Providing Reviews, Previews, and Columns...covering my favorite forms of entertainment including Graphic Novels, TPBs, and Books. Television and Movies. Wrestling and Ultimate Fighting (UFC).
The LowDown: Madrox is forced to make a decision on X-factor's role in the Civil War and X-factor comes head to head with Singularity Investigations.
Review: The first year of Peter David's run on X-factor comes to a close.
This volume is decidedly different in tone than the first volume. While the first volume had a very neo-noirish feel, tone, and look, was more street level, and character enhancing, most of this volume is spent forwarding the major plotlines of the book: Investigations on the Decimation, and arch-rivals Tryp, Tryp, and Tryp from Singularity Investigations.
Don't get me wrong there are some character moments, Siryn's comes face to face with the death of her father and decides to deal with it in a way that is obviously a parody on how comic books deaths don't mean anything and at the same time, says a lot about the character's dysfunctions. Peter David is pushing Siryn to the brink, and it's not a good thing for Siryn to be a recovering alcoholic during this period in her life. It shows strength that she doesn't succumb by drinking but it also shows weakness in how she does end up coping with her father's death and her recent assault.
Also Peter David forces Madrox into finally fulfilling responsibilities as leader of X-factor and making tough choices. The plot about investigating M-Day/Decimation really leads to the awesome moment of Madrox taking the reigns of leadership, confronting the X-men, and then making a decision on the Registration Act. Madrox's issues relate very well to the issues of a twenty something male and female, trying to make life decisions, dealing with relationship issues and consequences of drunken behavior. It also doesn't provide any easy answers for any of these issues. Ultimately, that's why Madrox is such a compelling character, it's because he's an unlikely hero, he's a torn hero, and overall he's human, and like most humans he doesn't know how to deal with his life and makes mistakes along the way.
The plot really comes to the forefront in the last three issues of this volume, as all the build-up to a confrontation with Singularity Investigations reaches a boiling point. There's lots of twists and turns here, with SI using one of X-factor's own members as a spy, the consequences of victimization, lots of mysteries are revealed, and while conclusive in terms of this arc, it's all built on a large grand scale story that will pan out over the next few years. And really all of it builds out of House of M as well. Peter David really messes with the X-men ethos, playing with both the fears of mutants and humans, often turning the fears of mutant concentration camps onto the humans. Also David going beyond the traditional, homo-sapien and homo-superior introducing new species into the fold. It's all rather plot driven, but it's also really fun because it builds out of the original ideas and themes and twists them around a bit to make them seem fresh again.
Conclusion: While a little slower and a little weaker in terms of character's pushing the action, it's got a chock full of plot, the plot moves forward, there are still SOME quiet moments, and it's still a ton of fun.
Lowdown: Following the events of Madrox and the events of House of M, these issues catch up with the new team at X-factor detective agency and inclusion of new members M, Siryn, and Rictor along with old favorites Strong Guy, Wolfsbane (Rahne), and everyone's favorite detective, Madrox, the Multiple Man. The new team tries to find out the secret behind the decimation, dealing with violent fallouts in Mutant Town, and elite corporate crime.
Review:
Marvel has been getting a lot of slack lately for huge crossover events that eat away at every book for months and then letting the book go back to whatever they were doing before. Peter David took these cross-over events and instead of making his book weaker, it made it stronger. Case in point this book is one of the only books I've seen that deal with the events from House of M, M-day, "No More Mutants," and Decimation head-on all the while juggling his larger X-factor only plot. I always felt that Peter David's X-Factor has been the most new reader friendly and even though it has cross-over material, it explains pretty much everything you need to know in it's self-contained little corner. Ultimately it doesn't hinder this book, not in the least. It's a different method that really works for this book. I can't imagine it working for A-list or even B-list characters though.
As for this particular book, Peter David takes the technique he used in Madrox and improves upon it. There's multiple plotlines in this book: there's the fallout from M-day, the first couple of conflicts involving Singularity Investigations, the first case for X-factor, and the gathering of the new team. The biggest thing is that Peter David weaves all these plots and all the characters in and out so seamlessly, there's no distinct A Plot, B Plot, C Plot, it's all one big masterful weaving. Characters move from plot to plot and it feels much like real life, for example, Guido is involved in the Singularity plot in the beginning and later is dealing with riots in Mutant Town. Also the characters don't feel like they're fighting for page time, it's a 7 man team, and yet all the characters get their due.
As for the characters themselves, we've been over at how great of a character I think Madrox is in Peter David's hands. Yet Peter David works in this theme of identity that's so clear in Madrox's character with some of his new characters as well. Rictor, an ex-mutant, deals with the sudden loss of his powers and thus in a way his identity, his connection to the world, and his individuality. Layla Miller, a plot device in House of M, begins a journey to a full character in this series, although much of her identity is "that she knows stuff" but the consequences of this "knowing stuff" is explored here, making her a deeper character than first glance. She's a little girl with huge power in her hands and this has tremendous impact on her psyche. Layla Miller is still shrouded in mystery at this point, but it adds to her character, to the mystery of M-day that X-factor is trying to figure out, and to the plot. Plus it at times makes her downright scary.
Madrox is still at odds with himself and still takes the lead role in this book, mainly because any time there is narration, it's Madrox doing it. All the characters are great in this book and Peter David doesn't really have any trouble finding their voices. There's no real stumbles here and the dialogue is excellent and very clever, at times. All the new characters to the team are welcome editions and each one brings something new to the table.
As for the plot, Peter David doesn't seem to be writing this book for the Trade, while yes, the first major arc is contained in this trade in that it is "the longest night" and everything occurs with in 24 hours. The first major arc is that the first case involving a conflict with SI and SI's actor client as well as the riots in Mutant Town, yes these are resolved, but the larger plots of M-day consequences and Singularity Investigations conflict is still at large, making the entire series seem more fluid. There's a greater story at work here and Peter David reveals it in little steps at a time.
Along with the lots of themes of identity, there's the age-old racism theme in terms of the ex-mutants and how people react to them, there's a theme of consequences for actions in terms of Layla Miller, and there's also a lot of noir, mystery in this book that Peter David plays with but a lot more seriously than his parodied version in Madrox.
There's a stand-out issue only involving Rictor, Siryn, and an ex-mutant outcast. It's got great elements of horror throughout, and it can actually be terrifying to see how much damage M-day has done to certain people who don't know how to cope. There's various reactions, Madrox runs into a person that's happy about losing their powers, there's of course Rictor's reaction, and then there's this guy. It's an excellent issue that really puts the reader on edge. Also the final issue dealing with Layla Miller, who she is, where she's from, and what she can do is also rather great. Strong Guy has a great section where he stands up to Rictor who is bullying Layla with his accusations. Those are probably my two favorite issues of this trade.
Conclusion: This a really strong book, and even if you don't check out Madrox (which you should), this is also a good place to start. After this book, David begins to build his large story, and it could be easy to get lost. But this is a great introduction to all the characters.
Collects: Madrox miniseries #1-5 The Lowdown: Who is Jamie Madrox? Stabbed staggering off the bus, one of his wayward duplicates brings a mystery that Jamie must solve.
Review: What would you do if you could go every direction at once? How would you piece together who you are if you can be everything? This is what Peter David begins to explore as he returns to the characters he made famous in the 90s.
While this miniseries is mostly about Madrox, the Multiple Man, it also acts as a prelude and reemergence of the X-factor book by bring in supporting characters Wolfsbane and Strong Guy as well.
The mood and artistic style of the story takes many cues from the noir film style and follows the footsteps of the crime comic surge that has been taking place. It also parodies this noir style all the same. Peter David often satirizes the noir style to great comedic effect. Speaking of comedic, this book is very much in vein of that comedic style as it doesn't take itself too seriously. Even in the 90's series, Peter David had a great balance of the comedy and the serious themes he tries to portray.
In this miniseries and later in the X-factor series, Peter David emphasizes the theme of identity. It's most obvious with the title character, Madrox, who could also be considered the lead character in the main series, as he tries to discover who he really is and who he wants to be. Madrox's dupes often show conflict with each other and the real Madrox, and it's a show of understanding by David about the human mind. We often have multiple parts of ourselves, and argue within ourselves about what decision to make, what direction we should take, who we are, and who we want to be. It's a constant struggle within our mind. And Madrox represents that, Madrox is the character representation of our mind. Throughout this story, Madrox shows how strong our inner conflict can be, and how fluid our identities can be. All at the same time Madrox is trying to hide his insecurity, and sometimes outright depression by cracking wise (through jokes and humor).
There are two plots in this particular book, the A-plot sees Madrox, the real one, try to solve the mystery behind the murder of one of his dupes. This plot is where most of the fun is, where a lot of the noir cues take place, and there's a ton of momentum up to the ending. The ending itself and the final reveal is hackneyed and ridiculous but still plays up the theme of "identity," and who people really are. That's really the only issue I have with it, overall the story is quite clever, there's great twists, even at the end, and allows some development in Madrox, the man, as well as Madrox, the hero (I wouldn't say superhero as he's more of a Humphrey Bogart than a Clark Kent).
The B-plot has Madrox, a dupe, Wolfsbane, and Guido being hired by a woman who thinks her husband has been cheating on him and also dealing with Madrox being a target. The B-plot isn't nearly as fun as the A-plot, there's still all the fun dialogue, but most of it feels like a distraction. Guido and Wolfsbane are great characters, and this is just their way of trying to reintroduce those characters without taking too much time away from the main character. Not much development but more of a reintroduction of who Wolfsbane and Guido are, Guido is the dumb, loud muscle and Wolfbane is the morally and religiously conflicted because of her mutant powers and her mutant identity. It's still fun just not quite as fun.
Overall: This is an excellent reintroduction to the characters and a flash of what's to come. Definitely recommended for anybody who's interested in mutants, or crime novels with some pep. Later on though, the book becomes more superhero and less noir. So keep that in mind.
So I finished the first season way back in November, and I'm just getting around to posting it on the blog now. I'll probably do some kind of Season 1 Review, reviewing the season as a whole but for now, here were my thoughts when I watched the episodes at the time.
Episode 13: Kinetic - Really didn't like this episode much. The washed out athletes with tatoos were pretty annoying throughout the episode and really their dumb as rocks to pull off any kind of scheme. It's more of the same, super-powered kryptonite villains do things, threaten people, Clark saves them. The only good thing about this episode is that it builds Whitney a bit more, as now he's lost his scholarship and kind of a defeated teen who feels like he'll fall into the same fate as his old man. 6/10
Episode 14: Zero - This was a rather cool episode as it kind of shows everybody having something to hide, gives more insight into the type of man Lex has been, Lex's past and the trouble he's caused (although all of it with noble intentions). The mystery behind the dead man is a lame deus ex machina, cop out and it's disappointing after they've built such intriguing mysteries. 7.5/10
Episode 15: Nicodemus - I really liked this episode, what could have easily been a throw-away episode is a great study on what happens when emotions are uncontrolled. It allows some of the cutesy characters in the series be bad for an episode and it looks like they're having a blast doing it. Everybody does a great job here, and it's a really fun episode all the way around with some interesting insight into some of the deeper feelings of the characters. Lex also got some development as he is always been smirky, and sneaky, but never a bold-faced liar, he was one in this episode to Clark no less. The climax between those two was rather intense and an absolute fantastic scene. 8.5
Episode 16: Stray - Another solid episode that doesn't feel too formulaic, it's slow but all the interactions are pretty good, the comparisons between Clark and the Stray are plentiful, and the relationship that the two build felt genuine. But overall, the show is spinning it's wheels, the characters are still not really developing and I feel a very circular motion going on and I usually vomit from those types of rides. 7/10
Episode 17: Reaper - Really...Smallville takes on assisted suicide, REALLY! The villain in this episode is really just terrible. The biggest situation is that this issue takes up most of episode, the only thing that keeps these bad episodes a float is the political machinations in Lex's storyline. The differences in the father/son relationships throughout this season between Lionel/Lex, John/Clark are fucking fascinating and it's explored a bit here, as well as the John Kent and Lex non-relationship.
Episode 18: Drone - Oh My Goodness, huge leaps in logic here. A girl gets stung by lots of bees she MUST be the Queen Bee now. The FUCK? The class president Clark Kent campaign is actually really fun as he searches for slogans and becomes popular, but the main plot is garbage. Again the only thing keeping these bad episodes afloat are the Lex storyline, here Lex deals with a reporter trying to slander his name. It's a good thing Lex isn't in the high-school because then he'd get caught up in these stupid ass main plots where crazy meteor induced teens go on a rampage. He's kind of on the fringe in his storylines and it's fun to watch him there.
Episode 19: Crush - After the last two episodes, this villain doesn't seem half-bad. He's got legitimate gripes with certain people but his penchant for revenge is just too consuming. The Clark/Chloe relationship gets pushed to the front, and it seems all too quick, sure they were hinting at it throughout the season, but it seems like they skipped a gear somewhere along the way. We go from 3rd to 6th gear here and it's kind of an awkward but nice change of pace as the mid-season was kind of dull to be honest. It's not a great episode but it's a good one as we finally see some progress.
Episode 20: Obscura - This is actually an interesting plot and it feels closer to home as Lana is the one who gets meteor induced powers this time around. Chloe is the one who gets in trouble, and it all just feels closer to Clark rather than some student who goes crazy who happens to be Clark's tutor. Here it's all real, and it's all happening to people Clark cares about. Also it's nice not to get a meteor induced villain for once.
Episode 21: Tempest - I hate cliffhangers as season finales. It's okay to cliffhang some things, but the season should have a clear theme and closure every or at least every other season. Instead Smallville leaves everybody on a to be continued basis and it grinds my gears... Outside of that, Lionel Luthor is awesome, he's been awesome in his sporadic appearances all season and he's a great ploy to Lex. Clark, Chloe, Lana, and Whitney are all left up in the air in terms of relationships and for Lana in terms of safety. See it's okay to have Lex/Lionel tension that's perfect type of cliffhanger, it's okay to have uncertainty for all kinds of relationships, it's great to have this guy following them around trying to discover what's really going on, it's great to have the spaceship come to life, that's all great stuff, but to throw a couple of twisters into the mix, fucking stupid. You should have twister thing ended, and all the other stuff left in the air. That's really how you should have ended the season. Frustrating, but really excited all the same.
Collects: Vol. 1 - X-factor 71-75; Vol. 2 - X-factor #76-78 and Incredible Hulk #390-392, Vol. 3 - X-factor 79-83 and Annual #7, X-factor 84-89 and Annual #8. The Can of Mayo: The government puts together a mutant hero team to dispel the negative rumors, and give mutants a public and positive force to rely on.
Making Duplicates:
This is the first run by Peter David, and it's the first time Madrox (Multiple Man), Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, and Quicksilver are brought together on a team along with Havok and Polaris in these early 90's exploits. This run cam out at a time when the mutants were being over-exploited, and this run was a nice change of pace as this version of the X-factor team worked for the government, had some semblance of deepness in their personality, and was gag central.
Peter David's entire original run is collected in four Visionary trades. This run is still very wrapped up in 90's ambiance, artistic style, storylines, and superheroics, but it's still also very fun. David does a nice job of balancing the superheroic adventures with the the drama that usually comes along with a mutant book, all the while pushing the comedic aspect of his particular team. Each character is typically well-defined, with their own personality traits and each team member adds to the team.
As for the books themselves, they're some decent collections, in the initial volume, you can tell that David had some issues with the nailing each member's voice. They kind of blend in all together, but in later issues, David has nailed each one of the characters. Yet still the first volume isn't the weakest, the fourth volume is the weakest. And that's only because most of that volume contains parts from a large X-universe crossover, X-cutioner's song. David isn't allowed to stay off in his little corner of the world with just his team, he's forced to deal with the crossover and these issues suffer for it...BIG TIME.
Overall the plots are often just big very 90's-esque adventures, Mutanthood Liberation Front, Cyber, Mr. Sinister, The Nasty Boys, and other random villains make appearances in these plots. The themes hit though are more impressive, Peter David often deals with themes such as war, genetics, identity issues, emotional rages, bullying, parenting, relationships, among others. They're so subtle in this book that they just seem like natural parts of the plot. The most risque plot and probably my favorite arc of the run is the Hulk crossover that deals with a war situation very reminiscent of current Middle Eastern events, Iraq and Israel/Palestine come to mind.
Some of my favorite issues include issue 76 (also part of the Hulk crossover) that deals with feminism and Rahne's animalistic changes and issue 87 (the best issue of the entire run) that's a psychology evaluation of the entire team.
No More Dupes: The books are a really fun ride, it's not the greatest run overall, and it takes a bit for David to gets his grasp over every one, but it really gets good with some great themes and subtext being touched upon throughout the run and some great HA-HA's for some relief. I'd recommend it to anybody who is at least a little bit interested in the earlier adventures of the X-factor team. It's a great background on the characters, and it sets me up for a read of the current X-factor run which is a blast of a series.
In case you're new to this, this is a running Smallville diary. That means, that I'm watching Smallville for the first time, and keeping a diary of my thoughts on the show. I had heard a lot about the show for many years now, but never bothered to check it out. Until Now....
Episode 9: Rogue
I really like this episode as they really make Clark see the consequences of his consistent use of his powers. Even at one point it's a throw away line reference to his other life-saving events, it still makes me giddy that the show knows somebody would put the pieces together.
Again, like much of the earlier episodes, this episode makes me think of X-men just due to the comparisons of hiding your powers and not being seen in order to be normal. It's got a great character building scene with Kent's father as he does everything he can to try and protect his son.
