Earth 2: The Tower of Fate Review

Finished reading Earth 2: The Tower of Fate, continuing DC Comics New 52 series as writer James Robinson continues to expand upon the history of the world while also bringing new characters into the main story. The book opens up with a flash back story six years ago where Terry Sloan was one of the wonders of the world along with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman as the team invade a Parademon stronghold. With Terry Sloan narrating what happened the day the fire pits on Earth were formed. The second story is a short story of how Micheal Holt became the hero Mr Terrific and what eventually lead to him turning up on Earth 2. The next story begins with Alan Scott having trouble dealing with the loss of his partner Sam when Hawkgirl finds him to talk about meeting with her and Jay Garrick which Alan declines. While this is going on Commander Khan of the World Army meets with Terry Sloan about his plans for the projects the organisation already have and other plans he has for the World Army. Meanwhile Khan has the Sandmen infiltrate one of Sloan's secret base's where the team are attacked by Mr Terrific. The last of the short stories features Apokoliptan general Steppenwolf along with the daughter of Wonder Woman, Fury as the two take over the small country of Dherain who's King has allowed the two to live in hiding so Dherain can gain Steppenwolf's technology for itself. The final story of the book begins with Hawkgirl talking to her friend Khalid to keep an eye on Jay Garrick who has gone home to see his mother only for Jay's house to be pulled apart by the Atom and a group of World Army soldiers causing Jay to reveal to the soldiers and his mum that he's is the Flash leading to Khalid to intervene by teleporting Jay, Jay's mum and himself away were they find themselves outside the Tower of Fate within the Realm of Nabu where the villainous Wotan is waiting for Khalid in hope that he has appeared to calm the helmet of Fate so he can finally take the power of Nabu for himself. Overall this was a great book as it brought more of the history of Earth 2 to life thanks to an origin story of Terry Sloan and how he became the man shown in the present day setting of the series. The story of how Commander Khan of the World Army feels about the addition of Terry Sloane being his equal within the organisation is brilliant as it allows the book to demonstrate the capability of the Sandmen when they are forced to fight against Mr Terrific inside one of Sloan's secret bases due to Khan being unable to trust Sloan. The story of Khalid becoming Doctor Fate is great as it plays on the characters fears well thanks to the internal dialog he has with Nabu, while the interactions between Jay and Khalid helps to make Khalid a very intriguing character. 8.5/10.

Earth 2: The Gathering Review

Finished reading Earth 2: The Gathering, this begins DC comics first New 52 series to be set on an alternate universe that reimagines DC's classic golden age superheroes in a modern day setting. The book opens up five years in the past as the heroes of the world consisting of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Batman's daughter, Robin sacrificing themselves in order to defeat the invading forces of Darkseid's Parademon army. In the present Alan Scott the CEO of the Galaxy Broadcasting Corporation is flying to China to meet his with his partner Sam where he hopes to propose to him. Meanwhile in Lansing, Michigan collage graduate Jay Garrick is wondering where his life is going after seeing his ex girlfriend moving away when the god Mercury crash lands near Jay and in his last moment grants Jay with his speed telling him to "Run". After saving a couple from a swarm of Apokorats Jay ends up in Poland meeting a woman named Hawkgirl where the two discover that the plant and animal life around them is rotting away. While back in China Alan is caught up in a train accident where the life force of the earth heals him and makes Alan its new champion, the Green Lantern. With this new power Alan senses a creature calling himself Grundy has appeared in Washington D.C causing the whole world to start rotting away. Overall this was a good book as it reintroduces some of DC Comics classic superhero characters greatly while giving the characters a slight twist. While the story's slow burn at the beginning pays off extremely well by the end of the book as writer James Robinson fleshes out enough back story that each character and the world itself to dive into the main part of the story. The artwork by Nicola Scott and the rest of the art team is stunning as the decaying surroundings are brought to life vividly while the design of Grundy gives an almost horrific feel to the character. 7/10.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse Film Review

Finished watching Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, directed by Christopher B London and starring Blake Anderson, Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, David Koechner, Halston Sage and Sarah Dumont. The film opens up with the cleaner of a laboratory (Blake Anderson) who actually awakens a corpse by using CPR and breaking its chest open causing it to attack and turn him into a zombie, starting the outbreak. At the local school scout and childhood friends Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller) and Augie (Joey Morgan) are with Scout leader Rogers (David Koechner) are preparing for a camp out in the local woods to celebrate Augie getting his new Scout's badge. On their way home to get their gear Ben and Carter hit a deer leading to them getting help from Carter's sister and Ben's crush Kendall (Halston Sage) and her friends help the boys out and even inviting them to the party happening that night. This leads to Carter and Ben to sneak out in the middle of the night from the campsite leaving Augie alone as Scout Leader Rogers didn't show up as he was turned into a Zombie after encountering the Zombified version of the deer that Ben and Carter ran over. Back in town Ben and Carter see Denise (Sarah Dumont), a cocktail waitress they meet earlier fighting of a hoard of Zombies when the boys decided to go into the local strip club only to find a zombified bouncer and dancer. Overall this was a decent film as there was some great comedic moments that feel very organic and helps to further the films plot in places. The use of practical effects and make up helps to bring the zombie creatures to life by making the human zombies look very realistic. While the animatronics of the zombified cat and deer looks very cartoonish which initially feels a little out of place. 6.5/10.

