Mighty Morphin #5 - Comic Review

 

We take a break from the story of Lord Zedd trapping Angel Grove inside an energy dome, effectively cutting off the Rangers from the people they've sworn to protect, and jump back several weeks as we explore the secret origin of the new Green Ranger.

With the revelation at the end of the last issue that the new Green Ranger is Matt, we finally get to explore just how this came about. What's immediately most surprising is that when he first appeared on the scene at the end of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers he'd literally just become the Ranger, with Matt having been plucked out of the carnage of the Dark Ranger attack on Angel Grove.

I was expecting that Matt would have been selected before this, and that he would have been in training before finding himself going out into battle against Lord Zedd, but no, this was all completely new to him and he got thrown in the deep end, having to fight Zedd in his first time as a Ranger.

This fight does, however, seem to hint at something that fans have suspected for decades, that the powers the Rangers use come with a degree of knowledge, and that once they morph they not only get an increase in strength and stamina, but in fighting ability too. We see that Matt is advised to 'let the coin' do much of the work for him. Not only does this go some way to explaining how Matt, a character we've not seen show much fighting ability before, is able to do so well here, but it also starts to explain how Rangers across the franchise just seem to know how to do certain things.

Following the fight with Zedd we get to see that Matt wanted to just give the powers back and return to being a civilian. It's only through talking to Grace, someone who had the powers of a Ranger and was made to give them up, does he come to the conclusion that he can do more good by keeping the powers. Thus begins weeks of training at Promethea, where he begins to learn some of his new abilities, and even gets to meet his new partner, an upgraded Dragonzord. Which is just freaking awesome.

Over the course of the book we see that despite having decided to keep the powers so that he can try and do some good in the world he's struggling with this new double life, and that this is a big part of why he makes the decision to go public with his identity. It was a bod decision to make Matt go public, but seeing how this was affecting his life, how he was juggling the disappointment from his family with his desire to do the right thing makes it make a lot more sense. I think it also shows a little of how interesting this story-line might end up being.

There's not a huge amount in this issue that moves the story forward, but there's a lot that fills in gaps for what's already been. It answers a lot of questions readers have had, and more importantly, it shows us Matt's motivations, and shows us how he's going to end up being a different kind of Power Ranger from the rest of the team. Now that we've got all this new information all that's left is to see how it all plays out when Matt and the other Rangers come face to face once again, and what this might also mean for Billy.

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Open-Hearted by Nick Kéramidas - Book Review

 

'Once an animator at Disney Studios, Nicolas Keramidas now makes a living as a cartoonist in Grenoble. He’s married to a wonderful woman, Chloé, has two energetic sons, and plays soccer every Sunday with his pals. He was also born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare combination of four heart defects that in 1973 made him one of the youngest children ever to undergo open-heart surgery. Forty-three years later, when his congenital condition stops him short during a soccer game, he’ll have to face surgery again, a saga he details in this moving, humorous, and above all, very human memoir.'

Illness is one of the worst things you might have to face in your life. I'm not talking about getting sick with the flu or something like that, but getting ill with something that doesn't just go away with simple rest and medication; something that can change your life. I live with an incurable condition (currently, here's hoping the future changes that) and know what it's like to suddenly feel like your body has turned against you, and to live your life in a suddenly different state. As such, I was immediately drawn to Nick Kéramidas' graphic novel, 'Open-Hearted', which chronicles his experiences with open-heart surgery.

The book begins with Nick telling the audience about how he was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare heart condition that meant that he had to undergo surgery as a baby, one of the youngest people to ever do so. Despite this, he had a fairly happy childhood growing up, and even made up stories about how he got his scars to impress his friends. It was something that never really bothered him because it was from a time where he didn't remember things, it was a vague concept of something that happened to him a long time ago, so it never really changed who he was.

Cut to forty three years later, Nick has a good career as a comic book artist and animator, having worked on Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. He's got  loving wife, and two sons he adores. His life is good. But one day whilst playing football with his friends he gets a strange feeling in his chest. His heart doesn't feel right. Ignoring it and trying to carry on as usual, it gets worse, until he finally goes to see his doctor. When they discover that Nick has a serious condition it sets him on the road to open-heart surgery, months of recovery, and a change in his life that would go on for years as he goes in and out of hospital.

One of the things that makes Open-Hearted easy to read is how lighthearted Nick makes everything feel. It never feels like a detached narrator, leading us through this distressing and traumatic ordeal, or someone who's come out the other side yet still feels a ton of sadness and despair at recounting his tale. Instead, Nick manages to make the story feel strangely fun at times, giving events a certain degree of humour and whimsy I'm sure were needed at the time in order to get through it.

There are a lot of memoirs out in the world, and many of them cover uncomfortable experiences. Some of those books seem to always be in the shadow of their content, unable to escape the negative emotions that come with living through an ordeal such as this, but that never feels this way here. I think part of that is down to the art too. It's easy to see why Nick worked for Disney just from flicking through the book. It doesn't have a hyper real feel to it, instead embracing a very animated and child-friendly style. His characters feel like they've stepped out of a Saturday morning cartoon, they make you feel comfortable and at ease, yet are able to express the whole gamut of emotions that Nick would have been through. 

I'm not sure I'd say this was a 'fun' book to read, as the subject matter isn't exactly light reading material, but it was an enjoyable experience. It showed me some of the things that people who're going through medical procedures face, how it can greatly change their lives, which was something I didn't know everything about before. But most of all, the book had a lot of hope inside it. It showed that even when things seem their darkest, when we're going through the worst, that they can get better and that you should never give up hoping for something wonderful to come.

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Children of the Atom #1 - Comic Review

 

Children of the Atom is the newest entry into the current wave of X-Men books, but instantly feels different from the other mutant books on offer. This is in part because the heroes in this team are out on their own, unconnected to the mutant nation of Krakoa, and feels more akin to stories from before the X-Men brought all of mutant kind together; but it also feels new and different thanks to the team of unknown characters, who had only previously appeared in a bling and you'll miss it moment in the Indigenous Voices issue.

The book opens with the villain group Hell's Belles robbing a bank in New York City. The former mutant criminals, de-powered since the events of M-Day, are using tech to commit their crimes; and feel untouchable thanks to there being no heroes around to stop them. That all changes, however, with the arrival of our stars. The five teens, Cyclops-Lass, Cherub, Marvel Guy, Gimmick, and Daycrawler come in with confidence, but it quickly becomes apparent that they're using bravado to cover their fears.

The five of them try to act the big heroes, making banter and mocking the villains, but i's pretty clear that they're not the best at this, and the stuff that comes naturally to heroes like Spider-Man is something that they really need to practice. Despite their apparent inexperience at heroics the five of them are able to neutralise the villains, and make a quick getaway before the police show up.

It's then that they're approached by some members of the X-Men, who've come to invite them to Krakoa. This is where things start to get a little interesting, as the teens refuse the invitation, claiming that they can't go to Krakoa due to personal issues keeping them at home. This immediately piqued my interest, and got me suspecting something about this young team, which was added to when we get a scene at the Summers Residence on the Moon, where several of the X-Men are talking about reaching out to the group. During the conversation it's mentioned that Cerebro can't find the kids, something the team thinks could be because of their psychic.

However, the end of the issue confirms my suspicions, and if you don't want it spoilt, skip to the next paragraph. Still reading? Okay. At the end of the issue the group pack their bags and sneak out of their homes, ready to leave their world behind. Travelling to the nearest Krakoan gateway they attempt to pass through, and nothing happens. The get doesn't send them to Krakoa because they're not mutants. It's not clear exactly what their deal is, whether they were mutants and lost their powers on M-Day, similar to the Hell's Belles, or if they're simply mutant super fans, who want powers of their own. This is something that I'm expecting to be explored over the course of the series, and I'm eager to see if they are de-powered mutants whether or not they'll get the chance to regain their abilities by dying in the Crucible and being reborn. Though I think it would potentially be more interesting if this team ends up as a mixture of the two possibilities, and we get to explore how some of them getting powers and others not would affect them as people.

