Green Arrow

Checkmate #5

Picking up exactly where Checkmate #4 ended, Leviathan has invaded Checkmate‘s headquarters, which they then teleport into the middle of Thailand. Although their building is rubble, the heroes aren’t quite out of the game as Mark Shaw had planned, thanks to King‘s use of the extra-dimensional doors which deliver them into the basement of the Hall of Justice with hopefully enough time to prevent Leviathan from getting their hands on the Heroes Network.

And, of course, this turns out to be the perfect opportunity for Talia to double-cross the heroes. It’s still not clear what exactly she’s getting out of helping Shaw, but incapacitating the heroes at the point they might stop him from realizing his goal certainly works in Leviathan’s favor.

Lois Lane is fairing a bit better with the sudden appearance of a brother she never knew about, but the “Snowman’s Ticket” is still a git of a mystery, except, perhaps to Mark Shaw.

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Leviathan Dawn #1

Leviathan Dawn #1 comic reviewThe next chapter of writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev’s Leviathan tale begins here. The are two stories taking place in Leviathan Dawn #1. The first involves new character Kingley Jacobs taking a look at the destruction which Leviathan has wrought and putting together a team from the ashes of the various spy agencies Mark Shaw left in his wake.

Jacobs’ recruiting pitch begins with Steve Trevor who was meant to be Leviathan’s fall guy until Shaw’s identity was exposed. To that group, Kingley adds Lois Lane, Green Arrow, the Question (who is already investigating in Beijing), Mr. Bones, Kate Spencer, and one of the recruit who nearly kills Trevor before he can make his sales pitch and who the others are less than thrilled about. An unorthodox team to be sure (featuring some fun dynamics), but does this new version of Checkmate stand a chance versus Leviathan?

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Arrow – Green Arrow & The Canaries

  • Title: Arrow – Green Arrow & The Canaries
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Arrow - Green Arrow & The Canaries television review

“Green Arrow & The Canaries” is an oddly constructed episode set 20 years after the events of Crisis. Following Oliver Queen‘s (Stephen Amell) sacrifice, Star City has lived in blissful peace for two decades, with Mia (Katherine McNamara) and William (Ben Lewis) growing up together in rich luxury. All that is threatened when evil starts to stir again with the kidnapping of Helena’s daughter (Raigan Harris) whose death could be the domino to lead Star City back down the dark future seen in previous episodes (although given the number of baddies the new Deathstroke, and the not-so-hard-to-guess woman behind him put together, it looks like future version of Star City has plenty of killers and malcontents to deal with).

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Legends of Tomorrow – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five

  • Title: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five
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Legends of Tomorrow  - Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five TV review

If the climax of Crisis turned out to be a bit underwhelming the epilogue brings back some fun. The first episode of the Fifth Season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow introduces us to a new world. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and the Paragons didn’t rebirth the entire Multiverse, only a single universe with one Earth where all our heroes live. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) is doubly surprised to find out she shares her Earth with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and that Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) had one last move up his sleeve in resetting his role on the new Earth as a beloved benefactor rather than sociopathic villain. Only the Paragons remember the events of Crisis, although J’onn (David Harewood) is able to remedy the siutation fairly quickly to clue in the rest of the heroes as to what is happening, including a final appearance of the Anti-Monitor.

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Arrow – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four

  • Title: Arrow – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four
  • wiki: link

Arrow - Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four TV review

After a month hiatus, the Crisis crossover continues. More than any episode of the crossover, “Part Four” does feel the limits of a television budget as the big climactic moments feel a bit rushed and underwhelming. The return of Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), now revealed to be the Spectre (although not looking any different), helps free the Paragons from Vanishing Point on a two-pronged attempt to stop the Anti-Monitor. While Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), Ryan Choi (Osric Chau), and Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) attempt to prevent the the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) from opening the rift that allowed the Anti-Monitor into our universe 10,000 years ago (a plotline that ultimately never leads anywhere), the rest of the heroes head for the Anti-Matter Universe with a stopover in the Speed Force that offers a few scenes from the past and one more cameo from another alternate version of one of our heroes.

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