Green Arrow #7 - Comic Review

 

The now ongoing Green Arrow series was never intended to go beyond six issues, and whilst writer Joshua Williamson certainly hoped that it would it was never a guarantee, and with the now two extensions that it's had (to a 12 issue series and then an ongoing) this issue feels something like a bridging issue, and one that's partially designed to give Williamson a bit of breathing room.

After returning from being lost across space and time, Oliver Queen has returned to his world, and is excited to get back to being the Green Arrow. With that in mind he hops in his new arrow car and drives over to the Hall of Justice to reunite with his teammates. But he finds an empty building, no sign of his friends. Thus begins an issue where Oliver visits some of the key members of the League in order to find out what's changed since he's been gone.

This is a good issue if you've not been keeping up on everything, and shows some of the wider state of the DC universe. He learns that Batman is being even more Batman than usual and his now also hated by his family, Superman is running Lexcorp as Supercorp, Wonder Woman is a wanted fugitive who's at war with the US government, and Hal Jordan is a loser at love living in a shitty trailer. It gives Ollie enough of a rundown of everything without having to go into huge detail, but as someone who's aware of everything that he learns here there's pretty much nothing new in this book, and I'm not left with a huge amount to actually entertain me.

I can't even really say that there's much there in regards to the character interactions either, as the talks with the trinity are more about what's going on with their status quos than them as characters, and the only person Ollie interacts with who actually seems to be a person is Hal. Even then, there's not enough with the two of them to fill the book, though at least it does feel like the tow of them are friends with a history during this scene.

The most interesting part of the issue is learning that Ollie isn't just catching up with his friends for the sake of it, but is also trying to find out if this is indeed his reality. With things being so different from when he left it makes absolute sense that he'd be wondering if he's slipped onto another Earth, and he and Conner running tests and spy on people to make sure they got it right is sneaky sure, but it's also very smart.

The art on this issue is done by Carmine Di Giandomenico and Trevor Hairsine, with Romulo Fajardo Jr. on colours. The art duties are split in this issue with the two of them doing around half of the book each, but with no thematic reason for the split. Some recent DC books have been using different artists on things such as flashbacks to show the difference  clearly; but this issue it seems that perhaps the split was simply due to the sudden extension of the series and the need to produce a seventh issue on a shorter timeframe. The down side is that whilst neither artist is bad in any way, and are both producing really nice looking work their styles just don't really seem to mesh well, and you notice the change when it happens.

I can't help but feel that a lot the issues that I found with this issue are down to behind the scenes issues and the change in plans for the series, rather than being about the quality of the team involved. That being said, this was the least entertaining entry in the series so far for me, and I'm really hoping that the next issue will return to the quality that we've been experiencing so far that made Green Arrow one of my favourite books of last year.

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Atragon – Throwback 60

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Ancient underwater kingdoms, giant sea dragons, and a kick-ass submarine that would make the Thunderbirds jealous are just some of the draws to 1963’s New Year blockbuster, Atragon, which took Japan by storm and became a beloved cult classic.

Atragon is a loose adaptation of the two books, The Undersea Kingdom by Shigeru Komatsuzaki and The Undersea Warship: A Fantastic Tale of Island Adventure by Shunrō Oshikawa. But, according to some sources, the original intention was not to adapt and combine these two properties. Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa was originally hired to adapt The Undersea Warship alone. The novel from 1900 was a popular book in Japan, and was one that Sekizawa had read as a child. But when he was hired to adapt it he did not go back and re-read it, but instead adapted it from his memories of the book, and merged the story with that of The Undersea Kingdom.

Whilst not reading the work you’re adapting and adding in a second source might normally get you in a bit of trouble, Toho liked his version of the script, though they did have one addition for him. As with other recent films that were not built around the Kaiju sub-genre, Atragon added a giant monster at studio insistence. It would go on to join films like The Mysterians and Gorath, which were made to include the monsters Moguera and Maguma respectively. Atragon would feature Manda, a sea serpent that was originally envisioned as a giant rattlesnake. However, during the design process, the snake would evolve into a more traditional Chinese dragon, in part due to 1964 being the Year of the Dragon.

Atragon deals with the mysterious undersea kingdom of the Mu Empire, which reveals its presence to the surface world in an attempt to take over the planet, threatening mass destruction if the other nations don’t bow to its will. Thus begins a quest to find a missing World War II Captain, Jinguji (Jun Tazaki), who has been missing since the war. It’s believed that Jinguji is creating a special submarine which could be the only weapon capable of going up against the Mu Empire’s advanced technology. A group sets out to find Jinguji, including his daughter Makoto (Yōko Fujiyama) and her photographer love interest Susumu (Tadao Takashima). The mysterious captain is eventually found on a remote island, where he’s finishing up the creation of his sub. Whilst he at first refuses to help, not caring about the coming Mu conflict, when Makoto is kidnapped it spurs him into action.

