Joker – 5 Great Joker Stories

Originally published on Set The Tape

Joker sees the classic Batman villain take centre stage in his own solo movie. The Joker is one of those characters that’s been around for decades, and has a whole host of stories that focus on him. But with so many comics focusing on him, where’s the best place to start? Well, here are five of the best to check out.

A Death In The Family

One of the most iconic Joker stories, A Death In The Family showcases how brutally ruthless the character can be. Despite being one of the most iconic Joker stories ever it actually focuses on Jason Todd, the second Robin. Having grown-up alone on the streets of Gotham, Todd is on a quest to find his mother. However, during this journey he’s kidnapped by the Joker, and eventually killed.

One of the things that made this story stand out was that there were two possible endings: one in which Jason died, and the other where he lived. Readers were able to phone into DC and vote on which ending they wanted, and ultimately chose for Jason to die.

This was one of the first times a major Batman character was killed off (even though it didn’t stick and Jason is now alive again), and the writers didn’t pull any punches as they had the Joker brutally beat Jason with a crowbar before collapsing a building on him. It really went to show how much of a threat the character can actually be.

Joker

Set in a much darker, more realistic version of Gotham, the book follows the Joker after he’s newly released from Arkham Asylum. Told from the point of view of a low level thug who the Joker takes a liking to, the story shows the crazed villain starting a war with the other gang leaders in the city. Joker hardly features Batman at all, with the story caring more about watching the path of destruction the Joker makes and how he ruins one man’s life.

The book also stands out thanks to the amazing art by Lee Bemejo. Grim and dirty, yet incredibly elegant, it showed the city and the characters in ways that we’d never seen before. Joker was also noted as the likely inspiration for Heath Ledger’s look in The Dark Knight, as the designs are almost identical.

The Killing Joke

Possibly the most iconic Joker story ever told, The Killing Joke has been released multiple times and adapted into an animated movie. The cover is also one of the best known Joker images.

The Killing Joke tells an origin for the character that depicts him as a failing stand-up comedian who is trying to support his pregnant wife. Turning to crime to try and raise money he becomes part of the Red Hood gang. As part of this gang he falls afoul of the caped crusader, and falls into a vat of chemicals that transforms him into the Joker. In the present day the Joker hatches a plan to send Commissioner Gordon crazy. To this end he kidnaps and tortures Gordon, showing him the photographs of his daughter Barbara, who the Joker has shot in the stomach.

The Killing Joke had a lasting affect on Barbara Gordon, who was crippled by the wound. Unable to carry on as Batgirl, she would go on to be the hero Oracle. Whilst this was eventually changed during the New 52 relaunch, this change lasted for decades, and made the book an important part of the Batman mythos.

The Man Who Laughs

Set after Batman: Year One, this story aims to tell the first confrontation between Batman and the Joker. Still new into his career as a crime fighter, Batman is drawn into a mystery involving mutilated corpses, and a clown that’s threatening to murder several key figures in Gotham City. The Man Who Laughs showcases how cunning and intelligent the Joker is, as he utilises his knowledge of chemistry to poison people across the city.

The Man Who Laughs is a great book for showing both the Joker and Batman in a less physical confrontation. The book isn’t about the Joker being a physical foe for Batman to fight, but a looming threat that’s lurking in the background for most of the book. It’s a good revamping of the character’s first appearance, and whilst it offers hints as to his origin it doesn’t focus on this, something that many fans prefer for the character.

Death of the Family

The biggest story on this list, Death of the Family spanned more than 20 issues across several different titles as the Joker aims to destroy all of Batman’s extended family in order to leave the Dark Knight standing alone against him. In this story the Joker believes that Batman has come to rely on his group of sidekicks, multiple Robins, Nightwing, Batgirl, Alfred Pennyworth, and Commissioner Gordon to name just a few, and wants them gone.

This story was the first time that the character had really appeared in the DC Universe since their relaunch, having made a brief appearance in issue 1. This story showcased what is likely to be the most shocking version of the character, where he’s had his face cut off and is now wearing it as a mask.

