The Monkey King's Used Primate Emporium and Book Reviews

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Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, �Earth X�

Started January 9 � Finished January 10, 2003; 472 pages. Posted 15 January 2003

A few months back, after Joe wrote about how great this graphic novel was, I decided to pick up a copy for myself. I warned Joe that since I wasn�t planning to purchase this before his recommendation, and considering I had enough to read in the first place, this better be really fucking good. If it wasn�t, I was going to beat Joe around the face and neck.

Joe, we�ve been friends for a long time, and gone through a lot together. You�ve been in a band that for some reason declared themselves rivals of my band, yet we still got along. I got my front tooth knocked out in your front yard, surrounded by Campbell toughs. You hosted my fake wedding at your house, knowing that it was going to get absolutely trashed. And if it weren�t for that one jam session with Yoni and Mike from IB, I would be the only person in San Jose that hasn�t been in a band with you. And so, in deference to all of these factors, I feel I owe you this warning:

Start running.

I�m just kidding. Actually, this was pretty fucking amazing. Joe warned me that it might not make sense, as I�ve admitted that I know little to nothing about the rest of the Marvel Universe that is non-Daredevil, but despite being a complicated story line, this flows well and is relatively easy to understand.

Still though, this project epitomizes my frustration with Marvel not realizing the great character they had with Matt Murdock and Daredevil (and with the movie coming so soon, I hope everybody realizes that I�m not going to shut up about this anytime soon). Marvel released their version of Monopoly, leaving all mentions of Daredevil conspicuously absent. Scores of video games are released with themes for Spider-man and the X-men, but Daredevil, until now, has been left in the cold. And while there is a Daredevil character in Earth X, it�s not Matt Murdock and frankly, I was confused on what he was there for, except to supply comic relief.

But my absolute favorite thing about the book comes from the nemesis; a bratty kid with mind control powers who starts to take over the world simply because he�s bored. The kid is ruthless and evil, and to top it off, he�s a smarmy little bastard. But so what? That�s what villains are supposed to be!

Yes, but this version of evil incarnate has the same haircut as I do.

I just loved that.


Rating: Worth Used.

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