Zyuranger Episode One: The Birth - Super Sentai Review

At first I thought that the first episode of Zyuranger was a little slow in comparison to the American Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and whilst the US show manages to pack a lot into a relatively short run time, 'The Birth' goes a little crazy towards the ends and really throws a lot at viewers. Set in a world where the evil witch Bandora was defeated by five brave warriors more than 170 million years ago, 'The Birth' introduces us to the main players in this story.

At the Sakura Condominium apartment complex an old caretaker overhears a news report about a space shuttle that is on approach to the mysterious Planet Nemesis, a rogue planet whose orbit brings it to Earth once every 230 million years. The shuttle, which contains two astronauts and two kid astronauts, lands on the planet, and the two adults begins to search the wasteland around them. Back on Earth, the caretaker has rushed to the roof of the building and is using some kind of super hearing to listen in on the mission.

On Planet Nemesis the astronauts discover some kind of capsule with a glowing gem. When they investigate the capsule opens, and four terrifying monsters emerge. There's the short, blue goblin like Bookback; the slim and sinister vampire Topat; the elderly leprechaun Pleprechaun; and the gold armoured griffin knight Grifforzor. As the astronauts cower in fear a fifth figure emerges from the capsule, the evil witch Bandora. Having awoken from 170 million years of imprisonment Bandora sets her sights once more on conquering her home planet of Earth, but not before casting the poor astronauts out into space.

Bandora uses her powers to reshape the city, bringing several large buildings together, and transporting her palace on top of the tallest skyscraper. Bandora flies above the city, announcing her plans to take over the planet and begins to use her magic to blow several buildings apart. She comes face to face with the old caretaker, who it is suddenly revealed to be the White Wizard Barza, who fought against her millions of years ago. The two briefly fight, but Bandora is more than a match for her old foe. During the fight Barza also discovers that Bandora has taken the space shuttle and shrunk it, and the children within, and is going to destroy it in one hour.

Barza reenters the Sakura Condominium and enters a special code into the elevator controls, which transports him to an ancient temple decorated with the statues of ancient animals and dinosaurs. The five legendary warriors that fought Bandora millions of years ago are held within magical stasis within the temple, and Barza declares that the time has come to reawaken them.

He unlocks their chambers, returning four of the warriors to the real world. We meet the knight of the black Sharma Tribe, Goushi; the knight of the yellow Dime Tribe, Boi; the princess of the pink Lithia Tribe, Mei; and the knight of the blue Etoffe Tribe, Dan. Unfortunately, the final warriors chamber won't open, so the others have to try to save the children on their own.

The four warriors make their way to Bandora's Palace and are transported to a beach, where they are attacked by mud dolls, which burst out of the ground around them. The warriors hold the dolls back, but Bandora appears and uses her magic to cast them away, where they get captured in a cage above a huge fire. The warriors are teased by Bookback and Topat that they're going to be cooked alive, and all looks lost for them, when the prince of the red Yamato Tribe, Geki, arrives and frees them.

The five of them run outside the palace, where Barza gives them their medals, which they can use in conjunction with their Dino Bucklers to transform into the Zyurangers. Once transformed the five rangers are attacked by Grifforzor and Dora Golems. Geki takes on Grifforzor with his Ranger Sword whilst Dan and Mei rush into the palace to save the space shuttle from destruction with seconds to spare. Suddenly, without warning, a giant hand bursts through the wall of the palace and the shuttle is taken by the huge Dora Titan. The episode ends with the Dora Titan with the shuttle and the Zyurangers unsure of what to do next.

Wow. When written out the episode really manages to put a lot into its small 20 minute run time. However, unlike Power Rangers, this episode doesn't give you everything up front. There's no Power Weapons, no Zords, no Megazord. And this makes it so much better. The episode spends the time setting up the world, albeit in a rushed way. We learn about Barza and his history with Bandora, we learn of the five dinosaur tribes and their warriors who become the Zyurangers. Yes, it might not be in any huge detail, but it's still something. Already I have the feeling that this series is going to take its time more than the American counterpart, and even though there's sure to be throwaway monster of the week episodes it feels like a bigger part of this show is going to go towards world building.

This is essentially my first experience with Super Sentai, and I'm a little surprised at how different the show is to what I was expecting. I've seen Japanese entertainment before, so know that there are very different storytelling styles implemented, but I was still taken aback by certain things. The inclusion of children on the space shuttle was one of these. I understand that this is a show aimed at children, and that it would want to feature children in their episodes, but the fact that they were on the shuttle really seemed like a crazy narrative choice to me. I did, however, like the fact that the shuttle interior looks like a redressed Megazord set. They very clearly saved a little bit of money there.

The original versions of the bad guys also took me a little by surprise, as I was so used to their American versions. Grifforzor was the biggest shock to me, as I spent most of the time he was on screen expecting him to talk. Apparently though he's not like the over the top Goldar, and he's relegated to growls and snarls; which actually makes him a little more frightening. The inclusion of 'baby' Putty Patrollers in the form of the Mud Dolls was awesome, however, and I really wish that they had made the translation to Power Rangers. The fact that they were very clearly hand puppets just made them all the better.

I realise that I'm using a lot of terms from the Power Rangers series, and comparing this episode to it a lot, but this is purely because of my lack of experience with this franchise, and I'm sure that with more episodes the series will stand on its own a lot more without such comparissons. However, as someone who has been watching Power Rangers since its inception I will have to talk about it a fair bit in these reviews, if only to highlight how much better Super Sentai feels. The episode might have been bat shit crazy, but there's something about this that captured me in a way that the other show wouldn't have. It might be because it feels like it's taken something I know and made it new again, or it could be that it's genuinely more interesting and creative. Time will certainly tell on that one. The only criticism I can put on the episode, however, is the music. Whilst there's nothing wrong with what is presented her, and the main theme is really catchy, there's something about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers theme kicking in during a fight scene that really gets things pumping.

A great first episode to the series, that manages to feel fresh and interesting. Thanks to different storytelling traditions and some strange writing choices the episode manages to dodge every expectation I had for it. I couldn't even begin to try to anticipate what could come in the second episode, and am really excited to find out just how crazy this series can get.

Episode two of Zyuranger, 'The Revival', will be featured next Friday.


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Power Rangers: The Psycho Path - Book Review

'Created by Karone when she was still the evil Astronema, the Psycho Rangers were programmed with overwhelming hate for all things Power Rangers. They were defeated at great personal cost by the Galaxy Rangers, but now someone has brought them back and they are more murderous than ever before. Who brought them back, and why? And can Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger Karone and her brother Red In Space Ranger Andros stop them before they bring the universe to its knees?'

Since Boom! Studios have been working on Power Rangers the quality of the franchise within comics has shot up exponentially. In the past Power Rangers comics were forgettable at best, and downright awful a lot of the time. Nowadays, however, fans get treated to well written, and well constructed stories that have gone on to become some of the best stories in the entire franchise.

The latest stand alone graphic novel focuses on characters that aren't related to the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and really benefits because of that. Instead, the narrative shifts to focus on characters introduced during Power Rangers in Space. 

Picking up after the events of Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, we focus on Karone, the sister of the Red Space Ranger Andros, who has at this point been a villain, reformed, and even been a Ranger herself on the Lost Galaxy team. When the villainous Psycho Rangers return, including the new Green Psycho Ranger, they target Karone as she created the team when she was the villain Astronema. Taken by the Psychos', she is forced to confront the destructive actions of her past once again.

Power Rangers: The Psycho Path really focuses on what it means to be a good person, not only in Karone's continued quest to try and atone for her past actions, but in seeing how the Psycho Rangers begin to grow into real, rounded individuals.

That's one of the most interesting aspects on the book. In the past the Psycho Rangers have been one of the best evil Ranger teams, but haven't been anything but one dimensional. Here they're presented as much more real. We begin to learn that they actually have personalities, and that if given the chance they can care for more than just fighting Power Rangers.

This focus came as something of a surprise, as I thought that this was going to be a more standard Power Rangers story, with the Psycho's hunting down our heroes. But they don't really spend all that much time as antagonists, and after a relatively short time you come to not only care about them as people, but want them to actually go on to survive the events of the story. Paul Allor really gives over more time to character development than any Power Rangers story deserves, and by the end of the book I found myself feeling like I cared for the Psycho Rangers more than I do some Power Ranger teams.

By the end of the book the Psycho Rangers, and the way I view them, have changed. They're no longer just faceless bad guys, but people. I want them to keep on growing the way they have here, and I want them to come back again in the future as the heroes that they're learning they could become. I can't really think of a Power Rangers story that has ever really done this with a villain before other than Karone, which makes her inclusion in this story that much more important, as it's not just someone dealing with the actions of their past, but one reformed villain helping five others.

The book also includes the Supersonic Rangers story that reveals the origins of the the mysterious Green Psycho Ranger, a short story that was previously only included in the deluxe edition of the main series graphic novels. The story not only sheds light onto the origin of the villain for those who couldn't get the deluxe addition, but also stands out for its inclusion of the Fiveman Super Sentain team.

A great book that not only adds more to the Power Rangers universe, but sets the stage for more potential stories involving the iconic villains.

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Skein Island by Aliya Whiteley - Book Review

'Skein Island, since 1945 a private refuge for women, lies in turbulent waters twelve miles off the coast of Devon. Visitors are only allowed by invitation from the reclusive Lady Amelia Worthington. Women stay for one week, paying for their stay with a story from their past; a Declaration for the Island's vast library.

'Marianne's invitation arrives shortly before her quiet life at the library is violently interrupted, the aftermath leaving her husband David feeling helpless. Now, just like her mother did seventeen years ago, she must discover what her story is.'

I have to be a little honest, at first glance I didn't think that Skein Island was going to be the kind of book that I enjoy. I don't usually like books that are more grounded in reality; I want some escapism in my fiction, something fantastical that I could never actually experience in real life. So when I read the description for Skein Island it sounded like the king of thing I normally avoided, the story of a woman going away to discover herself. But, this was Titan Books, a company that specialises in horror, fantasy, and science fiction; I knew that there had to be more to the book than it first appears.

It's hard to talk about the book and not give anything away, the story takes something of a shift about a third of the way through and you realise that there's a lot more going on in the narrative than you first suspect. Up to that point, however, the book is an interesting an engaging story about a very real and very well written woman.

Marianne is a woman with an unexceptional life. She has a job she loves at her local library, a happy marriage with her husband David, and something of a strained relationship with her father. She doesn't seem to be anything special, and a lot of people will find that they can identify with Marianne because of how normal she is. She's just an average person. Don't think that I'm saying this negatively, however, as sometimes protagonists are made to be so exceptional from the very start of a book, or live in a world so different from our own, that it can be hard to find something to relate to; but this isn't something readers have to worry about here. We all know someone like Marianne.

Unfortunately, her life is thrown into disarray when she becomes the victim of an assault, an event that pushes her to make her choice to get away from her everyday life for a week and travel to Skein Island. On the island she begins to make friends with a few of her fellow visitors, and one of the members of staff, and starts to get some of the clarity that she's hoping for. But, knowing that her mother visited the island decades ago, shortly before leaving Marianne's life for good, she's desperate to know what he mother wrote in her own Declaration, a decision that sets Marianne, and readers, on a course that will change the entire narrative.

I'm going to have to talk about the story with some spoilers now, so if you don't want to know anymore I suggest you leave the review (and that you go and pick up a copy of the book); if, however, you want to know more please stick around, because things start to get weird here.

Whilst searching for the answers that she needs Marianne discovers that not only is her mother actually alive and well on the island, but there's some kind of strange, dark presence there too. It turns out that during the 1940's the islands owner, Lady Worthington, discovered something extraordinary on an island in Greece. The last living Fate. This creature controlled the destinies of men, assigning them each one of four roles in life. Unfortunately, any man in her presence would go insane, and Lady Worthington had to watch as the rest of the expedition killed themselves, including her lover. Lady Worthington discovered that telling the Fate her story turned the creature into stone, and so she brought this living statue to Skein Island, where she keeps it stuck in rock by reading it the stories of the women who visit.

Now this was more like what I'm normally interested in. The sudden, surprising shift to the supernatural comes out of nowhere, but is done in such a way that it kind of feels like a natural progression to the narrative. It's not a tonal or genre shift that disrupts the story, but actually makes Marianne's narrative all the more interesting.

When the creature ends up being freed from Skein Island, and her powers begin to affect men once again, we really get to see how strong of a woman Marianne is. The Fate wants men to fulfil their roles, to take on the mantle of either a Hero, a Villain, a Sage, or a Sidekick, and this influence sends the world spiralling out of control. Men give into these strange new roles, violence erupts onto the streets, vigilante's take the law into their own hands, and women become props in their stories.

This is what Skein Island becomes about. It takes a long, hard look at the role of women in fiction, examining the fact that for a very long time (and even still a lot today) women are things to motivate men rather than being real characters themselves. They're the things that villains target, the motivation for the heroes.

Marianne's husband David tries to do this with her. He discovers that she didn't quite get the lucky escape he thought she did during her assault, and makes the traumatic events that she went through about him. It's the thing that spurs him on to find the person who hurt her and make him pay. It's the motivation to make him the hero of the story. He even goes on to think that he's the one destined to stop the Fate and return the creature to Skein Island. Fortunately, we have such a wonderful protagonist in Marianne that she doesn't go for any of that.

Marianne isn't prepared to be someone's motivation to be a hero, or his reward for stopping the villain. She knows that that kind of storytelling is, frankly, crap. Instead, she forges her own path, and not only becomes the hero of the story, but doesn't let David think that he was the hero at all.

In a lot of ways it feels like Skein Island is sticking its middle finger up at old fashioned storytelling tropes and saying that women don't have to just be props in men's stories, but have the power to tell their own powerful narratives themselves. Skein Island goes a little bit meta, and gets the reader thinking about the nature of stories and storytelling, and how they have evolved over time. Just like the real world stories need to change to reflect their times. The world is becoming more and more equal to people of all genders, and women shouldn't just be objects. The book challenges people to break away from that kind of storytelling and to expect more not just from their fiction, but their real lives too.

A wonderfully written and clever book that draws you in before dropping the floor out from beneath you. With unexpected twists and turns, a narrative driven by interesting and realistic characters, and a story that will get you thinking about the very art of storytelling itself, Skein Island is a book that's hard to compare with others, and is sure to keep you thinking long after you've finished reading.


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Snakeskins by Tim Major - Book Review

It's been six months to the day that Tim Major's sci-fi thriller Snakeskins hit shelves. This is the perfect opportunity for anyone who missed out on this great release to check it out.

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‘Caitlin Hext’s first shedding ceremony is imminent, but she’s far from prepared to produce a Snakeskin clone. When her Skin fails to turn to dust as expected, she must decide whether she wishes the newcomer alive or dead. Worse still, it transpires that the Hext family may be of central importance to the survival of Charmers, a group of people with the inexplicable power to produce duplicates every seven years and, in the process, rejuvenate. In parallel with reporter Gerry Chafik and government aide Russell Handler, Caitlin must prevent the Great British Prosperity Party from establishing a corrupt new world order.’


Snakeskins tells three intertwining stories within a version of Britain where the country has closed itself off to the outside world, and where society is run and shaped by an elite few. Whilst this scenario may seem very, very familiar and has obvious connotations to what the country is going through at the moment, Snakeskins adds a sci-fi twist to the tale.

The world of Snakeskins differs from our own due to The Fall: an event that caused a branching history. A phenomena that resulted in a small group of people, called Charmers, gaining the ability to ‘shed’ every seven years, to create a duplicate of themselves that would allow them to rejuvenate. Whilst these copies, Snakeskins as they become known, usually only last a few moments we discover over the course of the book that this is not always the case.

One of the main characters, Caitlin Hext, is drawn into a dark world of corrupt government and secret history when her Snakeskin doesn’t fade away. At the same time a journalist, Gerry Chafik, begins to look deeper into Charmer society, whilst a low level government aide called Russell Handler is recruited to investigate a possible conspiracy.

The three stories in Snakeskins are all incredibly well told, and could easily be the sole focus of the book, yet by combining all three of them into one bigger, more diverse narrative Tim Major not only tells very personal, human stories, but crafts a deeper world. This is a United Kingdom that is somewhat recognisable, yet has taken its own path, and for the most part feels like something from the past, rather than being set a year from now.

Whilst the world of Snakeskins is incredibly interesting, and there’s still enough left untold here that Major could easily write more books within this universe to expand upon these concepts, it’s the personal stories that really make the book stand out.

Russell’s journey over the course of the story is an enjoyable one, as he goes from a timid personal assistant to a government minister, to discovering that he has depths of bravery that he didn’t know existed. However, he never feels too brave, managing to avoid falling into the category of ‘hero’. He is more like a man who was doing what he was doing from a sense of duty and honour, despite being terrified the whole time. He manages to remain grounded and real throughout.

The strongest character, however, is Caitlin. For Caitlin her first shedding ceremony isn’t just a milestone into becoming a Charmer, but acts as a gateway into her adulthood. Her shedding is the second one we see in the book, but it has an impact because of how emotional and heartfelt a moment it is. We ignore the spectacle of the Snakeskin coming into being and focus on the emotion it holds for Caitlin. Despite how big her story gets, and how it will go on to shape the world, we never leave this emotional journey, we follow the effects that her shedding has upon her, how coming to accept her Snakeskin changes her as a person, and how she grows and matures from this. Snakeskins might be a great sci-fi story with a conspiracy mystery at its heart, but it’s also an amazing coming of age story about a wonderfully written young woman.

Snakeskins has so much more in it than you might first imagine. It’s packed full of slowly revealed alternate history, it has mystery that unfolds at a great pace, and characters who aren’t superheroes but real people with believable motivations and personal stories. I read Snakeskins in one day because I couldn’t put it down, but the story, the world, and those who inhabit it will stay with me much, much longer.


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Marvel Action: Spider-Man #10 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

There’s a definite Venom movie vibe here in issue ten of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, as the iconic Spider-Man villain is introduced to this new continuity.

When a mysterious new, black clad Spider-Man begins to appear around New York, attacking criminals and leaving destruction in his wake, Peter begins to suspect that Miles might be behind things. Miles wears a black suit, and the new Spider-Man appears to have web-shooters too, so it must be Miles behind things, right?

If that seems to be something of a big leap in logic you’re not alone in thinking that, as Miles is understandably upset that Peter would begin to suspect him of going around the city assaulting people. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see much of how this new wrinkle in the team’s relationship affects Miles as he’s not actually around for a great deal, having stormed off when Peter makes his suspicions known.

It’s something of a shame that the team is still having interpersonal conflict, especially after they seemed to put things to bed following their run in with Black Cat, but I’m hopeful that this won’t become a major issue between the three of them and that things can be resolved fairly soon. Perhaps this will even become something of a catalyst for Miles to finally come up with a name for himself that isn’t Spider-Man 2, wanting to break away from Peter’s shadow somewhat after this argument.

Before the team are able to track down the person responsible for these attacks they come across one of his victims, the Lizard. This is actually a really nice conclusion to the hanging thread left in the first story arc, where the Lizard managed to escape the heroes and was still out in the world. The heroes come across an unconscious Lizard, administer a serum to change him back into Kurt Connors, and hand him over to the police. Delilah Dawson didn’t have to include this call-back to the earlier story, but it is a great moment that makes the story feel like part of a bigger whole and a connected narrative, rather than standalone adventures.

Following the capture of the Lizard, Gwen does some investigating and discovers that all of the stories about the black clad Spider-Man come from the same source, a disgraced journalist called Eddie Brock. Deciding to go and talk to Eddie to find out what he knows she gets drawn to a local bodega, where Vemon is attacking a man who tried to rob the place.

This is where it begins to feel like Dawson has taken some inspiration from the recent Venom movie. This is Eddie’s local bodega, and he doesn’t like that a criminal has come into it and tried to hurt the owner, so he and Venom are taking matters into their own hands. I don’t know if this choice was Dawson’s, or if it was direction from above, but I kind of like it. The Venom movie was pretty good, and the character has straddled the line between villain and anti-hero so often in the comics over the decades that having him follow a similar anti-hero route here feels like a good choice. Saying that, even if he is something of a hero, there is conflict between him and Gwen in this issue, so it’s not clear how hero this anti-hero is going to be just yet.

Issue ten doesn’t just introduce a new villain in Venom, it also sees a change in artist from Fico Ossio to Davide Tinto. This isn’t the first change in artist on the title, but it’s the first one that really stood out to me. The other artists on the book have seemed to work with a very similar style that makes them flow into each other nicely; here, however, things feel a little different. This may also be down to the colourist, Valentina Pinto. Despite being different to what has gone before it still fits the tone of the book nicely, and looks very, very beautiful throughout. A great start to a new story arc featuring one of Spidey’s most iconic villains.


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Terminator: Dark Fate – 5 Terminator Stories To Check Out

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Terminator franchise has had some rocky moments, with some films that really tested people’s love for the series (we’re looking at you Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). However, there is more to the franchise than just the films. Here’s a short list of other Terminator content that’s definitely worth checking out.

Terminator 2: Cybernetic Dawn (Comic Book – Dan Abnett & Rod Whigham)

Set immediately after the events of the second movie, Terminator 2: Cybernetic Dawn picks up after the destruction of the T-1000 and T-800, and sees John and Sarah Connor nursing their wounds following their long battle against the machines. Unfortunately, it turns out that they may not have actually prevented Judgement Day as not one, but three new Terminators arrive in the past to kill them both, two T-800’s, and a T-1000.

Terminator 2: Cybernetic Dawn is a pretty bold book, doing something that hasn’t even really been done in the films and having more than one Terminator sent back in time to kill a single target. Add in the fact that no one has been sent back to protect the Connors and this makes for a pretty stand out story. It also expanded upon the world created in the first two films, by revealing that the government already has pieces of several other Terminators in their possession, dating back further than Sarah Connor, teasing the idea that the machines have been manipulating time for much longer than initially thought.

Terminator 3: Redemption (Video Game – Xbox, PS2, GameCube)

Released shortly after the abysmal movie tie in game, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, this game tried to make up for some of the awfulness that players had to put up with. This game shifted the action away from the film, and instead of making gamers play through the events of the film, actually told a story. The game expanded upon the film, having players take control of the T-800 before he’s sent back in time to protect John.

The game managed to be a lot more fun than the film it ties into, and featured a variety of missions, including vehicle based combat, on rails shooting sections, and standard combat through a variety of future settings. Possibly the best thing to come out of the third film, the game knew that it had to do something different to try and win over fans, and succeeded for the most part, receiving some generous reviews.

Terminator Salvation: From The Ashes (Novel – Timothy Zahn)

Written by award winning author Timothy Zahn, (best known for his work on Star Wars and for creating the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn), this novel tells a tale of John Connor set in the apocalyptic future of the war against the machines, and helps to set up for the Terminator: Salvation movie. Set during a period where John Connor is still seen as nothing more than an average resistance fighter by the larger resistance movement, Terminator Salvation: From The Ashes sees John leading his resistance cell in a daring mission to capture a Terminator facility in an attempt to not just hurt the machines, but to prove himself to Command.

Whilst most stories focus on John Connor as either a young man before the war with Skynet, or as the leader of the resistance, it’s good to see him at an in-between stage. He’s proven himself to his group of fighters, and commands their respect, but is still seen as just a small cog in a larger machine. He has to prove that he’s the leader he’s been training to be his entire life.

Zahn is a great author, and is able to craft an engaging and dynamic story filled with interesting character moments, as well as intense action sequences, giving readers one of the better Terminator novels to date.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Television – 2008-2009)

A lot of people looked down on the Terminator television series and didn’t give it much of a chance. And that’s somewhat understandable, as the first season was a touch slow to begin with. However, once the series entered its second season it really began to find its feet and started to tell a very good, and different Terminator story.

The series showed a John (Thomas Dekker) and Sarah (Lena Headey) who had jumped forward in time from the 1990s to 2008 to escape a new Terminator, this time protected by the female terminator Cameron (Summer Glau). The series explored new ideas: that Terminators have been sent back to secure important materials and tech and protect them from Judgment Day, that resistance cells have been sent back to hinder Skynet’s creation, and that there’s even a faction of Terminators that want to stop Skynet too.

The series took bold moves with the franchise, and had some absolutely amazing moments before it was cancelled on a stunning cliffhanger ending. With the ability now to be able to binge watch, it would likely be much better received, especially thanks to how popular Lena Headey has since become.

Robocop vs Terminator (Comic – Frank Miller and Walt Simonson)

Though probably best known as a video game, the comic began this fan favourite crossover. When a resistance fighter is sent back in time to kill Robocop, he is rescued by a group of Terminators who were sent to protect him. Learning that some of his technology would go on to be used to create Skynet, and ultimately destroy humanity, Robocop begins a mission to stop Skynet from coming into existence.

Written by Frank Miller, who wrote the second film, the book manages to capture a lot of the gritty and grimy feel of both universes, whilst telling an interesting story. It takes the character of Robocop, who already deals with issues of identity and what makes you human, and examines it in detail by making him a main part of the rise of the machines.


