Level 13 - Week of 02/26/11

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and Welcome to The Next Level. We are your source for comic book opinions and debates. I’m your host Stefan, and I’ll be here with you discussing Comic Books, Video Games, and other items of note. Please note, for a purely gaming blog, I'd recommend Pwning Pat's Game Blog. The Next Level would also like to thank Jackie Fong for designing our logo.

This week's post will feature Avengers #10 and Captain America #615, closing with the announcement of the winner of the Spotlight contest.

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Avengers #10

You know what? Despite, really enjoying this story arc, I HATE THIS ART! It takes me right out of the experience, making it really difficult to review this issue. There was a section in the middle of the book which contained no dialogue, and unfortunately, the art just could not carry it forward. I'm going to try my best here, but I apologize if I really speed through this review.

This issue begins with Namor, Thor, and Red Hulk travelling to the bottom of the ocean to reclaim the Infinity Gem he kept WAY back in New Avengers: Illuminati #2. Many needlessly ugly pages later, they find it. Shortly thereafter, half of the Avengers head to the Danger Room to collect Professor X's gem. During these pages, I discovered I really hate how Romita Jr draws Spider-Woman. She looks TERRIBLE under his pencil. Anyway, the other half of the Avengers head to Area 51 to get Iron Man's gem, but finds that The Hood is already there, in possession of the gem. He then uses the gem to warp to the nearest gem, finding himself standing in front of Thor, Namor, and Red Hulk.

The story is interesting, but I dropped this title once because of the art, and I'm inching closer to doing it one more time.

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Captain America #615

This issue is the conclusion of the Trial of Captain America arc, and I am fully back in the palm of Ed Brubaker here. This issue was absolutely fantastic, and I cannot wait until the next issue of this title hits the shelves.

This issue continues the battle at the Statue of Liberty (described back in Level 8) where Cap battles Sin's thugs and tries to rescue The Falcon and the Black Widow. The fight is going poorly, until Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter show up to help. Cap gets to Sin, who detonates her explosives. However, the explosion is clearly smaller than anyone expected. Sin manages to get away, but not before the heroes realize that Sin got what she wanted. She destroyed part of the Statue, giving Lady Liberty...a black eye.

Cap is returned to the courtroom, and his defence attorney gives a snippet of a closing statement, but the prosecutor's closing statement is so well-thought out (honestly, this speech is worth the price of the issue alone), that Cap is convinced to change his plea to guilty. In recognition of his service to the country, Cap is found guilty, but his sentence is commuted. However, at the last moment, the Russian Ambassador to the United States comes into the courtroom and declares that Captain America (as the Winter Soldier) has been tried in absentia in Russia, and convicted of crimes against the state.

Wow. Just, wow. This issue was fantastic, but the biggest problem with it is that the issue is NOT new reader friendly. I would highly recommend reading Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America (collected into two easily read Omnibuses, with a third on the way) to fully grasp the situation. But all in all, I cannot wait.

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Special thanks to Next Level reader, Sirron, who requested that The Next Level highlight the Bendis run on Daredevil. Congratulations Sirron, your request has been granted, and the Bendis Run on Daredevil will be placed in the Spotlight at the end of the week.

Next Week: Our weekly reviews, and our Spotlight!

Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback (nextlevelstaff@gmail.com) is welcome.

Level 12 - Week of 02/19/11

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and Welcome to The Next Level. We are your source for comic book opinions and debates. I’m your host Stefan, and I’ll be here with you discussing Comic Books, Video Games, and other items of note. Please note, for a purely gaming blog, I'd recommend Pwning Pat's Game Blog. The Next Level would also like to thank Jackie Fong for designing our logo.

This week's post will feature Brightest Day #20, Green Lantern Corps #57, and Green Lantern #62.

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Brightest Day #20

I really enjoyed this issue as a conclusion to the Aquawar arc that had been building. The issue begins with the Entity revealing that it definitively opened the gates of the Bermuda Triangle (confirming my speculation from Level 9). The fight between Aquaman's forces and the forces of Black Manta and Xebel was really well done. Aquaman's determination shows through when he asks Jackson (the new Aqualad) to cauterize his newly chopped off hand, so he can continue to fight.

Mera finally shows up and in a really really cool scene controls the entire tide with her hydrokinesis knocking the Xebelian forces back into the ocean. At that moment, Aquaman summons creatures of the sea (who oddly enough are still dead) to force the Xebelians back to the gate, while Jackson closes it. At this point, Aquaman glows White, with the entity proclaiming "Mission Accomplished". But at that moment, Deadman shows up in White Lantern grab, and after warning him about being unable to control the his ring, seemingly kills Aquaman with the white ring.

