I understand full well that Star Wars comics are a mixed bag. Although I’m a fan of the Expanded Universe novels that have continued the tales of Luke, Han, Leia and their children, the expanded comics stories have more misses than hits.

When I heard the idea of Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi I was intrigued by how John Ostrander would choose to tell the beginnings of the Jedi Order. I know I should have known better, but I gave it a shot.

This comic is a mess, from beginning to end. Although the art by Jan Duursema has a cinematic quality to it, and is pretty enough to look at, the story itself is a disaster that begins with a 12-page narration of the beginnings of the Jedi Order… and then moves quickly into the future to give us a story seemingly only slightly connected to the “Dawn of the Jedi.”

Also troubling is the fact the series takes at the beginning but Jedi already have lightsabers? And there are Sith (who look like generic Vader wannabes)? The Force is not strong with this one. Pass.

[Dark Horse, $3.50]

Ladies and gents, we are now only one week away until Psych‘s Supersized Premiere.

Part of the trouble when starting a new comic is the time necessary to set-up not only the story you want to tell but the characters, the villains, their motivations and relationships, and even the world in which the comic takes place. Despite beginning with Bucky and the Black Widow taking on a gorilla with a machine gun and a jet-pack (which is pretty damn cool) the second issue of Winter Soldier gets bogged down a bit by still setting up what this comic is going to be.

Winter Soldier #2 isn’t a bad read, but I’m still not quite sold on the art by Butch Guice which simply isn’t my taste (although it fits well enough with the Cold War spy story the comic kinda wants to be), and the story gets a little bogged down by stopping to explain more about the Soviet assassins the Winter Soldier trained and give us a little more insight into the plans of Lucia Von Bardas.

The comic is still worth a look but I think once writer Ed Brubaker can spend less time on set-up and let the stories flow more naturally I’ll be happier with the result. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

After almost drowning Beckett (Stana Katic) and Castle (Nathan Fillion) are able to escape the watery grave Gage (David Chisum) left them in but Dr. Blakely (Timothy Carhart) is dead, they have no idea what the linchpin he was working on that could threaten the safety of the entire country, and Sophia (Jennifer Beals) is less than thrilled with the results of Beckett and Castle’s investigation.

Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Esposito (Jon Huertas) track down an economics professor and two-time chess champion (Jim Turner) who spent time with Blakely before his death which lead Beckett and Castle to uncover the first domino in Blakely’s theory in the form of the young daughter of an influential Chinese business man.

Beckett and Castle also finally catch up with Gage who it turns out is the fall guy for Pandora, not the man behind Blakely’s death and the attempt to start WWIII. Even with Gage captured the threat isn’t over as a mole within the CIA (Josh Stamberg) still plans on going through with the scheme.

Before the episode ends we’ll get the explanation behind Blakely’s theory and one more twist which will hit Castle close to home and leave him with more questions than answeres about the woman he once loved and the mysterious father he never knew.

The second half of the two-parter doesn’t disappoint Aside from the chase to prevent a war, the episode has a couple of fun moments including Castle and Beckett’s dust up over his relationship to Sofia – which takes place in front of Lannie (Tamala Jones) and Alexis (Molly C. Quinn), and Beckett and Sophia’s heart-to-heart about Sophia’s regrets concerning her relationship with Castle.

Reprising his role from Shrek 2, Antonio Banderas returns in this prequel which explores the history and legend of Puss in Boots. The Shrek spin-off is available on Blu-ray and DVD this Friday.

Puss in Boots centers around the relationship between Puss (Antonio Banderas) and Humpty (Zach Galifianakis) whose childhood friendship was destroyed after Humpty violated Puss’ trust by tricking him into becoming an outlaw.

Reunited with Humpty and his companion Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), and against his better judgement, Puss agrees to help Humpty fulfill his childhood dream of climbing the beanstalk and finding the goose that lays the golden eggs. To achieve this they’ll have to steal the magic beans from Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris) and stay one step ahead of the murderous pair to claim the prize.

The movie does a fairly good job at keeping the pace and action constantly moving, only slowing down to give us the backstory on Puss and Humpty’s childhood growing up together in an orphanage and relating the story behind the cat’s trademark footwear.

After retrieving the Golden Goose, the story gives us a (far too obvious) plot twist moving the final act of the film into the story where Puss in Boots overcomes a personal betrayal and becomes a true  hero by saving his town from his estranged childhood friend’s nefarious scheme.

