Spirit World #1 - Comic Review

 

Once a decade or so DC will do an event that tries to introduce a number of new characters into the universe with their own series, hoping that the characters will take off. We've seen it done before with things like Millenium, Bloodlines, and Dark Matter. Invariably, most of the characters introduced in these events end up vanishing withing a year or two at the most as people just fail to gravitate towards them, preferring the staples of the DC universe. There have been exceptions, however, such as Hitman and Sideways; and it feels like out of all of the new characters introduced in Lazarus Planet Xanthe might be the one that will end up clicking with the most people.

Originally introduced in the Lazarus Planet: We Are Legends issue, Xanthe begins their own series with the first issue of Spirit World. The book picks up soon after the events of the one-shot, and benefits from having a couple of established DC characters join our new spirit envoy on their adventure. In the one shot Xanthe, Constantine, and Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) were fighting Jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampires) when Cassandra was sucked into the spirit world. Now, Xanthe and Constantine are trying to find a way to access the spirit world and save her, whilst Cass has to deal with the various spirits and creatures that are hunting her.

The concept is nice and simple to get your head around, which is handy as the book will be throwing some new stuff at the readers; so the simple plot helps. Xanthe is Asian, and their magic and the creatures that they interact with are very much inspired by Asian culture; as such, the book will land differently with different readers. For some, the concepts that are introduced in this book, such as burning paper offerings to make things appear in the spirit world, will be familiar, but for others they'll be brand new. As such, writer Alyssa Wong has a tricky balancing act to do, as she has to write a story that doesn't feel like it's slowing down every five minutes to explain things, whilst also keeping those new to these ideas up to speed.

Thankfully, Wong does a fantastic job at this, and the story balances out story, exposition, and character moments really well. Even by the end of the first issue it feels like we've got a pretty solid foundation for the kind of person that Xanthe is, and that we're going to be able to build upon this in any direction that Wong wants to take them. The very first scene of the book where Xanthe uses their magic to help out a little girl in the rain will instantly win people over to them.

Xanthe is also a queer character, and is a non-binary hero who uses they/them pronouns. One of two new trans heroes who was introduced in Lazarus Planet, Xanthe hasn't received as much attention as Circuit Breaker, who featured in the new DC Book of Pride whilst Xanthe didn't, but seems to be the more interesting of the two so far. The book doesn't make a big thing out of Xanthe's identity, and if you weren't really paying attention, or unaware of some things, you could easily miss the fact that they're referred to with they/them pronouns exclusively. There's a cute moment when the kid they help in the first scene thanks them and calls them older brother/older sister. The fact that it's just a part of Xanthe's world, that there isn't a big moment that needs to explain things, but it's just there, makes it feel a lot more natural and casual.

The book does some fun things with Batgirl too, who's trapped in the spirit world. Being stuck in a world filled with ghosts and monsters would be issue enough for most people, but it's made tougher for Cass as the denizens of that plain are drawn to the life force of living beings. Luckily, she runs across some allies of Xanthe who help her out. Granny Po Po comes across as a delightful old lady who is as worried about getting Cassandra warm and fed as she is keeping the spirits away from her, and oozes grandmotherly energy. Her assistant, Bowen, neatly falls into that stereotype of kind, kind of bumbling, sort of put upon, assistant who's definitely got a of potential hidden inside them. Both characters seem to be really nice, and the outfit that they give Cass to help hide her living aura is absolutely fantastic, and I really hope we get to see a lot of Cassandra in that costume in upcoming issues.

DC, as a whole, are getting better and better with representation and inclusion. There are more and more characters, and series starring characters, who don't fall into the category of straight white cisgender men; and it's great to see. We're getting more queer stories, more trans characters, more Black leads, and more Asian inspired magical characters. I love that DC is expanding and embracing new ideas and new identities like this, and it looks like Xanthe and Spirit World are going to be bringing not just some fun and engaging new stories, but a whole new side to the magic part of DC's universe. I can't wait to see what else it does.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

Green Lantern #1 - Comic Review

 

The Earth, and it's sector of space, have been quarantined by The United Planets, who no control the Green Lantern Corps. Never one to follow orders well, Hal Jordan has quit the Corps, and returned to Earth. The first issue of Green Lantern opens with Hal saving a group of trapped minders, using his power ring to drill down to save them. After years of adventures following Hal in space, of seeing him combat things like the various other Corps, the Blackest Night, the Third Army, the various Earth ending threats he's faced in the Justice League, it's really rather delightful to see Hal doing something rather mundane and normal like saving some people trapped in a bad situation.

But then this feels like the start of a rather mundane story for Hal (and I don't mean any insult by that). Hal has returned to Earth and is trying to make a life for himself. The biggest issue with that is that whilst Hal is a great Green Lantern, he's always been a bit of a fuck up when it comes to having a normal life. If Hal didn't have the ring he'd end up being one of those guys who tries to come across as cool, but everyone kind of pities because he can never get his life together. And I really like that about Hal. He's flawed.

