Finished reading All New Doop, this book follows Doop's story as he tries to help the X-Men from behind the scenes as the team are dealing with the events of the Battle of the Atom storyline. The book opens up with Doop in the Doopspace grabbing his camera as he prepares to record the X-Men fighting Sentinels as Doop gives Kitty Pryde a letter and helps the X-Men's healer, Christopher Muse to make sure he saves young Cyclops from a Sentinel blast. Doop then goes to the Jean Gray School to fix the Blackbird as young Jean Gray and Cyclops escape from the future X-Men who what to send the original X-Men back in time. Then to meet back up with Kitty as Doop gets her to read the love letter he gave her and proposes with Kitty declining Doops offer because she doesn't understand him, causing Doop to shed his skin giving him the ability to speak english. Now being able to speak Doop takes Kitty on several different dates at some of Doops favourite places when Kitty tells Doop to take her back to the school to help the X-Men who are in the middle of dealing with the future X-Men. Overall this was a good book as it makes Doop a very relatable character with how he interacts with Kitty and other characters within the book. The artwork accompanies the story amazingly as its style helps to capture Doop's world and personality extremely well. There are some great comedic moments that range from some slapstick humor to some great character interactions. 7.5/10.
Finished watching Vacation, directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and staring Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Shyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins, Keegan-Michael Key, Regina Hall and Catherine Missal. The film opens up with pilot Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) coming home to his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and two sons James (Shyler Gisondo) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins) as they prepare for their friends Jack (Keegan-Michael Key) and Nancy (Regina Hall) where the two start talking about their family holiday to Paris making Debbie envious of Nancy. This causes Rusty to decide to hire a rental car and take a cross country road trip to the amusement park Walley World which he went to as a kid with his family. Overall this was a decent film as it has some good comedy with the antics of the family with the rental car being the source of some of the best comedy. The character dynamics are good but are let down by some some parts being resolved fairly easily with things like when Kevin stops bullying James because James gets a burst of confidence thanks to Adena (Catherine Missal), a girl he has a crush on with the next scene making it out that they got into a relationship on the same night Adena got embarrassed by James. 6.5/10.
Finished reading Amazing Spider-Man: Learning to Crawl, this book takes place in the early days of Spider-Man's career as he transitions from an entertainer to the hero he is today. The book opens up with Spider-Man heading back home after confronting the man who killed his Uncle Ben as Peter decides to go back to his agent Maxie to get some more work as Spider-Man to help his Aunt with the bills. Meanwhile Spider-Man's biggest fan Clayton Cole gets tickets to Spidey's latest performance were Spider-Man shows of his Web Shooters which inspires Clayton to build his own costumed identity with sonic technology and calling himself Clash. Once his suit is fully functional Clash goes to Maxie to give Spidey a job for a stage fight between the two so Clayton can upload it online and make himself a household name like Spider-Man. After being humiliated by Spider-Man as Clash got webbed up a few minutes in to their fight Clayton starts to resent Spider-Man with him constantly getting in the way of Clayton's fame. Overall this was a good book as it showed how Spider-Man initially dealt with the loss of his uncle and how it affected him. Clayton's story is great as his character is developed very well as it runs parallel to and effects Peter's story. The art work is stellar as it captures a similar tone to that of classic Spider-Man stories in the sixties while also having its own twist to it. 7/10.
Finished reading Hulk: Banner D.O.A this book deals with the fallout of writer Mark Waid's Indestructible Hulk series as he continues with a different direction for Bruce Banner and the Hulk. The book opens up with Bruce Banner on an operating table after being shot in the head by a group of people posing as S.H.I.E.L.D as they hope to control the Hulk by bringing in Dr Aaron Carpenter, a former classmate of Bruce, who is one of the worlds greatest brain surgeons to operate on him. Only for Bruce to Hulk out when the anaesthetic wears off causing the Hulk to escape by crashing into the middle of a nearby town. Weeks later Maria Hill and Phil Coulson find a brain damaged Bruce Banner who they decide to keep safe by placing a group of S.H.I.E.L.D agents in the town to keep an eye on Bruce. Meanwhile the shadowy organisation use some of the Hulk's DNA that they collected from Bruce earlier to resurrect Abomination as a mindless slave controlled by the leader of the organisation, in order to retrieve the Hulk which leads to the intervention of the Avengers. Overall this was a good book as it puts Bruce Banner into a situation where he is without his intelligence and willpower over the Hulk. The action scenes are spectacular thanks to some amazing artwork and writing. The story of Dr Aaron Carpenter is very interesting especially with how it ties into Bruce Banner's story. While the addition of the Avengers helps the story along as brings their reaction of Bruce's condition and whereabouts to the story. 7.5/10.
