company refrigerator, but it might have been a trick of the light…not sure. Anyhow, go queue up some Daredevil on Netflix, order up some tacos, be sure to stay healthy, and most of all read some great comics…even if you only have one in your pull this week like me. Take care. Thank you for reading!
*Obie, through his dabbling in arcane magics mixed with ancient corrupt business practices, has had not just the colors of his fur switched, but a complete overhaul of his work ethic as well…I think I’m kinda okay with the mishap.
***Possible Spoilers Below***
The Infinity Entity #3
The Infinity Entity #3 - Written by Jim Starlin, illustrated by Alan Davis, inked by Mark Farmer, colored by Wil Quintana, lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino, published by Marvel Comics. The celestial beings — the most powerful entities of the Marvel Universe — have gathered to convince Adam Warlock to leave their reality. It’s time for some answers.
Starlin could write a comic with Adam Warlock meeting with his tax preparer and I’m sure it would be interesting. We’d have a dramatic entrance, a high level discussion of rights and wrongs, and a slow steady descent into madness that threatens to engulf the space-faring hero with each deduction he realizes he cannot itemize on his Schedule A. Then, when all seems lost, his business expenses come through to save the day: Adam Warlock gets a sizable refund. (Can you guess what’s been occupying my time?)
Anyhow, the point of my rambling is that I love this character. Warlock — under Starlin’s deft keystrokes — is a tragi-hero who has thrilled me for most of my life, and although we don’t see Thanos in this issue, we get the next best thing: the supreme beings of the Marvel Universe. Here we have Eternity and Infinity, Order and Chaos, Death, and most of the usual suspects who helped compound the stakes of the amazing The Infinity Gauntlet (there’s also one cosmic character who I do not recognize at all…hmmmmmm, who is he?). The witty banter and the dance of threats and pleas made this issue the most compelling in the mini-series thus far.
Davis’s take of the golden-skinned hero only seems to improve with each new panel. His depictions of the cosmos and the beings within it are simply stunning, especially when paired with Quintana’s perfect color palette. This is a beautiful book to behold, but the page that completely blew me away is the rather simple splash of Warlock reproaching the divinities. It’s just Warlock, his shadow, some word balloons and that is it. Dang, Denizens, I wish I owned the original art for this page. Dang.
So, we have one last issue in the mini-series before we get the Thanos: The Infinity Finale Hardcover, and the two week wait is going to be a long one. I should also mention that this series spurred me to reread, for the umpteenth time, not just The Infinity Gauntlet, but also Thanos Quest (which I totally forgot to mention is a prequel to The Infinity Gauntlet), and now I’m at the beginning of Warlock and the Infinity Watch. I love me some Starlin space opera, and The Infinity Entity does not disappoint. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Daredevil Season Two (A Netflix Original Series) - I’m not going to spoil this brilliant show. Nope. Ain’t gonna do it. But I need to preface what follows by saying if you have not yet watched the first season, then stop reading and start watching. Come to think of it, if that’s the case…you monster! Call in sick for work for the next couple of days and power through what is now one of my top three favorite television shows of all time. I’m not just saying this, and I’m fully aware that there are some phenomenal shows out there, but Daredevil…dang, Denizens, it touches upon my love of the Frank Miller era that floored me as a kid, while pulling from the best moments of the Brian Michael Bendis material and the awesome tone of Ed Brubaker’s run as well.
The first season is all about introducing us to Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). We see the first incarnation of the “Devil of Hell’s Kitchen,” we meet the Kingpin, and get seeds of future story lines yet to come. All of this is enough to spark a Daredevil fan’s interest, but when each actor actually becomes their character from the moment of their first appearance, there’s little chance of turning away. The story is beyond solid, with enough twists and turns to keep fans of the comics in suspense, while remaining faithful to the Daredevil mythos every step of the way. Then you have the stunning fight scenes…episode two of the first season had a — for lack of a better word — intense, single-take fight scene that still gets my heart pounding just thinking about it, and the rest of the fight scenes never fail to thrill.
But this isn’t about the freakin’ amazing first season…
Yes, I fell in total and complete love with the first season, but the second season surpasses the already lofty heights of what came before. I’m not spoiling anything by saying that we are introduced to Frank Castle (owned by Jon Bernthal) and Elektra Natchios (brought to life by Elodie Yung) as those characters have been mentioned for many months prior to this season’s premiere. With two new major players on the scene, the writers not only manage to develop compelling back stories for each while seamlessly working the characters into the main story, they also continuing to move all of the regular characters forward on their own journeys. At a glance, I would say the writers could never stuff so much material into a measly 13 episode season, but they do so flawlessly, with nothing feeling rushed or out of place.
Oh yeah, the fight scenes are even more spectacular than the first season, with the stairwell brawl in episode three nearly equalling the previously mentioned stunning battle from season one’s second episode.
