Superman #23 - Comic Review

 

Writer: Joshua Willaimson, Artist: Dan Mora, 
Colourist: Alejandro Sánchez, Letterer: Ariana Maher

The first few stories in Joshua Williamson's time on Superman spent time creating some new characters, such as Dr. Pharm, Marilyn Moonlight, and the Chained. It felt like a bold new era for the character that was brining in these new elements, but this latest arc has been a wonderful melding of these new changes and classic characters to create what might be my favourite arc in the entire run. Not only do we have Lois taking a bigger role as a new Superwoman, but we've got Doomsday, big new lore about the Time Trapper, and even the Radiant. Williamson has brought a lot of different pieces together here to create a truly exciting and engaging Doomsday story; something that has rarely (if ever) been done since his first introduction. 

With the Radiant and its army attacking Metropolis in the last issue, demanding that Superman hands Doomsday over to them, things feel at their most desperate here. Clark is fighting side-by-side with Doomsday against the invading forces, and Lois has been snatched out of linear time by the Time Trapper, a far distant future version of Doomsday that can control the flow of time itself. Having previously tried to talk Clark into making a deal with him, Time Trapper is now attempting it with Lois, warning her of the dark future that is close to coming into being that only he can help prevent. There's a moment where it seems like Lois might take the deal, but this is Lois Lane, a woman who's never bowed down to bullies or monsters even when she didn't have powers. Unfortunately, her defiance of Time Trapper leads to tragedy.

Meanwhile, the battle with Radiant and his fleet is raging across Metropolis, with multiple members of the Superman family helping out but unable to turn the time. With things looking grim for the heroes it's time for Lex Luthor to step up and be the hero. After the Lex Luthor special there's some questions as to where he is at the moment mentally, if this is the completely amnesiac Lex, or if this is his villainous side playing a long con, and his actions this issue do little to help clear that up. You could argue that what he does is quite sinister, but his protests that he did it for the right reasons seem completely plausible. I'm enjoying this story for him, and like that Williamson isn't giving the game away yet. Superman Luthor was a favourite of mine, and his time as a hero was a delight, so if we get a good Luthor for a while it's definitely a plus as far as I'm concerned.

As mentioned earlier, there is a moment of tragedy in this issue, and for a while I thought that Williamson was perhaps building up towards a death that would have been absolutely heart breaking. Whilst we avoided that there's no denial that a beloved character has something bad happen to them, and that as a result of that another character may be on a path back to villainy. As someone who enjoys the characters that surround Superman and wants more of a supporting cast featured in modern comics over stories that just centre on heroes and villains I like that this is included here, as it gives this character their own storyline, and seems to suggest that it'll be something that will continue on for a while at least.

The issue ends with two scenes that set up future developments, one of which was hinted at in a previous special issue and that I was expecting to see relatively soon, but the other was a complete surprise as the last two pages hint at huge things not just for Superman but the entire DC Universe. 

What can I say about Dan Mora's art that hasn't been said hundreds of times over by now? The man is one of the best artists in the business, and every panel of the book is phenomenal. He perfectly captures the epic scale and chaos of the action, showcasing the raw power of the characters at play here, as well as filling those characters with some beautifully human moments; some of the moments with Lois at the end of the book are beautiful depictions of someone wracked with guilt and sorrow trying to hold themselves together. I don't think there's a character that Dan Mora hasn't nailed yet, and this book and all of the amazing things he's bringing to life are just a genuine delight.

This is my favourite run on Superman since before the New 52. Williamson is capturing a load of the stuff that I love about the 90's Triangle Era Superman titles with a more modern comics sensibility on top, and each issue leaves me feeling both satisfied and eager for the next.

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Red Hulk #1 - Comic Review

 

Writer: Benjamin Percy, Artist: Geoff Shaw, 
Colourist: Bryan Valenza. Letterer: Cory Petit

A new era has begun at Marvel as Doctor Doom has taken over the planet after becoming Sorcerer Supreme, and it seems that part of his new rule is locking away people who might be a threat to him. One of those people is General Ross, a man who's not just a high ranking US military figure, but is the sometimes hero Red Hulk, a creature as powerful as the Hulk, but with the mind of a cold, calculating soldier. And whilst the Red Hulk getting his own titular One World Under Doom tie-in around the same time that the character is making his big screen debut does feel like it's likely some MCU synergy going on behind the scenes the book is entertaining enough that I don't really mind.

