The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – Throwback 30

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Today it’s hard to think about The Legend of Zelda series and imagine it without handheld games. There are now roughly the same number of handheld games as there are console ones in the series. Depending on how you class the Switch alters that number too, and if you include spin-off games, the handhelds lead by quite a margin. But there was a time when Link and friends being on anything but a home console felt like a wild idea.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was the first Zelda game to make the leap, but it was never really intended to be when it was first created. Unusually, the game began life as a side-project, one that some of the developers at the Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development division worked on after hours in an unofficial capacity. It originally started with programmer Kazuaki Morita, who played around with one of the first Game Boy development kits, creating a Zelda-like game. After the release of The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past Nintendo looked at porting the game to the Game Boy, but soon decided that the unofficial side project felt more promising.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is unusual for a Zelda game, as it was the first to not take place within the Kingdom of Hyrule, nor did it feature the titular Princess, or the evil Ganon. Instead, the game begins with Link, the hero of the previous instalment, caught in a fierce storm whilst out at sea. His ship is destroyed, and he wakes up on the remote Koholint Island. He learns that the only way off the island is to wake the mystical Wind Fish, a giant whale-like creature that lives inside a giant egg on the island’s mountaintop. In order to do so he will need to travel across the island, battling monsters inside eight dungeons, to collect the musical instruments needed to take the Wind Fish.

The game introduced a number of new features that would go on to become commonplace in the franchise, such as fishing, being able to map weapons and items to different buttons, and being able to play songs on the ocarina. These are game-play elements that fans of the series have likely now taken for granted, and may have first encountered in The Legends of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but series producer Eiji Aonuma credits Link’s Awakening for introducing them, and has said that Ocarina of Time would likely have been a very different game without the handheld entry.

In the same interview he would also describe how the game drew influence from the popular television series Twin Peaks, especially in its approach to friendly NPC’s. The townspeople were made to be suspicious, again something that would carry over into other games, and the game would play around with the fourth wall and player expectations. Due to not being able to use characters like Zelda, the game instead featured characters from the Mario and Kirby franchises, and characters would break the fourth wall at times, talking directly to the player rather than Link.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was hugely popular upon releases, and topped sales charts. It was the top selling Game Boy game of its release month in both Japan and the US, and even helped to boost sales of the Game Boy itself. The game would remain on the bestseller list for seven and a half years, and would receive a re-release in the Players Choice series. The sales and critical reception were so high that when the Game Boy Color was released the game received an overhaul with The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX version in 1998. This new version was presented in full colour, with an extra dungeon introduced into the game that made use of the colour mechanics. This version would sell more than 2.2 million copies, on top of the original’s 3.8 million. The colour version would also tackle the chief complaint about the game, that the grey-scale graphics sometimes made things harder to see.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening didn’t end there though. When the game was released on the virtual console for the Nintendo 3DS it became the top-selling downloadable game that year. This proved that there was still a lot of love for the game, and in 2019 it got the biggest overhaul yet. Released on the Nintendo Switch, this new version was a ground-up remake. It stayed true to the spirit of the original, keeping the top-down view, and used a ‘retro-modern’ style, making the characters look toy-like. The remake was a fantastic adaptation of the original, and would receive positive reviews, as well as a number of awards, and would go on to sell more than 6.4 million copies.

Whilst The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild often get held up as examples of the series at its best The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening deserves similar praise. It brought the franchise to the handheld consoles, and it created innovations that are still felt across the games to this day. And, as a personal note, it’s the very first Zelda game I ever played and completed. It might not be the first game that comes to mind when thinking of the franchise, but I’ll always argue that it’s one of the best.

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Batman #140 - Comic Review

 

I was really enjoying the Zdarsky Batman run until Gotham War. I was hoping that Gotham War was some kind of editorially mandated event that Zdarsky had to do, and that's why it's quality was a big dip on what came before. But this new story just continues to make me groan and lose interest in the title. Not only did we have the Joker addressing Batman as Bruce last issue, something I truly believe the Joker would never actually care about, but this issue is all about Zur-En-Arhh again. If it wasn't for the fact that the character existed before I'd be sure Zdarsky was pushing him so much for royalties.

At the end of the previous issue Batman is gone, his body taken over by the Zur-En-Arhh personality, a 'pure' Batman, who's currently busy beating the ever loving shit out of Joker, determined to leave him so broken and maimed that he needs machines to be kept alive. So, Batman is stuck inside his own head as Zur does what he wants. But, he's not alone in there. Several other Zur-En-Arrh Batmen have made his head home, somehow having jumped out of their own Batmen and into him during Bruce's universe hopping anniversary issue of Batman #900.

There's Zur versions of Adam West, the Arkham game Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, the animated series, Gotham by Gaslight, vampire Batman, and of course, Michael Keaton. And probably more. I simply stopped caring about references and callbacks at a certain point. And that's what this issue feels like, a long, long, long conveyor belt of call backs and winks to the audience with an almost 'do you remember that!?' energy to it. 

Whilst Zur fights the Joker in the real world, Bruce battles the other Batmen across his 'mind palace', an Escher type depiction of the Wayne Manor. It's here that we get some of the more egregious moments of weirdness and 'oh remember this' as Bruce takes them on one by one. Adam West has bat-gadgets to counter what Bruce throws at him, Micheal Keaton is taken down because he can't turn his head, and TDKR Batman is old, and surly and gives speeches about how he's the true, most dangerous Batman because of how old and surly he is.

Batman visiting other versions of himself during the 900th issue was fine, because it was an anniversary issue. It was even good and entertaining at times. But here, it's just a bit too much, and kind of sad in some ways. It feels like Zdarksy is despertely trying to draw upon nostalgia to get you invested. It's Adam West, but Zur-En-Arhh! Oh, Batman is fighting Michael Keaton's Batman, and he won because Keaton can't turn his head! When you take these moments out what is really in this issue? A man trapped inside his mind and having to fight physical representations of his captors to escape; which we've seen many times before. And the Joker getting a beating of course; which we've also seen many times before. 

The only true surprising moment is when Bruce wakes up back in control of his body. Did he beat the Zur personality? No, as Zur is standing in the shadows talking to him. he steps into the light to reveal that Zur has somehow jumped out of Bruce's head and is now controlling Failsafe, the unstoppable robot. Now Zdarsky pushing Zur so hard makes sense, because putting him into Failsafe and making him a big villain he'll get the residuals that way. And whilst this moment is surprising, is it interesting? Not really.

Bruce didn't beat Failsafe first time round. He got lucky by giving the machine a conscience. But now that's gone, and the 'pure' Batman is in control of it. Which feels like we're setting up for a second round of the Failsafe arc with the only way of surviving now removed from play. It also raises a ton of questions. How did a personality in Bruce's head get into a machine? What about the other Zur's, did they go too or are they still in Bruce? And how the hell did they get into Bruce anyway? That last one looks like it has an explanation at first, with TDKR Batman saying Zur invited them in when Batman's mind touched the other Batmen, but if that was a thing in that issue it was something I missed, because I don't remember any psychic connections. I hope coming issues might try to explain things, but I'm starting to think that even if they try to, the answers won't be worth the wait.

Whilst the writing in the issue is, for me anyway, borderline terrible, the art is superb. Every single Zur inside Bruce's head has their own look and style that resembles their origin. Keaton and West look like a comic, sure, but they're surprisingly accurate translations. The animated versions look like they've jumped off the screen, and Gotham by Gaslight and TDKR Batmen both look like their original artists drew them. All of that, and they're being used in dynamic fights and fast paced panels half the time. Jorge Jiménez is firing on all cylinders here, and the book look fantastic. Sadly, great art can't save a bad comic.

The back-up feature continues to follow Vandal Savage as he gets involved with a group of rich Gothamites who love his style and his cruelty, and want to make him the leader of their little group to help him attain the total domination of Gotham that he wants now that he's stuck in the city. It's, fine, I guess. There's nothing here that's super exciting, but there's also nothing here that's so terrible it puts me off. And compared to the contents of the main story it's a nice little pick-me-up to end things on. It's surprising that both stories are by Zdarsky, and at first I assumed it had to be a different author.

The art is by Mike Hawthorne, with Ivan Plascencia doing colours, and whilst it doesn't reach the highs of the main story it's decent. The comic has a bit more of a cartoonish look to it than the main story, but considering it's dealing with cartoonishly evil billionaires the tone kind of fits. This issue seems to be setting up for the next stage of Savage's story, but I kind of don't care about it.

I don't think I've ever been turned around on a run before as much as I have with Zdarsky's Batman. I'm hoping this is just a lull, that something spectacular happens in coming issues that has me looking back at this as a blip, rather than the norm. But that hope grows slimmer.

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Daredevil #4 - Comic Review

 

Daredevil is searching the streets for information that will lead him to the assassin Bullseye in this issue, but is finding it hard to juggle his commitments as Father Matthew and the masked vigilante.

This issue deals with a number of plot threads, and because of that it never really has a chance to get boring; but nor does it have a chance to really spend time with the characters and give things a chance to breathe. After interrogating a member of The Heat, Matt heads over to the Daily Bugle to meet with Ben Urich, who's been publishing slanderous articles about his church and the work that they're doing with local kids. Surprisingly, Ben doesn't seem to recognise who Matt is, though the explanation for this could very well be the demon that's looming over him.

Much like Elektra in the first issue, Ben seems to be possessed by a demon, making this the second person close to Matt to be in this situation. Interestingly, just before this there is a panel where Matt is swinging past a building, and his reflection looks different, with more demonic horns and glowing eyes. Perhaps this is giving us hints that it's not God who got him out of hell and gave him this second chance at a life, and that maybe Elektra and Ben aren't the only people with demons inside them.

The meeting ends when Matt overhears information of The Heat, and has to leave to go and track a lead before it's too late. It's during this that he's called by the cops, who have one of his kids under arrest for shoplifting. This means he has to jump back into being Father Matt to go and bail her out and smooth things over, leading to him being late to stop Bullseye. As such, the building is already under siege when he arrives, and he's barely able to stop Bullseye from killing his target, though he is seriously wounded and dozens of others are dead.

Whilst Matt is getting the injured man out of the building Ben Urich arrives on the scene, leading to Matt to have to do a quick exorcism to get the demon out of his friend. Like I said, a lot happens this issue.

