Ghostbusters: Spectral Shenanigans, Vol 1 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The IDW run on Ghostbusters has been a great series, introducing many new elements to the mythology, from new and diverse characters and a deeper exploration of the characters’ backgrounds, to new villains that expand the world. If you’ve not read any of the IDW run before, Ghostbusters: Spectral Shenanigans is a good place to jump into it. It might not be the first things that IDW have done with the characters or the universe, but it is the start of their ‘Volume 1’ series, written by Erik Burnham.

The book collects together the first 12 issues of the series and sets the Ghostbusters off on their next big series of events. Things begin with the team having to go up against their first big villain once again, Gozer the Gozerian. Enraged that they were forced to take on the form of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man when it came to destroy the world, Gozer has come back for a second attempt, this time sending a new minion, Idulnas, to force Ray to pick a new form for Gozer to take.

This story adds some interesting new tweaks to the mythology, and it’s good to start the series by bringing back something that people will be familiar with from the films. It’s also a nice explanation of why Ray wasn’t to blame because he couldn’t clear his mind whilst the others could, but that he was always the one who was going to pick Gozer’s form due to a closer connection to the world of the paranormal. This also explains why Ray was the one possessed by the villain in the second movie, as more than just ‘this keeps happening to Ray’.

From this initial story we discover that the Ghostbusters have also become contractors for the city, and that a side-effect of this is that the city is sending them outside of New York in order to help on other big cases, partially because the city can charge people for this. Thus begins a cross-country road-trip that sees the gang fighting ghosts across America.

It’s a great new addition to the series, one that means the action can easily shift outside of the New York setting without having to have clients come in to hire them; they can just be somewhere else and we know it’s because the city have hired them out. It means that the book has a lot more variety to it, and can even make use of some regional ghost stories. For example, in one of the issues they travel to Roswell and come up against what appears to be alien ghosts, complete with an alien obsessed FBI agent that looks like David Duchovny; whilst in another they delve into the real life ghost story of New Orleans Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.

Despite showcasing a series of great one-off adventures, the book contains an ongoing mystery that is seeded throughout: a huge increase in paranormal activity. Egon investigates this and believes that he comes up with an answer – an old friend of his from college who should be dead but is somehow still alive. When it turns out that the guy trapped death in a bag when he came to reap his soul, Egon believes this is the reason why there are so many spirits in the world now.

Whilst this situation isn’t resolved by the end of the book, with Egon’s friend demanding proof that him still being alive is causing something bad, before letting death free, it’s sure to be a plot thread that will continue on into further volumes of the series. The companion issue that expands upon this concept by using diary entries from an expedition into Siberia in 1912 is one of the best in the book, with a really creepy tale and dark art-style that makes it stand out from everything else.

A great collection that brings together a year’s worth of adventures from the Ghostbusters team, Ghostbusters: Spectral Shenanigans is a great book for those who have already been reading the IDW series, as well as a perfect entry point for new fans.


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Back To The Future: The Heavy Collection – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Collecting together the first 12 issues of the Back To The Future comic book series Back To The Future: The Heavy Collection tells a sprawling tale that fills in some of the gaps from the films that you weren’t even aware were there.

The book mainly follows Doc Brown in 1893 after the events of Back To The Future 3 after Marty is sent back to the future, but before Doc and his family develop the Time Train. Whilst Doc works on building the Time Train he tells his sons stories about his adventures in the future, giving the readers a series on ‘one-shot’ type stories with a loose connected narrative.

They give a lot of background detail to both the Doc and Marty, showing us how they first met, how the Doc got the Delorean, and Doc’s journey to develop time travel during the decades. Whilst the stories involving Marty and his parents are interesting enough, the best of these shorter stories is the one where Doc Brown has the US government visit him asking him to develop time travel for them in order to prevent the Cuban Missile crisis. It’s fun to see the Doc put into a difficult situation like this, where he comes to realise the bigger impact that his developing time travel could have on the world. It’s interesting to see Doc Brown trying to figure out how to make the technology work and the missteps along the way, especially as he is doing so knowing that he will one day succeed because of his encounter with Marty in the 1950s.

However, the book really picks up once the Doc tries to make the maiden voyage in the Time Train, where the story drops the ‘one-shot’ model for a more traditional comic book adventure where the Doc ends up travelling all across the future in an effort to find the parts he needs to finalise the train.

This particular story acts as both a gap filler for events we’ve already seen, taking place for the Doc before the last scene of Back To The Future 3, and a sequel for Marty and Jennifer as it takes place after the film for them. This is part of the beauty of the Back To The Future comic series, it goes out of the way to explain things like how Doc Brown was able to get the hover tech for the Time Train, when did he have the opportunity to collect Einstein, and what was powering his time machine. The story answers all of these questions, yet never feels like it’s ticking things off a list just to fill in gaps; it comes naturally and feels like a series of events that would actually happen to the characters.

Most of this comes from the fact that the stories are all co-written by Bob Gale, one of the original creators of the Back To The Future films. A lot of comics based on film franchises are written by fans who love the movies, yet they often feel more like fan fiction than a continuation of the source material. But this is never the case with the Back To The Future books. They fit the franchise perfectly because they’re written by the person who wrote them back in the day. They’re a companion piece, a continuation, and a celebration of the Back To The Future films all in one.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×17 – ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. began with a very simple premise: that the audience would follow the adventures of Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team as they participate in covert missions for the global organisation S.H.I.E.L.D.. Outside of some minor team changes or a big guest star or two there seemed to be little that would alter the show in any major ways outside of the initial setup. Then Captain America: The Winter Soldier came along and destroyed everything.

‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ is the episode that coincides with the second Captain America film, where it’s revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by the evil organisation Hydra since it was founded. It’s no exaggeration to say that from this point onward nothing about this show will ever be the same again.

The episode begins with the ‘surprise’ reveal that a Hydra message has been sent out over every S.H.I.E.L.D. frequency, initiating sleeper agents across the organisation to attack and kill those loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.. This makes the sudden turn of Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows) wanting Coulson captured and his team dead at the end of the last episode make a lot more sense. It also puts Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) in a lot of danger, her being stuck in The Hub with the somewhat unknown Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt) and dozens of Hydra soldiers.

The Simmons story is handled pretty well, with a number of points where Triplett comes across as quite sinister; by the end it’s clear that he’s not Hydra, preferring to die an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. than defect to the enemy, but it’s a small mystery that could have gone either way. The double reveal that both Trip and Victoria Hand are actually S.H.I.E.L.D. is a great scene, and one that showcases just how much of a great character Hand is.

With one major S.H.I.E.L.D. operative confirmed as being loyal, it’s no surprise that another is actually Hydra, Coulson’s good friend John Garrett (Bill Paxton). By then, the fact that he’s actually a bad guy is not so much of a surprise. His sudden urge to kill Victoria Hand is too much of a turn for him not to be a villain. The revelation that he’s also the Clairvoyant is a shock though, and a plot that the series will hopefully explore in greater detail as the series progresses.

The biggest shock of the episode – that one of the core team has been Hydra since the very beginning of the series – comes when Agent Ward (Brett Dalton) murders Victoria Hand. Considering how great she was in this episode, it’s a huge shame to lose her, but she certainly went out in a memorable way.

It’s not a surprise that one of the main characters would turn out to be Hydra, but that it’s Ward was not easy to see coming, mainly because he’s been so dull and lacklustre up to now. Perhaps this is the only way that the writers could think to make the character more interesting, a character whose only major thing was being attracted to Skye (Chloe Bennet). Whatever the motivations for making him Hydra it certainly makes things more exciting going forward, especially after he admits his feelings for Skye before saving her life.

The changes to the series are incredibly bold and mean that nothing will ever, or can ever, be the same again. It also changes everything that came before, especially with the knowledge that Ward has been a bad guy since the start. With S.H.I.E.L.D. now gone the team are left with no resources, no back-up, Garrett on the loose, and a snake within their midst things have never been more dire for Coulson and his team.


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Harley Quinn: Mad Love – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

When Harley Quinn was first made for the Batman Animated Series episode ‘Joker’s Favour’, in what was supposed to be a one-off role, her creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm couldn’t predict the impact that she would have, now being one of DC’s most beloved and recognisable characters.

Originally designed as a side-kick for the Joker, her origin story was heavily expanded in the graphic novel Mad Love, which was then made into an episode of the series, where it was revealed that she was in fact once the Jokers psychiatrist before he sent her mad. This is the story that the new novel Harley Quinn: Mad Love tells, albeit in a much more expansive and deeper way. Writers Paul Dini and Pat Cadigan work together to craft a tale that’s more about the deeper emotional journey of Harleen Quinzel rather than a focus on her time as the costumed villain.

Beginning during her childhood, the book explores Harleen’s early years, a time when she comes to believe that police and law enforcement officials are corrupt, evil men out to punish ‘good’ people like her father, and where the seeds of her future madness are sown when she witnesses the murder of two gangland thugs. This is an area that has never really been explored in the past, but is a welcome addition to the Harley Quinn mythos.

It’s always seemed something of a leap that the Joker was so manipulative that he could turn a well educated and intelligent doctor into someone as mad as Harley, so making it clear that she herself suffered through childhood trauma, that she was suffering from mental health issues before she ever heard the name Joker, makes her eventual psychological break much more realistic.

Harleen’s time in Arkham before she eventually becomes a patient there herself is also expanded upon, not only showing her as a competent young doctor trying new and innovative treatments, but also her first meetings with other Batman villains such as Poison Ivy and Killer Croc.

And yes, the book does cover the events of ‘Mad Love’, though these don’t fill a huge amount of the book. The initial meetings between Harleen and the Joker are heavily expanded upon, not just giving us more interactions between the two of them, but a deeper insight into the emotional journey Harleen is going through. The more memorable moments from the story, the Death of a Hundred Smiles for example, is very brief and feels a little out of place mainly due to trying to mix together a very real world and the events of a children’s TV episode, yet still works well.

Harley Quinn: Mad Love gives readers the best insight into the history and mental state of Harley Quinn to date, making use of the novel format to spend time delving into her inner thought processes that a comic just couldn’t do with its limited space and restrictions of the format. The book lets you see Harley more as a real person than just a costumed crazy: a deeply flawed and damaged person yes, but a person nonetheless.

It’s strange to read about comic book characters in a prose book, a format where they’re hardly used. Comic books are such a visual medium and form of story telling that it can translate to television, film, and video games with little difficulty, but the written word can at times be difficult. Thankfully, the focus on character here means that it never feels like the story doesn’t belong in a book, or that the world is too fantastical to work in this format.

If you’re a fan of Batman, Harley Quinn, or even just comics in general, then Harley Quinn: Mad Love is a great read, one that makes the world of Gotham City and Arkham Asylum feel real, and the inhabitants less like colourful caricatures or stereotypes. Whether it’s major players like Harley and the Joker, or more minor characters that appear only briefly and are created just for the book, everyone is given the time and effort to be made into a realistic and rounded character. A great book for fans of comics, and an absolute must for those who love Harley Quinn.


