Anime, Cartoons, Comics! Plight Vol. 3, No 6- ...about those cartoons.

COMICS: Jason Aaron's WOLVERINE

WOLVERINE/WOLVERINE WEAPON X/WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN

Jason Aaron's Wolverine is in my opinion the definitive Wolverine run. While Marvel might have killed him off recently, there's no reason not to venture into this great stories. Starting with a run on the solo Wolverine title for some issues before the title had some changes, Jason Aaron started with a tale that revealed some old history between Wolverine and Mystique (Wolverine: Get Mystique) and from then on the stakes only got higher. After a short story featuring a day in the life of Logan the run moves to a separate title (Wolverine Weapon X) where Logan faced Adamantium Men, a brain stealing asylum, Deathloks from the future and oh so much more...the best part about this book? This is a Wolverine that is not afraid to pop his claws. What I'm trying to say here is, this was one heck of bloody book. From million dollar bullets that shoot cancer to Wolverine getting a steady girlfriend in reporter Melita Garner this was definitely a refreshing Wolverine book.

Once things settle down in the Marvel universe Logan moved back to his own title (long story) in a new volume written by...you guessed it, Jason Aaron. So what could possible happen to Wolverine next? Well, let's just say that some people really hate Wolverine and so they decided to send him to hell. literally. This event had a wide effect across an array of X-books (mainly the Wolverine related Daken: Dark Wolverine and X-23) since while Wolverine was trying to battle his way through hell his body was rampaging throughout the physical world hunting his closes friends and allies. Our good pal Wolvie managed to get out of that and take payback on those who sent him there...but while I'm not spoiling who was behind it, let's just say it was a bitter victory. This to the point that he reverted to a savage state due to the trauma, but hey, who wouldn't right? The things is that Wolverine always comes back, and after that it was back to normal fighting some dragons in chinatown. And for the final arc, what better than a trip back to Japan? Sabertooth, ninjas and a lot of other things were there to close off Aaron's tenure as the head writer of Wolverine but...it wasn't over.

Enter Wolverine and the X-Men.

A complete tonal shift from his solo run on the character, this title saw Wolverine opening up a school for mutants. Not only that, but he was the headmaster of said school: The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. This title saw Wolverine go from a lone warrior to taking care of all these kids with the help of other fellow mutants as teachers themselves. Wolverine has been known in the past to become a sort of father figure to several characters (see: basically all of them) but this was a completely different situation. The thing I love about this title is that it was just...fun. While it might feature Wolverine in the title the stars of the book where the students themselves. With a mix of new characters and returning mutants the book told many interesting stories in the crazy setting that is the Jean Grey School. From a Danger Room bathroom to a living plot of land that helps fund the school by diamonds literally growing out of trees, this book was insanely full of wacky ideas and great character moments. Not even the status quo change brought by the fallout of Avengers vs. X-Men stopped this book in its track as things just got bigger. Time traveling mutants, old enemies, a rival school that taught evil, space casinos, a circus of mutants and a lot of other crazy stuff. This is one book I instantly fell in love with and I was so sad to see it end, while a second volume started soon after I felt it failed to capture the spirit of the first one and even undid some of the character development. But that's besides the point, this is a great book that everyone should pick up and it's a perfect end for Aaron's run on Wolverine. This book made me care about characters I never thought I would, from Quenting Quire to Toad, this book was just spectacular.

COMICS: BATMAN AND ROBIN

THE TOMASI/GLEASON RUN

While my distaste for the idea itself of the New 52 has always been more than evident, it would be lying to admit that it has some great things among its ranks. Case in point: this book. Batman books are a dime a dozen, but this one is something else first and foremost: this is a book about a father and his son and how they mange to grow closer. The relationship between Bruce and Damian was dysfunctional from the start, and this book shows us how they manage to grow closer and end up being tragically torn apart. It's not everyday one is able to almost tear up at a Batman comic. That happens many times in this book. And what happens when Batman loses his Robin? More importantly, what happens when a father loses his son? What happens when Bruce loses Damian? This is explored in depth in this book as Bruce ends up going to the extremes of the five stages of grief all around the DCU to try and bring back his son. We see a broken Batman that veers on the edge of insanity because of his grief, a man that is willing to do almost anything to bring his son back.

Made a team-up book for a few months, Batman travelled from Gotham to Themyscira in order to bring him back. The final nail was when Ra's Al Ghul stole the bodies of both Damian and Talia. In this moment Bruce made up his mind and basically geared up for war. And even then, the stakes rose higher as the body was stolen by the forces of Apokolips. Everybody tried to stop him, but is there anyone that could stop Batman from trying to save his son? Going up against the Justice League and backed up by his closest allies Batman geared up in an armor forged in the hearth of the sun by Superman and perfected by the other Justice Leaguers ready to go face to face against Darkseid himself with only one goal in mind: bring Damian home. Alive.

What followed was a breathtaking arc where Batman kicked the collective asses of everyone in Apokolips in the most badass ways possible while wearing an armor straight out of some sci-fi movie. It was one of the occasions where the word epic fits the description.With spectacular art by the amazing Patrick Gleason (and conclusion by Andy Kubert) the fights where beautifully drawn and most importantly it should be no secret now as DC has made everything possible to let all of us now: he did it.

Bruce saved his son.

...who now has superpowers?

ANIME: ONE WEEK FRIENDS

So here I am with two of my favorite anime of 2014, starting off with One Week Friends. One Week Friends is about a girl named Kaori that suffered an accident that makes her forget most things by the end of each week: mainly, the people she meets and what she does. Basically she can only remember her family and the things she learns in school. While this might seem quit cliche (And to be fair, it is) what's important is what the show does with such a situation, and how it does it. Enter Hase, who has a crush on her and wants to at least start by becoming friends with her. She is understandably wary of making friends as she fears losing them and what they would think of her, but he perseveres and they manage to become closer. Thing is, while her condition does start to get better it is one heck of a thrillride as their situation is filled with a lot of ups and downs...and those downs are downright heartbreaking. One Week Friends is a great series I highly reccomend and a clear contender for my favorite series of 2014. Beautifully animated with a very sweet story, the only downside is I wish it hadn't ended. I wanted to see what happened next!

ANIME: MONTHLY GIRL'S NOZAKI-KUN

And another frontrunner for my favorite series of 2014, this one for completely different reasons. This series is first and foremost a comedy, and a pretty damned good one at that. In fact, I'd dare say that it is arguably the best comedy anime of 2014. It follows Sakura Chiyo, a girl who while trying to confess to a boy ends up telling that she's...his fan. And so he gives her an autograph as it turns out he is a manga artist. She tries again only to somehow end up at his house...assisting him in prepping his manga. With a great cast of very different and interesting characters this series never fails to deliver. In helping him with is manga she meets an array of other characters that bring their own hilarious situations into the mix. It's fun, it's hilarious, it's Monthly Girl's Nozaki-kun and the only reason I don't talk even more about it here is because I already have, and there's not much I have to tell you besides: GO WATCH IT NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T, YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

CARTOONS: ...uh

I ran out of them?

Watch One Week Friends

Warch Monthly Girl's Nozaki-kun

Plight Schedule

The featured header file (Photoshop 5)

The main Plight header file (Photoshop 5)

In case of typos or things that don't make sense...do tell me. I honestly did not proofread this even once. It is getting late in here, in my defense.