August 2021

X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #1

X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #1 comic reviewThe Scarlet Witch is dead. Or is she? And Magneto killed her? Or did he? X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #1 offers a confusing story of the X-Men’s investigation into the apparent death of Wanda Maximoff. While Magneto fights in vain for his daughter’s resurrection, the evidence begins to pile up that Magneto is responsible for Wanda’s death. He doesn’t take such an accusation well.

In a world where mutant powers can be duplicated, or characters can be manipulated or mind controlled into committing actions they have no memory of, the quick nature of the X-Men to charge Magneto feels rushed leading to a confrontation between the Master of Magnetism and his former enemies.

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What If…? – Episode Three

  • Title: What If…? – Episode Three
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What If...? - Episode Three TV review

The third episode of Marvel’s What If…? offers the most interesting setup of the first three episodes as being more than just swapping out one character for another. Instead we see the systematic murder of various Avengers before the team can be assembled to take down Loki in The Avengers. The deaths are shocking without cluing you into who might be behind the attacks. It’s a great setup, offering an intriguing mystery, only to fall completely apart by a reveal that simply doesn’t work as mastermind behind the entire plot is one of the least likely within all of the MCU (and I’m not buying the motivation suggested here as enough to turn him into a mass murderer). Do I believe the powers/tech within this individual’s hands could do what we see unfold here? Perhaps, but I don’t buy he would be the one to do it (and especially not for the reasons suggested). What started out as the best episode of the series, quickly turns into its worst.

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Checkmate #3

Checkmate #3 comic reviewAlthough Mark Shaw was able to successfully survive a stand-off with Superman over the capture of Talia al Ghul, the mastermind behind Leviathan does make a mistake with Lois Lane. Her kidnapping ends awkwardly and unexpectedly with the reporter being returned. However, Shaw’s choice of destination for her clues the reporter in on his next target.

The latest issue by Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev gets almost too cute for its own good a couple of times, including a major twist that doesn’t seem to track from the story explored earlier. While successfully standing up to the Man of Steel helps solidify Shaw as a major player, the machinations within machinations begin to wear a bit thin here. That said, the reveal of the target being the heavily-guarded Heroes Network would certainly be a prize Leviathan would covet.

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Supergirl – Welcome Back, Kara!

  • Title: Supergirl – Welcome Back, Kara!
  • wiki: link

Supergirl - Welcome Back, Kara! television review

Supergirl returns from its mid-season hiatus primarily dealing with the fallout from the lackluster first-half of the show’s final season. There’s plenty of phantom talk here, along with Kara (Melissa Benoist) readjusting to life back on Earth and, only in the final scene of the episode, acknowledging and dealing with the PTSD from her time in the Phantom Zone. Kara’s attempts to find other stories to reporting on than phantoms backfire when Andrea (Julie Gonzalo) assigns William (Staz Nair) to dig into the city’s superheroes for more juicy stories.

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