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Phantoms: Haunting Tales From Masters of the Genre – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Collected together by British Fantasy Award nominated author Marie O’Regan, Phantoms: Haunting Tales From Masters of the Genre presents readers with an anthology collection of eighteen ghost stories from a host of writers.

Ghost stories can often be focused on the sinister hauntings that befall families when they move into a new home, or receive some cursed object. Many modern horror films follow these very basic set-ups with varying degrees of success, but whilst this works well for the visual medium something different is often needed for the written word, and Phantoms presents an older form of ghost stories, one where the story is about the person rather than the ghosts.

In many of the stories presented in this collection the haunting takes a back seat for a focus on the human reactions to these extraordinary and often horrifying scenarios. ’20th Century Ghost’ by Joe Hill focuses on the haunting of an old fashioned movie theatre and the obsession that forms for the ageing owner as he desperately wants to encounter the young woman that died there decades before. Instead of ghastly encounters with moviegoers the story tells a tale of unrequited love, and ultimately obsession, that becomes the sole focus of this man’s life.

In contrast to this, ‘One New Follower’ by Mark A. Nathan manages to be a hugely creepy tale involving murder, cults, mysteries from beyond the grave, and dark isolation that chills the reader from early on. Along with ‘The Adjoining Room’ by A.K. Benedict, which has an otherworldly, almost Hellraiser quality to it, these stories puts their characters through hell in some truly nightmarish scenarios.

One of the boldest stories within the collection has to be ‘A Haunted House Is A Wheel Upon Which Some Are Broken’ where the story is presented as a choose your own adventure style book, where the reader gets to choose what happens next and how the tale will unfold. Despite Paul Tremblay appearing to present the reader with a number of choices it actually becomes impossible for the protagonist and the reader to leave the house early, forcing both to go through the the whole house.

Often anthology collections can be a mixed bag of elements, with varying quality, but Phantoms manages to present a broad range of stories, tales of revenge, betrayal, love, and loss, without any of the stories standing out as particularly poor. Marie O’Regan has made some wonderful choices in the stories and writers that she has collected together, giving readers a great range of tales that showcases how versatile and varied ghost stories and horror can be.


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Pokémon – Detective Pikachu Trailer Wows Fans

Originally published on Set The Tape

When Legendary announced that it was intending to make a live action Pokémon film, fans were a little taken aback when they found out that it was going to be Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. Originally an episodic downloadable game that eventually received a full retail release, the film focuses on a Pikachu that teams up with a human that can understand it in order to solve a mystery.

Whilst many were dubious about the project, especially with how the film would integrate live action Pokémon creatures with the real world, the new trailer has thankfully put many of the worries around the project to bed.

Starring Justice Smith as Tim Goodman, a young man looking for his missing private eye father, who is joined on his mission by his father’s former partner, Detective Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds). Set in the brand new Ryme City, a location never before seen in any of the Pokémon games, shows, or mangas, the story will force Tim to work with the strange Pikachu to solve a much larger mystery.

The first trailer sets a great tone for the new film, showing Ryme City as a neon-light metropolis that wouldn’t look out of place in a regular gritty crime story. Tim is a young man giving up on his dreams in order to fit in with the monotony of adult life, but finds himself drawn into a dark conspiracy. The set-up isn’t completely original, and could be one of any number of noirish crime stories, but the inclusion of Pokémon makes this feel completely unique.

The trailer has already demonstrated that the team behind the film have made a lot of effort to blend the beats of a mystery story with things that are commonplace within the Pokémon universe, such as Mr Mime using the move Barrier to prevent Detective Pikachu from going ‘bad cop’ on him. It also looks like the film will be blending elements that feel more at home in a super-hero film, Greninja leaping through a brightly lit forest and firing water attacks, and an entire valley folding up upon itself. The film appears to be blending together several genres and tones, but if it works as well in the final product as it does in the trailer this isn’t going to be much of an issue.

Eagle-eyed fans have also been reacting to the many, many Easter eggs thrown into the backgrounds of various scenes. Some of these obvious ones are the Pokemon that litter the locations, including a group of Emolga on top of a market stall, and the cute little spider-like Joltik crawling around, but others include much less obvious nods. In one scene Tim enters what appears to be his old bedroom, which is covered in posters advertising famous Pokémon matches between creatures, including the legendary Articuno, as well as advertising for the Sinnoh Championships. Even the poster is packed full of references to things like the Johto Sport Club and MooMoo Milk.

Fans appear to be incredibly pleased with the trailer, and as a lifelong fan I too am hugely happy with it. The film has gone from a project I was dreading to a film that’s genuinely exciting, something that’s new and original even in the Pokemon franchise that has had 20 films already. The filmmakers appear to have put a huge amount of effort into the details and making the creatures work in the real world, whilst also giving viewers an interesting story. 2019 is certainly going to be an exciting year for Pokémon fans thanks to Detective Pikachu.


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Star Wars – Why A Cassian Andor TV Series Is A Great Choice

Originally published on Set The Tape

With the Jon Favreau helmed television series The Mandalorian having already been announced, it came as a massive surprise to Star Wars fans when Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed the news that another live action Star Wars series would be coming to new Disney streaming service. What is more surprising, however, is that it will focus on a character that we already know, Diego Luna’s rebel spy Cassian Andor, who was first introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

With The Mandalorian being set between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, the same time period as the new animated series Star Wars Resistance, it makes a lot of sense for the Cassian show to make a jump backwards in time to explore other parts of the Star Wars universe. But with so many options for characters and places to explore why was this show a good pick? Well, here are some reasons why…

The Setting

One of the eras that Star Wars fans love to explore, even before the cancellation of the old expanded universe, was the time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The fall of the Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire is a time when the galaxy is in the most turmoil. Yes, the Emperor has convinced many that the Empire is a good thing, but there a many who see it as evil, creating a time of huge strife and oppression.

Whilst we know the broad strokes of what happens during this period, there is still a lot that hasn’t been explored. Star Wars Rebels was set during this time, but focused on the adventures of one small rebel cell. Rogue One showed a huge event in the stealing of the Death Star Plans, but this was something that literally led right into the start of Episode IV. There’s still so much untold about this time.

With Cassian being a part of the Rebel Alliance for years, the series is open to exploring more of this period, especially in its bigger moments. It could show the rise of Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) and Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) as leaders of the Alliance. It could show the inhabitants of Mon Cala declaring themselves for the Rebellion and how they obtained the fleet. It could show the discovery of the temple on Yavin 4 and establishing their base there. There’s no end of huge things that the show could explore and expand upon, answering questions that Star Wars fans have been desperate to have answers to.

Fulcrum

Whilst Cassian was simply a Rebel agent in the events of Rogue One, it wasn’t until the comics that it was revealed that he was also at one point a Fulcrum Agent. Originally appearing in Star Wars Rebels, Fulcrum was revealed to be the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), who was actively recruiting people for the Rebellion. Eventually this role went on to former Imperial agent Alexsandr Kallus (David Oyelowo).

It turns out that there were a number of Fulcrum Agents, whose main responsibility was recruiting people into the fight; and whilst this would be an interesting area to explore it would also be a great opportunity to bring the original Fulrum, Ahsoka, to live action for the first time.

A character initially hated by many fans when first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, she has gone on to become one of the most beloved people in the entire Star Wars universe. Her inclusion would not only bring in the fans, but would also allow connections to many different eras (she’s one of only a few to survive the events of both the original and prequel trilogies). More interestingly, it would also allow the inclusion of a lightsaber wielding force user, something that the show would struggle to do without her.

Cameos

With the show being set during the gap between the original and prequel trilogies, the series could sneak in a good amount of characters that could appear as either semi-regulars or one-off guests. Other than the previously mentioned members of the Rebellion such as Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Ahsokah Tano, the series could feature characters like Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) and his partisans, who also appeared in Rogue One. We know from Star Wars Rebels that Saw and his group interacted with the Rebellion before the events of the film, so let’s see more of this, lets show why the Rebellion doesn’t approve of them or their actions by expanding on this.

Speaking of Star Wars Rebels, the series itself comes to a close before the events of Rogue One, but we know that some of these characters are still around and actively working with the rebellion during this time. Let’t have Chopper, Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall), or Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum) appear on screen. Depending on how far back the show begins they could even feature Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) before his appearance on Star Wars Rebels.

Cassian, Himself

We’ve looked at all of the things that the show could include, but the one that we know it definitely will involve is Cassian himself. We didn’t get to see much of his character during the events of Rogue One, mainly thanks to there being so much story to explore and a great cast of characters for him to share the screen with, but it did become quickly apparent that he was possibly the most interesting character there.

A Rebel spy, he was devious and able to sneak his way into many locations and situations; he was incredibly smart, able to capture and reprogram an Imperial security droid; he was willing to kill to complete a mission, yet would also go against his orders to do the right thing if he thought it was wrong. He was a man with more complexities and depth to him that a simple spy or freedom fighter.

The new series is bound to explore these aspects of his character and will hopefully go into his past to explain more of why he’s like this and the kind of person he is. With Rogue One being one of the best entries to the new Star Wars canon since the Disney takeover, it makes a lot of sense to explore this more; and it’s a no-brainer to focus on the most well-rounded character in the film

With the series still a few year away, I’m sure that there’s time to Disney to tease us with more of what will be included in the show soon before the expected release date of 2020.


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Pokemon Let’s Go – The DS Games

Originally published on Set The Tape

With the release of the first full Pokemon games on the Nintendo Switch, Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, we take a look back at the previous entries in the third biggest video game franchise ever made, continuing with the Nintendo DS games.

Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

The first Pokemon games to be released on the Nintendo DS, Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl introduced players to a host of new features thanks to the handheld console’s technology. Set in the region of Sinnoh, the games follow much of the standard series plot, with players training to become a Pokemon master whilst stopping an evil team.

However, Diamond and Pearl did add new features, such as seasonal changes, new classifications for Pokemon moves, as well as online features that took advantage of the DS’s wi-fi capabilities. Pokemon Platinum followed the trend of previous generations’ third game entries in changing up placements of Pokemon, giving the game a visual update, and adding a few new story elements.

Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Remaking and updating the hugely popular second generation games, Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver returned players to the region of Johto with a host of new features and functions.

The new games retained many of the newly introduced elements to the series, including double battles and online capabilities, as well as being the only time outside of Pokemon Yellow where Pokemon were able to follow players on screen. While before this had only been limited to Pikachu, Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver allowed the first Pokemon in your party to appear on screen with you, meaning that literally any Pokemon in the game could accompany you through the adventure.

With the games recreating the beloved generation two entries, as well as providing some unique and well received features, they quickly became some of the most popular entries in the Pokemon franchise.

Pokemon Black and White

Set in the New York inspired region of Unova Pokemon Black and Pokemon White attempted to create a different Pokemon experience. Introducing over 150 brand new Pokemon, the games made it so that none of the older creatures were available until late in the game, meaning players were forced to play with nothing but new monsters. The game also featured improved graphics over the previous entries, using dynamic 3D movement and fully animated Pokemon.

Despite technical improvements to both the graphics and gameplay, Pokemon Black and Pokemon White were not as well received by fans as the previous generation, with many feeling that the games didn’t look as polished, and disliking the lack of returning Pokemon in the early stages of the game. Nevertheless, they quickly became some of the biggest selling games to ever be released on the Nintendo DS.

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2

Whilst previous generations of Pokemon games would introduce a third entry that would act as an improved alternative to the first two games, none of these acted as follow-up entries until Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2. Set two years after the events of the previous game, the player takes control of a new protagonist from a previously unexplored western side of the Unova region.

The player gets to return to many of the areas from the previous games and meet several of the characters, who have since grown and evolved, taking on new roles within the region. Whilst the games didn’t add any new Pokemon, it did address a number of the fan complaints about the previous games and offered a fresh take on the Unova region and generation five.

Pokemon X and Y

The first Pokemon games designed for the Nintendo 3DS, Pokemon X and Pokemon Y were also the first entries in the franchise to be presented in fully 3D polygon graphics, creating the most interactive and dynamic Pokemon experience to date. Set in the France inspired Kalos region, players were presented with the opportunity to explore a bold new world with new Pokemon, as well as a new game mechanic, Mega Evolution. A mid-battle power-up, Mega Evolution allows certain fully evolved Pokemon to change their form temporarily, gaining new stats and abilities.

Mega Evolution was an interesting new development that offered experienced competitive players new options for battles, as well as an element of uncertainty and excitement in the midst of a fight. The game also introduced a brand new type of Pokemon, the Fairy Type, the first time a new type had been introduced since generation two. With a host of generation one Pokemon returning for the game, including the starter and legendary Pokemon, Pokemon X and Pokemon Y felt like a love letter to the series, whilst being fresh and new.

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

Remakes of the generation three games Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire allowed players to experience an updated and improved Hoen region, complete with all of the new game-play features, including several brand new Mega Evolutions.

With a story that combined elements of the main games as well as Pokemon Emerald, the generation three remakes offered one of the best Pokemon experiences, featuring all 700+ Pokemon in existence. Still one of my all time favourite entries in the series, it’s a great game to sink hundreds of hours into.

Pokemon Sun and Moon

Released in November 2017 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the series, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon were some of the boldest games in the franchise, offering a huge departure from elements that had been a staple of the games since the beginning. Ditching the classic gym battle system, players were instead sent on a series of trials across the tropical island chain of Alola. Rather than battling tough trainers to earn badges, the player would be sent on quests, presented with puzzles, or made to fight giant Totem Pokemon.

Generation seven also made the bold move to get rid of HM moves  Pokemon moves needed in order to explore in the main world) in favour of rideable Pokemon. The new gameplay system, coupled with a more extensive story that explored parallel worlds and a whole new type of creature, the Ultra Beasts, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon became hugely popular, despite several elements that left fans feeling disappointed.

Pokemon UltraSun and UltraMoon

Presenting players with an alternate version of the previous games, Pokemon UltraSun and Pokemon UltraMoon was set in a brand new universe, one that featured new gameplay elements, new Pokemon, and a more expanded story that further explored their characters.

Pokemon UltraSun and Pokemon UltraMoon addressed a number of the complaints with the previous entries, and further explored story elements that were only briefly touched upon in the last games, now allowing players to travel into parallel worlds and explore the home of the mysterious Ultra Beasts. It also went deeper into character motivation, managing to turn a two dimensional villain into a much more tragic and sympathetic character.

These improvements included a much more expanded post-game that brought back Team Rocket and a number of previous villain leaders for players to challenge. It offered a huge improvement over the previous edition and one that is still one of the boldest main series entries so far.


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Overlord: Is this the closest we will get to a Wolfenstein movie?

Originally published on Set The Tape

Announced in early 2017 the new J.J. Abrams produced movie Overlord was been eagerly awaited by fans, partly due to the film initially being speculated as being a part of Abrams’ Cloverfield universe. Now confirmed as no longer being a part of that universe but a separate entity in itself the film has attracted more interest for its resemblance to the video game series Wolfenstein.

Upon first viewing of the spectacular trailer I was immediately struck with how much the footage reminded me of the game series, and it would appear that I was not alone in making this comparison, with a number of Wolfenstein fans taking to the internet to voice their excitement for the movie.

Overlord is set to follow two American servicemen, Private Boyce (Jovan Adepo) and Corporal Ford (Wyatt Russell) the day before the invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Overlord. Trapped behind Nazi lines the two of them attempt to destroy a radio tower in order to help the allied assault. Unfortunately, they discover a secret Nazi lab underneath the radio tower, where occult experiments have created an army of the un-dead.

The premise of the film immediately brings to mind the 2014 Wolfenstein: The New Order and 2015’s Wolfenstein: The Old Blood games released by Bethesda. As with Overlord the games follow an American serviceman behind German lines as he attempts to complete his mission, before discovering dark secret experiments that could change the course of the war.

Whilst Wolfenstein: The New Order would very quickly go on to tell a story set in an alternate 1960’s where the Nazi’s conquered the world, it’s story, and the story of how the Nazi’s managed to win did deal heavily in secret experimentation and weapons development. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, a stand alone expansion that told players what happened before the first game incorporated more of the supernatural elements from the series, forcing players to go up against Nazi zombies.

Obviously, Overlord will not be following these stories or featuring the characters from the game, but the film very much shares a number of the themes from the game. Nazi’s have often been connected with the occult in fiction so it’s not exactly new, but the combination of the occult and secret experiments does feel a lot more like Wolfenstein than something like Raiders of the Lost Ark, for example.

With video game film adaptations being a very mixed bag in terms of quality, and I think I’m being fairly generous in describing it as a mixed bag, there is probably very little chance of an actual Wolfenstein film being produced, especially when the last attempt at an adaptation fell through. For many fans of the series Overlord is the closest we will get to a Wolfenstein film, but perhaps that’s a good thing. Without the need to try and emulate a video game source material and the ability to tell their own story in their own way, yet one that shares similar themes and styles, Overlord will be better than an actual adaptation.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×16 – ‘End of the Beginning’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

After an episode that put the main plot on the back-burner in order to feature some alien hi-jinks Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns it’s focus to the main story of the mysterious clairvoyant and the hunt for Deathlok, the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Mike Peterson (J August Richards).

The episode begins big, with Deathlok attacking a safe house and trying to kill Agent Garrett (Bill Paxton) and Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt) before moving on to one of the best S.H.I.E.L.D. team-up in the series yet, bringing together a number of fan favourite agents. Knowing that time is short to capture the clairvoyant Coulson (Clark Gregg) calls together the agencies heavy hitters, minus Captain America of course.

The episode sees the return of Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows), Agent Garrett, Agent Blake (Titus Weaver), and Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernandez). It’s a good mixture, featuring characters that first appeared in the feature films, in the blu-ray bonus stories, and in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.

The group, with the help of Skye (Chloe Benett) formulate a plan to investigate possible candidates for the Clairvoyant, splitting off into two-man teams. The sequence where Blake and Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) come across Deathlok is a highlight of the episode, with the short but sweet fight being incredibly tense and brutal. There’s not enough time or budget to do a big, all out fight, but the smaller scale really works to the shows advantage, displaying the brutality of Deathlok.

This scene is only topped by the surprise reveal that the Clairvoyant is actually a man named Thomas Nash, played by the iconic horror actor Brad Dourif. Nash is completely paralysed and unable to speak, and as such Doruif can do very little in his scene, yet manages to steal the episode is an incredibly subtle yet great performance. It’s a huge shame that he’s just a puppet that ends up dead by the end of the episode because he would have been a great addition to the show. Perhaps him actually having some kind of precognative powers and having him working alongside the real mastermind would have been an interesting direction that they could have taken the character. Any extra Brad Dourif is a good thing.

The episode feels like the season has begun to grow up, that it’s taking the story far more seriously and is going darker in tone, possibly to become more in line with the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The mention by Sitwell that he’s having to leave the mission to head to the Lumerian Star places the events of the episode firmly at the start of the film, and makes the moment at the end when Hand hijacks the Bus take on a much more sinister tone.

This is the point in the season where things really change for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where there’s no more adventure of the week stories but a major focus on the overarching story and character development. With the major change in the status quo coming from the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier the series is sure to go from strength to strength.


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The Haunting of Drearcliff Grange School – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Haunting of Drearcliff Grange School is the second novel in the series, though the first book itself is a continuation, or rather an expansion of Kim Newman’s novella ‘Kentish Glory: The Secret of Drearcliff School’ which was first published in the 2010 book Mysteries of the Diogenes Club.

Continuing on from the first entry in the series, The Haunting of Drearcliff School follows Amy Thomsett, a young girl that is sent to Drearcliff School after being founding floating on the ceiling by her mother. A school for girls that includes the daughters of ‘Criminal Masterminds’, ‘Outlaw Scientists’, and ‘Master Magicians’, Amy learns that she’s an ‘Unusual’, and that she has powers and abilities that regular people don’t.

Throughout the book the school is portrayed as a combination of X-Men, Harry Potter, and Miss Peregrine’s Home For Perculiar Children. Whilst this is the kind of thing that can often work well, especially in the examples that I’ve pointed out, here it never really gels. Drearcliff school never really feels like a school in the way that the others do, there’s not a big focus on training powers like the Xavier school, or on lessons like Hogwarts. It’s just a place where these girls stay.

The girls themselves, the members of the Moth Club, never move beyond the two-dimensional. The girls lack any real depth or development throughout the course of the book. Even Amy, the lead character felt very disconnected. There wasn’t a huge amount of insight into her thoughts or inner workings. Rather than going on a journey with her we have to experience it from afar, separate to her. The story is okay, with some sense of mystery involved, but due to not having a great connection to the characters or the world it felt hard to become invested in what was happening.

The biggest issue with the book, however, is the language. Much of the book is written fairly normally, but a lot of the dialogue and some of the descriptive language can be very off-putting. I understand that the book is set in the 1920’s, and that the kids are using slang a lot, but when I needed to re-read what a character just said in order to figure out what they meant it can take you out of a story very quickly. For example, the first time you hear the teacher Miss Gossage sets the stage for a lot of the dialogue throughout the book. ‘Mawther Hein to Kentish Gloreah, Mawther Hein to Kentish Gloreah, come in, come in, ovah.’

The Haunting of Drearcliff Grange School is an incredibly hard book to get into, and there were a number of times when I just wanted to put the book down and stop reading. I’m sure that there are many people who will enjoy the book, especially if they read and liked the previous entry in the series, but it’s not a book that I would recommend to someone that hasn’t already expressed a love for the work Kim Newman.


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Star Wars Resistance 1×04 – ‘Fuel For The Fire’ – TV Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The fourth episode of Star Wars Resistance puts world building on the back burner to take some much needed time to focus on its lead character, Kaz (Christopher Sean). Having learned in the previous episode that he needs to slow down a little and focus on his cover as a mechanic, rather than his mission as a spy, Kaz struggles to keep that focus, wanting to revel in the exciting life of the racers on the Colossus rather than the skills of the trade.

Unfortunately, Kaz is still a young man and his attention isn’t the best. He quickly falls afoul of the manipulations of a rival racing team led by Jace Rucklin (Elijah Wood). It’s obvious from the beginning that Jace and his gang, Lin Gaava (Rachael MacFarlane) and Gorrak Wiles (Eric Bauza), are out to take advantage of Kaz, but at least they do something to earn his trust and respect. Saving his life during an ‘accident’ is a pretty good plan as far as these kinds of episodes, but you can’t help but feel that Kaz is being something of an idiot.

By the end of the episode Kaz figures out that he has been used by Jace, in this case in order to steal experimental fuel, and chooses to do the right thing and rescue Jace from a fiery death. Kaz realises that he’s been used, yet risks his life for the person that betrayed his trust. This is the Kaz that Poe (Oscar Isaac) saw when he first met him; the brave man hidden within the brash kid. It’s this that appears to have finally earned the respect of Yeager (Scott Lawrence).

Despite the focus on Kaz, we do learn a little more about Yeager here too. We were told that Yeager was in the Rebel Alliance in the first episode, but now we get confirmation that he was also an X-Wing pilot that served during the Battle of Jakku, the final battle against the Galactic Empire as depicted in Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Star Wars Aftermath: Empire’s End. However, most intriguingly is that Jeager had a wife and child. As there’s been no mention of his family to date in the show, it’s probably a safe bet that he’s since lost them and that this will play into why he doesn’t want to be a part of the Resistance. Personally, it’s the most fascinating story element in the season so far; and one that I’m looking forward to seeing explored further.

The animation in this episode looks particularly great too. The speeder-bike race across the surface of the ocean is some of the best that Star Wars Resistance has given. With so much of the show being set within the sky or the cramped corridors and hangers of the Colossus, it’s hard to appreciate how beautiful the new animation style can be. Hopefully the series will explore some more varied environments again at some point so that we can have more of this.

‘Fuel For The Fire’ feels like a much smaller episode in a lot of ways and definitely benefits from this. The attention to character is a welcome change of pace and introduces a number of elements that the show can continue to explore as the season progresses.


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Pokemon Let’s Go – The Game Boy Games

Originally published on Set The Tape

With the release of the first full Pokemon games on the Nintendo Switch, Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee, we take a look back at the previous entries in the third biggest video game franchise ever made, starting with the Gameboy games.

Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow

Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue were the first western releases in the franchise created by Game Freak. Set in the fictional region of Kanto, players take control of 10-year-old Red, a fledgling Pokemon trainer who is given their first Pokemon by Professor Oak. The player sets out into the world to earn Gym Badges, compete in the Pokemon League and ‘catch ’em all’.

Whilst simple in comparison to later games in the series, these first two established elements that would become series staples; and thanks to the tie in anime series and massive merchandising, it produced some of the most iconic Pokemon creatures of all time.

Released shortly afterwards, Pokemon Yellow took the popular animated series and made it into a game. Building on the previous entries, Yellow changed the central character to Ash Ketchum and took away the multiple choice starter Pokemon, replacing them with a Pikachu that would follow behind you on screen.

The game made other minor changes, including changing some character models to match their television counterparts, as well as moving the locations of some Pokemon in order to create a different experience.

Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal

The first real sequel, Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver, were a radical improvement on the previous generation. Shifting the action to the new region of Johto, the games were able to introduce 100 new creatures, as well as a new breeding mechanic, gendered Pokemon, a night and day cycle, and more.

Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver were a radical new direction for the series, keeping all of the elements that made the first games great, yet addressing all of the issues that plagued them. The new additions were such a good improvement that they would remain staples of the franchise for decades and would inform all other subsequent entries.

As with Yellow in the previous generation, Pokemon Crystal took Gold and Silver and made a number of alterations. Crystal made big changes to the story, focusing on the mystical Pokemon Suicune and the alphabet Unown. As well as story changes, Crystal allowed players to choose if they wanted to play as a female character for the first time, along with animations on Pokemon when they entered into battle. This was also the first and only game that was exclusively for the Gameboy Colour.

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

The first entries in the series for the Gameboy Advance and the third generation of games, Ruby and Sapphire, took the series to the tropical land of Hoenn, home to 135 brand new Pokemon. Where previous games only differed in what Pokemon were available in each version, now each version also had different villain teams. This didn’t add a huge change to the story but it did deliver the most varied experience to date in a Pokemon game.

They also introduced double battles, where the player fields two Pokemon at the same time, as well as abilities and natures that could add surprising effects and alter the way certain Pokemon battled.

Combining together the two stories was Pokemon Emerald making the player face both Team Magma and Team Aqua. Instead of fighting a single team and stopping the legendary Pokemon, the player travels to a mysterious tower to unlock a new legendary, one capable to restoring balance to the worlds weather. While not a huge departure from Ruby and Sapphire, Emerald did offer a number of cosmetic changes.

Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green

Released onto the Gameboy Advance some eight years after the game series debuted in Japan, Pokemon Fire Red and Pokemon Leaf Green were enhanced remakes of the original Red and Blue, incorporating all of the new features that had been added to the franchise since the first generation.

With updated graphics and gameplay, along with some new story features, Fire Red and Leaf Green were a huge improvement on the original games. Released in 2004 to an audience who may not have even been alive for the first run, these remakes offered some players their first chance to experience the original entries in the franchise and bolstered the experience for those old enough to have been there first time around.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×15 – ‘Yes Men’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was criticised early in its first season for being too disconnected from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with people wanting characters such as Captain America and Iron Man to make appearances. Whilst this would have indeed attracted more viewers it would have taken away from the main focus of the series: the team.

Now that the show has had time to establish its own characters and story it’s the right time to bring in an already established movie character. Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) might seem like a strange choice of character to bring into the show, but it makes sense for a lot of reasons: she’s got a connection to Coulson (Clark Gregg), she’s an amazing fighter, she brings the team knowledge that helps with the overall story in the form of knowledge of blue aliens, and the fans really like her.

On this occasion Lady Sif has returned to Earth in order to capture the escaped Asgardian villain Lorelei (Elena Satine). A fairly major character from the Thor comics, Lorelei is a surprise choice to appear here as it expands the Thor universe quite a bit. With connections to characters such as Enchantress and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Lorelei now being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is sure to raise questions of whether or not we will see Enchantress in future films. The inclusion of these characters also showed that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t need to be connected to big events such as the destruction of London in Thor: The Dark World in order to feel integrated into the larger universe.

Within the show itself this episode manages to move some of the character development forward a little, in particular the relationship between Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) and Grant Ward (Brett Dalton). The May and Ward relationship never felt like there was much to it other than two people finding a release for their stress with each other through sex. Thankfully, the relationship came to an end this episode, which puts to an end any awkward love triangles that may come from Ward having a thing for Skye (Chloe Bennet).

The inclusion of the Asgardians means that the episode has the opportunity to up the ante in regards to action, making good use of their enhanced strength to deliver bigger and crazier set pieces than the show usually has. The fight in the biker bar where Lady Sif completely clears house is one of the better moments of the season to date.

The biggest misstep of the episode, however, is how it treats Ward, in particular him falling under Lorelei’s spell and sleeping with her. Whilst under the influence of her magic he’s not himself, his judgement has been altered, and he’s not able to completely consent to the things he does. In short, Lorelei date rapes him. This could have been an interesting area to explore, but the show and the characters seem to completely brush this aside as soon as it’s done, never bringing it up again. I can’t help but feel that some of this comes from the fact that it’s a fit, muscled man going to bed with a beautiful woman that has something to do with this, that changes how people look at it. If this was a young woman being magically made to sleep with an unattractive man people would quickly, and correctly, identify it as being very wrong.

Despite these missteps the episode is actually very good. Yes, it’s a standalone episode, but it’s done so well and is so enjoyable to watch that you don’t really mind that the show isn’t really addressing the main issues such as Coulson’s resurrection, Centipede, and the mysterious Clairvoyant. Hopefully the series will produce more episodes like this, and get Lady Sif back again in the future.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×14 – ‘T.A.H.I.T.I.’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

The fourteenth episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. picks up where the previous story left off, with Skye (Chloe Bennet) having been shot by the villainous Ian Quinn (David Conrad), and now fighting for her life. Despite the best efforts of the team medic Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) Skye isn’t going to survive, leading Coulson (Clark Gregg) to make a desperate gamble to save her.

Things are definitely high stakes in this episode, and there’s a huge sense of tension from the very beginning as the ultimate fate of a member of the team hangs in the balance. Whilst this show is far from being Game of Thrones where no character is safe from death, the fact that Skye isn’t a character from the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe or comics lends a genuine degree of peril to her situation. Essentially she’s a character that the show-runners could kill off without any huge impact on the larger universe.

It also adds some good character drama as we get to see how each member of the team deals with the situation. Fitz (Ian De Caestecker) blames himself for not stopping Skye from being shot, Ward (Brett Dalton) blames himself for not having trained her better, whilst Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) simply blames Quinn, focusing her anger on him. The reactions from the team show how far the characters have come, and how much they actually care for each other now. It wasn’t too long ago that May didn’t want Skye on the ship, now she’s beating the man who tried to kill her.

Whilst the team spend time placing blame for the event Coulson makes the bold move to try and use the technology that brought him back from the dead to save Skye. The mystery of Coulson’s resurrection was always going to be a big part of the first season, and this episode reveals that there’s a lot more to the mystery than first speculated, especially when the team manages to locate the mysterious ‘Guest House’.

With so much of the focus of the episode on the central S.H.I.E.L.D. team the show is still able to introduce two new members of the organisation, John Garrett (Bill Paxton) and Antoine Triplett (B.J. Britt). The late great Paxton is brilliant as John Garrett, an old friend of Coulson who also appears to be an agent with a degree of freedom to operate how he wants. With several more appearances from the character announced throughout the rest of the season there’s little insight into who he is in this episode, but it’s a solid introduction for him that makes him an enjoyable addition to the the show.

Joined by fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agents John Garrett and Antoine Triplett Coulson locates the ultra secret facility where he was brought back to life, a facility that is so off the books it isn’t even run by S.H.I.E.L.D.. Here they discover what has to be the most shocking revelation in the series to date, that the technology comes from an alien body.

Despite the fact that aliens are well established within the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this point thanks to the events of Thor and Avengers Assemble it’s still a bold move for the series to take, and one that fans didn’t actually manage to predict. Of course, there’s still huge unanswered questions around this reveal, most important of which is ‘is this the first appearance of the Kree in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?’

That question might actually get answered sooner than expected as the episode ends with a set up for the following episode, the arrival of the Asgardian villain Lorelei (Elena Satine) on Earth. Perhaps aliens are about to become a big part of the series.


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