Character Spotlight: Mr.2 / Bon Clay

"Even in the depths of Hell... blooms a beautiful flower of friendship... leaving it's petals as mementos... bobbing back and forth in the waves... may it one day bloom once more... the Okama way!"

 I don't see a lot of comic book/ manga series that dive very deeply when it comes to their supporting cast members. Most of the time I find some if not most of the characters in a series are thrown away after they live their usefulness in the plot. But that's not the case in One Piece.

 One Piece is one of my top favorite manga series/ anime series. I recommend it immensely. I wanted to write about it in whole but then again there's plenty of articles that talk about it already. 

 So I wanted to talk about one of my favorite characters in the series. None other than... Bentham aka Mr.2 / Bon Kurei (Bon Clay) nicknamed Bon-chan by Monkey D. Luffy.

For those who don't know, an "okama" is a cross dresser and Bon Clay is an okama, even more so. Bon Clay is introduced as an agent of a secret criminal syndicate called Baroque Works led by a Shichibukai (a warlord pirate that works for the world government) named Sir Crocodile. He gained the powers of the "Mane-mane no omi" or the Copy-copy fruit where he can copy the appearance and voice of any character he touches with his right hand. He can revert back to his original form if he touches his face with his left hand. 

 From that alone, he can be considered quite the cross dresser. He also acts quite flamboyantly and dresses in a ballerina outfit with a swan theme while he pirouettes and jumps as he walks. Also his favorite word is "Ambiguous".

 He was eventually defeated by Sanji in a fight after he exploits Sanji's weakness to Nami's appearance. But having met the Straw Hat crew before realizing they were supposed to be enemies, Bon Clay renewed their friendship by acting as bait for the Marine forces letting the Straw Hats wait for their friend to reply to their invitation. He even told his own crew mates that even if they were allowed to leave their friends behind would they want to live knowing what they did. So he was captured by Lt. Hina and sent to prison. He escapes afterwards but challenged Lt. Hina to a rematch when they found out one of the former agents was to be executed. He was captured again and sent to Impel Down, the most secure prison in their world. 

 This shoots Bon Clay up my list. He's not just a goofy cross dressing villain anymore. He actually values friendship. At first, everyone thought he was just using the Straw Hats so he had a better chance of escaping Alabasta. But nope, he sacrificed himself just so the Straw Hats can have more time with their friend, Vivi. That takes some manly balls of steel.

 Later on, Luffy  breaks into Impel Down to save his brother and runs into Bon Clay for a joyous reunion. Bon Clay along with Buggy and Mr. 3 help Luffy go deeper into Impel Down to get to Luffy's brother, Ace. All the while freeing the prisoners and facing the dangers of the prison. Luffy collapses after facing off against Impel Down's warden, Magellan. Bon Clay brings Luffy to a hidden sanctuary in the prison run by the Queen of New-kama Land, Ivankov to be healed. After Luffy regains his strength he chases after the boat that takes Ace away while battling his way out of the prison with the inmates.

 They're almost at their escape only to find out that they won't be able to get through the Gates of Justice that block the exit to the sea. They are surprised that the gates start to open then they find out Bon Clay stayed behind to impersonate Magellan and order the prison to open the gates. Luffy and Bon Clay break into tears as Luffy thanks his old friend for saving him yet again. Bon Clay wishes Luffy good luck in saving his brother as he prepares to face-off against Magellan. 

 And his manly steel balls upgrade to platinum. I tried to hold back my manly tears when Luffy realized he was being saved again by Bon Clay. It was just so full of courage and friendship that you can't help but bawl. 

 So in conclusion, the reason why I like Bon Clay so much is that he is the epitome of manliness. Even if he dresses like a woman and a clown. His okama tendencies alone don't define his character as a stereotype. He is someone who sticks to his convictions and defends his friends to the death. And that is why he is the awesome sauce.

 Anyone out there that is also a fan of the spinning swan ballerina okama? Let me know in the comment section :D

Character Spotlight: The Court of Owls

"Beware The Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send The Talon for your head."

Hey comic book fans :D Today I want to talk about one of the more recent additions to the Batman's gallery of villains. It's not just one villain too. 

The "Court of Owls" is a group of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Gotham city. The members often don the white mask symbolizing the owl. They use their wealth and power to control and manipulate the city from behind the curtains. 

