Finished reading Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide: Volume Four, setting up for the Clone Conspiracy event writer Dan Slott has Peter Parker dealing with the choice of how to help his Aunt May's husband Jay Jameson Sr as a revolutionary new treatment has come to light. The book opens within the hospital room of Jay Jameson Sr's as his family begin to talk about how to help with his condition. This leads to an employee of New U Technologies to the family to discuss about a new procedure which Peter as for more information on before considering it a possibility which angers J Jonah Jameson as its his father's life being talked about. As he goes over the data the New U while on a plane to San Francisco Perter finds himself having to take a detour to Oklahoma as one of his company's chemical plants have just has an explosion where one of Peters employee's find themselves fighting for their life and the only way to save them is the use of New U's new medical procedure. After the procedure when Peter meets with his employee he becomes sceptical of New U which leads to him calling on the help of the Prowler and his coworker Anna Maria to take a further look into New U before using their procedure on Jay Jameson Sr. The also has an additional story that sees the Jackal meeting with Wilson Fisk in hopes to get his backing an invest within New U only for things to take a turn when the Jackal shows Fisk his wife who he has resurrected only for Fisk to decide the Jackal's offer which leads to a fight with the Rhino that gains the attention of Spider-Man. Overall this was a good book as it sets up the upcoming Clone Conspiracy event by introducing new concepts and giving a new status quo for some characters as the event looms closer. The framing device of the book is very intriguing as it has its main story with Spider-Man dealing with the discovery of New U while also being able to give some his the recurring supporting cast some great development that sets up their story for Clone Conspiracy with the book being used as a precursor to the event. The art throughout the good is great as each art team is able to bring their own art style to the book without it feeling disjointed thanks to the books structure and how it deals with the changing art. 7/10.
Finished watching Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, directed by Jake Kasdan and starring Mason Guccione, Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan. The film opens with the Jumanji game finding its way into the hands of a teenager named Alex Vreeke (Mason Guccione) in 1996 as Alex finds himself being sucked into the game when it changes into a video game. Years later a group of kids named Spencer (Alex Wolff), Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain), Bethany (Madison Iseman) and Martha (Morgan Turner) all find themselves in detention where they discover the Jumanji video game and once they begin the game they soon find themselves inside the game as the characters Doctor Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Mouse (Kevin Hart), Professor Shelly Oberon (Jack Black) and Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) respectively as their only hope to escape is to complete it. Overall this was a great film as it reinvents Jumanji with it becoming a video game making able to fit within a more modern setting while also give the film an opportunity to explore the world inside the game as the characters find themselves trap inside it. There is a great amount of character development throughout the film as each character is able to grow and surprisingly learn the lessons that they were sent to detention for while also building relationships between one another which leads to some great character moments. The film is also filled with some amazing comedic moments that primarily come from the fact that the characters find themselves trapped as the characters within Jumanji and the situations that find themselves in which both sets of actors are able to capture extremely well thanks to how well the transition between each group of actors play the same characters. 8/10.
Finished reading Moon Knight: Lunatic, beginning a new Moon Knight series writer Jeff Lenore sends the character into one crazy and psychedelic adventure. The book opens with Marc Spector speaking with the Egyptian moon god Khonshu before waking up inside of an asylum where he is beating up a couple of the staff. In the morning meeting with the other patients within the asylum who turn out to be old friends who have help Marc in the past as he is being lead to his therapy session. Later that night Marc, with the help of Khonshu try's to escape the asylum only to find that the Egyptian gods have begun to invaded New York, however when Marc gets caught he has to work together with is friends in order to try and save the city. Overall this was a great book as it brings a new direction as the way that Marc’s relationship with Khonshu is used with how they work together and interaction with one another brings some surprising moment of comedy is a couple of places, while the book’s ending has an interesting twist for their relationship. The inclusion of some of Moon Knight's old supporting cast is great as not only does it bring some great interactions between the characters and development for Marc but also gives more emotion to parts of the book's story. The art by Greg Smallwood is amazing as the blend between the aesthetic of ancient Egypt with the aesthetic of modern New York and the Asylum that Moon Knight finds himself in. Additionally the colourist Jordie Bellaire does an amazing on the colour palette that is used within the book helps to make some pages breathtaking to look at. 8.5/10.
Finished reading Spider-Gwen: Weapon of Choice, with the events of Spider-Women behind her, Gwen Stacy of Earth-65 finds herself with the fear of losing her powers while being followed by a colleague of her fathers from the police as her life as Spider-Woman is about to get more complicated. The book opens with Gwen dealing with the fact that her time as a superhero is nearing its end after the events of Spider-Women cost her her powers. Meanwhile police captain Frank Castle has been following Gwen since there fight with the with the hope to catch Gwen and get evidence of her being Spider-Woman. The final story sees Gwen going trick or treating with her friends during Halloween when they decided to head into the wood the group find an old abandon carnival that is being run by the mystery Mysterio. Overall this was a great book as it continues this universe’s Gwen Stacey’s adventures as Spider-Woman and how it’s affecting her friends and family especially now that Gwen is dealing with the fact that she might not have her powers for much longer. Writer Jason Latour also continues to expand upon the alternative versions of classic Marvel characters and concepts with the universe’s characters are being developed is incredibly intriguing. The art throughout the book continues to be one of the best parts of the series as artist Robbie Rodriguez's art brings a great aesthetic to the universe while also delivering on the action and character moments. 8/10.
