I won't be doing a Sunday Review next week, as I'll be somewhere in California mostly on the road, pretty much all of next Sunday. Worrying if the Rotweiller-proofing we've done to the house will work. Ahem. We've got the instructions for the house-sitter nearly done, have talked with the neighbors and some friends to make sure they also keep an eye out, and everything is pretty much set for our trip to Oz. If I'm up for it, I may blog about the trip itself, but that depends on a lot of factors I won't learn about until we're at our destinations. So, without further ado, here's what I've watched on TV and read this week that I felt like writing about.
TV this week:
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Time Out for Vengeance!" - Pre-credit sequence with the Creeper, lots of fun. The main story had Aquaman time traveling, although I was surprised when Rip Hunter pushed the Blue and Gold into the ocean and not Aquaman. Still, Romans!
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Sword of the Atom!" - The Currys of Atlantis was terribly... um... terrible. I enjoyed it, but recognize its innate silliness. Aquaman is almost as bad in the regular story. Tormenting poor Ryan into being a hero against his will. Lots of fun, and lots of excitement.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Triumvirate of Terror!" - The pre-credit sequence is hilarious, but don't think about it. The main story is two trios. I love seeing Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman sitting in a diner. But I'm not as excited with Luthor, Joker, and the Cheetah.
- History Detectives: "Season 9, Episode 2 - World War II Leaflets; Spanish Civil War Eulogy; Tiffany Window" - Five images on a leaflet share the theme of the Japanese military taking control in WWII, and I love the way they found the artist. The Eulogy was an incredible story that I really was amazed by. It seems like we should know more about that history. The last story seemed like a simple request, but led into a great story on the history of Tiffany.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: "A Haunting in Crystal Cove" - And so Fred's father is more mysterious than we thought. No wonder he's continually trying to get Fred to stop investigating. The analysis of Fred's insecurity makes him a much more interesting character than the original guy I grew up watching. I'm really enjoying this series.
- Primeval: "Season 5 Episode 5" - The crew forms a plan to deal with Philip, while the team suddenly has to deal with a convergence of anomalies opening all around the world. This one is intense in parts, frustrating in parts, and crazy in parts. And I really wasn't expecting that result, but then... there's one more episode.
- Primeval: "Season 5 Episode 6" - With the end of the world here, can Connor return from the dead to save everything? I love the characters in this show. Philip gets the best line of the show, which he says to Matt at the last minute. Of course, there's plenty of action even when everything is settled. Lester and Jess make a surprisingly good team. And, even though this is the last episode so far, there was a nice hook for possible future series, while at the same time leaving everything in a stable state.
This week's movie was The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father (Russia and Greece, 1909). Still watching the DVD set we borrowed. In the first half, Indy causes lots of problems (why haven't they figured out that he should never be left alone, ever?) and terrified of punishment runs away, meeting an old man named Tolstoy who is also running away from home. Michael Gough turns in a masterful performance as the cranky old writer, and his acting made this part of the episode. In the second half, they travel to Greece, but Ms Seymour is sick, so Indy is left with his father to go to an isolated monastery. The usual misadventures of Indy follow the pair. They both manage to be hilarious in this one, particularly when Indy's father starts quoting philosophy in the worst of situations.
- Flashpoint - Soon after the series started, I figured out I should have ordered it from the beginning. When we headed out to civilization, I picked up the first two issues.
- Flashpoint #1 - Batman's really nasty, Cyborg seems to be the world's last real hope, and we get the first views of the war between Atlantis and the Amazons. Exciting.
- Flashpoint #2 - Deathstroke versus Emperor Aquaman and his sidekick Ocean Master! Wow. Also a nice image when Barry "remembers" the new reality. I think Barry is utterly nuts trying what he's about to try at the end of the issue, but I'm well-hooked into this story.
- Cinderella - Eric wanted this because of the Oz connection, so when we got the Flashpoint issues we also picked these up.
- Cinderella: Fables are Forever #1-5 - Told from the point of view of the Fable Cinderella, this story focuses on how she has had to deal with the hired assassin Dorothy Gale throughout her history in the mundane world. There is one more issue to go, and can I just say, EUUUWWWW! to that cliffhanger?
- Oz - Eric got this through the mail, it was a free preview from IDW given out at Wondercon.
- Dorothy of Oz - This is an introduction to a project based on a work by the great-grandson of the author of The Wizard of Oz. Roger Baum mostly ignores everything but the first book, and so I found this a bit... narrow in scope. I mean, there are 14 books by the original Baum, and another 26 "official" books in the Oz series. Ignoring all of that history in favor of your own sequels, well, just seems a little limited to me. So, although the art is nice and all, I just didn't find it really all that interesting.
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