Grayson: We All Die At Dawn Review

Finished reading Grayson: We All Die At Dawn, continuing the adventures of Dick Grayson within the the spy organisation of Spyral as he and his partner Helena Bertinelli team up with Midnighter and deal with ghosts from Helena's past. The book opens up with Dick, Helena and Midnighter crash landing in a desert after Dick and Midnighter hear a woman give brith to a baby before see dies in the crash while the group decide to trek across the desert till they can find civilisation. The next story begins with Dick and Helena on Gageo-Do island in the Yellow Sea where the two find a prison surrounded by dead bodies. While Helena interrogates a survivor Midnighter kidnaps Dick and takes him to the God Garden, a satellite for man made monsters. While Helena tries to locate the Paragon Brain as the whole organisation of Spyral attempt to locate Dick. The following story opens up in Dublin, Ireland were Helena finds herself captured by bomb maker Robert McGinn while unknowingly working for Spyral where he notices Helena. The final story has the director of Spyral Mr Minos going rogue as Dick starts to chase him after Minos shoots Helena with her own crossbow as Minos hopes to sell information to the press. Overall this was an amazing book as writers Tim Seeley and Tom King continue the series as Dick Grayson and Spyral concludes their search for superpowered organs. The interactions between Dick and Midnighter are brilliant as during their track in the desert Midnighter is constantly looking for a fight and can't believe how Dick keeps going as Midnighter believes that the desert will be their grave even though he's been enhanced with powers. This continues during the fight they have on the God Garden helps to show how prepared Midnighter was for a fight against Dick by studying footage of him as Nightwing only to be out smarted by Dick's Robin moves leading to the two teaming up again after Dick gets through to Midnighter. The story in Ireland is great as it dives into some of Helena's background and where she comes from and how Dick factors into the whole story is incredibly interesting and his cover even starts to become clear when he starts referencing one of Batman's aliases and a couple of his ex's. The artwork throughout the book is great as artists Mikel Janín and Stephen Mooney both draw out some greatly designed fight scenes and factual features showing characters strong emotions that are all further highlighted by Jeromy Cox's colours. 9/10.

Triple 9 Film Review

Finished watching Triple 9 directed by John Hillcoat and staring Anthony Mackie, Clifton Collins Jr., Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson and Casey Affleck. The film opens up with a bank heist as a group consisting of corrupt cops Marcus Atwood (Anthony Mackie) and Jorge Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.) and criminals Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul), Russel Welch (Norman Reedus) lead by Michael Belmont (Chiwetel Ejiofor) the father of the Russian Mafia's leader Irina Vlaslov's (Kate Winslet) nephew. After successfully completing the bank heist Marcus and Jorge head to work at the police precinct were their boss Sargent Detective Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson) is angry for losing the criminals while Marcus gets a new partner in the form of Chris Allen (Casey Affleck) as the two head of to investigate a local gang crime. While back at the Russian Mafia's base of operations Michael gives Irina the stolen goods as he goes to see his son. Later Irina gives Michael one more job by blackmailing him with the use of his son to pull of a near impossible job that the group come to the conclusion that the only way to pull it of is to have a triple nine happen just before the heist meaning a cop would have to be severely injured in order to distract the whole police force. Overall this was a good, solid film thanks to its good action and great plot twists throughout. The action is executed very well throughout the heist scenes and the police pursuit scenes as they constantly build tension throughout due to most of them being very unpredictable in places. The character interactions are incredibly interesting from the friendship Marcus and Chris over the course of the film which starts to influence Marcus' choices and actions to the interactions between Irina and Michael in the way that Irina blackmails him leading to some emotional moments. 7/10. 

Superman: The Men of Tomorrow Review

Finished reading Superman: The Men of Tomorrow, this brings Superman face to face with Ulysses, as writer Geoff Johns introduces the new character into the DC universe. The book opens up with the origin of Ulysses which mimics that of Superman's with the difference of Ulysses being Earth born. While in the present photographer Jimmy Olsen is trying to sell photos of Superman's fight with Titano when Clark Kent arrives for his appointment with the Daily Planet's editor in chief Perry White who plans on persuading Clark to take his old job back. Later that night Superman gets into a conflict with an interdimensional being which is defeated with the help of Ulysses. After meeting Ulysses, Clark decides to do some digging in hoping to find Ulysses's parents starting with an article that perry wrote over twenty five years prior about a team of scientists who were looking for a better tomorrow on a new world. After checking out the research centre where Ulysses was transported from Superman takes him to his real parents where the family embrace for the first time in twenty five years while a mysterious person is watching them from a distance. After meeting with his family Ulysses helps Superman against the villainous Machinist when he comes to the conclusion that humans are constantly fighting to gain control deciding to invite a small percent of the worlds population to travel back with him to the Great World. The final story at the end of the book is an epilogue to the story of Ulysses as Superman reveals his secret identity to Jimmy Olsen after losing the use of his powers for one whole day after he discovers he can create a super flare during the battle with Ulysses. Overall this was an amazing book as writer Geoff Johns focuses on the character development for new character Ulysses and the multiple interactions between the characters of the book extremely well as the interactions between Ulysses and his family are incredibly heartwarming. While the many interactions Superman has with the support cast from Perry White to Jimmy Olsen are brilliant as his conversation with Perry helps to show how good of a reporter Clark is while in the ending story of Clark dealing with the loss of his powers and Jimmy not believing he's Superman which leads to the story showing how Clark still try's to be Superman without his powers with Jimmy eventually believing him when he sees Clark fly. The artwork throughout the book is great as artist John Romita Jr. designs stellar landscapes and characters while the attention to detail within the offshore fight with villain the Machinist and the confrontations between Superman and Ulysses are stunning thanks to the use of the rain and water as the details of the scenes are further enhanced thanks to the use of the inking and colours from the rest of the art team. 9/10.

Earth 2: Collision Review

Finished reading Earth 2: Collision, this concludes DC's Earth 2 series as the book tells several stories that tie into the events of Earth 2: World's End. The book opens up with a group of the worlds heroes consisting of Power Girl, Superman, Red Tornado, Huntress and Batman who head to a laboratory in Geneva where the facility has been attacked by a horde of monstrous creatures. The second story features the origins of the four furies of Apokolips as the book shows how each one became a Fury when Apokolips and its inhabitants arrived at their homes. The next story focuses on Dick and Barbara Grayson in Chicago dealing with how the invasion from Apokolips has affected the civilians of the world. The following story features the origin of the three remaining avatars of the Earth that were introduced in the World's End series. The final story has the heroes of the world defending the it against one of Apokolips attacks as Kalid deals with his internal conflict between him and Nabu after they are separated. Overall this was an ok book as it accompanies the World's End series quite nicely by diving into the backstories of newly established characters like the furies and the avatars of the Earth. Each character story is interesting as they help to tell how they found themselves in the position they are in within the World's End series. However some characters motives are very questionable with how a couple of Furies easily accept their new roles and how the avatar of the blue was chosen. On the other hand the Dr Fate story at the end of the book as well as the first story are a lot more intriguing and captivating as the writers of the book had more time and pages to tell the story in and focus more on character development and interactions. 5.5/10.

Deadpool Film Review

Finished watching Deadpool directed by Tim Miller and starring Ryan Reynolds, Karan Soni, Ed Skrein, Morena Baccarin, Gina Carano, Stefan Kapičić, Brianna Hildebrand and T.J Miller. The film opens with Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) in the backseat of a taxi where he meets the driver Dopinder (Karan Soni) as Deadpool is dropped of in the middle of a motorway as he attacks a convoy of vehicles under the command of Ajax (Ed Skrein) who Deadpool has decided to hunt down in hope to make him look normal again, ever since Wade left his fiancé Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) to go to Ajax's laboratory where he and his assistant Angel Dust (Gina Carano) turns him into Deadpool while hoping to cure his multiple cancers. The fight between Ajax and Deadpool is quickly ended when X-Men Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) arrive to bring Deadpool in which leads to a chain of events to happen as Ajax escapes with the information that Deadpool is Wade Wilson and had survived the tortures within his laboratory. Overall this was a great film as it dived into the origin and backstory of the character extremely well by giving Deadpool a very constructive story that's very interesting and has a lot of heart within it. The structure of the film is very intriguing as the story that lead to the beginning of the film is shown during breaks between the main action as Deadpool breaks the 4th wall to show the many different events in his life that lead him to the beginning of the film. The comedy is brilliant as right from the opening credits containing a detailed screen shot of a fight scene with funny nicknames for the cast and crew of the film to the hilarious post credits scene where Deadpool seemingly announces his own sequel there's barely no rest on the comedy which hits every beat especially from characters such as Deadpool and even for his best friend Weasel (T.J Miller). The fight scenes are great as they are corregraphed extremely well in places that help with the comedic feel of the film while the use of slow motion within parts helps to emphasise on the detail of the injuries people have sustained. 8.5/10.

Justice League: Injustice League Review

Finished reading Justice League: Injustice League, dealing with the fallout of Forever Evil as the League deal with new recruits and a manmade super virus. The book opens up after the fall of the Crime Syndicate as Lex Luthor is praised as a hero while the Justice League try to find his where abouts. When the League find him on a newly commissioned Watchtower they interrogate Luthor with the use of Wonder Woman's lasso before he leaves where later that night he turns up outside Bruce Wayne's Manor with the knowledge of him being Batman. After Luthor leaves the Manor Batman gets called to Portland, Oregon were Power Ring's ring has found it's welder in Jessica Cruz and has already got into a conflict with the Doom Patrol. The second story features Captain Cold getting used to his new job as Lex Luthor's head of security while Flash try's to help Jessica deal with the power ring she has as the rest of the league deal with gorilla Grodd and help with humanitarian aid. The final story opens up with Lex Luthor announcing in a partnership between Lexcorp and Wayne Enterprises as Lex gives Bruce Wayne a tour of his company along with his secret laboratories where Bruce meets Lex's sister Lena when the supervillain Neutron crashes into the lab to assassinate Luthor accidentally releasing the Amazo Virus which begins to effect the people by giving them temporary superpowers before the virus kills them while all of the human League members are infected leaving it up to Wonder Woman and Superman to save everyone with Lex Luthor in his own hazmat suit.Overall this was an amazing book as writer Geoff Johns scales back from the worldwide thereat that was the Crime Syndicate but not with the suspense or the action as the Justice League contain threats that are just as epic. The character interactions Lex Luthor has with Doom Patrols leader Niles Caulder and the members of the Justice League are great as it constantly show how he try's to escape the shadow of his past to become a hero worthy of a place on the Justice League even though Superman and Batman don't completely trust Luthor with the surprise appearance of another Justice League villain helps to enforce the heroes concern. While Captain Cold has some amazing moments for some great interactions with Luthor and Wonder Woman while he has some jaw dropping scenes during the Amazo Virus story thanks to how artist Jason Fabok displays the many uses of Captain Cold's Coldgun form stopping billets in midair to freezing a zombie Flash in mid attack. Also the story of the new Power Ring is great as its extremely captivating to how her journey throughout the book goes especially with the relationship she forms with the Flash makes her more of an intresting character for the future. 9/10.

The Flash: Savage World Review

Finished reading The Flash: Savage World, continuing writers Robert Venditti and Van Jensen story with the future Flash stuck in the present as the present day Flash finds himself trapped inside the Speed Force. The book opens up The Flash trapped within the Speed Force where he meets a man named Selkirk. Who helps the Flash escape from a robot from the twenty fourth century by taking him to his home where people who have been trapped in the Speed Force have set up camp. Meanwhile in Central City the future Flash has taken the place of his past self as he rekindles his love for Patty and dives back into his work at the police precinct as Barry Allen while also being the Flash in order to prevent crimes in his future. While in the Speed Force the present day Flash tries to find a way back home. The second story that's fractured in the book retells the Flash's origin story as Barry is talking to his father at Iron Heights Prison while recalling all of the things he's done in his life since the day his mother died and Barry's father was sent to prison for it. Overall this was great as it continues the story arc that was started in the the previous volume of the series by showing how both the present and the future Flash's deal with the new environments each have been trapped in. The interactions and reactions of future Flash in present is great as future Barry dives right into his work which almost keeps him from drawing attention to himself while Patty's and Iris' views of the future Flash are interesting as they lead to the two finding out the truth in a very interesting way. The artwork within the book is amazing as artist Brett Booth designs of the creatures and setting of the Speed Force is breathtaking in places as the prehistoric like creatures fit into the location seamlessly, while the many functions of future Flash's suit is fascinating especially when it starts to rebuild his hand in the middle of the fight with Overload. 8/10.

Goosebumps Film Review

Finished watching Goosebumps directed by Rob Letterman and staring Dylan Minnette, Amy Ryan, Ryan Lee, Odeya Rush, Jack Black and Jillian Bell. The film opens up with Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) and his mom Gale (Amy Ryan) moving from New York to the suburbs of Madison, Delaware as Gale got a vice principle job at the local high school where Zach meets Champ (Ryan Lee) who Zach quickly befriends. Back at home Zach and their neighbours daughter Hannah (Odeya Rush) head to an abandoned fairground were the two become more aquatinted which leads to Hannah getting grounded by her father R.L. Stine (Jack Black) when the two return home. During one night Zack hears Hannah and her father arguing leading to him to call Champ as the two sneak into the house to investigate only for them to accidentally release the Abonabal Snowman onto the world when the boys open up one of Stine's Goosebumps books. After capturing the monster with the help of Stine the group find that Slappy the Dummy (voiced by Jack Black) has also escaped from his book where he sets out to cause havoc throughout the town and to have his revenge on Stine for being trapped inside one of his books. Overall this was a good film as it has a slow burn to begin with that helps to introduce each of the characters before the main part of the story with the monsters begins. The animation of the the monsters is great as each of them are appear very lifelike and frightening in their own unique way. While Slappy's design is haunting which is emulated by the use of jump scares by the flickering lighting that is used when Slappy appears on screen. The comedy within the film is great as it is timed extremely well within the narrative of the film with a lot of the comedy coming from the interactions and reactions of Stine and even Zack's aunt Lorraine (Jillian Bell). 7.5/10.

Harley Quinn: Kiss Kiss Bang Stab Review

Finished reading Harley Quinn: Kiss Kiss Bang Stab, continuing writers Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti's run on the book as Harley finds herself in the middle of a few holiday seasons and even tries to get a stronger grip on her life by hiring some help. The book opens up with Harley being locked up in Arkham Asylum after getting a call from a mutual friend that Poison Ivy was lock up as well. After Harley tazers a security guard she finds Ivy in a laboratory with two of the asylums doctors trying to prefect a hallucination gas. The next set of stories are all set during Christmas as Harley deals with giving away a load of puppies and kittens after some of her pets gave birth due to them not being sterilised which leads to her helping out a young girl and her family after being found under their Christmas tree because she wanted to see the puppies one more time. The other two stories show Harley dealing with her Christmas shopping and finding a gray hair during New Years. The following story is set during Valentines as Harley attempts to win a date with Bruce Wayne by bidding for him in order to raise money for a new animal shelter after stealing from a crooked banker only for the charity event to get crashed by a two environmentalists who what money for their research to save aquatic life. The last part of the book has Harley unable to deal with her life leading to her to recruit a gang to help her fit her job, Madison her boyfriend and her commitments to the rolladarbey team along with trying to save the local community. Overall this was a good book as it continues the same great comedy and action that has been prominent throughout the series. The inclusion of Batman in the Valentines story is a great addition as he brings across some great comedic moments thanks to the situations he finds himself in and even helps to further Harley's character development with her interactions with Batman while the final story also further shows this as Harley tries to get a handle on her life. While the inclusion of the small sides stories featuring a few of the future members of Harley gang is a nice addition the book as it helps to give an insight on their lives and what leads them to join the gang. The art choices within the book are great as they help to differentiate between scenes of the book like the multiple dream sequences during the Arkham and Valentines stories and also the side stories featuring a few new characters that become part of Harley's gang at the end. 7.5/10.

Gotham by Midnight: We Do Not Sleep Review

Finished reading Gotham by Midnight: We Do Not Sleep, this begins the DC comics series as writer Ray Fawkes gives detective Jim Corrigan his own police precinct called the midnight shift as they deal with the supernatural threats in Gotham. The book opens up with Sergeant Peyton Rook form GCPD's internal affairs meeting Lieutenant Sam Weaver at a local police precinct while Jim Corrigan and his partner detective Lisa Drake return with a new case after meeting with Batman. The case takes the team to the home of two young girls than have been talking a strange language ever since they returned home from being kidnapped this leads Corrigan and Weaver to head to the Slaughter Swamp after Corrigan noticed a strange mark on the house's porch where they come into contact with a demonic nun who has a cabin full of kidnapped children. The second story finds detectives Corrigan and Drake at Gotham County Hospital where the shadow of a young girl comes to life and starts to attack the people inside the hospital. The last story of the book opens up with Corrigan and Weaver in a long bar when a supernatural parasite tries to poison the two with their drinks in hoping the the Spectre would be summoned out of Corrigan to pass judgement over the whole of Gotham when a giant being emerges out of the Slaughter Swamp to confront the Spectre. Overall this was an amazing book as writer Ray Fawkes showcases the supernatural side of Gotham city through the view of a police precinct and with detective Jim Corragan as one of its members its helps to bring a citizen point of view to the world of Gotham due to Corragan also being the Spectre as well. The backstories of Detective Drake and sister Justine are great and intriguing to how Corrigan first meets the characters as the situations he finds them in which makes the ending of the book great. The art work accompanies the story extremely well as artist Ben Templesmith draws out some amazingly designed horrifying and supernatural creatures that the team encounter throughout the book. This is further enhanced by the colour pallet that is used in the dark times of the book helps to solidify the horror esc feel to the book which also helps certain things to standout on the page such as the bright green glow of the Spectre. 9/10

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Film Review

Finished watching 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi directed by Michael Bay and starring John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, Matt Letscher and David Costabile. The film opens up with military veteran Jack Da Silva (John Krasinski) arriving in Banghazi on a military contract for the CIA where he is picked up by his friend Tyrone S. "Rone" Woods (James Badge Dale) who takes him to The Annex, a CIA outpost that is under a mile away from the American Embassy. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens (Matt Letscher) takes residence at the embassy while on a diplomatic mission in Libya with limited security. During the anniversary of the September 11 attacks the embassy is attacked leading to the residents of the embassy to lock themselves in a safe room when the attackers to set the building on fire. While at the Annex the Jack, Tyrone and the rest of their team notice the smoke coming from the embassy causing them to prepare for a fight when the head of the base (David Costabile)stops them for having no one to protect them if the attackers decide to attack the outpost. Without giving it a second thought the team head out to help the embassy only for the attackers to follow them back. Overall this was a decent film as it has some great action scenes with a very intriguing story. The character development is decent as a lot of it comes from the the scene just before the attack where the team are at their base talking to their families. While the character of Jack Da Silva gets the most development throughout the film as he is the main character of the film and the story features his family fairly prominently in points of the film. The use of camerawork is great as it helps to give a perspective on the location and characters thanks to the use of many different camera shots like points of view shot of the soldiers and a birds eye view of the compound as well. However some of the shots feel out of place some parts of the film look to have been edited in a different colour tone to the camera shots that were taken before and after it. 6/10.

New Suicide Squad: Pure Insanity Review

Finished reading New Suicide Squad: Pure Insanity, this begins the DC comics series by writer Sean Ryan as the team changes its members as the American government places Vic Sage in charge of Task Force X. The book opens up with the Squad in Russia on a mission while at the command centre in Belle Reve prison Amanda Waller meets with her new coworker Vic Sage who put the new team into Russia without consulting her, leading to the mission to go sour when Deathstroke gets payed of by the Russians and Deathshot gets captured. The second story in the book opens up with Deadshot recovering from his injuries as the rest of the team, now joined by Reverse Flash and Captain Boomerang, are on a mission in China to blow up a facility of experiments. After the facility gets destroyed the team head to a nearby abandoned city that is the spitting image of Metropolis. Unknown to the team one superhuman survived the explosion and follows them, this gains the attention of the Chinese military who also enter the city. Overall this was a great book as writer Sean Ryan puts the whole team into some action filled situations while sill being able to give characters like Deadshot, Black Manta and Amanda Waller some great development. The structure of the story is great as the book jumps between two different scenes siemesly as the book shows the conversation between Amanda Waller and Vic Sage while simultaneously showing the teams mission in Russia at the same time. It's also used during the mission in China with the interactions between Reverse Flash and the team that helps to build up tension within the story as Reverse Flash keeps pushing himself to go faster. The mostly silent parts of the book are used to great effect as it allows the art team to convey the emotion of certain characters, with it being primarily used within the China story which helps show what Deadshot is going through during his recovery back at Belle Reve and also showing the superhuman reaction to his surroundings and the death of the other experiments. 8.5/10.