Earth 2: The Dark Age Review

Finished reading Earth 2: The Dark Age, this begins writer Tom Tayler's run on the series as the worlds heroes deal with the threat of the return of Superman while a new Batman begins to form his own team to combat the former hero. The book opens up with Superman's return to Earth as a villainous ally to the New God Darkseid, causing General Sam Lane to activate the Red Tornado android with the consciousness of his deceased daughter Lois Lane. While on the other sine of the building someone dressed as Batman makes his way through the buildings security to the holding facility where he is confronted by Major Sato and Red Tornado as he opens up the chambers of Jimmy Olsen and Aquawoman and finally the subbasement room of a young Kryptonian named Val. As Batman is building his own team outside the remaining heroes consisting of Dr Fate, The Flash and Red Arrow attempt to take on the villainous Superman while having little luck in the matter. The final story of the book features the origin of the worlds newest Batman, Thomas Wayne the father of the original as the book tells how Bruce, the original Batman found out how his father survived the shooting in Crime Alley and what lead to Thomas becoming Bruce's successor. Overall this was an amazing book as it introduces several new characters into the series whilst still allowing time for more established characters like Dr Fate and The Flash to still have their own moments within the book. The character interactions are brilliant as the scenes between Lois and her father as well as the scenes she shares with Val bring across some great emotional moments as the last moments Lois has with her father are expertly portrayed. While the interaction between Thomas and Bruce Wayne is very similar with how Thomas continues to live his life after seeing his son one more time is almost heartbreaking. Additionally the artwork is breathtaking especially with scenes like Aquawoman using the water in the clouds to drown a whole platoon of Parademans and the large shots showcasing the destructive forces of Superman's powers helps to display the near god like powers of each individual. 9/10.

Constantine: The Voice in the Fire Review

Finished reading Constantine: The Voice in the Fire, this continues John Constantine's adventures as he travels around the world in hoping to defeat the Cult of the Cold Flame. The book opens with Constantine in Moscow to meet with Viktor Mironov, The Spellbinder who ends up joining him in his fight against the Cult of the Cold Flame after opening up Johns mind. Constantine then heads to Arizona after having a vision of a voice in a burning house calling to him. Constantine then finds himself in Hong Kong hoping to find out who taught his first spell that lead to the death of his own family. The next story has Constantine in a forest in Germany to meet with a mystic named Albrecht Zimmerman for protection against the Cult of the Cold Flame. However during a spell on Johns mind the Cult's leader Tannarak activates a kill switch inside of Constantine that was given to the Cult by Papa Midnite that causes John to be teleported to Tanzania in World World One. The final story set five years in the future, has Constantine face to face with the helmet of Fate as John hopes to defeat Nabu. While John's friend Lloyd is downstairs stopping people who are being drawn to the helmet to become its new host as Nabu is helpless without a host. Overall this was a decent book as it continues John Constantine's journey against the Cult of the Cold Flame after being distracted with the events of Forever Evil. The episodic style of the book works very well as it allows Constantine to interact with different people while still having the main story of the Cold Flame within the background of the book. While the changing art style works well for the book as it helps to give a different flavour to each part of the book that helps to strengthen each part as well. 6.5/10.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Film Review

Finished watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J J Abrams and starring Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew and Carrie Fisher. The film opens up with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) on a mission for the resistance when he is captured by a fleet of First Order Stormtroopers lead by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie). While escaping from the First Order Poe and his new accomplice, former Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) crash on the planet of Jakku where Finn finds himself alone in the dessert where he finds a scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley) who is with BB-8. As the group try to escape from the forces of the First Order they eventually meet with original characters Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) on their journey. Overall this was an amazing film as it brings new characters like Finn, Ray and Kilo Ren with classic characters such as Han, Chewbacca and Leia with both sets of characters being brought together very organically. While the character interactions are stellar as Han and Leia's chemistry feels exactly the same from the original trilogy along with the interactions of the new characters work extremely well between each other and with the original characters which leads to the original cast taking up mentor roles for the new cast of heroes. The action is amazing as the choreography of the lightsaber fights are great while the space and sky battles are near breathtaking thanks to the use of many different camera angles from the points of view of a X-Wing pilot to wide shots of the whole battle. The comedy is great as some of the situations characters find themselves in have a few references to previous films in the series. 9/10.

