Tag: DC Comics
Flash War! A Special Article Co-Written By Mike & Paul!
I don’t have any comic series that I read consistently, but I do like picking up stories that are either getting a lot of buzz, or are going to be the basis for some adaptation. I’ve been seeing a lot about the “Flash War” event which will pit Barry Allen against Wally West. Last week the first issue came out, and I picked it up, along with the ‘prelude’ which was in the annual.
Hey Everybody, Paul here. As the resident comic book expert I thought I’d help fill in some of the blanks in the background with ‘Flash War”. Mike not quite having his comic book super nerd powers yet. So anytime in this article you see italics text like this pop up, that’s me putting in my two cents. It’s two authors for the price of one!
Now, I’ve read Flashpoint, and Flash: Savage World, a couple of the Justice League trade paperbacks, as well as being a fan of the TV show, so take my opinion as that of someone who’s not an expert, but also not diving in for the first time. If you’re interested in this story, I do suggest picking up the annual with the prelude, because I found that it makes things a bit clearer in the first issue.
Besides the Flash Annual that Mike mentioned earlier, the storyline that is most important to understanding Flash War is a story that goes back to Geoff John’s original run on The Flash BEFORE The New 52 and even before Barry Allen came back from the dead. At this point in DC history Barry Allen had died in the classic mega-event Crisis on Infinite Earths. For the nearly three decades after, Barry’s sidekick Wally West aka Kid Flash became The Flash full time. For a whole generation of readers (or if you even just knew The Flash from the Justice League animated series) Wally West WAS The Flash. Anyway, this super important story was called BLITZ and it was all about how former FBI criminal profiler Hunter Zolomon, who was a good friend of The Flash, became the super villain Zoom and initiated a devastating attack on Wally West and his family.
I’m not going to review the individual parts, but now that I have an idea of what the story is, I’m going to write about it, and then when the series concludes, I’ll write a review of it as a whole.
So, if you’re familiar with DC’s recent history, they had the “New 52” runs, and then there was Flashpoint which I believe allowed them to reset somethings after that, to try the “Rebirth” runs. Well, there were some consequences to all of these resets and reboots, and one major one, which apparently directly stems from Flashpoint, is that the Wally West (the third Flash) from pre-“New 52” no longer exists as he did. He is still around, but he has no history, much of his memory is cloudy due to being lost in the ever-changing timeline, and almost no one remembers him.
Ok so there’s actually another super important story that you need to read called DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH, also written by Geoff John’s. When Barry created Flashpoint and created The New 52 as we know it, “classic” Wally West had seemingly been erased from history. This story partially shows how he escaped from The Speed Force and why there are 2 very different Wally West’s in The New 52 continuity. It also, tells us that Barry creating Flashpoint was not the only person responsible for this altered universe… Just read the story, it’s a huge reveal.
*Some minor spoilers from this point out*
As Mike goes into here, there are now 2 Wally West’s in this reality. The adult, white, pre-The New 52, FLASH Wally West who escaped The Speed Force in DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH and teenage, African-American, KID FLASH Wally West. Now Wally is a white red haired guy, still operating under the title of Flash (although Iris West-Allen, Barry’s wife and Wally’s aunt who doesn’t know who he is, refers to him as the new Flash because Barry is still the Flash as well.) Wallace on the other hand, is a younger, black teenager (not sure how old he’s supposed to be, but he’s shorter which I’m pretty sure equals younger) Paul chiming in here, he’s roughly in his mid-teens and is Kid-Flash, but is also Iris’s nephew.
So, they’re the same person but different people. It’s a little confusing, but I like it, because I’m a big fan of time-travel and the idea that if anything were done differently in a time-line individuals could be genetically different people from one to another.
