FEATURE: Josh Wilding's Christmas Wishlist 2013
It's nearly Christmas, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you about some of the stuff I think you should fill your stocking with this holiday season (and to talk about some of what I would like to see happen in 2014). So, whaddaya waiting for? Hit the jump to check it out!
ARROW - Season One
I'm sure you all remember my scathing review of Arrow's pilot, but after taking the time to watch the entire first season of the CW series, I became a huge fan. People look down their noses on anything produced by this network, and while Arrow suffers from some of the same formulaic problems that almost all of the CW's shows do, they're nowhere near enough to put me off from checking out a series which is easily the best small screen comic book adaptation ever. The second season is even better than the first, with the recent midseason finale going so far as to feature Deathstroke and the origin of The Flash. Reliving the first season in HD would be very welcome indeed and is the perfect chance for you guys to catch up before it returns in the New Year!
BREAKING BAD - The Complete Series
I missed out on the opportunity to pick up all five seasons of Breaking Bad in the recently released special edition set (which came in the shape of a barrel), but such a hefty price tag for some novelty casing and a few bits of tat that I'll look at once and the put to one side just didn't seem worth it! While I'm currently in the process of rewatching the entire series on Netflix, owning what I believe to be THE greatest TV show of all-time is too good of a chance to pass up. For those of you who have yet to watch Breaking Bad, I hope you've managed to avoid any spoilers, because this is something you need to start looking at right this second.
Daniel Bryan To Win The Royal Rumble
Like me, I know many of you are fans of wrestling. If that's the case, I'm guessing that you may be just as frustrated as I am when it comes to how the WWE has treated Daniel Bryan this summer! According to various reports, Summerslam's low buy rates have resulted in the company deciding that their most talented wrestler isn't a main event star, despite recently delivering what the majority are now calling the Match of the Year on this past Monday's Raw and recently being voted "Superstar of the Year" by fans. That and the reaction he gets (even in promos which he's not involved in as you can see below) has left me hopeful that his character will get a shot at redemption at the Royal Rumble and the chance to headline Wrestlemania, FINALLY winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the process. It just so happens that the Rumble will be the first PPV I attend, so I hope to see some of you guys there!
FOREVER EVIL #4
Last year's big release was the controversial 700th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, but DC own this Christmas with the fourth issue of Geoff Johns and David Finch's Forever Evil. This instalment promises a confrontation between Batman and Lex Luthor as they are forced to put their differences aside in order to go after The Crime Syndicate. If you haven't been reading this series, take the next few days to catch up before the release of this Marvel-beating epic!
For THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 To NOT Be A Crushing Disappointment!
The trailer was fantastic, but I'm still worried about The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Three villains is a lot, while the fact that they're seemingly introducing Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin before his father doesn't quite sit right with me. Sure, we might see Norman suit up in the next instalment, but the weird combination of costumed and mutated Goblin that we've seen (not to mention that unexpected Rhino design) is causing the alarm bells to ring! Now that the origin story is out of the way, Marc Webb has an opportunity to tell the definitive big screen Spider-Man story. Whether or not he does remains to be seen!
SAGA
"When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe," reads the official synopsis for this series. Sounds simple, but there's a good reason that Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' Saga cleaned up at this year's Eisner Awards. It's a quirky and unique series which serves as further proof that Image is producing titles just as good - and arguably better - as the far more well-known Marvel and DC. The first few volumes are now available in stores, so be sure to hunt them down as you're in for a real treat!
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9 - First Appearance Of Electro
When Stan Lee visited the UK last year, I frantically searched eBay for the perfect comic book to get signed. Ultimately, I decided on Amazing Spider-Man #39, but there was another which kept catching my eye. That would be the first appearance of Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man #9. It was sadly out of my price range, but now that Jamie Foxx will be playing the villain in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 next year, its value has sky-rocketed. If you own a copy and are happy to part with it, then you could be in with a chance of making a nice little profit! Either way, I envy you!
The Return Of Peter Parker
It was a fun experiment and it's had some surprisingly good moments, but just bring back Peter Parker already! The fact that people say that Peter needed to go to make way for new stories baffles me; Marvel just needed to find a better writer to breath new life into the character as JMS did when he took over from Howard Mackie's disastrous run. Dan Slott has been allowed too much of a free reign, turning the hero into just a prop in his obvious desire to rile fans. Enough is enough. We've now seen Spider-Man murder criminals, date a little person and alienate his friends and family. If that isn't an indication that it's time for a new writer and direction, I don't know what is.
Judging from his Twitter account, Dan Slott is under the impression that I'm comparing dating a little person to murder. Unfortunately, he seems to have missed the point that I was using that as an example of writing I believe was done solely to rile up a community who, let's face it, are easy to get riled up. In hindsight, a better example would probably have been the fact that the Otto Octavius possessed "Peter Parker" considered having sex with Mary Jane in the first few issues...something which almost everyone agreed was tantamount to rape.
Cancel AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
'Nuff said.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!