All the things, ranked from worst to best.
Resurrection season 2, episodes 11 to 13: I'll admit that I was getting into this as it started drawing more and more on apocalyptic imagery, and supposedly heading towards an epic climax. But if there's one thing I can't stand, it's an anticlimax. This series spent hours building up the premise that "if this baby is born it could mean the end of everything!!!!!". Of course the baby is born, millions of people return from the dead, and then the show cuts to a "one year later" transition and shows that everything is fine and dandy, aside from some irritating bits of anti-Returned legislation. It's the textbook example of how to get me to stop watching your show.
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration #1: This comic is mostly full of throwaway anthology stories. The most notable are a look at what the other Marvel characters were doing during the origin of the Fantastic Four (a story which contradicts continuity in a number of places) and a Darwyn Cooke adaptation of a prose story that was Stan Lee's first published work. The latter is a fine example of what a great artist like Cooke can do with an execrable piece of writing. It's fun, but not enough to save the rest of the forgettable material.
WWE Raw episodes 1,135 and 1,136: Speaking of forgettable... WWE is on the road to Wrestlemania, which is supposed to be the biggest event of the year, but you'd never know it. The same story beats are being hit week after week, the champion Brock Lesnar never bothers to show up, and the wrestling has been decent at best. Who would have thought that the highlight would be Curtis Axel, and his delusional #Axelmania rants?
The Walking Dead season 5, episodes 11 and 12: Interest is picking up here, as Rick and co. move into a community that, shockingly, seems perfectly safe. It looks to me as though they're heading for a story where we explore whether Rick's crew can still function in a normal society, and I'm cool with that. It's a change-up from the same old formula, and that's exactly what the show needed.
WWE Fastlane 2015: Most of the matches here were dull, and the crowd didn't help. Why would you pay to go to a wrestling event, and not react to anything? The last two matches saved it, though. John Cena and Rusev had a good back-and-forth match that went a long way to cementing Rusev as a legitimate main-event heel. The ending, with Rusev hitting a distracted Cena then making him pass out with the Accolade, was the right one, and sets up their Wrestlemania rematch nicely. The Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan main event was a corker, but that's to be expected when Bryan is involved. And as much as I would rather see Bryan head to Wrestlemania as the top guy, I'm kind of glad that the WWE doubled down on Reigns in the face of negative crowd reactions. Bryan was the safe option, but they're trying to make a new star here, and even with Reigns's obviosu deficiencies that's commendable.
Thunderbolts #13-32 by Charles Soule and various artists: I hadn't really enjoyed the first twelve issues of this series by Daniel Way, but with Charles Soule taking over the book improved a lot. It got a genuine premise, for a start: the group do one mission for the Red Hulk, then one mission for another member, alternating each time. It also gained a sudden self-awareness of it's own absurdity, which it needed. You can't put so many grim killers on the same superhero team and expect the book to be taken seriously. The highlight of the run was the team's trip to Hell, which embraced the silliness of the situation and had some clever tie-ins to other Marvel books. The book tailed off a bit at the end, and got cancelled before it could get around to giving every character a mission, but it had its fun moments.
Powers: The Bureau #1-12 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Oeming: This series has been running for about 15 years now, but this is the first time I've tried it. The premise is that the world has superheroes, and the FBI deals with them. It's pretty simple, and the opening arc sets the tone immediately by featuring a case involving superpowered semen being sold on the black market, and some highly entertaining foul language. The plotting is a lot tighter than Bendis's mainstream work, and the characters are entertaining on a superficial level. I was with it until he introduced a pregnancy plot for the main character, had her lose the baby after being kicked in the stomach, then didn't mention it at all in the nest story. Perhaps it will be explored going forward, but it's not the sort of thing that I feel can be dropped like that.
The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle: The second Sherlock Holmes novel is better than the first, mostly because Holmes is actually in it the whole way through. It still falls into the same narrative trap that A Study in Scarlet did, though: the last chapter is a massive block of exposition detailing how and why the murder was done. The plot is cliched from a modern perspective, being a murder mystery involving missing treasure and an island native, but Holmes himself remains entertaining enough.