Harley Quinn: Power Outage Review

Finished reading Harley Quinn: Power Outage, as writing team Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti continue their Harley Quinn series as Harley teams up with Power Girl and see her ex, the Joker again. The book opens up with Harley covering for her friend Queenie for the show at the theatre in the apartment block as Queenie has gone to Rykers Prison to see her son. When a riot breaks out in the theatre thanks to Harley getting to method in her acting leading to a stalker of hers who kidnaps and takes her to his home. After dealing with the stalker with her psychiatric training Harley meets with her rolladarbey team as they participate in Skate Club with Harley bringing Sy Borgman with her just in case she needs help to get home after. The next story is set five years in the future as Harley heads to the Bahamas for a holiday when her plane gets caught in a bad storm leading to her being washed up on a deserted island. After exploring the island Harley finds a tribe of natives who start worshipping her as a goddess which gains the attention of the Joker who has been on the island for a while by this time. The following story begins with Harley calling her friend Tony to help carry an unconscious Power Girl back to Harley's apartment to help her rest. After realising that Power Girl has amnesia Harley gets the idea of telling Power Girl that they are a superhero team. The two then head to the shopping mall where they are confronted by Sportsmarster and Clock King who teleport Harley and Power Girl to a distant galaxy leading to the two going on a cosmic adventure to get back home to defeat the villains. The penultimate story has Harley going to the San Deargo Comic Con for the whole week of the convention as the story shows what Harley gets up to during the week while trying to get one of the main comic book companies to take a look at her own comic, Hurl Girl. The final story features a retelling of Harley's origin of how she became the person she is today. Overall this was a great book as it blends the action and the comedy together extremely well while also adding some real life elements to the story. The comedy is great as there are some laugh out loud moments and with the interactions between Power Girl and Harley bring most of the comedy especially with the situations the two find themselves in. The art work is great as the design for the the space adventure is very captivating while the changing artwork works well for the Comic Con story as the art changes in each scene which helps to highlight Harley's emotion in one scene while also showing off some creative action in other scenes. 8/10.

Batman: Detective Comics: Icarus Review

Finished reading Batman: Detective Comics: Icarus, this begins creative team Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato's run on the series which spins out of the Zero Year tie in story from the creators Flash series which showed police detective Harvey Bollock's first encounter with Icarus. The book opens up with Batman on the trail of a biker gang calling themselves the Kings of the Sun who are helping someone escape after Batman discovers a room full of smuggled children. After capturing part of the gang Bruce Wayne meets with Elena Aguila and her daughter Annie at the local motocross race which Annie is a part of as Elena hopes to share her plans with Bruce to help develop Gotham's east end waterfront. However the night of the announcement Bruce is in the batcave as Elena dies on the manors doorstep after being covered in flames which grabs the attention of police detective Harvey Bullock as Elena was killed by a drug called Icarus that's has been of the streets of Gotham for over six years. This also prompts Batman to start his own investigation to prove Bruce Wayne's innocence as he is suspect number one in Bullock's investigation witch leads to Batman getting caught between two rival gangs who both what the Icarus for themselves. The final story has Batman going after a stolen weapons cash while also helping a boy named Aden deal with his abusive dad while the book concurrently tells a bit more back story of Annie that helps to flesh her character out more. Overall this was a great book as the takes a more personal approach to the Icarus case as Bruce Wayne is suspect number one and Bullock having a personal stake as well as the last time Icarus was on the streets of Gotham his partner was killed. The focus on Bullock is great as the book shows how Harvey try's to solve the case at the GCPD and even shows his home like in a brilliantly excited splash page. While Batman's detective skills are shown brilliantly as a page will point out the key elements to his investigation while in one instance recreates a the whole scene that lead to Elena Aguila's death at Wayne Manor. The inclusion of Julian Day is extremely intriguing as during the fight Batman under the disguise of Matches Malone inadvertently creates the Calendar Man while trying to teach Julian a lesson to be there for his son. 8/10.

Sisters Film Review

Finished watching Sisters directed by Jason Moore and staring Amy Poehler, James Brolin, Dianne Wiest, Tina Fey, Madison Davenport and Ike Barinholtz. The film opens with nurse Maura Ellis (Amy Poehler) being video called by her parents (James Brolin) and (Dianne Wiest) asking her and her sister Katie (Tina Fey) to clear out their old bedroom in their childhood home. After returning home and finding a sold sign outside of their childhood home the sisters confront their parents who then give Maura and Katie an ultimatum to empty their old bedroom as the new owners of the house move in within a couple of days. After spending a night at their old home reading their old dairies Maura and Katie decide to have a house party with all their friends from school in an attempt for one last hurrah. Overall this was an decent film as the comedy is solid as it doesn't always hit its mark but when it does it comes through in some great moments of pure genius. The interactions between the actors and their characters is great as Amy Poehler and Tina Fey characters feel more like best friends than sisters for the most of the film which works extremely well and when the two end up having to deal with problems as sisters the strength of the relationship really shines through. While the interactions between Kate and her daughter Haley (Madison Davenport) feels very organic and just like a typical mother and daughter relationship is and the characters of Maura and James (Ike Barinholtz) click almost instantly which creates some really good moments. 6.5/10.