At this point in the article, bless his heart, Mike sort of misinterpreted the chain of events. Basically, Time Agents from the 25th Century (kind of like Minority Report) all dressed like good versions of classic Flash villains, The Rogues, show up at try to arrest Iris for supposedly killing Eodard Thawne (Classic Flash villain The Reverse Flash) at some point… in the future… I guess? Even I’m a little confused on this on, guys. These Time Agents could be full of shit, but adult Wally freaks out at the idea of these assholes taking Iris, where Barry wants to let cooler heads prevail and calmly go with The Time Agents to figure out what’s going on. Some fighting and time travel ensues… One of The Time Agents has a really cool and surprising power source I won’t spoil here.
As the first issue comes to a close, we see that Wally has been transported to a future in which he did exist, while Barry, Iris, and Wallace were transported to the alternate future, and Hunter Zolomon aka Zoom tells Wally he’s going to help him change the past and save his children who were erased in Flashpoint.
This issue is kind of framed by Hunter Zolomon and his POV. To the best of my knowledge, the first time we’ve seen this version of Zoom and Wally’s kids since before Flashpoint, because they’re all pre- The New 52 characters.
I’m really excited, because as I said before I really enjoy time-travel and time line stories, I also really enjoy stories in which protagonists conflict with each other, sometimes I find it more interesting than when there is a clear protagonist. I’m not sure to what level Zoom will participate, my only familiarity with him is from season 2 of the Flash on CW, but I’m really looking forward to what’s coming up.
The Hunter Zolomon/Zoom of this comic is VASTLY different from the Zoom from The Flash CW series. I like Mike’s enthusiasm, but I think this isn’t a great comic for new readers. It’s really more for people who’ve been following The Flash and DC Comics in general for the past decade or so. I recommend new readers check out, as an alternative, the mini-series The Man of Steel by Brian Michael Bendis currently in it’s 3rd issue. You can get at your local comic book store or on your tablet on the ComiXology app. It’s very new reader friendly and all you really need to know is who Superman is and the bare minimum about his world. I hope you guys enjoyed our different takes on Flash War part 1. Thanks for reading, everyone!
–Paul
PODCAST: Superhero Show Season Finales!
Hey Everybody,
On this Episode, I bring in the old man, Paul Sr. to discuss the season finales of Arrow, The Flash, Supernatural, and Gotham. We discuss the big moments of each finale, the quality of the preceding seasons, and where the shows go from here. A few of these shows we really love and have suffered from a dip in quality lately. So we have a lot of hot takes in this one! Including some inside info on how the shows connect to some other interesting projects like the Green Arrow movie that almost was called Supermax, the upcoming annual CW superhero crossover event involving Gotham City and Batwoman, the classic Batman stories “No Man’s Land” “Zero Year”, and more! Also, take a look below the link at some cool new images put out to promote the upcoming seasons of the show’s we talk about in this episode. Enjoy! Listen here, on The Boston Podcast Network pod617.com , or subscribe on Stitcher and ITunes:
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/14869407
Review: KRYPTON Season 1 Finale
I know enough about how television shows work behind the scenes to know when a show is saving its money for something big. You think those dragons on Game of Thrones are fucking cheap?! Well, they ain’t! AND Krypton doesn’t have a fraction of the budget that GoT does. Episode 9 of Krypton’s 10 episode first season had a lot of scenes “in the tunnels” or “in a hidden bunker”, basically sets they already built, dressed up to look like different locations, so they could save all the big bucks for a grand, epic ending. So, I knew this week’s season finale of Krypton was going to be big. I must say the show did not really disappoint.
I’ve often lamented how DC characters can be done so well on TV and so very, very shitty on the big screen. Krypton is another sad reminder of this.On paper, Krypton sounds awful. I really thought the concept was terrible: “A prequel set on Krypton focusing on Superman’s grandfather.” WHO GIVES A FUCK?! RIGHT? Sometimes it’s great to be so wrong. The show was so much more than the above synopsis and ended up being one of the most pleasant surprises of the first part of 2018.
The Big Bad of the show’s first season has been Brainiac, who’s been handled extremely well. The casting, actor Blake Ritson (Da Vinci’s Demons), and character design were damn near perfect. When your biggest complaint is that you want to see more of a character, they’re doing something right.
As the finale begins, Brainiac has descended on the Kryptonian city of Kandor. The end is fucking nigh. The main character, our hero, Seg-El (played by the oh so man pretty Cameron Cuffe) or just Seg, is doing whatever he can to stop Brainiac. To make matters worse, classic DC space adventurer Adam Strange isn’t the only one to travel from to the past to save the future, so has General Zod (Yes. THAT General Zod!) played by Colin Salmon from Arrow and the Bronson James Bond flicks.
Zod wants to prevent the destruction of Krypton and with all the knowledge of the universe, different alien races, and the abilities that Kryptonian ‘s can you develop under a yellow sun under his belt, he wants to usher in a Kryptonian dynasty that will rule the galaxy. This guy is just a fuckwit. Adam Strange had the right idea when he straight up tried to kill Zod the second he saw him earlier in the season. Speaking of Adam Strange…
Adam Strange is just trying to keep the timeline on track. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a great pitch to the his allies currently living on Krypton. After all, their world has to die for Superman to become the greatest hero in the universe. Adam brought Superman‘s Cape with him from the future to give to Seg a little bit of tangible evidence he wasn’t some nutcase. The Cape has been a lot like Marty McFly’s picture of his family from Back to the Future: the more the timeline changes, the more Superman‘s Cape begins to deteriorate and eventually disappear completely. If the past isn’t protected there may be no Man of Steel! Oh, and Zod wants to release Doomsday to stop Brainiac. The shit it hitting the fan here, people!
For the most part the characters, both hero and villain, have worked pretty well. The villains in particular have been great. The whole cast is perfectly fine for the first season of a show like this, but there’s definitely room to improve in season 2. Both the heroes and villains are interesting in their own way and certain classic DC characters are adapted very well for the series. Both General Zod and Brainiac are excellent villains in completely different ways. They’re both perfectly casted and I’m hard pressed to decide which of them is more dangerous in the long run. Brainiac is a force of nature, but Zod is… insidious. Don’t get me wrong, Brainiac is scary as fuck. But he’s kind of like trying to use a gunfight to stop a hurricane.
Zod is scary because of his humanity (even though Kryptonian’s aren’t technically humans). He never lies, but he chooses to leave out some pretty important details about his past. By “hiding the truth” he’s able to get the good guys to work with him despite the fact that they don’t completely trust him. Adam Strange is the only one who knows just how dangerous this fucking guy is because Adam knows how deadly and destructive he was on Earth. As I said before, the looks the show has decided on for Zod, Brainiac, and Doomsday are all excellent. The character design and make up work are phenomenal especially for Brainiac. We don’t see a lot of Doomsday in season one. Most likely because they’re setting up Doomsday to be a major threat in Season 2.
The best part of the series is really how they use the Superman mythology and put their own spin on it. I was pleasantly surprised when certain classic DC characters and stories elements that I didn’t expect, popped up in the series. If they can get the characters as strong as the mythology in season 2, the show could be excellent.
Seg is a solid hero for the show. You can see pieces of Clark Kent in him. You can see parts of the man that his grandson will eventually become. He has that same selflessness and heroism. Of course he looks like him a little bit as well. But he’s still his own character, I would definitely say he’s willing to do more morally questionable things than his grandson probably would. It’ll be interesting to see where they take Seg’s character in season 2.
The episode end’s on one hell of a cliffhanger. A really phenomenal set up for season 2. The genius of this show is that it’s NOT a prequel, it’s really a time travel show. So the series isn’t bound by the existing Superman mythology and can blaze its own trail. All in all, I think this was an excellent finale to a surprisingly strong first season and I can’t wait for Season 2! As always, thanks for reading !
Krypton – Episode 10 (Season 1 Finale): 8.5/10
-Paul
Warner Bros/DC Comics New Streaming Service Is Officially Announced: DC UNIVERSE!
Hey Everybody,
Over the past few years I began to notice a big shift in how people consume their entertainment content. For awhile now I have believed that streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime are going to be one of, perhaps even the most common, ways people will be watching TV shows and films.
Netflix specifically has been one of the most successful and game changing companies in the entertainment business. They’re shaping the future so radically that we need to invent new ways to describe what we watch. We’re slowly going from watching TV shows and movies to “consuming content”. Is the TV show still a TV show, if it’s not on TV? I think the real turning point was when Netflix became more of a streaming service then a provider of physical DVDs and Blu-ray’s. In the beginning, Netflix was the new way to rent movies. It’s why Blockbuster Video is gone, Hell all video stores. Having your movies delivered to you in your mail, at your doorstep is something that video stores couldn’t compete with.
I think another big turning point was when TV show seasons started to come out on DVD. It was the first step away from watching a TV show when it’s actually being broadcast. People forget that it wasn’t long ago that the only thing that you would be able to rent or buy a physical copy of was a MOVIE. Seasons of television shows becoming something that you could own, re-visit, discover a show that was no longer on the air, or catch up on past seasons of existing shows. On Demand, DVR, iTunes, and digital downloads weren’t “a thing” yet. But that was the future, movie away from physical copies to streaming. Streaming, streaming, streaming. THAT is going to become the main way we consume our entertainment. saw the writing on the wall and realized that streaming was what Netflix should lean into as a company, changed the entertainment industry.
When Amazon Prime started to become a large competitor of Netflix, the end of the age of conventional television and film watching was here. Very few people, in fact I don’t know a single one, watch their favorite show when it’s actually AIRING. They have it DVR’d, or are they’re waiting it for it to come out on Netflix, or Blu-ray. When Netflix and then Amazon Prime started producing their own shows they essentially became Networks liked HBO, ABC, NBC, or any other. Some of the most popular shows being produced are on streaming services: Stranger Things, Orange Is The New Black, Daredevil, Luke Cage, House Of Cards… well that last one probably doesn’t have as much prestige anymore.
Last year, CBS decided to revive one of the most iconic franchises in television and film history when they created a streaming service and premiered a new Star Trek series. Netflix is putting out major films with A-list Hollywood filmmakers and stars. First a TV network now a movie studio. Now the big dogs are getting into the fighting pit. Later this year both Warner Bros. and Disney will be launching major streaming services. Which brings me to reason for writing this article.
DC Entertainment (which is owned by Warner Bros.) is launching their big streaming service later this year. It’s basically the DC Comics Network and what self respecting comic fan wouldn’t love something like this, I know I’m excited to check it out. So, it’s fitting that DC Entertainment (where Geoff Johns works as one of the big bosses, when he isn’t writing some of the best superhero comics in the industry) finally announced the name of this new streaming service: DC Universe.
I like it. It’s simple and it tells you what it is and what you’re gonna get. They also announced some of the original content that would be part of the launch: a live action Teen Titans show called Titans, Young Justice: Outsiders, Harley Quinn, and Swamp Thing.
Two of these shows had already been announced Young Justice: Outsider and Titans. Titans looks like it’s pretty much a Teen Titans show. The members include Dick Grayson as Robin (there were conflicting reports early on that he’d actually be Nightwing instead of Robin), Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, Hawk, and Dove. There may be more members, but those are the names that’ve been confirmed. I was really excited for this because all the promotional images of the characters looked really cool, but some recent set photos of other characters have me a little concerned. I guess we’ll see.
Young Justice: Outsiders and Swamp Thing are the big deal for me. The long overdue and highly anticipated resurrection of Young Justice is picking up right where Season 2 left off, with Season 3. This show has a big cult following, myself included, that really pushed to get more seasons of this excellent show. I LOVED the first 2 seasons and when the show was canceled by Cartoon Network for bullshit reasons, I was very disappointed. It’s the same creative team, so it’s a safe bet that this will be a really solid series that builds on the success of the first 2 seasons.
The big surprises were Harley Quinn and Swamp Thing. Fans had no idea those shows were in development. Harley Quinn is apparently going to be another animated series. Swamp Thing seems like it’s going to be a live action show. Which is awesome because Swamp Thing is such cool, underrated character. There’s so much potential there for great stories. If this show is done the right way, it could be fucking incredible. Unfortunately, no more details about the Swamp Thing Show were given.
Like I said before, Disney is also launching a streaming service with original content. So, we should definitely expect Star Wars and Marvel shows. New live action and animated Star Wars shows have been confirmed. The animated series is going to be called Star Wars: Resistance and take place between Episodes 6 and 7. I heard from a few sources that characters like Poe Dameron, Captain Phasma, and maybe even Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo will be featured in this series.
Anyway, it looks like there’s a lot of cool stuff coming up to get excited about. As always, thanks for reading!
-Paul
Blu-Ray Review: Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero
Remembering Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero
When fans look back at the Batman movies that took place in the same universe as the wonderful Batman: The Animated Series, they most likely remember the fantastic Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker or the classic Batman: Mask of The Phantasm. As of last summer, we can add 2017’s Batman and Harley Quinn to the list, but unfortunately that movie sucks.
However, there’s a hidden gem that a lot of people forget about; Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero. This was a direct to video animated film taking in the BTAS Universe that came out in 1998. No doubt hoping to capitalize on the Mr. Freeze buzz in that was in the air after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s heartbreaking, Oscar winning performance in the critical darling and mega hit, Batman & Robin. Oh wait, I forgot the movie was explosive diarrhea and killed the Batman live action film franchise for nearly a decade. I’m sure there’s an alternate reality out there where it was The Dark Knight of it’s day.
But I think that was definitely the intention. Animation takes longer than live action to produce especially in the 90’s. Even though this came out in 1998, it must have started production a few years earlier. So Warner Bros. probably thought Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero would tie in to what they believed would be another hit Batman movie. It really feels like somewhere around 95’or 96’, Warner Bros. told Bruce Timm and his crew that if we let you do another Batman Animated movie, it better be about Mr. Freeze. Of course, Batman & Robin was such a piece of shit, people eventually put it out of their minds after the film bombed. Unfortunately I think Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero was forgotten a little as well.
Which is a shame because it’s a hell of a little flick. Nowhere near as good as Mask of The Phantasm or Return of The Joker, but still solid as fuck. It’s certainly about one thousand times better than Batman & Robin, it feels wrong to even compare the two. The movie plays like a darker, longer episode of the show. But at only 66 minuets, it still feels like a movie with a 3 act structure as opposed to a multi part episode of the series.
Basically at some point during Batman: The Animated Series, Freeze found out his wife Nora was actually still alive and being kept in cryogenic stasis. They’re living a peaceful life in the arctic with Freeze’s 2 pet Polar Bears and an Inuit boy that Freeze rescued and adopted after his parents died. There’s an accident involving some poor bastards who stumble onto this little family (it doesn’t end well for them), Nora’s medical equipment is damaged and her condition deteriorates rapidly. Freeze and the whole Fam (including the fucking polar bears) head to Gotham where Freeze meets up with his old colleague, Dr. Benson another expert in cryogenics who’s a massive piece of shit with serious financial debt. Benson tells Freeze that the only way to save his wife is an organ transplant. Nora has a rare blood type so they need to kidnap some who’s alive, kill them, and harvest their organs. Benson the medical professional that he is, gets on board right away when Freeze drops a lump of gold the size of football on his desk and tells him it’s from a mine he discovered in the arctic, which is Benson’s if he successfully helps Freeze. And wouldn’t you know it? The perfect match: Barbara Gordon. Batgirl. Commission Gordons’s daughter and the love of Dick Grayson’s (Robin) life.
There are some great action sequences including the scene kidnapping Barbara while she’s out to dinner with Dick at upscale nightclub, which starts with Freeze coming for Barbara in the club, polar bears and all, and ends with Dick in badass motorcycle chase. The film’s finale on an oil rig that going up in flames is exciting and genuinely edge of your seat tense.
This is also arguably the darkest we see Freeze, who’s always been one of the most sympathetic members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Killing a man out of revenge for murdering your wife and destroying your life is one thing, but butchering an innocent young woman to harvest an organ is pretty fucking dark. Especially considering she was basically already dead and the procedure did not seem to have a high likelihood of success when it’s being performed on an abandoned oil rig by a criminally negligent doctor who hasn’t changed his clothes in days and is solely motivated by paying off his shady debts. We do see glimmers of the honorable man that still exists somewhere deep beneath the ice of Freeze, but his main mission here is kind of unforgivable. And those polar bears aren’t fucking around either!
I rewatched this because it just came out on Blu-ray, which includes all the other Mr. Freeze episodes in the Batman: The Animated series Universe (including Batman Beyond), and I found myself thinking it was kind of underrated. This movie is also notable because it came out in the time betweeen the original Batman: The Animated series ended and The New Batman/Superman Adventures began. It was the same show, same continuity, but there was a big character redesign. Also, there are some big character developments that happen between the change over on the show and this movie hints at some of those upcoming character developments.
I definitely recommend picking up Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero, I know I did. Especially if you have the other animated movies on Blu-Ray. It’s very good Batman movie and the Blu-Ray transfer looks good on the traditional animation. They experimented with some computer animation for certain shots and vehicles, that don’t work and look super dated. Other than that, this gets a big thumbs up from me. Give it a watch!
-Paul
Oh FUCK! I forget about Batman: Mystery of The Batwoman! That’s one of the movies too..
You can pick up the Blu-Ray through our Amazon Affilliate link here:
Podcast: Paul’s Pulls (The Comic Book Show)
Hey everybody,
On today’s episode of Paul’s Pulls I talk about the end of DC’s Big Batman event comic Dark Nights: Metal and the new issue of Doomsday Clock. I also spent some time talking about Thanos not only as a character, but his excellent book that Donny Cates works on, as well. Thanos is basically Marvel’s rip off of Darkseid and Jack Kirby‘s classic creations The New Gods, so we get into that a little bit as well. Listen here or subscribe on iTunes:
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/14433291
*Correction: Several times throughout the episode I refer to a creator named “Donny Coates” , the creators name is actually DONNY CATES.
Comic Book Review: Doomsday Clock #4 (No Spoilers)
Since the “Death of Superman” in the 90’s, death being a revolving door has been somewhat of joke in the comic world. Unfortunately, frequent deaths and resurrections can often hurt the Superhero genre. Mainly because it pushes people away. To some readers it takes the sense of urgency from the story, they don’t feel any substance in a story they read because this is used so often it’s a trope of the genre. Once I realized how many Watchmen characters would actually be used in Doomsday Clock, I expected immediate negative backlash from the fan community. ESPECIALLY when The Comedian turned up alive. To be honest I wasn’t exactly thrilled by his return. This entire story needs to be handled very delicately to work. The Watchmen characters we saw before The Comedian showed up were used really well, but I felt like The Comedian might have been a bridge too far. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank better have a very important reason for bringing him into the story or else it will feel like bad fan service (I have faith that a good explanation will be given, especially because everything else in this miniseries has been excellent so far).
Having said all that, none of it really has much to do with THIS issue. I haven’t reviewed Doomsday Clock in awhile and since then I’ve noticed that some fans are unhappy with the return of certain characters. But lets focus on Doomsday Clock #4.
This is the most character driven issue of the series so far and it almost exclusively focuses on one main character: “New Rorschach”. I put the name “Rorschach” in quotes because we already know that this isn’t Walter Kovacs, Original Recipe Rorschach. This is Reggie, the young man how took on the mantle of the legendary crime fighter/ infamous lunatic vigilante.
For readers looking for a story that pushes the narrative further in a significant way, you may be disappointed. Otherwise this is an excellent character study of this new Rorschach. We not only get to see how he became the next Rorschach, we also find out exactly who Reggie is and where he fits in the Watchmen story (which I won’t spoil here). All I’ll say is that this person wasn’t even on my list of suspects.
Up until this issue, I was pretty sure that Reggie was an original character because, after going back to the Watchmen graphic novel there really wasn’t anyone who fit what we know about him (which is pretty much just; that he’s a relatively young man, African American, and more than a little bit of a psychopath.). But after reading the issue, I tip my hat to Johns and Frank because they have delivered an excellent vigilante origin story. They did a great job of creating Reggie’s backstory. My one criticism is that even though the creators found a very clever way of showing us how Reggie acquired his fighting skills, it doesn’t seem like enough to make into a fighter that would make even Veidt uneasy. But maybe there’s more to the puzzle coming up.
This was the perfect point to tell us Reggie’s backstory and what drives him. Because among the cast of new characters, we know a relatively significant amount about The Marionette and The Mime and what makes them tick (even though there are still some huge questions surrounding these two). Four issues into a 12 issue series, we need to understand the goals and motivations of all the main characters for the story to work. We also get a great appearance of a relatively obscure Watchmen character that’s both sweet and heartbreaking.
Though other issues of Doomsday Clock have wowed me in a ways that this chapter didn’t, it is nonetheless a beautiful character tale that’s tragic, sad, and illuminating. If you don’t mind one or two comic book tropes, I highly recommend Doomsday Clock as a series. This issue was definitely weaker than others, but it was still great. I can’t wait to see what Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have in store for the next 8 issues.
Doomsday Clock #4: 8.5/10
Review by Paul J. Wright
PODCAST: New Show Reviews! AMC’s The Terror & SyFy’s Krypton
Hey everybody!
Check out the new episode of The World’s Best Podcast, where I talk about 2 new, but very different and intriguing shows: The Terror and Krypton. I only reviewed Part 1 Of The Terror, Part 2 airs Monday 3/26 on AMC. Definitely give it a listen if you curious about either series. Listen here or subscribe on iTunes (soon to be on Spotify):
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/14385339
COOL NEWS ROUNDUP!!!
Hey, Everybody!
It’s Paul here! I’m very pleased to say that there’s so much fun, geek news today, that I’m gonna call this: Paul’s Awesome News Round Up! We’ve got fun bits of news from the world of Movies, TV and Comics. I’m going to start with COMICS News, but stick with me now. I know that might not interest some of you as much as movie and TV news. But stay with it because this whole article has some great stuff.
COMICS
So, Marvel is doing and another creative shake up and Relaunch of their books. A lot of fans hate this and I understand why. Sales may not be where Marvel wants them to be, so they trot out some fancy new tiles, creative team shake ups, and a bunch on new #1’s. Beside the danger to the industry by renumbering comics too often. I’m really excited to for this and it begins in May with Avengers as their flagship book, written by Jason Aaron with art by Ed McGuiness. Besides the creative team, why am I so excited about this?
Well, a few months ago Marvell put out a special called Marvel Legacy. In that special we met the characters below (some we know) who fare essentially the first Avengers team: Avengers 1,000,000 B.C.
I loved that concept and hoped Marvel would do something with it soon. Now, in Jason Aaron’s Thor run, the beginning of the series took place across three eras battling the same threat. The young, still unworthy Thor who liked to battle and party with Vikings who worshiped him, the Thor of the present, an Avenger and a hero, and finally Old King Thor millennia beyond millennia into the future. One armed and one eyed, as he watches over what’s left of Midgard.
So this Avengers book will follow a storytelling format, the same threat, fought by two different Avengers teams. One in the present and the other, the first Avengers team the Avengers of 1,000,000 B.C.