I don’t want to say I’m necessarily glad for it, but I just happened to be stupidly ill for the release of Daredevil, and Amy the intern (my wife) just happened to be out of town, which meant some much needed rest and quality couch time pounding through each fantastic episode last weekend. Even if I wasn’t ill, I would have watched half of the first episode and remained firmly glued to the television set until I had made my way through all 13 episodes. I guess you can say I like this season. I’m already desperate to see what happens next, and to see a season two of the awesome Jessica Jones. The brutal 20-second tease for Luke Cage has me excited for September (or is it October? Doesn’t matter…too far away), and the promise of Iron Fist is just…it’s almost more than I can handle. I realize I’m coming off sounding like an over-sugared, nerdtastic, teenage fanboy, but the thing is that this show succeeds in bringing that feeling out in me, which given my general cynical outlook of current world events says something about how great this show is. Now I need to convince Amy to watch this must-see show with me so I can pick up everything I missed. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
***Possible Spoilers Below***
|
| The Infinity Entity #3 |
The Infinity Entity #3 - Written by Jim Starlin, illustrated by Alan Davis, inked by Mark Farmer, colored by Wil Quintana, lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino, published by Marvel Comics. The celestial beings — the most powerful entities of the Marvel Universe — have gathered to convince Adam Warlock to leave their reality. It’s time for some answers.
Starlin could write a comic with Adam Warlock meeting with his tax preparer and I’m sure it would be interesting. We’d have a dramatic entrance, a high level discussion of rights and wrongs, and a slow steady descent into madness that threatens to engulf the space-faring hero with each deduction he realizes he cannot itemize on his Schedule A. Then, when all seems lost, his business expenses come through to save the day: Adam Warlock gets a sizable refund. (Can you guess what’s been occupying my time?)
Anyhow, the point of my rambling is that I love this character. Warlock — under Starlin’s deft keystrokes — is a tragi-hero who has thrilled me for most of my life, and although we don’t see Thanos in this issue, we get the next best thing: the supreme beings of the Marvel Universe. Here we have Eternity and Infinity, Order and Chaos, Death, and most of the usual suspects who helped compound the stakes of the amazing The Infinity Gauntlet (there’s also one cosmic character who I do not recognize at all…hmmmmmm, who is he?). The witty banter and the dance of threats and pleas made this issue the most compelling in the mini-series thus far.
Davis’s take of the golden-skinned hero only seems to improve with each new panel. His depictions of the cosmos and the beings within it are simply stunning, especially when paired with Quintana’s perfect color palette. This is a beautiful book to behold, but the page that completely blew me away is the rather simple splash of Warlock reproaching the divinities. It’s just Warlock, his shadow, some word balloons and that is it. Dang, Denizens, I wish I owned the original art for this page. Dang.
So, we have one last issue in the mini-series before we get the Thanos: The Infinity Finale Hardcover, and the two week wait is going to be a long one. I should also mention that this series spurred me to reread, for the umpteenth time, not just The Infinity Gauntlet, but also Thanos Quest (which I totally forgot to mention is a prequel to The Infinity Gauntlet), and now I’m at the beginning of Warlock and the Infinity Watch. I love me some Starlin space opera, and The Infinity Entity does not disappoint. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
The first season is all about introducing us to Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). We see the first incarnation of the “Devil of Hell’s Kitchen,” we meet the Kingpin, and get seeds of future story lines yet to come. All of this is enough to spark a Daredevil fan’s interest, but when each actor actually becomes their character from the moment of their first appearance, there’s little chance of turning away. The story is beyond solid, with enough twists and turns to keep fans of the comics in suspense, while remaining faithful to the Daredevil mythos every step of the way. Then you have the stunning fight scenes…episode two of the first season had a — for lack of a better word — intense, single-take fight scene that still gets my heart pounding just thinking about it, and the rest of the fight scenes never fail to thrill.
But this isn’t about the freakin’ amazing first season…
Yes, I fell in total and complete love with the first season, but the second season surpasses the already lofty heights of what came before. I’m not spoiling anything by saying that we are introduced to Frank Castle (owned by Jon Bernthal) and Elektra Natchios (brought to life by Elodie Yung) as those characters have been mentioned for many months prior to this season’s premiere. With two new major players on the scene, the writers not only manage to develop compelling back stories for each while seamlessly working the characters into the main story, they also continuing to move all of the regular characters forward on their own journeys. At a glance, I would say the writers could never stuff so much material into a measly 13 episode season, but they do so flawlessly, with nothing feeling rushed or out of place.
Oh yeah, the fight scenes are even more spectacular than the first season, with the stairwell brawl in episode three nearly equalling the previously mentioned stunning battle from season one’s second episode.
I don’t want to say I’m necessarily glad for it, but I just happened to be stupidly ill for the release of Daredevil, and Amy the intern (my wife) just happened to be out of town, which meant some much needed rest and quality couch time pounding through each fantastic episode last weekend. Even if I wasn’t ill, I would have watched half of the first episode and remained firmly glued to the television set until I had made my way through all 13 episodes. I guess you can say I like this season. I’m already desperate to see what happens next, and to see a season two of the awesome Jessica Jones. The brutal 20-second tease for Luke Cage has me excited for September (or is it October? Doesn’t matter…too far away), and the promise of Iron Fist is just…it’s almost more than I can handle. I realize I’m coming off sounding like an over-sugared, nerdtastic, teenage fanboy, but the thing is that this show succeeds in bringing that feeling out in me, which given my general cynical outlook of current world events says something about how great this show is. Now I need to convince Amy to watch this must-see show with me so I can pick up everything I missed. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Slice into the Woods
Still, Still Sick - But at least I’m on the mend…finally. I think at this point my problem is allergies as opposed to the knock-you-out illness that has afflicted me for the past month. Regardless, I’m eager to experience full health, or at least pick up a 1-Up somewhere on the way to work today.
I know, I know, again no song, but I will try to update one later this evening. Have a great weekend!
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