We see some of this in this first issue as he comes to Carol Ferris to try his charms on her to get a job. It's pretty clear that Carol is kind of done with him at this point, and all of Hal's bluster and bravado are falling on deaf ears as Carol just wants to get away from him. However, she does give him the chance to prove himself, and offers him an opportunity. An opportunity that Hal ruins the first chance he gets. Taking control of a drone fighter Hal immediately showboats, resulting in the loss of the aircraft. The scene that follows shows how out of touch with life on Earth Hal is, not understanding that the old ways of flying are gone, and that he's not really going to be getting into a real cockpit again anytime soon. It also makes him look like a bit of a dick, as he doesn't care about the huge financial loss he's just made for Carol, treating it like a game because he was sitting in a remote control simulator. You can easily see why Carol has had enough of him.

The issue is also dotted with scenes set a month in the past, with Hal living in a small trailer outside of Coast City, where he spends his evenings drinking and staring up at the stars. I like that the art is clearly him drinking a beer, but the narration says it's a soda to help dispel the 'drunken bum' look that might form otherwise, and to excuse Hal speeding off in his pickup truck as he hears a news report of an attack in the city.

We get a nice scene with a villain that feels like something from a bygone era, some punk in armour made from Manhunter tech, who's causing chaos and destruction for their own amusement. The only issue with Manhunter tech, is that it's powered by Lantern energy, and so Hal is able to draw it out and power up. This does raise a question for me though, as it appears before this moment like Hal doesn't have his GL ring. When he goes in to fight this guy he's doing it as a civilian, and when he powers up it looks like the ring forms on his finger. The end of the last Green Lantern series was one that left a lot of questions unanswered, and mysteries hanging, to the point where it feels a little confusing going into this series now. However, I'm sure that Adams has a plan for things, and that we'll be finding out a lot of new stuff as the series goes on.

The book also features a back-up story, one that's setting up for the upcoming John Stewart series. The back up is kind of confusing too. At the end of the last GL run John was in space as the Emerald Warrior, saving some of his lost friends. He then turned up in Dark Crisis, where he got put into a pocket universe where he had turned everyone into a Lantern. Now he's back home, helping out his mother whilst he figures out what his next move is. It's obvious that we've missed a few parts of his story, and that itself isn't too bad. However, the stuff that comes next is the more confusing. We jump forward in time (possibly another universe?) where an older Guy Gardner is leading what seems to be the last squad of Lanterns in a desperate fight against some evil force.

That's about all we really get from the back-up feature, as it doesn't have a huge amount of pages to really delve into things here. It's clear, though, that this story is going to be going big. Whilst Hal's story seems like its going to be more grounded, and will focus on him putting his life together on Earth, Johns story seems to be dealing in big, confusing, galactic stuff. Hopefully as more of this is featured in upcoming issues it starts to become clearer what's going on.

Overall, this was a decent start to the new series. I've been a big fan of Green Lantern since I began reading comics, and I loved he Johns era and all of the extra titles we got for it, and the Rebirth era under Venditti. But since then it feels like the characters and their universe has been kind of floundering a bit. Far Sector was great, but was it's own thing. The Morrison run was very divisive, and very Morrison. and the last twelve issue story has made some big changes and left a ton of unanswered questions and unknown fates for a lot of fan favourite characters. It feels about time for Green Lantern to be given the care and attention it deserves.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

The Mandalorian (Season 3) – TV Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The first season of The Mandalorian came at an important time for live action Star Wars. Star Wars: The Last Jedi had been out for a while and had divided audiences, Solo: A Star Wars Story had a troubled production and failed to perform as well as it should have, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was just a few weeks away.

People felt a little unsure about live action Star Wars, and then this feeling wasn’t helped when the final film in the Skywalker Saga was released and divided fans all over again. But The Mandalorian seemed to be a glimmer of hope for a lot of fans, a jump backwards in time away from the sequel trilogy, with a whole host of new characters in some fantastically made episodes. It made a lot of people see that perhaps TV was the answer for Star Wars.

Now the fandom seems to have shifted once again. With Star Wars Celebration having just happened, we’ve received more information on the upcoming Ahsoka show, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Star Wars: Visions, and The Acolyte, as well as having had three new films announced, including a continuation of Rey Skywalker’s story. People are excited for what is coming, and The Mandalorian seems to be falling out of favour with some.

The second season of The Mandalorian ended with the capture of the evil Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), and Grogu leaving Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to go train with the legendary Luke Skywalker (a combo of actor Max Lloyd-Jones and CGI Mark Hamill). If you’d also watched The Book of Boba Fett (and why wouldn’t you?) you’d know that Grogu left the Jedi temple to return to Din’s side, and that Din needed to redeem himself in the eyes of his people to be considered Mandalorian again.

For those who watch The Mandalorian and no other Star Wars shows, the sudden return of Grogu, Din having a new ship, and the new mission, would have been jarring in the first episode, but Star Wars has been a shared universe for a long while now, and criticisms of that kind do feel a little bit forced. The shows set during this time period (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka) are all building towards a combined movie, so watching only one piece of that and not understanding the entire story is kind of on you.

But, that aside, the show begins strong, with Din and Grogu off to discover the Sacred Waters of Mandalore. Having to return to the ruins of Mandalore was something that fans speculated would be the focus of the season, the arc that Din would be going through. But by the end of the second episode Din had bathed in the waters and become a Mandalorian once again; so what was the show about now? The Mandalorian shifted from a story about bounty hunter Din Djarin, and became one about Mandalorians as a whole. The show had already shifted previous guest character Bo Katan (Katee Sackhoff) to co-lead, and the story became about what it means to be a Mandalorian.

The show began to further explore the different factions that we’d been introduced to in the past, such as the animosity between regular Mandalorians and The Children of the Watch, and asked if there was any common ground for them. Since the Empire, the Mandalorian people had become divided, scattered, and leaderless. They had lost their home, and their culture was the only thing that they had left to them. Now was the time to try to correct the damage of the past, and to return Mandalore to glory. Some fans seemed to dislike this shift, upset that the show seemed to be ‘sidelining’ Din in order to give Bo some moments to shine. Ironic considering people seemed to love the episodes of The Book of Boba Fett that shifted focus from Boba (Temuera Morrison) to Din.

Despite the criticisms from some fans, the shift from one individual to Mandalorians as a whole helped to expand this season of the show. Whilst there is still time for Din to go off on adventures, the series became about his people and their place in the galaxy, and led to some fantastic moments. I’d struggle to understand people criticising the expansion of Mandalorians when it gives us the final two episodes of the season, which are some of the best Mandalorian-centred episodes in Star Wars. The fight to give the Mandalorians an actual home tied back to things that the show had done before, as well as including some small nods and winks to Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. It also continued to pave the way towards the sequel trilogy, and expanded upon the return of the Emperor.

The series still makes time to include some adventure of the week style things too, and this season also sees Din and his allies fighting against pirate raiders, as well as having to investigate a potential droid uprising on a peaceful world. Both of these episodes bring different things to the table, with the latter managing to capture the feel of some of the odd adventures that you’d often get to see in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Whilst these episodes don’t always move the main story forward in huge ways, they do offer our characters the chance to do new things, and to show off some fun action moments for the audience.

This season also manages to further explore and expand upon Grogu, the biggest break-out character of the series. Having spent some time training with Luke Skywalker, Grogu is less the vulnerable baby this season, and has begun to showcase more powerful Force powers and combat abilities. We also learn more about how he survived Order-66, in a flashback that brought back a Star Wars actor who received some incredibly unfair treatment at the hands of the fans, in a role that seems to have been universally accepted. Despite the big focus on the Mandalorians, the show manages to find time for Grogu, and cements him as being a Mandalorian himself, as well as furthering his relationship with his surrogate father figure. Plus, who doesn’t love seeing them throw that puppet around whenever the little guy does a Force jump?

This season features some amazing moments thanks to the amazing team of directors involved. Rick Famuyiwa opens and closes the season in three of the best looking episodes this year, whilst award winning and nominated directors like Rachel Morrison and Lee Isaac Chung join returning director Bryce Dallas Howard, and series guest star Carl Weather to fill out the rest of the season. The shows continues to look good, and it seems like more effort has been made this year to move away from the Volume, and to use other filming techniques. As such, this season does look a bit different to the first season in sense of tone and style, yet still manages to have some incredibly impressive moments.

There will be some who will complain about this season of The Mandalorian, who don’t like the direction the show took, or choices made with the story and characters. But as a fan of Star Wars as a whole, who’s watched everything and who’s looking forward to the things to come, I had a lot of fun with this season. The moments that leaned into the legacy of the franchise were great, the stuff that was setting up things we already know was appreciated, and the expansion of the show to be about more than just one man and his son was needed in order to keep things fresh, and to make The Mandalorian a part of the wider Star Wars universe. With big things on the horizon we’re sure to be seeing Din Djarin again, and I’m eagerly awaiting his return.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

Lovers Lane (1999) – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Lovers Lane is an odd piece of cinema. The slasher movie was at its height in the 1980s, a time where you couldn’t walk through a video store without tripping over a stack of slasher VHS tapes. After vanishing into obscurity for a few years, the genre made a resurgence in the late 90s thanks to Scream bringing fresh life and interest to things. the success of Scream would lead to movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Halloween: H20 as other studios tried to jump on the trend. Lovers Lane was released just a couple of years after Scream, and feels like it should be primed to cash in on this, yet somehow manages to feel out of time and out of place.

Lovers Lane begins with a flashback sequence to thirteen years in the past, where a young couple are making out in a parked car at the local lovers lane. They’re disturbed by a hook-handed maniac, who tries to kill them both. The couple manage to escape, but find another car with a man and woman murdered in it. When police arrive on the scene one of the officers, Tom (Matt Riedy), who has his young daughter in the car with him, is distraught to learn that the murdered woman is his wife, who was having an affair. The hook-handed man is arrested, and placed in a psychiatric hospital.

Thirteen years later, in the present day (1999) the local teens are gearing up for parties and shenanigans for Valentine’s Day. The film spends some time introducing us to a number of characters, such as Chloe (Sarah Lancaster), the school bitch, cheerleader Janelle (Anna Faris), and the prankster Doug (Billy O’Sullivan). We also get to see Tom’s daughter Mandy (Erin J. Dean), who has become a bit of a lonely teen, and Michael (Riley Smith), the son of the principal, and the son of the man Mandy’s mother was having an affair with. As the teens plan their parties and prepare for a night of fun, the hook-handed man breaks out of hospital, ready to continue his swathe of killings.