Finished watching Man From U.N.C.L.E directed by Guy Ritchie and staring Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander, Christian Berkel, Armie Hammer, Elizabeth Debicki and Luca Calvani. The film opens up with in 1963 as CIA agent Napoleon (Henry Cavill) crosses the Berlin Wall to East Berlin to find Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) the daughter of former Nazi scientist Udo Teller (Christian Berkel) who has gone missing while working for the Americans, the two are then pursued by KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) as they attempt to cross the Wall. With the completion of the mission Napoleon is briefed on is next mission where he has to work with Illya as the two along with Gaby head to Rome to find Udo's captures Victoria (Elizabeth Debicki) and Alexander Vinciguerra (Luca Calvani) to prevent them from having their own supply of nuclear weapons thanks to the many scientists they have captured. Overall this was a good film as it captured the tone and vibe of the 1960's setting extremely well thanks to the use of props and costumes. The character development and interactions are great as Napoleon and Illya go from being rivals to friends over the duration of the film. The editing and camerawork of the chase and fight scenes are great thanks to use of some ingenious split screen and fast pace cutting between shots helps build tension with in the scenes. The comedy falls a bit flat in some areas as it doesn't always hit is mark but when it does its really funny. 7/10.
Finished reading Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business, this follows Peter Parker as he travels around the world discovering more about his parents while being hunted down by the Kingpin and his forces. The book opens up with New York's former kingpin of crime, Wilson Fisk in Tunisia as he recruits Mentallo after having him locked up inside a local asylum. Months later in New York Peter Parker is outside his local market hoping to pay his energy bill only for the shop to be closed after Spider-Man stops an illegal shipment of stolen laundry detergent outside of the shop causing the police to investigate. Back at home Peter is suddenly apprehended by several armed gunmen who end up losing Peter when he breaks the rope that was hoisting him to the gunmen's helicopter causing him to land inside a car being driven by a woman called Teresa Parker who claims to be his sister. After the two escape from their pursuers Teresa takes Peter around the world hoping to find out who's after them and why, while Teresa tries to learn about the sort of people her parents were. Overall this was a good book as it takes Spider-Man to a different backdrop without losing any of the charm of the character. The mystery of Teresa is enticing while the Kingpins motives and how he executes his plan is very intriguing. The art work is amazing as it helps to emulate the story and works well with the spy theme of the book as well as the fight scenes which are executed extremely well. 7.5/10.
Finished reading The Superior Foes of Spider-Man: The Crime of the Century, this continues the story of Boomerang and his version of the Sinister Six as they are whittled down to three members as Boomerang abandons the team and Shocker is hiding out at his apartment. The book opens up with the origin of the newest Beatle, Janice Lincoln the daughter of crime boss Tombstone. This then ties back into the main story as Tombstone helps Beatle, Overdrive and Speed Demon escape from the Owl where the team then attempt to find Boomerang as he set the three of them up. Meanwhile Boomerang is being questioned by Chameleon over the location of the head of Silvermane that he was promised which Shocker has in his apartment after accidentally finding it in a junkyard. Once Chameleon discovers the stolen painting of an unmasked Dr Doom he rights of all Boomerangs debts by taking the painting for himself. After Chameleon leaves Fred is then tracked down by a robot Bullseye who has been programmed by the Owl so he can get his painting back. The rest of the book showcases some smaller stories about some of the villains who have appeared in the series with the first lot coming from Beatle, Overdrive and Speed Demon who tell each other stories about how they've beaten a superhero before as they wait for the time-lock on the safe of a bar they are stealing from. While the other story's are of Grizzly and the Looter at the Villains Anonymous support group as the two of them tell the group how they got defeated by the Superior Spider-Man. Overall this was an amazing book as it continues the series without losing any of its heart and tone during the side stories that are by different creative teams to that of main story. The comedy is great and always on point which is strengthened by the great visuals of the art team. While the side stories bring some great character development that makes each of the character's story more intriguing. 9/10.
