Bellow are the links to two blog entries I did when it looked like this blog was being shut down, Rather than let that page fall to the way side, I'm letting it serve as a reminder that nothing lasts and sometimes it takes more work than it should to keep the dream alive. Oh and an additional topic to the subject of this blog shell be my weekly DnD game that resumes in January. In a blog entry later this week I will surmise what happened in our first three sessions. And as the weeks go you will see our adventure take shape and form into the story of wonders. Just sans the dialogue of my playerrs because they argue a fucking ton. okay, here are the links to those former entries.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Birth of a New Nation
I Believe in Review
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
What did i tell you?
I called this thing and hour ten minutes prior. based solitary on the Ohio factor. I will say that i had been beat by TheYoungTurks but i still called it.
that's enough about that. Though I should say, I can hear entirely my entire campus. SCREAMING OBAMA. This makes me proud to be an American.
For the first part, I offer my television reviews for Monday Night.
How I met your Mother
The episode was the last with Stella. "Happily ever after".
It did it's how I met your mother thing and properly closed out the story of Stella in a round a bout way that still felt satisfying and true to the story. While the dream sequence/story of what Ted was going to do was interesting and well filmed but rightfully had a sense to it that that story would not have been the proper conclusion to the story that had come about. The actual ending, the acceptance of what had happened was the right thing felt both real and true to what had come before and finally come to journey's end. The single best moments came from, as usual, Barney with his lines of "This is Awkward." and "To the stairwell" served as the biggest laughs from those in this room. This episode as comedy fell not as high as we come to expect from How I Met Your Mother. There were many chuckle moments, but only 2-4 absolute laugh out loud moments. In addition, Barney felt as if he had taken a step backwards from the small progress he had been making and in reality most of all of the changes that had been in place at the beginning at the start of the season have now been resolved and are no longer in place. That said , I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and give it a 7.8/10
On Two and half men we were given a FANtastic episode. In what has been a widely redundant series, they offered an episode that was both funny and that took some steps that the series should have years ago. It all honestly, The plot was recycled and a lot of what happened should have been plot lines that needed to happen years ago. Worse off, this is the first of a two part episode that will likely end at that episode and maybe get a chuckle at one or two junctures but otherwise likely will not have any millage. Overall, this was a good standalone episode, but that doesn't stop the series from not accomplishing anything that it should, such as an ongoing plot. 6/10.
And may I say, Obama's speech was great, as was McCain's concession.
Random comic review for today is of : Final Crisis Number 3
again SPOILERS.
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: J. G. Jones
Cover: Supergirl
In what may be the best issue of Final Crisis in my memory(I have yet to read part four so I can't be certain on that front, however, I have loved this issue tremendously.
Now for this issue I'm going to review each segment and then give a final score of the story as a whole.
(pages based on art, not adds so as to line up with inevitable trade)
The first segment is The death of the new god starring Renee.(pages 1-4)
Oh how I love this segment. 3 pages. 31 panels. Every panel breathtaking and story telling. Every line of Dialogue is spot on and I think it really works well to be on top of this book and FC:Revelations(My fave tie in, fyi) I honestly suggest looking at each page panel by panel because the story just flows that well. (witting 9/Art 10)
segment two is the fallen Monitor (Pages 5)
This bit falls flat. I hope in the greater context of the story that it pays off, but with the jump to the future I feel that we are going to be missing a great deal of story. and really, Panel six on this page just throws me off. the art isn;t as good as some of the other pages, I don't get a feel of really any of the characters. story 4/10, art 4/10
The return of Jay the Flash(Pages 6-9)
Now here is an excellent set of pages that truly tells the rest of the story of what happened at the end of issue two. Each panel, each line serves a purpose. You don't need too much background on The Flash, other than knowing that he runs fast enough to travel in time and that there were at least three Flashes. Otherwise I can show this segment to someone not familiar with the story and it still makes sense. Now that's some solid writing. Jones rendition of the three flashes is subtitle enough that it works, and we get his awesome looking Orion. This segment is what they should look like. 10/10 and 9/10 on art.
Libras offer(pages 10-11)
Ah, the Legion of Doom. Such an Amusing segment that features the return of Lex Luthor as a proper character. We also get to see what Libra has been working on for all this time. But other than that there is nothing spectacular about the pages. Lex looks a little too much Xaivier. And so all in all, not impressed. 7/10 7/10
Clark Kent Saves the multiverse( Pages 12-13)
Ew. The worst written pages. I hate this segment. Yes it answers the question of where will superman be, but it basically says, go read SuperMan beyond and otherwise wait for issue 6's ending where superman will miraculously return(I bet). lame. 4/10 6/10
Article X(14-15)
A short segment spotlighting Wonderwoman, the golden age Green Lantern(whom i think is from another universe, not sure though.) We watch the should have been told by Geoff Johns Green Lantern story unfold. And we are introduced to an old story point that emphasizes Grant Morrison knows his history. 7/10 and 7/10
Call to arms( 16-18)
My fave pages. Honestly, If i could, I would want to guy the print for the page featuring Supergirl and Black Cannary. Sooo Awesome. Okay fan boy moment over. Overall this segment progresses the story, is funny(Why does Supergirls cat pee in her laundry basket?) and the best portrayal of Supergirl. My biggest gripe is it is old look on Oliver Queen and not the more parental Queen that Judd Winnick has Developed over the years. and the page of all the heroes gathered was Fantastic and great portrayals(other than Billy). Any ways is it any wonder what I score this? 10/10 and 9.999/10
a Miracle(19-21)
Consistent art But seriously, why should we care? 5/10 and 7/10
Wonder Woman Vs Mary Marvel(22-27)
This is clearly important. We learn that becoming evil makes you hot in some areas and weird shaved head in others. Okay. Got it. Lesson Learned. Mary proves her self to be a formidable foe who knows she can't win a fight, but isn't trying to. She does what she plans and spreads evil as need be. 8/10 and 10/10.
Pull the plug(28)
Meh. Thats about all I can say about this page. 5/10 5/10
Run;Kill (29-30)
Two pages say so much. It tells such a potent story point that I'm sure will be expanded upon in the next page, and finally sets up the meat of the story. and wow, what an impressive final page spread. not even a double spread. Morrison knows when to use it, and he uses it well. bravo. 10/10 and 10/10
The cover: Fan-fucking-tastic. I don't think any artist has ever made Supergirl look so sultry and homely at the same time before. Gorgeous. 10/10
The story overall: At last the plot speeds up as we finally get to the meat of the teases thus far, Evil wins. With a two exceptions(Mr. Miracle and The monitor) This could have been issue one as far as I'm concerned. Now as a lover of long complex building stories, I love Final crisis as a whole, but those first two issues didn't quite live up to what they wanted to be. 9.4/10.
The art as a whole is great. I think that If i had a say, I'd have JG do every book like this. Too bad he won't be able to finish FC. 8.89/10
That's a lot of sections eh? 11 segments, with 22 scores plus a 23rd and 24th on overall art and story and a score on the cover gives us 25 scores to put into the calculator:76.9 percent. Fuck that. 9.1 overall.
So in two days, what did we learn? That calculations tell you jack shit. Things work better as a whole. I hope this example proved that to those of you who tried telling me to do a more mathematical segmentation.
Random suggestion of the day? Drink Revolution Mountain Dew.
that's enough about that. Though I should say, I can hear entirely my entire campus. SCREAMING OBAMA. This makes me proud to be an American.
For the first part, I offer my television reviews for Monday Night.
How I met your Mother
The episode was the last with Stella. "Happily ever after".
It did it's how I met your mother thing and properly closed out the story of Stella in a round a bout way that still felt satisfying and true to the story. While the dream sequence/story of what Ted was going to do was interesting and well filmed but rightfully had a sense to it that that story would not have been the proper conclusion to the story that had come about. The actual ending, the acceptance of what had happened was the right thing felt both real and true to what had come before and finally come to journey's end. The single best moments came from, as usual, Barney with his lines of "This is Awkward." and "To the stairwell" served as the biggest laughs from those in this room. This episode as comedy fell not as high as we come to expect from How I Met Your Mother. There were many chuckle moments, but only 2-4 absolute laugh out loud moments. In addition, Barney felt as if he had taken a step backwards from the small progress he had been making and in reality most of all of the changes that had been in place at the beginning at the start of the season have now been resolved and are no longer in place. That said , I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and give it a 7.8/10
On Two and half men we were given a FANtastic episode. In what has been a widely redundant series, they offered an episode that was both funny and that took some steps that the series should have years ago. It all honestly, The plot was recycled and a lot of what happened should have been plot lines that needed to happen years ago. Worse off, this is the first of a two part episode that will likely end at that episode and maybe get a chuckle at one or two junctures but otherwise likely will not have any millage. Overall, this was a good standalone episode, but that doesn't stop the series from not accomplishing anything that it should, such as an ongoing plot. 6/10.
And may I say, Obama's speech was great, as was McCain's concession.
Random comic review for today is of : Final Crisis Number 3
again SPOILERS.
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: J. G. Jones
Cover: Supergirl
In what may be the best issue of Final Crisis in my memory(I have yet to read part four so I can't be certain on that front, however, I have loved this issue tremendously.
Now for this issue I'm going to review each segment and then give a final score of the story as a whole.
(pages based on art, not adds so as to line up with inevitable trade)
The first segment is The death of the new god starring Renee.(pages 1-4)
Oh how I love this segment. 3 pages. 31 panels. Every panel breathtaking and story telling. Every line of Dialogue is spot on and I think it really works well to be on top of this book and FC:Revelations(My fave tie in, fyi) I honestly suggest looking at each page panel by panel because the story just flows that well. (witting 9/Art 10)
segment two is the fallen Monitor (Pages 5)
This bit falls flat. I hope in the greater context of the story that it pays off, but with the jump to the future I feel that we are going to be missing a great deal of story. and really, Panel six on this page just throws me off. the art isn;t as good as some of the other pages, I don't get a feel of really any of the characters. story 4/10, art 4/10
The return of Jay the Flash(Pages 6-9)
Now here is an excellent set of pages that truly tells the rest of the story of what happened at the end of issue two. Each panel, each line serves a purpose. You don't need too much background on The Flash, other than knowing that he runs fast enough to travel in time and that there were at least three Flashes. Otherwise I can show this segment to someone not familiar with the story and it still makes sense. Now that's some solid writing. Jones rendition of the three flashes is subtitle enough that it works, and we get his awesome looking Orion. This segment is what they should look like. 10/10 and 9/10 on art.
Libras offer(pages 10-11)
Ah, the Legion of Doom. Such an Amusing segment that features the return of Lex Luthor as a proper character. We also get to see what Libra has been working on for all this time. But other than that there is nothing spectacular about the pages. Lex looks a little too much Xaivier. And so all in all, not impressed. 7/10 7/10
Clark Kent Saves the multiverse( Pages 12-13)
Ew. The worst written pages. I hate this segment. Yes it answers the question of where will superman be, but it basically says, go read SuperMan beyond and otherwise wait for issue 6's ending where superman will miraculously return(I bet). lame. 4/10 6/10
Article X(14-15)
A short segment spotlighting Wonderwoman, the golden age Green Lantern(whom i think is from another universe, not sure though.) We watch the should have been told by Geoff Johns Green Lantern story unfold. And we are introduced to an old story point that emphasizes Grant Morrison knows his history. 7/10 and 7/10
Call to arms( 16-18)
My fave pages. Honestly, If i could, I would want to guy the print for the page featuring Supergirl and Black Cannary. Sooo Awesome. Okay fan boy moment over. Overall this segment progresses the story, is funny(Why does Supergirls cat pee in her laundry basket?) and the best portrayal of Supergirl. My biggest gripe is it is old look on Oliver Queen and not the more parental Queen that Judd Winnick has Developed over the years. and the page of all the heroes gathered was Fantastic and great portrayals(other than Billy). Any ways is it any wonder what I score this? 10/10 and 9.999/10
a Miracle(19-21)
Consistent art But seriously, why should we care? 5/10 and 7/10
Wonder Woman Vs Mary Marvel(22-27)
This is clearly important. We learn that becoming evil makes you hot in some areas and weird shaved head in others. Okay. Got it. Lesson Learned. Mary proves her self to be a formidable foe who knows she can't win a fight, but isn't trying to. She does what she plans and spreads evil as need be. 8/10 and 10/10.
Pull the plug(28)
Meh. Thats about all I can say about this page. 5/10 5/10
Run;Kill (29-30)
Two pages say so much. It tells such a potent story point that I'm sure will be expanded upon in the next page, and finally sets up the meat of the story. and wow, what an impressive final page spread. not even a double spread. Morrison knows when to use it, and he uses it well. bravo. 10/10 and 10/10
The cover: Fan-fucking-tastic. I don't think any artist has ever made Supergirl look so sultry and homely at the same time before. Gorgeous. 10/10
The story overall: At last the plot speeds up as we finally get to the meat of the teases thus far, Evil wins. With a two exceptions(Mr. Miracle and The monitor) This could have been issue one as far as I'm concerned. Now as a lover of long complex building stories, I love Final crisis as a whole, but those first two issues didn't quite live up to what they wanted to be. 9.4/10.
The art as a whole is great. I think that If i had a say, I'd have JG do every book like this. Too bad he won't be able to finish FC. 8.89/10
That's a lot of sections eh? 11 segments, with 22 scores plus a 23rd and 24th on overall art and story and a score on the cover gives us 25 scores to put into the calculator:76.9 percent. Fuck that. 9.1 overall.
So in two days, what did we learn? That calculations tell you jack shit. Things work better as a whole. I hope this example proved that to those of you who tried telling me to do a more mathematical segmentation.
Random suggestion of the day? Drink Revolution Mountain Dew.
Calling it at 6:49
With Ohio being called, I call this race in favor of Obama.
Later tonight I'll throw up today's and yesterdays reviews
Later tonight I'll throw up today's and yesterdays reviews
Monday, November 3, 2008
Origin Story
Ordinarily, this will not be a political blog. If only for the fact that I just don't like to ramble on about how I'm Uber liberal and Democratic. However, today is a day that I feel I need to put word out.
Vote.
Simply put, If you can vote; if your registered; Vote.
This is a year for record turn out. No question. Now I'm going to have some people accuse me of being a hypocrite for not voting this year, and I need to point out I sent my paper work in on the last day before the cutoff point. Unfortunately, the post office failed to post mark it correctly and instead my work was marked as the day after. In other words, I was systematically denied my rights for this year. That is the flaw in our system. It is so easy to be denied your rights, to have your basic facilities taken away from you; So don't let them. Use your rights. I'm using one of mine right now, the freedom to speak. The freedom to act. The will to act. They may not be necessarily written in the bill of rights but you sure as hell have them, so use them. It's like having unlimited resources and deciding nah, I'm just going to use these few ones that I can't use for much else, and leave those other ones in the corner. If you don't use your rights, you won't appreciate them; and if you don't appreciate them, your not going to miss them when they're gone, not going to fight for them; and ultimately the state of our nation will be left to the rich and powerful.
I sit here, a twenty something in college, demanding that we appreciate what we have or risk losing everything we stand together for. Don't let another patriot act happen. Don't allow our Basic human(not just American) rights fade away because we are afraid. Because it is then that the terrorists win.
But you should remember that one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. They are willing to die for what they believe in, the least you can do is go out and exercise a right that you have been granted by your ancestors who died for what they believed in. FREEDOM.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that my political rant has ended(you'll see at least two more of those in the coming days/weeks in the wake of the election) I am going to move over and do what I've brought this blog to do...Review.
Now typically I will do a once/twice a month review of my monthly pull of Comic Books. Today I'm going to instead choose some random books out of a random box and review them.
For those interested, this blog will follow the following books(at this time) and likely this list will change.
DC:
Batman
Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps., Rage of the Red Lanterns, Legion of Three Worlds
Green Arrow/Black Canary
Action Comics,Superman,Supergirl, New Krypton Specials
All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder
Batman: Cacophony
Final Crisis
Final Crisis Revelations
Spirit
Marvel:
Captain America
Captain America White
Dark Reign
New Avengers,Mighty Avengers
Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings,X-men King Breaker
Secret Invasion
Spider-man Loves Mary Jane
Ultimate: Fantastic four, X-men, Spider-man, Annuals, Ultimatum, Avengers
Secret Warriors
Dark Avengers
X-factor
Dark Horse, IDW, and Other Publishers:
Umbrella Academy
Angel:After the Fall
Buffy:Season 8
Spike After the Fall
In addition, I'll also be reviewing Trade paperbacks and Hardcovers when it makes me fancy to pick them up.
And today's random comic review is....
I will be diving into spoilers, but will be fiddling with font colors to perfect an inviso font so that it can be highlighted for revelation of spoilers.
Angel After the Fall number 11, CVR B. Story by Whedon and Lynch. Written by Lynch. Art by Runge. Cover by Alex Garner.
