Nickelback is a Better Band Than Aerosmith!

Nickelback is better than Aerosmith! There I said it. No I didn't lose a bet. Aerosmith were nobody for years and years, and quickly faded into obscurity, and then MTV (back when they actually had music and not jackasses and ridiculousness) made them popular in what I can only assume is a practical joke taken too far. They were then inexplicably paired together with Run DMC, which is the only reason why anybody knows Walk This Way.

Now, I'm not saying that Nickelback is a great band; they're not, but there are much more popular bands who are much worse. Aerosmith is a prime example, but I would also say Metallica is pretty awful too. (If you don't believe me, watch them phone it in live)

This begs the question: what makes people hate or love one band over another? Is it ability? Chad Kroeger is a very able musical performer, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with his music although he lacks an original sound. Similarly, Joe Perry of Aerosmith is a competent guitarist, but nothing exceptional (although he has been able to basically make a living on that one riff from Walk This Way)

All three bands also have an annoying, yelly lead singer, but between Hetfield, Tyler, and Kroeger, Kroeger is probably the most bearable. (Having said that of course, Photograph is just dreadfull. Who reminisces on happy romantic times by yelling?)

This isn't an Aerosmith hate article, so much as a Nickelback apologist article. They aren't as bad as they are made out to be, and are even better than the bands that it is "cool" to like. So have an open mind when listening to their music, and other people's music and like or hate them based on that.

P.S. I know that a lot of Nickelback's music videos are misogynist garbage, but if you go through most North American bands' music videos, they are no better, so that is not a viable "Hate Nickelback" argument.

Plo Koon Lives!

This week I too some time to work on a project I've had on my mind for a while, actually a mix of a few ideas. Plo Koon is one of my favourite Jedi, and I wasn't a fan of the way he died in Revenge of the Sith. I would have been satisfied if he had been killed by Vader or even Sidious (during Mace's attempt to arrest him) but not shot down in a starfighter.

My fan theory for a while was that Plo survived, killed or evaded his clones on Cato Neimoidia, and then went into exile the same way Yoda and Obi-Wan did, never to be seen again.

Along with the Plo Koon idea, I have also been wanting to do a samurai cartoon, but I never had the story. This fan film is a mixture of both, a samurai movie that takes place in the Star Wars Universe.

The only pain is that I didn''t have a microphone, but other than that I think it turned out good.

Best Story Arcs by Comic

Because of my extensive knowledge of comic books and the like, I am often consulted by new readers in my online and offline communities. The common question is "what is the best [insert character here] story?"

Now, you could have done like I have done and read through them all, painstakingly deciding which ones are great and which ones are not so great, but instead, I've created a list of top fives kept on this page for reference. I hope this list helps any newcomers to comics, and I hope they can get as interested in them as I am. So let's start!

Batman

1. Year One - This is a great starting point for any new Batman reader. I recommend this to anyone unfamiliar with Batman's origin, or anyone who really liked Batman Begins.
2. Long Halloween - A great detective noir story steeped in lore with a lot of villains!
3. Hush - similar reasons to Long Halloween, also introduced a great villain and fleshed out a lot of Bruce's backstory, just a fun read overall
4. Court of Owls - A newer jumping-on point for new readers, also introduces a new iconic villain.
5. Knightfall - Has plenty of villains and heroes. It also introduces one of Batman's key villains in Bane.

(With Batman there are so many, I could do a top 50, but I will leave it at my top 5, others may be different)

Superman

1. Red Son - This story is non-canon but in many ways the best Superman story ever told.
2. All Star Superman - encompasses everything great about the Superman mythos into one story, with beautiful artwork.
3. Superman: Earth One - A retelling of his origin story that new readers should check out.
4. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? - An interesting take on Superman told from Lois Lane's perspective.
5. Kingdom Come - A good story made better by Alex Ross' fantastic artwork.

 Justice League

1. Justice - like Kingdom Come, but more fun, packed with heroes and villains all done in amazing artwork by Alex Ross.
2. Origin - The New 52 jumping on point is a fun story and a must for new readers.
3. Tower of Babel - A great Justice League and a great Batman story, all in one.
4. JLA/Avengers - for all the crossover fanatics out there.
5. Brave and the Bold #28 - their original formation against one of the most ridiculous villains of the Silver Age.

Other DC Characters

1. Wonder Woman: Blood - Not many comics treat Wonder Woman with the respect she deserves, but Blood and the subsequent run does in spades, best WW story by far.
2. Flash: Secret Origin - Just a really great Flash story, although there are many to choose from.
3. Sinestro Corps War - A Green Lantern story steeped in lore and has many heroes and villains including the Justice League.
4. Crisis on Infinite Earths - Just the biggest cluster of chaos ever released, packed with a ridiculous amount of characters.
5. Blackest Night - Most of the DC Universe was involved and it was a blast to read, very steeped in lore though, not for first time readers.

X-Men

1. Dark Phoenix Saga
2. Days of Future Past
3. House of M
4. Dangerous
5. First Class

Avengers

1. Civil War
2. Age of Ultron
3. Infinity Gauntlet
4. Breakout

Others

1. Planet Hulk
2. Secret Wars
3. The Night Gwen Stacy Died
4. World War Hulk
5. Gambit: Once a Thief

Versus Series #1: Green Arrow vs Bane

The Versus Series are battles between comic book characters that I think would be intriguing or exciting matchups. They use characters from all comic books and different versions and incarnations of the characters. For instance, this battle is between the Green Arrow from the CW show, and Bane from the Dark Knight Rises.

How They Meet:

This takes place in the second act of the Dark Knight Rises. Batman has been broken, and Bane has taken control of Gotham with his legion of mercenaries. The US Army is unable to interfere due to the fear of a nuclear bomb. Oliver Queen, AKA The Green Arrow, however, is able to slip into Gotham in the dead of night, and fights Bane down in the sewer.