Speaking about them as people, we get to know them a little bit over the course of the book. Cyclops-Lass is called Buddy, and she's very much made out to be the slightly awkward and geeky member of the team, dressing similarly to Peter Parker from the 1960's whilst at school; complete with sweater-vests and big glasses. As her super-hero name suggests, she has a power set like the X-Men leader, and fires optic blasts from her visor. Gimmick is Carmen, and seems to be the creative of the team, using her skills to craft the suits that the team wears, and possibly the tech they use too, though this isn't confirmed at this point. She wears an outfit similar to Gambit, and is able to charge projectiles that she can throw at her enemies. Daycrawler is Jay, the youngest member of the team and very much seems to have the most outgoing personality. Cherub is Gabe, who wears a suit reminiscent of Archangel, and has blue energy wings, though we don't know a whole lot else about him. And there's Marvel Guy, Benny, who is Jay's older brother. Much like Gabe, we don't know a whole lot about him yet. I'm hoping that as things progress we'll get to learn more about the team, as at the moment I feel I only know what motivates two of them.

The art, provided by Bernard Chang and Marcello Maiolo is great, and the designs for the team are really cool. They've taken looks that have become iconic and changed them up in ways that make them look new an unique to these characters, yet still instantly bring the original heroes to mind. Cyclops-Lass is possibly my favourite of these designs, in part thanks to the beautiful choice of colours in her costume, with a wonderful light blue that instantly stands out on the page.

Despite having been delayed for a long while the first issue of Children of the Atom is a really interesting issue, one that has an interesting group of new characters, a story that gets you interested for more, and adds a new dimension to the current era of the X-Men.

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Arkham Horror: The Last Ritual by S.A. Sidor - Book Review

 

'A mad surrealist’s art threatens to rip open the fabric of reality, in this twisted tale of eldritch horror and conspiracy, from the wildy popular world of Arkham Horror.

'Aspiring painter Alden Oakes is invited to join a mysterious art commune in Arkham: the New Colony. When celebrated Spanish surrealist Juan Hugo Balthazarr visits the colony, Alden and the other artists quickly fall under his charismatic spell. Balthazarr throws a string of decadent parties for Arkham’s social elite, conjuring arcane illusions which blur the boundaries between nightmare and reality. Only slowly does Alden come to suspect that Balthazarr’s mock rituals are intended to break through those walls and free what lies beyond. Alden must act, but it might already be too late to save himself, let alone Arkham.'

The Arkham Horror series has very strong links to the works of H.P. Lovecraft, with much of the games and their lore being adapted from the stories produced by the horror writer, and subsequent others who've come along after and added to the Cthulhu lore. Because of this, you might be likely to come to a book like The Last Ritual with certain expectations, but I found that S.A. Sidor was able to subvert these expectations, and gave me a much different story to the one I was expecting.

I'm sure we've all seen stories based upon Lovecraft's work that use the horror elements, that push the otherworldly strangeness of creatures like Cthulhu and his fellow entities. I think that readers come to expect that these creatures will eventually take centre stage in these stories, even if they only appear right at the end as our hero faces off against some tentacled monstrosity that pushes the limits of their sanity. Whilst this book does feature Lovecraftian beasts, it's less of a psychological horror and more of a mystery; and that definitely makes it stand out.

The Last Ritual follows the character of Alden Oakes, a young socialite from Arkham who's travelling across Europe and living the rich playboy lifestyle when he runs into his old friend, Preston, in France. He discovers that Preston has just become engaged, to Alden's former girlfriend Minnie, and encourages Alden to return to Arkham to celebrate with them and attend their wedding. Alden agrees, but decides to spend some more time in Europe for a while. However, after finding himself in a small town in Spain weeks later, he gets caught up in a local festival that takes a turn for the sinister. The event leaves him slightly shaken, and encourages him to return to his home.

Back in Arkham, Alden learns that there have been several strange incidents across the city, including disappearances, killings, and strange accidents. When he goes to the scene of the latest accident he meets Nina, and is soon drawn to her not just because of her beauty, but because of her notion that some strange things are happening in the city. When he meets her again at Preston and Minnie's engagement party the two of them stumble across a grizzly murder. Now they find themselves as the centre of a mystery that has the whole of Arkham on edge, has cult like connections, and may involve a mysterious surrealist painter from Spain.

Straight away it's clear that there's something strange happening around Alden, even before we've managed to get to Arkham itself. Whether it's him seeing bizarre symbols being drawn in the sand on a French beach, or the almost nightmarish events of the Spanish festival, it really feels like something is zeroing in on our hero. This makes the narrative somewhat more interesting, as it gives you a sense that whatever he chooses to do he can't escape from what's to come. 

Some mystery horror stories have protagonists that are drawn into the narrative, either by making a strange discovery themselves or being asked to investigate something, and it tends to be their own desire to find answers, or their unwillingness to back down that leads them to trouble. But with Alden it seems that even if he were to try to run away from the horrors to come it wouldn't make much of a difference, and that there's no escaping this.

This makes for a story that feels a lot more personal, even though it doesn't seem to involve the people he cares about. He's not connected to this through friends or loved ones being put in danger, but rather because someone or something has chosen to make him a part of it. This ties into the sense of powerlessness that a lot of Lovecraft's stories utilised; the idea that we are unable to alter our own fates, or that we cannot fight the forces that are controlling everything because they rival our powers and abilities in ways that we could never match.

Fortunately, Alden isn't just content to be a pawn in someone's game, and actively goes about trying to get to the bottom of things alongside Nina. The two of them make for an engaging pair, and it's enjoyable to see them getting through their initial misgivings about the other to form a team; and eventually go on to become lovers. It's a pretty believable relationship, and it never once felt like it was being forced, and it was instead a natural progression of their journeys. The two of them are so isolated in a city where no one else wants to acknowledge that awful and bizarre things are happening, so of course they'll find strong affection for each other when they're the only person the other can turn to.

Despite the focus on Alden and Nina the book is filled with interesting characters, many of whom you'll end up wanting to learn more about and spend more time with. Whether it's Calvin, the dock worker who gets drawn into the mystery when his friend is killed, party animal Preston, who you're never quite sure is involved in the bigger mystery or not, or even Roland, Alden's butler and oldest friend; you end up wanting to learn more about the inhabitants of Arkham, and could easily see these characters going off and having their own strange stories in this cursed city. 

The characters are definitely one of the strengths of Sidor's writing, and they really make the city come alive in interesting ways. It also helps a lot, as much of the book is focused on the mystery, rather than the horror elements of Arkham Horror. With the frightening moments being few and far between, though incredibly effective, it means that the mystery and the characters have to carry much of the book. With a lesser writer this could easily have fallen apart, but Sidor is able to make even the most mundane scenes interesting because you stop focusing on wanting answers to the mystery and just end up wanting to spend time with the characters instead.

The Last Ritual might not be the scariest story I've read, but it's one of the more interesting mysteries, with enjoyable characters, and a setting that felt completely alive. Whether this is your first introduction to the world of Arkham Horror or you're a long time fan I'm sure that it will keep you hooked right up to the end.

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Joker #1 - Comic Review

 

I have to admit, when I first saw that we were getting a Joker comic series I wasn't very excited by it. Whilst I like the Joker as a villain I think that he's a character best used sparingly, and one who I don't want to know much about. I don't want to see how he puts his plans together, what he does when he's not tormenting Gotham, and I certainly don't want a concrete origin for the character. As such, I was worried about what the Joker series was going to be. I didn't need to be worried, however, as whilst the book has the name Joker, it's really Jim Gordon's story.

Whilst the Jokers presence is felt throughout, as a spectre that's haunting Gordon, he's only in one single page of the book. Instead we follow the former Police Commissioner as he navigates his retirement in Gotham City in the wake of the latest attack on Arkham Asylum, as seen in Infinite Frontier #0, an attack that has left hundreds dead and is being called A-Day.

With the attack having involved massive amounts of modified Joker Toxin, it's assumed that the clown is behind the event; yet there has been no sign of him since. Neither the authorities, or Batman, have been able to find any sign of him. When Gordon is approached by a mysterious young woman she claims to know the Joker's whereabouts, and offers Gordon $25 million to find him, and kill him.

