Alan Rapp

Astro City #5

/ / Comics

Astro City #5The latest standalone issue of Astro City gives us the return of the Broken Man and his crazy conspiracy-theory wall of clippings, yarn, and thumbtacks. Our host offers us glimpses into three separate stories from the past, but quickly pulls the reader out when he fears we may learn too much too soon.

The Broken Man is one of few pieces of the new Astro City comic that I haven’t been completely sold on. Consistently stepping in to pull the reader out of the story is a little annoying, but writer Kurt Busiek and artist Brent Anderson use that template to lay the groundwork for different stories they aren’t quite ready to fully explore.

The stories break down into a secret government agency in the 1930s dealing with the alien and bizarre, a Kobra-style cult leader in India during the 1940s, and a steam-punk heroine named Dame Progress chasing down a crafty villain whose motives aren’t as black-and-white as she believes. Each story, although truncated, is worth reading.

[Vertigo, $3.99]

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Ultimate Showdown

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Ultimate Showdown
  • wiki: link

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Ultimate ShowdownThe two-disc Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Ultimate Showdown set collects the final dozen First Season episodes of the current Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon including more of the Turtles battling Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson) and his mutated warriors Dogpound (Clancy Brown) and Fishface (Christian Lanz) as well as the two-part finale “Showdown” where the Turtles attempt to stop the Kraang invasion and the arrival of the Technodrome on Earth.

Other highlights from the two-disc set include Michelangelo (Greg Cipes) fighting off his brothers who have all fallen under the control of a giant wasp, Karai‘s (Kelly Hu) attempt to kidnap April O’Neil (Mae Whitman), Baxter Stockman‘s (Phil LaMarr) Maze of Doom, Donatello (Rob Paulsen) going on a solo rescue mission to save April’s father (Keith Silverstein), the introduction and return of The Pulvirizer (Roger Craig Smith), and Karai and Leonardo‘s (Jason Biggs) failed attempt to work together to stop the Kraang.

[Nickelodeon, $19.99]

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The Mentalist – Wedding in Red

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Mentalist – Wedding in Red
  • wiki: link

The Mentalist - Wedding in Red

Hoping to spend a little time further studying one of his remaining six Red John suspects, Jane (Simon Baker) drags Lisbon (Robin Tunney) to Napa to investigate the murder of a wedding party and keep a close eye on Sheriff Thomas McAllister (Xander Berkeley). None of the wedding party, other than the bride’s mother (Christine Dunford), seems particularly sad that the estranged uncle met his end in the lake behind the winery’s chapel. In order to get the two families to honestly open up about what they may know, Jane decides to publicly air the problems the groom’s sister (Lexi Lawson) has with the bride (Erica Piccininni) and the fact that the bride’s mother made out with the groom’s father (Miguel Nájera) the night of the murder.

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Once Upon a Time – Quite a Common Fairy

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Once Upon a Time – Quite a Common Fairy
  • wiki: link

Once Upon a Time - Quite a Common Fairy

Needing help to find Peter Pan‘s (Robbie Kay) secret camp and rescue Henry (Jared Gilmore), and discovering Emma’s (Jennifer Morrison) map is doing nothing but leading the group in circles, Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) suggests going to Tinker Bell (Rose McIver) for help. However, Regina‘s (Lana Parrilla) past with the fairy, which we view in a series of flashbacks involving Tinker Bell being defrocked by the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) for her attempt to save the wicked queen, makes that a complicated proposition.

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Hawaii Five-0 – Ka ‘oia’i’o ma loko

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Hawaii Five-0 – Ka ‘oia’i’o ma loko
  • wiki: link

Hawaii Five-0 - Ka 'oia'i'o ma loko

When the investigation into a double robbery-homicide that left an infant girl without parents leads to the discovery of a secret society, Chin Ho (Daniel Dae Kim) introduces McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Danny (Scott Caan) to a conspiracy theorist (Jorge Garcia) who specializes in both the arcane and ridiculous. Jerry informs the group that only item stolen from the victims’ home might actually be the key to unlocking a 700 year-old priceless treasure Chin Ho’s friend believes may have been smuggled to the island years ago inside a statue of King Kamehameha. Despite Danny’s skepticism, the longer Five-0 investigates the more Jerry is proven correct.

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