Justice League United: Justice League Canada Review

Finished reading Justice League United: Justice League Canada, this begins writer Jeff Lemire's series as former members of the Justice League of America reform with new members to tackle an intergalactic threat. The book opens up with a glimpse of the future where the team are crashing into an alien laboratory as the book goes back to three days prior as Stargirl and Animal Man are at a signing in Toronto where anthropologist Adam Strange is asking for the heroes help after grad student Alanna Lewis disappeared after the two found some alien remains. At the site of Alanna's disappearance the group are attacked by a alien soldiers which are defeated by the intervention of Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter who Stargirl called in for backup leading to the discovery of a secret alien laboratory causing the scientists to release one of their experiments to fight of the heroes as they transport away. Meanwhile on the moon of Thalsalla Alanna is caged up with a group of aliens on the orders of the criminal Byth as the bounty hunter Lobo opens the cage to dispose of them when one of the prisoners turns out to be Hawkman who starts to fight Lobo as Alanna helps to free the remaining prisoners. Concurrently the team on Earth are transported to the planet of Rann and are met by Supergirl who's on her way beck to Earth when she noticed the team fighting the experiment with the fight being stopped by the intervention of a group of scientists from the plant who fill the team in what has happened. The final story features the origins behind Miiyahbin's new found powers from her grandmother as Miiyahbin and Alanna go up against a Whitago that's been following her and her friend Heather throughout the side story of the book. Overall this was a good book as it assembles a new Justice League team while bringing the New 52 version of Adam Strange along for the ride. The character interaction are great as Green Arrow and Animal Man some great comic relief while Martian Manhunter's interaction with Ultra is extremely reliable as J'onn becomes a father figure to Ultra very organically. Artist Mike McKone draws out some great designs for the multiple alien species and the fighting choreography is great especially during the fight between Lobo and Hawkman really showcases Lobo's brutality and Hawkman's savagery that is help along with the rest of the art team. With the addition of the colouring choices of the book is great as in some parts panels can go from full colour to a black and white image with a bright red background that helps to add more dynamic feel to a scene. 7/10.

Batman Eternal: Volume 1 Review

Finished reading Batman Eternal: Volume 1, this collects the first part of DC comics first weekly series of its New 52 publishing line headed by writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV who are joined by a team of other writers from other Batman related series. The book opens up in with police commissioner Jim Gordon caught in a gunfight with Professor Pyg as Batman comes in with a mechsuit to stop the plane Pyg is flying. After chasing down one of Pyg's men Gordon shoots at him causing a large crash between two underground subway trains killing 123 passengers and staff with newly appointed police lieutenant Jason Bard to make the arrest. This then leads to the reappearance of former Gotham crime boss Carmine Falcone hoping to rebuild is criminal empire with a gang war between himself and the Penguin with the mayor of Gotham and newly appointed police commissioner Major Jack Forbes ignoring the gang war due to being on Falcones payroll. With Batman being occupied with the gang war sweeping across Gotham other members of Batman's supporting cast begin their own investigations as Tim Drake, Red Robin is joined by Harper Row as they discover a nanobot virus affecting a group of children that were with Gordon and Batman during the Professor Pyg incident, while Red Hood follows Batgirl to South America as she tries to find evidence to clear her father of the train accident, as back in Gotham police detective Jim Corrigan is joined by Batwing as the two come into contact with a supernatural threat underneath Arkham Asylum. Overall this was a great book as it takes advantage of the whole Bat family of characters by placing them in situations that work extremely well with how they interact with the situation and the characters they're with. The inclusion of lesser known Batman villains such as Magpie and the Ten Eyed Man is brilliant as the writers reintroduce and modernise them to fit within the New 52 universe extremely well while giving some of them a new twist to the character. While the introduction of Alfred's daughter Julia is a great addition to the cast as she helps to flesh out Alfred's back story while the reintroduction of Stephanie Brown help brings an almost civilian view to the world of Gotham with how she deals with the discovery of her father being Cluemaster. 8.5/10.