The issue opens with a sequence that shows how this Hulk is in many ways more frightening that the green one, as we see General Ross aboard a commercial flight above North Korea. Ross changes into the Red Hulk, destroys the flight mid-air, and uses it as cover to attack a North Korean facility below; all of this part of a carefully calculated scheme to make it appear like North Korea destroyed a civilian target as the first step to conflict across east Asia. Thankfully, it turns out that the entire scenario was one conjured up by magic. It appears that Doom not only captured Ross to take him off the board, but to use his military mind to help him test out scenarios and plans.

We soon learn that Ross isn't the only 'asset' that Doom has locked away like this, as several others, including Deathlok and Machine Man, begin communicating with each other using morse code. Thus begins a long, careful scheme to break out of the prison that Doom is keeping them in. And this is the main conceit of the book, Doom has captured a number of people and they're breaking out of prison, and Red Hulk is leading that charge. It's a set-up that I like, one that I don't feel like we've really seen too many times before, and with an interesting assortment of characters thrown into the mix too.

It would have been easy to fill these cells with some bigger name characters, for Doom to have somehow captured key heroes from various teams across the world, with people like Captain America or Spider-Man there to be a big name draw. They could even have done a bit of a Secret Invasion twist on things, like having a character such as Iron Man in one of the cells saying he's been there for months, raising questions as to if the Iron Man in the other titles has been replaced with a Doom-bot.

But Benjamin Percy has chosen to take a different route, to make the book feel smaller and more self-contained by keeping Red Hulk as the biggest name and having him team up with some characters who don't get used that often. It leave the book feeling like it's not going to be a huge part of the One World Under Doom story, and as such is going to be freer to do its own thing. It feels like there's a lot of promise here, that the book can go in many different directions, and a big part of the excitement for the next issue is in seeing where that's going to be.

Geoff Shaw and Bryan Valenza do a great job on the art, and there's some really visually fantastic moments to be found in a book that's largely just several people locked in almost empty rooms. The opening sequence is fantastic, and showcases the destructive power of Red Hulk in a horrifying way. 

Red Hulk #1 was a book that I wasn't sure I wanted to read, it felt like it was likely being done because the character was on the big screen, and that it would end up being a tie-in that I'd think little of and not care to finish. However, it's the best thing with the One World Under Doom banner that I've read so far, and I'm genuinely looking forward to the next issue. 

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Absolute Wonder Woman #5 - Comic Review

 

Writer: Kelly Thompson, Artist: Hayden Sherman, 
Colourist: Jordie Bellaire, Letterer: Becca Carey

One of the things that strikes me each time I pick up an Absolute title is the amazing needle that the creative teams seem to have threaded, that they've created characters who feel so different and new, yet also perfectly embody the aspects of the originals that made them so well loved. The Diana that we have in Absolute Wonder Woman could be a completely new character, and out of the three Absolute titles we've had so far this is the one that I could easily see being it's own book; just file off the serial numbers, change a few names and it's it's own indie title. It's the one that I think stands on it's own the most, that has managed to craft something that doesn't need the DC connection to be as good as it is; and that's phenomenal to me because this is still so clearly Wonder Woman.

Issue five marks the final part of 'The Last Amazon', the opening chapter to this new series. As such, readers are expecting the immense threat of the Tetracide to be dealt with here, a creature that has proven to be unstoppable and unkillable each issue leading to now. Diana has tried multiple things, magics and weapons that should spell the end of most foes. As such, it feels a little like Kelly Thompson is going to have a hard time bringing this to a conclusion that feels satisfying. If Diana is able to defeat a monster like this how will other foes be any trouble to her, and why didn't she just use whatever magic or weapon from the beginning?

Luckily, Thompson is able to not only answer both of these questions, but does it in a way that feels in keeping with everything we've had so far and sets an interesting stage going forward. A good portion of the issue is given over to flashbacks to Diana's time in Hell, where her mother, Circe, gives her her most dangerous weapon, something that should only ever be used as a last resort. We see the affect this weapon has on Diana, not in the fight in which she uses it, but in the impact it has on her following this. She describes it as 'cruel', something that Diana would never want to be, and it's only through some soul searching, and advice from a god, that she comes to understand this weapon and why her mother gave it to her. 

I won't spoil what this is, but we later see first hand why she would see it as cruel, and why it's something that Diana should avoid using. Thompson gives us a conclusion that's huge in scale, yet makes it part of Diana's personal journey and creates a great reason as to why we may not see this weapon often, and why Diana can't just fall back on using it to solve all of her battles. And this is very Wonder Woman to me. Her main universe counterpart is capable of huge destruction, she's not been afraid to do bad things to save the world, such as killing Maxwell Lord, but she never relies on that. Cruelty, killing, and the endangerment of innocents isn't what Diana does unless there's no other way to save the day, and she'll be the first in line to take on the pain of having to do those terrible things; and Absolute Wonder Woman is no different in that regard.

The art team continue to create a book that's absolutely stunning to look at, one where the art is as impressive as the writing, and the two of them come together to create a book that feels damn near perfectly crafted. The moments of wonder and action feel huge and shocking, and the more intimate moments hit perfectly, and there's not a single page where you're bored looking at it. Even when it's a page of Diana and Circe talking to each other on the beach the way that the panels are presented to you draws you in, gets you interested, and leaves you wanting more.

The Absolute books were pitched as a new take on the Elsewords concept, of a unified new universe where these heroes and villains would be presented in new and interesting ways. But Absolute Wonder Woman doesn't feel like that. It's not a 'cool look how weird this is' kind of Elseworld, it's not a story that rides on the novelty of being different. Absolute Wonder Woman already feels like a book that's going to be held up as a quintessential Wonder Woman title, a book that people are going to recommend for decades to come. 

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West Coast Avengers #4 - Comic Review

 

Writer: Gerry Duggan, Artist: Danny Kim, 
Colourist: Arthur Hesli, Letterer: Joe Caramagna

West Coast Avengers has been a delightful surprise since it began, with it's unique set-up of heroes trying to rehabilitate villains, and it's interesting team roster. This latest issue expands on two of these teammates in particular as we finally get an explanation as to why Tony and Rhoedy trust the apparently reformed Ultron, and we see more of the PTSD that Firestar is going through after the events of her time with Orchis.

Last issue we learned about 'The One', one of the four different Ultron's that exist now that Ultron has split his personality. The One has started a cult, a Church of Ultron, in which he's transforming humans into cyborgs with super powers. The West Coast Avengers are figuring out how to deal with that threat this issue, as well as internal conflict. And that's the main thrust of this issue, how this situation is affecting the team, and what it might mean for them going forwards. There's no real physical conflict to be found inside these pages, other than a small flashback, yet the book manages to be more entertaining than some of Marvel's recent 'blockbuster' books.

The first half of the issue reveals how Ultron gained the trust of the team's leaders, in a flashback that does seem to make this version of the villain trustworthy. You could argue that this is all a trick, that he played the odds and gambled on Tony deciding to trust him and believe his claims, but for the most part I do want this to be on the level. I'd like for this Ultron be actually want to be a hero, and whilst I know that even if that is the case it'll eventually get undone, I think him honestly trying to reform himself would be a much more interesting and rewarding story than it all being a villain plot.

Firestar, on the other hand, doesn't trust him, even after learning the truth. And for those that read the Krakoa saga that's absolutely understandable. Firestar was put in an awful situation, where she had to go undercover with a group that was actively causing the genocide of her people. A group that was being helmed by an evil AI. It's not hard to see why she can't trust Ultron here, and her reactions of drinking alcohol, lashing out at her teammates, and refusing to see things their way makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that she's been through trauma.

This isn't just a meta reading of the text though, as Blue Bolt outright states this to her, telling her that she's going through PTSD. She denies this at first, but after he pushes the point she starts to see that perhaps he's right, that she may need to work through the trauma that she's still carrying before putting herself into a position where she's expected to go out and save the world; especially if that means having to work alongside, and fight, AI's. This was my favourite part of the book, I adored seeing how Angelica's journey post-Krakoa has been going, and her scenes with Blue Bolt might be the best moments in West Coast Avengers since the first issue. It feels like it's going to be a long journey for her to get to a place of healing, but when comics often ignore older stories in order to tell new ones the fact that it's been carried across this way is a delight; but considering that Gerry Duggan told that previous story it's not that surprising that he's still interested in exploring it here.

The book looks great too, and the art team of Danny Kim and Arthur Hesli do some great stuff throughout. The small action beats in the flashback look superb, and you get a great sense of the scale of destruction that happened in that moment. The new look for the heroic Ultron is pretty cool too, and has some very classic comic sensibilities to it that go well with Tony and Rhodey's armours at the moment. They also do a great job at humanising Firestar and Blue Bolt, both in showing her pain as well as his weirdly infectious joy in moments where you genuinely believe he's a decent guy underneath his gruff exterior.

I've said it before, but West Coast Avengers is a book that took me by surprise, but is by far my favourite Marvel team book at the moment, and I hope that it gets the attention that it deserves.

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Doctor Vampire - Blu-ray Review

 

Some of the best horror films throw a little bit of comedy into the mix, things like Shaun of the Dead, Dog Soldiers, or An American Werewolf in London immediately come to mind. And it's not an easy thing to do, go too far one way and it's either a silly movie with horror themes, or a horror movie with some very out of place jokes. Out of those two, I find the first to be the best, a movie that's so silly that it becomes hard to actually see it as a horror film, but you're having way too much fun to care. This is exactly the kind of movie Doctor Vampire is.

Vampires were a popular brand in Hong Kong cinema thanks to the success of Mr Vampire, a movie that spawned a number of sequels and knock-off's over the coming several years. Whilst few of these managed to capture much of the magic of the original Mr Vampire (still one of the best vampire movies made in Hong Kong) there were ever increasingly creative attempts to win over fans of the genre; and Doctor Vampire might be one of the best examples of this.

Beginning in England, we meet Dr Chiang Ta-Tsung (Bowie Lam), who's in the country for work. When his car breaks down on a country lane he goes looking for help and arrives at a castle that houses what looks like a tradititional early 90's pub. What makes it stand out, however, is the very sexual nature of the staff and customers, and it becomes clear to the audience that Chiang has stumbled into a brothel. What's less obvious, especially to him, is that it's run by vampires. After Chiang thinks he saves a young woman named Alice (Ellen Chan) from an angry customer, he gets taken upstairs and thanked for his heroics with a steamy night of passion in which he loses his virginity.

Back in Hong Kong, Chiang returns to the hospital where he works and tells his two best friends that he finally had sex. The three of them, the worst doctors in the hospital, have to keep the information quiet from Chiang's girlfriend May (Shiela Chan), who works in the hospital as a nurse. However, when Chiang begins to feel strange, unable to eat his favourite garlic dish, needing sunglasses when out in the daylight, and being drawn to buy himself a cape, his friends begin to suspect that he's becoming a vampire; a suspicion backed up when they discover that he was bitten in his private area during his steamy night with Alice. Meanwhile, in England Alice's master, the Count (Peter Kjaer) discovers a taste for Chiang's blood by drinking it through Alice, and sets out to get more of it.

One of the things that makes Doctor Vampire stand out against some of the other Hong Kong vampire movies is that it forgoes that traditional Jiangshi (hopping vampire) and focuses instead on the western vampire in a collision of traditions and cultures. This is illustrated in a couple of scenes in the film, where Chiang is considering what life might be like if he completes his transformation into a vampire. He questions how he should move as a vampire, hopping out of the room with his hands raised, and later in the story his two friends buy him a costume that makes him look like a Qing dynasty official (the traditional look for the Jiangshi). There's even a Taoist priest who arrives for the final battle, his talismans and vampire killing sword at the ready, but with the enemy being a western vampire this ends up being pretty useless, and he ends up locked inside a freezer for the rest of the finale.

Doctor Vampire embraces a lot of the tropes of the western vampire genre, including putting romance as one of the central themes. Despite her having bitten him, Chiang begins to fall in love with the vampire Alice; and she him. His love for her and his transformation into a vampire is a big part of the narrative, and whilst there is the added wrinkle that he's cheating on his long term girlfriend, a lot of this plot ends up being kind of sweet. The cruel, ancient count who's trying to get between them has shades of Dracula, whilst being far enough removed that you'd never accuse the film of being too inspired by it.