During the course of the story the Joker put the various members of the Bat Family through psychological and mental torture that almost broke them. One of the most shocking things about the title was how he broke Alfred, brainwashing him into siding with the Joker, and even cutting his hand off. One of the most shocking Joker titles by far, it stands out as one of the all time great Joker stories.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Alan Sugar Speaks Out Against Non-Binary Community

Alan Sugar, businessman and presenter of the British Apprentice television series has made statements that complain about non-binary people, and saying that people who use gender free language should be deported.

During an interview with tabloid rag The Sun, in which they praise Sugar for telling 'it like it is' in a 'sensitive world', the businessman took aim at 'snowflakes'. He stated that 'The world has gone mad, it's ridiculous, they're looking for new things to be offended by'.

'It's absolutely crazy,' he continued, 'you can;t say anything nowadays without offending somebody with how they look, dress, the colour of their skin or whatever. It's sickening quite frankly.'

The fact that he's complaining that you cannot say anything about the colour of people's skin without them being offended does seem a lot like he's complaining about not being able to say racist things, something that he has received criticism for in the past. In 2018 he received criticism for tweeting racist comments about the all black Senegal World Cup football team. He was also previously accused of racism for making jokes about a crying Chinese baby.

When journalists asked him what he thought about non-binary pronouns from the 'woke generation' he became quickly angered.

'They need to pack it in, it's nonsense.' He replied. 'The people promoting it need to be shipped off to Mongolia. Send them away, get them out of the country. Go away. It boils down to a small bunch of people that promote it.'

This isn't the first time that he has insulted members of the LGBTQ+ public, as last December he made comments on social media about having 'had enough' gay people in his board room.

It's clear from his comments both now and in the past that Alan Sugar is a man who does not like the fact that he can't be openly racist, homophobic, and transphobic. He has repeatedly made negative comments about minorities and continues to do so, probably assuming that because he's a rich old white man he won't face any kind of consequences for his actions.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

BBC Presenter John Humphrys Says BBC Is 'Too Sympathetic' To Trans People

Veteran BBC television and radio presenter John Humphrys has received backlash from the LGBTQ+ community following comments where he stated that the BBC is too supportive of trans people.

The former presenter of Radio 4's Today programme spoke out against his former employer last weekend whilst appearing at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. He claimed that the BBC and their staff have a 'liberal left agenda', which he said leads to coverage about trans issues that is too 'sensitive'.

'If you take something like, for instance transgender, the BBC's mindset is such that you must , kind of accept what the prevailing view is.' He said. 'Except that's their prevailing view, and perhaps mine is slightly different.

'The BBC’s attitude with that sort of social development is to be immediately sympathetic, not entirely detached as I believe they should be, but sympathetic and that worries me.'

He also added, 'I happen to believe, personally, that there are not an unlimited number of genders. I believe that we are born men and women. I feel slightly worried when large numbers of children are being told 'You think you might be a girl or you think you might be a boy? We'll go and get you medical attention'.'

He continued to use the fear of trans children to compound his point by saying, 'I'm uneasy about children being told in schools there are more than 100 different genders and it's possible for someone to change gender overnight. I'm worried about where it's heading. The BBC's attitude with that sort of social development is to be immediately sympathetic, not entirely detached as it should be.'

John Humphrys has in the past faced criticism for voicing anti-trans sentiment live on air when he described trans women as 'men who think they are women'.

Many of Humphrys' arguments are ones that will be familiar to many members of the trans community, as they are often used by TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) to attack members of the trans community. They also bear a striking similarity to homophobic arguments that were used in past decades by somehow framing the trans community and their existence as a threat to children.

Whilst the BBC is by far not the worst broadcaster for anti-trans sentiment, it is far from the sympathetic network that Humphrys believes it to be. Perhaps anything less than outright hate is seen as sympathy towards those who harbor anti-transgender views. But then again, is anyone really surprised that an old white man in his late seventies isn't okay with those who don't conform to narrow viewpoints on gender and sex?


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery is the latest anthology from Titan Books, this time offering a host of tales of witchcraft and magic. The authors on offer here are an amazing bunch and some big names, including authors of popular series such as The Morganville Vampires, and the Dark-Hunter Hellchaser saga. One of the things that really makes the book stand out however, is how many of the authors are women. The fact that editors Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering have gone out of their way to fill the book with diverse voices makes for such a treat.

Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery gives readers a broad range of stories – as broad as the genre of witchcraft and magic can allow. Some stories have witches who are heroes, acting to protect the innocent. In some, they are foes who cause death and destruction in their wake. Some are set in worlds much like ours, where magic is unknown and mysterious, whilst others are in times and places where magic is something that everyone believes in. The book has so many different stories on offer that any reader will struggle to come out disappointed. There’s something for everyone in this collection, and if you’re like me, you’ll love it all.

‘Widows’ Walk’ by Angela Slatter tells a tale of a group of elderly widows who take pity on a young girl who’s being neglected by her family. When it turns out that the widows are actually witches, their interest in the girl takes a more magical turn. ‘The Night Nurse’ by Sarah Langan switches things up by having a less than benevolent witch at its centre, instead telling a story of a strange old women who acts as a night nurse for a new mother. Over the course of the story the ‘kind’ older woman begins to act more and more suspicious until she becomes downright frightening.

Mary SanGiovanni’s ‘The Memories of the Trees’ is set in a future where humanity has regressed following an apocalyptic war in the twenty-first century. In a society that has been destroyed by technology, magic has made a resurgence, and must come to the aid of a woman and girl condemned to death. ‘How To Become A Witch Queen’ by Theodora Goss takes place in a fantasy world, and follows the recently widowed queen Elfrida. Desperate to secure a safe future for her daughter, Elfrida recruits friends and allies from her past, including seven dwarves, to build her own kingdom with her mothers old magical equipment. The story twists the tale of Snow White wonderfully, and gives us a new version of the character, the woman who inspired the fairy-tale.

Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery doesn’t just include stories set in new worlds, however, but also tales from other book series too. These stories give some insight into these series; in some cases introducing main characters, in others just giving a taste of the worlds that the stories inhabit. Kelley Armstrong offers a tale about Eve Levine, a witch on the run, that connects into her Otherworld series in ‘Black Magic Momma’. We get to see a story set in Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampires series in ‘Home’. This story is set between the events of one of her books, and features a few of the main cast coming together to deal with a witch threatening their town. These stories will add to the experience for fans of those particular series, giving them more adventures to enjoy with those characters. For those who aren’t familiar with these universes, they act as a great taster that can be a nice gateway into those stories.

Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery is one of the better anthology books that I’ve read. The stories here have a wide range of styles, and they present very different ideas of witchcraft and magic, yet they all have the same high quality. Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering have done an amazing job as editors, and have gone above and beyond to craft a volume that really does present some of the best short stories available. An absolute must read for fans of short stories, horror, and witchcraft, and presented in an absolutely gorgeous hardcover edition too.

Buy Now On Amazon

Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Printer's Devil Court by Susan Hill - Book Review

'A chilling ghost story by the author of The Woman in Black. One murky November evening after a satisfying meal in their Fleet Street lodgings, a conversation between four medical students takes a curious turn and Hugh is initiated into a dark secret. In the cellar of their narrow lodgings in Printer's Devil Court and a little used mortuary in a subterranean annex of the hospital, they have begun to interfere with death itself, in shadowy experiments beyond the realms of medical ethics. They call on Hugh to witness an event both extraordinary and terrifying.

'Years later, Hugh has occasion to return to his student digs and the familiar surroundings resurrect peculiar and unpleasant memories of these unnatural events, the true horror of which only slowly becomes apparent.'

I was excited to read Printer's Devil Court largely due to how much I enjoyed The Woman In Black. I had found Susan Hill's work on that book to be brilliant, and it had genuinely scared me when I read it. The prospect of something similar had me very eager, and it jumped into it as soon as I was able to. Sadly, I found the book quite dull.

The initial set-up in the book was fairly interesting, set in London during the early decades of the last century, it has a very gritty and dark feel straight off, and Hill is able to craft a location that feels like it belongs in a ghost story. The group of young student doctors that discuss the notion of being able to revive the dead led me to images of reanimated corpses and frankenstein-like creations skulking in the foggy back alleys of the city.

However, this never really materialised. After showing the reader, and the narrator, one experiment where it appeared a young woman was brought back to life the book didn't really do anything with this. There was no shocking event, no insight into how these young men were seemingly able to capture some kind of 'life-force' or 'soul' and transfer it into someone as they died. When, decades later, the narrator returns to London and comes across a strange ghost that appears to be some kind of amalgamation of two people there's no horror there, no sense of dread or fright at all.

The narrator is momentarily shocked by what he finds, but then is quite rational about things, and goes out of his way to help these spirits. Whilst this might be seen as an interesting twist to some, I couldn't help but feel a little bored by it. If the protagonist in a horror story is frightened, why should I be?

I saw a comment online about the story, where the reviewer said that Susan Hill was coasting on her reputation as a horror writer following The Woman In Black. Whilst I think this is somewhat harsh, I can kind of see why they'd make this kind of comment. Her other was was so good that this in comparison is very much a let down. You want a story that has the same quality as The Woman In Black, the same sense of fear and dream, the same horror, and Printer's Devil Court just doesn't have this.

The book isn't a bad story by any means it fails to live up to the legacy that Susan Hill had made for herself. It doesn't reach the highs that The Woman In Black does, but it does have some interesting concepts in it, and it manages to craft a pretty well realised character in a very short length. There was potential for a lot more in this book, and whilst it might not meet that it's sure to keep readers entertained. The fact that it's also a book that can be read in a single sitting helps with this. An interesting way to spend a few hours, but probably a read that will end up slipping from memory soon after.

Buy Now On Amazon

Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

IT Chapter Two - Film Review

IT Chapter Two returns audiences to the small town of Derry, where the terrifying entity Pennywise has awakened from his decades of slumber ready to kill more children, and to get revenge against the Losers Club.

The choice to split IT into two films is probably the best thing that the filmmakers could have done. Whilst the shifting narrative settings within the book worked for that particular format (though I did have a few issues with it on occasion when reading it), it worked less so in film, as the 1990 miniseries showed. Here, the adult actors get their chance to shine without having to compete with the teenagers who played the younger versions of the characters. Even though there are some scenes in IT Chapter Two that return audiences to the 1980's, this is still very much about the adult cast, and these flashbacks play important parts in their journeys.

The adult cast are very good, and for a number of them it's almost eerie how much they look like the younger versions of the characters from the first film. Andy Bean who plays Stanley Uris is only in the film for a short amount of time, but I was immediately stunned by how much he looked like an older version of Wyatt Oleff; likewise, Nicholas Hamilton had a similar impact as an older Henry Bowers. And whilst Bill Hader did resemble Finn Wolfhard to a certain degree, it was his portrayal that really sold it being the same character.

I actually found him to be the most interesting member of the Losers Club in this film, and think that the new subplot about him being a closeted gay man was actually really interesting, and at times his performance was very moving.

The gay plots that happened in the film were handled well, especially the opening scene of the film that depicted the brutal homophobic attack of Adrian Melon. A scene that was cut from the 90's miniseries, it was used here to great effect. It took an incredibly disturbing and violent act, a very real kind of act, and used to it return Pennywise in a truly shocking way. For much of the scene you could be forgiven to forget that this is a film about an evil clown as we see that everyday people can be capable of such incredible evil themselves. Whilst some people complained about the tone and the violent nature of the scene it was an incredibly important scene from the book and I for one am very glad to see it included.

Unfortunately, the one area that I felt let this film down was that it just wasn't as scary as the first film. Perhaps this is because during the first film we were still discovering this version of Pennywise, and that slow unfolding of the threat was very scary. Maybe it's because I knew how the character acted now that I was somewhat prepared a second time round. Whatever the reason, he just didn't scare me as much. And I'm someone with coulrophobia, so this film should have really messed me up.