Despite being released towards the end of the 90s, Lovers Lane feels like a movie from an earlier time – but it’s hard to pin down what time. Much of the film has the feel of a story from the 1950s thanks to the use of the Hook Man urban legend that was popularised at that time, whilst the quality of the slasher horror feels more at home in a cheap movie from the 80s. There are no scenes in the film that really impress. The film feels kind of flat, like it’s going through the motions and ticking the boxes for what’s needed for the story to happen, without giving any of it any flair.

We spend time with the teens at the start of the movie because it needed to establish characters that are going to be killed. But none of the teens really feel like characters. Some of them are stereotypes, like the bitchy popular and pretty girl who hates everyone she sees as beneath her, and the guy in the bright shirt who’s always cracking jokes and acting like a smart-ass because he thinks it will somehow get him laid. But outside of that none of the teens are really much of anything. Mandy is bookish and shy, and seems to be disliked or outright hated by the other teens, but the film doesn’t explain why. Other characters just kind of exist, and other than being there to fill the room or get killed off they don’t really contribute anything to proceedings.

This flatness translates to visuals as well. Most of the scenes are shot in the most expected ways possible, and there are no stand out moments or things that happen that you’ll not have seen done better in other movies. None of the scenes are badly shot, but there’s nothing about them that makes them feel special. Locations and sets look kind of bland and flat, and the characters’ costumes feel plain and un-noteworthy. Compared to some of the visual flair of other teen slasher movies of the time it feels like little effort was made to be seen as anything other than a cheap cash-in.

The film tries to do something different with the ending at least, something that does set it apart from the older slasher movies that it seems to have drawn a lot of inspiration from, but once again, compared to something like Scream, which was already two films deep at this point, it still fails to make it interesting enough to compete with those twist endings.

The Blu-ray version comes with two versions of the film, one in widescreen and one in full frame, but neither differs from the other in any real way other than the presentation. There’s an audio commentary from the film’s writers and producers, Geof Miller and Rory Veal, who go into some details about the making of the movie that ends up being more interesting than the film itself, just as a way of seeing how films were made. There’s also a new behind the scenes featurette, ‘Screaming Teens: The Legacy of Lovers Lane’ which features some of the cast and crew.

Overall, Lovers Lane feels like an odd relic of a movie. It doesn’t really fit in with the other films of its type at the time, but neither does it really fit with the eras that it has drawn inspiration from. There’s an attempt to make a half decent movie here, but it often feels like the effort and skill didn’t meet the hopes. For those who have an interest in this genre, and film history, it might be of note, but for the casual horror fan there are much better releases from Arrow that are worth your time and money.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #3 - Comic Review

 

Jon Kent is lost in the multiverse, stuck on another world where he's just witnessed that universe's version of his father murder Ultraman. Following the events of the last issue, Jon has fallen unscious and has has been taken to the Hall of Justice. The book begins with Diana and Clark having a discussion about Jon. It seems like this Superman is ready to trust Jon, and is willing to do whatever it takes to help the son he never had. Diana is the main voice of reason here, pointing out that he's not this Clark's son, and that he might not be able to be trusted.

Jon awakes in the medical bay, where he finds Luthor as his doctor. Luthor explains how Jon expelled all of his energy at once, and that that's why he's so weak now. It's also a way of explaining away Jon's ability to turn electric blue, because he's using up more energy than he should be. There might be more of an explanation for it than that, but if not you can kind of shrug it off as being the reason why. There's also a moment where you can see Luthor trying to brace Jon for learning what this world is like, and what this version of Superman is like, which is a fun nod to his being a traitor in the Injustice series. The fact that Luthor is also alive here places this somewhere in the five years that take place before the events of the game.

The Clark of this universe seems to try his best to come across as good and decent towards Jon, treating him well, and even promising to help him rescue Val and Lois from the Phantom Zone. The way that Clark is written in this issue is really interesting, as its showing that he still thinks of himself as a decent man, and that a lot of the things he does comes from a place of what he sees as kindness. It adds a layer of creepiness to the dictator. 

When there's a break in at one of the Regime's compounds in Gotham, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash head off to try and help, and don't allow Jon to go with them. However, the mention of Damian grabs his attention, and Jon heads off to Gotham anyway. In Gotham, Damian is fighting Bruce, and Jon rushes into the middle of things to try and stop his best friend. However, this is a version of Damian who has no idea who Jon is, so he proceeds to use his super strength against him. Eventually Batman manages to get away, and Damian blames it all on Jon. Clark arrives and fills Jon in on the reason for the rift between Bruce and Damian, the death of Dick, but leaves out a lot of the story so as not to give it context, or reveal the kind of man Superman has become.

Clark agrees to let Jon fly around on his own, to see the world that Clark has built in the wake of the tragedy he experienced. Jon at first seems to think things seem good, and even talks about how his father often wanted to be this proactive. However, when he helps save someone, who then runs in fear because of the symbol on his chest, Jon realises that there's something rotten on this world; and Superman is at the core of it.

This issue feels like it's doing a lot of set-up. Despite being the third issue of a six issue series, it's got the feel of a first issue because it's having to introduce Jon to a lot of stuff. The readers might be familiar with the Injustice comics, but Jon isn't, as such we need context for everything that he's coming across. This means that a lot of the issue is dealing with backstory, with world building, and with catching up with the status quo. The result is an issue that feels kind of slow; though it still manages to be interesting and engaging, and keeps your attention. I think those who've read the Injustice comics will also find it interesting.