Where Doctor Vampire excels, however, is when it's not taking itself seriously and leans into the sillier parts. Chiang and his two friends are the worst doctors in their hospital because they don't do enough operations, so we get a sub-plot of them doing unnecessary operations on patients to get their numbers up, such as a circumcision to cure a headache. The farcical moments like Chiang lurking around in a cape, or a nurse thinking his friends are fellating him in the staffroom are so ridiculous that you can never take the film seriously, but are fun enough that you can't help but be a little bit charmed by them. A lot of the time the film feels more like a comedy that just happens to have vampires in it than any serious attempt to be a horror movie.

If you're not looking for a very serious movie, one that's more interested in giving you a fun experience over the small things like a plot that makes complete sense or internal consistency, Doctor Vampire is a film that offers that. How many movies have a vampire who looks like he raided a fancy dress shop shooting lasers out of his eyes whilst flying through the air, or heroes that get inexplicably transformed into Buddha powered warriors by a statue? Doctor Vampire might not win any awards, but it certainly kept me entertained throughout, which I can't always say for every film I see.

The new release from Eureka Entertainment has a brand new 2K restoration of the film, which compared to some old clips of it that I've seen might make this the most visually impressive version of the movie that you'll be able to get your hands on. The new audio is also really crisp and sharp, and sounds fantastic throughout. Alongside the film there's the usual audio commentaries, featuring returning names Frank Djeng, who does a solo commentary, and another with Arne Venema and Mike Leeder. For those familiar with Eureka's usual Hong Kong movie releases you'll know the kind of commentary tracks to expect here, and both offer interesting additions to the movie. There's also an interview with Stacey Abbott, author of Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death in the Modern World, and Vampire Slaying 101: Remixing Monster Traditions in Doctor Vampire, a new video essay by gothic scholar Mary Going who goes into the marriage of eastern and western vampire myths present in the movie. 

As with previous Eureka releases, this new Blu-ray offers fans a wonderful way to experience the movie, with crisp video and audio quality, and a load of extra features that gives you a reason to dive into the film a couple more times. Doctor Vampire might be an unusual entry in the Hong Kong vampire film catalogue, but it's one that's loads of fun.

Doctor Vampire is available on Blu-ray from 24th February 2025.

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Ultimate Wolverine #2 - Comic Review

 

Writer: Chris Condon, Artist: Alessandro Cappuccio, 
Colourist: Bryan Valenza, Letterer: Cory Pettit

One of the things that I like more about this new Ultimate Universe over the first one is that whilst there's a pretty varied style across the board, and most of the books are doing their own thing, none of them have been bad, and certainly so far none of them have been incredibly objectionable. There have been some big changes, the world is so unlike the one we know that entirely different nations exist, and some well known characters have died already, but it's not as bad as a racist Captain America, incest twins, or heroes being eaten alive. But if there's one title that feels like it could possibly come close to entering that territory it's Ultimate Wolverine; but unlike those examples, the book has so far managed not to feel nasty or meanspirited.

The first issue of Ultimate Wolverine introduced us to this world's version of Logan, who had been through the same adamantium infusing experiments as the 616 version, but had also been programmed into this worlds Winter Soldier. This is a Logan who has yet to escape being a weapon, and is being used to hunt and kill anyone who opposes the rule of the Rasputins and Omega Red. We saw this in the first issue where he was sent to kill an Opposition cell, including two of their mutant leaders, Mystique and Nightcrawler. This is what I mean by this book has the potential to be like the worst parts of the old Ultimate Universe, because right from the start Ultimate Wolverine has shown it's not afraid to kill characters in horrible ways. But whilst things such as the Blob eating the Wasp felt like they were done for shock sake, here at least it feels like it fits.

We see that even more this issue, a world in which killing, cruelty, and darkness feel right at home. From the opening pages where we see the Maker creating the world he wants, to the Rasputin's torturing Logan, and the throwing away of loyal subject's lives in order to perform a test; the cruelty feels baked in, and as such it means that the brutality this series delivers doesn't feel as jarring, even though it's more extreme than what we'd see in the main 616 universe. The first issue of Ultimate Wolverine felt like it was creating the tone, but this issue shows us how that tone works, how the Eurasian Republic operates from the top and gives us insight into the twisted machinations that take place in the background.