Thus the book presents both the audience and Gordon with it's big moral question, would it be the right thing to kill the Joker? We've all seen him being taken down by Batman time and again, locked away in Arkham multiple times; yet he always comes back, and people always die. This isn't the first time that this kind of question has been raised, that it might be safer for everyone if certain villains were simply killed, but it's a line that heroes vow never to cross. Yet Gordon isn't a hero, he's just a man; and a man who has suffered at the hands of the Joker.

We see throughout the issue that Gordon is a man who has been deeply affected by the things that have taken place in his past, that every night he dreams of the Joker, that he hears the laughter whenever he closes his eyes, that his relationship with his daughter has been forever changed by what the Joker did to her, and how he will always be mourning the son the Joker used and killed. He's a decent man who has had to suffer through more than anyone should, who has suffered, and watched his family suffer, yet has never given in and crossed the line. But will he keep to his morals, or will he finally admit to himself that the Joker is simply too dangerous to live?

There's no indication in this first issue as to whether Gordon will try to capture the Joker, or if he's going to set out to kill him, and that question is hugely interesting. It's clear that Gordon is going after the villain one way or another, there wouldn't really be a comic otherwise, but I honestly don't know what to expect his goal to be; and I'm not sure I'd blame him if he actually did try to kill the Joker.

With so many of the books set in Gotham being centred around brightly costumed heroes and villains, with action taking place on rooftops high above the city, or in advanced secret bases, it's nice to see a much more grounded tale, one that follows the regular people of the city. Joker #1 feels like a very human story.

The book also features a back-up story that focuses on the trial of Punchline, following the prosecution team as they try to gather evidence against her as public support grows, as well as getting to see Punchline throwing her weight around whist behind bars. Much like the main story, it centres on the regular people involved, keeping the action on the streets, and seeing how the events are affecting regular people in Gotham.

Joker #1 was one of the more enjoyable surprises of Infinite Frontier, a book that I was expecting to not enjoy, but ended up absolutely loving. If the story continues to keep its focus on Gordon, if it continues to explore the trauma that he has endured at the hands of the Joker, I think that this is going to be one of the more exciting and engaging stories to involve the clown prince of crime.

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Lucky - Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Lucky tells the story of May (Brea Grant), a self-help writer who’s trying to work on her next book whilst also juggling the pressures of the book signing and talk circuit, as well as dealing with a marriage that is struggling somewhat. When one night she notices a strange masked man outside her home she turns to her husband, Ted (Dhruv Uday Singh) who calmly tells her that it’s the man who breaks into their home every night and tries to kill them – as if it’s no stranger than seeing a neighbour’s cat walking through your garden.

Obviously, May is shocked at this news, and when the man comes inside looking to hurt her she’s forced to fight for her life, injuring him in the process. But when she goes to get help he vanishes. When she tries to report this to the police no one seems to care, even her husband doesn’t seem bothered by it. Thus begins a cycle of May having to fight against this masked assailant each and every night, whilst those around her treat her as either crazy or simply overreacting.

Lucky seems to want to tell a story about the way that women in society can be targeted by men, and have violence thrust upon them as an almost every day occurrence. This doesn’t have to be literally men in masks coming into your home to kill you, but the small microaggressions that women have to live with as part of their everyday lives; of a world where women are seen as weaker, submissive, and often treated as lesser. This becomes clearer as the film progresses and we see more of May’s interactions with people in authority, such as police officers and social workers, who seem to dismiss her concerns out of hand, and try to find other explanations for her troubles – ones that she’s the root cause of.

Because of all this May ends up becoming a very isolated figure, even though she does occasionally turn to others to help, more often other women. But, these women don’t help her much, and often seem distant. This kind of ties into another theme of the film, ‘going it alone’. Which is incidentally the title of May’s book, and the message she’s giving other women. There are some hints that perhaps this is also part of the problem, that women are being told to go it alone, to only rely on themselves, so when they do need help, or can help others they don’t, which leaves them to become victims of male violence. This seems to be heavily hinted at during the latter stages of the film where we see things from a broader perspective than just May’s problems.

Lucky manages to entertain and engage, probably due in large part to Brea Grant, who not only plays the lead character, but also wrote the film. You get a sense that this project meant something to her, and that she’s giving a lot of herself over to the role. Some of the other performances at first seem to be a lot flatter than hers, and sometimes even a little wooden, but as the film progresses and things become a little more surreal you begin to suspect that perhaps this is intentional, and that as this is May’s story she doesn’t see anyone else as real players in it, leading to them feeling like barely-there side characters rather than real people who actually play a part in her narrative.

Director Natasha Kermani does a good job of walking this fine line between the mundane and the surreal, and I think she really improves as the film goes on and things begin to take on a more dream-like quality, with jumps in the narrative and reality that doesn’t quite line up correctly. Some directors might have struggled with translating this script, but Kermani does a good job of walking the line between boring reality, and the surreal dream.

Lucky is an odd film, one that might not be to everyone’s tastes. But if you want something different from your standard horror fare this film is definitely worth a shot.

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Star Wars: The High Republic #3 - Comic Review

 

Whilst the first issue of The High Republic showed readers a new era of the Star Wars universe filled with hope, where the Jedi were at the height of their powers, the second issue took something of a dark turn, and we got hints of some very evil things rising in the Outer Rim. Well, issue three not only continues to build on these ideas, but presents a truly horrifying new threat for our heroes.

We rejoin newly knighted Jedi Keeve Trennis as she, Terec, and Avar Kriss as they reach the farming world of Sedri Minor, where Jedi Night Ceret has gone missing, and Sskeer is acting very strangely. Whilst Kriss deals with Terec, who's suffering because of their connection to their missing twin, and Sskeer, who's acting increasingly hostile, Keeve begins searching the farmland, drawn into the fields.

She's soon joined by a local child, and the two of them eventually discover a huge sinkhole. Delving deep inside they find a missing Rodian child, and Ceret, both of whom have been enveloped in a series of strange vine-like plants. Whilst the child has died, Keeve is able to get Ceret free before their life force is completely drained. Unfortunately, this makes Keeve the primary target of the thing that took Ceret, the Drengir; a sentient plant creature with a powerful connection to the Dark Side of The Force.

Much of issue three of The High Republic plays out like a horror movie, with Keeve separated from the rest of her team, searching through lonely fields or dark and winding tunnels. It's claustrophobic and tense, even with her new friend tagging along with her trying to lighten the mood somewhat. This actually seems to have become something of a pattern with Keeve, and I'll be interested to see if she ends up with a small companion every time she ends up going to a new planet.

The scenes where the two of them are searching through the dark tunnels are some of the best moments of the book, as they really ramp up the tension. Though Keeve keeping her light saber aloft with The Force, illuminating the dark, whilst she hugs the crying child as he grieves for his dead friend is possibly the single best panel, because it sums up the kindness and compassion that is so important to the Jedi.

We also get to see more of what's been going on with Sskeer this issue too, and we have it confirmed that it might not just be PTSD from his losing his arm. At the end of the issue it's revealed that Sskeer has fallen under the influence of the Drengir, and even has a new arm produced from their plant matter. Now, this does raise some interesting questions about how long he's been under their control. Is it possible that he encountered the Drengir long before, and this has what's always been going on, or did they only infect him in the second issue when he came to the planet? And if it is the second option, why was he acting so strangely before he arrived on Sedri Minor.

I'm sure those answers are coming, but first Keeve and Kriss have to deal with not only the Drengir, who seem to be able to heal and divide from light saber wounds, but also the now evil Sskeer; an encounter that I'm eagerly awaiting seeing. Issue four can't get here soon enough.

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Martian Ghost Centaur by Mat Heagerty - Book Review

 

'The town of Southborough used to be a major tourism destination, drawing folks from all over in the hopes they’d spot the famous Sasquatch, reportedly seen in the town many times over the years. But it’s been ages since anyone’s spotted the ‘squatch, and tourism is starting to dry up. A tech company called Start-up.com (a start-up that helps people start their own start-ups) decides to begin buying up places all over town in order to build their techie headquarters, driving out all the local townspeople. Luckily, Southborough is also home to Louie O’Connor, firm believer in the Sasquatch’s existence and all-around, mega ’squatch fan.