Clark takes after his father's lesson and does everything to protect his family. You can see the strong moral compass being built as Clark goes through these dilemmas. Also I really liked that they touched on Clark's want to kill the villain. It really makes Clark seem flawed and it works because he isn't Superman yet, he's still got to work out the kinks, especially in cases where the villain gets close to his heart. It's not just random civilians the villain is threatening it's his family. We know all superheros become emotional when their family is involved (I mean look at Spider-man, he made a deal with the devil just to save his dying Aunt).
Lex moves closer to find out the truth about Clark which is interesting but his interaction with Victoria Hardwick was really not, they tried to make it see like an exciting corporate game of cat and mouse but it was far from exciting.
Finally the C-story of Chloe losing her job as School Paper editor was really a nice piece of character building, very highschool-ish but considering that they are in high-school, it works. It gives Chloe more screen time, shows more of the true feelings that Chloe has for Clark, and Lana now realizes it, I think. Meaning that Clark will probably be hooking up with Chloe before Lana because of Lana's sincerity.
Three very separate stories with very little thematic connection this time around. But still one of the more entertaining and well-paced episodes yet, with a villain who doesn't have powers. That's a few good episodes in a row...we'll see if they can keep it up.
8.0
Episode 10: Shimmer
This episode is all based around a single mystery, it's not the greatest mystery ever, but did you really expect it to be.
This is a very Season 1 Buffy-type episode, and actually the concept is very similar to one of the episodes from that show. The invisible teenager is also the teenager who is the least known, the most quiet and as they say it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. It's predictable but it's not too predictable.
Anyways, the main issue here and the more interesting issue, is the stuff that has to do with Clark, as always. Clark shows himself to be a better man than Whitney, by sacrificing his own feelings for Lana in order to help her repair her relationship with Whitney. In the end, Whitney isn't a bad guy, he's a pretty typical jock, kind of immature. Clark is just morally better, and an all around idealist. His ideals and his devotion to these ideals are what is so interesting in this episode. Even with his best friend telling him that he'd make the moves, but he's not Clark, and that's why he likes Clark so much, Clark still makes the tough decision and moves on.
The rest of the plot, the villain plot really isn't that interesting, sure it gives us more insight into Lex but it's still kind of bland, and been there done that.
7.0
Episode 11: Hug
This episode is my least favorite on the disc but it's still not quite as bad as earlier episodes and I can't remember much of it. It's just that the concept is a bit bland. It's a very environmentalism heavy episode. It's a very business dealings heavy episode (which is fine when it deals with Lex, but I don't really care that much outside of him). It's just kind of boring.
Until the climax. Uzi's, Clark vs. gun, and Chloe kissing Clark (okay maybe that last one doesn't happen in the climax), but there's some awesome moments in the climax and the action scene of the episode.
In terms of themes, we see something that'll come up in the very next episode but just executed so poorly it's barely even noticeable, two people having the same power and using them in different ways. Why is it not noticeable, well, it has very little relevance on Clark or any of the other main characters, it's all based on the one-off characters we'll see only in this episode. So we kind of go over it in passing. And we forget.
Most of the episode though is just bland. Whitney boohoos about Clark causes problems with Lana/Clark friendship, and it's all wrapped up kind of stupidly and nonsensically. I didn't like this episode.
6
Episode 12: Leech
This episode has some great thematic relevance but the plot devices used to get there are just implemented so poorly...lightning really...REALLY!
First the bad stuff, LIGHTNING can apparently strip you of your powers and change your DNA, which is what happens to Clark here. He switches DNA with a normal person, and he in fact become normal. I can't stress this enough, LIGHTNING makes people switch DNA. It's stupid. The normal kid gets Clark's powers and deals with bullies, and unforgiving parents.
Anyways, once that is out of the way, we see Clark get to enjoy normal life. There's some interesting notes on identity and the use of power to establish identity. The coolest difference is to see what Clark does with his powers, responsible, life-saving actions compared to the other teenager who uses his powers for personal gain and to crush adversity (not unlike a certain friend of Clark's). Clark sums it up quite well on why the two are so different, Clark's parents. The other big difference is in how the public view the two, because of Clark's carefulness in hiding he's never seen as a freak or an experiment, even though his parent's know, they still treat him as their son. The other student never felt treated like a son, never felt loved, and thus is seen as an opportunity for research by his father, and a freak by his mother. That really is the difference in how the two end up using their powers.
Unfortunately the climax could/should have been interesting as a normal Clark takes on the powered student, but it just uses the stupid plot device to get everything back to normal. It's stupid and lame. And really puts a dent on an episode that has lots of fun thematic relevance.
7.5
Halfway through the season and I fell a bit of mid-season slump. It's still fluffy entertainment, and really, the quicker Season 1's constant one-off plots end, the better.
In case you're new to this, this is a running Smallville diary. That means, that I'm watching Smallville for the first time, and keeping a diary of my thoughts on the show. I had heard a lot about the show for many years now, but never bothered to check it out. Until Now....
Episode 5: Cool
Another villain of the week...this time he has the power of freeze! This time the metaphor is for somebody who is basically a man-whore. It's basically using the cold as the way certain men may treat women as only sexual objects. Either way, the villains are still kind of just there. At least, Kryptonite isn't sitting around at the opportune time before the fight, instead, like many of the other power villains, he's received his powers due to it.
It's a really weak episode and they tackle a plot-line I didn't care too much about, the Kent farm storyline, although it does get Lex involved more in the Kent's lives and involves more business like matters which is what Lex becomes a mastermind at. Overall though I wasn't a fan of that plot thread. The better plot was the one that had to do with sacrifice for Clark. Lana wants to spend time with Clark, but Clark is caught in a very Peter Parker-like scenario, doing good in the world or being with the special someone. Clark ultimately decides he needs to use his gifts and goes off to be the do-gooder at the upsetting of Lana. Like I said, very Peter Parker like scenario. I expect this to be a theme throughout the season if not longer, Clark's moral responsibility coming in the way of his wanting to be with Lana, friends or family even. It's not a half bad idea, and they've already established that Clark feels responsible for a lot of the bad that's happening and going to happen. It helps sets up the self-sacrifice we see from Superman.
Also getting more of a spotlight this episode is Chloe, who gets to show more depth that the regular super-reporter side. She shows that much like the rest of the town she's quite much like a normal girl, despite her strong, smart front. She also is capable of vulnerability and she is even willing to give a well-known douchebag a chance.
Still most of the plot is spent with ICE-Raper, and it's not that great.
Like the earlier episodes, it falls to the typical, boring villain plot, good character plot. When it finally meshes, the scores will go higher. But until then this show is still getting crappy scores.
6/10
Episode 6: Hourglass
The first episode that really combined all the elements excellently. The whole story follows an overall theme of time. The villain is stuck in the past, the old woman can see the future, and everybody else has to deal with the consequences of the past and future clashing into the present when they don't belong (the villain) and/or are not ready to deal with it (the future, especially with Lex).
First off, the coolest thing about this episode are the visions of the future that the audience gets. Lex doesn't believe in prophecy and feel an individual can create their future, Clark believes in prophecy but doesn't what likes what he sees and works to change it. The villain is another one of those elemental villains that we've been seeing lately, but it works just fine because it doesn't overpower and overwhelm the strength of the character story being told here.
Even the villain is kind of creepy, from how things are played out when he's just an old-man to later. It's fits very much into how we view different age groups, the pesky, vile, evil teenagers, and the innocent, respectable, old men. Imagine if the teenagers are just a little bit younger, they'd be innocent again. The circle of life.
I really liked this episode, and it's easily the best episode yet. 8.5/10
Episode 7: Craving -
From one of the best episodes yet, to one of the worst. This is a case where the villain does overpower the story. The whole story is about the villain with really crappy effects, and really an annoying character. It's obvious they're trying to throw a theme against eating disorders and poor self-image, but it's just so heavy handed that it's kind of been there, done that.
The stuff in terms of Lex, Lana, and Clark still moves along quite well. But it's all a blur because much of the time we're watching the villain go on a spree. The plot needs to pick up soon, like I said the villains of the week can only last so long.
I really liked Lex's machinations this week, he's making an assertive effort to find the truth behind the happenings of Smallville and Clark himself. He's also constantly positioning himself in a favorable position by helping Clark, but at the same time, only as a way to know the truth. It's very fun to watch him wheel and deal in the background.
Still incredibly poor episode 5/10.
Episode 8: Jitters
First off, the jitters effect wasn't scary, it was hilarious. Laughably bad.
Second this episode breaks away from the norm: it's got a villain who's not really a villain, and the "not really a villain" is an adult this time around. It's refreshing to see that not all the villains are teenagers, and it's also good to throw in a sympathetic villain who is also a victim of circumstance and desperation. Also the villain's connection to Clark and the Kent family is more believable than it has been in the past (a study buddy in Cravings, and random jock that he goes to school with that's macking on Chloe in Cool). The villains story does take up a lot of time because it's the main story of the episode, sure there's some humorous filler early on about Clark throwing a party while his parents are away, but it's just that filler.
The rest of the episode is Earl Jenkins asking for help and trying to find out what is wrong with him and his disease's connection to Luthor Corp Testing. The idea of desperation is the kind of the main connection in this episode, Lionel is desperate to diffuse the situation and not have any negative press, Lex is desperate to be better than his father at any cost, Clark is desperate to help his friend, the Kent's are desperate to get their boy out. It shows how such a thing can escalate very very quickly. It also compares the relationship between Clark and his family to Lex and his father.
Outside of the filler, it's a pretty good episode, although some of the acting and the jitter effects are laughably bad.
7.5
So far the show can be incredibly frustrating, but I've enjoyed it because it's light fluffy entertainment which is something that I need right now. Eventually, I'll need more from this series...but the first season is always the hardest as they find their legs. Like I said this season reminds me a lot of Buffy Season 1.
Since I've never seen the show, like at all, and I don't want to run into a whole bunch of spoilers in the other thread (SPOILER....CLARK LIVES!), I'll put it in here where I'll keep a running diary of my thoughts on Smallville.
First off I should say, I have very little knowledge of Superman and most of it is the little crossovers he's had with Batman in Hush and Dark Knight Returns, the Batman animated series, and his own series of films. I really liked the first two, never watched the second two, and I thought Returns was boring. Overall in the first two, some of it was a little goofy and there's more gags in the second, but I still liked them. They're entertaining stories, and the first one has an absolutely awesome origin.
I only recently watched the older Superman films, I never got into the character because frankly, I find the character to be rather dull, his rogues list is almost non-existent, and frankly I don't like how invincible he is. So this is my mind-frame coming into this show.
I watched the first two episodes last night:
Episode 1: Pilot, Episode 2: Metamorphisis -
It's funny that they couldn't even give a title, I guess the title of the pilot is Smallville.
I really enjoyed the opening scene. Outside of the special effects being rather low-budget, (I almost laughed when I saw Lana's parents get crushed), the scene really helps portray what seems like a theme throughout much of the first season (Clark's arrival caused a lot of strange and sometimes tragic things to happen in Smallville). We get an introduction to the adults of the series and subsequently an origin (in a way) of the three young'ns, main characters, of the series.
The rest of the series reminds me of a mix of X-men and early Buffy. Clark right off the bat has two friends in high-school who immediately remind me of Xander and Willow. They have this scene where there is a ton of exposition and the wall of weird in the background. The high-school setting, of course, and the superpowers, of course remind me a lot of that. Although Buffy had much better dialogue and wasn't so ham-handed as it is here, at times. Overall it's still enjoyable I just hope that some of the speechy, melodramatic Dawson's Creek elements will be toned down a bit.
As for the X-men comparison, I'm talking about the way Clark wants to be normal, he really does act like a younger mutant, a teenager with powers, would. It's a completely different impression than I had of Superman before. I always viewed Superman as who he is, comfortable in the suit, comfortable with his powers, comfortable with his position in life and Clark as the disguise. Here, we see that Clark kind of who he is, and with the help of his parents, especially his father in these episodes, and through his life he will develop a Superman aura, identity, along with the strong moral compass. We can see his willingness to self-sacrifice right from the outset with his constant saving of people, but even more than that is the conclusion to episode 2 where he puts Lana's necklace on her door without the need to gloat that he found it.
I like Lex, he comes across as polite, yet sneaky and mischievious. It's interesting and better long term planning that Lex stays in the background and gets built as a villain while the jock pretends that he's a somebody. The dynamic between Lex and Clark is really fun to watch in these early gray episodes, as Lex is less black and white, and there seems to be a little fighting for Clark's soul. I like that Clark's moral compass isn't completely set yet.
The other villains are really nothing to write home about, the first episode has an electric boy or Electro, and the other episode has bug boy, or Toad. Neither one is that deep, and they're there to be the villain of the week, while the series builds up greater threats (I hope). It's fine for the early part of the series, but on a long term basis, this villain of the week thing will get boring. I actually really enjoyed Bug Boy's outing, as they spent more time building up an origin, a background, and everything, making him more than just a throw-away villain. The electric kid was little more than just a throw away villain. It really irked me that Clark won both fights by accident, if this becomes a recurring occurence, it'll get boring really quick.
Lana is really one-dimensional here and serves no more purpose than to look and act cute. She does it well. Clark's friends didn't really do much, outside of help with detective work, exposition, and comedic relief. I can see Chloe having a bigger part later, but not quite yet. Clark's father gets a lot of screen time in these early episodes as he really does get speechy and fills us in on Lex's father, as well as his own moral compass and place in the world. He doesn't seem all that bad in these early episodes and actually tries to help Clark out a bit.
I really liked how they worked in classic ideas and weaved them right into the story in a modern way, the "fortress of solitude," Lana's kryptonite necklace (which looks like it could play a big part in this series), the S on the chest.
I liked the continuity between episodes, it really helps with the serialized storytelling but at the same time doesn't tie it down where it's impossible to enjoy each episode individually.
Overall they are a couple of fun early episodes, not too deep, and not fantastic in terms of storytelling, plots, and pacing but there's a lot of potential here.
7/10 for both.
Episode 3: Hot Head
The show is progressing pretty typically. While it makes great redemption for Clark to deal with all the weird things that have happened because of his arrival, it gives Clark a potentially limitless amount of stock villains to deal with, all that have different powers, but the villain of the week storytelling really reeks of beginner story telling. Which is fine for right now because frankly it is the beginning of the show, but I don't think I could go with this throughout the show. Usually good shows (such as Buffy) attempt to use the villains as metaphors things that happen in real life. Smallville also attempts to do that, at least with this episode, it's a very thinly veiled metaphor, but it's a metaphor.
The evil coach here is a metaphor for child abuse, biased teachers, and obviously extreme competitive spirit out of control. Not sure what the coach's fire is supposed to represent really and that's pretty common. Why is the guy in the first episode electric? No reason really. It's just amateur storytelling really, face value storytelling. I need more to my tv show and so far, especially in these episodes that are focused around a very particular plot, they're not doing it for me.
As for the other characters, this episode is about standing up for your-self, becoming your own man (or woman in Lana's case). That's the strength of the episode and it weaves through the "villain of the week" plot throughout the episode. It's supposed to help show the strength in Clark, Lana, and Lex as they all stand up for something they believe in and all stand up against their parents or guardians. It's all there to strengthen the characters, Clark once again wants to prove wants the trust of his parents to make his own decisions with his powers, Lana wants more out of her life and wants to stand out, Lex works to be a better businessman than his father.
Again it's not really captivating stuff, and that could be because it's been a long time since high-school although these themes still ring true to me now in my mid 20's, but it's fun bubblegum stuff that needs a bit more polish in terms of characters, and more rhyme, reason and depth in terms of their plots. Worse than the pilot episode and second episode, it's not bad just not as good.
5.5/10
Episode 4: X-Ray
Again another villain of the week with thinly veiled metaphor, actually this metaphor is better than the last, as the villain wishes their life is more like others and thus takes on their facade. It's a nice little metaphor for jealousy of others.
Clark deals with a new power (take a guess which one that is?). There's a hilarious scene when they're in gym class and Clark's eyes go wonky on him and he gets a sneak peek at Lana's :w00t: . It's awesome and really true to what most guys would be doing if they had the power, honestly, glad they acknowledged it.
Lex deals with being framed. It's pretty awesome, Lex bounces back and forth from doing somewaht good things to evil things. He's in a moral middle ground and there's a fight for his soul going on, but his position, his power (both of which he probably loves), makes harder to keep things straight.
Another metaphor is that this episode is all about people not being who they seem at first glance, Clark isn't just Clark he's more than that, Lana doesn't just want to be some cheerleader, she wants to be more than that, the villain isn't who they seem to be, the reporter isn't just doing his duty he's blackmailing, and Lex isn't just some spoiled brat, he's fucking awesome. The only person who really knows who they are and is who they are is Chloe, she makes no bones about who she is. It's refreshing everytime she's on screen really as she's the only one who acts really genuine while everyone else kind of acts like they're in a tv show (it's okay for Lex, because he's evil and evil is cool, and cool gets a pass).
Again another good but not great episode, it's fun but it doesn't really come together as well as I make it seem.
6/10
General thoughts on the series thus far:
Lex is awesome in this series.
Pete is absolutely useless in this series. He has done nothing of note, and I actually had to wiki the character's name because I keep forgetting it.
Like many characters in this show, Chloe has a one note role, but I like her character and I like the actress who plays her. Hope for more of her in the future.
I don't like how much kryptonite there is in these episodes, everyone has some, it's all over the town, and anytime Clark gets in conflict, the villain "just happens" to have some handy.
I hate that most of the villains kind of get injured/die seemingly on their own accord. Only episode 4 breaks the mold as Clark actually knocks Tina out. In the others, the electric guy frys himself, the lizard guy gets crushed because he pulls a lever, the fire coach blows himself up. What the heck.
So I know I've been gone pretty much all fall, I've had a veritable laundry list of problems with my university, that took me most of August and September to sort out. I'm going to be pretty busy up until December as I'm wrapping up my Master's project and finishing my exit exams. I'll be done with most of the work in December and hope to finally graduate with my Masters in May when the economy will probably still be just as shitty as it is now. FUCK!