Victor Frankenstein Film Review

Finished watching Victor Frankenstein directed by Paul McGuigan and staring Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, Jessica Brown Findlay, Andrew Scott, Charles Dance and Freddie Fox. The film opens in the circus outside of London where it is narrated by Igor (Daniel Radcliffe) who is currently a hunchback clown at the circus who is noticed by Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) when performer Lorelai (Jessica Brown Findlay) falls of the trapeze and is saved by the use of Igor's medical knowledge. After saving Lorlai Victor goes back stage of the circus and finds Igor in order to take him back to his home to cure Igor of his hunchback and gives him the name of Igor. In the morning after escaping from the circus police inspector Roderick Turpin (Andrew Scott) how has already been on the trail of Victor for a while due to him buying and stealing animal parts from the local zoo and area, looks over the crime scene and putting out a warrant for the arrest of Igor and Victor after seeing the body of a dead circus performer. While back at Victor's home he shows Igor a part of experiment that he wants to demonstrate to his collage as Victor reanimated a set of human eyes with a little assistance from Igor leading to the two embarking on creating a proto Frankenstein monster from animal parts. Overall this was a decent film as it dives into the story of how Victor Frankenstein slowly got to the point of his life where he created his infamous monster. Use of camerawork is great as it is used to show the dominance one character has over another thanks to the use different angles used with characters like Victor's father Baron Frankenstein (Charles Dance) seemingly towering Victor by the use of a low angle shot which helps to show his dominance and power over Victor. The character of Igor seems oblivious to most of Victor's experiment until Victor unveils it to Igor while most of their interactions seem almost as if Victor is manipulating Igor in places while later in the film it turns to Vitor being manipulated by Finnegan (Freddie Fox) who wants an army of monsters after seeing Victor's experiment at his collage. 6/10.

The Flash: Out of Time Review

Finished reading The Flash: Out of Time, this begins writers Robert Venditti and Van Jensen's run on the series as Barry Allen deals with the aftermath of the events of Forever Evil and the effects it's had on Central City. The book opens up five years into the future as the Flash gets to a crime scene too late as it flashes back to the present as Central deals with the aftermath of the Crime Syndicate's arrival during the events of Forever Evil. With the city rebuilding Barry meets with a local psychologist about getting back his old job in the crime lab of the CCPD. On Barry's first day back he comes across a young boy graffitiing a nearby building who turns out to be Wally West, the nephew of Barry's friend Iris when he sees her at the police station as she asks Barry to help Wally to stay out of trouble. While agreeing to help Iris with Wally, Barry is on the case of a team of former criminals who have been turning up dead by the weapons of their former teammates that were stolen from police lockup during the events of Forever Evil. The side story that runs concurrently to each other has the Flash from twenty years in the future finding it hard dealing with the loss of Wally fifteen years prior as he's been constantly losing time when he taps into the speed force and plans to go back to different points of time to right the wrongs he missed and hopes to fix the problem with the speed force along the way. Overall this was a great book as it is able to cut between the stories of the Flash in present day and the time traveling Flash from the future greatly with the final confrontation between the two being a great payoff that also includes a nice surprising twist. The interactions between the future Flash and his villains during the different time periods is great especially when he's with Captain Cold in is last moments as it allows the writers to let Barry open up and be there for Leonard at the same time. While the relationship between present day Barry and Wally is played out brilliantly as an almost surrogate father for Wally with the scene at the baseball game being used to help the two form a friendship with the commentator's description of the game almost mirroring the interactions between Barry and Wally. While the story of present day Barry Allen is great as writers Robert Venditti and Van Jensen plot out a great detective story that plays to the strength of Barry's character as a forensic scientist which makes the mystery all that more captivating. 8.5/10.

Grayson: Agents of Spyral Review

Finished reading Grayson: Agents of Spyral, this begins a new status quo change for former superhero Dick Grayson after being unmasked by the Crime Syndicate and being presumed dead after the events of Forever Evil. The book opens up with Spyral agent Helena Bertnelli meeting with her boss Mr Minos with a proposal for former Nightwing and original Robin Dick Grayson to be recruited into the organisation as the new agent 37 while the two are going over the origin of Dick's character. The second story has Dick and Helena catching a train in Siberia as the two hope to retrieve a man named Ninel Dubov for Spyral who happens to have an implant that gives him the ability to shoot energy blasts. The next story has Dick and Helena driving from to Farmington, Leicester after fellow Spyral agent the Hood fell unconscious on the field of the St Hadrian's school after coming into contact with Dr Ashemoore who was given an enhanced stomach that gave her super speed with the downside of turning her into a cannibal in order to have enough energy to feed the stomach through the calories she consumes. The following story as the two spy partners teaming up with Agents 1 and 8 to retrieve a set of eyes from the Old Gun who can only see through the barrels of his two guns after his own eyes were damaged from a shot In the face and hopes to use the eyes that Spyral wants for himself. After retrieving the eyes and a mission to Malaysia a small group of St Hadrian's students go on the search for Dick after one of them noticed him outside his window causing Mr Minos to give Dick a new cover story while at the school. The final story begins five years in the future where Dick is seemingly killed by being hanged in Russia as the story flashes back to different parts of his life all the way to the night that his parents were killed by Tony Zucco which lead to Dick becoming Batman's first sidekick, the original Robin. Overall this was a great book as it places Dick Grayson into a new setting without it changing the core of his character as writers Tim Seeley and Tom King keep things like his moral core that could be easily changed due to Dicks new surroundings. The comedy is stellar and on point as Dick has some great one liners and the sort of situations he gets into along with the interactions Mr Minos has with Helena and Dick when they are being debriefed for missions. The addition of Batman within the book helps to show the relationship Dick as with him as the two have a couple of heart warming interactions while Batman is dealing with crime in Gotham. While the structure of the final story with it flashing back in time explaining different parts of the story in an almost reverse use of foreshadowing is very intriguing as different things are noticed on a second read of the story. 8/10.

Black Mass Film Review

Finished watching Black Mass directed by Scott Cooper and staring Jesse Plemons, Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Cochrane. The film opens up with Kevin Weeks (Jesse Plemons) being investigated as the film goes back to 1975 where Kevin is recruited into the Winter Hill Gang by its leader, James "Whitey' Bulger (Johnny Depp) after getting into a fight outside Bulger's local pub. Not long after FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) meets with Bulger's brother senator William Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch) hoping to get into contact with James in hoping for him to become an informant for the FBI on the Angiulo Brothers who are rivals to the Winter Hill Gang. Now an informant for the FBI Bulger uses his new position to expand his criminal organisation without the authorities having any authority over him. Overall this was a good film is it delved into the life and career of James Bulger from 1975 to when his gang was caught by the authorities in 1995. The structure of the film is very intriguing as the film cuts back and forth with the main story of the Winter Hill and a couple of interrogations which makes the film almost a prospective view of Kevin and Bulgers right hand man Stephen Flemmi (Rory Cochrane) which helps to forward the story along to different time periods. 7/10.

Superman: Doomed Review

Finished reading Superman: Doomed, this features DC comics' New 52 family of books crossing over as Superman deals with the return of two of his biggest villains. The book opens up with Doomsday being sited in the Arctic after being set free from his prison inside the Phantom Zone. Meanwhile in Smallville Superman is investigating why all of the townspeople fell into a coma at the same time only to go after Doomsday when he reappears after attacking a resort in the Bahamas. In a final confrontation against Doomsday, Superman kills the monster in Smallville only to be infected by a virus inside of Doomsday's bloodstream which slowly transforms Superman into a Doomsday like monster causing Senator Sam Lane to launch an attack on Superman by turning Metal Zero into a Kryptonite bomb that covers the Earths atmosphere in Kryptonite leading to the Doomsday virus to take full effect thanks to Superman being affected by the Kryptonite which Doomsday is unaffected by. After Wonder Woman lassos Superman above the atmosphere giving him enough willpower to fly further into the galaxy to hopefully stop being a threat to himself and others only for Brainiac's forces to attack an Earth not protected by Superman. Overall this was a great book as it bleeds together stellar action from the brutality of Doomsday and the hordes of Brainiacs forces along with the character development of Superman and his supporting cast extremely well. The internal conflict between Superman and Doomsday is brilliant as it helps to show how Clark tries to fight of the Doomsday Virus, and when Brainiac enters the same mindscape it helps to develop Vril Dox's character to give a sympathetic feel to his back story. While writers Greg Pak and Charles Soule do a great job at humanising Superman, especially during the epilogue part of the book when Clark thinks about hanging up his cape as the character iterations are great between Clark and his friends while Charles Soule brings an end to his run on the Superman/Wonder Woman to a great note. 8/10.