Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
directed by Peter Jackson
starring: Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, and more.

This review may contain Spoilers...

Strange as I am, I made sure to count the number of armies that appeared in the film to make sure there really were FIVE armies. There were the dwarves, the men, the orcs, the elves, and the other orcs... Right? Right... This is the final chapter to the Hobbit movie trilogy and I felt it wrapped up the story nicely. I was moved by the emotional scenes, thrilled by the action, and thoroughly enjoyed all of the cinematography, set designs, costumes, etc. like I've been with the other Hobbit movies and the Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson.

I enjoyed the quick resolution this film starts out with in regards to Smaug. They needed to wrap that up neatly without seeming to rush it too much so they could set the stage for the main battle. I thought the visuals were so cool seeing the town on the lake on fire.

Comics Rant: Robin #4

Robin #4
Written By Chuck Dixon
Pencils By Tom Lyle
Inks By Bob Smith
Colors By Adrienne Roy



Tim Drake’s adventures as Robin, or should I say Misadventures continue in his very own mini series.  Tim, Clyde (his DEA pal from the first issue) and Lady Shiva are on their way to Hong Kong to stop the King Snake and his gang, The Ghost Dragon from spreading a Nazi super plague to Hong Kong. This issue we learn that King Snake wants to poison Hong Kong because the British are giving it back to China. Yeah, I know. This plot is pretty much dated but it was really daring for it’s time. Especially DC Comics. I mean lets be honest. DC was known to stay away from real world problems. I mean, hey did make up their own cities. This is a practice that continued when even Nightwing got his own book and city. Bludhaven, anyone?


So Robin and crew hit Hong Kong

Comics Rant: Fantastic Four #199

Fantastic Four #199
Written By Marv Wolfman
Pencils By Keith Pollard
Inked By Joe Sinnott
Colors By J.Cohen



Doom Jr.? Doom Sr? Dudes named Zorba? Where do I sign up? Tash Moore here and I’m bringing you a rant for Fantastic Four #199! That means there’s only one issue left before the money hungry 200th issue. Which you just know is gonna ask from more money like that step kid that you’ve taken into your home as your own. Those ungrateful punks. Anyway, It’s Doom and Doom Jr. taking on the FF and a revolt is in the air. In Doom’s land of Portlandia, I mean Latveria. Yeah, that’s what I totally mean.


So we left off with last issue where Mr. Fantastic gets captured by Dr. Doom. Huh. If this guy is so damn Fantastic how come he keeps getting caught? Seems like Reed

Tash's Pick of the Week: Scarlet Spiders #2

Scarlet Spiders #2
Written By Mike Costa
Art By Paco Diaz
Colors By Israel Silva


Send in the clones. What can I say. I’m a sucker for a story with Spider-Clones. If you’ve been living under a rock, Spider-Verse is in full swing. It’s got every Spider-Man ever. That’s right, EVER! And they all get to fight Morlun and his crazy ass family. Yeah, there’s a family now. Leave it to Dan Slott and crew to take a crappy JMS yarn and weave a tale that’ll make you WANT to pay $4.99 to read this tale. Gladly. So this is pretty much a cash grab mini series that ties into the main tale running through Amazing Spider-Man. It’s a pretty good story but this tale has Ben Reilly (who’s Spider-Man in his world, and that’s the way I likes it), Jessica Drew (who’s the Spider Clone from the Ultimate Universe), and Kaine (who’s the new Scarlet Spider in the 616 Universe).

The Verbal Mosh Episode 294

Batman #37, Batman and Robin #37, and All New Captain America #2 are the books and The Flash and Constantine are the tv shows we talk about on this week's episode of the comic book podcast, The Verbal Mosh. So head on over right here.ya'll or check out this episode on Facebook.

Find more reviews and our contact info atwww.theverbalmosh.com We are proud members of the Comics PodcastsNetwork: www.comicspodcasts.com

Olivia's Pick of the Week: Amazing Spider-Man #11

Amazing Spider-Man #11
written by Dan Slott
art by Olivier Coipel

This... was good. In fact, this was great. What more can I say? Well, all right. I'll say a bit more than that.