But I know that's not why you come here, so I'll get right into some of the typical topics.
DVDs:
You know nothing really stands out from the movies I watched this summer. I look at the list of DVDs that I've rented from Netflix and while many were fine and good, and I liked and enjoyed them, very few stand out as cream of the crop.
I'll just get to a couple:
Taken - this was a very fun action thriller, and is just straight up Liam Neeson being a bad-ass in a gritty realistic world, it's basically what 24 the movie would be like. It's more based on a personal vendetta than a govt agency chasing terrorists, but it's still an intense, quick, little action movie. 3.5/5
Rambo: First Blood - Before this summer I had never seen a Rambo film outside of the recently released sequel, so I decided to go back and watch the first film. Man, it's a pretty intense character study of John Rambo, the psychology of war, and a social commentary on the veterans of war and the way the government and society treat them and others with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It's smarter than I thought it would be, but also not too smart to the point where it's not entertaining. 4/5
The Visitor - Don't really know what to say about this one, but it was a surprise hit with me and my family. It's a smaller film that's more personal, it gets so personal that the characters act real and ultimately the film makes you really care. On the larger picture it's about illegal immigrants and their interaction with society, on the smaller picture, it's about a professor who's lost any fulfillment in his life and finds it in his interaction with these "visitors." It's a really great film that I think everyone should check out. 4.5/5
Gran Torino - Everybody probably already knows about this film. I love Clint Eastwood's twilight years as a director, he's directed such great films in the past decade or so, and this one is another hit. It's probably my favorite one of the bunch (a lot of the shine of Million Dollar Baby rubbed off last time I watched it). 4.5/5
As for the Films/Movies that I saw in the theater well it wasn't a particularly great summer...
X-men Origins: Wolverine was a huge let down, The newest Potter film was a letdown (but really the series as a whole hasn't been that great outside of the magical Prisoner of Azkaban film), T4 was better than T3 but still added nothing to the story, and overall I just wasn't enthused with any of the big blockbusters this summer. I skipped out on Transformers (which I heard was a disaster) and G.I. Joe (another toy franchise from the 80's getting the blockbuster treatment that I don't care about).
The movies that stuck out came under the radar and again, were ones that didn't have the huge budget but made up for that with charm, and creativity.
District 9 - I really enjoy sci-fi done right, this was done right. It's a fun sci-fi movie that puts a spin on the treatment and fear of aliens. I really enjoyed it, although critics are right, the tonal shifts throughout the move makes it seem like the move isn't sure of what it wants to be (it shifts from a documentary style which disappears, to a straight film about the plight of these aliens, to an action movie) but I hardly noticed it while watching it because the overall plot about the main character's psychological transformation sticks with you throughout. The aliens are actually really well done, and they make you care about the aliens as if they were people. The whole movie really clicked with me. Also the action sequences looked better here than many of the higher budgeted films of the summer. 4/5
Zombieland - Another lower-budget film that just really clicked. It's absolutely hilarious film and was a darn good time. Some may say this is a US version of Shaun of the Dead, in a way it is, it's an American parody of the Zombie movie, but it doesn't retread ground that Shaun of the Dead covered. I liked Zombieland better overall, it was just much funner, but then again I watched Shaun of the Dead at home by myself, which tends to take the kick out of a lot of comedy movies. 4/5
TV Series (mostly via DVD)
I didn't watch much TV this summer/fall, but I did watch some. Of course most of it was on DVD as I usually despise appointment television. The only show that I've watched during actual airings lately has been:
The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights - it's only a few episodes in (I think, 5 or so) but it's been an enjoyable show, mind you this is the 10th season (I think) and the last time I watched a full season was the first season, and I probably watched an episode or two of season 2 and 3, generally the show has been off the radar. I've enjoyed this season thus far, although the fights have been really lackluster thus far. Obviously Kimbo makes for good tv, Quinton makes for good tv, and the interactions between the Quinton and Rashad makes for good tv. Overall though, Rashad looks like he could sweep, his coaching is better, he's got Greg Jackson's camp behind him, he's got knowledge of the Ultimate Fighter experience since he actually was on the show one season, and overall he looks like he's got more well-rounded fighters. I also can't see any of Quinton's fighters taking the season. Nelson looks to be the favorite, but I'm going with an outside pick of Justin Wren or Brendan Schaub.
Outside of that not much on the TV front -
I finished much of X-men Evolution, including the entire third season, but with 4 episodes left in the 4th and final season, I kind of just lost interest, I'll finish it off eventually especially because season 3 was actually pretty damn good and season 2 wasn't half bad. But most of Season 4 has been stand-alone episodes that haven't really done much for me.
I started a little known series called Battlestar Galactica, they have most of the seasons available via the local library so that's where I've been getting them. Many of my friends have been telling me to give it a shot so I've been giving it a shot lately. The miniseries that acts as a pilot of the first season didn't really blow me away. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either, the first 4 episodes played much better with me, I can see the religious symbolism and other social themes clearer, the plots are more engaging, the pacing is better as they only have to fill 45 minutes instead of almost 3 hours. It just started coming together. I'm still not blown away by it yet, but I'll definitely keep watching.
Also I just recently started watching Smallville from the beginning. I'll have my thoughts up on the first two episodes in a bit as I'll be keeping a running diary of that series. Overall, it hasn't blown me away but it's a fun little series that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Wrestling:
I really enjoyed the feud over the summer between Punk and Hardy. It was an excellent feud that helped raise Punks star-power and made him a threat and one of the top heels in the WWE and the top heel on Smackdown. It's been the most enjoyable thing about the WWE summer. Also their TLC match was pretty awesome.
The second most enjoyable is Jericho/Big Show's tag title reign. The tag titles have been booked so excellently and if WWE plays their cards right they could virtually make new stars with the first defeat of Jericho/Big Show. Jericho is always excellent and Big Show is doing great in his role as a big bully tag champion. Also their tag match against Mysterio/Batista was the best tag match we've seen in a long while and so much fun.
Speaking of Tag teams, the DX feud with Legacy that's been running most of the summer has also really helped build DiBiase and Rhodes as actual threats and future superstars. The matches were good but not great, and DX didn't bury them as they tend to do with tag-teams. Legacy had moments where they actually looked quite strong in the feud, and the story they told in the HIAC match they had last month was innovative and smart.
Morrison's IC title match with Mysterio from Smackdown was really a MOTYC and should be seen by everyone.
Ever since Taker came back I've been absolutely disappointed in the Smackdown World Title picture and the booking of the Title itself. They booked themselves into a corner and cut Punk out from under the knees on his heel title reign, Punk is still fantastic in the role, but it's obvious age is catching up with Taker as he can't perform nearly as well and it shows. His best match with Punk was at Hell in a Cell and even that was underwhelming.
Orton and Cena round one billion. I'm so sick of these two wrestling each other. In all honesty, I'm pretty sick of Orton, I really liked his character as a ruthless animal, but the way he wrestles is just down-right lethargic. It's not entertaining in the slightest. Admittedly they had a fun match at Summerslam with the story of Orton torturing Cena and a basically dead Cena never giving up before making his comeback and finishing it quick. But it's still way below the standard for the World Title and main events. Now mind you I haven't quite finished Braggin Rights, but I have no faith going in that they can keep it entertaining for a full hour. Hopefully it really is the final match these two have.
And just so you have it, here's an updated listing of the TOP PPV matches of the year.
Top WWE PPV Matches of 09:
HBK vs. Undertaker (Mania 25) - **** ½
Jericho vs. Rey (The Bash 09) - **** ¼
Raw Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - **** ¼
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (Summerslam) - ****
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (Extreme Rules) - ****
Mysterio vs. Jericho (Judgment Day 09) - *** ¾
Mysterio/Batista vs. Jericho/Big Show (HIAC 09) - *** ¾
Edge vs. Cena (Backlash 09) - *** ¾
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (Night of Champions 09) - *** ¾
Mysterio vs. Jericho (Extreme Rules) - *** ½
Smackdown Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - *** ½
MITB (Mania 25) - *** ½
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (The Bash 09) - *** ¼
14.Christian vs. Jack Swagger (Backlash) - *** ¼
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio (Summerslam) - *** ¼
DX vs. Legacy Breaking Point (HIAC) - *** ¼
DX vs. Legacy Breaking Point (Breaking Point) - *** ¼
DX vs. Legacy (Summerslam) - *** ¼
Comics
Finally my foray into comics this summer...well I've read a lot, it's the only thing keeping me sane.
So some of the stuff I've gotten into:
Batman - read Hush which I didn't like, Nine Lives, Thrillkiller, and Gothic which I did like.
54 vols. 1-4 - I don't know much about the DC Universe and this was my entrance into the larger world, some of the characters jived with me, others didn't. It's a good book and an interesting experiment but I was often lost and confused about what was going on. Still it's pretty entertaining and makes me realize the kind of comic work that I like (noir or political thrillers) and the stuff I typically don't like (sci-fi epics and aliens). 7.5/10
JLA vol. 1, Earth-2 - I heard a lot of praise for Morrison's JLA, frankly I didn't care too much for it. I thought there were some great ideas in both books and Earth-2 is better paced, written, and plotted, but his first arc was just lackluster and didn't do much for me outside of unexplored ideas and directions. Also, there's very little character development which I'm typically a fan of. I might give vol. 2 a try, but it's possible that I don't like large-scale superhero books (JLA, JLI, the Avengers) and prefer those that stay in their corner (X-factor, Thunderbolts by Ellis). vol. 1 - 6/10, Earth -2 - 7.5/10
Starman vol. 1-4 - Again a book that comes with a lot of praise, so I decide to check it out from the library which owns the first 7 volumes. It's actually really good and outside of some ham-fisted speeches, and static dialogue, it's got a great mood and presence to the whole book. I don't remember which volume is which but there are some bumps in the road along the way, the Hell and Back arc isn't that great, and there are some stories in volume 4 that are just long and boring, but overall it's a great read. The stories being told, the main character's journey to become a full-fledged superhero, the theme of unbreakable connection to a villain and destiny, the clashing of both past and present, the love letter to the past, it all makes up for shoddy narration, stilted dialogue, and a few other bumps in the road. The library has vols. 5-7 available, so I may just read up to vol. 7 before dropping the book. I'm not hooked, but if it really draws me in on the next 3 volumes, than I'll have to be on the lookout for the last three volumes.
Finally: I reread Bendis' run on Daredevil and read Brubaker's run (which is not as good as Bendis but still quite good). I may do a long through column about my love for Daredevil involving these two runs along with Miller's run, and the other stories I've read, so I'll hold back until another re-read and until all this stuff gets a bit more dated. Anyways, Daredevil is one of...if not my absolute FAVORITE marvel character of all time and if you haven't read it, you should Miller's famous run and his two other arcs (Born Again and The Man Without Fear), Smith's Run: Guardian Devil, Bendis 10 TPB run, Daredevil Yellow, Daredevil: Redemption, and Daredevil by Brubaker. It's all great with Bendis' run being my favorite of the bunch.
Also read Walking Dead vols. 9-10, be on the look out for my thoughts about these in the near future, in all honesty, you may not like what you read.
WHEW! That's all for now folks.
As a recap here's what's coming up:
Smallville Running Diary.
Walking Dead vols. 9-10.
X-factor visionaries vols. 1-4 by Peter David, to set up next years read of the new X-factor series.
And another Morrison book WE3, can he finally win me over?
The Lowdown: A re-imagining of the popular comic and film franchise, X-men, where the title characters are de-aged into teenagers in a high-school setting.
The Review: Here I am back at it again with more X-men Evolution. Since the first season kiddied up the X-men concept and castrated the complexity of the X-men world and it's characters, it left me wary on how the show would progress. Would it continue in it's cutesy direction that only a pre-teen could love or would it grow a pair of balls and satisfy the child, the teen, and the adult audience?
Well, in short, X-men: Evolution season 2 is a huge, gigantic step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it takes most of the season to make that step. It's understandable, and was a good decision to slow burn the dark tonal shift. This shift plays into one of the major themes of the season, HIDDEN IDENTITIES. In the Evolution world, mutants are largely hidden and most of the X-men can hide amongst the regulars. There's quite a few episodes that play into the non-exposure of mutants and it's one of Beast's struggles during this season. By the time the season comes to it's excellent conclusion (the last three episodes), you can see all the little nuances tying together.
But before I get ahead of myself, heck I almost jumped into my hopes and impressions for season 3, let me jump back to the beginning of the second season. The whole season takes on a fresh slate feel. Although the Brotherhood and X-men fight (again!) in the early episodes, it doesn't seem as stale. Why, you may ask? Because this time around it's not just about recruitment, and heck they only fight once (motivated by the main theme mentioned earlier) in the early part of the season, most of the rest is just petty arguments. It makes sense, because of the age group of these mutants, they're less likely to be involved in constant super hero team clashes. It didn't mesh well in the season before, and the season before made it occur in almost every single episode.
Also, from the very beginning, Xavier's school has a larger population of mutant students, making it seem like an actual school instead of a superhero bootcamp. There are a ton new mutants that often take supporting roles in many of the characters. Some are takes on the classic New Mutant series (Cannonball, Magma), one is a classic X-character (Iceman) and my favorites are takes on the X-factor team (Rahne/Wolfsbane and Madrox/Multiple Man). There's others that make constant cameos and this is one thing that really livens up and freshens up the series from the get-go.
Another reason why this season is better is simply the writing is crisper, this time around the high-school concept is only a backdrop instead of consuming the series every episode. The stakes are often larger, although small-scale enough for teenager mutants to deal with, and the adults take more important roles throughout but are less dictating and more subdued in their manipulation (speaking specifically of Mystique and Magneto). The children also engage in very high-school things, they act like teenage kids, they have crushes, they often engage in pranks, and they are underdeveloped in their ability to handle emotion. The romantic subplots become another huge theme and also are better parts of the series, they really add little nuances, and slowly develop like real relationships. The chemistry between the character is much more spot on and the fight sequences have improved as well. (As an aside: For animate, Nothing has been able to top the amazing fight choreography of the Spectacular Spider-man series, WOOO!)
Of course the season is fantastic, it's still got kiddified plots, but they're handled much better than before. Outside of a few dud episodes, the season is solidly above average, sometimes good, but not anywhere near great or fantastic. Some plots are still rather boring, and the series is rather tied to the high-school concept limiting the depth and complexity that the plots can have. But when the series hits its stride near the end of the season it really hits its stride. Those last 3 episodes (Hex Factor, Day of Reckoning Part 1-2) are the best three episodes of the season (along with On Angel's Wings). And frankly the ending of the season makes you glad you stuck around because the tone of the show completely changes to a more mature, dark feel.
OVERALL: It's a solid season that's a rather fun adaptation, but still can be rather dull at points. Lots of bonus points for the pre-finale episode and finale two-parter. It's a barnburner that makes you excited for things to come.
Premise: The beginning of the X-men. Before they were a team, before they were a class, they were just hiding. Professor X scours around for teenage mutants to build his vision and his school.
Review: Using a retro look and a retro writing style, Joe Casey takes the year-one style initiated in Frank Miller's Batman masterpiece and applies it to the first X-men team.
I finished X-men: Evolution Season 1 a few weeks ago, and honestly this is miles ahead with a very similar, albeit not nearly as lengthy, extended, and serialized concept. If you've ever wanted to see teenage X-men, this is the place to get it.
You're going to see Frank Miller's name pop up in this review alot because this tpb really does harken back to his year one concept. While Frank Miller's book was about a couple of characters (Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon), this is about a team of five plus their leader, plus villains, plus supporting characters not inherent in the X-men mythos.
There's an FBI angent who plays a straight man not sure what or who to believe but begrudgingly helps Professor Xavier throughout the book because Xavier is out there to help kids. He's there to be an outsider point of view, basically supposed to represent the reader, being exposed to the mutant world for the first time. It's a cute idea, but it's been played so many times through so many different mediums. Yet it continues to work. Here it feels a little more unnecessary than usual and more like a plot element, but that may be a result of my familiarity with the x-men franchise. Casey shows off all of the themes and the three core visions of the X-verse. It's X-men year one for goodness sakes so it's not too much of a stretch from the usual concepts. Xavier is there to build his vision of co-existence, Magneto builds a vision of mutant superiority, and William Metzger (a human) builds a vision of mutant oppression. It's the core X-men story and concept, and while outplayed, it wouldn't make sense if it it wasn't in this book.
Professor Xavier gets the most time as it really is his "baby," his vision, his team. Xavier is the driving force of this book and his plotting, his infiltrations, and his friendships that develop with the kids is intriguing to watch. The actual team characters all get spotlights as they either attempt to deal with their powers and in one case, deal with the initial manifestation. Casey balances all of the characters and each of the charactes their chance to shine. While their characters aren't so well-developed, it fits because they're still in the prime developing stages, their still teenagers. Casey gets the most usage out of Scott Summers from the kids because he's got the most troubling past and situation. But each one gets their chance to shine. Hank McCoy is also a pleasure to watch and read in this book. In the end, it's a great sight to see them come together as a team.
As the surrounding world fears mutants because they don't understand this fear takes a violent reaction as William Metzger, a charismatic fellow, mobilizes misfit teens against the mutants. The core of the book is very classic X-men and the villain is no different. But here while familiar and in line with the core concept, it feels just a little too familiar. Metzger falls in line with the other charismatic violent humans: William Stryker, Robert Kelly, Trask. It's just another play on that type of character. Its not too much of a problem because its a realm where the X-men concept excels.