They were first introduced in The Batman "The New 52" created by Scott Snyder (not related to Zack Snyder) and Greg Capullo along with their trusty assassin: Talon.

 I think it takes a little something special to be counted as part of Batman's rogue's gallery. The court of owls are still relatively new and have managed to wedge themselves perfectly between the pages of Gotham City. A new reader would have no problem thinking the court of owls had always been part of Batman's mythos. That takes a lot of talent in writing. 

 As for my personal opinion, I really loved the inclusion of the court. It amazes me to see my favorite superhero clash with someone new and within a great story. The court can be menacing and downright disturbing at their best. I'm just a little set back with their over dependence on their assassin but then again a lot of Bat-villains often rely on their hench-things too. I don't want to spoil anything for any readers out there but I do really recommend the books. I also recommend getting the set that comes with it's own Court of Owls mask. They look awesome!

On second thought, I would like to discuss the Court of Owls and Talon deeper, but I'll save that for another time. Til then... Enjoy your comics!!!

Batman vs Superman

Son of Krypton vs Bat of Gotham (Spoilers:Yes)

 Well, It's done. I've seen it. Batman vs Superman... It's a mixed bowl to be honest. That's actually the best way i can describe it. Imagine a bowl filled with random ingredients that just leave you confused.

 I really wanted to love this movie. Despite all the criticism. I have a soft spot for my boys in black and blue. And on some notes, the movie delivered things well. But it kept changing it's tone which made it so messy.

 The beginning kind of hard to take in. It felt like everyone just wanted to remind the audience that Man of Steel happened and all the random destruction from the previous movie was supposed to be relevant.

 Quick side note: I'm not that big on the Man of Steel movie. It was also hard to follow with all the smashing and punching. However, I did like how Micheal Shannon looked as Zod. He actually looked intimidating unlike another i could mention, Lex, ehem but more on that later.

 Also they shot Jimmy Olsen. Yeah. I saw the credits. He was Jimmy Olsen. Still early in and I feel like this is how they want to treat the source material. A bullet to face... off-screen. I mean Jimmy Olsen being played by a black guy in the Supergirl TV series was something new to me but at least he was still a character not just a random reminder that cameras can get you shot.

 Next, there's the Daily Planet. They pound it in clear that newspapers have it tough. Thank you Perry White. Then why not write a story about Batman? I dunno why he wasn't news worthy. He's the frickin Batman.

 Then we have Lois Lane, whose part in the movie was quite unclear to me. Is she supposed to be the "empowered female" character because she doesn't listen at all to her boss? And always seems to put herself in so much danger? Also why did she try to drown the Kryptonite spear? Just seemed kind of random to me.

 Speaking of random. What the hell is up with the scenes jumping every which way? Also what was the purpose of the 1st Batman dream sequence? Aside from exposing Martha's name? and trying to jump scare the popcorn out of the bucket? Back to the mixed bowl analogy. It's like shoving more and more imposing scene after another. Give the audience time to read into it.

 I'm going to skip past the obvious plot point of this trying to herald in the Justice League and talk about it at the end. So don't worry. I didn't forget that. or that weird dream sequence with the time travel that just popped out of nowhere. Ugh.

 Now I want to put a spotlight on Superman. To a lot of people, including me, Superman is a big deal. There's a reason we geek out over him. Superman represents the good in all of us. He was an outcast. An alien. A being with the ability to destroy everything. A tortured and lonely soul that rose above his darkness and became a beacon of hope. His greatest trait wasn't his powers although they are freakin awesome. But he's more than that. Superman cares. He uses his strength to protect those that are weak.His "humanity" is his greatest trait.

 Then why is Superman in this movie so detached at randomly placed moments? It's like he's not even sure why he's saving people. Well except for Lois Lane who has him on scream dial. Even Martha Kent said, "You don't owe them anything." That just rubbed me the wrong way. Big blue learned to love his foster planet because of his foster parents. Then why would she encourage him to not care?

 The joke in the DC universe is that Superman is the boy scout. He's so light heartedly good that it makes Batman feel uneasy. Or maybe it's just me. The movie seems to want to dip Superman in a dark coating when I just believe he's more effective as he usually is: kind and uplifting.

 Now on the opposite corner, there's the Batman. I admit. I was rooting for Bats since The Dark Knight Returns. He's the Goddamn Batman. He's the man who's been dragged into darkness. The man with every excuse to be the bad guy. But no. He grabbed the darkness by the balls and used it to strike fear to those who do evil. That's why people look at the Batman with pride. He took the worst life could throw and spat back in it's face like all of us want to do.

 Batfleck didn't do such a horrible job at being Batman. The writing around him weighed him down though. All it took was hearing his mom's name to change his mind from killing Superman with his spear. His randomly weird dreams. Or his wayward investigation of Lex Luthor. Or that he uses guns... Or that he screams obvious things at people like getting out of a building that's in the middle of a super powered fight. He still acted tough about it too which kind of made it stick out more.

 Before I roast the elephant in the room, I want to point out something I loved which is Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth. He's just so witty about it.

 Ok ready the barbeque sauce. Lex Luthor come on. Have they ever seen a Superman cartoon? Lex is Superman's archenemy for a reason. And that reason is not stuttering cryptic riddles and sounding like a hamster on cocaine. I didn't like that they used Jesse Eisenburg as Lex Luthor. It doesn't work. Lex is a strong imposing megalomaniac with genius intellect and a dark grudge. Jesse is wobbly and clappy and likes to act as a fight promoter that wants to be Shakespear. His motive sounded insane. His methods were insane. His lines were well you guess it insane. Though when he was threatening Superman he actually sounded pretty badass. But point being, Lex Luthor is not the Joker. He has "schemes". He's a "schemer" as Heath Ledger would put it. Lex Luthor is a brilliant supervillain. Curly scarecrow was all over the place.

 He did however create a real threat to Superman and to the movie. Yep that's right. Doomsday. This meant adding the Death of Superman within the 2nd half of the Dark Knight Returns. Biting off more than it could chew is a fair way to express it. It got too big for it's own good. I love comic book Doomsday. He is a legit threat to the entire planet and he looks absolutely brutal. Not like a Micheal Bay Ninja Turtle that mutated in a different direction. They didn't add his spiked look until he got nuked and not nearly enough spikes. Sigh.

 I did love the fight scenes though. They did drag on waaay too long. But I can never have enough of super people beating on a monster. This was probably one thing that didn't make me hate the movie completely. 

 Also Wonder Woman did a good job of joining the fight. I'm not really sure because we've all been waiting for Princess Diana of Themyscira to hop on the big screen. I don't want that to go away. 

 It's been said before the main point of this movie is to act as an opening for the Justice League. I agree. I would love to see the Justice League on screen. But please, do not skimp on the basics. Yes the painfully obvious foreshadowing drove in the point. Flash is gonna be awesome along with AquaDrogo and Cyborg.

 Also where the hell are Green Lantern and Shazam? I can accept Ryan Reynolds back in the Hal Jordan suit. He did a nice job of being Deadpool. Although a new face wouldn't be such a bad idea. We all heard Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is playing Black Adam but whose gonna be Shazam? or Billy Batson?

 Final thoughts on this. It's an ok movie. I still wound up liking it. Mostly because I'm a huge DC fan. It's just weighed down on how shallow it acts. It's messy and unmotivated. It's like a really good comic book that got printed wrong. But since I want to see the Justice League I will give it a fair chance.

 These characters are timeless because they have depth. They're right there in the books and cartoons. That is what we are looking for. It's not just seeing Batman punch Superman in a robot suit or the Trinity beating down on Doomsday. We've invested in these characters because of who they are not just what they can do. So please treat that with respect. They're our heroes and we will not stand idly by and watch them be bastardized...

Welcome to Mind Your Comics!

To comics and beyond...

 It's no secret anymore. Comic books are awesome and an amazing medium for storytelling and imagination. I really love comic books. I wanted to be a writer when I was a kid but then I got really bored with writing words over and over, like what I'm doing now, and over. 

 But things changed when the Fire Nation attack... I mean when someone showed me a comic book. I think my first comic book was an Archie single digest. I immediately became obsessed with it. It's telling a story but with things to look at other than words. It was like finding your own native tongue or a part of your soul in between frames. 

 Years later, the geekdom would only evolve, resulting to me writing and drawing my own comic books to sell and let others read. It's the love affair that won't quit.

 So here is where I would like to talk more about one of my favorite mediums. I'll be talking about comic book processes, awesome comic books I've encountered, theories and story developments, news and other such geeky stuff. So stay tuned.

 Hello Dear Friends :D