'When Louie’s dads’ restaurant, Squatch Burger, starts to go under and fall prey to the techie start-up, Louie and her best friend Felix decide they’ll do whatever it takes to save the town from losing all the people and places that make it special. In hopes that convincing people the Sasquatch is real and to drive back tourism, Louie and Felix plan an elaborate hoax in hopes of saving the town from the dot-com takeover. But when Felix starts talking about leaving their hometown for college in LA, Louie will have to face some tough questions about herself, her future career, and her place in her beloved hometown.'

Martian Ghost Centaur tells the story of Louie, a seventeen-year-old living in the small town of Southborough, a once popular tourist destination that has fallen on hard times. The town had a boom decades before following the sighting of the famous cryptid Sasquatch, and the subsequent tourist attention that it generates. However, with fewer and fewer sightings of the mythical creature the tourism has all but dried up, and many of those who live and work in Southborough are struggling to get by, especially when a tech billionaire comes to town and starts buying up all the properties so that they can convert the place into their new corporate headquarters.

Louie convinces herself that if she gets a popular web monster hunter, Para-Norma, to come to town and capture evidence of Sasquatch it'll bring tourists back to Southborough. Unfortunately, instead of proving to the world that the monster is real it's revealed that her parents were behind the original sighting. Now angry at her parents for lying to her, and facing the end of Southborough Louie comes up with an even riskier gambit, convincing people that a new, real, monster has arrived in town; the Martian Ghost Centaur.

You can probably tell from the title of the book alone, but Martian Ghost Centaur isn't a story that takes itself too seriously, it's full of ridiculous situations, over the top jokes, and crazy characters; and it's all the better for it. The book embraces a sense of whimsy that informs every plot point, every character, and much of the art too, with silly little references and Easter eggs hidden in the backgrounds of scenes. It's not a parody by any means, instead walking a fine line between good humour and pure silliness.

The book is pretty well paced, with quite a lot of the story actually taking place before Louie makes the decision to make her own fake monster, something that I was expecting to come up a lot earlier in the plot. Instead, the book takes its time getting to that point, focusing instead on Louie and her family, their relationships, and the people of Southborough. Because of spending this time getting to know the characters I found myself caring about them more than I was expecting, and would have enjoyed several volumes of just following these people around and seeing the weird little things they got up to on a day to day basis.

I also really enjoyed the amount of time given over to Louie's relationships with her parents, and the fact that she has two fathers in a loving relationship and it's never once made a thing of. No one even points out that two men are married to each other with a teenage daughter as being out of the ordinary in any way, and I feel this is something a lot of other books fail to do. Good representation doesn't just mean including queer characters like this, but treating it as normal too, it means not sensationalising things or going 'look at our progressive characters'. The gender of either of Louie's parents wouldn't have changed a single part of the book, any of the plot or the way a single character reacted to them, and that's great.

I had a great time with this book, I found it to be a lot of fun and it really got me invested in the characters and the world. The artwork is pretty simple, but it has a lot of details in the backgrounds of scenes, small jokes and gags that you'll miss if you're not looking out for them. The whole thing was a delight to read.

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Hellions #10 - Comic Review

 

Carrying on from the end of the last issue, the latest instalment of Hellions sees Mr Sinister and his team in the clutches of the villain Arcade, and we get to see both the dreams and the nightmares that fill the team's minds.

Not a huge amount happens in this issue action wise, so if you've come to it expecting big explosions and fist fights it's a bit early for that; but knowing this series that's probably going to be the next issue. Instead, we get to peek behind the curtain a little, and see what's going on in the characters heads thanks to the team up between Arcade and Mastermind, who actually make for a pretty dangerous pair, combining Arcade's murder tech and Mastermind's telepathic powers to create some truly sadistic scenarios.

Rather than jumping straight in to the torture for the Hellions the bad guys decide to make things worse for them first, letting them experience scenarios that make them happy. Psylocke is spending time with her daughter, Wild Child is the biggest and baddest mutant around, frightening Wolverine and Sabertooth just by his presence. Scalphunter is back in the military and manages to save his teammates from the enemy, being hailed as a hero in the process. Nanny gets dozens of mutant children to take care of, whilst Orphan-Maker gets two Nanny's to take care of him. Empath is the centre of attention at a dinner party, surrounded by his family and friends. And Havok gets to be with Madelyn and have a happy relationship.

Unfortunately, these illusions are being made by bad guys, so of course things go horribly wrong for them all as they're suddenly attacked by their loved ones, discover that they've killed their friends, or made into mindless slaves. This is definitely the most intricate, and the most personally harmful of Arcades games in a long while, and we can only hope that when the team eventually break out they're going to make him pay for this one.

Whilst the team are trapped inside their own personal illusions we're left with Arcade personally tormenting Mr Sinister, and it makes for some of the best parts of the book. Since this series began I've found that Sinister quite easily steals most of the scenes he's in, and he's quickly become a favourite of mine; and this issue is no exception. Unfortunately for him, Arcade isn't a fan of his sarcasm and sass, and decides to torture the man in a scene that's actually quite brutal. If you've got a phobia of dentists or losing teeth this is definitely an issue that's going to freak you out.

Even though not a whole lot happened in this issue to move the story forward it was a lot of fun to spend some time with the different members of the team, to see how their minds work, and to learn a little more about them. The Hellions are quickly turning into one of the most interesting groups on Krakoa, and any time spent digging a little deeper into these characters is always going to make for a great issue.

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A Sister by Bastien Vives - Book Review

 

'Antoine, 13 years old, is on holiday at the seaside with his parents and his younger brother, Titi. Both spend most of their time drawing, at restaurants and on the beach. One night, Antoine discovers another person lying in their bedroom. Helene is 16 years old; she and her mother came to spend a few days and her presence and behaviour will change Antoine's life.'

A Sister follows thirteen year old Antoine as he and his family travel to their cottage by the coast to spend their summer holiday away from the distractions of home. On the drive there Antoine overhears his parents talking about a friend of the family has just had a miscarriage. When asking his parents about it Antoine learns that his own mother miscarried before he was born, and that he could have had an older brother or sister. 

Once at their holiday home the family settles into their routine of spending time at the beach, playing games around the house, and visiting the local village to shop and eat out at restaurants. Antoine spends much of his time with his younger brother Titi, and the two of them get along well. One morning, however, Antoine wakes up to find a girl asleep in their room. It turns out that his parents invited their friend and her daughter, Helene, to the holiday home to unwind after her miscarriage.

Now, from here, thanks to the title and the idea supplanted into our heads thanks to that first conversation in the book about Antoine missing out on an older sibling I thought that this would be where the book was going to go, that Helene, three years older than Antoine, was going to end up becoming something of an older sister to Antoine. This isn't really what happens, as Antoine and Helene develop a sexual relationship over the course of the summer.

The book is marketed as a 'coming of age- story, but I don't really see that myself, there's not much that happens to Antoine over the course of the book that makes him mature or change as a person other than him discovering sex; but perhaps that was what Bastien Vives was going for, that becoming sexually active is a coming of age. Other than performing sexual acts with Helene Antoine ends the book very much how he began, as a thoughtful and caring person, one who doesn't seem to want to bow to peer pressure. There is a moment towards the end of the book where Antoine almost does something incredibly stupid because he's being goaded into it by some older kids, but chooses not to; but this doesn't feel like any kind of growth, more that Antoine is being true to the person he was at the beginning of the book.

I don't know if Vives was trying to put a message into this book, and can't help but feel like if he was I must have missed out on it, because it just came across as a story about a thirteen year old boy being groomed by a sixteen year old over the course of a summer, encouraged into performing sexual acts that he did not seem ready for at all.

The artwork is fairly simple throughout, with a somewhat messy art style that uses black and white shading instead of colour. It took me a while to get used to this, but after a few pages I didn't really notice how different the artwork was from other books, and just settled into the story. But if you're looking for a book that's going to wow you with its art, or that you can spend your time looking through just soaking up the artwork this might not be the right book for you.

Overall I enjoyed A Sister, but I couldn't really narrow down why. Nothing much really happens in the story, there's content there that didn't make complete sense, and the artwork didn't wow me, but I read it through in one sitting and never felt bored whilst doing so. This might not be a book for everyone, but it's one that I'd definitely say to give a go.

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