Avengers #1 written by Jason Aaron with art by Ed McGuiness will become available where all comic are sold in May
TV
Krypton
If you asked me a year ago that a Superman prequel series set on Krypton decades before its’s destruction, following Superman‘s grandfather, I’d say its sounds like a really fucking stupid idea. I’m very pleased to say that I’ve been proven wrong when it comes to the show. It looks really cool. And apparently it’s not going to be the stuck following the exact narrative of Superman’s family backstory because it’s largely a time travel story, focusing on Superman’s grandfather Seg-El.
Brainiac is going back in time try to stop Superman from ever being born (or something), thus stopping his greatest nemesis from coming into being. Meanwhile, DC hero Adam Strange shows up on past Krypton to warn Seg-El that he’s got a Skynet situation on his hands. In what you ask me is kind of a dick move, Strange tells Seg that his grandson is going to be the greatest hero the universe has ever known ( I mean, no fucking pressure, right?) The guy’s already got to worry about an evil alien artificial intelligence looking to wipe out his family line. That’s a pretty normal situation. Happened to me last week. It was a real pain in the ass, we lost some good people.
What I like about this idea is that continuity doesn’t matter. They have openly said that because the show is in the past and time travel and alternate timelines could be involvedthe show will radically change Superman’s mythology. A crazy, time travel, Superman-prequal, sci-fi adventure series across the cosmos of the DC Universe sounds pretty fucking cool. Apparently this show is going to be shark full of cool DC characters in addition to Brianiac and Adam Strange characters like the Green Lantern Corps, DOOMSDAY, Hawkgirl and The Thanagarians have all been confirmed to appear in the first season. Today they unveiled the first look at the big bad of the series, Brianiac and I’ve got to say he looks pretty fucking cool. Below is his picture and a new trailer for the show. I’ve also put in the original trailer in case anyone hasn’t seen it because it’s relatively short and sets a cool tone. I’ve actually got high hopes for this one. I think it has the potential to be pretty fucking cool. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Jessica Jones: Season 2
The long awaited second season of Jessica Jones is almost upon us. Here’s a new trailer that shows new material but also splices in some flashbacks from season 1. Check it out here:
Jessica Jones: Season 2 premieres March 8
Legends of Tomorrow
For you Legends of Tomorrow fans out there, not only has Kid Flash himself officially joined the team.
We can also look forward to seeing the return of John Constantine on Episode 15 airing March 13
Another fan favorite recurring characters confirmed to return in the Season 3 Finale is Jonah Hex
There have been set photos and other rumors that possibly John Constantine will return for the Finale as well. Maybe setting him up as new crew member of The Waverider in season 4? I know I’d love that.
Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 Finale airs April 9th
MOVIES
Big new for all of us Star Wars fans out there, Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi release dates Digital March 13and the Blu Ray drops March 27. Check out the air work below:
Here are the listed special features:
The Director and the Jedi – Go deep behind the scenes with writer-director Rian Johnson on an intimate and personal journey through the production of the movie—and experience what it’s like to helm a global franchise and cultural phenomenon.
Balance of the Force – Explore the mythology of the Force and why Rian Johnson chose to interpret its role in such a unique way.
Scene Breakdowns
Lighting the Spark: Creating the Space Battle – Get a close-up look at the epic space battle, from the sounds that help propel the action, through the practical and visual effects, to the characters who bring it all to life.
Snoke and Mirrors – Motion capture and Star Wars collide as the filmmakers take us through the detailed process of creating the movie’s malevolent master villain.
Showdown on Crait – Break down everything that went into creating the stunning world seen in the movie’s final confrontation, including the interplay between real-word locations and visual effects, reimagining the walkers, designing the crystal foxes, and much more.
Andy Serkis Live! (One Night Only) – Writer-director Rian Johnson presents two exclusive sequences from the movie featuring Andy Serkis’ riveting, raw on-set performance before his digital makeover into Snoke.
Deleted Scenes – With an introduction and optional commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
Audio Commentary – View the movie with in-depth feature audio commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
All of this plus 14 FUCKING DELEATED SCENES!!! That’s crazy! But awesome.
Anyway, thanks as always for reading!
-Paul
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