This issue felt great as a conclusion to Aquawar, but felt like it had no real tie to the ongoing mystery of Brightest Day until the very last page. But a good comic is a good comic, and I'm not going to let something as minor as that ruin this one for me.

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Green Lantern Corps #57

This issue finally delivers on the promise given WAAAAAAY back in Level 3. The issue begins with Firestorm heading to Qward to search for Deathstorm and the stolen White Lantern. He senses that White Lantern energy is on Qward and heads that way, hoping to find Deathstorm. Instead, he finds the Green Lanterns and Thunderers in battle with Sinestro. The Green Lanterns are not using their rings so as to not break the truce with Sinestro, but Firestorm did not agree to a truce.

The Weaponer saves the Thunderers, and rallies them around him for a final battle with Sinestro. Surprisingly, the Weaponer holds his own, but when Sinestro defeats him, he doesn't berate or humiliate him. What he instead does surprised me. He pulled out a yellow ring and offered the Weaponer membership in the Sinestro Corps as his weapons expert. The Weaponer accepts the offer, declaring that it is better to serve in heaven than rule in hell. Ganthet then tells the Lanterns that they have pressing business in main universe, as Krona grows stronger.

This issue was fairly weak, but what I really enjoyed was the narrative style. The entire issue, save the prologue, was narrated by Soranik Natu. In this context, there was no better choice. This entire storyline however, felt like filler to get Ganthet and the other Earth-based Lanterns out of the way while the War of the Green Lanterns was building. So here's hoping things pick up with the next issue.

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Green Lantern #62

This issue was amazing. It starts with a flashback (which I'm sure will be important) of Ganthet and Krona chaining some being. At that point, we return to the present, wherein Krona attacks Hal and defeats him, draining most of the energy from his ring. Atrocitus comes in for the save, but is overwhelmed by Krona. At this point, The New Guardians attempt to regroup and face Krona head on, but he uses the power of Ophidian to disrupt them. He then steals the Butcher from Atrocitus, finally controlling all of the entities, with the exception of (I think) the Predator. He then leaves the Earth victorious, to prepare his purge of Emotionally Unbalanced races.

Hal wakes up in Justice League HQ, with them asking Hal to let them help battle Krona. There is even a nice panel where Superman asks Hal when the last time he took off the ring was, referencing the break-neck pace of the book since the end of the Sinestro Corps War. Hal declines their offer and takes off with the New Guardians to hunt down Krona.

I loved this issue, and cannot wait for War of the Green Lanterns. Nothing else needs to be said.
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Next Week: Our weekly reviews as well as the announcement of our next Spotlight. Due to the high response to the contest, I'm extending the deadline by a week in order to properly determine the winner. So keep those emails coming in.

Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback (nextlevelstaff@gmail.com) is welcome.

JOINT REVIEW #2: MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3: FATE OF TWO WORLDS

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to the another joint review by The Next Level and Pwning Pat’s Video Game Blog! My name is Stefan and I’m joined today by the queen of the video game Blogosphere, Patricia!

Finally the moment we have all been waiting for has arrived. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has been released into the hands of hungry fans and not a moment too soon. But was it worth the wait (and the hefty price tag)? We’ll be exploring the depths of Marvel vs. Capcom, the pros and the cons, and whether or not this title was all it was cracked up to be.

The actual story itself is quite simple. Effectively, Doctor Doom has assembled some of the villains of the Marvel Universe and has joined forces with Albert Wesker in order to unite their respective universes in an effort to conquer both. While initially lacking the power to unite the worlds, Super-Skrull suggests stealing the power form Galactus. He posits that this would give them the power they needed, and also allow him a modicum of revenge after Galactus destroyed his homeworld many years ago. Fast forward a few days, the two universes are at war, and suddenly Galactus shows up really really pissed off.

What is a little off-putting the the starting roster itself. It’s smaller than what Super Street Figther 4 had (only by 1 character but still) and made a lot of people question: “For a game that is $64.99 right off the bat, is it worth purchasing only to have to keep buying additional characters/outfits/etc?” I personally am a little peeved off at having to buy it for almost $100 and feeling as though the game is practically incomplete.