Nova #1-16 by Jeph Loeb, Zeb Wells, Gerry Duggan and various artists: Young Sam Alexander finds his dad's space helmet and becomes the star-faring Nova, in a solid execution of the teen superhero formula. There's nothing new on display here, but it has a lot of exuberance that carries it through the standard tropes.
Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov: How often does someone create a sequel to their most famous work decades after the original, and pull it off? Not often, but here Asimov has managed to do it, writing a novel in 1982 that's just as good as the Foundation stories of the 1950s. Foundation is a hard sell as a series, being a story about a fellow who maps out the future using maths, then sets up two organisations whose goal was to see that the best possible future comes about over the coming centuries. This story involves the technologically superior First Foundation and the psychic Second Foundation being drawn into a conflict revolving around the mysterious planet Gaia, with the fate of the galaxy at stake. There are no space battles, or exciting things like that, just politics and space exploration. This is hard sci-fi, by one of the masters, and if you're into that sort of thing it's a series you really ought to read.
Showing posts with label Thunderbolts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thunderbolts. Show all posts
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015
All The Things I Did: 20th February 2015
Another week, another lot of things I read, played, watched and listened to. As always, they're ranked from worst to best.
WORST: The Walking Dead season 5, episode 2: This wasn't exactly bad; it's still quite a well put together piece of television. I'm just getting bored with the whole enterprise. There's only so much I can take of the characters killing zombies and being depressed. I also had to dock it some serious points for the moment where Rick declares that "we are the walking dead". THANKS MATE, I HADN'T NOTICED THE SUBTEXT.
Thunderbolts #1-11 (2012 series) by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon: The Red Hulk has gathered some of Marvel's most ruthless characters (Deadpool, Elektra, the Punisher, Venom), and together they're taking on arms dealers in the Middle East and south-east Asia. This book is really flat. Daniel Way has assembled a cast of strong, silent types (except for Deadpool, but even he's a little bit subdued) and the result is a book seriously lacking in empathy and character interaction. The plot is tedious, the villains barely have a presence in the story at all, and Way keeps to his usual sluggish pace. Steve Dillon is the only saving grace, and I really wish that he would stop doing books with Daniel Way.
Resurrection season 2, episodes 7 to 10: Things are starting to happen, although there's still far too much time spent on the cast talking about their feelings. Still, on the whole I'm mildly engaged with it, although I am trepidatious about the religious iconography that's starting to take over. Given the subject matter I expected it earlier, but the show has mercifully held off. Now we're getting a sinister preacher and plagues of locusts, and I expect that the biblical overtones will only grow stronger. I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
Pretties for You and Easy Action by Alice Cooper: In my ongoing quest to find more things like David Bowie, I've turned to the other great rock persona of the early 1970s, Alice Cooper. As it turns out, the original Alice Cooper was not just a bloke but a whole band. Their first two albums are unfocused and a bit wild, with a hint of psychedelia thrown in. They're fun, but they're also a bit of a mess. There are hints of the 'sinister rock fairground' approach that Cooper would take in later albums, but it's not quite there yet.
WWE Raw episode 1,134: This is the last episode before the Fast Lane pay-per-view, with the focus mostly on building the rivalry between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. There's some strange storytelling going on here. Both of these characters are supposed to be good guys, but with this current feud they're both acting like massive tools to each other. By the end, though, they had me buying how much they want to beat the hell out of each other, so good job even though it's not clear who the audience is supposed to support. The rest of the segments were a mixed bag, with the Seth Rollins/Dolph Ziggler match probably being the highlight.
Love It To Death by Alice Cooper: The third album by Alice Cooper sheds the psychedelia in favour of short, focused rock songs, and it's altogether a stronger effort than their first two. There aren't any stand-out tracks, but the album hangs together nicely, and it's starting to sound like the Alice Cooper that I recognise.
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle: I've started reading the Sherlock Holmes books, and this is the first. It's a solid mystery story, and Holmes is a fascinating character from the start. I question the structure of the book, though. The first half features Holmes and Watson investigating and solving a murder involving Mormons, and then the second half veers off into a flashback about said Mormons and the build-up to the murder. I can understand why Doyle wrote it this way: he needed to present the murder as a righteous one, and to do that the reader needed to be shown what led to it. But the result is that Holmes is absent for about six chapters, and I found myself impatient to return to him. Sometimes the needs of the reader trump the needs of the narrative, I'm afraid.
Cyclops (2014 series) #1-5 by Greg Rucka and Russell Dauterman: This series follows the young version of Cyclops, who has discovered that his long-lost father is alive, and a space pirate. The heart of the book is the touching father-son relationship, but there's plenty of space adventure to go around as well. Greg Rucka is incapable of writing a bad comic, and Dauterman is a great find on the art. It's a warm, fun book that never loses sight of the human story beneath all of the crazy alien shenanigans.
Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper: This is the band's sixth album, and considered by many to be the best. I'll echo that, because it really is a top-notch rock album. Cooper's theatrics are in full effect, and the result is operatic and subversively tongue-in-cheek. To be honest, the rebelliousness and shock tactics are kind of quaint, but they're always charming.
Daredevil (2011 series) #22-36 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee: Waid's amazing run on Daredevil continues, barely losing steam at all as it enters its third year. I said it last time, but it bears repeating: this is the best superhero comic of the last five years. The pay-off for the first two years is a storyline with Bullseye that goes to some intense, disturbing places without ever compromising the lighter tone of the book. The run concludes with a story about the Sons of the Serpent, basically the Marvel equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan, and their infiltration of the New York justice system. The finale is surprising, and takes the character in an interesting new direction. I can't wait to get to the next volume.
BEST: Tardis Eruditorum by Philip Sandifer: I almost forget this, because I haven't been writing about other blogs here, but this is one of the best. Tardis Eruditorum is ostensibly a chronological journey through the fifty year history of Doctor Who, but it's so much more than that. It's also a lens into British politics and society of the late 20th century and early 21st, with digressions into alchemy and radicalism and so many other things. It's a masterful piece of work, and easily the best long-form blog I've ever read. The final post went up during the week, and it's a doozy: a 100,000 word history of Doctor Who as a whole. I'd recommend, though, that any Doctor Who fan go right to the beginning and take it from there. It's really that good. (And yes Phil, if you ever track this back here I admit that I totally stole the worst-to-best format from your comic reviews. Mea culpa.)
WORST: The Walking Dead season 5, episode 2: This wasn't exactly bad; it's still quite a well put together piece of television. I'm just getting bored with the whole enterprise. There's only so much I can take of the characters killing zombies and being depressed. I also had to dock it some serious points for the moment where Rick declares that "we are the walking dead". THANKS MATE, I HADN'T NOTICED THE SUBTEXT.
Thunderbolts #1-11 (2012 series) by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon: The Red Hulk has gathered some of Marvel's most ruthless characters (Deadpool, Elektra, the Punisher, Venom), and together they're taking on arms dealers in the Middle East and south-east Asia. This book is really flat. Daniel Way has assembled a cast of strong, silent types (except for Deadpool, but even he's a little bit subdued) and the result is a book seriously lacking in empathy and character interaction. The plot is tedious, the villains barely have a presence in the story at all, and Way keeps to his usual sluggish pace. Steve Dillon is the only saving grace, and I really wish that he would stop doing books with Daniel Way.
Resurrection season 2, episodes 7 to 10: Things are starting to happen, although there's still far too much time spent on the cast talking about their feelings. Still, on the whole I'm mildly engaged with it, although I am trepidatious about the religious iconography that's starting to take over. Given the subject matter I expected it earlier, but the show has mercifully held off. Now we're getting a sinister preacher and plagues of locusts, and I expect that the biblical overtones will only grow stronger. I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
Pretties for You and Easy Action by Alice Cooper: In my ongoing quest to find more things like David Bowie, I've turned to the other great rock persona of the early 1970s, Alice Cooper. As it turns out, the original Alice Cooper was not just a bloke but a whole band. Their first two albums are unfocused and a bit wild, with a hint of psychedelia thrown in. They're fun, but they're also a bit of a mess. There are hints of the 'sinister rock fairground' approach that Cooper would take in later albums, but it's not quite there yet.
WWE Raw episode 1,134: This is the last episode before the Fast Lane pay-per-view, with the focus mostly on building the rivalry between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. There's some strange storytelling going on here. Both of these characters are supposed to be good guys, but with this current feud they're both acting like massive tools to each other. By the end, though, they had me buying how much they want to beat the hell out of each other, so good job even though it's not clear who the audience is supposed to support. The rest of the segments were a mixed bag, with the Seth Rollins/Dolph Ziggler match probably being the highlight.
Love It To Death by Alice Cooper: The third album by Alice Cooper sheds the psychedelia in favour of short, focused rock songs, and it's altogether a stronger effort than their first two. There aren't any stand-out tracks, but the album hangs together nicely, and it's starting to sound like the Alice Cooper that I recognise.
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle: I've started reading the Sherlock Holmes books, and this is the first. It's a solid mystery story, and Holmes is a fascinating character from the start. I question the structure of the book, though. The first half features Holmes and Watson investigating and solving a murder involving Mormons, and then the second half veers off into a flashback about said Mormons and the build-up to the murder. I can understand why Doyle wrote it this way: he needed to present the murder as a righteous one, and to do that the reader needed to be shown what led to it. But the result is that Holmes is absent for about six chapters, and I found myself impatient to return to him. Sometimes the needs of the reader trump the needs of the narrative, I'm afraid.
Cyclops (2014 series) #1-5 by Greg Rucka and Russell Dauterman: This series follows the young version of Cyclops, who has discovered that his long-lost father is alive, and a space pirate. The heart of the book is the touching father-son relationship, but there's plenty of space adventure to go around as well. Greg Rucka is incapable of writing a bad comic, and Dauterman is a great find on the art. It's a warm, fun book that never loses sight of the human story beneath all of the crazy alien shenanigans.
Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper: This is the band's sixth album, and considered by many to be the best. I'll echo that, because it really is a top-notch rock album. Cooper's theatrics are in full effect, and the result is operatic and subversively tongue-in-cheek. To be honest, the rebelliousness and shock tactics are kind of quaint, but they're always charming.
Daredevil (2011 series) #22-36 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee: Waid's amazing run on Daredevil continues, barely losing steam at all as it enters its third year. I said it last time, but it bears repeating: this is the best superhero comic of the last five years. The pay-off for the first two years is a storyline with Bullseye that goes to some intense, disturbing places without ever compromising the lighter tone of the book. The run concludes with a story about the Sons of the Serpent, basically the Marvel equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan, and their infiltration of the New York justice system. The finale is surprising, and takes the character in an interesting new direction. I can't wait to get to the next volume.
BEST: Tardis Eruditorum by Philip Sandifer: I almost forget this, because I haven't been writing about other blogs here, but this is one of the best. Tardis Eruditorum is ostensibly a chronological journey through the fifty year history of Doctor Who, but it's so much more than that. It's also a lens into British politics and society of the late 20th century and early 21st, with digressions into alchemy and radicalism and so many other things. It's a masterful piece of work, and easily the best long-form blog I've ever read. The final post went up during the week, and it's a doozy: a 100,000 word history of Doctor Who as a whole. I'd recommend, though, that any Doctor Who fan go right to the beginning and take it from there. It's really that good. (And yes Phil, if you ever track this back here I admit that I totally stole the worst-to-best format from your comic reviews. Mea culpa.)
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