Because there's so much here it does feel like the plot is moving forward, though some of that kind of feels artificial. The plot of Ashley getting arrested and Matt not giving up on her feels thrown in to just break things up, and it's a shame as Matt' relationship with the kids under his care should be a plot that gets some proper time, and shouldn't just be a throwaway things to give the writer a reason for why Matt is late to his mission. The same with the Ben Urich plot. Ben gets two scenes in this issue, one that establishes he's got a demon, the other gets rid of it. I can't help but feel this could have been the focus of an issue itself, and these two scenes are decent, but kind of clash with all of the Bullseye stuff.

Speaking of Bullseye, despite the characters not really getting much time to fight in this issue their fight is really entertaining. There's a great moment where Matt punches him hard enough to knock one of his teeth out, and Bullseye catches it as it flies out his mouth, and uses it to set off the fire alarm, flicking it to break the glass. This give him the chance to disorient Matt enough to get out of his grasp and escape. It's a cool little gag that highlights the kind of skill that Bullseye has, and how tricky a character he can be if given half the chance. 

The art on the book, by German Peralta with colours by Jesus Aburtov, looks good, and the fight with Bullseye is a particular stand-out, with a ton of energy and a sense of speed and movement to the characters that works well here. The moments with Ben Urich and his possession aren't depicted in the same creative way as Elektra was in the first issue, the creature is perched on his shoulders, tail wrapped around his chest, rather than being a part of him. But, these moments still look cool, and create for a striking look, especially when shown thorough Matt's radar hearing senses.

This issue is enjoyable, though the packing in of three different plots into a single issue, none of them really given the time they need to feel like they've been given a fair focus, leads to an issue that feels like it could have been better. Hopefully the pacing in future instalments improves somewhat, as it'd go a long way towards me liking it more.

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Blood Commandment #2 - Comic Review

 

The first issue of Blood Commandment introduced us to Ezra, a single father and widow raising his teenage son, Wil, in a remote cabin out in the woods. He teaches Wil how to hunt and be self sufficient, and whilst they occasionally visit the nearby mountain town they keep to themselves. We learned that this is due to Ezra being a vampire, and that he's using the valley forest where he lives to stay out of the direct sunlight, a perfect little home in which to raise his son in peace. However, an evil from his past has caught up with him.

This issue really starts to move the story forward in quick and exciting ways. Last issue I mentioned how writer and artist Szymon Kudranski creates a very slow, cinematic style to the book, where we have long lingering scenes where the art directs the flow in a way that I've rarely seen. This is still present here, and this issue has some fantastic moments of visual presentation, but now that we've been introduced to these characters and the set-up for the plot scenes more a little bit quicker, and we start to get into the meat of things. 

Half the book is spent with the sheriff, who finds a mutilated wolf on his way in to work (just a head and spine left laying in the middle of the road). Soon after, he's informed of the disappearance of local store owner, Dewey, who we saw being taken by a mystery figure last issue. He goes around the two, investigating the shop, talking to Dewey's wife, and eventually decides to head out to speak to Ezra. These parts of the book have a slower pace to them, with the sheriff's introductory scene being a series of panels of him getting up, shaving, buttoning his shirt, grabbing his gun. It's slow, it shows the monotony of his routine. 

In contrast, Ezra's scenes have more energy to them, in part because he knows that there's another vampire coming for him and Wil. He's preparing to fight, he's on edge, and because of that his scenes have a similar tightly wound energy to them. We spend a little time with the antagonistic vampire too, seeing him close in on the family. It's in these moments that the narration gives us some insight into the vampires of this story, how they work, what they're capable of. Considering vampire rules can vary from project to project it's nice that we're being given important information before things really kick off. And kick-off they do.

Once the action begins we get some fantastic moments of visual flair. Kudranski creates some fantastic panels that take up huge portions of the page that showcase the speed and strength of the vampire, and there are a couple of splash pages and double page spreads that look absolutely stunning. If this is what the rest of the series is going to be, this violent, beautifully presented fight to survive, then this series is going to be a stunning book to look at once it's done.

Kudranski's art has two distinct looks in this issue, created through use of colour. The daytime segments are brown and sepia in tone, with very muted other colours seeping through. It creates an almost black and white look to it, whilst the nighttime segments of the book is done in blues and greys. You can tell exactly what time of the day you're in as soon as you see the page, and the two different looks also help to make each part of the story feel distinct. The daytime stuff of the sheriff looking into the disappearance have a different feel to the fight against the vampire at night, and when these two parts of the story eventually crash together the moving of the sheriff from the daytime visuals to those of the night are going to feel jarring and different in a wonderful way; a visual representation of him entering a world he shouldn't be in.

Blood Commandment is a series that I thought was going to be good after reading the first issue, but now I'm starting to think it might end up being one of those indie books that people are going to recommending and sharing around in the future. If the rest off the series can keep up this style and quality it's going to be a must read. 

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The Hobbit – Throwback 20

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The beginning of the millennium was a time when the works of J.R.R. Tolkien were big business. Thanks to the Peter Jackson directed films, The Lord of the Rings was a hot commodity. This beloved, but still niche, fantasy book was available in almost every shop; you could find action figures, t-shirts, lunch boxes and more. People had Middle-earth fever, and as the Oscar winning film trilogy was nearing its conclusion other companies were doing whatever they could to try and cash in on the hype train. This is how we got the 2003 video game The Hobbit.

Long before a movie executive had the wild, and frankly terrible, idea to turn a short children’s story into a three film, nine-hour epic that would reportedly damage the New Zealand film industry, The Hobbit was the part of Tolkien’s catalogue that most tied into The Lord of the Rings, but one that tended to be overlooked. It’s needed so that Bilbo gets the ring, but most people who discovered The Lord of the Rings via the movies didn’t engage with The Hobbit, learning what they needed through in film context clues. As such, there was an almost untapped market when it came to The Hobbit, and making it more accessible would surely result in big money for the people doing that, right?

Sierra Entertainment believed that to be the case, and whilst the films were taking the box office by storm began work on their own piece of the Tolkien pie. Originally, Sierra began work on a Fellowship of the Ring game that would have had no connection to the films, but shifted onto The Hobbit. The Fellowship of the Ring game was released, having been finished by another developer, and was pretty panned in reviews and audience reactions. Despite having no connection to the films, a lot of people bought the game thinking it was a tie in, and it led to angry and disappointed fans. As such, Sierra made it clear early on that their game has zero connection to the film universe, instead hyping up the fact that it was based upon the original novel.

The game puts players in control of Bilbo Baggins (Michael Beattie), a hobbit who is recruited onto a mission to help a group of dwarves travel across Middle-earth to their ancestral home of the Lonely Mountain, where they would defeat an ancient dragon and reclaim the treasure it holds. The game follows the plot of the book fairly well, keeping most of the main beats of the story intact, building around what was in the book without adding too much that changed the basic structure. This was done under the supervision of Tolkien Enterprises, who had veto rights on any part of the development they felt strayed too far from the source material.

The game-play itself was based around platforming and combat, taking a few inspirations from The Legend of Zelda series. Played via third-person view, players take Bilbo through 3-D environments that you’re able to jump, climb, and sneak your way through. Each level has enemies for you to fight, using basic weapons like a stick and throwable rocks, until you eventually gain Bilbo’s sword Sting, as well as collectable items to discover in order to unlock and purchase upgrades. Each level also has quests to complete, some of which are needed to progress the story, whilst others are optional.

The game takes players to several locations from the book, such as dealing with Smaug inside the Lonely Mountain, freeing the dwarves from the dungeons of Mirkwood, and of course, the iconic encounter with Gollum deep within the Misty mountains. And like the book it was based upon, the game took a much lighter tone to the rest of Tolkien’s works. The visual style of the game seemed geared towards younger players, with a more cartoonish and fantastical design element to it that also helped to differentiate it from the Jackson film aesthetic.

When it was released The Hobbit received mixed, but positive reviews. The game was praised for sticking close to the source material, yet managing to expand it out in ways that allowed for a fuller game experience. The visual style and music were also noted as a positive in a lot of reviews, but many found the simplistic game-play to be an issue. It was felt that the game was too similar to The Legend of Zelda series, yet lacked any of the flair those games possessed. Some people also complained that the game was aimed at too young an audience for adult gamers to really enjoy, whilst being too challenging to be squarely for kids.

The Hobbit may have been trying to cash in on the hype surrounding the big screen versions of Tolkien’s work, but managed to be at least a few steps away from being a soulless cash grab. There are some interesting elements in the game, with a fun art design that sets it apart from other Tolkien adaptations at the time. It might be one for hardcore Tolkien fans, but there’s a fair amount of fun to be found with it.

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Beast World Tour: Metropolis #1 - Comics Review

 

I'm going to sound old when I say this, but I remember a time when the covers of comics gave you an idea of what you might be getting inside them. Just looking at the cover to Beast World Tour: Metropolis again to do this write up makes me somewhat annoyed. The issue contains three short stories, none of which are what you see on the cover. Yes, in one Jon and Dreamer team up to fight a lizard Livewire, but the beast Power Girl isn't in that story, and Supergirl isn't even in the book, unless you count her being on a computer screen in one panel. This book seems to be promising things it's not delivering, and it's honestly left me a little worried about what other false promises we've been given about this event.

The first story of the issue is 'Primal Pain' and is written by Steve Orlando and Nicole Maines, and focuses on Dreamer and her evolving powers since the events of Lszarus Planet. Dreamer was one of the handful of existing characters that went though a change following the event, and her prophetic powers have now begun to happen outside of her dreams. We see the result of this being that she keeps seeing things that haven't happened yet. Sometimes it's a second or two in the future, or it could be days. Either way, it'll happen.

Most of the story is her reacting to things that other people can't see, and it kind of results in the character coming across as slightly crazed, with most people thinking that she's either someone in costume having a joke, or that she's some weird new hero. When she sees a vision of A-Town in flames and ruin. With the help of Jon Kent, she manages to convince people that leaving for a short while is the best option. Luckily, this happens before Livewire arrives on the scene, infected with a Garro spore. She transforms into a lizard creature, and battles Dreamer whilst Jon gets people to safety.

In all honesty, this story didn't do a whole lot for me. Dreamer is nothing but reactive in this story, and because she's constantly dealing with either external threats or her own visions it felt like there was no time to do anything with her character; or to even let her character come through. She was more 'generic hero' here than Dreamer, and if this is someone's first experience with the character I can't imagine that it'd get them too interested in reading more about her. Another part of the story that seems slightly odd to me is that this is set after issue two of Titans: Beast World, and there seems to be no indication that anything is happening. The problem with this coming out before the issue it's set after means that we don't know the state of the world, but the end of Titans: Beast World seemed to imply that Garro spores were falling everywhere, yet people are sitting at coffee shops, hanging out in parks, and wandering around like there's no global threat. It feels very disconnected to the main story.

