Trinity: Better Together Review

Finished reading Trinity: Better Together, writer-artist Francis Manapul brings together DC heroes Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman to build their trust with one another with Superman and his family being alternative versions of the people Batman and Wonder Woman know. The book opens with Lois Lane inviting Batman and Wonder Woman for dinner with Superman's in hope to get to know each other a bit better due to the current Superman being a much older version of the one Bruce and Diana have been working with for the past few years. After dinner the three hear a strange noise for the barn on Clark's farm on to find themselves being transported to Smallville where a young Clark and his father is waiting, in a world that is not what it seems. Overall this was a great book as the three main heroes relationships with one another by diving into key moments within their memories that also allows for some great character development. Additional the antagonists of Poison Ivy and surprisingly Mongul get some amazing character development thanks to the way the White Mercy interacts with them which leads to some great emotional moments with Ivy that continues her growth as a character. The artwork throughout is amazing as Francis Manapul does a stunning job in bring the book to life thanks to the beautiful detail that is but into the setting and character designs. While the additional art by Clay Mann and Emanuela Lupacchino does a great job in given Batman and Wonder Woman there own tone to the book. 8.5/10. 

Nightwing: Back to Blüdhaven Review

Finished reading Nightwing: Back to Blüdhaven, after his global adventures with Spyral and Raptor as Dick moves to Blühaven after the idea being brought up by Superman. The book opens with Dick waking up from a nightmare where he sees his Titans teammates being brutally killed by Dr Destiny. This gains the attention of Superman due to having experienced fighting a different version of Dr Destiny and plans to help Dick by traveling into Dick's dreams to defeat the villain. The main story of the book sees Dick moving to Blüdhaven and getting a job as a volunteer at a local community centre. Later that night Dick dawns his Nightwing suit when he notices Police helicopters as Dick finds himself fighting Gorilla Grimm who is being suspected for murder. Before being apprehended by the police Grimm gives the name of Dick's new boss Shawn Tsang who turns out to be the villain Defacer and a part of a group named the Run-Offs who left Gotham after being caught by Batman and Nightwing yeas prior and have tried to change their life only for someone to be setting up each member for murder. The final story of the book has Dick and Shawn's relationship take centre stage as the two talk to their friends and family as their relationship development. Overall this was a great book as writer Tim Seeley scales back Dick's life after the constant global adventures which allows for Dick to have some great character development and brings about a new a intriguing supporting cast who each get some nice development right away. The art is great as the action is drawn extremely well with the movements of Nightwing being very easy to follow that's to the amount of detail put into it. While the more character driven moments does a great job in capturing the emotions of people reactions and conversations. 8.5/10.

The Dark Tower Film Review

Finished watching The Dark Tower, directed by Nikolaj Arcel and starring Matthew McConaughey, Tom Tayler and Idris Elba. The film opens up in the world of Mid-World as a group of children are being led to a building where they are strapped into chairs to power an energy beam that attacks a large tower. While this is being over seen by the Man in Black, Walter o'Dim (Matthew McConaughey), New York City is dealing with multiple tremors caused by the attacks on the tower as the young Jake Champers (Tom Tayler) is able to see what is happening in Mid-World. However after going to many different psychiatrists Jakes parents come to the decision to enrol him into a psychiatric facility. However when the a couple of employees of the facility come to take Jake away he notices that they have the same marks on the necks as the human skins the creatures in his visions have, cursing him to runaway from home to a run down house that contains a portal to Mid-World, were Jake meets the last of the Gunslingers, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba). Overall this was a good film as it introduces the world and characters of Mid-World very nicely as the film gives enough detail into the background of Mid-World while setting up for potential for future stories. There is a great amount of character development with how Jake and Roland form a interesting relationship especially with how the two have similar character arcs within the later part of a the film leading to the two becoming closer. While the action of the is brought to life greatly as there is a sense of urgency which makes the eventual fight between Walter and Roland even more impactful. 7.5/10.

Suicide Squad: Going Sane Review

Finished reading Suicide Squad: Going Sane, continuing the DC Rebirth series as writer Rob Williams wraps up the story with the Black Vault with the addition of more character driven short stories. The book opens up with the team taking a break after their mission in Russia where they retrieved an item called the Black Vault which has General Zod imprisoned and Amanda Waller plans on release Zod from the vault in hope to make him the newest member of the team. However things don't go according to plan as the open Black Vault starts making everyone in the prison go on a murderous rampage, all except Harley as the the vault as the opposite effect on her as she becomes sane again. The next part of the book features several short stories cantering around team members Hack, Killer Croc, Enchantress and Killer Frost, who's story is used as a precursor to DC's Justice League Vs Suicide Squad event. The last story of the book opens with Harley finding a letter left at her door which tells her about the plans for a Villains Anonymous program which Harley hopes to put into fruition with ManBat being her first patient. Overall this was a good book as writer Rob Williams brings an end to the series first story arc of the series as the staff and inmates of Belle Reve finds themselves at each other's throats. There is some great character development for the shot stories which dive into each character's backstory to the main story having some great character growth with Enchantress and Killer Croc starting to form a relationship. The art throughout the book is great as each character's spotlight story, along with the action of the main story all working incredibly. 7.5/10.

Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love Review

Finished reading Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, writer Sarah Vaughn brings Deadman centre stage as he finds himself trapped inside a haunted house that brings with it a murder mystery that has gone unsolved for centuries. The book opens with a woman named Berenice getting a lift home, Glencourt Manor by her friend Sam after a day at an antiques show. At the house Berenice notices Deadman entering it thanks to her ability to see ghosts, however Deadman finds himself trapped within the manor by some powerful magic. This leads to Deadman and Berenice to work together in order to find Boston a way out while also dealing with a strange ghostly being in the manor as this leads to the two meeting the ghost of one of the first residents of the house, Adelia Ruskin. Overall this was a great book as it gives Deadman is own spotlight of a story where he shears being the main lead withBerenice that surprisingly gives both a great amount of development. The book itself works extremely well for new readers by introducing all the cast before Deadman in order to give each character their own background and to set the story into motion without having to stop and introduce characters later on. The art throughout the book is great as not only does it capture the aesthetic of a haunted house story with Deadman and Adelia's character designs along with the design for the locations house itself and the nearby town still feel apart of the same world while also having their own unique feel. 8.5/10.

Atomic Blonde Film Review

Finished watching Atomic Blonde, directed by David Leitch, and starring Sam Hargrave, Charlize Theron, Toby Jones, John Goodman and James McAvoy. The film opens with the murder of British spy James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave) in Berlin as the film jumps ten days later as spy Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) who has been called to be questioned her superior Eric Gray (Toby Jones) is joined by CIA agent Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman) as the two question Lorraine on the events that transpired in Berlin. While in Berlin Lorraine meets with her contact David Percival (James McAvoy) after dealing with a couple of KGB agents in hope to compete Gasciogne's mission and discover who betrayed him. Overall this was a good film as it as it brings the look and feel of 1989 extremely well thanks to how the music and aesthetic of the time period plays a part within the film. The action set pieces are great, from the car chase to the amazingly choreographed hand to hand fights with one fight seemingly being done in one whole continuous shot.  7/10

Batman: Detective Comics: The Victim Syndicate Review

Finished reading Batman: Detective Comics: The Victim Syndicate, still coming to terms with the lost of their teammate Red Robin, the team will have to come together once again as they come face to face with a group of individuals hoping to bring an end to Batman and the legacy he's built. The book opens with Batwoman being called to Wayne Enterprises by Renee Montoya to help investigate a brake in by a new group of criminals hoping to find out how they are and why they attacked. Later that night the team go to a party where Batman plans to bring in Luke Fox, Batwing who is unveiling new police equipment as Batman hope to fill the void that was made when Red Robin was apparently killed. While at the party the team find themselves against the Victim Syndicate who what to make Batman pay for what's happened to them when they were caught in the crossfire of fights between Batman and his many rouges. The second story of the book writer James Tynion IV is join by writer Marguerite Bennett as the story focus on Batwoman with Kate and Batman heading to the clean up operation of the large monsters from the Night of the Monster Men story they discovered that a high ranking member of Kate's father's secret army, the Colony has stolen a vial of monster DNA and also brake into the Belfry to break Kate's father out. Overall this was a great book as it continues to build upon what has happen to Batman and his supporting cast since the beginning of DC Rebirth as all of the heroes are still coming to terms with the apparent death of Red Robin, especially with Spoiler being that the two were living together as it brings a very intriguing conclusion to the story with the Victim Syndicate as Stephanie ends up leaving the team. Clayface continues to get a some surprisingly great character development especially with on of the Victim Syndicate's members being and old production assistant on one of Basil's films before he became Clayface. Additionally the Batwoman story does a great job in setting up her own new series while also expanding upon a new area of Gotham with the remains of the monsters bringing a new element to the city and one that will be extremely interesting if it makes a return. The art throughout the book is great as the main story's art continues to be poster quality for each panel thanks to how well the action and character moments are draw. While the art for the Batwoman story mixes the action, character moments and flashback scenes extremely well. 8/10.

The Flash: Speed of Darkness Review

Finished reading The Flash: Speed of Darkness, continuing the DC Rebirth series as writer Joshua Williamson brings the character development of Barry, Iris and Wally to the forefront of the book. The book opens with Flash and Kid Flash heading to help propel at the Keystone Bridge as a fire as broken out coursing serious damage. As Barry is fixing the bridge the original appears as he meets Kid Flash for the first time which creates a strange feedback within the Speedforce affecting Barry. The second story in the book begins with Barry and Iris jogging in Central City's park when the villain Papercut attempts to rob some of the locals only for Kid Flash to try and stop him. However when Wally is distracted by the people around Flash intervenes when Papercut uses his powers to control a nearby tree. This leads to Barry stopping Wally's tainting for the time being due to not paying attention and also getting grounded from his aunt as he's skipping school. However when Wally finds out that there's a strange shadowy figure riming Central City and trying to get back on the good side of the Flash and Iris, Wally goes out to find the figure only to need rescuing by The Flash and Iris when he gets trapped inside a different dimension. The last story of the book sees Barry and Iris going on a date, meanwhile Wally is try to stop his aunt from seeing any criminal activity that will not only distract Iris but cause Barry to suit up as the Flash. Overall this was a great book the action a little bit of a backseat which allows writer Joshua Williamson to give more focus on character development and the relationships between Barry, Iris and both Wally's. There's also some great character development for the antagonists of the book as both Shade and Tar Pit are depicted as being incredibly sympathetic, especially Shade who had more of a supporting role with the antagonist being his own powers that has corrupted the live of his life Hope O'Dare. The art throughout the book is great as all of the artists do a great job in showing emotions of each character in the more character driven moments while also doing a great job on delivering the action set pieces and even adding in some nice visual comedy and detail in some scenes. 8.5/10. 

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Review

Finished watching Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, directed by Luc Besson, and starring Elizabeth Debicki, Sasha Luss, Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne and Clive Owen. The film opens to the history of the International Space Staton as it becomes the intergalactic city Alpha and gets set into space as it's has gotten to a dangerous size to stay within the Earth's gravity. The film then transitions to the beach like planet, Mül as the inhabitants come under attack by fallen space debris as the leader the the planet Emperor Haban Limai (Elizabeth Debicki) as he sees not only the destruction of his planet and daughter (Sasha Luss) who sends a shockwave through space that reaches intergalactic agent Major Valerian (Dane DeHaan) who is about to land on a nearby planet with his partner Sargent Laureline (Cara Delevingne) as they plan to retrieve a small alien creature from the same planet earlier in the film. When the two returned to Alpha their boss, Commander Filitt (Clive Owen) who give the two their new mission to be his bodyguards for a meeting with other major figures of the multiple spices on Alphra. However the meeting gets is attack by the inhabitants of planet for the beginning of the film as they kidnapped Filitt which leads to Valerian chasing after the aliens only to get lost within the the dead zone of Alpha, causing Laureline to go and rescue Valerian and Filitt. Overall this was a decent film as it is a visual stunning film with the alien designs and locations, along with the action scenes being very edge of the seat. There is some great character insights and even development for the whole cast however even though there is a nice amount of character work for the main cast, Valerian and Laureline don't get much development as they become romantically involved the two characters don't seem to change the way they interact with the tone or emotion of their dialogue. 6.5/10.

All Star Batman: My Own Worst Enemy Review

Finished reading All Star Batman: My Own Worst Enemy, writer Scott Snyder returns to write Batman for a new series which starts with Batman on a road trip from hell. The book opens to a diner on the outskirts of Gotham as Batman comes crushing through the window while fighting Firefly and Killer Moth who have come for Two Face as Batman has planned to take the villain to an old home which is 498 miles away in hope to find a cure of Harvey. However with the appearance of the two bug inspired villains along with Black Spider immediately after suggests that this road trip is not going to be easy, as substantial cash reward has been offered to keep Batman from taking Two Face to their destination. The final story of the book sees Duke on one of his first missions with Batman as Bruce is assessing on what sort of hero Duke will be as the two find themselves fighting against the killer Victor Zsasz. Overall this was a great book as it put Batman into a different and very intriguing adventure for Batman with how he has to vend off multiple villains to reach his destination while also allowing time for some great interactions between Batman and Two Face along with some insight to the history between the two of them. The Duke centric story does a good job in delving into his backstory and show how he's slightly different to previous partners and sidekicks that Batman has. The art throughout the book is amazing as John Romita Jr's art for the main story brings some amazing visuals with the action, locations and some tweaks to some villains designs all work extremely well. While the art by Declan Shalvey for the duke centric story works extremely well with how the the art style focuses more on the characters. 8/10.