Filming for Atragon began in September of that year, leaving just three months to produce the film for release. Due to the extensive special effects shoots that were done for the recently released Matango, which was also directed by Atragon‘s director Ishirō Honda, the special effects filming for Atragon had only two months. Whilst this is shorter than other special effects heavy films it actually ends up working somewhat to the film’s benefit. It means that the story and the characters are given a larger focus, with less of the film given over to spectacle. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some impressive moments to be found here.

There is a sequence of large-scale destruction when the Mu Empire attacks Japan, causing earthquakes that devastate Tokyo that is particularly impressive. Though most impressive is the titular Atragon, the submarine that Captain Jinguji creates. With a huge drill on the end, the submarine is capable of boring into the underwater city. There’s even a sequence where the submarine bursts out of the water and flies around Jinguji’s tropical island. The film’s lavish sets created for the Mu Empire are also well done, and over 70,000,000 yen spent on the construction it was a fairly large production by standards at the time, and you can really see the money being spent well on screen.

Sadly, one area where the film does fall down a little is in the area that is studio mandated: the inclusion of Manda. Manda doesn’t look great, and whilst there are some sequences of the dragon swimming through the water that look okay, though clearly just a marionette puppet, when it’s battling the Atragon sub you can really see the seams. The poor quality of the creature compared to the other aspects of the film really does highlight that the film just didn’t need it. Atragon could easily stand on its own as a story without the dragon being thrown in, though it seems like executives interfering with creative decisions that result in a weaker end product is something that is far from a modern problem.

Atragon is a decent movie, a film that’s large parts adventure film in the kind of vein that will appeal to people who love the super-marionette shows like Thunderbirds and Stingray. It’s an intriguing project, not for what you’re given on screen (though that is good) but for the unusual creation of it. The melding of two different stories, the studio interference, the rushed production, all could have sunk it, but instead it managed to navigate those troubled waters brilliantly.

Atragon was released in Japan on 22nd December 1963.

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Batman / Santa Claus: Silent Knight #4 - Comic Review

 

Christmas might be over now, but there's still time to talk about the final issue of Batman / Santa Claus: Silent Knight. This weekly festive mini-series was a genuine delight to read, and was, in my opinion, better than most of the one-shot anthologies that DC puts out around the holiday season.

This issue picks up where the last one left off, with Superman possessed by an evil entity that was controlling Krampus, and being forced to fight the assembled heroes. Meanwhile, Damian is being held captive by Krampus, who's struggling between his natural desire to just frighten him and let him go, and the evil voice in his head telling him to kill the boy wonder.

This is perhaps the most action packed of the four issues that manages to strike a nice balance between the festive characters and the DC heroes who've come along to help. Most of the characters get a moment to shine and do something, and it feels like those that were picked to come and join in this adventure were picked for a reason (other than the Bat Family just tagging along). It's been a genuine delight to see people like Jaimie Reyes and Miss Martian in the book.

And that kind of fun is the general feeling when reading this issue. Damian is trapped with Krampus, and knows that he needs to stall for time and to play along with the scenario that Krampus is expecting, so starts crying and pretending to be scared, calling for his dad. It's ridiculous to see, and it's really funny in the moment, but it still fits Damian as a character because he's acting tactically. It's like the moment when Superman first enters the book, looking angry with glowing red eyes, but he's just upset that Bruce never told him that he knew Santa was real. It's silly, but it fits.

This is the kind of thing that works for Christmas, books that border on the absurd that you can't really get away with at any other time of the year. And this series has done that so well. Bringing Santa into the DC universe as an ancient god who's an amazing warrior that inspired the legend, and also worked with/possibly helped train Batman shouldn't work, but Jeff Parker manages to bring it all together, to the point where I'm hoping Santa stories like this become a semi-regular thing. Give us a new adventure every couple of years with different characters.

The art on the issue, by Stephen Segovia, and Danny Kim, with Alex Sinclair doing colours, looks great, and every creature and new character designed for the series is fantastic. I love the look that Santa has, and the Krampus is near enough to what it traditionally used for the character whilst still feeling unique in itself. The fight scenes are all dynamic and filled with a ton of energy, and it was great to see this team tackle some characters that I really love but that don't often get the spotlight.

Overall, this was a fun end to a really unexpectedly great series that proved to be the perfect way to lead into the holiday season. 

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The Creatures of Killburn Mine by Dan Smith - Book Review

 

'What’s slithering about deep underground …? When a meteorite crashes to Earth near Crooked Oak, Pete, Nancy and Krish are determined to find it. But they’re not the only ones …

'After spotting one of their teachers up on the moor where the meteorite landed, they start to wonder if his strangely altered behaviour and appearance might be connected to the arrival from outer space. But nothing could prepare them for the horror they uncover deep down in Killburn Mine …'

The Crooked Oak series continues with its fifth entry as Dan Smith creates another wonderfully dark children's horror story that manages to skirt the line between scary and outright gruesome with a story that pays homage to a number of horror classics that older readers will enjoy too.

Pete, Nancy, and Krish are continuing their search for the paranormal and the strange, having already gone up against a number of things that most people wouldn't believe in, when Pete sees what he thinks is a UFO crashing to Earth whilst up late one night. However, their physics teacher Mr Bennings tells them that it's in fact a meteorite, a piece of rock from space, and that it's crashed somewhere nearby on the local moors. 

Despite it not being the UFO he was hoping for, Pete wants to try and track the meteorite down, hoping to find something interesting. When the three of them head out to look for it the next day they come across Mr Bennings, looking unusual and acting strange. When they approach him he seems to dodge their questions, and leaves as quickly as he can. As time goes by, he continues to act stranger and stranger, and begins to look sicker too. Does it have anything to do with the strange leech that attached itself to Nancy's neck out in the moors, and where did the strange creature come from?

One of the things that I've loved about this series is that it absolutely can appeal to adults too. Yes, it's written for a younger audience, younger teens specifically, but there's a lot here that will appeal to readers older than that too. A big part of this is that Dan Smith is a big horror fan, and draws inspiration from other stories, and puts a number of sneaky references and easter eggs into the books. I've literally just now when writing that sentence realises that Me Bennings was a reference to the character of Bennings from The Thing, a film that's a very clear inspiration for this story.

The Crooked Oak series has tried its hand at a number of different types of horror, and this book is the body horror / alien invasion mash-up book. Spoilers for the story, but the meteorite that crashed to Earth contained eggs that spawned the leech creatures, and that they're feeding on blood to live, and even go inside Mr Bennings body. There are some moments in the book that even had me asking 'what the hell?' and being hugely impressed that the book was able to be as gross and frightening as it is whilst still being fairly bloodless and age appropriate. It wouldn't take much to turn this story into a gory horror tale for adults, but Smith manages to make it stay firmly in the kids category, and I found that to be hugely impressive. 

The book has a lot of atmosphere to it, there's a big sense of mystery, and the cold, snowy winter setting help to make the kids feel isolated and alone. The cold is a great setting for horror, and wintery horror stories have a starkness and sense of dread that comes in part just from the weather alone, and this book really makes use of those feelings. It also means that even though this book is not set in a remote arctic research station Smith gets to use a variation on the phrase 'man is the warmest place to hide'.

The Creatures of Killburn Mine come with a number of illustrations by Chris King, whose work helps to build the horror in several of the scenes. The first piece of art is pretty normal, showing the kids at school, but as the story goes on and things get more and more creepy the images start to do the same. We have an illustration of a leech being pulled from Nancy's neck, another of Mr Bennings allow a leech to enter his body, and eventually a leech covered man coming after the kids. They're dark, frightening images, and they're absolutely fantastic.

The Creatures of Killburn Mine is a great addition to the series, one that might be the most horrific of the bunch, and that really seems to push the limits of what you can get away with in a young readers horror story. Oh, and as I know Dan Smith loves Resident Evil and sneaks references to that series in all the times, the leeches are definitely a nod to Resident Evil 0, a game I did not expect to see referenced.

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Alan Scott: Green Lantern #3 - Comic Review

 

Alan Scott: Green Lantern was a book that I was already geared to like, thanks to my love of the Green Lantern mythos and the Justice Society, but it was through the exploration of Alan Scott as a gay man in a time of rampant, normalised homophobia, and the astonishing second issue, that I came to count this series as one of the best of 2023. This issue continues to explore the mystery of the killings that are plaguing Alan's life, as well as his battle to accept himself in this harsh and cruel world. 

This is the first issue of the series that doesn't really have any flashbacks (if you don't count the whole thing being set in DC's past), and instead focuses on Alan's investigation in the present. As with the previous entries we see that the homophobia of the time is a constant plague to him, with Alan's investigation being disrupted almost immediately when police arrive at the docks to arrest any gay men that they find. This is bad for Alan, preventing him from investigating her further, but it is also hard for him from an emotional point of view.

