Nish's Notepad: Naruto 600 (Review + Spoilers!)

Naruto 600: How Come Until Now?

(なぜ今まで, Naze Ima Made)

Author: Masashi Kishimoto
Arc: Shinobi World War Arc
Volume: Uncategorised

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[RECAP]

#599 finally revealed Tobi's identity. Even if you missed it, Kishimoto is such a genius that just by reading the title of the chapter (Obito Uchiha), you'll get to know that >.<

Nish's Notepad: Naruto 599 (Review + Spoilers!)

Naruto 599: Obito Uchiha

(  うちはオビト, Uchiha Obito )

Author: Masashi Kishimoto
Arc: Shinobi World War Arc
Volume: Uncategorised

DVD Review : Superman VS The Elite (DC Animated)

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Directed by : Michael ChangWritten by : Joe KelleyFeaturing the voice talents of : George Newbern, Pauley Perrette and others.

The folks at DC animation seem to be back in form after a lacklustre adaptation of All Star Superman and JLA : Doom (which wasn’t as good as it should have been). Superman v/s the Elite is an adaptation of a critically acclaimed story called What’s So Funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way which I have to confess I haven’t read. I’m sure it pales in comparison to the source material, but Superman v/s The Elite is a really good film.
What I love about this film is that the story it tells is immensely personal, yet affecting on a very grand scale. Also, it’s quite relevant. The Elite are a group of Super-powered youngsters with a warped sense of morality and they don’t hesitate when it comes to killing criminals. And know what? The people bloody LOVE it. They want their criminals tortured, butchered, made to suffer. The people want their criminals killed. Superman, who stands by his no-kill ideologies comes under fire for not resorting to Elite-like tactics. But he knows their methods are wrong, and it’s up to him to prove why.

TV Review - Avengers : Earth Mightiest Heroes (Season 2 Episode 1 & 2)

Voice Cast:

The Hulk - Fred Tatasciore

Iron Man / Anthony "Tony" Stark - Eric Loomis

Black Panther / T'Challa - James C. Mathis III

Captain America / Steven "Steve" Rogers - Brian Bloom

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Hawkeye / Clinton "Clint" Barton - Chris Cox

Wasp / Janet van Dyne - Colleen O'Shaughnessey

Mister Fantastic / Reed Richards - Dee Bradley Baker

Invisible Woman / Susan Storm - Erin Torpey

Human Torch / Jonathan "Johnny" Storm - David Kaufman

The Thing / Benjamin "Ben" Grimm - Fred Tatasciore

Doctor Doom / Victor von Doom - Lex Lang

Lucia von Bardas - Kirsten Potter

War Machine / James "Rhodey" Rhodes - Bumper Robinson

Maria Hill - Kari Wührer

TV Review : Ultimate Spider-man The Animated Series ep 1 & 2

Ultimate Spider-Man TAS is based loosely on the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book and said to be taking place in the Marvel Cinematic universe premiered this week. Here is the review of the first two episodes "Great Power" and "Great Responsibility".

Starring:

Drake Bell – Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Chi McBride – Nick Fury
Tom Kenny - Wizard/Bentley Wittman , Dr Otto Octavious
Clark Gregg - Agent/Principal Phil Coulson
J.K. Simmons – J. Jonah Jameson
Tara Strong - Mary Jane Watson, Thundra
Matt Lanter - Harry Osborn, Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Klaw/Ulysses Klaw
Stan Lee – Stan The Janitor

Web-comics: The Meek

Cover sampler for viewing pleasure

Today’s featured webcomic has a tad bit of a darker shade to it– blood is shed, the world is at stake, children have turned smugglers and a naked green-haired girl is relying on a lost man to find the center of it all.

Presenting ‘The Meek’ by Der-Shing Helmer, (popularly known as ‘alexds1’ on the internet) - a rather well known graphic novel, free for everyone to read on www.meekcomic.com, and an inspiring piece of work that is currently running in its 4^th chapter. The series as a whole was launched in 2009 and the creator has stated it will be posted online until it concludes.

Some wicked concept art!

Putting it simply, The Meek is about a young girl on a path to save the world. Angora is a determined little creature with moss-green hair who must find ‘the center’ before all of humanity is crushed in a war of the spirits.

The plot is split into three parts – three separate events taking place at the same time, each set of which is addressed in a different volume.

Series in Review: The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn

Howdy wayfarers, welcome back to that dusty trail. Its been a while ain't it, since we rode the wide open prairies and desert?

Well its been many a glimmerin' moon since I told you tales of the wild, wild west – this I know – but after a good long while I've come across one worth tellin' and aim to share it right here and now. So gather all around the campfire, listen to the gentle and melancholy twang of the guitar in the background and the crickets while I spin the yarn of The Sixth Gun for all a'y'all.  

Written by the rising talent that is Cullen Bunn, this is a story of action, adventure and a touch of mystical horror told in suitable gritty old-west style. 

Truly one of the most stand-out series in the last year or so, this one takes much of the familiar and makes it feel so fresh, adding in aspects and details that are in ways most unique to itself and the blending of western and horror is so seamless at times that even when its in your face, its hard to separate them.
A true success story for series' publisher Oni Press.

NEW COMICS: Zero-day bullet reviews - Avengers X-Sanction/The Ray/The Strain

Welcome Addicts to the inaugural week-in-review from ComicAddicts.com - a space we are planning to bring you a selection of the comics released that week in short, quick and easy reviews to help you see keep track of whats good and bad with each Wednesdays releases!

This week we kick-off our reviewing with review by Anubhav and Akshay, our comic obsessed work-horses who brought you the blow-by-blow every week for the DC Comics "New 52" releases. 

First out of the gate, the hotly anticipated Avengers: X-Sanction by superstar creative duo, Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinessas reviewed by Anubhav Sharma

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Avengers X-Sanction

Ah Loeb, you make me sad.

Avengers: X-Sanction reunites the Jeph Loeb – Ed McGuiness creative duo that first brought us the Red Hulk (a.k.a "Rulk"). And its Déjà vu all over again. It’s all back: mindless smashing, every character who is not the protagonist is dumbed down, people acting out of character all over the place. This certainly does not fit well with Loeb’s earlier amazing work. Continuity errors aside (I thought Radioactive Man was a good guy now?!), and despite some unexpectedly good character work in the future sequence, this series does look like something you can miss, even if you’re looking forward to Avengers vs. X-Men. There is some extremely horrible dialogue involved, which, along with out and out bad pacing, gives the reader the feeling of nothing really happening throughout the issue. I’ve never been a very big fan of Ed McGuiness’ art, but in some ways, it is the almost-saving grace of the book with some big screen action and things blowing up.

As a book I was really hoping to like, a big disappointment.

Verdict: 5.2/10

Next up we have a double review (in keeping with the New 52 reviews) of DC's reinvention of The Ray:

REVIEW: Ravanayan #3 & #4 - Double sized!

Ravan’s audition and Brahma’s casting ouch! (Spoilers ahoy)

Well written and equally well illustrated, Ravanayan issue 3 is a triumphant return to form after issue 2 which seemed more like an illustrated version of the “The story so far...” section of a book. The good folks at Holy Cow promised to treat us to a double issue this time round and the issue was a treat.

Coolest Indian Comic Cover Ever?

Most of Vijayendra Mohanty’s photos that I've come across till now depict him deep in thought. While most writers want to portray a brooding aspect to their personality, Mohanty appears to be someone who actually thinks. Ravan’s mindset throughout the issue is eloquently depicted in words. A noteworthy highlight is the dialogue between Brahma and Ravan - The conversation is quite interesting (though I sat in the brooding pose and have some questions which I shall raise later) and refreshing.

And speaking of refreshing, how cool is the way Brahma is depicted!!!

Orange Marmalade - no its not for your toast!

Orange Marmalade is one of those rare stories you come across that deals with social issues - albeit not directly since our protagonist here is a vampire-girl who wishes to get along with humans. I might have come across a few that deal with not-so-common life-issues, usually seen in Aya Nakahara’s work.

But this one beats them all with respect to how powerfully, yet subtly, the author has managed to bring out the plight of an outcast. 

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The story is a Korean supernatural drama web-comic written by Seok Woo. Apart from the fact that it is gorgeously drawn, making it look more like a series of screenshots from an anime, the perfectly paced story and narration makes it even more enticing to read.

November Brings Memories and Tribute to the Men of The Incredible Hulk

It's time once again to pay tribute to those who have contributed to geek culture. November brings us two memorable dates for two men who, ironically enough, made their contribution in the same way. They both brought a beloved Marvel character from the comic book pages into the real world. Today we salute Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno who played David Banner and The Hulk in The Incredible Hulk television series.

Bill Bixby brought to life the scientist who's bad side you did not want to see. Bixby's big contribution to geek culture was The Incredible Hulk, but he also made a couple other contributions as well. Bixby was also in the sci-fi sitcom My Favorite Martian with Ray Walston. It was a very I Dream of Jeanie basis only the genie was a martian. Then there was The Magician who used his magic tricks to get people out of trouble.

Review: Yotsubato! - The Manga

(Note: All manga panels must be read from right to left)

Good morn/eve/twilight folks, have you all been well?

Chewed your nails to the quick in anticipation of the lovely tidbits I drop you all?

Well your wait is over! Rejoice! Particularly because I have something utterly delicious for you today.

Ready? Yes/No?

This week I’d like to present my all time favourite manga to all of you: Yotsubato! (referred to as some by 4chan’s mascot, to my extreme horror) is one of those slice-of-life type of manga’s that never fails to cheer you up. Sort of like your Calvin and Hobbes or Garfield, this manga will make you crack up with it’s insane, yet completely normal situations – all the while reminding you in little bits about your own childhood antics.

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Shugo chara – Manga Review

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Shugo-Chara seems, at first glance, like a cross between Cardcaptor Sakura and Gakuen Alice, with the main Tsundere heroine Amu Hinamori being quite similar to Sakura with her job of cleansing the "bad eggs" - much like how Sakura cleansed the cards in Cardcaptor Sakura; and her main rival Ikuto Tsukiyomi being a perfect rip-off of Natsume Hyuuga. Really, there’s absolutely no difference! 

And yet, there’s something about it that draws you in – be it the goth-punk-tsundere lead girl or the emo and flirty Ikuto. The manga has a nice blend of comedy, action and fantasy without anything blindingly ‘shojo’ in it.

Plot

The story of Shugo-Chara revolves around Amu Hinamori who is, as earlier described, a perfect tsundere goth-punk character who has a reputation of being ‘cool and spicy’ in the middle school she studies in. However, this is not her true character. Her true self happens to be an extremely shy girl with absolutely no talent in socializing which she covers up perfectly with a cold exterior demeanor. Tiring of this duel personality, one night she makes a wish to give her enough courage to be her true self. 

A Quick look at "Level-E" The Anime Series

Level-E, the series delivers a highly entertaining mix of comedy and storytelling with an original, creative story and a lot of witty, loveable characters - a perfect package.
The series is adapted from the original manga series released back in 1995 by Yoshihiro Togashi – the same Mangaka who also wrote Hunter × Hunter and YuYu Hakusho.  It can best be described as a Sci-fi-Alien-Comedy split into several small story arcs spanning a total of 13 episodes. The concept behind the show has some similarities with the Men In Black movies/series in which several species of extra-terrestrial (E.T) aliens live amongst us and we are not aware of their presence.

Every story arc has its own unique story and they are all very different from each other. However in each one the story always revolves around the main character that everyone calls “Baka Ouji” (Idiot Prince) – a blond haired extraterrestrial being from planet Dogura whose ship crash lands on earth.  The best way to describe Baka Ouji’s character is an intelligently-lazy arrogant person who enjoys playing gags on people around him; the other supporting characters are as good and have an amazing chemistry between them, especially the prince’s bodyguard named Captain Kraft whose job is to keep track of the Idiot Prince.

Adventures of a Rose (A shoujo review)

Pulling from our favourites once again folks, here's something especially for the ladies! Barajou No Kiss (a.k.a. "Kiss of the Rose Princess")!!
This is a shoujo that I absolutely loved for its uniqueness... OK, maybe not so unique since the story keeps reminding me of Card Captor Sakura now and then, but it's still unique to a great extent never the less.
To begin with, the entire portrayal of the manga screams 19th century England, and yet, somehow it oozes the Japanese essence in the story as well as the art - the kind of blend that is hard to get and the mangaka has managed to capture the essence of both elements and mix them up perfectly. Anyway, so without further ado, let me dive straight into the details you're all waiting to find out.

Plot: 
The story of Barajou No Kiss is a fantasy, action, adventure and romance story by Shouoto Aya that revolves around a high school girl (now that's what I call a real surprise!), Anis Yamamoto, who is given this strange choker by her father that looks like a black neck-strap with a pretty rose at the center. Her father specifically warns her not to lose the choker and that if she does she will be punished severely! Now, now, its not because the choker is super rare or expensive. The choker has a long story of its own that will be revealed later - no, not in the review, I mean in the story. 

JUMP-ing with joy!

Gibba bloog boopaapa bi baap!

This is “Welcome dear readers” in Gobble-de-gook (for learning Gobble-de-gook in just 4.26 minutes contact the writer of this post)

When the last issue of Jump by Level 10 was launched, I was excited and wanted so very very much to review it! Especially the continuing adventures of Shotgun Sharma and Chappan Churi! I got the framework ready, scanned all the images I wanted to use and was all set to write it down, but sadly got stuck with something or the other, lots of office work came through at the wrong time, had a computer problem, I mean – everything that could go wrong – DID go wrong! Damn you Murphy!!!!



Is it a plane? Is it a bird? No! It's the opposing team!!!

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Khair, when the new double issue was released there was NO way I would let this one pass, so here I am with my first Jump review for Comic Addicts.

For those who have never read any issue of Jump before or haven’t been following the stories, don’t worry, you can still go ahead and buy this one. This one wraps  a lot of things, so you can read the “Story so far” and then continue. You can always catch up with the old issues later.

xxxHolic

xxxHolic: Review by Seema Kakade

There are some Manga that are so popular, that they don’t even need an introduction, let alone a review. Yet, I've seen a lot of people shunning away from these amazing pieces of works either due to a misleading title or a shoujo-ish outer appearance. Case in point - xxxHolic.
So for all those who are lingering around this manga without enough confidence to start reading it, I’m here to give you a brief overview of this cult classic.

xxxHolic, also simply known as Holic, is a fantasy, psychological and philosophical story by the famous group of manga artists CLAMP. Since the story happens to be a crossover series of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and Card Captor Sakura, many incidents in the story might throw you off the course, but I assure you, that you can totally understand the story even if you don’t know squat about the aforementioned stories. So, without further ado, let me give you a brief introduction of the story.
Plot – The story opens with a young high school boy, Watanuki Kimihiro, who has supernatural powers to see demons and spirits (no, it’s not the usual cliché story of saving the world; there’s much more to it in this one!) being, as usual, followed, trapped and tormented by a bunch of spirits, while he does everything in is power, which is next to nothing, to get rid of them. While he is busy performing this feat, he ends up landing in front of a strange, old styled building that is squeezed between two modern sky scrapers.

xxxHolic 1 Cover

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Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review

Alright, so this exactly new news, but late is better than never right? So here it is, a review of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Besides, think of it as a nice break in all of this Harry Potter madness.

So lets start with the obvious; Megan Fox isn't in it. So how does her replacement Rosie Huntington-Whiteley do? Well in the first half of the movie she does well; however, once the action really kicks in she seems very lost. Perhaps she would do well in romantic comedies, but Ms. Huntington-Whiteley should refrain from action films. Overall though, very attractive and the accent is also nice, but when it all hits the fan she really doesn't have much of an effect at all.

Rajat's Random Ramblings - Ravanayan Begins...

Comic Addicts has done it again. In an unprecedented move, we are doing, probably for the first time in India, a pre-release review of one of the most anticipated book this summer, Ravanayan.

This has only been possible with the cooperation of Mr. Vivek Goel the owner and the chief artist of the Holy Cow Entertainment, who was futuristic enough to realize the way cookie crumbles. Other Publisher friends… Ahem. We are waiting... Our public DEMANDS pre-release reviews!!! ;)

Anyway, as always, I get distracted and wander off to paths unexplored. Let us come back to the task at hand.

One of the 2 covers from Issue 1 - The inner turmoil - Sage Father, Demon Mother

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The Pondering Pawaskar - An opinion on WERE HOUSE titled…….If wishes WERE HORSES….or…..I’m a WERE-ASS….

[The author wishes to make it ridiculously clear that the opinions mentioned below have sprung from his own messed up head & the owners/administrators/co-contributors (one of whom has been mentioned below) of this site do not necessarily support these opinions. He would understand if the said owners/administrators/co-contributors resort to concocting tales of his dementia or of his being a were-ass to counter the bad publicity the opinions below might garner.]

I titled this article as an opinion instead of a review because I believe that reviews are done by people who know a thing or two about comics. Opinions on the other hand are like assholes. Everyone has one and so I qualify! Two things to note before you read. There are SPOILERS and a spoilt comic geek stuck in a thankless job venting his fury ahead. You have been sufficiently warned.