Again the art takes a nod to Frank Miller's Batman stories, who doesn't, as the television channels showing newscasts and other shows dealing with the "mutant crisis" is an homage to the newscasts in Dark Knight Returns. The book takes a retro look and it really feels like the 80's all over again, but yet the book's stays timeless. Steve Rude's does well with both the dark damp scenes, like Cyclops in the dark apartment, and the bright colorful scenes, like Jean playing with flowers.
The core is there, the characters are there, the themes are there, this is an X-men book through and through.
Final Thoughts: While this is the CORE X-men story, it's also not really new. While Batman: Year One was the core Batman story, it was really fresh and rather unexposed at the time, this X-men story isn't fresh. It's not fresh now in 2009 and I don't think it was fresh in 1999 when it came out, either. That said it is also the perfect introduction to the X-franchise for any new reader. Final Grade: 8.0/10
by: Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn
Collects: The Walking Dead #43-48
Premise: An apocalyptic zombie epidemic has swept the area, or the nation, maybe even the globe. Nobody knows how far and wide this epidemic reaches, why it started, or how to even stop it. This series follows a small band of survivors as they deal with the changing world around them. As the tag-line reads: "In a world of the dead, we are forced to finally start living."
Review: This review contains very minor spoilers for many previous volumes, you have been warned!
As soon as Kirkman's premier comic book series The Walking Dead begins to get stale, Kirkman throws a wrench into the entire system, plot, and ongoing story changing the status quo. This volume is that wrench. Kirkman flips everything upside down in this fully-loaded volume.
The morality of the situation bleeds entirely into gray. Even though Rick's merry band of survivors are the ones we sympathize with, the other survivors are all really just regular people as well. The only one who transcends this grayness is the governor who is painted into a very by the numbers evil guy, he's THE bad guy and the cause for much of the pressing matters in this volume. There's a ton of symbolism towards the power of charisma, the power of fear, and the results of horrible dictatorship.
Speaking of pressing matters, this volume is gruesome, it's arguably the goriest it's ever been. But don't let that scare you, as Kirkman hide plenty of diamonds in this action-fest. Some of the bigger moments in here show you some very deep character developments. Also the whole thing shows you how involved the people are with each other, fighting each other, defending each other, and loving each other that they forget about the way of the world, the epicenter, the zombies. It's a really interesting strategy showing that that all these people are trying to escape but at the same time it's all they can possibly think about, but at the same time they become complicit in their salvation.
Kirkman still writes too much dialogue at times. But his plotting continues to be solid like a rock. His thematic relevance continues to be intriguing, this one showing the fight between people over resources, and the results of charismatic leadership (both good and evil). While the book's plot has shifted away from the horror of the zombies and towards the horror of human cruelty, it's still a horrific topic to deal with. War is still raw, bloody, and causes entirely too much strain on the human psyche, and Charlie continues to provide both the big bloody action set-pieces and his major strength in emotional reactions.
Final Thoughts: This is a must-have volume, it's got a ton of action, huge plot points, and a giant change in the status quo, if you're any type of fan you should pick this up. Although for newbies, I'd think the next volume would be a better start. Kirkman breathes new life into the concept and Charlie continues to bring the goods. Final Grade: 8.5/10
by: Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn
Collects: The Walking Dead #37-42
Premise: An apocalyptic zombie epidemic has swept the area, or the nation, maybe even the globe. Nobody knows how far and wide this epidemic reaches, why it started, or how to even stop it. This series follows a small band of survivors as they deal with the changing world around them. As the tag-line reads: "In a world of the dead, we are forced to finally start living."
Review: This review contains very minor spoilers for many previous volumes, you have been warned!
And so it continues, volume 7 of this series is cleverly titled "The Calm Before" as in "the calm before the storm." So you know some shit is going to go down soon, probably starting on the last page of this volume. But really, you have to get through the calm before you can get to the shit storm.
Really, for this series at least, this was rather a relaxing chapter. In this chapter, Kirkland tries to reconnect you with the main band of survivors in this book and reconnect you to their world because previously we were jumping back and forth between characters in different locations at the same time. So here we have a reuniting of sorts. It's really a character driven volume and not a lot of action really happens. We also get less of the larger thematic, societal elements and more of the character psychoanalyses. Every character gets their moments and is in their element.
Since this is a very character-driven volume, Adlard is at his best here, etching the emotions expertly and making the characters come alive. Adlard is at his best when Kirkman decides to do character moments, and since this is a volume full of them, Adlard really takes the show here.
Kirkman also does a fine job here pulling back on the exposition a bit. Kirkman is a very wordy writer and a very state the obvious writer, while he still hasn't kicked that habit, he does pull back a bit, letting Adlard take the reigns more often. In terms of plotting, Kirkman still fills up this volume with logical events and development. Rick just warned the prison gang about the other town, so the gang gets prepared for the other town to attack. Pretty simple and straight-forward, which is perfectly fine for this volume. This volume really focuses on a lot more happier moments and the few victories in life and in this series, are small things that we probably would never consider. Sure these are life moments for anybody, but how monumental is the moment when your life could end at any time. This is really the theme Kirkman attacks here, it's mainly good moments in this book, but Kirkman really shows the consequences of previous life-moments, the not so happy ones.
If one has been following the series up to this point, they may feel the repetition. It's a downtrodden book, with a band of survivors, and the themes on the destruction of society and the human angst and brutality. So what next, how long can Kirkman continue this?
Who knows. It's still a fun ride and Kirkman throws in new twists every once in a while to try and keep it fresh. But at this point the shine is wearing off. Kirkman is really twisting with the wind in this series. It's been fun but at some point that type of plotting just won't cut it. At least not with me.
Final Thoughts: This particular volume is rather up-front about what you're getting right in the title. It's a slower volume, but very rewarding for those who have followed along. For others it's probably not the best place to start. This volume takes a look at the psyches of the characters instead of dwelling on the large-scale nature of society which has been the focus for most of the series. If you're into that thing, it's good, I just think Kirkman has shown more skill at handling bigger themes.
The Lowdown: A re-imagining of the popular comic and film franchise, X-men, where the title characters are de-aged into teenagers in a high-school setting.
The Review: To begin, I'm a huge fan of the X-men's 90's Animated Series, I grew up watching it as a little grade-schooler, and have rewatched episodes throughout my high-school and college years. I just finished a 5-month rewatch of the entire series from beginning to end about a month ago. It hit me that I never really watched the Evolution series. Also with a third series, Wolverine and the X-men, making waves, I decided to contiue my trek through the animated X-verse.
Evolution season one is an odd ball. First of all, most animated films and tv series tend to have children in mind, but the creators also understand that many parents and family members will be watching the series, so they attempt to make it fun for those adult family members as well. Well season one, is kid's fluff. It's themes rarely hint at something deeper than high-school drama and much of the first season is mired in dull repetition, and the desire to get as many introductions out of the way as possible. Speaking of the introductions, the first 5 or 6 episodes have the same formula of introduce two new characters, have them come into conflict over something ridiculous, have one join the good team (The X-men, YAY!) and have one join the bad team (The Brotherhood, BOOO!), rinse, wash, and repeat. The single time they throw a twist into this is with the Rogue character, and not surprising, it is one of the better arcs and storylines of the season, providing some of the better episodes, but still decidedly not great episodes, of the season (for example, Rogue Recruit and Turn of the Rogue).
Ok, so the first half is formulaic, what about the second half? Does it get better? Yes the second half is better, but not by much. Although the formula of introducing characters is no longer there, the repetition of the same baddies vs. the same goodies every episode is still there. Also the plot lines aren't good at all, and a couple are downright boring and uninteresting (Spykecam, Survival of the Fittest). Of course there are a couple of bright spots in the second half as well, the episode dealing with Nightcrawler's lineage is rather good, and the episode dealing with Wolverine is the only real gem in a downright boring season.
Speaking of character driven episodes, it's a very different team than the 90's animated series, Cyclops, Jean Grey are still around, with new characters Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, and a character created for this series, Spyke joining the pack as young teenagers. There are few adult characters in this team including, Charles Xavier (of course!), Storm, and everyone's favorite, Wolverine. Thank goodness, they didn't go the incredibly idiotic route of making Wolverine a teenager.
DOH! STUPID MANGA!
Anyways, the characters is really where the evolution series excels over the original 90's Animated Characters, the characters don't feel like caricatures of the comic book series, they feel like true organic characters. This really helped by the better animation, the 90's animated series always had a static animation style, while it was retro and kind of cool because it looked like a moving comic book, it really wasn't that great in terms of animation.