Despite having seen him break out of Arkham in the last issue, seeing the strength he had to stand up and say 'no more' and go against the homophobic societal pressure designed to destroy him, he seems to be slipping backwards somewhat here. The constant police raids and arrests of queer people is having a toll on him, and he calls himself deviant, he starts to see himself as a criminal just because of who he loves. These kinds of thoughts cause some tension for him when dealing with the Flash, who's helping him at the morgue. Jay is clearly trying to extend a hand of friendship and understanding towards Alan, letting him know that it's fine that he's gay, but thanks to everything that Alan has been dealing with his response is to snap at him, to get angry, which forces Jay to pretend that he was meaning something else entirely.

Interestingly, it's the other investigator on the case who's the one who actually gets Alan to open up a bit more, which considering it's the Spectre is somewhat surprising. This is easily one of the more interesting versions of the Spectre I've read, and I love the way that Tim Sheridan balances out the spirit of vengeance with the soul of the man he's inhabiting. Jim Corrigan feels like a big part of this version of the Spectre, and there's a sense that he's having a bit of fun with his powers and abilities, scaring criminals to get answers because it brings him a sense of both power and amusement. It's very humanising, and offers readers a type of Spectre that we've not really had in comics for a long while. 

It's whilst investigating missing police files together that the Spectre and Alan end up having a heart to heart, and it's the Spectre that manages to get through to him. This is surprising to both Alan and myself, for different reasons. I was surprised because, as I said, the Spectre has been written very differently for a while, usually as cold and vengeful, the kind of person who is there to judge and condemn rather than being open to having a normal conversation. Alan, however, is taken by surprise by it because he assumes that God would hate him for being gay. The rhetoric of the time (and still used today to be fair) is that God hates queer people, that those identities are against his will and his religion, even though the Bible never once says that.

And the Spectre makes this clear to Alan, he shows him that despite what people are telling him, despite what's being used to create cruel laws, God doesn't love him any less because of who he himself loves. The reuse of 'If God himself didn't want you to love then how could you?', a phrase that Johnny once said to Alan, whilst he and the Spectre hug, was genuinely moving. Despite not being able to see all of his face, and what you can see being covered with a mask, you see enough to know that this moment means so much to Alan, that a literal servant of God telling him that he's not broken, that he's not a deviant, means so much to him. Plus we get the Spectre helping to heal a mans soul by hugging him; who'd ever thought we'd see that?

It's also during this conversation that Alan begins to come to some realisations about the killings, and why they've been targeting him; a realisation that has him rushing back to his home. This leads to a final page reveal that, I have to be honest, I saw coming since issue one, but doesn't pack any less of an emotional punch. Alan finds the Red Lantern in his home, and sees that it's Johnny. There's no shock for me in this moment, but Johnny punching Alan, hurting the man who loves him so much, is the part that makes this ending memorable. The book has spent so long building their relationship, showing how much it meant to Alan, how much it changed his life, that you can't help but feel your heart break a little in this moment because of how much this is going to hurt Alan.

Despite having figured out Johnny was going to be Red Lantern so early on it doesn't mean there's not some mystery here still. Johnny speaks in Russian, which raises some possibilities for what's happened. Either he was found by the Russians after the accident that left Alan thinking he was dead, and has defected to the USSR, or, he was a Russian spy. Whilst I think him being a Russian spy the whole time would be the much more interesting option that I'd love to see explored, it also likely means that his love for Alan was a lie the entire time, and I do not want to see what that revelation will do to Alan. I suspect, if Sheridan is going that route that that will be the incident that leads to Alan being closeted, the reason why he only recently came out. I can easily see the first man he loved, the man who changed his life forever and forged him into who he is turning out to have been a liar who never loved him would easily push Alan into thinking that being gay was wrong, and that he should live as a straight man for the rest of his life.

The art for issue three is done by Cian Tormey, with Chris Sotomayo colouring, and the book looks great throughout. There's not really any big action this issue, there are no huge moments where the art team can make you go 'wow', but it's in the little moments that things really shine. The part I already mentioned where you can see the pain on Alan's face when he's hugging the Spectre is a prime example of a very normal, very plain moment that just looks fantastic and tells a huge amount with the art. The Spectre himself is also a stand out, and I love the way this team makes him look in this issue and really want to see more of them working on JSA characters in the future. A series set in this era with this writer and this art team would likely be the best Justice Society comics we've had.

With such heavy focus on Alan Scott's queerness in the previous issues I was hoping that the series would continue to put his sexuality at the centre of things going forward, but understood that that part of the story might have to side lined somewhat to focus on the mystery and  super heroics. This issue shows that that doesn't have to be the case though, and Sheridan is able to weave the two together into a truly impressive and deeply moving narrative. I'm sure that there will be some out there complaining about the focus on queer stories and characters here, as there was people who complained about Alan coming out to begin with. But those people are, frankly, idiots. For the rest of us, we've got an amazing story that brings a whole new lease of life to one of DC's oldest characters in a book that's going to be remembered as DC's best queer focused work.

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Northern Soul by Phil Earle - Book Review

 

'Up until now, Marv’s uneventful life has revolved around playing football with his best mate, Jimmy. But things take a turn for the dramatic with the arrival at school of new girl Carly Stonehouse.

'Marv falls in love at first sight, but there’s no way a girl like Carly will ever look at him. Unless, perhaps, he enlists help from a very unusual source.

'Follow Marv on his hilariously agonising quest for love, featuring his Croc-loving dad, a fast-food addicted musical idol from the past and some of the most cringeworthy song lyrics you might ever have heard …'

There has been this weird rule that romantic comedies have to be for women and girls, that somehow the pursuit of love is a female ideal, and not something that 'real men' should concern themselves with. Of course, it's down to toxic masculinity and the idea that men have to be stoic, emotionless people who shouldn't be in touch with their feelings, and as such rom coms get marketed to people other than men. Thankfully, this is changing a lot. The toxic masculinity traits and societal expectations are changing, and we're living more in a time where rom coms can actually be for guys. This is what Northern Soul is tapping into, the angst of teenage love and the desire to have your hearts desires fulfilled from the perspective on an awkward teenage boy.

Northern Soul follows Marvin, a boy who lives with his single father, never having really known his mother. His dad is a nice guy, though Marv thinks him a bit weird. He works in a music shop and loves old music (which Marv hates), and he has an unhealthy love from crocs. Other than that, though, Marv is living a fairly simple life, hanging with his friends, playing video games, and loving football. However, that all changes when Carly moves into the same street as him, and starts going to his school.

Marv is instantly in love with Carly, and just wants to get to know her better. He's so awkward that he's convinced that he's scared her off the first time that he speaks to her. When he goes home he finds his father listening to Otis Redding, and discovers music that speaks to his heart and the emotions he's experiencing. When he wishes that Otis, who clearly knows all about love, would tell him what to do it summons the invisible ghost of the singer, who makes it his mission to help Marv win over Carly; a mission that is not destined to go well.

Perhaps the best word to describe a lot of this book, and what Marv goes through, would be 'cringe'. It's very much an accurate depiction of teenage first love, with instant infatuation, making a fool of yourself repeatedly, and not always being able to pick up on the obvious signs around you. To say that it resurfaced some of my own awkward memories would be underselling it, and I spent the night after reading it with my head in my hand remembering what I was like at that age. Phil Earle manages to capture this feeling so well with the story that I wouldn't be surprised if he was drawing from similar experiences himself.

But, this book isn't aimed at us adults who have already been through this and are thanking god that our embarrassing stuff happened before you could record everything on a phone and share it to social media (we did our embarrassing stuff in private and only had word of mouth to worry about). Instead, this book is aimed at younger teen readers, readers who are probably going through similar situations to Marv; minus the ghost of Otis Redding helping them out that is. And I think that teens will enjoy this read. Marv is a nice guy, and I think other boys in his age range reading this will likely be able to identify with him. He's something of an everyman, and his shy awkwardness around girls will be something that most young readers will know all too well.

The book also contains a fair amount of comedy that I think will appeal, weird situations that are on one hand so awkward that you just want to look away, yet are also funny enough to keep you reading. Earle injects a good amount of humour into things, and it definitely makes the book feel really charming and takes the edge off some of the situations. But it's also got some good messages in there too, messages about not trying to hard, about not trying to make weird grand gestures to win someone over, but just being yourself and being confident in who you are. These are hard learned lessons for Marv, but hopefully reading about it will help those picking up the book to get there without so many bumps along the way.

Northern Soul is a bit of a silly, often ridiculous romantic comedy, but one that's quite harmless and even quite charming. It will appeal to older readers who have been there and done that and are glad those days are behind them, and it will likely be loved by those who are going through this difficult time themselves. 

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Titans: Beast World #3 - Comic Review

 

Chaos continues to rage across the world as Garro's spores transform everyone in their path into animal people, including several members of the super hero community.

The first issue of Titans: Beast World was a really interesting, and kind of spooky, issue that introduced an ancient horror from the depths of space, sealed away inside a moon for thousands of years. It was the kind of thing that I really love. And whilst the series is still pretty entertaining, it feels like it may have lost a little of the stuff that made that first issue so good; and the tie-in books only seem to be dragging things down too. However, sticking to the main title, it's still a decent read.

After the events of the second issue, Batman has been infected with one of the spores, and has become a wolf creature. Luckily, Dick has been able to contain him, and has reached out to Doctor Bridget Clancy to help find a treatment for the infected. Tom Taylor, who's also writing Nightwing, has clearly done his research into the character, as Doctor Clancy is a blast from the past, having been in the Nightwing series back in the 90's. Her return is a cool little easter egg for long time readers, and the fact that she knows Dick is Nightwing, having lived in the same building as him and having seen him coming and going as the hero, is a cool moment too. It suggests that there's probably a fair few members of the public who know some of these heroes identities (particularly the vigilantes) and are keeping quiet about it because they understand that these are good people helping the world.

Whilst Batman is being helped in Titans tower Power Girl is infected, transforming her into a fiery bird creature (a definite nod to the Kyrptonian legend of Flame Bird), and Jon Kent has to do his best to take her on. This moment is slightly undercut by some of the tie-in stuff, and the fact that we've already seen Power Girl this way weeks ago in the Metropolis focused book ruins the moment here. And as I said when reviewing that title, the relaxed attitude of people, who are acting like nothing much is happening, whilst the main title shows the world in a full blown disaster, leads to readers not knowing how we're supposed to be seeing things.

Whilst a lot of the heroes try to contain the spores and save as many people as possible Starfire and Donna Troy head into space to help Raven and the other big hitters deal with Garro. Using her lasso, Donna is able to contain Garro somewhat, giving the others a chance to try and figure out what to do. Luckily, back on Earth, Detective Chimp comes to Titans Tower in order to assist with this. It's cool to see that the Titans are still leading things, even with folks like Wonder Woman and Superman in the fight. Most of the places we check in on in this issue has a Titan or two there, leading the charge, and there's still very much a sense that despite things having gone wrong the League hasn't turned round and said 'okay, you had your turn but fucked it up, we're in charge again'.

During all of this we also check in on Amanda Waller, who is still doing shady shit in the background. It's clear that her plan is to make people not want to trust the heroes, to see them as the reason for things having gone wrong, and for trust in them to be broken forever. She knows that she can't just take them down, but if she gets the world to turn against them she'll come out on top. But it seems that she's not just happy to let that play out, and is ready to do some serious damage to the hero community as she tries to force Lex Luthor into helping her with her new goal, killing Beast Boy. Gar's personality has been supressed thanks to Doctor Hate (presumably something that Detective Chimp can help the heroes undo), but it seems like permanently killing him is on the table; which I honestly hate. If Gar ends up dying at the end of this event I'm not going to be happy.

The art on the issue is provided by Lucas Meyer, with Romulo Fajardo Jr. doing the colouring work. The book looks really good, and the art sells the chaos and carnage that's going on, with some fantastic visuals that really makes it look like it might be the end of the world. The transformed heroes and villains that we get to see have some fun designs too, and the fiery bird version of Power Girl is slightly ridiculous, but looks better here than she did in any of the tie in titles.

Whilst the tie-ins for this event are coming out in orders that mess with continuity, and have tones that don't quite fit, the main title continues to be entertaining. Tom Taylor is clearly a fan of the Titans characters, and is doing some cool stuff with them; and when it comes to end of the world style stories he's still one of the best that DC has, and is doing some great stuff here.

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Marvin and the Book of Magic by Jenny Pearson - Book Review

 

'After being humiliated by a badly behaved squirrel on national television, Marvin has vowed NEVER to perform magic in public again. But when he acquires a mysterious book that promises to show those with the gift of magic how to use it properly, his best friend Asha persuades him to make a comeback in the school talent show.

'Watch Marvellous Marvin take to the stage to demonstrate the magic that can be found in true friendship!'

Marvin has grown up loving magic. his grandfather was a magician, and would always be teaching Marvin new tricks and different acts whenever he came to visit. He told Marvin that he had a gift for magic, and it inspired Marvin to want to follow in his footsteps and be a magician. Alas, his dreams to be a great stage magician died when he appeared on a TV talent show. 

Not wanting to be a boring magician who just pulls a rabbit from a hat, Marvin brings along a squirrel, who soon escapes and causes huge chaos that leave Marvin a televised embarrassment. He vows to quit magic on the spot, and has to deal with bullies at school mocking him and reminding him of his failure.

When his school decide to host their own talent show his best friend Asha wants to take part, coming up with the idea for a very elaborate act, and encourages Marvin to take part too in an attempt to get him to do his magic tricks again. Marvin, not wanting anything to do with magic anymore, takes his box of tricks to a strange shop in town, Clive's Emporium, to sell it so that he can never do magic again. However, when Clive offers to exchange the box of magic tricks for a real book of magic Marvin's life will be changed forever. 

Marvin and the Book of Magic is a really nice story about overcoming embarrassment, of continuing on with the things that you love, and doing selfless acts. Jenny Pearson manages to fit a lot into a relatively short book, yet never leaves you feeling like there's too much. We get to know Marvin really well, we learn about his family, seeing his relationship with his father and grandfather, we see his friendship with Asha, and there's a lot of time for he and Asha to have fun with each other too. Pearson knows that we need to get to know the character in order to care about his story and his issues, and makes sure that that's included.

There are good morals in the book, lessons that kids will enjoy without feeling like they're being preached to or told what they should consider important. Marvin learns that he needs to be true to himself, and he learns that giving up something important to help someone he cares about it a better thing to do than hoarding something special just to himself. Marvin comes out of the story not just more confident, but kinder too, and that's the kind of lesson that young readers need to follow.

As well as Pearson's writing, the book comes with a number of illustrations by Aleksei Bitskoff, who turns some of the more important parts of the book into some great images. The first of these is the moment that Marvin and his squirrel cause chaos on TV, and it includes all of the wonderful destruction that Pearson described, yet also manages to get a couple of little jokes in there too; such as one of the talent judges looking eerily familiar to a very famous TV talent show judge from real life. Clive's Emporium is also another highlight illustration that showcases all of the weird and wonderful things in the shop that younger readers will want to spend some time looking through. The illustrations are a wonderful accompaniment to the writing, and enhance a number of scenes.

Marvin and the Book of Magic is a great book for younger readers, with a ton of fun and jokes and some great moral messages.

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Predator vs Wolverine #4 - Comic Review

 

The final part of the first Marvel Predator cross-over comes to a close as Benjamin Percy manages to not just squeeze two clashes with between the titular characters into the issue, but gives us three separate fights across three different time periods.

As with previous issues, this issue is framed by a modern day story, one that sees Logan trying to lure the alien hunter to him in an attempt to bring this decades old battle to an end. We learn here that Logan is the one who instigated this clash, where all of the other times the Predator has been the one to come calling. However, unlike previous issues we don't get flashbacks to a point in the past where they've fought before; this time we get two.

The first of these we saw at the end of the third issue, where Logan is training in Japan with the swordsman Muramasa. Having been taught to not just rely upon his claws, Wolverine has been training with the sword, learning to become more focused in battle. Interestingly, this change in the way that he fights seems to not do much for Logan here in regards to giving him an edge against the Yautja, and if anything it makes this one of the tougher fights that the two of them have had. The fight is drawn to a close early as the Predator flees, not wanting to fight through a cadre of Hand ninja's in order to go after Logan.

It's something of an anti-climactic ending to this segment, one that seems over before it's really had a chance to do much, and one that kind of makes the Predator seem a bit soft. Rather than waiting to see what happens with the Hand, or even picking them off himself, he just leaves ending the hunt early. Whilst the hunt ends early, the flashbacks don't, as we catch up with Logan further along his timeline, during the Claremont era of Uncanny X-Men.

Logan returns to the mansion when it comes under attack from the Predator, who seems to have gotten over his issues about going after Wolverine when other people are around. He invades the school, ready to hurt anyone who gets between him and his prize. This, along with the fellow X-Men's nature to get involved and help their ally, means that we actually get some other characters interacting with the Predator, including Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Dani Moonstar, and Rogue. It's really cool to see the team all getting involved in the fight, and I really want a full issue or more of a Predator going after Nightcrawler now. 

Thanks to the help of the other X-Men, the Yautja once again retreats, knowing that he's pretty outclassed. Again, this kind of hurts the image for this particular Predator I think. I don't blame it for not wanting to take on several X-Men at the same time, but having it run from a fight two fights in a row does make him seem a bit weak and cowardly. I'm also a little surprised that Rogue touching him isn't used as a way of Logan knowing that the Predator species is called Yautja, something Logan calls it in his narration, when it'd be easy to explain away her getting information from it this way.

The two flashback segments have their own artists, with Kei Zama on art and Alex Guimaráes providing colours for the Murumasa segment, whilst Gavin Guidry does art for the Westchester flashback, with Matthew Wilson on colours. The Muramasa segments looks really good, and I love the way that Zama depicts the Predator with his skull mask (which we learn is made from the bear from the first issue). The combat between the two fighters looks really dynamic here, and the colours really help to add a lot of vibrancy and energy to the scene. The Westchester part looks very different in comparison, and Guidry and Wilson keep things very simple and clean. The art style here is evocative of older comics, whilst not simply being a reproduction of the style from the time. The flashback looks like it could slot into the comics from that era, yet still manages to look new in a way that's wonderful to see.

The rest of the issue has to deal with the conclusion of the fight between Logan and his Predator, a fight that comes with a wonderfully grim fake-out for both the Predator and the reader as we're led to believe that Logan is pulling an Arnie in order to get the upper hand. The fight is brutal and bloody, and ends in a way that most of confrontations with the Predator does; though it's a way in which Logan might be the best equipped to survive. As with previous issues, the modern parts of the book are drawn by Ken Lashley, with colours by Juan Fernandez, and look really good. The two of them do a wonderful job at making the fight look brutal and bloody, and some of the wounds that Logan receives are gory enough to make you pause and wonder if even he can survive them.

This might not be the best issue of the series, and it does feel like the book may have ended on its weakest chapter, but the quality that has been there across the series as a whole is still here, and the book remains hugely entertaining. As the series comes to a close the question of whether or not the Predator works within this universe has well and truly been answered. Hopefully we'll see more cross-overs again in the future, with even more characters; and hopefully they won't feel like they ended so quickly the next time too, as this series feels like it could have been twice as long and not lost quality.

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The Great Yokai War: Guardians volume 1 - Manga Review

 

'After giant kaiju threaten to destroy Japan, the guardian spirits of the nation, known as 'Yokai' appear before the young boy Kei... They tell him he is the descendant of the legendary monster slayer Watanabe no Tsuna, and may be the only person who can stop the catastrophe.'

I recently had the chance to watch and review the entire Yokai film series, a really fun experience for a collection of movies that are incredibly charming. That collection included a newer film, directed by the famous Takeshi Miike, who turned his hand to family adventure films after a career of vicious, bloody movies. This new manga series, The Great Yokai War: Guardians, is based upon his second Yokai film, a film that has not had a UK release, and wasn't part of the blu-ray collection. As such, when I learned that the film had been adapted to manga form I was excited to see what this franchise had next.

The Great Yokai War: Guardians begins with Japan in trouble, with a giant snail-like monster causing earthquakes that begin to threaten the country. Knowing that if nothing is done about it, the nation will face destruction, the guardian spirits of the land, the Yokai, seek out a young boy who can help them.

This introduces us to Kei Watanabe, a sullen, moody teenager who spends most of his time in school listening to music, and tormenting his teachers. We learn that Kei recently lost his father, and that his role as the big brother to the younger Dai is causing him stress and making him retreat away from his remaining family. Despite his grumpy demeanour, the Yokai approach Kai, revealing to him that he's the descendant of a legendary swordsman, and that he can command the various Yokai and lead them to save the country. 

Kai, however, doesn't really want much to do with this, and just wants to keep to his quiet life, mourning his father in his own way. However, when Dai is kidnapped by dark forces it forces Kai to set up and become the hero that Japan needs. 

The book has been adapted from the original film script by screenwriter Yusuke Watanabe, who seems comfortable in adapting his own work. The book reads well, and if you came to it not knowing that this was an adaptation of a film you wouldn't know, as it fits nicely into the pacing and style of various other manga stories that fit a similar theme of a young boy learning he has abilities and answering the call to adventure. Where the book does stand out in some ways, however, is that Kai is kind of unlikable at times. 

The first introduction to the character is him being such a pain in class that he reduces his teacher to tears. We see him being cold and distant towards Dai, a younger brother who clearly idolises hi, and it makes you somewhat weary to like the character. However, over the course of this first volume we learn more about him, we discover his recent family tragedy, and the trauma that it has caused him. Whilst it doesn't forgive some of his actions it at least gives them important context; as well as humanises him.

Outside of the character work, Watanabe keeps the story moving as a strong pace, and throws a lot at the readers in this first volume. We learn about the world of the Yokai, their roles, the wider world of monsters, Kai's family history, and internal Yokai politics. This does mean that there's a lot to take in, and there are times where the book feels a lot longer than it actually is. The masses of info, coupled with the real lack of any action in this first volume of what's supposed to be an action adventure series, it makes for a first volume that's entertaining, but might not feel completely accessible to new readers, or those that don't already have an investment in the universe.

The art on the book is done by Sanami Suzuki, and it's a style I'm not too sure of. Kai, and the other human characters are drawn very simply. They have a slightly cartoon-like style, and fit the family friendly adventure story style well. And this style is reflected in some of the Yokai too. However, there are several of the monsters that feel very different in presentation, with a lot more detail and a darker quality to them. There are parts of the book that are so detailed, and so dark that it felt more akin to a horror manga than anything else. I guess this tone does reflect the theme of the book of a kid finding himself drawn into a different world, one darker and more strange than his own, but it does take a little getting used to.

As it stands, this is a decent introduction to the series, one that lays out a lot of stuff for the reader, and doesn't really slow down or hold your hand. Without seeing more, however, it doesn't feel particularly fantastic, nor bad. It feels like the next volume is going to play an important part in how I feel about this one. I'm hoping that it has some more action and adventure elements, and if it does this will be a decent start to things; but if it carries on in the same tone as this volume the series might just be a bit too dark and dull for my liking. Hopefully volume two will help shape this into another excellent addition to the Yokai series. 

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