But this complaint is in no way a complaint about Bill Skarsgard, who is absolutely phenomenal in the role. I understand that a lot of people have a very real connection to Tim Curry as Pennywise, and whilst I do love Tim Curry he's nowhere near as good in the role as Skarsgard. He exudes menace whenever he's on screen, even when he's being sweet to children to lure them in. He's able to convey huge shifts with the tiniest facial expression, and can go from creepy to downright horrifying with the flip of a switch. So much of what makes Pennywise scary in these two films is down to his acting ability, not any kind of effects, and he should be lauded with praise for his work here.

In some ways it's sad that IT has come to a close, as it feels like there is a lot more to this story and this world left to tell. I know that there is supposed to be a 'super-cut' version of the film coming, and that Andy Muschietti wants to add in deleted scenes, and even film new pieces, so I have that to look forward to, but for now I feel a little down that it's done.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Shatter War by Dana Fredsti and David Fitzgerald – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Shatter War is the second volume in the Time Shards series, and returns readers to the future where time itself has been broken into pieces, and multiple time periods share the same world.

Whilst Shatter War is a second volume it actually managed to catch me up very quickly with what had come before. During an experiment to harness faster than light travel the timeline was broken, splitting the world into various different shards, places where different times exist. As a result, pre-historic animals, modern day cities, and medieval knights can all exist beside each other.

As the people across this broken world try to figure out what has happened, and in many cases struggle to survive, a small group has come together to try to repair this damage, before powerful aftershocks destroy the world completely. This group of heroes includes Dr Jonathan Meta, the 23rd century scientist who caused the event; Amber Richardson, from modern day, first century Celt Cam; world war two veteran Sergeant Blake; Victorian conman Professor Winston Harcourt; and nineteenth century journalist Nellie Bly.

This mismatched team have a plan: get to the lab where things went wrong and fix stuff; but this doesn’t last particularly long into the book. Unfortunately for them they run afoul of Meta’s evil counterpart, Dr Colonel Janos Mehta. Now, it’s not really clear who this person is, except that he looks and sounds exactly like Meta, including his strange eyes, but comes from a different time where he’s an insane mass murder. What’s the most unclear, however, is if this is an ancestor of his from Meta’s past, or if he’s from an alternate timeline.

The book sets Mehta up to be the big villain in this book, and makes him the cause for everything that goes wrong for the group, with no explanation or reasoning for his being. This is made even worse within the last pages of the book. I won’t say exactly why, as it’s a big spoiler, but things get even more confusing.

Sadly, this Mehta/Meta confusion isn’t the only thing that makes the conclusion of the book a little disappointing. A few hundred pages of the weighty 500 page book are spent in establishing just how many warring factions are making a few of the time shards in Egypt their home, and is building the way towards a conflict. But the book doesn’t deliver on this. It’s coming, but apparently not in this book. I understand that this is a part of a series, but it really felt like the conflict between these time-displaced armies would be the conclusion for this book. It felt like the war in the title is missing.

Whilst we are on the matter of the length of the book, there’s a lot in Shatter War that adds to the world; whole sections of the book where we leave the main characters behind to follow the inhabitants of the various shards. These can range from just a few pages to thirty or more. These sections create some background for the places and people that the heroes will encounter later on, but often the information presented here and the context given is stuff that comes up later on anyway. For example, we spend a while following a ship captain from ancient Egypt as he travels down the Nile for days, lost as he sails from shard to shard, before finally being discovered and captured by soldiers a thousand years from their future. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with this, we see this information relayed to the heroes later on, meaning there was no need to really see it.

This isn’t something that happens just the once, but several times across the book. We see events, then we see our heroes told about these events. This happens so often that it comes to feel that 100 or more pages are given over to these tangents. Whilst I didn’t mind one or two, it happens so often and adds so much to the length of the book that I couldn’t help but get bored by them, and even began to feel like it was being done for padding to add length to the book.

Whilst there was a lot about Shatter War that I enjoyed, especially the inclusion of the real life Nellie Bly (a totally amazing woman who should be taught about in schools!), there’s so much that’s left unexplained, and so much build-up for so small a pay off that it feels like nothing really happens for 500 pages. There may be another book coming that will answer these mysteries and give the reader a resolution, but I can’t see this being a popular middle part, as so much of this story could have been told in half the page count. Thankfully, I hadn’t read the first book, because after waiting a year and a half for another entry in the series I would have been disappointed that this is what I was given.

