Nightwing: Raptor’s Revenge Review

Finished reading Nightwing: Raptor’s Revenge, concluding writer Tim Seeley time with the character as Dick finds himself in desperate need of help when the villain Raptor returns. The book opens with Nightwing swinging through the streets of Blüdhaven when he finds himself having to save a Senator from the appearance of Raptor who has come to Blüdhaven with the Senator being one of his targets. After defusing the situation and Raptor escaping by using a waitress as a destruction, Nightwing turns to his allies in hope to get some help against Raptor but due to letting his friends, the Run-Offs down which led to the death of their friend and the Police being unable to help, Dick goes to the last person in the city that might be able to help, Roland Desmond. Overall this was a great book as writer Tim Seeley wraps up all for the plot lines from throughout the from the rerun of Raptor coming to meet with Dick in his new home of Blüdhaven to Dick rebuilding his friendship and trust with his friends the Run-Offs. The book also does an amazing job in delivering on the character interactions between Dick and Raptor that helps to make the story feel more personal to Dick thanks to how Raptor reveals more about his past with Dick’s mother. While the book also does a great jobs with the development of Roland Desmond as a character with how he is affected by Raptor’s plans for Blüdhaven especially when the casino that he runs becomes ground zero for the release of the Blockbuster serum into the city. The art throughout the book is great as it does an amazing job in bring to life the aesthetics of Blüdhaven extremely along with the amount of detail that goes into crafting the action scenes and bringing across the tension and other emotions at play between characters within their conversations. While the book also does a great job in transitioning between the changing art styles incredibly well with what parts of the book that changers. 8.5/10.

Suicide Squad: Kill Your Darlings Review

Finished reading Suicide Squad: Kill Your Darlings, writer Rob Williams continues the Suicide Squad’s fight against the organisation called the People who plan on bring Task Force X into their fold. The book opens with Amanda Waller arriving in Washington DC to a hearing where congress have questions for Waller over the events of Justice League vs Suicide Squad. Meanwhile in Bulgaria the Suicide Squad head to a facility with the hope to gain more information on the People and find there boss Karla. After the hearing Waller soon finds herself captured by the head of the People Karla. who tells her of his plan for his own Task Force X on a more worldwide scale which he seemingly gets Waller to agree with. Overall this was a good book as brings an end to the overarching storyline that began at the beginning of the series with the organisation known as the People’s plan is finally revealed. The current team dynamic within the book is extremely interesting and well written as placing Harley Quinn as the leader of the team leads to some surprising directions and twists with how she is a a leader. While the way it affects each team member becomes a very intriguing part to the book when everyone beings to fight each other with how they deal with the situations they find themselves in and the order they’re getting from Harley and Waller. The book also does a nice job in having some call backs to the Justice League Vs Suicide Squad story with how Amanda Waller is being brought to a hearing by the American government while also having developed countermeasures against the heroes the DC universe which leads to the Squad going after Killer Frost later in the book which also brings Batman into the fray which leads to an interesting conflict. The art throughout the book is great as it puts a nice amount of focus into the action scenes with how well each of the characters powers and abilities are on show while also putting a great amount of detail into the characters interactions that makes some of the conversations just as suspenseful as the action. 7.5/10.

Batman: Detective Comics: A Lonely Place of Living Review

Finished reading Batman: Detective Comics: A Lonely Place of Living, writer James Tynion IV continues the DC Rebirth series as Tim Drake finds himself trying to find a way back to Gotham which leads to him working with an unlikely person. The book opens with Tim Drake being questioned by a mysterious figure on why he became Robin before leaving when Tim hears a voice over his communicator thinking it to be Batman only to to soon discover that it's him from a future who became Batman. The two soon find themselves reluctantly working together to try and escape the prison back to their own time periods while also trying to avoid a rampaging Doomsday. The next story cowritten by Christopher Sebela sees Spoiler continuing to work with Anarky in the hopes to help the people of Gotham more directly with medical supplies for the less fortunate. Meanwhile in Batman and Clayface are working with Doctor Victoria October in her research into the cleanup of the attack of the Monster Men while the Doctor is also tying to help Basil is finding out why he loses control when he stays in is Clayface form for long periods of time. Overall this was a great book as it gives Tim Drake the spotlight as he finds himself as he escapes the prison he's been from earlier in the series which leads to him meeting a future version of himself which allows for some intriguing interactions with the future Tim and the heroes thanks to how close to home the antagonist is to all of the characters. The use of the books other story does a great job in continuing Stephanie's story after leaving the team with how she's found herself working with Anarky while also give a nice amount of development to Clayface with him still try to control over his Clayface appearance which leads to some get work on the relationship that Basil and Cassandra have formed over the course of the series. The art throughout the book is great as the whole art team doing a great job delivering on some well paced action set pieces while also bring a level of emotion that works amazingly well especially with how each character interact with one another as well as the future Tim Drake. 8/10. 

The Flash: Negative Review

Finished reading The Flash: Negative, continuing writer Joshua Williamson's run with the character as Barry finds himself having to deal with a new power set which is affecting his life as the Flash along with having an effect on in his work life. The book opens with The Flash trying to get use to his new powers that he gets from the Negative Speed Force as its causing more destruction than the villains he's fighting against which also causing Barry to become more exhausted from being the Flash. When Barry gets to work he's called into the office of his boss, Director Singh as he forms a small group to investigate into where some evidence have gone and who within the CCPD is behind it. The next story sees Flash working with Kid Flash once again in the hope to find a way to help his new powers under control before he heads of to Iron Heights for his new job in their forensic lab. The last story of the book is a Christmas set story that sees Barry fighting with Rainbow Rider at an airport when he finds out that all of the flights have been cancelled as he try's to help everyone before going to see Wally at Titans Tower in New York. Overall this was a great book as it sees Barry trying to come to terms with his new powers from the Negative Speed Force that allows for some great uses of the powers that is show by the books amazing art work within the action set pieces. Additionally the book also does a great job in putting a nice amount of focus into the character moments by bring some drama into Barry's life that is being caused by how his powers are effecting his emotions and how losing his temper is causing problems with his job and his colleagues. The book also does a great job in mixing the superhero parts of the Flash fighting against super villains and criminals with the CSI parts of Barry's work where he's on a case of missing blood samples is one of the best parts of the book with how it puts Barry's live as a CSI is brought to the forefront. 8/10.

Solo: A Star Wars Story Film Review

Finished watching Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard and starring Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Joonas Suotamo, Woody Harrelson and Donald Glover. The film opens on the planet of Corellia as a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) has hot wired a hover vehicle which he uses to escape to the space port with his girlfriend Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) in the hope to get of the planet only for Qi'ra to be captured which leads to Han to sign up for the imperial navy in order to get of the planet. Years later Han finds himself on the frontline of an invasion when he finds himself thrown into a cage when he defies his ranking officer. While in the cage he quickly gets himself out of danger from a chained up Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) which the two soon become acquainted with one another as Han helps Chewbacca to escape the planet as they find themselves going into a life of crime when the board the ship of the criminal Tobias Beackett (Woody Harrelson) and his crew. Overall this was a good film as it divides into the past of Han Solo which allows the film to bring in some classic Star Wars characters like Chewbacca and Lando (Donald Glover) that leads them on their path to becoming the characters and forming the relationships that are shown in the original films. While the addition of new characters helps to bring an element of suspense along with some interesting twists to the film that helps to bring some unpredictability to the film as the stories of the classic characters are slightly predictable as it feature things that have been previously mention and referenced to. The film also features some great action set pieces that is able to build tension within scenes that brings into question of how the characters can get out of the multiple situations they find themselves in with the different factors going against them even though it known that the characters will get out of the situations. The film also does a great job in having some great interactions between its cast as the relationships that classic characters have begin to form thanks to the little back and forth characters have while also being able to give a nice amount of development to newly established characters. 7.5/10.

All Star Batman: The First Ally Review

Finished reading All Star Batman: The First Ally, concluding the DC Rebirth as writer Scott Snyder sees Batman and Alfred heading down to Miami on a mission when a dark secret of Alfred's past comes back to haunt him and Batman. The book opens with Batman and Alfred in Miami in a chase with Hush in hopes to infiltrate the exchange of a device called the Genesis Engine as Bruce goes to meet the sellers by pretending to be a disguised Hush. However the deal goes south when the pirates selling the engine know that they are being played and believing that Batman is Hush they begging to attack him. Batman is only saved by a group of Gotham villains believing that he is undercover as Bruce Wayne who what to destroy the engine and with Batman and Alfred continuing their mission Alfred soon discovers that a person from his past is also interested with getting the Genesis Engine. The second story in the book sees Batman going undercover in the Myasnik Family which sends him to Russia in the hope to stop a weapons shipment to Gotham before they can be used to start a gang war. Overall this was a great book as it makes Alfred the main character of the story which allows for some interesting internal dialogue and narration from Alfred's point of view of how he views Bruce as a son while also diving into Alfred's history within the military and what lead to him become the butler for the Wayne's. The character interactions throughout the book is great with how the relationships between characters come into play while within the books main story the interactions between Batman and Alfred feels like their are having some fun in the mission thanks to the inclusion of modern day pirates and how developed the two's relationship has grown over the years. The second story that sees Batman going to Russia in a great addition to the book with how Batman finds himself out of his comfort zone while undercover in a Russian crime family that does some great development for the heads of the family while also having a surprising connection to the man story. The art throughout the book is amazing as its able to differentiate between the different time periods extremely well while also putting a nice amount of focus into the characters interactions with the way that the characters emote along with a great amount of action set pieces thanks to how well it's pasted. 8/10.

Green Lantern: Earth One Volume One Review

Finished reading Green Lantern: Earth One Volume One, introducing Green Lantern into DC's Earth One publication line as the writing team of Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko reimagine Hal Jordan for this alternative universe. The book opens with a team of miners working on an asteroid along the asteroid belt within the solar system when two of the miners Hal Jordan and his colleague Volkov head inside a crashed spaceship where they discover the remains of long dead alien along with a large, deactivated robot in the craft. After leaving to go back to the rest of their team the craft that Hal and Volkov is broken in half when the power ring that Volkov took from the alien activates who's soon leads to Hal using the ring to try and get back to his crew only for the large robot to awaken and attack Hal, who is lucky enough to beat the robot only to find himself lost on another planet where he soon learns truth of the Green Lanterns and the Manhunters that wiped them out. Overall this was a great book as it brings to life a new and different take on Hal Jordan's origin while also keeping familiar elements for DC's main continuity for fans of the character while also being extremely new reader friendly with how the book has its own unique take on the the Green Lantern mythos. There is a nice amount of character interacts throughout the book that also brings some intriguing development to the characters while also helping to expand on the world building by giving enough focus on how each planet and alien spices that Hal Jordan goes to has different beliefs. The art throughout the book is amazing as it puts a great amount of focus on the designs of each character with how the different species of aliens emote and communicate with one another while also having a great amount of emphasis on the sci fi elements of the book with the Earth based technology having a very dark aesthetic while the more alien looking planets and characters being more fantastical in their aesthetic. 8.5/10.