With Battlestar Galactica #1 Dynamite Entertainment launches a new comic series based on the original late ’70′s sci-fi series. This means we get the classic versions of the characters, the original Colonial uniforms (including those kick ass jackets I’d kill for), and the design of the original Cylons.
As a fan of the original series I was cautiously hopeful, but despite a kick-ass cover from Alex Ross and a completely insane plot about Temporal Weapons (missiles used to make enemy starships disappear from existence), the first issue is a bit of a disappointment.
The art by Cezar Rezak isn’t bad but certainly doesn’t do much to make a story that’s focused mostly on explaining the basics of the classic storyline for new readers all that interesting. And despite the absurdity of time missiles, the plot to this first issue by co-writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning feels sluggish and even, at times, uninspired. As much as I’d like to give this title time, there’s not much here to prompt me to pick up next month’s issue. Pass.
DC Comics has announced their San Diego Comic-Con exclusives which include Super Best Friends Forever Action Figures. If you’re planning on attending Comic-Con, and can find them, all three of the 6in. figures can be yours for the combined low, low price of $50.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #20 picks up with Starfire and Arsenal trying to convince the magic monk who has wiped Jason Todd‘s mind clean to return his friend’s lifetime of horrible memories, whether he wants them or not. The question of whether or not we are more than the sum of our memories and whether bad memories are better than none at all is debated as it appears the New 52 editorial staff have decided what’s best for Red Hood is a clean slate.
We get flashbacks into Roy Harper’s first meeting with Jason Todd as well as the revelation that Starfire’s short-memory has been largely exaggerated (which should quiet some of the critics for this version of the character). I don’t like the idea of taking such a drastic step with the character after the hard road to redemption Jason Todd earned.
Whether or not it’s good for the character, or for the New 52, we’ll have to wait and see, but my initial reaction is this is an easy choice for DC Comics to give the character a completely new direction while thumbing their noses a decades of history. Well, this is the New 52. Pass.
Jason Statham stars as Donald Westlake‘s Parker, a career criminal and anti-hero who keeps to his own code and often, as in this case of this adaptation of Westlake’s novel Flashfire, has to fight for what’s owed him after being double-crossed on the latest score. Statham isn’t the first actor to portray Westlake’s character (Lee Marvin, Jim Brown, Robert Duvall, Peter Coyote, Mel Gibson all played character over the years), but Parker is the first where the title character keeps the name.
The movie begins with a heist of $1,000,000 from an Ohio State Fair by Parker and a group of thieves (Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins Jr., Micah A. Hauptman) he has never worked with before who take his cut from the job and leave him for dead on the side of the road. The rest of the film revolves around Parker following the group to Palm Beach and shadowing their latest score with the help of a local Realtor (Jennifer Lopez) before finally taking his revenge.
We now have our first extended look at Batman: Arkham Origins, a prequel to the other Arkham games which features a younger Batman fighting off a series of assassins (including Deathstroke and an exceptionally bland version of Deadshot) hired by Black Mask to kill the Dark Knight Detective on Christmas Eve. Batman: Arkham Origins is scheduled for an October 25th release.
“When you are a time traveler there is one place you must never go. One place in all of space and time you must never, ever find yourself… It wasn’t talking about my secret. No, no, no. That’s not what’s been found. It was talking about my grave.”
It’s been 26-and-a-half years since the name The Valeyard has been mentioned on and episode of Doctor Who. Not only does the final episode of the 50th Anniversary season mention him by name, but it strongly foreshadows his imminent return. Of course that’s far from all “The Name of The Doctor” offers. We finally learn the secret of Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman), see The Doctor‘s (Matt Smith) final battle with The Great Intelligence (Richard E. Grant), and take a trip to the one place no Time Lord should ever go – his grave. The second-half of Series Seven has been high on concept, if a little shaky at times in execution, but the season finale sets up some huge stories for the show’s 50th Anniversary Special and beyond.
The second issue of Mark Waid’s Green Hornet focuses on the vigilante continuing to try and uncover the true identity of “The Voice,” a dangerous new player intent on sabotage and damaging the United States war efforts at home by targeting docks, steel plants, and rail lines involved in the making and transporting of war material to be used overseas.
While the Green Hornet targets The Voice for moving in on his criminal empire by reminding local thugs that he owns this city, even going so far as to stage a scene of burning a cop alive before their eyes, Brit Reid uses the resources as a newspaper editor to talk with close friends and political allies to try and figure out where The Voice’s true motivations lie.
Waid’s take on the character continues to focus on the theatrics of the Hornet going to further and further extremes while also showcasing the power of the press and the threat from saboteurs in a world at war. Worth a look.
After finally allowing the pair to meet in the last issue, Supergirl #20 introduces Power Girl to Supergirl‘s little piece of Krypton on Earth – her hidden underwater Kryptonian Fortress of Solitude known as Sanctuary. There isn’t much time for small talk however when the sentience of Sanctuary throws a shit-fit at seeing two versions of Kara and tries its best to kill the one it believes is a clone.
For an issue about an out of control computer intelligence trying to kill two young women, Supergirl #20 is a hell of a lot of fun. We get a fun moment with Supergirl calling Power Girl on her choice of a new costume as well as the growing frustration of each woman when one and then the other is targeted for extinction.
Writer Michael Allen Johnson does a great job in showcasing both similarities and differences between the Karas of different Earths while providing a thrilling and amusing issue full of stark humor and life and death stakes that costs Supergirl something precious but introduces someone even more valuable into her life. Worth a look.
With Battlestar Galactica #1 Dynamite Entertainment launches a new comic series based on the original late ’70′s sci-fi series. This means we get the classic versions of the characters, the original Colonial uniforms (including those kick ass jackets I’d kill for), and the design of the original Cylons.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #20 picks up with 