With Jon now apparently realising that there's some bad stuff happening on this world, and with the shady conversations that Clark has had with his allies, it looks like things might be descending into violence pretty quickly. There's no way that Jon is going to side with this version of Superman, so he's going to have to fight him. But, would he perhaps pretend to be okay with things until Superman helps him to free Val and Lois so that he can go home? Maybe, though I can also see this version of Superman refusing to actually free them, because if Red Tornado gets out it means that Jon can leave their universe; and I don't see Clark wanting to lose his son again. 

We've reached the halfway point of the series, and it looks like things are going to get pretty interesting with the next issue.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

Living With Chucky – Documentary Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Child’s Play franchise is one that will be well known to many a horror fan, and its main character is one of the most well known and instantly recognisable figures in horror (sorry Anabelle, Chucky’s the number one doll). Living With Chucky is a new documentary film that takes a look at the entire scope of the franchise, and one that has something a little different and special up its sleeve to make it stand out from other horror retrospectives.

The film begins simply enough, as we slowly go through each film in the series, getting to learn about the evolution of the franchise. We get to meet Don Mancini, the original writer and creator of Chucky (Brad Dourif), who tells us about the origins of the script, the process of shopping it around Hollywood, hoping to see it picked up. Luckily, producer David Kirschner just happened to be into haunted dolls at the time, and was looking for a script to scratch that itch. The two met, and Child’s Play began. From here we get some insight into how the film was made, the process of creating the first Chucky puppets, and what it was like for Alex Vincent to work on the film at such a young age as Andy, the boy Chucky was determined to take over.

From here we jump into the second film, then the more maligned third movie, as the creators talk about the quick demand for sequels, and how they ultimately took the series in the direction they did. Whilst the first two films get some decent attention, the third is covered relatively quickly; perhaps the creators knowing that it’s still considered to be the least favourite of the series by fans. Then, however, we enter a new era for the series, with The Bride of Chucky. Embracing a more comedic angle, the series introduced Jennifer Tilly into the mix as Tiffany, who would ultimately become a doll just as iconic as Chucky. You can see the joy on Dourif’s face when talking about this movie, of how happy he was to go from working alone in a sound booth for the movie to being able to act with Tilly and bounce off her energy, quick wits and ability to improvise.

We then cover Seed of Chucky, which brought actor Billy Boyd on board to play Chucky’s gender fluid child Glen/Glenda in a film that got a little bit meta. What comes next is another shift in the series, as we cover Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky, both of which go back to the horror roots of the franchise, and introduced a new protagonist in the form of Dourif’s own daughter, Fiona. By the time each of the films have been covered it’s become clear that, unlike some horror franchises, the Child’s Play series has embraced change, has tried new things, and has surprisingly kept most of the same cast and crew across seven films. But with a big section of the film left, what is the rest of the documentary about?

This is where Living With Chucky sets itself apart from other documentaries, as the director introduces herself, Kyra Elise Gardner, daughter of special effects creator Tony Gardner, who worked on the series since Seed of Chucky. Kyra grew up with Chucky, Tiffany, and Glen/Glenda in the house, and has come to see Chucky as something of a younger brother, and the franchise as part of her family. And this film has been her chance to finally meet a lot of the people who made that a part of her life. She connects with actor Alex Vincent over what it was like having Chucky around as a kid, and she and Fiona Dourif joke about what it’s like watching your father killed on film, and childhood experiences with the franchise.

The documentary goes from being a brief overview on the franchise, and instead starts to look at the family that formed behind the camera. Whether it’s the writer who’s been involved with each instalment, the producer who’s been there since the beginning, the actors who made the roles iconic, or the special effects team who brought the puppets to life, you can see the bonds that these people developed over the three decades that Chucky has been around. The genuine joy they have when swapping stories, or the affection that comes through when they talk about their co-workers, makes this more than a bunch of talking heads. Brad and Fiona Dourif are together each time either one of them is talking, and you can see the pride that the elder Dourif has for his daughter becoming part of the franchise that made him an icon, and how much he cares about the franchise passing into her hands.

The documentary also talks about the fans that have fallen in love with the series, and how they’ve become part of that extended family. The fans who have the dolls, who have the characters tattooed on them, and who dress up as Chucky and Tiffany. You can see the appreciation that the cast and crew have for them, and how grateful they are for the support that the series has been given over the years. It becomes a celebration of the franchise and all those who’ve come to love it, rather than a simple breakdown of the films and how they were made

The film isn’t your average horror documentary, though it does do some of the expected. It has a host of talking heads that aren’t really connected to the film, but come from the wider horror genre; such as Lin Shaye and Abigail Breslin. It looks at each of the films and gives brief glimpses into the behind the scenes that are interesting, and I’m sure that there will be some criticism that these parts were glossed over pretty quickly, and it would have been nice to see more about their making, but that’s not what this film is ultimately about. It’s like the title says, it’s about growing up Living With Chucky.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

Shazam #1 - Comic Review

 

Shazam has gone through some changes recently. Billy has spent some time stuck in hell, he's been the guardian of the Rock of Eternity, the Rock of Eternity merged with him and lives inside his chest, Mary became the new champion, Billy's powers were corrupted by the wizard before being fixed, and Mary gave her power to Wonder Woman before having them replaced with powers from a group of goddesses. But now we have a new costume, a new creative team, and a new issue one for the character; and it's a wonderful jumping on point for readers new and old.

The book starts with the Captain (love that they're getting close to going back to calling him Captain Marvel as best they can, riding a t-rex through the rain forest. This isn't just an ordinary dinosaur, however, as it turns out its the kid of a family of alien dinosaurs who crash landed on Earth. The Captain managed to find the missing child, and brings them home to to their family. From there he fixes their ship with super-speed, and gets to have tea with the alien dinosaurs. There's something absolutely ridiculous but hugely charming about this whole intro sequence. Billy is having a ton of fun, he's riding a T-rex, he's having tea in giant tea-cups that have been made by space dinosaurs. What's not to love about the whole things. And it's wonderful to get to see Billy just enjoying himself, and getting to have fun being a super hero.

After seeing the aliens off, he heads back to the Rock of Eternity to store his latest trophy, and to hang out. We see that he's turned the Rock into a mix of trophy room and teenage boy's bedroom, where he sit around playing video games between missions. After Freddy Freeman arrives, however, the two of them head back to Earth as school's about to start. We see that some shadowy figures are watching Billy, and judging him for the way he's acting. One of them looks a bit like the wizard, but considering Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods just did a story where the wizard turned against him for a bit I'm hoping that this is a misdirect, and that we're not going to be having the same story again.

The book also gives a good explanation as to why Billy ever changes back from his super hero persona. He talks about the wisdom of Solomon, and how it doesn't make him a super genius, but does give him a voice in his head telling him things like eat healthier, and to play less video games when he's between missions; which is the kind of nagging parent stuff a teenager won't want to hear inside their own head. This is a fun reasoning for why Billy isn't the Captain all the time, and makes sense for his character. The book also brings back one of the best members of the Shazam mythos, with Tawky Tawny living in his house, being a butler for the family for free room and board. I love Tawny, he's ridiculous and just the kind of silly that a character like Shazam needs to stop from becoming too dour and serious. I'm really hoping that we at some point get to see him interacting with my other favourite Shazam family talking animal, Hoppy the rabbit. 

The book ends with the Captain heading out to help with an earthquake, where he assists the first responders and rescue workers in saving as many people as possible. He lifts up huge pieces of debrid, digs his way through the ruins, and saves several lives. However, when he's being interviewed by news crews after and one of the survivors hugs him and thanks him for what he did he completely flips out, and starts screaming about how they're all beneath him, and should be on their knees before him. The outburst passes, and Billy realises that the camera where all pointed at him. 

There's obviously something sinister going on here, and those shadowy figures who were badmouthing him earlier in the book are more than likely behind things. If it is the wizard, and possibly Zeus based on the look of the other guy, then it could be them corrupting the Captain's powers, and causing him to turn on people like he did. Whatever's happening, it's kind of a bummer to see. The first half of the book did a wonderful job at showing how much fun Billy is having, and how much joy being a hero brings him, that to see this turn, to see his reputation so quickly harmed, is a really sad and shocking moment.

The art on the book is also worth noting. Waid and Mora have been working really well together on Batman / Superman: World's Finest  and its great to see the creative team here again. It feels like the two of them have a really good working relationship, and that Mora is able to put across Waid's writing in really dynamic, and interesting ways. Mora's characters always look fantastic, and getting to see characters like Shazam riding a dinosaur is just fun. The full page splash where we see all of the things that the Captain has done inside the shape of Billy is one of the stand out visuals of the book, and a hugely creative choice.

This is a fantastic start to this series, it's showing us how fun this character is, why reading his book is worth it, and it's teasing some interesting things to come in the rest of the series. If you've not really given Shazam a chance in the past this is the perfect jumping on point. 

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

Masters of the Universe: Masterverse #3 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Cape

Masters of the Universe: Masterverse is a series that allows the creative team to play a little fast and loose with the concept of Masters of the Universe. Thanks to the myriad possibilities that a multiverse adds, we’ve been given several unique and different version of Eternia, as well as its heroes and villains. But, as we enter the third issue, it’s beginning to feel like there’s perhaps not a whole lot to the concept, and that the series is running out of steam as it heads towards its end.

This latest issue begins in dramatic fashion, with the Sorceress and Zodac coming to blows over their different stances on what makes a good protector for the Power of Greyskull, and what should be done about Prince Adam. Unfortunately, this doesn’t last long, and the two ultra-powerful beings put aside their fight to the death to start looking through windows into other universes once again.

The first world we come to takes us to a more primitive and savage version of Eternia, where the kingdom that mixes magic and machines that we know doesn’t exist, and instead there are warring tribes that wear little more than loincloths and animal furs. It’s here that we meet Teel-la, a warrior woman who can hear the voices of ancestral warriors who came before her. When a group of men, who she describes as ‘superstitious barbarians’, capture a shaman of the Beast-Men tribe, she sneaks in at night to free the prisoner. However, when she is confronted by their best warrior, He-Man, she’s forced to battle against him.

This story features on the cover of the book, and the cover gives us a woman who looks very similar to He-Man, with the same kind of hair, muscles, and a big sword. Because of this I thought that we might be getting a universe where He-Man is female, where the power was given to a gender swapped version of Adam. Instead, the story is about Teela, and she looks nothing like the woman on the cover. Her build is different, her hair is different, she’s not as muscled, and she doesn’t have a sword. That, coupled with the story not actually really doing much, leads to this first tale to be hugely disappointing.

The art for this story is pretty strong, however, and is provided by Claudia Balboni and Rico Renzi. The art is very crisp, and very clear, and it’s easy to tell who characters are and what they’re doing, though mostly because they’re the most detailed thing on the page. A lot of panels have very minimal backgrounds, with some having none, and so the characters often stand out of the page as the only thing to draw your eye.

Beastman looks pretty cool, and his design here is understated compared to some versions of him. He-Man is just a guy in furry underwear, however, and there’s nothing distinct about him, and if he didn’t give his name you could be forgiven for not knowing who he is. Tee-la’s design is one that I’m not sure about. She’s wearing the small fur undies like He-Man, and that’s about it. She’s got some bracers on her arms, and her breasts are sitting inside metal cups that are somehow attached to her chest (magic?) that look extremely uncomfortable, and impractical as hell. It’s like an attempt was made to make her a sexy savage, and it just ends up coming off as a bit exploitative.

The second story introduces us to a He-Man who’s part of a group of travelling adventurers who have called themselves the Masters of the Universe. The group consists of Adam, Ram-Man, Man-E-Faces, and Stratos, who awaken to find that their ship has run aground on the Isle of Gray Skulls, and is sinking. Grabbing their gear, they head onto the mysterious island. Following the sounds of hammering metal coming from up the mountain, they go deep inside a cave where they discover a horrific, skull-faced man forging a magical sword, with a woman held as his prisoner. Whilst his friends want to help the woman, He-Man sees no reason to risk his life for a stranger.

This story is a bit of an odd one. For the majority of it Adam is painted as something of a selfish coward and a dick. He doesn’t want to help others out, he seems to be constantly drinking and seems to sleep through important stuff; and in the end he only really steps up when he’s got no other option. I’d question why the Sorceress would be showing Zodac this particular world, as it really seems to be helping his argument that Adam is a dick who shouldn’t be given the powers. There is also a lot of inconsistency with the Isle of Gray Skulls, where at various points we see the team traipsing up snowy mountains, or making camp in the woods, but when we see the entire island come the end of the story neither of these environments are present.

The art for this story is by David Rubin, who provides both the line-work and the colours. It definitely has a style distinct from the first story, and the framing story, and looks wholly its own. It has an odd mix of making things look somewhat gritty and realistic, yet also at times giving characters big, cartoonish expressions, or just big white ball eyes whenever they’re surprised. These moments often feel at odds with the rest of the art, and gives a weird mixed message as to what kind of tone the story is supposed to be. Is it a serious tale, or it it supposed to be a humorous one?

Come the end of the issue it seems like the Sorceress has finally convinced Zodac to stop being a bit of a dick, and to see that He-Man is a decent choice to be her champion. With that done, what else could the two of them need to argue about for the final issue? Well, it looks like the Sorceress is going to show Zodac worlds where He-Man inspired other heroes (though that would be most surely?). We get a small hint in the final panel, and a huge hint in the next cover preview, that one of these worlds is going to be from the new Netflix series. It’ll be interesting to see what other world they showcase, and if its going to be based on another known interpretation.

With the series getting ready for its final issue it’s a real shame that the penultimate one feels so lacklustre and dull. The stories collected here don’t really do much for me, and it feels like neither one really does much with the concept. Hopefully the last issue will throw in a bit more excitement so that the series doesn’t end on a sour note.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

Peacemaker Tries Hard #1 - Comic Review

 

The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker have been hugely popular parts of the recent DC film and TV releases, and the resulting success of both surely played a part in James Gunn being put in charge of the new DC film and TV universe. It's also not a surprise that characters such as Peacemaker have started to appear more now as a direct result. Peacemaker seems to be a big part of Amanda Waller's plans post Dark Crisis, and he's one of the antagonists in Unstoppable Doom Patrol. But, these versions are still trying to stay close to what the character was before the success of the live action version. However, thanks to DC's Black Label, which allows creators to make books outside of the regular DC continuity, the Peacemaker that the fans of the John Cena version get him in a book proper.

It's not stated that this book is set within the same continuity as the live action version, but there's a number of things in the book that seem to be saying that you can consider it to be if you want to. There's the fact that Peacemaker is John Cena for one. Every panel in which he's not wearing the helmet he looks like the actor. This isn't the first comic to make characters look like actors, it's been done a lot, and sometimes it can be quite jarring (I still find it weird whenever I see the Tommy Lee Jones version of Norman Osborne), but with Peacemaker it kind of works. He's a character that doesn't have a ton of comic appearances, and the Cena version is the one that made him not only popular, but well known to people who've never picked up a comic. 

The book begins with Peacemaker picking up some supplies at the grocery story whilst a young couple talk about the upcoming movie of their favourite comic, Tales From The Black Freighter. The cashier is concerned that Peacemaker is planning to make some kind of muscle cake thanks to the muscle powder and cake mix he's buying, which leads to a conversation about how much poop he'd eat in order to bring about peace. It's at this point it becomes clear that the book is going to be trying to emulate the comedy style of the series; and whilst it's not bad it does become apparent that not every writer is able to pull this off as well, and that a large part of the success of the series is the way Cena delivers the lines, and how he presents the character. The book does a decent job at emulating this, but it never quite manages to be as good as the show it's trying to be.

That being said, it's not bad comedy. There are a number of moments that feel like it could slip nicely into the show. The mission that he gets sent on by Waller to break up a terrorist cell that ends up with the terrorist and Peacemaker insulting each other throughout the fight and Peacemaker trying to justify how he's a cooler guy than any off them. Whilst there he comes across a stray french bulldog that he decides to adopt. Thanks to the markings that make him look like he's wearing a tuxedo he names the animal Bruce Wayne, because he's a fancy little guy.

When out picking up supplies for his dog, and the cake mix he fucked up, Bruce Wayne is kidnapped. Going after the people who have his new friend, Peacemaker finds out that The Brain and Monsieur Mallah are behind the theft, and are holding his dog in order to get Peacemaker to go on a mission for them; a mission to collect the genetic material from Deathstroke.

Overall, there's a lot to enjoy about the book. It's got its fun moments, the art is really good, and the story seems like it could be interesting. Half of the jokes land really well, though some do feel a bit forced, or a bit out of nowhere. If you're a fan of the TV series you're either going to enjoy the book, or really love it. And for those that hate it, it's Black Label, so you don't have to worry about it being in continuity.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram

Injustice: Gods Among Us – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

There have been a lot of DC Comics inspired video games over the years, from Superman on the Atari way back in 1979, to the various versions of the 89 Batman, to obscure characters like a Swamp Thing game on the original Nintendo, and Sgt. Rock On The Frontline.

Despite this large catalogue, there have been relatively few games that get held up as being really good. The Arkham games have been beloved, and the various Lego DC titles are popular, but the hits seem few and far between. In 2008 an unusual experiment came out, Mortal Kombat vs DC, which saw the two franchises meet. The results were mixed, but it did plant the seed for an idea.

Created by NetherRealm Studios, responsible for the popular Mortal Kombat series, Injustice: Gods Among Us would ditch the other franchise completely, and be a pure DC game. Set on a different world somewhere within the DC multiverse, the story begins in the past, where the Joker has caused Superman to inhale a gas that makes him think that Lois is his deadly enemy Doomsday, resulting in him accidentally killing his wife and unborn child. Unfortunately, the Joker had connected a nuclear bomb to Lois’ heartbeat, and upon killing her it detonates in the heart of Metropolis, destroying the city. The angry Superman kills the Joker, and begins a campaign to bring real justice to the world.

Five years later, that world is ruled by Superman under his One Earth Regime, with the former hero little more than a fascist dictator. A small resistance of heroes, and a few villains, fight back against his regime, but are struggling to make much of a difference. The insurgency thinks that it might be able to a access a kryptonite weapon that can take Superman down once and for all, but needs the DNA of all the core Justice League members to do so – and several on on his side. So, the insurgency leader, Batman, pulls the needed heroes in from another universe to help them.

Injustice: Gods Among Us plays very similarly to most fighting games: you have your characters on one side of the screen, your opponent is on the other, you fight to the best of three rounds by depleting the others health (though the game does things a bit differently by giving each character two health bars that you need to deplete, but it’s essentially the same). You have basic attacks, combo moves that you can unleash, and even special attacks that are unique to each character. Unlike most fighting games, however, you don’t pick just the one character and play through the story.

Much like NetherRealm’s previous game, 2011’s Mortal Kombat, the story mode puts you in control of multiple characters at different points of the story, jumping from character to character as the story progresses. This change to the formula gives the player the chance to try a bit of each character during the campaign, allowing you to see which of the roster you prefer for different modes. However, it did add the wrinkle that each time you felt like you’d begin to get the hang of a new character the game would switch them out for another, causing dips and spikes in difficulty at times. Outside of the story mode, the game featured the expected versus mode, as well as a challenge mode, which consisted of 240 character specific challenges that almost act as a training mode, often requiring the player to master a specific skill or move; as well as some more unusual challenges.

The game managed to pack in a decent roster of characters to play with, including Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan Green Lantern, Aquaman, Black Adam, Lex Luthor, Green Arrow, Barry Allen Flash, Deathstroke, Bane and others, including alternate skins that turn existing characters into other versions, such as a Jack Garrick Flash, and John Stewart Green Lantern. The game does play it a bit safe with some of the character choices, however, and the majority of the characters on offer are ones that the general public will have a passing familiarity with for the most part. It definitely seems designed for casual fans who may never have picked up a comic; and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Injustice: Gods Among Us received mostly positive reviews upon release, and was the highest selling game in the US for the month of its release. The popularity of the game not only resulted in a sequel game coming out in 2017, but a comic series being produced by DC to cover the five years between the death of Lois Lane, and events of the game. The series, written by Tom Taylor, would bring in characters that weren’t featured in the game, and expand out to encompass the entirely of that world’s DC universe in more than 100 issues. An animated feature film adapting the game was also released in 2021, though it does deviate from the original story.

Injustice: Gods Among Us wasn’t the first time that DC Comics played in the waters of fighting games, but it was the first really good one.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram