January 2012

Batman and Robin #5

/ / Comics

batman-and-robin-new-52-5-coverOffered an alternative to being Batman‘s sidekick, Damian accepts Nobody‘s offer to work as his partner without the limitations Damian has been forced to accept as Robin. I really want to want to like this title more than I do, but once again we’re left with an issue which is good but that could be so much better.

The Nobody/Damian storyline is limiting because we already know the outcome. There’s no way DC is going to turn the current Robin into a cold-blooded killer this early in the New 52. However, if the arc softens the Bruce/Damain relationship all won’t be in vain.

What’s interesting to note is how much better this story would have been if Nobody’s part had been played by Jason Todd, a former Robin, whose current outlook is far more like that of Damian than Batman.

Patrick Gleason’s art has gotten better as he’s gotten more comfortable with the characters, but writer Peter J. Tomasi struggles with Batman’s epiphany about his behavior to his son. It feels far too forced for the version of Batman we’ve seen so far. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

Batman and Robin #5 Read More »

Castle – Dial M for Mayor

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Castle – Dial M for Mayor
  • tv.com: link

Castle - Dial M for Mayor

When a young woman turns up dead in car connected to the Mayor’s (Derek Webster) office Beckett (Stana Katic) is brought in to investigate. The case is complicated from the get-go by Castle’s (Nathan Fillion) friendship with the Mayor and the victim’s odd behavior over the past six months when she cut ties with her family, abandoned her life and promising teaching career, and started working at a phone sex line.

…

Castle – Dial M for MayorRead More »

Castle – Dial M for Mayor Read More »

Secret Avengers #21

/ / Comics

secret-avengers-21-coverThe final issue of Secret Avengers by writer Warren Ellis isn’t bad, but then again it isn’t all that great either. I won’t go so far as to say he phoned it in, but this is a rather lackluster end to his run on the comic.

Steve Rogers as his team fake an emergency to break into the Office of National Emergency and rout out a high ranking traitor who has been finding intelligence to the Shadow Council.

The team learns the Super Soldier experiments taken from Paraguay and brought into O.N.E. have been activated by the traitor once the Avengers appeared. The creatures have been unleashed in the bowels of the building.

Rogers interrogation of the traitor works okay, but the team fighting the (rather generic-looking) monsters in the basement is far from thrilling. The comic also ends with a thoroughly unsatisfying ending as Captain America either allows a woman five feet away to commit suicide or was simply too stupid or too slow to stop her. I don’t know, maybe the years are finally catching up with him? Hit and Miss.

[Marvel, $3.99]

Secret Avengers #21 Read More »

Green Lantern #5

/ / Comics

Hal Jordan and Sinestro‘s partnership comes to an end as the pair are able to successfully free Sinestro’s homeworld of Korugar from his Sinestro Corps. Sinestro is good to his word by allowing Jordan to keep a ring, but returns him to Earth without the ability to charge it.

Once again writer Geoff Johns gives us a good Sinestro story but at the cost of Hal Jordan looking more and more like a chump. For a writer who has gone on record as how much he likes Jordan as a character, Johns sure has a lot of fun showcasing how little he knows about using his ring.

I’m not sure any character in the New 52 has fallen as far in terms of stature in his own title as Hal Jordan has. Seriously, why is Johns so intent on turning Hal Jordan into Kyle Rayner – a character who got the ring out of chance and has still never mastered it? Although I like the title, and I’m glad to see that the Hal/Carol relationship is as co-dependent as ever, I’d like for Hal to actually feel like the hero of old. Where is the universe’s greatest Green Lantern? Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

Green Lantern #5 Read More »

Leverage – The Last Dam Job

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Leverage – The Last Dam Job
  • tv.com: link

leverage-the-last-dam-job

In order to get the men who murdered his father (Tom Skerritt) Nate (Timothy Hutton) is going to need some help. Dubinech (Saul Rubinek) knows the team and their methods, after all he’s the one who originally put them together. Now freed from jail his one responsibility is to keep Nate and his team away from Latimer (Leon Rippy). Not surprisingly, this turns out to be easier said than done.

…

Leverage – The Last Dam JobRead More »

Leverage – The Last Dam Job Read More »