I want to begin by saying this is one of my absolutely favorite covers this series has provided.
My only problem is that in the cover Angel is very distinctly in vamp face, when it has already been established that Angel had shanshued(which is confirmed in issue twelve) which takes away the magical realism of the cover. But otherwise, it's really pretty.
So what about the stuff inside? Pretty solid. It picks up from where we left our Heroes last week, er month, with Angel and the gang raining on Vamp Gunn's parade. We get alot of the trademark Witty Banter that we've come to love from Angel. Especialy a bit about the Dragon(Cordielia) burning some vamps to a crisp and Angel subsequently proving that even without his vampireness he's still a badass. A large chunk of this episode(I mean issue) is devoted to back story. Filling in the gaps of who and what Gunn has been up to and it all culminates in a parade that can otherwise only be described as Bad Ass complete with a harpooning. And no the fish doesn't die in This Issue. Gunn then gets the happy revelation that Angel isn't all that they thought he was. And lastly we get the lamest cliffhanger ever. If only for the fact that it is a cliffhanger that as an audience, we have no idea what the frak is going on. based solely on the image I'd say someone is about to become lightning. Literally. Of course the next issue reveals something completely different which makes the ending unfortunate. 7.8/10
The art? It's good. Not great, but good. The great thing is that we can at least almost always be certain who a character is based solely on the art. Yay knowing things! The bad is that the crispy vamps early in the story(which this is equally a gripe about the witting) look, well like they should have died. I could have sworn fire kills vampires. But I could be mixing up my lores, which is easy to do. The problem with the art is that the faces, unless its a close up like the one of Wesley on page 6 at the bottom, or Gunn on the top of 13, the faces always look off. It's mainly the eyes which inconsistently have pupils or no pupils. Otherwise the action looks as good as the series ever has. Well, two other gripes. The vampire dusting on page 17 looks lame, and the blood often looks like they are spitting out motor oil. It's not like this is just a T book at marvel. This is IDW. I've seen them put out Hot looking Blood before(cough30daysofnightcough) and did i mention faces? the last two pages(especially the second to last pages bottom two panels) the faces get less and less distinguished like he didn't finish. They obviously spent more time focusing on Gwen's boobs than they did her EYES. she has no EYES. so alas, despite liking a lot of panels, i have to score it 5/10
IDW previews page
I know, I shouldn't review the previews page but I just want to thank IDW for what they do. They take all of the ads from the center of the pages(that would normally slow progress and pace, and just distract you in general) and instead places them all in the back. And a lot of the work they do is put ads for their other, usually genre related books. That's awesome. and for that, I salute you IDW.
So final score? well I gave the cover a 9.9/10 because even my minor gripe can't stop it from being one of( if not THE) coolest covers they have ever produced. The Writing got a 7/10. and the Art Got a 5/10. My calculator sells this as being a 7.3 out of ten total. I say, it's an 8.
So there you go. The first comic review of this Blog.
Now I'm going to do Television too. Later tonight I will give my thoughts on tonight's stuff airs. I haven't decided what I'm watching as my standard watches(Chuck/Heroes) Aren't on tonight.
Typicaly Monday's series that I will cover(Most of which will be long after they air so this will only give you a reference point should you miss the episode or if your interested in what someone else thinks) are going to be the majority of my weekly reviews.
My total TV reviews right now will be:
Chuck/Heroes
How I met Your Mother
One Tree Hill/Gossip Girl
Pushing Daisies
Supernatural/Smallville
Dexter
Check in later for a review of tonight's TV that I choose to watch.
I will also Review Manga and Anime but those will be on a case by case basis of what I happen to read/watch.
In addition I will also be reviewing games once I'm back to my typical set up.
I'll focus mainly on PS3/Wii with some retro gaming included too and even some free/cheap ass games.
Today I offer a Free/Cheap Ass Game called Chronotron.
Chronotron puts you in the control of a robot who has a time machine(that looks exactly like a T.A.R.D.I.S.) and you have to solve puzzles via time travel. So you push down a switch, wait 3 seconds, go back in the ship. Then you and your past self are there, and your past self will do exactly what you just did. And you can use it's cause effects to get to your next goal or trigger. It gets complicated when you reach a point(level 5 of 25 I believe) where you can cause a paradox and are forced to restart a level because you did something to prevent a past self from doing what they are supposed to do(get back in the ship). If you accidentally get crushed you cause a deus ex machina and have to restart as well. A solid puzzler that will keep you busy for at least a few hours. And it's free. A great game, I give it a 8.5 out of ten.
Starting in January I'll be reviewing Blu-ray dvds and I'll also be reviewing an assortment of movies whenever I can.
Remember, I'm a geek and a reviewer, but I also have a Life and School, and GASP friends. I might not get to some stuff. Don't fret. If it's really important to you, ask me to do it. I'm cool like that.
Random Suggestion of the day: Go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show whenever possible with a live audience. Particularly the more who've seen it the better. Once you see it once, you'll be hooked for a long ass time.
Your WWU geek Emperor, TM
Vote.
Simply put, If you can vote; if your registered; Vote.
This is a year for record turn out. No question. Now I'm going to have some people accuse me of being a hypocrite for not voting this year, and I need to point out I sent my paper work in on the last day before the cutoff point. Unfortunately, the post office failed to post mark it correctly and instead my work was marked as the day after. In other words, I was systematically denied my rights for this year. That is the flaw in our system. It is so easy to be denied your rights, to have your basic facilities taken away from you; So don't let them. Use your rights. I'm using one of mine right now, the freedom to speak. The freedom to act. The will to act. They may not be necessarily written in the bill of rights but you sure as hell have them, so use them. It's like having unlimited resources and deciding nah, I'm just going to use these few ones that I can't use for much else, and leave those other ones in the corner. If you don't use your rights, you won't appreciate them; and if you don't appreciate them, your not going to miss them when they're gone, not going to fight for them; and ultimately the state of our nation will be left to the rich and powerful.
I sit here, a twenty something in college, demanding that we appreciate what we have or risk losing everything we stand together for. Don't let another patriot act happen. Don't allow our Basic human(not just American) rights fade away because we are afraid. Because it is then that the terrorists win.
But you should remember that one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. They are willing to die for what they believe in, the least you can do is go out and exercise a right that you have been granted by your ancestors who died for what they believed in. FREEDOM.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that my political rant has ended(you'll see at least two more of those in the coming days/weeks in the wake of the election) I am going to move over and do what I've brought this blog to do...Review.
Now typically I will do a once/twice a month review of my monthly pull of Comic Books. Today I'm going to instead choose some random books out of a random box and review them.
For those interested, this blog will follow the following books(at this time) and likely this list will change.
DC:
Batman
Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps., Rage of the Red Lanterns, Legion of Three Worlds
Green Arrow/Black Canary
Action Comics,Superman,Supergirl, New Krypton Specials
All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder
Batman: Cacophony
Final Crisis
Final Crisis Revelations
Spirit
Marvel:
Captain America
Captain America White
Dark Reign
New Avengers,Mighty Avengers
Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings,X-men King Breaker
Secret Invasion
Spider-man Loves Mary Jane
Ultimate: Fantastic four, X-men, Spider-man, Annuals, Ultimatum, Avengers
Secret Warriors
Dark Avengers
X-factor
Dark Horse, IDW, and Other Publishers:
Umbrella Academy
Angel:After the Fall
Buffy:Season 8
Spike After the Fall
In addition, I'll also be reviewing Trade paperbacks and Hardcovers when it makes me fancy to pick them up.
And today's random comic review is....
I will be diving into spoilers, but will be fiddling with font colors to perfect an inviso font so that it can be highlighted for revelation of spoilers.
Angel After the Fall number 11, CVR B. Story by Whedon and Lynch. Written by Lynch. Art by Runge. Cover by Alex Garner.
I want to begin by saying this is one of my absolutely favorite covers this series has provided.
My only problem is that in the cover Angel is very distinctly in vamp face, when it has already been established that Angel had shanshued(which is confirmed in issue twelve) which takes away the magical realism of the cover. But otherwise, it's really pretty.
So what about the stuff inside? Pretty solid. It picks up from where we left our Heroes last week, er month, with Angel and the gang raining on Vamp Gunn's parade. We get alot of the trademark Witty Banter that we've come to love from Angel. Especialy a bit about the Dragon(Cordielia) burning some vamps to a crisp and Angel subsequently proving that even without his vampireness he's still a badass. A large chunk of this episode(I mean issue) is devoted to back story. Filling in the gaps of who and what Gunn has been up to and it all culminates in a parade that can otherwise only be described as Bad Ass complete with a harpooning. And no the fish doesn't die in This Issue. Gunn then gets the happy revelation that Angel isn't all that they thought he was. And lastly we get the lamest cliffhanger ever. If only for the fact that it is a cliffhanger that as an audience, we have no idea what the frak is going on. based solely on the image I'd say someone is about to become lightning. Literally. Of course the next issue reveals something completely different which makes the ending unfortunate. 7.8/10
The art? It's good. Not great, but good. The great thing is that we can at least almost always be certain who a character is based solely on the art. Yay knowing things! The bad is that the crispy vamps early in the story(which this is equally a gripe about the witting) look, well like they should have died. I could have sworn fire kills vampires. But I could be mixing up my lores, which is easy to do. The problem with the art is that the faces, unless its a close up like the one of Wesley on page 6 at the bottom, or Gunn on the top of 13, the faces always look off. It's mainly the eyes which inconsistently have pupils or no pupils. Otherwise the action looks as good as the series ever has. Well, two other gripes. The vampire dusting on page 17 looks lame, and the blood often looks like they are spitting out motor oil. It's not like this is just a T book at marvel. This is IDW. I've seen them put out Hot looking Blood before(cough30daysofnightcough) and did i mention faces? the last two pages(especially the second to last pages bottom two panels) the faces get less and less distinguished like he didn't finish. They obviously spent more time focusing on Gwen's boobs than they did her EYES. she has no EYES. so alas, despite liking a lot of panels, i have to score it 5/10
IDW previews page
I know, I shouldn't review the previews page but I just want to thank IDW for what they do. They take all of the ads from the center of the pages(that would normally slow progress and pace, and just distract you in general) and instead places them all in the back. And a lot of the work they do is put ads for their other, usually genre related books. That's awesome. and for that, I salute you IDW.
So final score? well I gave the cover a 9.9/10 because even my minor gripe can't stop it from being one of( if not THE) coolest covers they have ever produced. The Writing got a 7/10. and the Art Got a 5/10. My calculator sells this as being a 7.3 out of ten total. I say, it's an 8.
So there you go. The first comic review of this Blog.
Now I'm going to do Television too. Later tonight I will give my thoughts on tonight's stuff airs. I haven't decided what I'm watching as my standard watches(Chuck/Heroes) Aren't on tonight.
Typicaly Monday's series that I will cover(Most of which will be long after they air so this will only give you a reference point should you miss the episode or if your interested in what someone else thinks) are going to be the majority of my weekly reviews.
My total TV reviews right now will be:
Chuck/Heroes
How I met Your Mother
One Tree Hill/Gossip Girl
Pushing Daisies
Supernatural/Smallville
Dexter
Check in later for a review of tonight's TV that I choose to watch.
I will also Review Manga and Anime but those will be on a case by case basis of what I happen to read/watch.
In addition I will also be reviewing games once I'm back to my typical set up.
I'll focus mainly on PS3/Wii with some retro gaming included too and even some free/cheap ass games.
Today I offer a Free/Cheap Ass Game called Chronotron.
Chronotron puts you in the control of a robot who has a time machine(that looks exactly like a T.A.R.D.I.S.) and you have to solve puzzles via time travel. So you push down a switch, wait 3 seconds, go back in the ship. Then you and your past self are there, and your past self will do exactly what you just did. And you can use it's cause effects to get to your next goal or trigger. It gets complicated when you reach a point(level 5 of 25 I believe) where you can cause a paradox and are forced to restart a level because you did something to prevent a past self from doing what they are supposed to do(get back in the ship). If you accidentally get crushed you cause a deus ex machina and have to restart as well. A solid puzzler that will keep you busy for at least a few hours. And it's free. A great game, I give it a 8.5 out of ten.
Starting in January I'll be reviewing Blu-ray dvds and I'll also be reviewing an assortment of movies whenever I can.
Remember, I'm a geek and a reviewer, but I also have a Life and School, and GASP friends. I might not get to some stuff. Don't fret. If it's really important to you, ask me to do it. I'm cool like that.
Random Suggestion of the day: Go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show whenever possible with a live audience. Particularly the more who've seen it the better. Once you see it once, you'll be hooked for a long ass time.
Your WWU geek Emperor, TM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)