This segment has art by Fico Ossio, with colours by Luis Guerrero, and it's decent for the most part. There are some panels such as the full page splash of Dreamer transforming into her costume, that look fantastic, but as the story goes on the art feels slightly different, and it took me a while to figure out why it wasn't sitting right with me as much. The colours get darker. Things are a bit duller and more muted, and it just didn't work for me. Jon in particular looks way too dark in his costume, with his blue being almost black at times. These are personal gripes, and the art isn't bad by any stretch, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the story went on.

The second story, 'Turtle Boy' by Dan Jurgens feels even more divorced from the main event. It opens with the citizens of Metropolis fleeing in terror. Not of the Garro spores, or characters with new beastly treansformations. No, they're running from a familiar figure, Turtle Boy, the kaiju-like Jimmy Olsen. Through flashbacks we find out that Bibbo Bibowski, who was the only person running towards the monster Jimmy, was serving lunch in his bar for Emil Hamilton, when Jimmy comes in to take a break from trying to get a photo of the transformed Power Girl. He sits down for coffee, and accidentally swallows a Garro spore that snuck in on him and jumped into his cup.

This turns Jimmy into his Turtle Boy persona, and he begins a rampage. Luckily, Bibbo and Hamilton come up with a plan to stop him, making him sleepy with some gas, and tricking the spore into jumping out, going inside a summoned monster Power Girl instead. With the crisis averted the three of them head off, joking about the situation. 

I just don't get what's supposed to be happening in this event now. The initial issue was superb, and it set up for a big global disaster spurred on by a huge cosmic horror monster and the 'death' of a hero. But here it seems like the whole thing is perhaps a mild inconvenience at best. People are going out to grab lunch, chatting about how one of their heroes is a bird monster now with a shrug and little care. Is this a potential apocalypse situation or not? The tone of this story just doesn't work for this event for me, and this isn't helped by Anthony Marques' art. The story is very simply drawn, big bold lines, little detail, and a cartoonish feel with bright bold colours by Pete Pantazis. It feels like a young readers book rather than a part of a big event. It makes me think of the Tiny Titans issue of Blackest Night for the kind of tone it has.

The final story actually feels like it might reflect the actual tone of the main event, though after the other two stories here it feels incredibly out of place. 'Don't Stop' is set after issue three of the main title (why has this book come out before issue two if all of these stories are set after?) it follows Lois Lane as she bunkers down in the Fortress of Solitude to protect her from the end of the world as Garros spores take over everyone they can. Maybe she should have stayed in Metropolis, as the other stories seem to show it's fine there.

She's communicating with Clark as he tries to get survivors to safety whilst killing any spores that he can. When the infected hordes close in on the Fortress, believing the energy signature is Superman, Lois and Kelex hold them off with alien rifles as Superman speeds to get there, ignoring the threat of the spore that want to take him over. He arrives on the scene and saves Lois, and is almost taken over when a mysterious nanbot under his skin fries them all. Kelex isn't sure where the tech came from, but the story ends with the reveal that Brainiac saved him. 

Joshua Willamson seems to be the only writer in this issue has received the note that this is supposed to be a apocalypse, and writes this story as a desperate fight to survive. The hordes of animal people storming the Fortress whilst Lois and Kelex try to hold them back feels like something from a horror film, and Clark flying so fast to get there that it causes a huge sonic boom and blows the ocean out in all directions is a big, powerful moment. Perhaps because Williamson is currently writing Superman and the Brainiac inclusion makes this a part of the bigger story for the character next year, but this feels like the only story in this collection that's treating the assignment with seriousness, and is writing a tie-in rather than a tangentially connected story to showcase characters that have nothing to do with the main title.

The art on this segment, by Edwin Galmon, looks fantastic too, and absolutely fits with the kind of art that we've had on Superman. If the entire issue was like this then I'd have been really happy with that we've been given. As it is, it's a great story that's hampered by what comes before it. By the time I'd gotten to this point I'd almost given up on the book; and whilst I really liked what it did it didn't do enough to redeem the issue as a whole.

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Ultraman: The Official Novelization by Pat Cadigan

 

'An exciting modern adaptation of the original 1960s Ultraman, bringing the classic era of the iconic Japanese superhero to established fans and newcomers alike.

'Pursuing a fugitive space monster, a Being of Light enters Earth's atmosphere. Accidentally colliding with a patrolling jet, piloted by Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, the Being merges with the pilot to save his life and vows to defend the Earth. Now whenever the planet is threatened by alien invaders, terrifying monsters or any threat beyond the capabilities of humanity, Shin Hayata transforms into the towering Ultraman to restore peace and save the day.'

We've had some big franchises spawn out of Japan that have taken the rest of the world by storm. Godzilla is probably the first to come to mind, with Super Sentai having a foothold in the US and UK thanks to the Power Rangers adaptation. And then there's the dozens of manga and anime series that have global audiences. One franchise that, surprisingly, seems to have a much smaller following, at least here in the UK, is Ultraman. Despite being one of the biggest franchises in the world in the 80's, I had no knowledge of the series growing up, and much like Kamen Rider it seems to be one of those franchises that are extremely hard to find English subed or dubed releases of. 

Luckily, for those who might not have been able to find a way of watching the original series, though some of the franchise is now available on the official Ultraman Youtube chanel, a new novel adaptation is available from Titan Books and author Pat Cadigan.

Ultraman: The Official Novelisation tells the story of Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, who finds himself investigating strange light up in the mountains, and find his jet over a forest lake when a sphere of light from space smashes into him, destroying the aircraft and apparently killing him. When his colleagues come to investigate his death they're shocked when a huge monster appears from beneath the lake's surface. Fortunately for them, Shin didn't die, and instead was saved by an Ultra, a being from a far off part of the universe, who was chasing the giant monster to Earth. Shin and the Ultra make a deal, to fuse together and share a body. Returned to Earth, Shin uses the powers given to him by the Ultra to become Ultraman, a hero capable of battling this monster, and many more that threaten the safety of the Earth.

If you're unfamiliar with the original series this is a good introduction to it, as it follows pretty closely to several of the episodes, beginning with a fairly faithful adaptation of the pilot episode, and summarises all of the important lore quite well. For those that have seen it, the book doesn't add a whole lot new. 

The blurb promises 'An exciting modern adaptation', and it's certainly an adaptation. Does it feel particularly modern? Not hugely. And is it exciting? For me, unfortunately, no, it's not. The recent Marvel Comics Ultraman releases are new adaptations of what has come before, with new characters and old mixed together, with new lore and a deeper universe than was first presented in the original series. That is what I would expect from 'An exciting modern adaptation'; but this was simply an adaptation. It didn't feel like it added much or injected anything new into things.

Perhaps this is me knowing the source material, and thus not really having that much new to experience here, I don't know, unfortunately what I do know is that more often than not I found things kind of boring reading the book. Maybe it's me, and I hope that's the case and that others can pick the book up an enjoy it. It's a decent introduction to the franchise for sure, but some fans might find the book a bit lacking.

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Birds of Prey #4 - Comic Review

 

The start of this new series of Birds of Prey promised readers that a new, deadlier team was needed for the mission Black Canary was going on. It's the kind of promise I'm sure comic readers are used to hearing, as each new creative boasts that their new villain or their story is going to be the biggest and baddest, or the most earth shattering. And a lot of the time this can fall flat, as the hype fails to deliver. But this issue really does demonstrate that this story is more than delivering on promises, as the birds go up against one of the toughest foes in the DC Universe, Wonder Woman.

With Wonder Woman having been treated as something like a spectre in the last issue, a threat that the team were trying to avoid. This issue, however, has Wonder Woman front and centre as the group have to try and survive not only an island full of amazons, but one of the most powerful people on Earth. 

The issue opens with Zealot clashing with the princess, before Diana flies off, leaving Zannah to fight a group of Amazons; testing her vow that she would not take an Amazonian life. As Diana pursues Dinah, Harley, and Sin, Barda comes into the fray, giving us a brutal smack down battle between the New God and the Amazonian princess. You can really feel the power of the two characters here, and their blows feel solid and destructive in ways that other characters in the book are just unable to do.

After Diana manages to subdue Barda she comes up against Cassandra, who has been lying in wait, preparing to take her on. This fight uses some of the old 'Batman could win if he had prep time' type arguments, as Cassandra uses uses traps and gadgets that she's scattered around the woods to try and slow Wonder Woman down. Smoke bombs, nets, and explosives do little to stop Diana, however, who manages to take Batgirl down in one punch. It does feel a little unfair, putting Cass up against someone so powerful, yet despite losing the fight she lasts a decent amount of time, and does better than probably any other regular person could against Diana.

Knocking Cassandra out seems to enrage Barda, who likes the 'little bat', and she and Diana clash again, in a fight that sees Diana use the lasso on the New God. Barda reveals the reason why they're there, and puts some doubt into Wonder Woman. Once the Birds are all captured, Diana begins to look into the reason that they were there, sure that the Birds believe that they were doing the right thing in breaking into Themyscira. This leads her and the Amazons to discover that Megaera, an powerful entity, has infiltrated the island. As the Amazons fall to the creature, including Wonder Woman, the freshly escaped Birds of Prey ready themselves to take it on.

This is easily the best issue of the series so far. The book is filled with action, and really well done action, the story advances in cool new ways, and the final moments set up nicely for an even bigger, wilder finale. I have to be honest, I liked the first issue, and found that the book slowed down a little come the second one, and was a bit unsure if I liked it or not. But the issue three and this issue have made me fall in love with this series. I really want to see more of this team, even Harley who isn't always gone that well. I honestly found everything Harley said this issue to be funny, and like how Dinah is warming to her.

The way that relationships have been building between the characters has been really good, and we're really seeing it come through in strong ways as they're having to fight together against the Amazons. The mismatched, kind of unusual group from the first issue feels like a fully fledged team now, and I want to see them hanging out as much as I want to see them charging into battle again. I don't know if the series has been renewed after issue six, but I really hope it has as this is a fantastically fun time.

Leonardo Romero does the art on the issue, with Jordie Bellaire on colours, and I think this might be the best in the series. The moments of action are wonderfully executed, and there are times where the fighting feels quick and precise, and others where it's brutal and all about the power. The art manages to illustrate the different styles of combat the team has, and there are some really fantastically designed moments, like Barda hammering Diana with dozens of punches, and smashing her over her knee like she's Bane breaking Batman, or when Diana takes her out with a single punch, the shock waves of the hit altering the shape of the panels. This book feels the closest to the big scale destructive fighting from something like Dragon Ball Z I think I've ever seen executed in a DC book.

I hope that we get more like this as we go into the final part of the arc, and with it looking like the Birds are Themyscira's best hope of surviving things seem set for a brutal, over-the-top action finale.

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Beast World: Waller Rising #1 - Comic Review

 

Tie-in's can be a unusual bag. Whenever a big story has tie-in books you have to ask yourself which ones you want to check out, hoping that you get the ones that are key to the event. On occasion, tie-in's will interrupt a regular run, occasionally in ways that only feel tangentially connected, and other times a tie-in seems to come out of nowhere and does entirely its own thing. Beast Word: Waller Rising falls into that latter category, and with a few tiny changes could take place with no connection to Beast World at all. Because of that, this doesn't feel like it's really needed for the event, but instead does its own thing that's really interesting.

The story takes place a very short time after Titans: Beast World #1, as Garro's spores are falling across the world and leaving chaos in their wake. It's during this chaos that Doctor Hate has managed to break free of whatever control Amanda Waller has over him, having gone rogue. This is something that wasn't set up in that issue, so feels a little out of nowhere here. But, this is the least strange part of the book. 

Hate has managed to find a way to access the Kingdom, a pocket dimension that connects to the different life forces of the planet, such as the Red and the Green, and he's trying to corrupt and destroy it as a form of sacrifice to the Lord of Chaos. Now, this is where the plot got a little bit confusing to me. It might be because this feels like a four issue mini-series crammed down into a double sized issue, and it might be because I'm in the middle of a fibro flare and have a lot of brain fog going on; but there are parts of Hate's plan that just didn't make sense to me.

Parts like, why does he keep kidnapping powerful heroes and takes them to the Kingdom? I'm sure there's a line somewhere in the book that explains it, but I think I missed it and just had to go along with the ride without really fully understanding it.

Despite not knowing why the villain was doing it, several heroes find themselves inside the Kingdom, such as Val Zod's Superman, Nubia, Freedom Beast, and Doctor Mist, whilst Batwing, Vixen, and Black Manta work from the outside on a way of getting in. Mixed up in all of this is Deadeye, Waller's psychic nephew who first appeared in Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution. This is his second appearance, and we finally get some information on who he is. Despite being related to Waller, he seems to dislike her, hates her methods, and only agrees to help out to save people, rather than through family obligations or patriotism. He seems to be an interesting character, and I hope we get more from him other than appearing in single issue tie ins to events once every six months.

The various heroes and villains manage to come together and defeat Doctor Hate, delivering him back into Waller's control. The issue ends with Batwing considering forming a new team that includes the heroes that they fought with here, as well as some others. It seems like fairly standard fare for the formation of a new team. However, the thing that will immediately make this group, and the proposed other members, stand out is that they're all Black.

I've already seen people online complaining about this. Complaining both about why all of the characters that Hate took were Black, and why the proposed team at the end are all Black, and it seems fairly ridiculous. If the team were all white no one would be demanding an explanation for why only white people were taken, or why an all-white team would exist. Most super hero teams that we have all began as all white, Justice League, Teen Titans, The Avengers, X-Men, and more, so this is nothing new. But, then it is kind of new in the sense that DC hasn't had an all Black team before, and the idea is a fantastic one. 

DC has a great pool of Black characters that it can draw from to create a new team if it wanted, and a lot of them are really good characters haven't really been given much of a spotlight before. I hope that this proposed team does go ahead, and I'm excited to see what characters end up on the roster.

I mentioned how I found some of the story hard to follow, again perhaps due to my brain not working right today, but I also found that the art in some cases added to this. Keron Grant provides the art on the book, and whilst it's really nice art to look at their style isn't the most traditional, and sometimes felt almost psychedelic. There are pages where the panels have other images bleeding through them, almost like a double exposure, whilst others would use harsh lighting and glare on the characters. These are not new techniques, but I found the combination of these more unusual styles with a story that I was already struggling to keep up with just led to an reading experience that felt dense and heavy to be even more so.

Overall, this is a really solid stand-alone issue, one that barely ties into the main event, and promises some interesting things to come in the DC Universe. If this all Black hero team does emerge then this is an interesting first chapter of what could be a fantastic new idea. But, if that team doesn't come along then this will feel like both an empty promise, and something of a wasted opportunity. Hopefully DC will make the right choice.

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The Poetry of Ran vol 1 by Yuske Osawa - Manga Review

 

'Torue is a young bard looking to make a name for herself, when she encounters the monster hunter Ran at a sleepy village. Ran is a 'child of impurity' capable of slaying monsters called Karma; taking their evil into himself so it doesn't pollute the world. Ran is feared and shunned, but always puts his own life on the line to do good, so Torue decides to write a poem about him...'

The Poetry of Ran takes readers to a fantasy world where monsters called Karma can draw into themselves the souls of the dead, taking on all of the cruel and evil deeds a person has done. This energy transforms them into even more powerful, and twisted creatures that are more than regular warriors can handle. The become the targets of children of impurity, specially trained fighters who upon killing the Karma, take their evil into themselves to stop its spread.

The story begins in a small town, where a young bard named Torue is trying to earn some gold with an old ballad. Unfortunately, most of the people in the village either know the song, or just don't care, and she's struggling to get by. Torue doesn't know many songs, and is finding the bardic life tough. It's then that a huge pile of coins are dumped in front of her, as a thank you for her song by a mysterious hooded figure. Torue soon learns that this figure is a child of impurity, named Ran, and who's been hired to destroy the Karma that's been tormenting the village.

An outsider herself, Torue is shocked when she sees how the villagers treat Ran, a man who has come to risk his life in order to help them. Parents warn their children not to go near him, lest he somehow infect them with darkness, and some in the village question their leader as to why they even need him. Torue follows Ran, and spends some time talking with him on the village outskirts. She learns that Ran is lonely, that whilst he's a kind and caring man he's often treated with suspicion, and even outright hatred. He doesn't even know how to smile properly. Torue decides that she's going to travel with Ran, to give him a friend on his journey, and to compose songs and poetry of his brave adventures.

The first volume of The Poetry of Ran is split into three adventures, told across its four chapters. The first one is an origin for our characters, it deals with the meeting between Ran and Torue, and shows us how the two of them end up becoming friends travelling together. It starts small, and focuses on the character more than it does the monsters or the action. We spend much of the chapter with Torue and Ran sitting around a camp fire, sharing details about themselves and building a rapport. It's a nice intro to the world and the characters, and it means that when the action does start you're at least a little invested in these lonely, kind of broken people.

The second chapter takes us to one of the bigger cities in this world, Lillbit, where the children of impurity come to help suppress the power of the impurities they draw into themselves, as well as lessen the pain they experience. It's here that we meet another child of impurity, the elf Mina. Mina seems to be something of a friendly rival of Ran's, with her treating their work as a friendly competition where she competes to see if she can beat more Karma than she can. The competition seems to be a little one sided, with Ran not really appearing to care too much, but it's a fun dynamic between the two of them. It's in this chapter that we also learn that some Karma have been appearing in the middle of cities, and that some children of impurity have been killed fighting them.

Of course, we've not long learned of this when the city bells begin to toll, and a Karma appears. This horrible amalgam of insect and chameleon begins attacking the town, forcing Ran and Mina to have to jump into action in order to save people. We get hints at a bigger plot at play here, as a mysterious robed figure with a horrible skull-like face watches over things, making cryptically evil comments to himself about needing to wipe the children of impurity away.

The final two chapters deal with one story, of a huge dragon that has become a Karma. The monster is wiping out entire villages, killing hundreds. The Knights of the Black Wolf have been sent to try and stop the monster, but need Ran's help to do so. This is by far the best part of the book. It's big and epic, and Ran basically has to fight a kaiju. the Knights of the Black Wolf begin somewhat antagonistically towards him thanks to Jill, a fierce fights with an explosive hammer weapon, who wants to take down the monstrous Rampage herself to avenge her father, who died to it a decade ago.

Jill is an interesting character, a bit weird at times sure, but she seems to be focused on killing the monster and saving the day, so she's not all bad. Whilst she does treat Ran with little respect, and is quite dismissive of him she eventually comes to admit they need his help; and her and Ran leading the cavalry charge against the monster is a really awesome moment. As is how the creature is finally defeated.

However, before Ran can absorb the curse from the Rampage's corpse the mysterious figure appears once again, this time announcing his presence to our heroes. He takes the curse and uses it to create a monstrous creature of his own, something that looks similar to himself that he calls his kin. The book ends with the skull faced man announcing that Ragnarok is one step close. It's a hell of a cliffhanger for the volume, and absolutely makes me want to read the next one as soon as I can. A lot of manga series can take a few volumes before the big story really kicks in, but The Poetry of Ran seems to want to get readers hooked quickly, and this volume certainly does that.

My only slight criticism with the book is the focus on breasts. Torue has very large breasts, something that's made a point of on the third page of the book. Ran ends up staring at her chest a few times, and there's a point in the book where they're riding horses and the art depicts her breasts bouncing up and down, once again grabbing Ran's attention. It's not just her, however, as both Mina and Jill wear costumes that show off their chests, even if it's impractical for warriors to have little to no armour. When Jill meets Torue she picks up the smaller woman and hugs her into herself, smothering Torue's face with her breasts. It just feels a little bit much. I like breasts as much as the next person, but the repeated focus on them and use of them as humour does sometimes feel like it messes with the overall tone of the book a little.

Yuske Osawa's art is really nice, and everything is crisp and cleanly presented, with some cool character designs. Where the book really looks the best is in the monsters though. The first creature they fight is a nightmare manta ray type thing made up of bones and flesh with screaming skeletal faces. Osawa has spent some time designing some really cool creatures, monsters that draw upon familiar things, such as reptiles and insects, but mashes them together in horrible ways. I really like the small pieces that we get to see of the big bad too, and the designs for these creatures are as much something I'm looking forward to seeing as the story that revolves around them.

If you're looking for a cool fantasy action manga, one that has some fun characters and some extra heart to it, but also packs in the action, then The Poetry of Ran is absolutely one that you're going to want to check out. 

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