The Truest Believer & the Lost Girl

  • Title: Once Upon a Time – The Heart of the Truest Believer / Lost Girl
  • wiki: link

The Truest Believer & the Lost Girl

After ignoring the show for two seasons, I decided to peek into Once Upon a Time and check in on how the real-life fairy tale drama was doing. The beginning of Season Three features Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin), Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), Regina (Lana Parrilla), and Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) searching for the lost Henry (Jared Gilmore) who was kidnapped and taken to Neverland where the devious Peter Pan (Robbie Kay) has plans for the “heart of the truest believer.”

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The Shadow Now #1

The Shadow Now #1The problem with taking an iconic figure out of his element and reinventing him is that there’s often too much of an attempt to keep as much of his past as possible when a clean slate may work far better. Although Batman Beyond keeps Bruce Wayne around, by shoving him into the Alfred role the series gives the new Batman room to flourish. The same can’t be said for The Shadow Now.

The first issue opens in present times where Lamont Crantson III returns from overseas after learning to halt the aging process and appear as a much younger man to take up his fight against crime once again. This means checking in on his intelligence network, donning his trademark costume, and even visiting and old enemy in prison.

Although Cranston’s return mirrors The Shadow’s return, no one (not even those within his organization) think it suspicious. The plot of someone deliberately setting traps and taunting a vigilante who hasn’t been seen in decades also seems problematic. Also troubling is the appearance of Margo Lane‘s granddaughter whose role is all to easy to guess.

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The Mentalist – Black-Winged Redbird

  • Title: The Mentalist – Black-Winged Redbird
  • wiki: link

The Mentalist - Black-Winged Redbird

While Lisbon (Robin Tunney) recovers from her brief encounter with Red John, Jane (Simon Baker) and the team investigate the murder of a samurai-obsessed drone engineer (David H. Lawrence XVII) whose car was apparently destroyed by one of his own inventions. During the course of the investigation the team talks with the heads of the company (Paula MarshallIvar Brogger), the engineer’s assistant (Vik Sahay), his favorite prostitute (Jessica Blank), and another aeronautics engineer (James Urbaniak) who was suing the victim and the company for stealing his work. Although one of them is culpable for the man’s death, none of them actually caused it.

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Batman: Black and White #2

Batman: Black and White #2The final story in the latest issue of Batman: Black and White is worth the price of the comic on its own. Designed in the style of an old Fleischer cartoon, writer Michael Uslan and artist Dave Bullock produce the amazing “Silent Night… Unholy Night!” with marvelous artwork I would gladly frame and old-school spirit and adventure that seems long lost in the current version of the DCU.

Other highlights include Jeff Lemire and Alex Nino’s snowy tale of the Dark Knight battle the cold and memories of his father to rescue Commissioner Gordon and Rafael Grampá’s misdirection tale of how Batman lays a trap to catch a troublesome group of bank robbers.

Although I appreciated J.G. Jones’s art in Dan DiDio’s Man-Bat story, the hamfisted themes and Batman’s questionable morality at the end left me cold. In much the same way, I liked the art and idea behind writer/artist Rafael Albuquerque Limbo storyline more than the final execution. Worth a look.

[DC, $4.99]

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Beware the Batman – Instinct

  • Title: Beware the Batman – Instinct
  • wiki: link

Beware the Batman - Instinct

The return of Professor Pyg (Brian George) and Mr. Toad (Udo Kier) lead Batman (Anthony Ruivivar) and Katana (Sumalee Montano) on a merry chase to prevent three nursery rhyme crimes as the eco-terrorists target a model and a clothing designer. The villains leave each of the victims in complex death traps for what the pair believe are crimes of animal cruelty.

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