Star Wars: Princess Leia Review

Finished reading Star Wars: Princess Leia, furthering the adventures of Princess Leia as she try's to bring together the last of the Alderannan people who were off the planet when it was destroyed by the Death Star. The book opens up in the closing moments of A New Hope as the Rebel Alliance celebrate the destruction of the Death Star and mourn the numbers that they lost. After the ceremony Princess Leia Organa meets with an Alderaanian pilot named Evaan, as Leia talks Evaan into to joining her and R2 D2 on a personal mission to find any remaining Alderaanian's in the galaxy and hopefully reunite them due to their planet being destroyed by the Death Star. After a trip to Naboo the Alderaanian's begin to be tracked by the Empires forces thanks to a girl named Tace getting into contact with her sister Tula, who unknown to Tace is working for the Empire. This causes an Imperial Star Destroyer to follow them to the Planet Sullust where Leia and Evaan meet with another colony of Alderannan's when they are ambushed by an army of Stormtroopers. Overall this was a good book as its a great character piece for Leia by showing how dedicated she is to her people while adding more to her backstory thanks to the use of flashbacks and other indications about her past. The use of the supporting cast members like Uwa and Jora works nicely as the two leaders of the Alderannan Colonies end up having a great side story towards the end of the book, even though both characters were introduced a fair way into the book. While addition of Eveen to to story is used greatly as she feels almost like a secondary main character due to having same amount if not more development than Leia throughout, which doesn't steal any of the spotlight from Leia as Eveen's character development helps to further develop Leia's character thanks to how they interact with one another. 7.5/10. 

Star Wars: Darth Vader: Vader Review

Finished reading Star Wars: Darth Vader: Vader, this begins Marvels second Star Wars ongoing series which tells Darth Vader's story after the events of A New Hope. The book opens up with Darth Vader meeting with Jabba the Hutt on a personal matter a day before the negotiations between the Hutt and the Empire as Vader has a job for two of Jabba's best bounty hunters. Back on the Imperial Super Star Destroyer Vader and the crew confront a group of pirates that brought down an Imperial Shuttle via a robotic spaceship. This is where Vader discovers a mole within his ranks after ha ving a droid go through the pirates computer files. The final story within the book begins with Darth Vader finding a woman named Doctor Aphra as he hopes she can be of assistance by supplying him with a secret droid army that can assist Vader in non Empire matters. Overall this was a great book as it shows how Darth Vader deals with the problems he faces from the Empire while still having the Rebels in the background of his mind. The inclusion of the supporting of Doctor Aphra and her droids Triple Zero and BT-1 are great addition to Darth Vader's journey as they bring some amazing moments to the book. While the artwork by Salbador Larroca is stunning as its full nastagaic moments which reflect classic Star Wars moments that are enforced by Kieron Gillen's writing thanks to the use of dialog and the direction the book takes. 8.5/10.

Spectre Film Review

Finished watching Spectre, directed by San Mendes and starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Alessandro Crermona, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Christoph Waltz, Dave Bautista and Andrew Scott. The film opens up with James Bond (Daniel Craig) on a secret assignment for the previous M (Judi Dench) in Mexico City during the Day of the Dead celebrations to takeout Marco Sciarra (Alessandro Crermona) and his associates who have plans to bomb a local stadium. After finding out what happened in Mexico City by the news and the media the current M (Ralph Fiennes) has Q (Ben Whishaw) inject Bond with a nano blood to track his every movement after being grounded by M who wants to keep a close eye on him. This causes Bond to ask Q to keep his movements a secret as he heads up to Rome for the funeral of Marco Sciarra where he discovers the next meeting place for the organisation named Spectre were Bond is instantly recognised by the organisation's leader (Christoph Waltz) as one of the agents Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista) takes chase after Bond until he gives Hinx the slip. While this is happening back in London M is dealing with the new head of the Joint Intelligence Service, Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) who is pushing a new system that will allow all intelligence organisations to spy on anyone at any given time. Overall this was a good film as it wraps up the story of Daniel Craig's James Bond films to a nice point which leaves the characters story to a subtle continuation with the door still open for more. There are some great comedic moments thanks to great character interactions and some visual moments thanks to things like the Aston Marten's gadgets not working to how Bond what's them to. The villains motive within the film feels very slightly conventional, however Christoph Waltz brings across an great performance that helps to layer the villainous leader of Spectre. 7/10.

Star Wars: Skywalker Strikes Review

Finished reading Star Wars: Skywalker Strikes, this begins Marvel's first new Star Wars series since Disney brought Lucasfilm in 2012. The book opens up not long after the destruction of the original Death Star during the events of A New Hope, with Han, Luke and Leia are on a mission to Cymoon 1 under the disguise as negotiators of Jabba the Hutt in hoping to blow up one of the Empire's weapons factories. Things take a turn for the worst when the negotiator for the Empire arrives, who turns out to be Darth Vader. The second story within the book has Vader meeting with Jabba personally. While Luke is losing faith within himself after being unable to defeat Vader, he decides to head back to Tatooine to see if Kenobi left anything behind to help Luke in his journey in becoming a Jedi. Unknown to Luke, Vader has hired Boba Fett to find Luke after realising that is old lightsaber is now being used by Luke during their confrontation at Cymoon 1. Overall this is was an amazing book as it feels like a very organic continuation to the original Star Wars film as writer Jason Aaron captures the vibe and characteristics of each character and setting seamlessly. While the addition of John Cassaday's artwork helps to bring the story to life by showcasing the jaw dropping action set pieces which range from the skilfulness of Darth Vader's fighting style to the brutality of Boba Fett's interrogation techniques. 9.5/10.