A horse shot my parents in an alley when i was a young boy. RT @shaunh22: @ssnyder1835 Why don’t you like horses?

— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) January 16, 2013

A horse shot my Uncle Ben. RT @juventuz: @ssnyder1835 Read Batman 16 finally, you got something against horses? — Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) January 17, 2013

As a boy, I thought a horse killed my father. He was my father RT @broughstuff: Batman #16 was awesome, but what’s snyder got against horses — Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) January 17, 2013

I hate horses. RT @taitanorules555: @ssnyder1835 do you hate horses because why did you make freeze kill a freaking horse? — Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) January 18, 2013

Mr. Snyder continues to avoid answering the hard hitting question of why he dislikes horses. The writer seems to have a personal vendetta against our equine friends. Where does this deep-seated hatred come from? One could not venture to guess, but we have obtained this footage of someone taking their hatred from the land of fantasy to the reality. Is that Scott Snyder punching a horse in the face? It’s not for us to say, but it does look like him doesn’t it?

GIFSoup

Mr. Snyder continues to taunt fans about horse hatred. Earlier today he sent out the link to the following Amazon review [click to see larger image] through is personal Twitter. This man must be stopped before more fictional horses are destroyed. I propose a petition to prevent Mr. Snyder from ever writing a My Little Pony book. Just think what he would do to them?! *if you can’t tell, this is an article in the style of The Onion making fun of the supposed horse controversy and the gif is from Blazing Saddles.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Scott Snyder’s War On Horses Continues

Of course the Batman scribe gave nothing big away, but he did whet fans appetites for the big finale:

I can tell you there are definitely some insane moments in the conclusion and some crazy things happen so, I’ve always been braced for it as something that isn’t designed to just shock for the sake of shocking, but is the culmination of the story in a way that feels organic and surprising. I can’t remember who it was, but I had a teacher that gave me a writing quote when I was a student that said ‘Every ending should be both inevitable and totally surprising,’ and I completely believe that. Hopefully this is an ending that feels organic to the story we’ve been telling, and when you get there you’ll say ‘I can’t believe this just happened,’ and at the same time, you’ll feel that it’s a cumulative, horrible thing out of everything that’s been going on.

It’s hard to imagine with a title like Death of the Family that everyone is going to make it out in one piece. While the story won’t conclude the Batman line, it does have some parallels to Dan Slott’s Spider-Man #700. Snyder recalls joking about the conclusion with his friend Slott:

I was actually joking on the phone with Dan Slott after “Spider-Man” #700. I was telling him how I felt so bad because it sounded like things got crazy for him, and he said, “Wait until you get to ‘Batman’ #17! You’ll have the same.” So honestly, maybe I will go be in a bunker somewhere the day that issue comes out. But I believe in the ending very strongly. I believe in the story beat we’re headed towards.

Two pages of Greg Capullo’s art have also been released to hype up the highly anticipated finale. Issue #16 was an absolute treat. The two page spread featuring the “throne room” was stunning. What do you think will happen in the final pages of Death of the Family?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Scott Snyder Teases Death Of The Family Conclusion: Plus Preview Pages

Preview pages:

Batman Detective Comics #16
Story by: John Layman
Artwork by: Jason Fabok

Batman is forced to cut a deal with the Penguin, one that will come back to haunt both of them when a new villain interferes!

And in the backup story, Ignatius Ogivly usurps The Penguin’s throne and decides to lead the underworld crimelords in The Penguin’s place!

Batman Detective Comics #16 hits shelves on January 9th!

Chuckie Valdez, Preview: “Death of The Family” Continues in Batman Detective Comics #16

Ralph is a very simple movie at heart, but has plenty of deeper messages.  Kids will see what they want, and so will adults.  Kids will see a man who thinks he is bad be a good person.  Adults will see a complex film about heroes and their somewhat ambiguous morality.  It’s amazing how easily the movie balances these two extremes.  Never does the audience feel like these plot twists are forced or shoved in for the sake of it.  Everything feels natural for the story.  The plot does a great job of giving the audience to care for each and every character.  Even a character like King Candy, who turns out to be a villain for the movie.  The rules of the world are also stated nicely.  The audience doesn’t have to sit through some long exposition scene about how and why they game jump.  The rules are brought up naturally, or in a funny way.

Yes, there are video game references a plenty.  They go from obscure arcade games like Tappers, to main stream characters like Sonic.  The majority of Ralph takes place in a Mario Kart knock off, with plenty of jokes at that series.  It should take a couple viewings to get all of the hints and nods to games.  While many movies have tried to have their setting be a video game, none have succeeded.  But Ralph soars in this setting.  It’s clear the creators have a love for video games, and know what they are about.  There are plenty of jokes at modern and classic video games, but there is a respect behind those jokes.

The special effects are on the same level of Pixar.  8-bit characters move in quick motions, as they would when playing the game.  If something in an 8-bit game splashes, the puddles are squares.  It’s a small thing, but goes a long way to help sell the world that these characters are in.  Another big thing is having every character react as they would in their game.  On a small scale, this is to be expected.  But when there is a huge scene, filled with hundreds of characters, every character acts accordingly.  Sonic is in the background of one of these scenes, and we see him get hit with debris.  Naturally, he starts blinking and shoots out coins.  He was so far in the background, I almost missed it.

Wreck-It Ralph isn’t perfect though.  While the writing is great in most scenes, occasionally the writing gets a little on the nose with their message.  The movie treads the line well of adult and kid content, but the script creeps into preachy territory every so often.  It’s jarring, considering there are a few scenes that are quite dark emotionally, and filled with subtlety.  Then we go to a scene that lays everything out on the table.  It doesn’t ruin the movie by any means, but it could have been changed.

The voice actors create a great team.  No one steals the show, but they all work together to create a better movie.  John C. Riley makes Ralph lovable, and instantly the audience feels for the guy.  Sarah Silverman makes Vanellope annoying as hell, then the audience’s heart just breaks for her.  Her voice is one of the few who can’t be picked out right away.  Jane Lynch plays the tough as nails commander well, in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.  Jack McBryer was hysterical as Fix It Felix.  But the biggest surprise was that Alan Tudyk played King Candy.  He sounds nothing like Tudyk’s normal voice.  And as I have always said, “Putting Alan Tudyk in your movie ALWAYS makes it better.”

If Wreck-It Ralph proves one thing, it’s that kids don’t need a movie that coddles them.  Ralph deals with some heavy emotions that are accentuated by some perfectly voiced scenes.  It seemed almost un-Disney to have these characters so sad.  But it works.  Kids loved the movie, and many were screaming that they wanted to see it again.

Wreck-It Ralph gets 4/5.

MrComicBook, Wreck-It Ralph Review

Chew

Poyo has always been a fan favorite of the series, but he always deserved more space.  He’s Chuck Norris in chicken form.  John Layman treats this issue much like a long Chuck Norris joke, but it never gets old (like those jokes did).  The plot is beyond over the top, and Layman never loses sight of it.  It’s one over the top joke after the other.  But Poyo never leaves the universe of Chew.  Layman even includes one of the explanation pages that have become synonymous with the series.  Every scene and insane thing happens feels like it could have taken place while the main book is happening.  It’s a very fine line that Layman walks, but he walks it perfectly.  It’s also a great chance to jump onto the series if you haven’t been reading for a while.  It’s fairly self contained, besides the quick history about how Poyo became to be the badass robot chicken that he is.

Chew has always been a funny book, but Poyo easily takes the cake as the funniest issue of the series.  There is ample humor abound, both subtle and outlandish.  The multiple references to other Image books made me laugh out loud. Many of the scenes are quick, which make them feel like bits on SNL.  They are quick, hit hard, then we are onto another scene that is just going to hit The best way to describe the humor in this issue: laugh out loud.  I cried multiple times laughing, both from Layman’s script and Rob Guillory’s amazing art.  His small nods and jokes have been one of my favorite parts of the series, but he out does himself in Poyo.  Between the plethora of movie posters and labels for things will make this issue one that will be great to reread.

Rob Guillory’s art suits the over the top bad assery.  He jumps from demons, to sheep falling from the sky, and embracing every British stereotype.  It’s one great looking page after another.  As said before, Guillory throws in quite a few scenery jokes.  It took me a couple of reads to find them all in the end.  Even after that it’s worth another reading to get the full effect of all the jokes.  Much like the script, the art is outlandish, but it feels like it COULD happen in the Chew universe.  We see sheep killing men by falling from the sky, and it wouldn’t surprise any reader to see Tony Chu to walk into the panel and try to solve the crime.

The best moment of the issue though, is late in the issue.  I won’t give it away, but you’ll know it when you see it.

Chew: Secret Agent Poyo #1 is a great addition to the Chew universe.  Poyo could easily support his own mini-series.  #1 is pure fun.

Chew: Secret Agent Poyo #1 gets 4.5/5

MrComicBook, Chew: Secret Agent Poyo #1 Review