Finished watching Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson and starring Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Joonas Suotamo, Mark Hamill and Adam Driver. The film opens with the Resistance evacuation for their current base as the First Order has discovered their location as Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) leads an attack on the First Order to district them while General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) can focus on the evacuation. Meanwhile Ray (Daisy Ridley) and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) have gone to find Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in hopes to get him to return with them and help in the fight against the First Order and his former student Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Overall this was an amazing film as it continues the main Star Wars saga (exceptionally) well as it brings back some great characters from the previous films to great effect than issue t to the way each character interacts with one another and the amount of character development that is on show which is a credit to the writers and actors. The fights scenes within are breathtaking for the way the space dogfights are plan to the close combat fights with the film going a surprisingly amount of time without showing a lightsaber helps to make the scenes feel even more suspenseful. The multiple plots within the film are blended together and give enough time for each character to have some great interactions and development of their own while also going to different locations that have not been explored before. There is also an amazing amount of comedic moments within the film as its blended in extremely well and doesn't feel force thanks to how organic the comedy comes across. 9/10.
Finished reading Uncanny Avengers: Unity: Civil War II, continuing the series as writer Gerry Duggan as the Avengers find themselves dealing with the events as aftermath of Marvel's Civil War II. The book opens with Deadpool reacting to the death of Bruce Banner which leads to Wade braking into Hawkeye's prison cell with the hope to break him out which Clint declines. Meanwhile Medusa has invited Captain America to meet with Ulysses who has see a vision of Cable fighting within a war. This leads to Captain America to meet with Cable before he gets onto a plane with Rouge and the villains Sebastian Shaw and Toad in hope to find a cure for the mutants being effected by the Terrigen Mist. The second sees Deadpool and Rogue trying to come to terms with Captain America ending the team when Doctor Voodoo teleports into the room with the news that the Hand has taken the body of Bruce Banner with the hope to resurrect the Hulk under their control. This leads to the team to be called upon as they travel to Japan where they meet up with Elektra as the heroes team up in hope to find Banner's body only to find out that the Hand now has resurrected a mindless Hulk. Overall this was a great book as its able to bring some great character driven moments to the book within the events of Civil War II especially with the conversation that Deadpool and Hawkeye have together. The writer Gerry Duggan brings a lot of great comedy to the book thanks to the way that some of the characters interact with one another, with the aftermath story set in Japan is able to mix the comedy with the large action set pieces extremely well thanks to the way the the characters react to the situation they find themselves in along with the way they interact with one another as well. The book's art it's amazing throughout from Ryan Stegman's art on the first part of the book helps to bring a slightly darker tone to the backdrop of Civil War II, while Pepe Larraz's art on the second part of the book brings the larger fight scenes between the Avengers fighting the Hand and the Hulk to life extremely well along with the way that some of the book's more visual comedy is brought to life. 8/10.
Finished reading Civil War II, Marvel sends its heroes once again into another Civil War event as writer Brian Michael Bendis tells a story that centres around the debate of predictive justice. The book opens with She-Hulk in court defending the villain The Jester after being wrongfully arrested. Meanwhile War Machine is meeting with the President about the current political climate while Captain Marvel is talking to Doc Samson over her work life. As all this is happening the Terrigen cloud makes it way to the campus of Ohio State University where a young students named Ulysses discovers that he now has the ability to see future events which leads to the scared student to run into the Inhumans. Later on the heroes of the Marvel universe find themselves fighting against a Celestial in the middle of New York which the heroes defeat and Tony Stark decides to celebrate their victory by having a party in Stark Tower where the heroes meet with Ulysses. Following the meeting with Ulysses a small group of heroes lead by Captain Marvel find themselves battling Thanos thanks to one of Ulysses' visions, however the battle is not without casualties as She-Hulk finds herself in intensive care and War Machine losing his life which puts Tony into a state of grief with the death of his best friend leading to him to kidnapped Ulysses in hope to find out how his powers work. Before gaining any information Captain Marvel along with a group of heroes find Tony and while arguing with one another Ulysses has a vision of the Hulk killing everyone, leading to everyone going to see Bruce Banner and the way that the situation with Bruce goes with his dying at the hand of Hawkeye the heroes begin to choose sides on how to deal with Ulysses vision and whether or not to agree with them. Overall this was a good book as it has an intriguing premise that begins strong by having some very interesting developments with the story and the situations that the characters find themselves in however by the end of the book it becomes a superhero free for all that feels slightly underwhelming with the positions a few characters find themselves in at the end of the book and why some characters are being incredibly impulsive to fight each other. There is some great moments within the book especially during the first half of the book as the characters find themselves in some unique situations that leads to some interesting storytelling with how the books changes its structure to fit the situations the characters find themselves in feels refreshing and is great to read. The art throughout the book is amazing as Olivier Coipel and Jim Cheung's art towards the beginning of the book does a great job in setting the tone to the book while David Marquez's artwork for the majority of the book brings the characters interactions and the fight scenes between the characters feel breathtaking in places with how well scenes are drawn. 7/10.
