Summer movies

F1

A super fun movie.  The racing scenes are phenomenally filmed.  (This is a worthy followup for Joe Kosinski after Top Gun: Maverick.)  I have quite a few nitpicks (No way Brad Pitt can deal w/ the physical stresses of the sport at that age.  But he still looks amazing, and he almost made me believe it.  Also, he would never have gotten away w/ all his race shenanigans), but they can all be handwaved off.  

I was completely distracted whenever Kerry Condon was on screen because she looks like a cross between Rebecca Ferguson and Christina Applegate.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: No, but it’s close

Rating: Pretty good

KPop Demon Hunters

OMGOMGOMG.  As good as all the hype around it.  This really feels like Sony Pictures Animation’s spiritual successor to their Spider-verse films.  

I don’t have much to say aside from “This film rules” and “The soundtrack slays.”  (“Soda Pop” is the clear best, followed by “How It’s Done” and “Takedown.” There’s something about the melodies of “Golden” and “What It Sounds Like” that should be awesome, but rub me the wrong way the more I hear them.  Which makes me sad.)

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: Yes

Rating: Really good

Superman

I went into this with an open mind; I’m not the biggest fan of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but I don’t hate them, either.  I was just hoping for a good time, which I got.

1. David Corenswet is a wonderful Superman.  (Honestly, casting directors have done a top-notch job of Superman casting over the last few decades: Corenswet, Henry Cavill, Tyler Hoechlin, Brandon Routh, Tom Welling.  All doing great credit to the Man of Steel.)

2. Rachel Brosnahan.  I was always a fan of this casting.  She’s a great Lois.  Her chemistry w/ Clark, some beautifully filmed floating kisses (I love those scenes in the comics, too) - all good.

3. Nicholas Hoult - His Lex is absolute fire.  A+, no notes.

4. Krypto.  Not the most well-behaved of dogs, but still a good boy.

5. Nathan Fillion - Perfect casting, perfect haircut.

6. The execution of Mr Terrific’s abilities did most of the heavy lifting, but Edi Gathegi was fine as well.

7. Heh, Jimmy Olsen’s a stud.

8. I seriously questioned Milly Alcock’s casting as Supergirl, but her cameo sold me on it.  I hope her movie’s even as remotely good as Tom King’s comic.

On the other hand:

1. Not enough of Lois or Clark.  I loved them so much, would have liked to see more of them as people.

2. The Engineer - Totally superfluous to the story.  A nothing role.

3. Another CGI-fest for the climactic fight.  Not bad as they go, but meh.

4. Not sure about playing the Kents as yokels.

5. I liked what I saw of Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, but they didn’t do much w/ her.

A lot more positive and fun than Snyder’s interpretation, but not the home run it could have been.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Pretty good

Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning

Man.  This could have been called Mission Impossible: Endgame.  It tried to do so many of the same things as the Marvel Phase 3 capper, like bringing back old faces, trying to retcon things to make it all fit together (the Rabbit’s Foot?  Seriously?), give it a sense of satisfying finality.  But it lacked the effortlessness of the MCU film, and it felt like it was just trying way too hard.

It also mirrors the Fast and Furious franchise, in that it finally blasted past the leeway granted by the magic that is suspension of disbelief.  While the Mission action set pieces are always insane and over the top, this is really the first one where I kept calling “bullshit” and facepalming in disbelief.  

This movie forgot to bring the fun.  The action scenes were impressive in their technical achievement, and I was very often on the figurative edge of my seat.  But while I was impressed by how tense I felt, I rarely enjoyed myself.  There were no “that was awesome!” moments, and that’s what I come to these movies to see.

It’s the first Mission Impossible movie that I have zero interest in owning, which really says a lot about how little I thought of this film.  It’s been three months since it came out, and it’s only gotten worse in my mind.  Such a disappointment.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Stupid

New comics

New comics!

Rare Flavours 2

A really slow first half for the issue, but things pick up in the tail end.  Not sure where this is going, but I’m still in.

Nightwing 108

Good clean adventuring from Tom Taylor.  Is Bruno Redondo never coming back?

Batman: Off-World 1

Picked this up because Jason Aaron’s usually worth a try.  This is off to an awesome start.  An early-in-his-career Batman goes into space so that he can train to be a better fighter by getting the crap kicked out of him by slaver aliens.  This doesn’t work without stellar execution, and Aaron pulls it off flawlessly with Doug Mahnke.  Goes on the pull list.

Justice League vs Godzilla vs Kong 1-2

The concept is too bonkers to not try out.  Brian Buccellato grounds it by setting this crazy showdown right before Clark’s proposal to Lois.  Dude can’t catch a break.  