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Marvel Action: Black Panther #4 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The fourth issue of Marvel Action: Black Panther takes a break from the established pattern of the Marvel Action series, and instead of starting a new story line that will go across three issues, acts as a stand alone piece.

The main plot for issue four centres around T’Challa taking part in Exchange Day, an event that comes around every 10 years in which the king of Wakanda secretly trades places with an average worker so that they can get a feel for what life is like within the nation. It’s basically Black Panther Undercover Boss.

T’Challa goes to work in the vibranium refinery, one of the more important industries in the whole country. Unfortunately, his visit there takes a turn for the worse when he discovers that one of the foremen is corrupt, and abusing his position to both torment the workers, and to steal vibranium.

There isn’t a huge amount of action in this issue, and the one fight that does ensue when T’Challa confronts the corrupt refinery workers is over pretty quickly. But then this isn’t really a story about a superhero. Instead, issue four focuses on the fact that T’Challa is first and foremost the ruler of a nation, and as such has bigger things to focus on than costumed crime-fighting.

However, the issue also makes T’Challa seem like something of a foolish king. He assumes that because he is living well then the rest of the country is. Yes, he knows that not everyone is living in a palace surrounded by wealth the way he and his family are, but he still believes that everyone has a good life. The refinery visit acts as something of a wake-up call for him, and makes him realise that there’s actually a lot more for him to learn and to be aware of.

There’s not much more that can really be said about the issue, as there’s nothing here that feels like it’s going to be playing into any kind of larger story, or be part of any kind of long term character growth. The end of the issue seems to neatly wrap a bow around T’Challa having learnt from his experience, so it doesn’t seem that his continued change as a king will really come up again. It could be that the next story line will deal with social upheaval and the poorer classes rising up in protest against their ruler – but it just doesn’t feel like that’s the route the writer is going down.

This is the first issue to feature a new creative team, with Vita Ayala replacing Kyle Baker as writer, and Ariana Florean taking over art duties. Ayala has written for the character of Shuri in the past, so has some experience in the Black Panther toy box. And even though this issue didn’t excite me greatly, I’m very eager to see a black woman getting the chance to write these amazing black characters.


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Alien: Prototype by Tim Waggoner - Book Review

'When an industrial spy steals a Xenomorph egg, former Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks must prevent an alien from killing everyone on an isolated colony planet. Venture, a direct rival to the Weyland-Yutani corporation, will accept any risk to crush the competition. Thus, when a corporate spy "acquires" a bizarre, leathery egg from a hijacked vessel, she takes it directly to the Venture testing facility on Jericho 3.

'Though unaware of the danger it poses, the scientists there recognize their prize's immeasurable value. Early tests reveal little, however, and they come to an inevitable conclusion. They need a human test subject...

'ENTER ZULA HENDRICKS. A member of the Jericho 3 security staff, Colonial Marines veteran Zula Hendricks has been tasked with training personnel to deal with anything the treacherous planet can throw their way. Yet nothing can prepare them for the horror that appears--a creature more hideous than any Zula has encountered before. Unless stopped, it will kill every human being on the planet.'

Alien: Prototype is the latest entry in the ever expanding Titan Books Alien universe, and much like those that has come before it, it brings an excellent level of quality and creativity to the story. I imagine it can sometimes be hard to come up with an Alien story that would manage to feel new and interesting, after-all, the nature of the titular monsters means that it's hard to add agency or character to the antagonists, and a lot of Alien stories are variations on monster loose on a ship/station/colony. Tim Waggoner, however, has managed to create one of the most interesting and uniquely creative variations of the Xenomorph I've ever seen.

Tying in to Dark Horse Comic stories such as Aliens: Defiance and Aliens:Resistance, as well as previous Titan Books novel Alien: Isolation, the story here follows the character of Zula Hendricks, a former Colonial Marine who has made it her mission to destroy every Xenomorph in existence.

Set between the events of the Dark Horse Comics, before Zula eventually reunites with Amanda Ripley, Alien: Prototype sees Zula taking a break from her mission to kill aliens, having taken a job with Venture, a rival company to Weyland-Yutani. She's taken on the job of training up the security personnel at The Lodge, a research and development facility on the planet Jericho 3. Chiefly designed to develop new colonisation tech, the The Lodge also has a biological research facility, where one of their scientists has just received an alien egg.

The initial set up of the story, of a shady corporation having received an alien specimen to study is fairly standard fare in the Alien universe, but it's what happens to the Xenomorph from that point that makes this story truly stand out. The scientist in charge of studying the Xenomorph uses a colonist that's had a history of agreeing to medical trials to play host to the creature. This is a slight difference already, as these kinds of stories usually involve the corporations kidnapping people and implanting them against their will, so the idea of having someone agree to a 'medical trial' without knowing what that means for them is actually kind of a fun twist. However, it also adds a wrinkle to the alien's development.

The man who signs up to the experiment has previously been infected with cellular necrosis, a highly infectious disease that eats away at the victims body. Thankfully, the trial led to a cure for the disease and the man survived. But, this means that the virus is still in his system, and this ends up incorporated into the Xenomorphs biology. We've seen that the hosts can affect how the Xenomorph develops in the past, the dog/ox alien in Alien 3 being a prime example, but this might be one of the most unique and creative variations. The Xenomorph has the cellular necrosis as a major part of its biology, giving it a diseased look, and covering it in large barnacle like pustules that are able to shoot out acidic black goo that infect people with the disease. The alien is also able to cough out clouds of spoors from its inner mouth that are able to transmit the necrosis in an airborne manner. This alteration of the Xenomorph leads to the characters dubbing it the Necromorph.

As I said earlier, it can be hard to make the alien stand out as different in these stories, and it's often the setting or human characters that add variation, but that's not the case here. Here, Waggoner has created one of the most stand out aliens I can think of. This isn't the same kind of creature but with a funny shaped head, or that runs around on all fours instead of two legs; this is a Xenomorph that has entirely new instincts, that struggles between its desire to create more of itself and use humans as hosts, and its desire to spread the virus. It's one of the most daring and creative changes to the alien I think I've ever seen. And I absolutely love it.

It's not just the new Necromorph that's great, however, as the human cast of the book is brilliant too. Zula is, as always, a great lead character. A former Colonial Marine who ended up severely wounded on her first mission, she's a woman that has had to not only fight the Xenomorphs, but her own disability too. As someone who is disabled, and lives in near constant pain, I really appreciated having a character who has to deal with similar issues as the main focus. Yes, Zula has had operations to help repair the trauma she suffered, and gone through physiotherapy, but she's still living with the pain left over from her injuries, as well as the psychological scars it left her. Add onto that that she's also a woman of colour and she might be one of the best protagonists in the entire Alien universe.

Of course, not everyone in the Alien universe can be as good and noble as Zula, otherwise there'd be no evil corporations looking to exploit the Xenomorphs. Here we get three characters that really capture the despicable and self centred nature of the mega corporations in the Alien universe. Tamar Prather is a corporate spy who's responsible for getting Venture the alien egg to begin with, but her own greed leads her to get herself killed. Aleta Fuentes is the woman who runs The Lodge, agreeing to allow illegal and unethical experimentation, and tries to lie and manipulate her way out of any blame that could come from higher up in the company. And Millard Gagnon is the scientist who is willing to do anything it takes to get the results he wants, even if it means sacrificing innocent people in the name of 'science'. All three of them are horrible people, though for different reasons, and you'll find yourself routing for them to end up getting killed during the course of the book.

Alien: Prototype is not only a great addition to the Titan Books Alien series, but a bold and unique addition to the whole Alien franchise. It does something with the alien creature that hasn't been done before, and is brilliantly creative. It has great human characters at the centre of the story that you'll be rooting to see live, and some who you'll be eager to see meet a horrible end. This is the perfect novel for any Alien fans.

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Terminator: Dark Fate – Ranking the Terminator films

Originally published on Set The Tape

The latest Terminator film is hitting cinemas soon, bringing series veterans Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Linda Hamilton together once again to fight a whole new host of robotic baddies. But before jumping into this new entry, we thought that we’d go back and rank the rest of the series!

5. Terminator Genisys (2015)

Terminator Genisys was supposed to be the start of a whole new trilogy of films, but thanks to some awful reviews it failed to be what it wanted to be, despite being the second highest grossing entry in the franchise.

It sees the Terminator timeline that fans are familiar with get messed up when more Terminators travel back in time and alter Sarah Connor’s (Emilia Clarke) past. Instead of having a normal life she was raised by a T-800, and is already being hunted by a T-1000 when Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) travels back to help her.

Thanks to messing with the preexisting mythology of the series, some casting that fans didn’t find particularly great, and major plot twists being shown in trailers, fans found very little to enjoy about the film.

4. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Following the events of the second film, John Connor (Nick Stahl) has been living off the grid in Los Angeles following his mother’s death. Because he’s left no trace of his whereabouts for Skynet to be able to trace. the machines send a new, female Terminator (Kristana Loken) back in time to eliminate people key to his future resistance cell. John ends up getting dragged back into the fight and must find a way to survive the coming Judgement Day.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines had a hard time being seen to be a good film thanks to trying to appeal to a broader audience, incorporating comedic moments into the narrative and going for splashy spectacle over horror. The result is a Terminator film that feels like it’s aimed more towards a teen audience than adults, where it struggles to create an identity for itself. Though not a bad film it does feel like a distinct drop in quality when compared to others in the franchise.

3. Terminator: Salvation (2009)

Terminator: Salvation has its good points, even though a lot of people seem to hate on it. It took the bold step of setting the story within the apocalyptic future of the Terminator-dominated world – the only film in the franchise to do so. It showed a John Connor (Christian Bale) who was still rising up the ranks of the Resistance to become the leader we know he’s destined to become. And it made the Terminators scary again.

Other than the first film in the series the Terminators had become less frightening over the course of the films, thanks in large part to having good Terminators standing up against them. This film showed audiences how scary the machines could be. We had bigger, bulkier Terminators stalking the wasteland, covered in bad rubber skin. They made loud mechanical noises when they moved, and they were really, really hard to kill. This made them so scary.

The film also gave us the scene when John Connor had to go up against a T-800 that looked like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fight that reinforced how bad the humans in the future have it when a single Terminator is so difficult to combat. Unfortunately, there are some plot elements that let the film down a little, and prevent it from being higher on this list.

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a hell of a movie. It flipped things on their head by making Arnie a good guy (something people really didn’t see coming), upped the ante in both action and special effects, and gave us an amazing female action lead in Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor.

The story explored the future war with the machines in ways that the original film didn’t, and introduced some new elements to the mythology – the most obvious being the liquid metal Terminators. The T-1000’s would become a firm fan favourite, and a staple enemy that the franchise would come back to again and again, as well as pushing the technology available at the time to its limits and helping to pioneer new special effects.

1. The Terminator (1984)

The original, and still the best in the franchise for one simple reason: horror. Where the other films in the series became sci-fi action films, the first film was very much entrenched in the realms of horror. The unstoppable killing machine that will always be hunting you and can’t be hurt is absolutely terrifying. The film manages to capture this tone and keeps the pressure on throughout, giving audiences an intense and suspenseful movie that doesn’t let up.

The film also helped to make Arnold Schwarzenegger a star, and to establish James Cameron as a director to watch out for. Without The Terminator, not only would we not have the entire franchise, but we might have missed out on James Cameron’s other movies, Arnie might have struggled further to become a star, and special effects technology mightn’t have been pushed. Not only the best film in the series, but a hugely important piece of cinema.


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Titans Season One – 5 Teen Titans Stories To Check Out

Originally published on Set The Tape

The first season of Warner Bros television series Titans has just been released on DVD and Blu-ray, meaning a whole host of new fans get to experience the exciting live action version of the Teen Titans. The series has some great stories, but the characters have been around for decades in the comics, and there are loads more stories that fans can experience. Here are five of the best.

Teen Titans: A Kid’s Game

Geoff Johns is a legend in comic books, and one of his stand out series was his 2003 Teen Titans run. The first big relaunch of the book since the Wolfman and Perez run, the book brought back series mainstays such as Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg in new modernised versions, as well as bringing new additions like Tim Drake’s Robin, Cassie Sandmark’s Wonder Girl, Super Boy, and Bart Allen’s Kid Flash.

The first volume of the Johns run, Teen Titans: A Kid’s Game, tells how the team comes together for the first time, the dissolution of the Young Justice team, and how the older Titans fit in with their new teammates. A brilliant introduction to a run that would last for years, with Johns working on more than 50 issues.

Teen Titans: Titans of Tomorrow

Another great entry from the Johns era Teen Titans: Titans of Tomorrow pits the young heroes against older versions of themselves. After travelling to the distant future to help the Legion of Super Heroes the Titans accidentally end up 10 years in their future, where they encounter more violent versions of themselves. In this timeline Connor has become Super Man, Tim is the new gun-wielding Batman, Cassie is Wonder Woman, and Bart has become Reverse Flash, just to name a few of the changes.

It’s always fun to pit heroes against different versions of themselves, and ‘what if’ futures are great scenarios that let writers explore strange new territory, and Teen Titans: Titans of Tomorrow is a great example of both. The characters get to see where their actions could lead them in the future, and it moves their story forward in important and meaningful ways. Plus, the future versions of our heroes are brilliantly entertaining.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

Taken from the classic Marv Wolfman and George Perez run on the book Teen Titans: The Judas Contract was a four part story that was extremely significant for a number of reasons. The book revealed the secret origins of the Titans villain Deathstroke, a villain that would go on to become an icon of the DC Universe. The Judas Contract also revealed the shocking revelation that the teams new member, Terra was actually working for Deathstroke to bring down the team from within. It also marked the first appearance of Dick Grayson as Nightwing.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract was a huge turning point for the series. It was full of content that was considerably more adult in tone than things that had come before, and made big changes to the book going forward. Adapted a number of times over the years in both tv and film animation, and revisited in future comic stories, it remains on of the most important Teen Titans stories of all times.

The New Titans: Who Is Donna Troy?

The original Wonder Girl, Donna Troy was a founding member of the original Teen Titans line-up in the 1960’s, and originally Wonder Woman’s younger sister. Over the years, thanks to various revisions and new writers Donna’s origins became less defined. Who Is Donna Troy? sought to shed some answers on her past.

A sci-fi epic that’s full of world building, noir detective stories, and interpersonal conflict all designed to bring Donna to the fore and make her a character with a solid back story. With Donna Troy proving to be on of DC’s more popular recurring characters, and her character’s inclusion in the series, Who Is Donna Troy? may be one of the more important Teen Titans stories around.

Teen Titans: Earth One

A standalone graphic novel, Teen Titans: Earth One takes readers to a world where there are no super heroes. No Batman, no Superman, no Wonder Woman, and no Teen Titans. In this world a group of teens suddenly develop strange new powers, and are drawn together to help save a strange alien princess. Featuring brand new versions of Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Terra, Jericho, and Starfire, writer Jeff Lemire creates a Teen Titans that couldn’t exist in the regular DC Universe.

With a second volume that expanded upon this initial concept, and introduced even more re-imagined Titans, Teen Titans: Earth One is a bold new direction for the super hero team. Fans who liked the television series revamp of the team will love this other reinterpretation.


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