Secret Six #26

/ / Comics
  • Title: Secret Six #26
  • Comic Vine: link

After Bane makes some new friends by removing a few of the locals heads and limbs the two squads finally meet in the jungles of Skartaris. And then things get really interesting – especially for Bane and Scandal who square off against each other in a fight that ends bloody and may have lasting effects on the make up of the team.

Also in this issue Catman and his team fight a sea monster (to the utter delight of Rag Doll), and there’s a pretty intense confrontation between Amanda Waller and Spy Smasher over the Six’s involvement in Skartaris.

A pretty good read from writer Gail Simone, with lots of bloody action courtesy of artist J. Calafiore. Worth a look.

[DC Comics $2.99]

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The Mentalist – The Complete Second Season

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Mentalist : The Complete Second Season
  • wiki: link

More of the same here as California Bureau of Investigation continues to put more criminals behind bars in the second season of The Mentalist. Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) makes astonishing deductions while infuriating everyone around, including Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and her team, while bending (if not breaking) the law.

This five-disc set includes a new agent (Terry Kinney) taking over the Red John case, murder in the CBI offices, Jane getting sent to prison and found in contempt of court (in separate episodes), the death of the aide to a state senator (Fay Masterson), a religious cult led by Malcolm McDowell, a biker gang, a haunted house, murder on a Native American reservation, the murder of an assistant district attorney (Rachel Montez Collins), a jewel heist, Firefly‘s Sean Maher shows up as an eco-terrorist, and murders at a baseball camp and high school reunion.

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The Mentalist – The Complete Second Season Read More »

Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster
  • tv.com: link

Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster

Growing up Barry Allen was one of my favorite DC characters. The latest episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold finds a way to weave in the character’s death and ghostly appearances (without a Crisis), along with of the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick and Wally West, and a good villain in the Reverse-Flash. The interplay between the Flashes is what really makes this one work (and the look of all three is perfect!).

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The Social Network

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Social Network
  • IMDb: link

Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is an asshole, or he’s at least trying his damnedest to be one. That seems to be the central point of The Social Network which gives us a traditional tale (genius without people skills, rise to power by stepping on your friends) with a fresh take, several good performances, and some darn fine dialogue by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

In the film director David Fincher and Sorkin team-up to adapt Ben Mezrich‘s 2009 nonfiction novel The Accidental Billionaires about Zuckerberg’s life and the creation of a little thing called Facebook (maybe you’ve heard of it?). The film tackles everything from friendship to cut-throat business tactics and class warfare.

We begin with a lengthy pre-credit scene involving Zuckerberg’s break-up with his girlfriend Rooney Mara which will lead to the drunken creation of his first social networking site later that night, and lay the foundation for the later creation of Facebook. It’s a great scene to start, though both actors seem to struggle initially with the pace and tempo of a very wordy Sorkin scene.

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Superman/Batman #76

/ / Comics
  • Title: Superman/Batman #76
  • Comic Vine: link

For a comic that boasts the names of two of DC Comics most famous heroes in it’s name Superman/Batman has been largely forgettable. There are several reasons for this which include so-so storytelling, hit-and-miss art, and the fact it takes place outside of DC’s continuity.

With issue #76 writer Judd Winick puts Dick Grayson under the cowl for the first time. The story begins just after Final Crisis and runs, roughly, up to the present. That’s quite a bit of ground to cover. Given that, the result is a bit mixed.

On the plus side the story gives us Superman’s perspective on the death of his friend in some pretty well-written scenes between Supes and Lois, and later with Wonder Woman, and (more than a few) shots of the Man of Steel staring into space. There’s also a very human, if completely un-characteristic moment when Superman sees Dick in the Bat-suit for the first time. It works, but it’s a little heavy-handed for my tastes.

For an issue of this title it’s one of the best, but that’s not saying much. Aside from a panel here and there (such as Batman being brought back to the Batcave) I’m not that impressed with the art by Eddie Berganza who can’t seem to draw Superman the same way in any two panels (there was even one panel I thought he was weaving Superboy into the story for a moment!), or draw him significantly different than anyone else with dark hair seen here. That said, it’s a story that should be told as well as read. Worth a look.

[DC $2.99]

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