Equipment
Arrow has been planning for this fight, but Bane hasn't. Arrow came equipped with 50 arrows, plus 10 grappling hook arrows and 5 explosive/flashbang arrows, and his sword. Bane is unarmed, but is of course wearing his morphine mask and that turtle shell Kevlar vest he wears during his fight with Batman.


The Fight:
Bane's quick reflexes allow him to catch Ollie's first Arrow, however it was a flashbang arrow, which temporarily blinds Bane. Ollie takes advantage and pushes Bane over the railing. Ollie leaps down and draws his sword, but Bane smacks it away and throws Ollie. The Green Arrow swings on a chain and comes back to kick Bane in the face. He draws his bow and fires. The arrow bounces off of Bane's vest. A second arrow pierces his arm, but Bane doesn't feel pain when he wears the mask. Bane gets to Ollie before he can fire another arrow and pushes him up against the wall, punching him in the face. Ollie is bloodied, and collapses to the ground. Bane takes some time to taunt Green Arrow, buying him time to fire a grappling arrow and climb into the shadows. From the shadows, an explosive arrow is fired, knocking Bane back and damaging his mask. Arrow swings down and pounces on Bane. With his mask destroyed, Bane goes into convulsions, but as Oliver preps the finishing arrow, Bane retrieves Ollie's sword and stabs him in the gut with it. Arrow falls to the ground. Bane's mercs come and put the mask back on him, but as Bane gets up, Arrow rolls into the sewer and escapes.


The Result:

Technically neither man died, but it is evident that if Arrow hadn't escaped, he would have lost. Moral victory for Bane

*Photos courtesy of Green Arrow Wiki and The Sun respectively*

Recast #1: Breaking Bad

This is something my friends and I do sometimes. Take a movie (or TV show) and recast in in a different year or era in film. I thought I'd share some of the results with you, starting with Breaking Bad. My friends and I have recasted Breaking Bad for nearly every era (what can I say? It's a great show) but i'll show you my 4 favourite versions.

Breaking Bad (1997)
Walter White – Kevin Spacey
Hank Schrader – Bruce Willis
Jesse Pinkman – Chris O’Donnell
Gustavo Fring – Denzel Washington
Skyler White – Nicole Kidman
Marie Schrader – Sally Field
Todd – Matt Damon
Mike – Michael Rooker

Breaking Bad (1987)
Walter White – Jack Nicholson
Jesse Pinkman – Marlon Wayans
Hank Schrader – Harrison Ford
Gustavo Fring – Al Pacino, Edward Olmos
Saul Goodman – Michael Douglas
Skyler White – Michelle Pfeifer

Breaking Bad (1975)
Walter White – Dustin Hoffman
Hank Schrader – Gene Hackman
Jesse Pinkman – Richard Dreyfus (yes, that is correct)
Skyler White – Meryl Streep
Gustavo Fring – Giancarlo Giannini
Saul Goodman – Robert Redford
Mike – Anthony Hopkins

(1955)
Walter White – Henry Fonda
Jesse Pinkman – James Dean
Hank Schrader – Richard Burton
Skyler White – Elizabeth Taylor
Todd – Anthony Perkins
Tuco – Sal Mineo

Resident Evil 7 Wishlist

Firstly, are they even making a Resident Evil 7?

I heard they may announce one at E3 this year, so I'm getting my hopes up. As another short entry, I thought I'd do a wish list of little things I would like to see in the new game, both from a gameplay and character perspective.

Firstly, I would like to see Jill Valentine back:
   Jill was my favourite from the original trilogy, but she barely appears anymore compared to Chris and Leon. She was like the Ellen Ripley of Resident Evil, and it has felt odd not playing as her.

The addition of infection dangers:
   Resident Evil: Outbreak did this to a certain extent, but I would like to see it expanded upon. Maybe depending on the severity of a zombie bite, even the common zombies could reduce you to the POISON state from early titles (like Webspinners and Ivy used to be able to). This would prompt the player to seek an antidote before they slowly die from their infection.

Limited ammo:
   Not much to say here, other than I feel ammo conservation and running away sometimes should be a serious gameplay mechanic, especially on hard.

No bodies melting on death:
   Why? see below...

Possibility of bodies raising after dead:
   Crimson Heads were badass, and unexpected. I had no clue they were a thing until I was deep into Resident Evil's REmake for the Gamecube, and they made for exhilarating gameplay at times, and made the zombies a bigger threat than usual.

More puzzle items and sections:
   What set Resident Evil apart from basic shooters early on was its puzzles. These days Resident Evil is indistinguishable from other over the shoulder shooters like Gears of War gameplay-wise. Puzzles are welcome back in my books.

If there's a final boss, don't make it a mutated bad guy of the series. I honestly find it annoying when the main bad guys happen to turn into giant unstoppable monsters rather than just normal zombies. The Tyrant didn't have to. Nemesis didn't have to, and William was a mutant the entire game so he doesn't count.

An all female team:
   Resident Evil 6 had an all-guy team, and two mixed teams. If this game has more than one story, there should be at least one all female story, if not two. Besides any new characters, there are many female characters to choose from, including Jill, Claire, Rebecca, Ada, Ashley, Sherry, Helena, Sheva or anybody from a spinoff game. A grown-up Sherry teaming with Claire for instance would make for a good story.

Animation Practice

This is one of many short animations I started doing a while ago. I want to make more, and I will post all of them here. I have many ideas as to what I will do next, and Batman and Judge Dredd may or may not fit into those plans. ;) Stay tuned.

Here is another one, a little smoother. I'm still lacking in the audio department though.