Speaking of the characters, the teenage characters take center stage here, dealing with pretty typical teenage problems along with their powers. Rogue gets a huge update in terms of look as she becomes more of a goth, or rocker chick. It really does work for the character they try to portray in this series though. Kitty becomes a valley girl, who talks, like, you know, like, she chills at the beach all time, you know, like, suntan. Believe me it grates early on, but the voice actress does pull back a bit after the series goes on making Kitty a better character, instead of just a stereotype, you know. Anyways, Jean and Scott get a huge boost in terms of character, again, they're both more real and feel like real characters. Jean is still boring, but at least her nice-girl nature comes out more (in the pretty good episode Mutan Crush). Cyclops, Cyke (Scott) is also more fluid showing both the terse leader and a little more loose. The biggest problem with the cast is that Nightcrawler has essentially become comedic relief for the series. Sure Nightcrawler was goofy at times, but this was over the top, and actually far better suited for a character like Bobby Drake, Iceman. So far, I loathe this version of Nightcrawler and Spyke...well...Spyke can stick it. You see what I did there. I like that the characters are more fluid and emotional and can be developed, I just don't like how immature some of them are and how the writers never took advantage of the character development that could be made. Ultimately, the characters were plainly split up into good guys and bad guys, even Magneto whose whole motivation in the comics is to be in a way right, just using the wrong methods, was really seen as just a baddy who is a master manipulator.
Overall: The first season is pretty dreadful to get through, but it certainly isn't all bad. The creators struggle to find their footing in creating a proper balance between loyalty to the heart of the X-men comics plots and being creative and taking risks in their reimagining. I've heard it does get better, so I'll be sticking with it. Hopefully you stick along with me.
Chris Jericho/???? vs. Priceless: Really one of the angles that I found most intriguing just flew out the window. It was a rather lame pick, don’t you think. Sure it caught me by surprise, I don’t think anybody really expected the pick to be who it was and I really didn’t like it. But Big Show brought it in the match showing that he can mesh well with Jericho as a partner and that he can play a good beatdown or cleaning house segment. The match was a little slow as to be expected, Big Show and Jericho dominated at first, showing off some fun little tag-team moves that involved Big Show using his size to pick up, throw, or whip Jericho into their opponents. The match was a tough one to play out, because both teams were essentially heels, but they noticed that the crowd favored Jericho, so the match played out as if Jericho/Show team were faces. The ending was hot, fast-paced, and exciting. While it wasn’t a great match…it was a decent start to the show, with a hot ending, and a showcase for the new make-shit team. ** ½
CM Punk Interview: Punk cuts another fantastic snobby, preachy lecture on the crowd cementing himself as one of the best heels in the company. Hopefully they keep it up because his character is becoming awesome and more multi-dimensional.
Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer: A pretty sufficient match, Christian looked like he led the match, and thus was able to keep it pretty high intensity and nicely paced. It really was never boring, but just over-all inconsequential (which is how I’ve felt about the ECW brand in general). Nonetheless, Tommy Dreamer was able to keep up with Christian and they had a nice match with some fun reversals sprinkled throughout to show the knowledge the two have of each other. ** ½
US Title Six Pack Challenge Melee of Doom: So I guess it’s a new rule that you’re only allowed to be in one title match each night, because they swiftly took Big Show out of this match and replaced him with Primo. Primo makes more sense in this match anyways. This match involves lots of cool MOVES~! and not much else. They played up a couple of rivalries, mainly the Colon feud and the Swagger vs. MVP rivalry, but the match at its core sense was a quick-paced spotfest. There were a couple of times where the timing was off, but overall it succeeded in what it set out to do, providing a quick-paced high octane, balls to the walls, lots of near-falls match-up. Fun but no story and ultimately inconsequential. ** ¾
Orton cut an interview: that added nothing to the PPV. Thanks, Orton!
Melina vs. Michelle McCool: Michelle McCool has grown on me over the years, she’s obviously gotten better in wrestling, and in terms of charisma and character, she’s also become one of the prime divas in the WWE. Honestly nobody ever expects much from these women’s matches, and they’re used primarily as a cooler between more prominent matches, but this match was a fun little ditty where both women tried to go beyond the norm in terms of typical Women’s matches. It doesn’t have the best pacing and the crowd doesn’t give a shit, but still if you watched it, you got some decent timekiller. The basic story is that, McCool really gets rocked in this match for most of it, and only makes small cheap shots throughout, barely getting through the match by the edge of her nail. It puts over both women, Melina as a confident, maybe overconfident, passionate wrestler, and McCool as the sniveling cheap heel. ** ½
Randy Orton vs. Triple H vs. John Cena: I found it very strange that this was going on so early, I was almost positive that this would have main-evented the evening. The match itself was actually better than I expected and while not incredibly innovative, it told a fun story and I had no clue where they were going to go with it. Ultimately the story that started off was pretty typical for triple threat matches, John Cena and Triple H uniting to take on the greater evil of Orton, Orton banking on the two faces to get in each others way, which happened a few times, Orton taking advantage every time it happened. What was different was how the match ultimately came around full circle with Cena and HHH ending up on the same side again. Since this has never really happened before it forced a new, creative ending. It’s quite confusing, but it also adds intrigue to see how they proceed from here, probably something lame like a rematch with another referee but we’ll see. Admittedly the best parts of the match were during the second half with HHH and Cena going at it, I’ve grown to hate Orton because he paces his matches so slowly, and in this match, every time he got involved the pacing slammed on the brake and almost caused a wreck. It’s really grating on me, but HHH and Cena kept up the entertainment factor with aton of reversals and Orton did his part sneaking in quick moves near the end. Overall, a decent match with a fun story, and a creative, although inconclusive, ending. *** 1/4
Mickie James vs. Maryse: This wasn’t very good at all, and that’s too bad, because I had thought Maryse was better. She impressed me a couple of times in a couple of matches before. But this one was not meant to be. Mickie James seemed to be on but Maryse’s timing was off, her maneuvers looked ugly, and the pacing was all over the place. ½ *
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio: This was Ziggler’s test match, if Ziggler impressed here WWE management would continue his big push. For me, Ziggler didn’t impress. Certainly he was okay, but you just don’t have okay matches with Mysterio. The match was slow paced, and Ziggler used a ton of headlocks and full nelsons, slowing the match way down too often. The high spots were high and they had a little story going where Ziggler was getting some huge moves, each one bigger than the one before, but nothing seemed to work but in between all that was boredom. By the end the crowd only popped a couple of times and popped for the typical finish. Yay? I wouldn’t say Ziggler is done, he’s not, he just needs a lot more experience and hopefully with that experience he’ll become more like Edge and less like Randy Orton. ** ½
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy: I was really looking forward to this match, as not only did it have a great build to the match, it also had two great characters and a couple of entertaining wrestlers. Unfortunately, the show had killed me by this point, and things didn’t seem to click in this match, at least not as well as they should have. Punk I felt was excellent though, his mannerisms, his cocky attitude, it all fit his persona. As the match got further and further along and Hardy kept hanging in there, Punk was less cocky and more shocked and desperate. It was a decent match with a nice groove (I don’t agree with the ultimate decision) but it took a little bit to get going. That might be to how dead the crowd was, or how much lackluster “stuff” came before, but it just was not as good as I was hoping. *** ¼But wait a minute….
REWIND:So after cooling off, I gave this match a re-watch. It held up much better without all the crap that preceded. It was better than I had first said.It wasn’t nearly as slow as I first thought and the pacing was actually just right. They didn’t seem rushed and really took their time to tell the story. Punk is still awesome in the match, he’s working double-time and really taking to the coda that less is more. The slaps, the jeers, the awesome facial reactions, all that mattered much more than MOVES~!. Cm Punk really is a huge boon in the company as he gets over characters and the story of the match, with this one telling the story of a cocky, overconfident CM Punk trying to prove a point. But it takes two to tango, and Jeff did fine as his usual consistently entertaining self, pulling in huge hope-spots and perfect timing on the comebacks. The end-game was okay, not the greatest, I actually would have liked it more back and forth, as it felt like Hardy just squashing Punk. The Swanton finish makes sense, because Punk did so well of avoiding it twice earlier, but I wish the finish didn't feel like a Hogan/Cena/or ever Mysterio from earlier in the night finish. Much better than I initially thought though. *** ¾
Final Thoughts: I didn’t like this show, it was just tough to get through. If you really narrow it down there’s only one match that’s worth watching and that was the main event. The rest of the card was offensively bad, it wasn’t good either, just bland and kind of boring. Some of the other PPVs this year have had not so great cards but one or two really good matches. Ultimately, I wouldn’t recommend it. 5/10
Top WWE PPV Matches of 09:
HBK vs. Undertaker (Mania 25) - **** ½
Jericho vs. Rey (The Bash 09) - **** ¼
Raw Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - **** ¼
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (Extreme Rules) - ****
Edge vs. Cena (Backlash 09) - *** ¾
Mysterio vs. Jericho (Judgment Day 09) - *** ¾
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (Night of Champions 09) - *** ¾
Mysterio vs. Jericho (Extreme Rules) - *** ½
Smackdown Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - *** ½
MITB (Mania 25) - *** ½
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (The Bash 09) - *** ¼
Christian vs. Jack Swagger (Backlash) - *** ¼
Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. HHH (Night of Champions 09) - ***1/4
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (Royal Rumble 09) - ***
CM Punk vs. Kane (Backlash) - ***
Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble 09) - ***
Edge vs. Big Show vs. John Cena (Mania 25) -***
18. Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton (No Way Out 09) - ***
Posts
