Science Fiction

Darth Vader #2

/ / Comics

Darth Vader #2 comic reviewThe unexpected appearance of a familiar face rocks the Dark Lord of the Sith as Darth Vader #2 picks up from the first-issue cliffhanger of Darth Vader coming face-to-face with Padme Amidala. As expected, the woman is revealed to be Sabé (the former Queen of Naboo’s doppelganger and bodyguard). Although, in my opinion, artist Raff Ienco could have made her look a little more like Keira Knightley.

Issue #2 offers quite a bit of art, but not much story. Many of the panel’s focus on Vader’s remembrance of his lost love brought back into focus of seeing someone wearing her face years later. Despite neither trusting each other, the pair find a mutual bond in wanting to know the truth about happened to Amidala (although the way the events have played out since then we know for certain Darth Vader never learned the full truth about the final moments of Padme’s life).

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Samurai Jack – Episode XVII: Jack and the Scotsman II

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Samurai Jack – Episode XVII: Jack and the Scotsman II
  • wiki: link

Samurai Jack - Episode XVII: Jack and the Scotsman II TV review

Throwback Thursday takes us back to the adventures of the time-displaced samurai and his quest to make his way home. “Episode XVII” offers the return of the Scotsman (John DiMaggio) who seeks out Jack (Phil LaMarr) after his wife (Ruth Williamson) is kidnapped by a robotic demon cult that wants to make soup out of her (okay, maybe not the best thought out premise of the series). Pride and tradition prevent the Scotsman from asking his clansmen for help, who Jack gets to meet at one point in the episode, but the samurai takes little convincing before agreeing to the quest.

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Doctor Who – The Timeless Children

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Doctor Who – The Timeless Children
  • wiki: link

Doctor Who - The Timeless Children television review

As has been the tendency of writer and producer Chris Chibnall over the course of this season, the finale of “The Timeless Children” thumbs its nose at Doctor Who canon. Pulling on the thread from the classic Doctor Who serial “The Brain of Morbius,” “The Timeless Children” confirms that William Hartnell was not the first incarnation of The Doctor. Although this contradicts several episodes of Who canon, it’s an idea that has been suggested before. If that was the only change Chibnall had made in “The Timeless Children” it would have been groundbreaking enough. Instead, that’s just one piece of the story. And while that can be, somewhat grudgingly, accepted… the rest… Well, it plays like fan fiction. And not even good fan fiction.

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Doctor Who – The Haunting of Villa Diodati

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Doctor Who – The Haunting of Villa Diodati
  • wiki: link

Doctor Who - The Haunting of Villa Diodati television review

In the final episode prior to the two-part finale, Doctor Who offers up a horror story featuring a haunted house Mary Shelley (Lili Miller), Byron (Jacob Collins-Levy), and maybe the least-frightening Cyberman ever seen on-screen. The episode makes use of several common Doctor Who tropes including loops, mazes, odd ghost-like apparitions that turn out to be anything but, and historical figures not being at all what the companions expected. The episode starts off with some fun bits of horror (the crawling skeleton hand and glimpses of shadowy apparitions), but the reveal of the Cyberman and the explanation of the Cyberium is, at best, a mixed success (especially given it is supposed to kick-off the final two episodes of the year). For better or worse, it looks like Cybermen are on the menu for the finale (although there’s still that pesky “Timeless Child” paradox to deal with as well).

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