Animal Pound 0

Tom King attempts to equal George Orwell’s masterpiece with an adaptation updated for today’s political climate.  He literally says that he’s shooting for “masterpiece” here.  A tall order and a little pretentious, but I wouldn’t put it past him.  

Fantastic Four 13

Human Doctor Doom and T-Rex Doctor Doom team up to rule the world.  They would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for their inevitable betrayal of each other.  Super obvious, but still super fun.

Superman 8

That’s it for me, I’m done with this title.  The Chained is a stupendously boring villain, and even the prospect of Bruno Redondo coming on as artist isn’t enough for me.  Maybe I’ll check it out on the shelf.  

Penguin 3

Having recruited The Help, Penguin moves on to finding a goon squad, focusing his attention on the former member of the Force of July.  I’ve never heard of them, but I assume they’re a C-list team from the past.  It’s a nice standalone issue.  Tom King’s doing the slow burn thing again, and he’s doing it nicely.

New comics

I’ve noticed a definite decrease in my enthusiasm for reading comics in the last few months.  It might be because I’m reading them far less frequently; for the last five years, I’ve been reading them every day.  Before that, I’d read new comics at least once a week for about fifteen years. 

Now, I’m not able to get to the LCS on a regular basis, so I’m not feeding the habit nearly as frequently anymore.  It makes me sad, and I’m wondering if I should do something about it.

Anyway, new comics!

March 1-3

The many-award winning graphic novel by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell.  I couldn’t turn down the six dollar price tag at the library book sale.

There’s really nothing new here that I didn’t know before, but I applaud the endeavor to share this vital part of American history in one of my favorite mediums.  It’s not a fun read by any estimation, but it’s a worthy one.  

Avengers 6-7

This title is definitely running out of steam after a rousing start.  The fights are fine, but this is far from the most interesting of Avengers lineups, and the villains are way too cookie cutter to keep me engaged.  This might get another arc to prove itself.

Transformers 2

Daniel Warren Johnson’s art continues to be wonderful; His depiction of Starscream versus some fighter jets is excellent in its brutal one-sidedness.  I’ll probably stick around for as long as Johnson does.  

Birds of Prey 3

Kelly Thompson continues to impress with this girl group.  She nails Harley’s voice.  The battle between Green Arrow and Wonder Woman is super fun.  The art and colors by Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire are super evocative of a past age of comics. 

Superman 7

I run so hot and cold on this title.  Things are definitely cold right now.  This new villain (The Chained) interests me zero.  It doesn’t help that Jamal Campbell didn’t draw this issue.  (It’s a jam session because this is issue 850 with legacy numbering.)  Once again, this is on probation for me.  A couple of months at best to convince me not to drop it.

Nightwing 107

Dick Grayson goes full pirate (read: open shirt, revealing plenty of chest).  I’m so in, this is hilariously awesome.  

Who can blame her?

Fables 160

Sigh.  I wished I cared about this title as much as I used to.  Just playing out the string.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees 1

An iFanboy recommendation.  Elevator pitch: There’s a community of anthropomorphic animals.  One of them is a serial killer, living amongst them in secret.  What happens when another serial killer shows up?  

I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out.  Patrick Horvath kills it with an excellent first issue.

House of M 1-8

Got this cheap at a sale.  It’s not the best or worst of Elseworlds stories.  (Brian Michael Bendis has really done a bunch of these over his career…)  The highlight, of course, is the infamous, “No more mutants.”  Overlooked, I think, is the emotional fallout of having your deepest wishes fulfilled and then cruelly ripped away.  Spidey’s reaction is completely human, and I would have like to see some followup on it.  It’s like when Buffy died, went to heaven, and was then pulled back to the hell that is Earth.  How do you go on after something like that?

New comics

New comics!

Wonder Woman 1

Tom King starts yet another title.  (He’s really quite prolific.)  Things get extreme pretty fast as America pretty much declares war on the Amazons.  There’s a rapid escalation that immediately brings Doomsday Clock to mind.  (The part where things go nuts with Firestorm and Superman.)  As always, no idea where King’s going with this.  Also no idea how this exists in the main DC canon, it feels way more like a Black Label kind of story.

Titans 3

This is the “one more issue” that I said I’d give Titans, and Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott don’t do enough with it.  I think it’s the Titans team itself.  They’ve never clicked with me.  Donezo.

Nightwing 106

Thank goodness Taylor’s as good as ever here.  It’s the start of a new story, and apparently Dick goes all pirate.  I’ll keep an open mind.  I hope Bruno Redondo comes back soon, but Stephen Byrne is a decent substitute.

Superman 6

Speaking of sub artists, I hope Gleb Melnikov isn’t permanent.  He doesn’t suck or anything, but his style is so different from the so good Jamal Campbell; There’s an Ed McGuinness/ Humberto Ramos hybrid quality to it.  

The story’s also fine, but nothing super memorable.  I might have one issue left in me.

Rare Flavours 1

Ram V. and Filipe Andrade team up again, and after the joy of Laila Starr, I wasn’t going to let it stay on the shelf.  (Kudos to the distinctive cover, I wouldn’t have checked it out otherwise; I didn’t know about this comic beforehand.)  It’s off to an intriguing start, I’ve already put this on my pull list.

New comics

New comics!

Superman 5

This issue is a drastic improvement over the previous one.  Joshua Williamson does a great job of making me care about the relationship between Jimmy Olsen and Silver Banshee, and Jamal Campbell does his usual phenomenal job of drawing the heck out of it.  Then there’s the final scene where Lex calls out for Superman’s help for the first time - and is met with no response.  Very well done.

Nightwing 105

The whole issue’s done from Dick’s POV.  So good to have Bruno Redondo back.  Love his Barbara Gordon.

Nice sight to wake up to.

Titans 2

I’m so glad this spun out of Nightwing so that I don’t have to read it anymore.  It’s the rare miss from Tom Taylor.  And Nicola Scott’s art isn’t as good as I remember it to be.  I may give this one more issue, but I may not.  

Wonder Woman 800

An absolute mess of an issue.  The main story is an incomprehensible mess of a jam issue with a few nice pages of art.  I only got this to see the beginning of Tom King’s run on the title, and that part of it is intriguing.  

Avengers 1-2

I wasn’t going to get this initially, even with Jed MacKay and CF Villa as the creative team.  The first issue didn’t look that special during the in-store flip through, and the new team lineup wasn’t particularly interesting.  But the second issue perusal revealed MacKay’s grand plan, and it’s super fun so far.  And there’s a nice chill-inducing moment:

What indeed?

New comics

New comics!

Batman: Brave and the Bold 1

An anthology series that I’d never consider picking up if it weren’t for the Tom King lead story.  He’s got a freaky take on Joker that’s perfectly complemented by Mitch Gerads.  Ed Brisson’s Stormwatch has some nice moments with a neat lineup, but it’s weird seeing Shado in this setting.

Titans 1

I’ll give anything by Tom Taylor a try, and Nicola Scott’s art is always welcome.  This is a decent start, but nothing that makes it stand out.  It’ll get at least one more issue.

Fantastic Four 700

Ryan North is back on point with a really neat Doctor Doom story that takes a look at his hubris from a new (to me) angle.  It also incorporates a new take on time travel that I need to read again.

Love Everlasting 7

Joan’s trapped in a storyline for way longer than usual, moving well past the marriage stage.  She has a breakdown as a result, perhaps moving the plot on to the next phase, finally.  (Not that it hasn’t been fun thus far.)

Superman 4

I didn’t think Joshua Williamson could get me to care about Silver Banshee, but he manages to do so here.  His take on Luthor is also completely delightful, so this gets another month.

New comics

New comics!  My comic buying schedule isn’t even close to weekly anymore, so things get bunched up a lot.  I think the lack of consistency is putting a damper on my enjoyment of the issues.  Something to think about.

Dark Knights of Steel 10

White Martian origins revealed as things get set up for the final fight.  This’ll probably be better on the re-read.

Fantastic Four 2

The comic shop finally got this in stock.  This is a spectacular issue.  Ryan North comes up with a great hook for a done-in-one issue, and really cements this as something to get on a monthly basis. 

Fantastic Four 6

North hasn’t quite been able to maintain his early momentum, but things are still interesting enough for me to stick with it for a few more issues.

Fables 158

I’m only still buying this because I’m pot committed with four issues remaining.  This is a total waste of everyone’s time.

Superman 3

Jamal Campbell’s art remains excellent and Joshua Williamson nails the character dynamics between Clark, Lois, and Luthor.  It’s too bad that the main plot with Parasite is completely uninteresting, and the next issue with Silver Banshee looks equally bland.  I’m giving this one more issue.

DCeased: War of the Undead Gods 8

A nice final moment between Jon and Damian, but this was otherwise the weakest of the DCeased arcs.  Erebos is a lame villain, the zombie virus really didn’t need an uber big bad behind it all.  

Love Everlasting 6

Still have no idea what’s going on, still enjoying the heck out of this.  It’s so different from anything else that’s out there.

Nightwing 103

Not bad, but I can’t wait for Tom Taylor to get Nightwing back to his street-level roots.  

Gotham City: Year One 6

This is perfectly average for a Tom King story.  It’s fine, but I’m most likely going to forget he ever wrote this in six months.

New comics

Superman 2

Not as good as the previous issue, mostly because Parasite’s always been a boring villain.  Jamal Campbell’s art is still really nice.

Nightwing 102

The Titans beat the Grinning Man in surprising but not unwelcome short order.  Things are a little more interesting than the previous issue, but I’m really hoping Bruno Redondo comes back soon.

DCeased: War of the Undead Gods 7

Yeah, this is the least successful arc of Tom Taylor’s epic.  The emotional stakes just aren’t there, no matter how hard he tries. 

New comics

New comics!

Nightwing 101

Sigh.  I care so little about the mystical side of the DC universe, so making Neron and some guy named the Grinning Man the next big bads doesn’t make for an auspicious start to this next arc.

DCeased: War of the Undead Gods 6

Not even Tom Taylor can make the Spectre or New Gods interesting to me.  (Only Tom King’s managed that feat.)  And Alfred as the Spectre is as stupid as it sounds.

Human Target 12

Speaking of Tom King, this is so freaking good.  The art by Greg Smallwood, the epilogue nature of the story, each perfectly assembled scene…I need to read this over again.

Superman 1

I only picked this up because of a positive iFanboy review.  I’m glad I did, this is a great “start of a new era” issue.  Joshua Williamson has had his name on a lot of DC stories lately, but this is the first time I’ve read his work.  Jamal Campbell I know, of course, for his wonderful work on Naomi.  This could be the beginning of something awesome, looking forward to the next issue.

Batman: One Bad Day: Clayface 1

This is such a good single issue story.  Clayface goes to Hollywood and tries to make it as an actor.  He does his best to play it straight for a while, but eventually succumbs to his baser instincts.  It’s a wonderful character study for an underdeveloped villain.  Kudos to Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Xermanico.

Do a Powerbomb 1-7

Daniel Warren Johnson’s followup to Beta Ray Bill.  It’s well suited to his dynamic, visceral approach to action sequences, and there are just enough character moments to give it the necessary depth to elevate it above the usual fare.  

And, of course, there are scenes like this:

So good.

Bruce Wayne: Murderer, Brubaker and Rucka Batman

Batman 591-598

Ed Brubaker/Scott McDaniel.  It’s not a good sign that I remember very little of these issues only two days after reading them.  New baddie Zeiss isn’t as interesting as Brubaker thinks he is, and my primary memory is of Batman in the same diving pose issue after issue:

Why even have this scene if you're not going to show the present?

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Detective Comics 755-765

Superman 168

Greg Rucka’s side of the Batman titles are a lot better than Brubaker’s.  A lot has to do with Sasha Bordeaux, Bruce Wayne’s new bodyguard.  Telling things from her POV adds a nice dimension to these stories.  That and the GCPD stuff.  Such a smart idea to spin them off into their own title.  

A shout out to mostly-regular artist Shawn Martinbrough.  I would definitely not have picked him as a suitable artist for Batman, but he somehow pulls it off wonderfully. 

Love that spoon-hanging image.  So perfect.

Nice little crossover with Superman, too.  Jeph Loeb writes a great relationship between the World’s Finest.

Great, great image by Ed McGuinness.

After the disappointment of The Jacobian, the next couple of backup features have been spectacular: Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke team up for the setup to the new Catwoman series, followed by Judd Winick and Cliff Chiang on the horribly underrated Josie Mac.  Why hasn’t there been more of her???

Check out the motion in the last two panels.

Oh.  My.  God.

No one does femme fatale like Cooke.  Not even Frank Miller.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Batman: 10 Cent Adventure 1

Detective Comics 766-767

Batgirl 24

Nightwing 65-66

Batman: Gotham Knights 25-26

Birds of Prey 39-40

Robin 98-99

Batman 599

Bruce Wayne: Murderer.  A fine concept, but I hate that multiple parts of this are useless filler.  (The Robin issues in particular.)  It’s all part of DC’s ploy to get people to buy lesser-selling issues.  And I fell for it like a sucker.  Wasn’t the first or last time, but hopefully present me is a lot wiser now.  

Nice backup story from Mike Barr and Alan Davis.

Love that Babs is a lawyer.

I never thought about how unrealistic it is that anyone can stroll up to the front door with no security checks.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice