September 2018

West Coast Avengers #1

/ / Comics

West Coast Avengers #1 comic reviewAlthough past members have included Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch, the West Coast Avengers have always been the B-team (or maybe the D-team). With the relaunch of the title, writer Kelly Thompson keeps to this theme allowing Hawkeye (one of the original West Coast Avengers) to be added to the group surrounded by characters you are unlikely to see in the MCU.

As a joke that gets old halfway into the first issue, the team includes not one but two Hawkeyes as Kate Bishop puts the new team together. As with most Marvel team books, I care for about 40% of the characters. On the plus side, the group has Hawkeyes and Miss America, but I’m less than impressed with Kid Omega, the reality-TV angle, or Bishop putting her boyfriend on the team. The addition of Gwenpool is a wildcard that could help or hurt the comic (possibly both at the same time).

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Dungeons & Dragons – The Complete Series

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Dungeons & Dragons: The Animated Series
  • IMDb: link

Dungeons & Dragons - The Complete SeriesWhile fighting off a cold, I spent some time looking back at some 80s Saturday morning cartoons. I watched Dungeons & Dragons when it originally aired, but hadn’t given it much thought since. I had picked up the complete set on DVD a few years back and it had just been sitting on my shelf. It seemed like the perfect time to jump back in, and what surprised me the most is how well the cartoon has held up after more than three decades.

The opening sequence to each episode sets up the basic premise of the show: Six adolescents taking a ride on a roller coaster are magically transported to the realm of Dungeons & Dragons where they will spend 27 episodes attempting to find their way home. Armed with magical items that each fit a certain D&D class, the characters are befriended by Dungeon Master (Sidney Miller) who shows up to provide information about their latest quest (often speaking in riddles). Dungeon Master’s advice isn’t always easy to follow, but inevitably the information he provides the group will lead them several small victories (although not the road home).

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Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #5

/ / Comics

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #5 comic reviewIn Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #5 Inspector Ishida and Miyamoto Usagi finally discover what was in the stolen box that led to the death of a Christian. What everyone continues to search, and kill, for is a banned Christian Bible which has been painstakingly translated into Japanese. As to the bible’s origins, or its current whereabouts, our protagonists remain in the dark.

Despite knowing that his boss would not approve, Ishida continues to rely on the help of the infamous thief Nezumi who provides a crucial piece of evidence that leads to Usagi and the detective uncovering the truth about the missing bible (whose very existence is a kind of heresy that could reign down wrath on everyone involved if its existence becomes widely known).

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A Nero Wolfe Mystery – Prisoner’s Base

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: A Nero Wolfe Mystery – Prisoner’s Base
  • IMDb: link

A Nero Wolfe Mystery - Prisoner's Base television review

Today’s Throwback Tuesday post takes us back to the mid 20th Century New York and the private detective offices located at 454 W. 35th Street. “Prisoner’s Base” offers an unusual set-up as potential client, and the heir to a large fortune, refuses to give her name and attempts to buy a week under Nero Wolfe (Maury Chaykin)’s roof. Although Archie (Timothy Hutton) agrees to the absurd arrangement, Wofle cries phooey and prefers to take the money of the woman’s legal guarding offering several thousand dollars for her return. After being ousted from the brownstone (with a generous head start to find a new hiding place), Priscilla Eads (Shauna Black) dies that very night leaving Archie with a bruised ego and Wolfe with no paying client in sight (which doesn’t stop Archie from beginning his own investigation into the murder). Archie’s eventual arrest by an overzelous leaves Wolfe no choice but to take on Archie as a client.

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