Buy Now On Amazon

Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Gears of War: Ascendance by Jason M. Hough - Book Review

'Following Reyna Diaz's death at the hands of the Swarm, Kait seals her mother's tomb, swearing revenge. With her allies, including JD Fenix and Del Walker, she returns to New Ephyra to warn the Coalition of Ordered Governments: THE SWARM IS COMING.

'However, First Minister Jinn requires proof of the threat. She also demands their utter loyalty, driving a wedge between the allies. Joined by Marcus Fenix, Kait strikes out on her own while JD and Del embark on a sanctioned mission to prove that the threat is real. With the fate of humankind hanging in the balance, it's a race against time.'

The Gears of War series returns to consoles with the release of Gears of War 5, which continues the story of Kait Diaz and her mysterious connection to the Locust Horde and their Swarm descendants. However, before you dive into the game (or after, I can't tell you what to do), you might want to check out Titan Book's new release Gear of War: Ascendance, which fills in the gap between the fourth and fifth games.

Picking up straight were Gears of War 4 left off, readers rejoin the band of heroes on the mountainside where they found the mutated Reyna. Having killed her mother in order to save her, Kait and her friends bury her before being forced to flee to a safe location thanks to the Swarm still trying to hunt them down.

The group are eventually able to send a message to the COG, and are brought to the city of New Ephyra, where they brief First Minister Jinn on the new threat. A good portion of the start of the book is given over to these meetings and how the group interacts with the somewhat confrontational First Minister. Considering that Jinn has more of a presence in the fifth game, and that her relationship with them is a bigger thing it's great to see these early steps. We get to see her try to bring JD and Del onto her side, we understand a little more of her working relationship with Baird, and we see first hand how frosty her and Kait are towards each other.

Readers also get to see New Ephyra before the Swarm turn up too, and it's interesting to see how a COG city works in a time of peace. Getting to see how the government is using Baird's DB's as police, patrolling the streets and enforcing rules, with surveillance feeds going straight to the COG, it actually makes it a little more understandable why some humans chose to live as Outsiders. The allure of living in nature, away from an oppressive regime is one that I think most people would be able to identify with.

Sadly for the heroes of the story they don't get to spend much time in relative peace, and and thrust back into the action once again. JD and Del are sent to investigate a Locust burial site that the COG have lost contact with, whilst Kait and Marcus head to South Village, an outcast settlement near Kait's home where they hope to find survivors.

The two story-lines are both exciting, and could have easily been the focus of a book each, however, here readers jump between the two are the heroes are put into more and more dangerous situations. Whilst we know that none of them are going to die during these events (they are in the game that follows this book after all) there's still a shed load of tension as they're forced into more and more impossible seeming circumstances, and you're left wondering how they're going to get out alive. These stories are also intercut with scenes of Baird in New Ephyra, where he's not only trying to help both groups, but also trying to upgrade the DB's for the upcoming war with the Swarm.

Gears of War: Ascendance has taken a time frame between the games, where nothing big or important needed to happen, and threw a load of action and character moments into it. It helps to enrich the world of Sera, and really adds to Kait's growth from an Outsider to a member of the COG. Hopefully we'll get more books like this that will continue to fill in these small gaps. I'm hoping that we'll get some books that fills in the four month gap where Kait and Del went out saving Outsider colonies, and JD and Fahz go on missions together. More books like this will only help to improve the Gears of War universe.

Buy Now On Amazon

Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Rambo: Last Blood – 5 Older Films That Need A Sequel

Originally published on Set The Tape

Rambo: Last Blood sees Sylvester Stallone reprising one of his most iconic roles: that of the Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. This isn’t the first time that he’s brought an older character back, however, having previously returned to the screen as Rocky Balboa in the Creed movies. With these returns proving popular with fans we’ve taken a look to see if there are any other older films that could get a sequel decades later.

Commando (1985)

Commando is easily one of Arnie’s best movies. It’s fun, full of action, and hugely re-watchable. Here Arnold plays a retired special forces soldier, John Matrix, who has to come out of retirement to rescue his kidnapped daughter from a former South American dictator. The action that follows is one of the best revenge stories around.

More than 30 years later, could this work again? Yes. It definitely could. Have Arnold play Matrix once again, this time having to come out of retirement to help his daughter rescue her own child. You could even have Alyssa Milano reprise her role as his daughter Jenny. There are a whole wealth of areas that this film could explore, you could have the bad guys be somehow connected to Matrix’s past, or just completely unconnected. Plus, if it goes well you could even go for a John Rambo vs John Matrix crossover too.

Waterworld (1995)

Okay, I know this is considered one of the biggest movie failures of all time, but I think that there’s a lot in this universe that can still be tapped. Add into that the fact that the film has taken on an almost cult status with people (largely in thanks to how it is that bad that it’s kind of fun) and there could be a decent sized audience.

With global warming being such a big issue now a film that focuses a little on the devastating affects of climate change might be a good thing. Instead of being as kooky and weird as the original, a sequel could take on a more serious tone, looking at how humanity has been struggling to survive. Thanks to how small a focus the original film had the narrative could easily shift to focus on completely new characters and places if they can’t get Kevin Costner to return.

Demolition Man (1993)

Another Stallone film that would be great to see come back. In the original Demolition Man Stallone played a cop out of time in a future that doesn’t need a grizzled action hero. Why not return to this peaceful and idyllic future to see how John Spartan got on once he’d beaten his arch foe. Does he get used to this new world, or is he still a fish out of water?

With the first film having already set up the idea that dangerous criminals have been cryogenically frozen, it would be easy to bring some new threats into this future. Stallone could be eager to come out of retirement in order to fight this threat. This threat could be similar to the first film, a criminal or group of criminals that come out of prison without having been subject to the subliminal rehab, or it could be past criminals whose rehab starts to degrade, bringing out their former criminal tendencies. It could also be fun to see the return of other actors in the franchise such as Sandra Bullock, and Billy Cobbs.

Flash Gordon (1980)

Everyone loves a bit of Flash Gordon, whether it’s the cheesy action, the brightly coloured sets, or the kick arse soundtrack, there’s something about Flash Gordon that’s a little bit special. The fact that the film has been celebrated on multiple different anniversaries and given special re-releases means that there’s a huge audience for it, even close to 40 years later.

There have been attempts to reboot Flash Gordon more than once, with none of them really gaining the recognition or love that the 1980 version did. So instead of trying to revamp the film, just make a sequel instead. Let’s have Flash, still played by Sam Jones, being called back to Mongo to help stop a returned Ming. With so many of the cast still around you could have Max von Sydow reprise the role, or have Ming return in a younger, newer body. Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed could return too. Instead of trying to make a more ‘realistic’ updated Flash Gordon, return to the world of the old one, embrace the over the top 80’s aesthetic and be cheesy as hell.

Lethal Weapon (1987)

It’s been a long time since the last Lethal Weapon film came out – more than 20 years – so I’d be interested in seeing how Riggs, Murtaugh, and the rest of the gang, are doing. Did Murtaugh finally get to retire? Part of the fun of the Lethal Weapon films is the family bond that built between the two lead characters over the years. Having gone from unwilling partners to friends, and eventually like brothers, their relationship was one of the highlights. How would that friendship continue on? Would Riggs have retired too, or is he having to work with a new partner? Does Riggs have to deal with new issues now that his son is a young man? All of these things would be loads of fun to see regardless of whatever the big bad they’d have to go up against would be.


Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Thornhill by Pam Smy - Book Review

'As she unpacks in her new bedroom, Ella is irresistibly drawn to the big old house that she can see out of her window. Surrounded by overgrown gardens, barbed wire fences and 'keep out' signs, it looks derelict. But that night, a light goes on in one of the windows. And the next day she sees a girl in the grounds. Ella is hooked. The house has a story to tell. She is sure of it. Enter Thornhill, Institute for Children, and discover the dark secrets that lie within.But once inside, will you ever leave?'

Thornhill isn't a standard book. It doesn't just follow a single narrative, and it isn't limited to a singular medium either. The book tells two interconnected stories, one is about an orphan girl named Mary who is living in the Thornhill children's home in the 1980's, whose story is told in the form of diary entries; the other is about Ella, a girl who moves into a house behind the remains of Thornhill thirty years later, whose story is told entirely with artwork. Together, these stories make one interesting and haunting narrative tale.

Mary is a girl that's been at Thornhill for a number of years, and is struggling to make friends. She suffers from selective mutism, a complex anxiety disorder. As such, she finds it difficult to talk to any of the other girls in the home, and struggles to communicate well with the staff. Her only real escape from the difficulties she faces when around other people is shutting herself away in her attic room and crafting intricate puppet dolls. Unfortunately, Mary's life is thrown into further chaos when one of her tormentors returns to Thronhill after failing to fit in at her foster home. As Thornhill begins to shut down and the girls are found other places to move to Mary and her bully become more and more isolated with each other, which causes the situation to escalate to dangerous levels.

Ella is a teenage girl who has recently moved into one of the houses behind Thornhill, more than 30 years after Mary's story. As there is no dialogue during these sections the reader is left to piece together her story from the small pieces of information given, but it appears that Ella recently lost her mother, and moved with her father to the new home. Her father is having to work increasingly long hours, which results in Ella alone for long periods. When Ella sees a mysterious girl around the rundown Thornhill she tries to find out more about her, discovering more and more clues as to her identity, and her story.

It's pretty obvious from early on in the book that the mysterious girl that Ella is seeing is Mary, and that there must be something unusual going on here. Despite the obvious answer being that Ella is seeing Mary's ghost Pam Smy manages to create a few interesting curves throughout Mary's story that I began to doubt this conclusion. I started to think that perhaps the girl Ella was seeing wasn't actually Mary, but possibly Mary's bully. Thanks to Mary becoming more and more isolated in her narrative, and building towards a breaking point I began to think perhaps the story would have a twist, and that the bully would turn out to be called Mary too (her name is never given to us), and the reader was being intentionally mislead.

Alas, this is not the case, and it is indeed Mary who is some kind of spirit, but as this was one of the very first things that I thought when reading the book I'm not considering that to really be a spoiler. There are a few twists and turns in the narrative that I'm not going to talk about as then it would spoil the story, but the one thing I will say was that the last few pages actually gave me a little chill; thanks in large part to the artwork.

The art in Thornhill is perhaps one of it's most interesting features, and helps to really make the book stand out. Presented in black and white, these pages help to build upon the gloomy and depressing atmosphere that Mary's narrative creates. The artwork, whilst very beautiful, feels oppressive. It's also amazing just how much Pam Smy is able to convey in these wordless pages, just by the small details that she puts into the background and the way she chooses to depict events. It's not surprising to learn in the back of the book that she's a Senior Lecturer in Illustration, and has a number of qualifications in the subject. She doesn't use illustration to add to the written narrative, but to tell its own story. I've seen a few comics try the same trick, of presenting wordless narratives, and whilst some of these worked most of them didn't feel like anything that was particularly stand out or deserving of high praise. Thornhill, on the other-hand, shows how this technique can really be used to its full.

Thornhill is a hefty book, at more than 500 pages. The hardback copy I read also lent to the book feeling like a weighty, almost intimidating read, especially for the younger reader. However, Mary's diary entries aren't hugely long, and a good percentage of the book is given over to illustrations, meaning that it's not really a long book to read. I managed it in one sitting. But whilst I read it quickly I found myself thinking about it long afterwards. There's something about it that stuck with me way longer than it should have. It told an interesting story, with characters that felt a lot more real and grounded than most young fiction. The artwork elevated the book and made it stand out as something special. Whether you're the intended audience or not, the book is so well crafted that I'm sure that it will grip you and draw you in as well as it did me.

Buy Now On Amazon

Buy Amy A Coffee
Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Tumblr

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn