Robocop 2 – Throwback

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

One of the things I find most astounding about the Robocop franchise is that each progressive entry in the series seems to get worse than the others; after all, this is a premise that should be easy to do well if you’re able to grasp the intentions of the original film.

Another thing that really boggles my mind is that Robocop 2, probably the best thing after the first film but still not great, was the last film directed by Irvin Kershner, who directed The Empire Strikes Back.

The film follows Robocop (Peter Weller) less in this film than in the first, and instead seems to focus on the city of Detroit as a whole. In this film Omni Consumer Products (OCP) is in the midst of a scheme to bankrupt the city so that they can take over and implement a radical urban development plan.

In order to do this they’ve underfunded the already thinly stretched police force, causing mass strikes, and plan to replace police with new Robocop 2 units. Whilst this is a decent continuation of the plans the company began in the first movie, and really hammers home the corrupt nature of giant capitalist organisations with too much power, where the film begins to fail is with the depiction of Robocop himself.

At the end of the first film Robocop was once again Alex Murphy, having fought to regain his humanity. He spoke and acted more human, and the last moments of the film saw him declaring that his name is ‘Murphy’. So when we see him and his partner Lewis (Nancy Allen) on the streets taking on the drug gangs that are taking over the city, it’s disappointing to see that writers Frank Miller and Walon Green seem to have hit a reset button on him, reverting him to the monotone cyborg from the first movie.

The two screenwriters clearly have a good sense of where to take the story of Detroit and OCP in this film, yet don’t really know what to do with Murphy. This is further compounded when they have him stalking his former wife, something that shows that Murphy is still alive inside the machine; yet they don’t allow this to show through anywhere else. I could understand if he reverted to the older Robocop after OCP mess with his systems later in the movie, but they seem to have brought this into play too soon.

Sadly, it would seem that these weren’t the only issues with the film, with stars Peter Weller and Nancy Allen both speaking out years later about problems they had with the production. Allen reported that much of the heart and dark humour that the first film was liked for was taken out of the sequel’s script by Kershner, who she also claimed didn’t like her, and tried to make her working conditions difficult. Weller also reportedly felt that the film lacked a satisfying third act, and that simply having Robocop fight a giant robot at the end didn’t lead to satisfying conclusion; something many viewers would agree with.

Robocop 2 seems to be the beginning of a downward slope for the series, with no other part of the franchise managing to reach the heights of the original, despite another sequel, a reboot, two television series, and two animated shows.

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Titan A.E. - Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Don Bluth is a big name in the animation world, and I can almost guarantee you’ll have seen something that he created, whether you’re aware of it or not. Bluth was responsible for the video game Dragon’s Lair, as well as a number of films that went up against Disney back in the 80s and 90s, including The Land Before Time, An American Tail, and Anastasia. Titan A.E. marked Bluth’s first foray into science-fiction.

The film is set in 3043, and follows Cale (Matt Damon), one of the few survivors of the human race following the destruction of Earth fifteen years before, when the planet was blown to pieces by the evil Drej. Cale is approached by Korso (Bill Pullman), an old friend of his father, and an outlaw captain. It turns out that Cale holds the key to the location of The Titan, one of the most advanced ships in the galaxy, created by his father. Working with Korso and his crew, Cale must track down the location of The Titan before the Drej find it and destroy the future of mankind.

The story is pretty good, and manages to move at a very brisk pace. The characters go to a fair few unique locations, like worlds filled with giant gas balls, slave auctions on space stations, and the interior of giant spaceships. The plot is one big chase movie, with two groups after the same mcguffin, but manages to throw a lot of wrenches in the works to make it interesting and fun throughout.

Whilst the film was pretty well received, and has received more praise and notice in the years since, it was a financial failure and barely made half of its budget back. This was in part due to Fox not really knowing how to market the film, but also the expensive and difficult production. Titan A.E. mixed together traditional hand drawn animation with CGI, and whilst there are some points in the film that things don’t look particularly great, it’s actually aged pretty well.

Some of the its effects are still very impressive, and the chase through the ice rings is not only a stand out moment in the story, but one of the cooler sci-fi film sequences around. The combination of hand drawn animation and CGI come together perfectly here, and the sound design is spot on. But this is far from the only impressive scene in the film, and there’s a lot here to be impressed by or find interesting.

One of the biggest downsides of the film being a financial failure is the fact that we’ll not be getting more work based in this universe. There are so many hints at big ideas and interesting concepts here, like humanity being on the back foot and scattered across the galaxy, or how a species that’s living energy like the Drej would operate, yet we never get a huge amount of depth to any of it. This isn’t a big fault of the film though, as they pack a lot into the relatively short run-time.

There’s a lot of world building and character moments crammed in, so we’ve never got the time to slow down and go into the smaller details. There was some attempt at this in the comic and novel prequels that were produced at the time, but even here there’s still a lot about this universe that I’d love to see more of. Unfortunately, Titan A.E. is something that has – for the present time at least – to stand on its own.

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Tales of Mist by Laura Suárez - Book Review

 

'Two fisher-woman cousins, a grief-stricken woman, a young fortune-teller and a spineless man live in a town in the deep north of Spain during the 30’s. Together, they belong to a fantastic world where the paranormal clashes with prewar realism. Darkness and death are the links that make and unmake the short stories in this book, each inspired by the experiences of the author’s family. These tales ring true enough to be the legends and beliefs of any European coastal town: they speak of a difficult land in a time before electricity or roads, when people entertained each other with tales of mist and ghosts. This is the first work of a young designer, halfway between a collection of Grimm fairy tales and the magical terror of Pan’s Labyrinth.'

Tales of Mist is a new graphic novel written and drawn by Laura Suárez, filled with short stories handed down to her from her grandmother. The book takes the old folk tales that her grandmother grew up with and presents them as short horror stories, and it works so, so well. 

The book has a few short stories in them, each of which seems to deal with various themes of Spanish folktales, tying into fears of the time they came from, and a lot of them connected strongly to the religious nature of the country.

'The Santa Compana' tells the story of a fisher-woman and her cousin, a young woman who was one of the most beautiful women in their village. One day the two of them are walking through the woods together when they see a strange procession of shadowy figures. The narrator runs away, leaving her cousin to face these figures alone. When her cousin returns changed, she has to face the prospect that the ghostly Santa Compana are real.

'The Devil' sees a young man travelling with a local priest to assist a priest with two young women who has been accused of being possessed. This dark story has some really unsettling visuals, particularly when the young women begin whispering things to the man from inside their locked boxes, their words snaking and dripping across the pages.

'The Vidoiro' follows a young man when he begins seeing strange visions and ghostly figures after his grandmother dies. The story unfolds slowly over a number of years, and it keeps you on your toes as you try to figure out what's going on and just what is haunting him.

Thanks to the dark black and white artwork from Suárez the book instantly feels creepy, and she's able to convey a lot of atmosphere in its relatively short number of pages. The stories on their own would certainly be creepy, but with this style of artwork they work in concert to really amp up the feeling of oppression and tension, making the stories shine.

If I have on criticism of the book, however, it's that its too short. We get several stories in this collection, and they're all great, but I found myself reading through the whole thing quite quickly, and was just left feeling like I'd not had enough. This is a good criticism to have of something though, as it's always better to end up wanting more of something than feeling like a books overstayed its welcome.

Fans of horror will really enjoy this book, and its unique look and stories that aren't as well known will definitely make it stand out from other horror graphic novels vying for your attention.

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Belle: Oath of Thorns by Dave Franchini - Book Review

 

'After her life was recently turned upside down, things have finally begun to settle for Anabelle "Belle" DiMarco. Now, working with the organisation known as C.H.I.P. she has more allies than she has ever had in her war against the beasts who threaten mankind. But, with her new allies comes a new mission, and the price she will be asked to pay may not be worth the cost. Get ready to be pulled back into Belle's world as she learns more secrets of her family and is put to the

test in this new limited series, Belle: Oath of Thorns!'

It's been at least a decade since I've seen a Xenoscope book, so I'd kind of forgotten that the company does a lot of re-imagined fairy tales, and it took me a moment to realise that of course the Belle here refers to Belle from Beauty and the Beast. That being said, even with the knowledge I didn't expect this book to go the way it did.

Belle: Oath of Thorns follows Anabelle 'Belle' DiMarco as she continues to work with the paramilitary group C.H.I.P., helping with their mission to track down and neutralise monsters across the globe. In exchange for her assistance the group has agreed to try to help cure Belle's brother of the curse that has transformed him into a monstrous beast.

Despite being a later volume of the series the book fills you in quite quickly on the things that I'd missed, and important information that I needed to understand who everyone was, and their relationships with each other were explained in plenty time enough that I never felt like I was a set behind, or that the book wasn't accessible because I hadn't read any of the series prior. This was a good thing for myself, but as I'd never read it before I can't say if these segments would drag for anyone who's familiar with the series, or whether these recaps provide any more information that they'd usually have. But as a new reader they proved indispensable.

The central plot of the book, of Belle being set up by Otts to be killed off whilst she is able to steal the curse that is afflicting Alex so that she could weaponise it doesn't always make sense, and there are a lot of moments that don't quite hold together once you start to really look at it. For example, why is Belle sent to fight Medusa and her daughters in the hopes that it will lead to her death rather than Otts just simply killing Belle whilst she had her in her secret base. There's a moment where Belle is drugged unconscious, and would have provided the perfect opportunity to kill her or keep her locked up.

There also seems to be a lot of coincidences that become quite vital to solving the plot too, such as Belle's father just happening to turn up right at the perfect moment to save her life, and to help her get back into C.H.I.P. to save her friends. And there's the fact that Candlestick was given a distress signal to use decades before that's not only still useful, but manages to get picked up without any issue. These might not be huge things, but when the plot hinges on them they seem a bit incredulous at times, and leaves you wondering just how Belle would have saved the day without this outside help turning up right when she needed it the most.

There's some stuff to like in this book though, the action is entertaining, and the plot does have some interesting moments, despite the weird coincidences and the almost shoehorning in of names and themes from Beauty and the Beast. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy the book, new readers will probably find stuff to like, even if it doesn't set your world on fire.

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The Stars of History: Marilyn Monroe by Bernard Swysen - Book Review

 

'Marilyn Monroe, a name known to every generation! Whether sublime, touching, or pathetic, she personified the fantasies of the secret world of Hollywood. But behind the glittering myth was a woman whose life was anything but charmed. It is this singular life, from her turbulent childhood, via her tumultuous love life and her proximity to the highest spheres of society, to her tragic final days, that the authors have retraced here in vivid detail. Full of humour, the “Stars of History” collection offers a fresh new look at the legends of cinema.'

Marilyn Monroe is a name that pretty much everyone will recognise; even if you couldn't name a single film she'd ever been in you know who she is. But one thing that I realised when I came to reading this book was that really, I knew nothing about her. Her life was nothing like I was expecting, especially her early years, and Stars of History: Marilyn Monroe manages to condense her story down in a manageable way.

I've read another of this series before, Stars of History: Charlie Chaplin, and found that that book covered the career of Chaplin more than it did his personal life, but in this book that seems to be flipped somewhat. A large section of the book is given over to Marilyn as a young woman, when she was still just Norma Jean, trying to make her way through a difficult childhood. We start to get inside her head a little, and focus on the emotional difficulties that she faced.

Even when the book moves forward through time and she becomes a famous movie star we focus less on her career and the roads she made as a star, and instead focus on what effect that had on her as a person. We see hoe frustrated she was at not getting the roles she wanted, and how that went on to effect her mental health and her behaviour.

The book doesn't sugar coat the difficulties that Marilyn faced, and makes sure that we see how these issues impacted her. We don;t just get a hand-wave saying 'this thing made her job on the set difficult', but instead we see her at home, suffering and saddened because of what's happening. This book really hammered home that despite her wealth and fame she was still just a regular person, one who can suffer just like you and me.

However, there are a few issues that I had with the book, though this mainly comes down to my not feeling it was long enough. I wanted more pages, in part so that some of the gorgeous artwork from Christian Paty could have more room and been showcased more, but also so that we could have slowed down a bit and spent more time with these people, rather than rushing from one major event to another. These books are great for giving you a broad overview of a person's life, but can sometimes feel like they're moving at breakneck speed, and that was certainly the case here at times.

This book won't completely satisfy your craving to learn more about Marilyn Monroe, and I think if you're anything like myself you'll come away wanting to read a bigger book all about her to be able to spend more time on the little details this book sometimes has to move past quickly; however, it will give you a really good overview of her life, and leave you knowing a good deal about her. This is probably the perfect gateway book if you want to know more about this figure from history, but aren't sure if you want to pick up a huge book about her.

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Aviator by Jean-Charles Kraehn - Book Review

'1917, East Africa. A German pastor—also a doctor, and married to a Frenchwoman—teaches his son Josef to fly the Albatros biplane he uses to visit his rural patients. But the war raging in Europe has spread to Africa, where the Allies are fighting the Germans in their various colonies. Against this backdrop—and strictly against his father’s wishes—Josef dreams of flying the nest, and makes a decision that will have terrible consequences…'

Aviator is the latest graphic novel that spins out of the pages of Tramp, this time focusing on the character of 'Hard-Knock' Tanguy, a grizzled pilot who was taking part in the First Indiochina War. In this book we go back to his teenage years, to when he was growing up in East Africa during the First World War.

When Tanguy is asked about his past by a young navy commander, but seems to dodge the question, however, a few days later when the commander is getting ready to ship out he receives a package, a journal from Tanguy, filled with the answers to the that question, as well as photographs from his past.

The diary takes us back to 1917 East Africa, which would later become Tanzania, where Tanguy was then simply Josef Schafer, son of doctor and preacher Lothar Schafer. Over the course of the book we discover that Josef had grown up in a rather strict, religious home, yet was afforded some freedoms, such as learning how to fly his fathers plane. A great pilot from a young age, Josef fell in love with flying, and would accompany his father in his work just so that he could get the chance to fly.

One of these tasks was taking his father to the Becker farm, where he would meet Silke Beckert, the young wife of the much older Klaus. Silke is obviously taken with the young Josef, and openly flirts with the young man, trying to encourage him to stay and help fix their tractor, thanks to his knowledge of engines. Both Klaus and Lothar notice this situation brewing, and Joesf receives a stern talking to, whilst Silke receives a black eye. Despite this, the two of them still try to steal some time together, and when Josef is sent to the farm for a few days to fix the tractor the two of them are caught sleeping together.

Josef is whipped by his father, and locked away in a small room for days to think about what he's done; but when he learns that Silke is dead something inside of him snaps. He decides to steal his fathers plane and take revenge on Klaus, before setting out to go and find his uncle, who's a part of the army so that he can lend his flying expertise to the war effort.

This event is clearly a major turning point for the character, and it's really the moment when he matures into a man. Not because he's finally slept with a woman, but because he's chosen to break away from his father and pursue his own life. Sadly, things are rarely that simple, and this is just the beginning of a series of events that would lead to a number of deaths, and a change to Josef's relationship with his father than can't be undone.

Aviator proved to be more interesting than I was expecting, and I quickly came to like Josef as a character. He's a passionate young man, one who feels a strong sense of right and wrong, and believes it's his duty to stick by those principals, even if that means that he comes into conflict with his father; who he sees as being stubborn and behind the times.

The book also has a more interesting location for a story that involves World War One than a lot of stories have, focusing on the conflict in Africa, rather than the one in France and Europe that tends to be more common. Not only does this give readers a more of an interesting setting, but it really showcases the artwork by Erik Arnoux and Chrys Millen, who have managed to create so truly beautiful scenes, especially when you have the characters flying above the African countryside and can see so much wonderful beauty and detail in panels.

This is a book that's going to appeal to fans of Kraehn's other work, particularly those that like Tanguy's character in his appearance in Tramp. But I think that this is a book that anyone can pick up and read. It's got drama and action, it takes readers to a time and place that they might not be familiar with, and it tells an interesting story with engaging characters. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what happens in later volumes, as Josef has a very interesting story.

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MusicalSplaining – 12 Days of Podmas

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

2020 has been something of a mixed year for musicals. On the one hand, Hamilton coming to Disney+ means that millions of people were able to experience one of the most popular musicals of the last decade, and there are so many more fans of it, but Covid has resulted in theatres having to close, and there are many shows that have been hit hard, some of which may struggle to return to the big stage. This makes 2020 a particularly brave year to start a podcast about musical theatre, but adversity can breed creativity, and so in the face of no theatres MusicalSplaining was born.

Billed as a podcast for ‘people who love musicals (and also for people who hate musicals)’, the two hosts come at the subject from very different angles. One of the hosts, YouTuber and New York Times best selling author Lindsay Ellis, is a big fan of theatre, and has been to many shows; on the other hand, her co-host, author and illustrator Kaveh Taherian, really doesn’t like them.

Together the two of them will go through some of the biggest names in musical theatre, and Lindsay will attempt to find a show that Kaveh will actually enjoy. Thanks to the aforementioned closure of theatres there are only a handful of times where Lindsay and Kaveh were able to see a live show before lockdowns came into effect, but thanks to some theatre recordings they’ve been able to carry on the podcast even in these trying times.

They cover the ‘original stage musical’ Cats (as well as the abhorrent 2019 film), The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, and The King And I, as well as some newer shows that have been spawned by popular films and bands, like Beetlejuice, Frozen, and Spongebob. Not only do they go through what they loved and loathed about each of these musicals, but will give you some interesting insight into how the shows came into being, awards they’ve won, and what the public generally thought about them.

MusicalSplaining might not be the show for everyone, just as musical theatre isn’t for everyone, but – as listeners discover over the course of the podcast – even someone who absolutely hates musical theatre can have a good time with some shows. That the sheer diversity and variety of the medium means that there’s something out there that anyone will like means that maybe this podcast might just be worth a listen. It might not make you fall in love with musical theatre, but it could help you discover something that you end up really enjoying.

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The Shadows by Zabus - Book Review

 

'At the end of an arduous journey, refugee 214 finally gets his chance to enter the Other World. But to see his wish granted, the boy must first tell the story of how he and his sister were forced to flee their homeland. Frightened and helpless, they crossed forests, deserts, and seas, encountering creatures each more mysterious and frightening than the last: the capitalist ogre, the smuggler-snake, and the ever-present shadows from the great beyond… The boy’s story must be told in every detail—but will the truth save him, or condemn him? This is the odyssey of a brother and sister who are forced to fight for their freedom and survival at every turn, all while trying not to forget about where they’ve come from, and what they’ve left behind. A subtle and captivating tale about exile and refugees today.'

The Shadows was not the kind of book I was expecting from the blurb. the description made it seem like this was going to be a book that dealt with the idea of having to flee your home in search of somewhere new, of escaping death and danger for a new home. These are themes that are hugely important today, as refugees very much exist, and their plight is often held up as a divisive issue by politicians and news pundits, who usually try to demonise such people as 'immigrants coming to steal you jobs' and so forth.

Because of this, I was expecting a very grounded and realistic take on the topic, but instead of that Zabus has decided to convey these important themes and narratives with a fantasy, almost mythological veneer. The characters are often stylised, and some don't look human. Hell, some are actually completely inhuman, such as the giant snake who smuggles people inside its massive belly. Despite the fantastical visuals that go with the story, it's still a very grounded, and very important tale.

The story follows an unnamed brother and sister, who come home from playing in the woods one day to find their home and parents gone. They've both been taken away by a roving gang of vicious killers, who will continue to hunt the two siblings if they don't flee. From this early stages of the book I found myself having to stop and think why Zabus never makes it clearer who these two characters are, as they even lack any kind of name. I came to the conclusion that the lack of names, and the fact that the two of them wear masks that hide their faces can be seen in two ways; the first is that they are supposed to be faceless so that they can represent anyone, that any refugees in similar situations could easily slot into their place, therefore allowing readers to be able to empathise more easily with people in the real world. However, they could also have been left faceless and nameless as that's how the system sees them. They're not people trying to flee for their safety, they're just part of a faceless mass, coming to try and enter your country, to gain access. Perhaps this is Zabus trying to show people that see refugees as a faceless mass that actually, these are real people.

Over the course of the book the siblings meet others, some who go on to be friends and allies, others who are dangers that the siblings must overcome and survive. Whichever side these people fall on, they too lack any names. They are presented as the capitalist ogre, looking to use the siblings for their own ends, chewing them up and killing them in the process. There's the smuggler snake, who wakes everything they have in the promise of helping them, only to leave them stranded and far from help. They're presented as broad caricatures, not meant to be real people, but representations of the dangers that refugees face on their journeys.

All the while on this journey the brother is faced with the titular shadows, echoes of the people that they have known and lost, friends and family long dead. These shadows literally haunt the brother, and shout in his ear demanding to be heard, demanding that he tell his story truthfully, even if it means that this truth could be used against him. These shadows represent his fears, his conscience, and his doubts. they're with him constantly, with the faces of these beings often hidden in the background, watching him on his journey.

The Shadows ended up telling a very real and important story, one that shows the plight of refugees, of the dangers they face, and how even when they reach their destinations how they face whole new horrors and pain. It's a story that's important and needed, though told in a fantastical way that allows readers to process these important themes without feeling like they're being preached to or taught a lesson. I'm sure that a lot of people who read this who are against allowing refugees asylum in their country won't be moved to change their mind by this book, but there's a chance that some people who read this who have never really thought about the idea, who haven't yet made up their mind might be taught to empathise a little, to understand, and ultimately open their hearts up. Because of this, The Shadows may end up a book that can do some real good in the world.

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Her Name Is Mercie by Chris Roy - Book Tour

'Mercie Hillbrook lives a simple, quiet life working as a gas station attendant. Then her parents are killed. Her home is taken. The people responsible are excused for just doing their job. When an attempt to get justice her way lands her in trouble with the law, Mercie realises she still has something to lose: her own life. Then she finds reason to believe her parents were murdered… and she doesn’t care anymore.

'Alongside this roller-coaster of a novella, this book includes 4 very dark short stories.'

I came into Her Name is Mercie thinking that this was going to be a novella length story, and whilst the story is longer than a regular short story it isn't the only tale in this book, with several other shorter stories bundled in with it.

The main story, 'Her Name is Mercie', follows a young woman whose parents are shot to death by police during a routine traffic stop. It's chalked up to a tragic mistake by the police, but Mercie is determined to see the officers responsible to pay for their crimes. When this doesn't happen, and she learns that her parents home is being repossessed by the bank and she's been left with nothing, she snaps. Stealing the chief of police's car, she robs the bank with an air pistol, stealing thousands. However, when she's caught by police she's sent to prison and faces decades behind bars.

Despite having gone on a rampage, the reader can't help but feel sympathy for her, and you very quickly come to see her as a victim in all of this, one that you can really empathise with. I mean, who wouldn't want to go and get even in a situation like this? Over the course of the story Mercie gets the opportunity to get out of prison early on probation, but her problems just get worse from there, as she soon discovers that there was more to her parents murder than first appeared, and she's soon facing danger herself. 

There's a lot to like about this story, and it manages to have enough twists and turns in the narrative to keep you guessing as to what might happen next. I didn't know if the story would be following Mercie in prison, whether she'd manage to clear her name, or find out what happened to her parents. But to be fair, I was enjoying the story enough that I'd have been happy with any of these eventualities, and was simply enjoying spending time with Mercie during her issues.

The second story in the book is called 'Re-Pete', and has a much more horror feel to it than the first. It follows Pete, a young boy who's adjusting to life with his mother and her new boyfriend following the tragic murder of his father, who was killed in front of him. This has resulted in Pete developing OCD.

Over the course of the book we discover how Pete manages his trauma, how he slowly seems to get over the pain of losing his father, and having to live with a man who is abusive and thuggish. The story ends with Pete repeating the events of his fathers murder, killing his mothers boyfriend, kind of implying that reenacting the crime has become his new compulsive routine. This was an interesting development, especially as the kid also seemed to be reproducing a grown man's voice during these violent acts, however, I'm not exactly sure how with story will sit with people who suffer with OCD. 

The third story, 'Hunger', is probably the most interesting one in the book. It seems to follow a young woman who ends up stranded on her boat in the middle of the sea with her dog. I say 'seems', because this is a story that doesn't follow a traditional narrative structure, and things take on a very dreamlike structure as the narrator slips into a delirium state. The narrative shifts a lot in this story, and there were times where it didn't exactly feel clear exactly what was happening; but this wasn't a bad thing. 

The story didn't hold my hand, it didn't make sure I was keeping up with it, and instead let me come to my own conclusions as to what was happening, or what things meant. It's a very intimate story, one that really lets you get into the head space of the lead character. It's the one that made me have to think and pay attention the most, and probably the one that I would go back to again and again.

'Libby's Hands' is a short little horror story set at Halloween. When Dina is told by her ailing grandmother to make sure that she decorates their old garden tree with hands for Halloween she chalks it up to her grandmother's failing mental health. However, she learns that this request is connected to a member of the family, Libby, who was supposedly hidden away as a child because of her disability. 

When Halloween night rolls around and Dina hears that two children have gone missing she somehow knows that this must be connected, as she forgot to decorate the tree. Rushing out into the woods to investigate she falls victim to her killer family member. This story feels like there should definitely be more time given over to it, as I wanted to find out more about these characters and this situation, so I felt a little disappointed that there wasn't more; but then I guess when a short story leaves you wanting more that's a good thing.

The final story, and the shortest of them all, is 'Marsh Madness' which sees a lone man with a crossbow watching a small boy and his dog playing on the edge of some marshland close to a carnival ground. It's a strange little story, one that leaves the identity of the man and his motivations vague and undefined, leaving it down to the reader to interpret this how they see fit. Whilst I'm not normally against leaving some thing open to reader interpretation, I felt that the almost complete lack of information here was something of a poor thing, as just a little more information would have really gotten me invested in this story.

Overall I enjoyed Her Name Is Mercie, it proved to be an interesting and varied collection of stories and tales with a mixture of tones and themes that showed the versatility of crime writing, with some of the stories bordering on dark horror. Chris Roy has crafted some well thought out tales, and I'd definitely be interested in seeing what he does with a full novel.

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Ranger Danger – 12 Days of Podmas

Originally published on Set The Tape

Ranger Danger began more than seven years ago, with two friends from Australia, Michael Busuttil and Mat Groom, who made it their mission to watch through every episode of Power Rangers from the beginning.

Over the years that the show has gone on the cast has expanded, with long time guests Lauren Dundler and Tim Busuttil becoming hosts alongside the original cast. Together the four hosts have watched through hundreds of episodes, covering the entirety of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, Power Rangers in Space, Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, and Power Rangers Dino Charge, as well as having almost completed Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue.

The hosts watch each episode, then come together to discuss, scene by scene, what they’ve watched. Now, thanks to the at times elaborate nature of the franchise, this can lead to some hilarious results, as the hosts are blown away by the amazing action, confused by the convoluted continuity, baffled by plots that don’t make sense, and sometimes reduced to tears by how much the show hurts their brains. Listening along to these conversations are brilliant, and can change the way you view an episode, turning boring episodes into favourites.

Not only does Ranger Danger cover the show, but it has also delved into the comics over the years, and thanks to its ‘Boom Room’ episodes, gives readers of the Boom! Studios comics the best resource for learning more about the books. The Ranger Danger hosts have been joined by Ryan Parrott, Kyle Higgins, Anthony Burch, Tini Howard, and other writers and artists from the comics to talk about these series, the process of making them, and the creators’ love of the franchise. These special episodes have gone into the comics in depths that aren’t found elsewhere, and act as wonderful companion pieces.

Thanks to these connections at Boom! Studios the team at Ranger Danger have helped to shape the franchise, having assisted Kyle Higgins on his work for ‘Shattered Grid’, worked on the special ‘Shattered Grid’ live read-through at Power Morphicon, and have written one of the more popular stories in the 25th Anniversary Special comic in 2018.

With the sheer amount of episodes that they’ve produced (close to 600 and counting!) and the involvement they’ve had in the franchise, Ranger Danger is easily one of the best and most pleasurable podcasts out there.

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