Green Arrow: Island of Scars Review

Finished reading Green Arrow: Island of Scars, writer Benjamin Percy continues to develop Oliver and Dinah as a couple while also giving Oliver's sister Emiko her own spotlight story. The book opens with Oliver's sister Emiko and her mother Shado heading to Tokyo after the sinking of the Inferno at the end of the previous book, as Shado has to debrief the Yakuza due to being in their dept leading to Emiko to try and win back her mothers freedom which also remembering one of her first adventures in Seattle with Oliver where the two fought the Clock King. The second story opens with Oliver on a deserted island after washing up on soar after the sinking of the Inferno which allows for Oliver and Dinah to spend some time together. The next day the pair find an abandoned campfire where Diggle was attacked by a robot bear and taken to a facility on the island funded by the Ninth Circle. The final story sees Oliver, Dinah and Diggle taking a ride on a transpacific, underwater  train in order to get back home in Seattle. Only for the team to find themselves in the middle of an assassination of an Arab diplomat which leads to the team to try and apprehended the man responsible and safely get the other passengers and the selves back to Seattle. Overall this was a great book as it continues to build the relationships between the characters extremely well as Oliver and Dinah become more of a unit. While Emiko gets some great development by showing how she's grown as a person since first moving to Seattle to helping her mother in Tokyo. The art throughout the book is amazing as each artist makes each story come to life with a great accompanying tone and style to the different type of stories being told. 8/10.

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Film Review

Finished watching Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, director by David Soren and starring Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleditch, Ed Helms and Jordan Peele. The film opens with school friends George (Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch) who create their own comics in their spear time about the hero Captain Underpants. While at school the two constantly find themselves in trouble with their principal, Mr Krupp (Ed Helms) who threatens to separate the two after being fed up with the multiple pranks the pair orchestrate. However one day at a school science fair the two friends tamper with fellow student Melvin (Jordan Peele) invention, the Turbo Toilet which puts the back into Krupp's office where they find the items that Krupp has confiscated including a hypno ring that George uses on Krupp which surprisingly works, leading to the boys to make Krupp think he's Captain Underpants which comes with it new problems the two friends have to face. Overall this was a good film as it brings the world of the book series to life very well as it surprising keeps most of the features for the book series that work extremely well within the context of the film while also giving some great comedic moments. There is some great character development for most of the films cast as George and Harold grow as characters in a surprising coming of age like story with how the two's friendship is at risk by their principal who wants to separate them while also having to deal with Captain Underpants by trying to stop him from getting into trouble all the time. 7.5/10.

Batman: I Am Suicide Review

Finished reading Batman: I am Suicide, writer Tom King continues the DC Rebirth Batman Series as Batman finds himself building his own Suicide Squad as he invades Banes home of Santa Prisca. The book opens with Bane telling Psycho-Pirate his origin as Bane wants Psycho-Pirate to help him not to use the venom again. Meanwhile in Gotham Bruce Wayne is checking on how Gotham Girl is before telling Alfred that he's planning on getting Psycho-Pirate from Bane in hope to help Claire as he heads to Arkham Asylum to hand pick his own Suicide Squad for the mission to Santa Prisca. The second story of the book sees Batman and Catwoman spending one last night together before she has to go back to prison as the two spend a night of fighting crime and braking into Selina's own apartment which leads to Batman getting hurt when he investigates the name that Selina used for the apartment. Overall this was a great book as it dives into the relationship between Batman and Catwoman the two characters get not only some great development into their back stories and state of mind before they put on their costumes, but the way the relationship effects the two personal. Additionally writer Tom King does a great job in giving all of Batman's team their own time to shine throughout the book while Bane even gets some intriguing development as a character with how he wants to stop using venom and where the book leaves him sets up for what could be a very interesting story for the future. Mikel Janín's art of the first story of the book is amazing as the action feels like a stop motion animation thanks to how fluid characters move on the page. While the art by Mitch Gerads on the last story of the book is amazing as the whole feel of the romantic night in the view of Batman and Catwoman thanks to the way the story is coloured by making Gotham untraditionally beautiful, while the slight change to the art style highlighting previous stories is a great addition. 8/10.