That said Pat, after the unlockable characters (which you get after beating the game a few times and racking up the correct number of Player points) the roster grows to 38 characters, beating out Super Street Fighter IV by 3 characters. But I agree that for this price, we should have had all the characters right off the bat, but I personally didn’t mind working for them. Also, two DLC characters will be available in about a month, and for a comic fan, some of those DLC costumes look good. Captain America as the Steve Rogers – Super Soldier outfit? Sold (assuming of course I have extra PSN cash, as I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to buy it haha).

What I personally did not like about it was the story mode. It seemed extremely lack-luster, short and lacked any animations. Normally, the animations is not a big deal to fighting games such as these but considering that Super Street Fighter was filled with voice animations, the fact that MVC3 didn’t add that seemed a bit... not with the times. I personally thought the music was super lame and annoying. Although I do love that style of corny music on actual arcade machines (as it just seems more vintage and adds on to the experience), having to hear that blaring from my T.V. screen was more annoying than reminiscent. Since I played the game on the 360, I really do have to pick a bone with the controls. Unless you are fortunate enough to pick up a fighting stick for the 360 (which usually runs your wallet dry at a womping $149.99 for a decent one), then the controls seem almost... chaotic. It was frustrating trying to do any real combos with it and after a while, I found myself more button mashing than if I was to actually try to develop any real skill in the game. This is not Marvel’s fault at all but makes me wonder why they didn’t make a customized arcade stick like Mortal Kombat 9 will be doing.

Now, here’s where the PS3 shines. The controls on the PS3 are fluid and really responsive. I found myself having none of the complaints that Pat is mentioning above. The music, I honestly can’t say I noticed. To me, that’s the sign of a problem, as I normally really enjoy game music. Think about it: you always remember good game music, as well as bad game music. But what happens when you have mediocre game music? The music is forgotten. The story mode was incredibly weak in terms of its narrative. If you didn’t pick up the collector’s edition, you had no idea of the plot of this game, unless you wiki-ed it, or you read this review. If any non-Mortal Kombat fighting game deserved some sort of story mode, THIS WAS IT!

The biggest problem I had with it (which I already sort of explained before) was feeling like I paid for a full steak dinner and only got chicken scraps instead. I really don’t think it was worth paying $64.99 or the special edition $74.99 (which kind of blew once I found out that the special edition characters don’t even get released until about a month after the release of the game). Unless you got a good trade-in deal or promotion with the game OR if you’re a huge, huge huge fighting fan, I would say wait for the price to drop down a little before purchase. I really felt like I was a little bit ripped off. I mean, charging extra for COSTUME CHANGES rather than just being simple unlocks? I’m not sure who would really fall for that (although I’m sure plenty of you will).

What I found most enjoyable about the game were the Easter eggs in the writing. For example, Super-Skrull when he’s about to perform his “Inferno” hyper combo screams out “HE LOVES ME!” in reference to the Secret Invasion storyline that took over Marvel Comics during 2008. In addition, you’ll get nice little quotes from characters who know each other right before combat, such as Deadpool telling Magneto, “Welcome to Die” (in reference to the Konami X-Men Arcade game which contained this weird line). However, I found the game’s appeal wearing off quickly. What’s good about it though was that after a few hours, when I came back to it, my enjoyment factor was just as high as it had initially been.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the game. It does to be more dazzle that fizzles quickly rather than long-lasting excitement. After a while, the feeling you get while playing this game does tend to wear out and it becomes more of a serious button-masher. The over the top character finishes get old quickly and the lack of any real animation or voicing seems like a blast from the past, and I don’t mean in the good way. After all fighting games have gone through, it just seems as though Marvel vs. Capcom 3 really played it safe; which is not necessarily a bad thing but it also isn’t something that is fanboy worthy. Definitely worth a pickup as it is quite exciting. However, it isn’t something I see “going down in history” as the biggest feature in this game is the actual gameplay, yet it lacks in every other department. So yes, worth playing but I don’t see it being exciting for long term unless you’re an extremely hardcore fighting /Capcom/Marvel fan.

FINAL SCORE: 7.25/10

I’m going to have to more or less concur with the lovely lady, with my score. The game is really good. But a few things keep it from being great.

FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10

Well guys, that’s all for us today. Coming up on The Next Level: Reviews of Green Lantern #62, Green Lantern Corps #57, Brightest Day #20, and the announcement of our next Spotlight. Pat, what’s coming up on Pwning Pat’s Game Blog?

Coming up on my blog – I will be reviewing You Don’t Know Jack (as I honestly couldn’t even get myself to review LittleBigPLanet 2... long story short, it feels like a gigantic expansion unless you’re extremely creative and itching to create levels) and Killzone 3!

Level 11 - Week of 02/12/11

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and Welcome to The Next Level. We are your source for comic book opinions and debates. I’m your host Stefan, and I’ll be here with you discussing Comic Books, Video Games, and other items of note. Please note, for a purely gaming blog, I'd recommend Pwning Pat's Game Blog. The Next Level would also like to thank Jackie Fong for designing our logo.

This week's post will feature The Flash #9 and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #7. Following the reviews, I will be announcing the a contest for the next Spotlight!

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The Flash #9

I was never a big fan of the Flash. For me, the concept was that of a man who runs really fast. Why is that interesting? A friend of mine then suggested I read Geoff Johns' run on The Flash after noticing how much I enjoyed the Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run. I did. And I haven't looked back since.

This issue is billed as the "Road to Flashpoint". Essentially, we have two smaller arcs taking place within the issue. In the first arc, Barry Allen has planned to go to a picnic with his wife and the Wests, but is called away on police business. The Elongated Kid has been killed. But strangely, he's not a kid anymore... He's really really old. Barry then calls his wife to inform her why he won't be attending the picnic. When Iris comments that he could have easily run over and told her in person in half the time the phone call took, Barry reveals that after the Mirror shattered (See The Dastardly Death of the Rogues HC), he'd been having second thoughts after seeing his mother alive, as she should have been, before the machinations of Professor Zoom. He then heads back to the crime lab to contact an old analyst friend of his, who had left Central City PD.

The second arc shows the new speedster Hot Pursuit travelling back in time, looking for fuel and Barry Allen. At this point, the two arcs intersect, as Hot Pursuit finds Allen working at his desk. When Allen dons the Flash garb and chases after Hot Pursuit, Hot Pursuit stops, and reveals that (*SPOILER ALERT*) he is in fact a chronally displaced Barry Allen looking to stop the "single greatest time anomaly to ever threaten reality".

I felt this issue moved fairly slow, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. See, after the shattering of the Mirror in Dastardly Death of the Rogues, one of the Rogues mentioned that what it did was plant a seed of doubt. It's nice to see the seed slowly grow. The Hot Pursuit design is kind of weird, as it had sort of a "Ken The Eagle" feel to me. But I really liked the idea of a Speedsteer who needed a vehicle to obtain his speed, as Hot Pursuit is a cop on a modified motorcycle. I really liked it, but it's also not a starting point. By the way, take a look at the image below, and tell me what you think of the Hot Pursuit design.


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Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #7

This issue was really one note. It wasn't bad as a stand alone, but it leads to something that REALLY pissed me off, and I'll get into that in a second.

Basically, Guy spends the entire first half of this issue trying to free himself, before finally tapping into his Red Lantern powers. Zardor and Guy end up in a fairly epic battle, but Zardor gets the upper hand leaving the returning Kilowog and Arisia to save him. During this combat, Zardor's mind-snake-thing manages to purge Krona's influence from Sodam Yat, who is then revealed to be the receptacle for the stolen Green Lantern energies (as he's the only Lantern with the ability to hold so much power because he was host to Ion for quite a while). Zardor and Sodam begin to escape, and Guy accesses his Killshot protocol to kill Sodam to prevent any further power drain. Arisia slams into Guy, preventing the beam from connecting, and allowing Zardor and Sodam to escape. Guy argues with Arisia, and then ends the argument with thanking her and Kilowog for saving him.

Okay, now with that out of the way, I need to explain something. This was the last issue of a story arc. In that respect, it did it's job very very well. Guy being forced into the Red Lantern abilites that he didn't want, and the abduction of Sodam by Zardor seem like they will be plot points in the future. My biggest complaint is the fact that the next arc on the book is the War of the Green Lanterns. But we have no real foreshadowing toward it. I mean, I know thanks to Guy's blood vomit what's supposed to happen, but what will this war be about, and why will it happen? Is Sodam's abduction related to the war? What about the third sect of Lanterns (led by Sodam), how will they play into the war? There are too many questions, and not in the good way.

HOWEVER, I understand that next week is Green Lantern #62, and shortly thereafter is the first issue of the War of the Green Lanterns. It's entirely possible that they cleared the slate to allow for new plot points, which would be entertaining. So I'm reserving judgement, but am totally willing to eat crow if I'm wrong.

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Stay tuned next week for our weekly reviews, and our Spotlight! This will be the first week that I will be accepting votes for the Spotlight, so please leave a comment or send us an email with your vote. The only requirements are that I will ask for you to send in the issue numbers (if applicable) and why you feel that the story deserves a Spotlight segment. I will reveal the winner on February 18th, and will then post the spotlight on February 25th.

Thoughts? Questions? Feedback is always welcome. Leave a comment or email nextlevelstaff@gmail.com

Level 10: Spotlight on the Sinestro Corps War

To my readers, we at The Next Level are great fans of both gaming and comic books. But once in a while, a game or book is so good that it deserves some special recognition. If you would like to nominate a book or a game for the Spotlight, please send an email to nextlevelstaff@gmail.com with a brief explanation of why the book or game deserves its own segment. This week, we will be shining the Spotlight on the Sinestro Corps War



Since Green Lantern Rebirth (see Level 1), Sinestro had been laying in wait. In Green Lantern #10, it was revealed that he had begun to amass an army of Fear-wielding soldiers to counter the Green Lantern Corps. Dubbed the "Sinestro Corps", these soldiers prepared to wage war against the universe. This knowledge only came to the Green Lanterns of Earth when a Yellow Ring attempted to take over Batman.

The opening act of this conflict involves a Yellow Ring being captured by Kyle Rayner (who had become Ion once again after the events of Infinite Crisis). This ring is brought to the Guardians, but before they see it, it escapes and precipitates an attack on Oa by the Sinestro Corps. During this attack, the Sciencells are attacked and several convicts escape (including one REALLY cool panel, where we see the remains of a Sciencell and the corona of a star shaped in the symbol of the Sinestro Corps).

Next, Sinestro reveals that Kyle is not Ion, merely its host (similar to the Parallax reveal from Green Lantern Rebirth), and rips Ion out of KYle. He then reveals that Kyle's mother did not die a natural death, and instead was murdered by a sentient viurs, who just happens to be a member of the Sinestro Corps. Sinestro then has a fantasic piece of dialogue when Kyle threatens to kill him in revenge:

"The Power Rings won't allow you to kill. A Green Lantern is an empty threat. Are you frightened yet? Are you frightened of which of your loved ones will perish next? Perish because of your dedication to a group of Guardians who don't even know what LOVE means? Are You Afraid?"

Sinestro then possesses Kyle with the Parallax entity, and declares "My Corps is ready". This leads to the single most effective two-page spread up to this point in Geoff John's run on Green Lantern



Why is this effective some of you might ask? Well think about this: We have the Anti-Monitor (who successfully destroyed the Multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths), Cyborg-Superman (who destroyed Coast City during the Death of Superman, preciptating the fall of Hal Jordan), Parallax (who destroyed the Universe during Zero Hour), and Superman-Prime. That is EVERY SINGLE MAJOR DC VILLAIN in the last 20 years! And they are all working with Sinestro!

The next bit of the story alternates with Hal Jordan and the Lost Lanterns heading to Qward to try and save Kyle (and Ion), while the characters of the Green Lantern Corps series are dealing with the assault on Korugar and other places around the Universe. At this point in time, Hal's Green Ring is drained of all its power, and he puts on some Yellow Rings to fight the Sinestro Corps.



Concurrently, Ranx The Sentient City and the Children of the White Lobe mount an attack on Mogo. Sodam Yat is finally able to damage Ranx and turn the tide of the battle in favour of the Green Lantern Corps. Meanwhile, on Qward, Ke'Haan of the Lost Lanterns is killed by the Anti-Monitor, but Ion is freed and Hal and the others escape. The Lost Lanterns move to return to Oa, while the three Earth-based Green Lanterns vote to contact the Justice League as they have experience dealing with the Anti-Monitor. As they approach the Earth, we see a Sinestro Corps Invasion force attacking the planet.



At this point, The Guardians of the Universe make a decision after coming out of hiding. They have re-written the Book of Oa, and introduced Ten New Law. The first law: Lethal Force is now authorized against the Sinestro Corps. This law helps the Green Lantern Corps finally turn the tide against the Sinestro Corps on Mogo, and they win the day there. Unfortunately, at the same time, the people of Earth aren't faring too well.

Hal manages to free Kyle from Parallax and Ganthet and Sayd split Parallax between the Power Batteries of the Four Earth-Based Green Lanterns. The stage is set for the final battle.

But before we get there, we have someone to deal with: Superman-Prime. How do you fight a Sinestro Corps Soldier with the power of Superman? You unleash a Sodam Yat, who also has the powers of Superman. The Guardians then give him the Ion Power to level the playing field. This fight is amazing, and I refuse to spoil how it ends here.



Ganthet and Sayd reveal that this entire war was written down in the Book of Oa as the second verse of Cosmic Revelations. They fear that if the war continues, the universe would plunge into the Third and Final Verse: THE BLACKEST NIGHT. They reveal that the prophecy foretells the rise of all seven Corps (Red - Rage, Orange - Avarice, Yellow - Fear, Green - Will, Blue - Hope, Indigo - Compassion, and Violet - Love), and that a War of Light will erupt between them. They tell the four Lanterns this in the hopes that they can avert it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is normally where I'd discuss the ending of the book. But I won't do that. The ending of the Sinestro Corps War is probably the most satisfying literary work that I've ever experienced. I refuse to spoil the experience for other readers by spoiling the last chapter of the book. The ending, and all the mechanisms employed to bring the story to that point, are exquisitely crafted, and done with style.

Verdict: I want everyone who is reading this blog to get themselves a copy of the Sinestro Corps War. I would love to hear the thoughts of everyone, particularly if you disagree with me, as I enjoy debating these issues. If you enjoyed this book (which I'm sure most of you did), I'd read the books I placed in Level 7, with the addition of Green Lantern Corps - Ring Quest. If you have any comments about the spotlight, please send an email to nextlevelstaff@gmail.com . Your comment may be addressed on next week’s post.

Stay tuned next week for our weekly reviews, and our Spotlight! Thoughts? Questions? Feedback is always welcome. Leave a comment or email nextlevelstaff@gmail.com

Level 9 - Week of 02/05/11

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and Welcome to The Next Level. We are your source for comic book opinions and debates. I’m your host Stefan, and I’ll be here with you discussing Comic Books, Video Games, and other items of note. Please note, for a purely gaming blog, I'd recommend Pwning Pat's Game Blog. The Next Level would also like to thank Jackie Fong for designing our logo.

This week's post will feature only a single issue: Brightest Day #19. And yes, I'm aware that the Sinestro Corps Spotlight is a week late at this point. But it will be up tonight, you have my word. For those of you worried, it will be quite the post. And so, without further delay, let's get into Level 9.

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Brightest Day #19

This issue was excellent. I cannot say it any more clearly than that. The issue starts off with Deadman wading through the ashes of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, (read Level 6 for further details). He angrily holds up his ring and demands that the ring resurrect the Hawks. The entity (speaking through the ring of course) denies this request, and finally explains why it resurrected the 12 people at the end of the Blackest Night story. Effectively, each of the twelve people were resurrected in order to stop a "Dark Avatar of Corruption" from destroying the forest created in Brightest Day #0. Each of the 12 people have a taint in their souls that will only be removed after fulfilling their missions as laid out in Brightest Day #7. The Entity also reveals that Aquaman, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, and the Hawks had a bigger role to play in the battle with the Dark Avatar. Deadman is then revealed to be the power source for The Entity while they hunt for the new protector of the Earth.

Then, the Aquawar begins in earnest. Aquaman and Aqualad are attempting to prevent Black Manta, Siren, and the people of Xebel from launching an attack on the surface world, but ultimately fail. It is hinted that The Entity allowed the attack to go forward. After a battle with words (and Aqualad's debut in combat, which was pretty awesome), Aquaman's hand is cut off... again...by Black Manta... To Be Continued.

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Stay tuned next week for our weekly reviews, and our Spotlight! The Sinestro Corps Spotlight is coming...

Thoughts? Questions? Feedback is always welcome. Leave a comment or email nextlevelstaff@gmail.com

New Logo

The Next Level would like to thank Jackie Fong (jacquelynfong.com) for the design of our new logo. Thank you very much!

P.S. - Level 9 and the Sinestro Corps Spotlight to come soon. Higher Size Logo below:

Information

Sorry about the delays everyone, but this has been quite the hectic week over at The Next Level. Level 9 will be posted in the late evening, but the Spotlight on the Sinestro Corps War (which is already a week late, I know) will be coming shortly thereafter. I'm making a promise that BOTH posts will be up tonight shortly after the Superbowl.

And just so this blog post isn't TOTALLY meaningless, I'll be attaching the recently released cover to this summer's Flashpoint #1


Thoughts? Questions? Feedback is always welcome. Leave a comment or email nextlevelstaff@gmail.com

EDIT: Maybe not tonight. Sorry guys