Sunday, September 11, 2011

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

  • Torchwood: Miracle Day: "The Blood Line" - And so it goes, and Torchwood is, as usual, a step ahead of everyone else. The funeral scene was heart-breaking, especially considering who was there. And that finale... whew. Plenty of plot-threads to pick up if someone should make another series.
  • Doctor Who: "The Girl Who Waited" - Considering how long Rory waited, I'm not sure Amy has anything at all to complain about. Bitter Amy is spooky. I prefer the regular Amy.



This week's movie was The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Chapter 8: Trenches of Hell (Somme and Germany, 1916). And Indy gets into war, the civilized way. He's a good guy, but wow, war was simply insane. His adventures and bravery were interesting to see, as was his capture and escape. He gets that escape bug early. I love how he just happens to run into a ton of famous and later famous people as he goes. It's just very like him to waltz through history.



DCBS
Here are reviews of the DCBS comic books that I've gotten around to reading and reviewing, sorted by the original shipping date:
  • Jul 13th
  • Green Lantern #67 - Huh. Definitely not the way I was expecting the whole thing to end. What payment for all that hard work Hal did? Yikes.
  • Green Lantern Corps #61 - There's way more to John Stewart than planet-killer. I hope we get more of this type of tale someday. He's an unfairly abused character.
  • Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #2 - Wow. A new origin for Aquaman woven from his Silver Age origin with great skill. And it's got steampunk Vulko in it, too, looking like a toady to the old King. I'm really loving this book. But then, I always loved Elseworlds and Aquaman has NEVER gotten this great an Elseworld treatment before.
  • Flashpoint: Deathstroke the Curse of the Ravager #2 - Aquaman is very brutal in this world, and I think that's all this book is trying to say about him. Ouch.
  • Birds of Prey #14 - I want to read the next issue right now. I haven't been so curious about the end of a story for some time. I love Zinda.
  • All New Batman The Brave and the Bold #9 - Hawkman and Hawkgirl are good in this one. I particularly like that final splash page showing what she's been up to while he's out wandering.
  • Northlanders #42 - Ouch. Be careful what you do to a child, they may learn the lesson entirely too well.
  • Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life #4 - About how I expected the whole story to end, but nicely done as it turns out. The reasons for everything were fleshed out very well, too. A good story.
  • Jul 20th
  • War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath #1 - What happened to Sinestro is quite a little surprise, but what's going to happen to him is far more interesting. I used to really like Soranik, now I'm just not sure about her.
  • Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #2 - And now we know what happened. And why Diana is wearing the same helmet Mera was wearing (euwww!). Brutal, and depressing how each misunderstanding built on the last.
  • Justice League of America #59 - Is this horrid story over yet?
  • Power Girl #26 - Heh, Power Girl Convention. Heh. Cosplayers. Heh. I would have thought a few more would have done variants on the design. That could have been cool. I like the little kid. Heh.
  • Zatanna #15 - Ouch. Nasty from the start, and really nasty what she does to them at the end.
  • Tiny Titans #42 - I'm just gonna say this issue is bizarre and leave it at that. *snerk*
  • Cinderella: Fables are Forever #6 - Ew ew ew ew ew. I agree with Cindy, I threw up a little in my brain. But this is definitely not over, as that's not how the Fables universe works.
  • DMZ #67 - Into the final storyline, and there's a lot left to happen despite the seeming ending to the war. Looking forward to the final few issues.
  • Sergio Aragones Funnies #1 - I need about another two weeks to look at all the artwork closely before I can judge this book! No, kidding... it's one that will be great on rereads because of the detail, but as it stands it's really good already. If you like Sergio's work, just get this book already.
  • Soldier Zero #10 - Um, wow? Are we going to get some sort of resolution now?
  • Jul 27th
  • Green Lantern Corps #62 - Kyle and Soranik... not a great relationship to start with, apparently much worse now. Yikes. And the Pink Lantern has learned a valuable lesson about interference.
  • Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #12 - So that's it? Send out Guy and the problem is solved? I can't buy that no other Lantern was able to come up with that solution before.
  • Flashpoint: Hal Jordan #2 - Um, cool? Sorry, just not really impressed with this one for some reason.
  • Action Comics #903 - More Doomsday nonsense. Is it over yet?
  • DC Retroactive: Green Lantern the 70's #1 - Was it just me or did none of the stories in this have conclusions? There was a Green Arrow tale... that didn't really get resolved. And a Green Lantern tale... that didn't get resolved. Then the classic GA/GL tale that led into a much longer story.
  • DC Retroactive: Justice League of America the 70's #1 - Ok, if the GL book annoyed me with the lack of resolution, let's not talk about the incredibly annoying reprint in this book. Sheesh. At least the main story wrapped up nicely.
  • Justice Society of America #53 - Ah, so now we know what the city is, and what it has, and what's going wrong. Now, will we get a solution before the new universe jumps into effect?
  • Young Justice #6 - Superboy's battle within is deflected by Robin's internal origin recap, since he can't tell his teammates Batman's secrets. Not much happens in this one.
  • Fables #107 - I can't quite figure out where this fits in the whole storyline. Maybe we really do need to get the previous volumes.
  • Doctor Who Ongoing V2 #7 - Sontarans are clones, so they can only be used to the chaos. But what can you do with a dozen or more Doctors?



My Kindle book this week was No Good Deed by Mary McDonald. Mark Taylor has an antique camera that can help him predict the future, but when he tried to prevent 9/11 he gained some unwanted attention. I got this book for free, but there was a LOT of positive chatter about this book before I got my hands on it. The first half of the book is about Mark being suspected of being a terrorist, and what that means for his life. The second half is about putting that life back together. The amazing thing is how the book manages to treat the subject with respect and dignity, and allows questions to remain about the morality of the actions of some of the characters. The urge to preach had to be nearly unbearable. I found it a difficult read due to my own strong opinions on some topics, and yet I can't complain about the presentation. You may find you really disagree with the book, possibly regardless of your political viewpoint, which makes it more balanced than 90% of the stories on this subject out there. Not a book people will want to read lightly, but it is fiction and the end is definitely feel-good escapism.



0 comments: