Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Illumi-Nerdi's Top Ten Heroes Lists

Snapper Carr's Top Ten Heroes List

10. Jack from Lost: Should you really question this? From the very first episode, you loved Jack. He never thought about himself and only those around him. He saved the world by defeating the Smoke Monster.

9. Kyle Rayner from especially Green Lantern: New Guardians: No, I was never a Hal Jordan fan growing up because Kyle was MY Green Lantern. Before you start judging me, think about what Kyle did. He was the last ring holder and he saved the Green Lantern Corp. Also, he didn’t cry/bitch when Hal came back, he knew the Corp would only be stronger than ever before.

8. Peter Petrelli from Heroes: Maybe it’s just me but Peter reminds me of Tim Tebow. Peter wasn’t perfect but he tried so damn hard to be the best hero. I know Heroes wasn’t a great show towards the end but I never stopped enjoying his character.

7. Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight: I know fellow Illumi-Nerdi Gabriel wouldn’t  agree with me but the guy cleaned up Gotham City…even if it was off screen.  He was the White Knight! He was perfect until he lost everything that mattered.

6. Doctor Who: I am brand new to the Doctor Who hysteria. If I grew up knowing him, he would be in my top 3 but that isn’t the case. He has saved thousands of worlds and travels in the freakin’ Tardis. By the way, I am Team David Tennant.

5. Nightwing: Q: The most beloved character in the DCU? A: Yes. The most trusted hero in any universe.

4. Cyclops: Six years ago, the Scarlet Witch almost exterminated the Mutant race. Guess who saved the day? Yep, this guy.  Cyclops makes the tough decisions that Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men can’t.


3. Batman: He isn’t an Anti-Hero soooo shut up already.

2. Spider-Man: He has Parker luck, which means nothing ever goes right in his life. Does he get all emo on us? No!! He never gives up.


1. Superman: Some might think this lame but you are wrong. I’ve been humming the Superman theme song since I was four. In high school, I grew up with Smallville and it made me believe that people can make a difference. Today, the new Action Comics’Superman is one of the best comic books in the last few years.

Notables:

Rick from The Walking Dead: His wife died, his step-baby died and well his son got shot in the eye. Yes, he gets depressed here and there but he never ever stopped fighting the zombies.

Wally West: He is my Flash!!!!

Wolverine: I am waiting for someone to bitch about why he isn’t in my top ten.

Tim Drake: Even though Dick said Tim was his equal, Tim is the better Robin and is the better detective.   

Mark Grayson: Invincible- He could be the most flawed superhero of all time. His father kicked his ass, his mother blamed him for his father leaving and he just saved the universe from his own kind.


Gabriel Partridge's Top Ten Hero List  

10. Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes): Despite the fact that he probably had Aspberger’s Syndrome he invented modern crime fiction and consistently thwarted one of the best villains of all time, Professor Moriarty.

9. Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly): He’s the Han Solo for the modern era, and I’d argue even more awesome.

8. Ellen Ripley (Alien): The only surviving member of the Nostromo, probably the most badass female character of all time. She went from survivor in Alien, to ass-kicker in the sequels.

7. The Doctor (Doctor Who): The ultimate hero across Time and Space. Ridiculously likable across all incarnations of the character plus  he encounters or defeats some of the most interesting personalities in history.

6. Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings): The true hero of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. While Aragorn is the King, and Frodo is the ring-bearer, Sam was Frodo’s only dependable friend (and eventual ring-bearer himself) and was the ultimate reason the One Ring got destroyed, leading to Frodo, Aragorn’s and the rest of free Middle Earth’s triumph.

5. Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer): She died twice but keeps coming back to fight back the Hellmouth and save the world.

4. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars): The only consistent hero through all six of the Star Wars films. He trains the Jedi that balances the force and makes a paraplegic out of the Sith that threatens the entire universe.

3. Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones): Come on. He keeps the Ark of the Covenant out of the hands of the most vile people in modern history, prevents a psychopathic Thugee from obtaining the sacred Shiva Lingam Stones, and stops the Nazis from voiding out Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. Not bad for a few years work.

2. Jack Shephard (Lost): As in true Lost fashion, Jack had his ups and downs. He was perfect, and then imperfect, and then almost a non-event (season five). But he ultimately became one of the most important characters in television history. Throughout the brilliant six seasons of the show he sacrificed so much for the group he came to care so much about. In the end he made the ultimate sacrifice one could make, he gave himself up for the preservation of the Island, his friends and the world.

1. Yorick Brown (Y: The Last Man): The only remaining male from the gendercide that wipes out half the population. He proves himself to be more than that quirky, witty, obnoxious egocentric prick he seems to be at the beginning. He is one of the only consistently likable characters in modern comics. He is without fail a completely likeable wiseass that is so rare in pop culture these days. You can’t help but like him and oh, by the way, he saves mankind.

Honorable Mentions

Ash Williams (The Evil Dead): He kicks so much ass and has a chin to match.

Dexter Morgan (Dexter): Anti-Heroes are pretty tough to defend but how can you argue with killing murderers and rapists?

Daredevil (Daredevil): I love Frank Miller’s Daredevil and a blind guy is always an awesome underdog.

Agent 355 (Y: The Last Man): How can you not love Yorick’s tragic care-taker?

Korben Dallas (The Fifth Element): I seriously regret not putting Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg in my favorite villains because Gary Oldman is consistently the best villain ever. But The Fifth Element itself deserves a place and Korben Dallas is such a cool hero from an underrated Sci-Fi flick. 

Keep spreading the word of the Nerdi. 

Monday, November 28, 2011

Must Buys of the Week 11/30/2011



10. Avengers Origins: Thor
9. Invincible Volume 3 (Issues 48-70)
8. Brilliant #1 (Second Printing)
7. Haunt #19
6. Star Trek #3
5. Vertigo Resurrected: Sgt. Rock
4. Pilot Season: Theory of Everything
3. Morning Glories Volume 1 (Issues 1-12)
2. T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents
1. Fables #111

Thursday, November 24, 2011

A Holiday Gift for the Women in your Life

It's the Holiday Season!

Do you know a woman who reads comic books? Yeah, we don't either. But that shouldn't discourage us. I present you a list of comic books that could win over the women in your life.

Do you know a woman who loves Lost and gets teary eyed when she thinks of Sun and Jin?



I have the comic book for them. It's called Morning Glories and its published by Shadowline. There are plenty of similarities between Lost and Morning Glories. In M.G., one student's parents are killed, students have attempted to assassinate their teacher and the spanish inquisition are involved. Each issue is full of intrigue and mystery.  Trust me, when I say this could be the best book on the market.


Is your lady a fan of Stephen King?

American Vampire Cover -1.jpg

For the Holidays, surprise her with "American Vampire". I know not every woman enjoys Twilight but I am certain that they might find this graphic novel interesting. The story focuses around an American species of vampires through several decades. By the way, the first story arc was co-written by Stephen King.


Is your lady obsessed with AMC's The Walking Dead ?



You should introduce her to the comic book. I've only read the first six graphic novels but I enjoyed it. There are plenty of similarities and differences between both mediums. The emotion in the TV show can be found in the book. When Carl shot ********, all the readers' jaws dropped.

Does she miss Disney's fairy tale movies?



I would like to introduce you to Fables by Bill Willingham. The concept is the characters from the fairy tales we grew up with, now live in our world. The story is based in a neighborhood called Fabletown. In our world, Snow White is now the Deputy Mayor of Fabletown, The Big Bad Wolf is the Sheriff of Fabletown and Prince Charming has been married and divorced three times. Each issue will leave you wanting more. Fables Vol 8: Wolves (one of my graphic novels of all time) ends the story's first era.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Illumi-Nerdi's Top 10 Villain lists.

Snapper Carr's Top 10 List
10. Ben Linus (Lost: He is worse than any politician, what a flip flopper.)

9. Miss Daramount (Morning Glories: She’s a bitch. Her students have even tried to assassinate her)

8. Walternate (Fringe: He is a cold blooded killer. I guess you would be too if your alternate self stole your son.)

7. Cylons. (Either you loved or hated the new BSG. Each week you had no idea who to love, hate or trust)

6. Zod (Superman Two: You need to have big balls to tell Superman to kneel before you.)
 
5. The Scarlet Witch (No More Mutants!)

4. Nero (He changed the Star Trek universe forever and not everyone was happy about it. Nothing is worse than pissing off the fans)

3. Nemesis (He forced a brother and sister to have sex just to piss off his enemy)

2. Joker (He killed a Robin)

1. The Walkers (Sorry Rick…They won and you lost)



Notables:
 1- Lex Luthor 
2- Mister Sinister
3- T-1000
4- The Master (Doctor Who)
5- Darth Vader


Gabriel Partridge's Top 10 Villains

10. Colonel Miles Quaritch- Avatar. A truly awful guy. Anybody that attempts to wipe out an entire race of peaceful blue cat people deserves a spot on my list.

9. General Sarris- Galaxy Quest. Sarris is an awesome villain from a seriously underrated sci-fi movie. He embodies all the worst traits of the best Star Trek villains.

8. Ozymandias, Watchmen. An absolutely brilliant villain. He continues the “evil guy with a cat” tradition like Ernst Blofeld from James Bond and Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget. And I always love it when a character that you think is good turns out to be the villain.

7. Randall Flagg- The Stand, The Dark Tower, The Eyes of the Dragon. He’s pure evil and is the main antagonist in so many of Stephen King’s greatest works.

6. T-1000, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. I saw this movie for the first time when I was 5 years old and Robert Patrick as the T-1000 absolutely terrified me. 

5. Biff Tannen- Back to the Future. He constantly bullies poor George McFly, he steals the sports almanac and alters future history by making himself filthy rich and having George killed, he tries to kill Marty and he attempts to rape Lorraine McFly. ‘Nuff said. 

4. Joker, Batman- What villain list would be complete without this chaotic madman?

3. Man in Black/Smoke Monster, Lost. The enigmatic Smoke Monster terrorized our Losties for years before the revelation that it was actually a man trapped on the Island by his brother, Jacob.

2. Darth Vader, Star Wars. Come on, It’s Vader.

1. Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Epically Lucrative Franchise. Voldemort is the ultimate baddy. He’s a psychopathic, mass-murdering, creepy-looking bastard. And what’s going on with him and that snake?




Notables
Sauron (The Lord of the Rings)
Clover (Cloverfield)
Lucas Caravaggio (Locke & Key)
Xenomorph (Alien)
Jafar (Aladdin)

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Must Buys for the Week

1. All-Star Western #3
2. Aquaman #3
3. Captain America and Bucky #624
4. Scalped #54 
5. Wolverine and The X-Men #2
6. Fantastic Four #600
7. Invincible #85
8. The Flash #3
9. Invincible  Iron Man #510
10. Teen Titans #3


Anything you agree or disagree with? 

Teen Titans #3                        Scalped #54