In this issue of Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Verse is still happening of course. All of the the Spiders are gathered together, hiding from Morlun and his family of Inheritors. Doc Ock Spidey had ended the last issue by proclaiming himself as the one to be the true leader of the Spider gang, but he eventually backs off a bit to let the real Peter be the leader. It's funny because he doesn't realize the real Peter is his senior since he's unaware that Peter was able to take back his body from Doc Ock.

Comics Rant: Robin #3

Robin #3
Written By Chuck Dixon
Penciled By Tom Lyle
Inked By Bob Smith
Colored By Adrienne Roy



Robin’s first solo series with Tim Drake at the helm comes off as pretty much a James Bond film. If I ever get the chance I’ll have to ask Chuck Dixon if that’s what he was going for when wrote this mini series. So Tim is getting training from his former DEA friend now turned Vigilante Clyde Rowlins and Lady Shiva. Both have their own plans as to what they want from the King Snake. The King Snake had Clyde’s family killed and Shiva just wants to fight him to prove how awesome she. Hey, it’s good to have goals. Even if it’s putting your life on the line just to see who’s the best fighter. Me? I’d rather play Street Fighter 2. The only thing injured from that are my thumbs. (Button Mash! FTW!)


Using the power of pre wifi Internet (how did people survive back then)

Comics Rant: Daredevil #167

Written by: Roger McKenzie and Frank Miller

Art by: Frank Miller

We open up this time around with Matt and his hot new/old love interest Heather at what seems like a fancy party. One of those "rich only" type of deals. Matts just trying to have a good time but their party host, a man named Mr. Cord, just wants to talk business, taking Matt away from Heather. As they're talking we see someone's got their eyes set on Cord. And by eyes I mean crosshairs. The Mauler cuts the party early by swooping in and attempting to kill Mr. Cord. The only good thing about the fight is it builds commotion, allowing Matt to hide and change into his Daredevil suit!

Horn Head's able to subdue Mauler escapes and the police arrive. Cord has a fancy card that lets him stay quiet to the police, no matter what level they are. This is super suspicious to Daredevil and calls for some investigation. As Cord returns home the Devil is waiting for him. He wants to know why The Mauler felt the need to hunt down Cord and he gets his answers. The Mauler is a man named Aaron Soames who used to work for Cord. He was fired and butthurt so he stole a prototype for some body armor and boom, we have The Mauler. Daredevil leaves with a promise, if he finds out Cord has lied, he'll be back.

It's late but the investigation isn't over.

Comics Rant: Fantastic Four #198

Fantastic Four #198
Written By Marv Wolfman
Penciled By Keith Pollard
Inked By Joe Sinnott
Colored By J. Cohen



Invasion! Tash Moore here and I’m bringing back to some classic ass Bronze Age Marvel! With Sue, Johnny and Ben being held by Dr. Doom in his castle, Reed is on his way to the rescue. Reed gets his old school POGO plane from S.H.E.I.L.D. Because it’s just about the only plane that could get low enough not to be detected by Dr. Doom. Hey, it was the 1970’s so this really was the best damn plane they  had. Or something like that. So Reed has made his way into Doom’s country but then makes the stupid mistake of trying to disable one of Doom’s sentry bots and gets blown up and sent into a small lake. But Reed gets rescued by a dude named Zorba! No not Zebra, but Zorba. He’s the leader of the Freedom Fighters to take Doom down. He’s also got a wicked eye, a gift from Doom, from when Doom was experimenting on him.

Comics Rant: Robin #2

Robin #2
Written By Chuck Dixon
Pencils By Tom Lyle
Inks By Bob Smith
Colors By Adrienne Roy



The Robin Mini Series continues! Well I mean that would pretty much make tons of sense because they need to get five issues out of this thing. It’s not like they can do a Marvel move and have most of the story play out in two issues. Then leave the last three for filler. *Cough, Bendis’ Avengers run, Cough*.
Anyway, Robin and his new friend that he rescued, Clyde Rowlins, beat up on the Ghost Dragons then split. This is before the Dragons can go back and get back up. Good for you, Tim Drake. That’s clearly not your hill to die on. Clearly. So the beating that Clyde took from the Dragons, before Robin showed up, has taken it’s toll and he outright collapses.



Lynx, the girl who Robin thought he was saving from the Ghost Dragons, is really in fact a part of the group.

The Verbal Mosh Episode 293

Chew #45, Detective Comics #37, Hulk #9, Batgirl #37, and Thor #3. Those are the books covered on this week's episode of the comic book podcast, The Verbal Mosh. We, also, discuss The Flash in our DC tv segment. So head on over right here or if you want you can also check this new episode on our Facebook page.

Find more reviews at www.theverbalmosh.com
We are proud members of the Comics PodcastsNetwork: www.comicspodcasts.com

Comics Rant: Fantastic Four #197

Fantastic Four #197
Written By Marv Wolfman
Pencils By Keith Pollard
Inks By Joe Sinnott
Colors By Grossman


While the Fantastic Four may be on the outs with the folks over at Marvel, they aren’t with me. I’m still reading some kick ass Bronze Age Marvel tales of the First Family of Comics. We go into part two of our story where Dr. Doom is alive and well and has captured Sue Storm, The Thing and The Human Torch in his office in New York City. I’m always a bit amused at how everyone knows that Dr. Doom is like, the worst person on the planet but still show him respect by not calling him out on it. It’s mostly because they don’t want to get blasted by a ray gun or have their home shot into space by pissing Doom off. I know when I get upset that’s the first thing I’d want to do. Nothing say’s “I hate you more than anything!” than trying to blow your property into the air.


So Doom is mad at Reed Richards, (Isn’t he always mad at him?) and wants him to suffer.

Tash's Pick of the Week: Superman #36

Superman #36
Written By Geoff Johns
Pencils By John Romita, Jr.
Inks By Klaus Janson
Colors By Laura Martin



It’s my turn for the pick of the week as you probably heard on the pod cast. And if you aren’t listening to The Verbal Mosh pod cast, what’s wrong with you? It’s funny. So go check it out. So as you can clearly tell I’m going with Superman #36. It’s pretty much the best damn thing I’ve read this week. So as you can see, it’s my pick of the week. Hence, it was the best book. Of the week. Yeah, you get the picture. Pick of the Week. You get it. Anyway, this is the next chapter to the whole Ulysses saga.


Pretty much picture the reverse Superman story. Parents who work for the U.S. Government think that the end of the planet is coming. (Thanks Cold War.) Send only child off to other dimension that they discovered while working for Uncle Sam. Son becomes adopted Superhuman being of other dimension. Son returns to Earth and then doesn’t like what he sees. You know. All very normal everyday things that can happen to people. You know, if you happen to live in the DC Universe. What I really came to like is that Ulysses wants to help us lowly humans. He really does. He talks about the Fourth Dimension like it’s a paradise. Where everything is awesome. (Cue song.)