The animation is quite good; the film is the best looking of the series, although the animated characters come off better on-screen than their human counterparts. Puss in Boots is also a far more a straightforward adventure than any other entry into the Shrek franchise. There’s no smart ass sidekick or a message about beauty being more than skin deep being repeatedly driven home this time around.

Although it still contains countless fairy tale winks and homages, the script doesn’t get bogged down in them. The crux of the story centers around Puss’ relationships with Humpty and Kitty and their wacky adventures together. And for an animated action film it works quite well with several impressive chase sequences that should keep the interest of adults as well as children.

In a solid, but far from spectacular, year for animated films, Puss in Boots stacks up pretty well against the competition. I wouldn’t call it the best animated movie of 2011 (that I would save for Kung Fu Panda 2), but it’s certainly in the conversation – and far more fun that I expected.

Released Friday on DVD, Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray, the extras include deleted scenes, a featurette on the voice acting in the film, and a look at the world of DreamWorks Animation. The Blu-ray also comes with a digital and DVD copy of the film, a featurette showcasing the journey of a scene from storyboard to full animation, a collection of trivia and games for kids, and a new short film entitled “The Three Diablos” starring Puss in Boots partnered with three precocious kittens to recover a ruby stolen from a princess by the notorious French thief, The Whisperer.

[Dreamworks, 3D Blu-ray $54.99 / Blu-ray $39.99 / DVD $29.99]

Elizabeth Olsen stars in writer/director Sean Durkin‘s story of a woman’s struggles to reassmilate with the outside world after living in a cult for two years. Durkin’s tale is a slow burn thriller that jumps between flashbacks of Martha’s (Olsen) time in the Catskill Mountains and her present paranoia and uncertainty now that she’s left that world behind.

Out of the blue Lucy (Sarah Paulson), receives a phone call from a phone call from her younger sister and brings Martha home to live with her and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy). The longer Martha stays with the couple the more obvious it becomes that there is something seriously wrong with her.

Not only does Martha not understand basic boundaries (like not coming into her sister’s room and laying down on the bed when Lucy is having sex with her husband), but she’s also haunted by memories of the cult, which she will not discuss with her sister, and feels increasingly suspicious that they are still watching her and laying in wait to bring her back into their family.

Olsen is terrific in a role that asks the actress to display conflicted and complex emotions, often in the same scene. Paulson and Dancy are put in the difficult role of wanting to help the troubled young girl but becoming increasingly concerned about her behavior and their own safety. It would be easy, given that each will eventually give up on Martha, to hate them. And although Dancy’s character does come off at times like an inconvenienced jerk, it’s obvious that the couple’s final decision in regards to Martha is the only one they can make.

John Hawkes is quite convincing as the charismatic leader of the polygamous cult with an ability to charm his flock into doing whatever he wishes, even if that means convincing the young women to take part in sexual or violent activities. Hawkes is controlling and menacing, but it’s obvious he cares for his flock (at least until they start to bore him).

Because the film is presented almost entirely from Martha’s point of view we’re never sure exactly how much of her paranoia is real, and how much is her imagination. Is the cult really after her, and are they closing in? This choice leads to several tense moments but also a somewhat unsatisfying ending that leaves it up to the audience to not only decide if Martha will ever get the help she needs but what level of danger she is actually in as the film comes to a close.

Although the movie does a good job at showing how the cult has stunted the young woman’s ability to live life in the outside world, the level of depravity (from what accounts we know of such groups) is far tamer than I expected. This is never more evident than in the reveal of the event which finally caused Martha to leave the group which, though brutal, doesn’t quite have the impact I felt it should.

Even with some minor quibbles Martha Marcy May Marlene is an easy recommendation, for the right audience. Given its subject matter its certainly not a film for everyone, but it works quite well as a dramatic thriller bolstered by several strong performances.

Released today on Blu-ray and DVD, extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette and the film’s trailer. The Blu-ray also includes a featurette on Olsen, the “Marcy’s Song” music video, a conversation with the filmmakers, and additional featurettes including a look at creating the psyche of the cult for the movie.

[20th Century Fox, Blu-ray $39.99 / DVD $29.98]

Matt Murdock heads underground (after a rather lame joke as Foggy notices Matt wearing his Daredevil boots under his clothes) to discover what has happened to his father’s body and several others that have been stolen from the cemetery where he was put to rest.

I’ve never been a fan of the Mole Man. The me the Silver Age Fantastic Four villain is better left in the 60′s. So maybe it’s that the latest issue of Daredevil is a Mole Man storyline, or perhaps its the fact that Matt Mudrock’s wild night with the Black Cat isn’t directly addressed (other than one or two thought panels and a momentary hesitation by the thief robbing him), or maybe it’s because so much of this issue felt like LOTR (a ton of walking before we get to any action), but I didn’t think this issue #9 was as good as I expected.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the issue, and I’m sure writer Mark Waid’s explanation into the Mole Man’s behavior is a good one. I’m just hoping the arc ends quickly and get back to the Black Cat and the mysterious FF artifact everyone is after. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

Director Brett Ratner hasn’t had what I would call a distinguished career. Other than the fun, but increasingly dumb, Rush Hour series the director’s filmography mostly contains movies which are best left forgotten.

However, at least for me, the true highlight of Ratner’s career was a heist film he made back in 2004 starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, and Don Cheadle. After the Sunset isn’t a great film by any definition, but it is a pretty good heist flick that’s far more fun than it has any right to be.

When I heard Ratner was going to try his hand at another heist film I was cautiously optimistic. Sadly, Tower Heist, even with a pretty good cast and relatively low expectations, is something of a disappointment.

The movie stars Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Michael Peña, and Gabourey Sidibe as workers at a high-rise luxury apartment building in Central Park West. When Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), one of the buildings tennants and the man in charge of investing the workers’ pensions,  is arrested by the FBI for running a ponzi scheme it hits close to home for everyone who works at the Tower. The fact that the man who has stolen their life savings has been sentenced to house arrest in his cushy penthouse (where they will have to continue serving him) does nothing to calm them.

Believing Shaw to have squirreled away some cash in his apartment, and taking  a piece of advice from an FBI agent (Téa Leoni) in a way far from how it was intended, Josh Kovacs (Stiller) recruits his coworkers, a childhood acquaintance turned professional thief (Eddie Murphy), and a tenant (Matthew Broderick) of the apartment facing eviction, to rob the man who has stolen their life savings.

What follows is an occasionally interesting botched heist flick as the group of normal people try to stage one of the biggest heists the city has ever seen. Murphy’s involvement as the petty ante thief thrown up on a pedestal by a group of guys who have never even taken someone’s lunch money provides one or two funny moments, but ultimately underachieves (like so much of the film).

The robbery itself, which takes place during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, is by far the film’s best sequence. Sadly, even after the successful heist, the script finds a way to undercut the fun of a few normal working stiffs taking it to a Wall Street swindler with an anti-climactic final showdown between Stiller’s character and the FBI.

Tower Heist isn’t a bad film, but it is a below average heist flick that wastes far too much of its running time on the interactions between characters we’re never really given any reason to care about. Once the heist gets underway things start to pick up, but the film simply takes far too long to get going.

Released tomorrow on DVD and Blu-ray, the extras include two alternate endings, deleted scenes, a gag reel, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the film with interviews from the cast and crew, and commentary with Ratner, editor Mark Helfrich, and screenwriters Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson. The Blu-ray also includes the DVD and a digital copy of the film, Ratner’s video diary, BD Live bonus features, and Universal’s Second Screen features (allowing you to interact with the film through a tablet or computer) to learn more about the script, music, and storyboards used for the movie.

[Universal Pictures, Blu-ray $34.98 / DVD $29.98]

This week includes Aquaman, American Vampire, Archie, Avengers Academy, Blackhawks, Cobra, Deadpool, Fantastic Four, The Flash, Godzilla: Legends, Incorruptible, Jennifer Blood, The Mighty Thor, Morning Glories, New Mutants, Prophet, The Sixth Gun, Superman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teen Titans, Uncanny X-Force, X-Men Legacy, the first issues of Last Zombie: Neverland, Nazi Zombie, No Place Like Home, Witchblade/Red Sonja, and the final issues of Avengers Solo, Infestation 2: Dungeons & Dragons, and Magneto: Not A Hero.

Enjoy issue #166

Editor’s Note: comic shipping dates are subject to change and unexpected delays.

DC Comics
All-Star Western #6, $3.99
Aquaman #6, $2.99
Batman: The Dark Knight #6, $2.99
Batman Vs. Bane, $12.99
Blackhawks #6, $2.99
DC Universe: Secret Origins, $39.99
The Flash #6, $2.99
The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #6, $2.99
Green Lantern: New Guardians #6, $2.99
I, Vampire #6, $2.99
Justice League Dark #6, $2.99
The Ray #3 (of 4), $2.99
The Savage Hawkman #6, $2.99
Superman #6, $2.99
Teen Titans #6, $2.99
Voodoo #6, $2.99

Marvel
Avengers Academy #26, $2.99
Avengers Solo #5 (of 5), $3.99
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #9, $3.99
Captain America and Bucky #627, $2.99
Captain America: Prisoner of War, $19.99
Deadpool #51, $2.99
Deadpool MAX 2 #5, $3.99
Dorothy & The Wizard In Oz #5 (of 8), $3.99
Fantastic Four #603, $2.99
Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Men, $19.99
Iron Man 2.0 Vol. 2: Asymmetry, $14.99
Magneto: Not A Hero #4 (of 4), $2.99
Marvel Adventures Spider-​Man #23, $2.99
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man: Tangled Web, $9.99
The Mighty Thor #11, $3.99
New Mutants #38, $2.99
Powers: Supergroup, $24.99
Quasar Classic Vol. 1, $24.99
Spider-Man: The PSAs, $24.99
Strikeforce: Morituri Vol. 2, $34.99
Thunderbolts Classic Vol. 2, $29.99
Uncanny X-Force #22, $3.99
Venom #13.3, $2.99
Wolverine & Captain America, $14.99
Wolverine and the X-Men #6, $3.99
Wolverine, Punisher & Ghost Rider: Official Index to the Marvel Universe #7 (of 8), $3.99
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus, $125.00
X-Men Legacy #262, $2.99
X-Men: Prelude to Schism, $19.99

Image
Between Gears, $19.99
The Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred #2 (of 6), $3.99
Chew #24, $2.99
Invincible Ultimate Collection Vol. 7, $39.99
The Li’l Depressed Boy #9, $2.99
Morning Glories #16, $2.99
Near Death Vol. 1, $9.99
No Place Like Home #1, $2.99
Prophet #22, $2.99

Dark Horse
Dark Horse Presents #9, $7.99
Gantz Vol. 21, $12.99
Oh My Goddess! Vol. 20, $11.99
Star Wars: Dark Times – Out of the Wilderness #4 (of 5), $2.99
The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde, $14.99

Vertigo
American Vampire #24, $2.99
The Sandman Vol. 8 Worlds’ End, $19.99

Boom Studios
Incorruptible #27, $3.99

Archie
Archie #630, $2.99
Archie & Friends Double Digest #13, $3.99
B & V Friends Double Digest #222, $3.99

Dynamite
Jennifer Blood #9, $3.99
Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files: Fool Moon #5 (of 8), $3.99
Red Sonja #64, $3.99

IDW
Cobra #10, $3.99
Danger Girl: Revolver #2 (of 4), $3.99
G.I. JOE 2: Retaliation Movie Prequel #2, $3.99
G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero Annual #1, $7.99
G.I. JOE: Disavowed Vol. 5, $19.99
Godzilla: Legends #4 (of 5), $3.99
Infestation 2: Dungeons & Dragons #2 (of 2), $3.99
Phoenix Without Ashes, $17.99
Star Trek #6, $3.99
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7, $3.99
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro Series #3 – Donatello, $3.99
Transformers: Robots in Disguise #2, $3.99

Others
Bart Simpson Comics #68 [Bongo], $2.99
Broken Pieces #2 [Aspen], $3.50
Last Zombie: Neverland #1 (of 5) [Antarctic Press], $3.99
Megamind Vol. 2: Why So Blue [Ape Entertainment], $6.95
Nazi Zombies #1 [Antarctic Press], $3.99
The Sixth Gun #19 [Oni Press], $3.99, $3.99
Soulfire Vol. 3 #7 [Aspen], $3.50
Witchblade/Red Sonja #1 [Top Cow], $3.99

While Haly’s Circus travels across the country Nighwing spends his free time beating up thugs for any information about Saiko. But when Raya informs Dick the circus will be returning to Gotham for the anniversary of his parents’ death, Dick knows exactly when his mysterious enemy will choose to strike.

Here’s another New 52 storyline that has been dragged out far too long. At the end of the sixth issue the villain is revealed (which may shock Grayson but does nothing for the reader as we still have no idea who Raymond is or what his insane grudge against Dick is).

There are some nice moments including Raya wavering on her part of Raymond’s plan and an uncoonected scene involving a cops retreiving one of Nightwing’s batons from a murder scene. Whether this is frame job is part of Raymond’s plan, or something else, we’ll just have to wait and see. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]