Comics Rant: Daredevil #166

Written by: Roger McKenzie and Frank Miller

Art by: Frank Miller

    We open up this issue with a good workout session. Matt Murdock, attorney by day, Daredevil by night has turned part of his his Upper Eastside residence into a specially equipped, fully pitch black dark gym to help him train when he's not out beating the unholy hell out of Hell's Kitchen's local criminals. Right in the middle of a good session in walks his girlfriend Heather Glenn. She isn't coming in to get some Devil booty, nor to let him know that dinner's ready. Instead, she's here to remind him of his best friend, Foggy Nelson's, oh I don't know, WEDDING! To which I might add he's the best man for! But that's okay, this was September of the grand year of 1980. everyone forgot their best friend's weddings in that year. While Matt gets ready to totally try and not be late to his best friend's wedding, there's a school tour taking place at a nearby museum. A museum appropriately named the Disney Museum of Human History. I'm starting to think that friendship Disney had with Marvel and Lucasfilm had some fine print in it 30 years ago...hmmmmmm. Anywho, the class is being shown some of the acquired suits from various villains. Not sure what kind of museum carries villain's suits but who's counting? They're specifically being shown the suit of The Gladiator, a villain who lives as if he's still back in the times of the Roman Empire. His suit however is a bit more modern. Equipped with razor shooters in his wrists and is as hard as adamantium. Who knows, it may be adamantium, everything in the damn 616 is made of it anyway. Right when the guard has his back to the suit, the man who used to own the suit, Melvin Potter, has snuck into the museum to reclaim what was once his. He kills the guard and dons his suit one more time.

The Verbal Mosh Episode 292

Spider-Man 2099 #6 and Scarlet Spiders #1 are the only books we discuss on this week's episode of the comic book podcast, The Verbal Mosh. But that's just dandy because we're also going over the last episodes of The Flash and Constantine. So head on over right here, gang to hear this newest episode or tune in to it on our Facebook page, you goober.

Find more reviews at www.theverbalmosh.com
We are proud members of the Comics PodcastsNetwork: www.comicspodcasts.com

Comics Rant: Robin #1

Robin #1
Written By Chuck Dixon
Pencils By Tom Lyle
Inks By Bob Smith
Colors By Adrienne Roy



With this #1 it was real. Robin, the guy who had been Batman’s sidekick since the 1940’s had never gotten his own book. With Tim Drake now firmly at the helm, he got his own Mini-Series back in the early 1990’s. This was a big deal. With Jason Todd dead (for the time being.) Tim had been written so well that he got over with the fans and they wanted to see him succeed. So after the events of the last three Batman rants, Tim gets the nod from Bruce to become the third Robin. Sans little green shorts. So Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle, who is also one of my favorite Spider-Man artist too, bring us the tale of how little Tim Drake became the boy wonder.

Comics Rant: Fantastic Four #196

Fantastic Four #196
Written By Marv Wolfman
Pencils By Keith Pollard
Inks By Pablo Marcos
Colors By G.Wein


Talk about an awesome ending. But I'll get to that soon. Tash Moore here and I'm back from eating all the turkey and ham and hot sauce from Thanksgiving. After taking some time off and looking at the site and saying "Holy Shit, I need to write a new rant," I'm here. With a new rant. Yup. So Fantastic Four #196 has a new creative team of Marv Wolfman and Keith Pollard. But it doesn't start all over with a new story. This is Bronze Age Marvel baby, so the story just keeps on moving on. No Part one of five, FTW!


So this issue starts up with Reed in his damn underwear. Yeah, it's kind of strange, but hey, I didn't write it. Marv Wolfman did.

The Verbal Mosh Episode 291

Thief of Thieves #25, Batman and Robin #36, Moon Knight #9, Daredevil #10, and Amazing Spider-Man #10 are the books we discuss on this week's episode of The Verbal Mosh comic book podcast. We're also talking about Gotham, The Flash and Constantine. So tune in for free right here or if you want you can check out this new episode on our Facebook page.

Find more of our reviews atwww.theverbalmosh.com
We are proud members of the Comics PodcastsNetwork: www.comicspodcasts.com

Olivia's Pick of the Week: Invincible #115

Invincible #115
written by Robert Kirkman
art by Ryan Ottley

Well, we hadn't seen Battle Beast in quite some time, but that's how it goes in the Invincible Universe. There are so many characters within it so the characters can come and go whenever the plot needs them. I don't have a problem with that. I like it much better than the other option that some writers use in which they try to stuff a huge amount of characters and subplots into a single issue and the story becomes messy and confusing. There's no Invincible and Atom Eve in this issue at all. It's all about Battle Beast and his big fight with Thragg, the "leader" of the Viltrumites.