As with the first issue, the art on the series is impeccable, and suits the tone wonderfully. Cappuccio and Valenza create some absolutely beautiful moments in this book that most pages had at least one panel that had me stopping for a moment just to pour over how good it looked. The scenes in the forest were beautifully crafted, and captured the desolate, cold atmosphere in ways that almost had you feeling the chill. The art works well in moments of violence too, where you see just enough that you can feel the visceral, animalistic nature that Logan brings to his killing, yet it never feels overly gory or gratuitous. It manages to walk that line between dark and disturbing incredibly well.

Ultimate Wolverine, like much of this new universe, feels like a slow burn story, one that's not just carefully crafting these characters but the world they inhabit, allowing the reader to get a little more each issue rather than presenting everything up front. It's an approach that's working incredibly well for this title so far, and has quickly elevated this book to my most anticipated Ultimate book each month.

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Boom Bandits: The Complete Saga - Graphic Novel Review

 

'In Scarcity, you can't trust anyone over the age of 40. For Pixie and Freydank, life expectancy is low and regularly disrupted by immortal elders from neighbouring Methuseland. When a small act of mischief forces them to flee their home, they discover a forgotten relic that - if unleashed - will smash the status quo and cause potential anarchy between the two cities.'

When people say the word comic most would hear it and think of superheroes, folks with powers and bright costumes who rush in to save the day against equally as strange villains. However, British comics are a very different animal, and those who grew up in the UK would be more used to seeing characters like Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, or the ABC Warriors on the shelf of the local newsagent over someone like Superman or the X-Men. British comics are less about larger than life heroes, and more about examining the world around us through a satirical, often grim lens that will create these extreme characters and settings that have more to say about society than you'd first think. Helldunkel Studios new graphic novel, Boom Bandits, follows in this tradition.

Set in a far distant future, Boom Bandits introduces readers to a society divided, a world of haves and have-nots, where the rich tower above the poor un a beautiful city, whilst those without must eek out a hard existence in dangerous, gang filled slums. This isn't too unusual a setting, it's something that has been used in literature throughout the ages to quickly sans easily show a society that's grown corrupt by prioritising the elite. In this world, however, it's not just being rich that sets those above as different, it's also their age. Scar City is home to the Boomers, a group of older people whose wealth has allowed them to access technology that has slowed the ageing process down, allowing them to continue to live a lifestyle where they have access to all of the resources, and the younger people are left to rot in a world where the excess of the older generation has left it almost impossible to survive, let alone thrive. Can you see the social commentary yet?

Just the name of the book, Boom Bandits, hints at the kind of story it's going to tell, where the Boomers are equated to criminals, bandits who have stolen the world from those that have come after. They've taken the healthcare for themselves, they've got the best homes, they're protected by the best security and police forces, they can eat whatever they want, do whatever they want, and all the while they look down on those who are different from them as little more than dirty, violent, and criminal. Those who've been left behind, who survive in the ruins of the world left to them by the selfish Boomers, live in a society dominated by gangs and violent culture, mainly as there's not enough to go around anymore, and so those that live in the slums must fight to even get by.

It's here that we meet a pair of Boomers who've come to tour the slums are part of a vacation, who see the younger people and their literal fight to survive as something to be entertained by, treating the people as an attraction, barely considering them human, referring to them as Guttersnipes. When the technology that protects them from being harmed fails some of the locals express their dislike of the system by violently attacking the Boomers, something the earns a violent response. Not ones to get their own hands dirty, the Boomers send in their security forces, the Youthanisers, a third class of cybernetically enhanced people that 'protect' the Boomers and their interests, but are little more than state sanctioned killers. 

When one of the Youthanisers attacks people in the slums, killing anyone it can find, not caring if they're engaging in any crime or if they were part of the attack that spurred this on, a young girl named Pixie ends up in an underground vault that's home to an old mech from the Tech Wars. This silent young girl is somehow able to connect with this machine, seemingly with her mind, and uses it to battle the Youthaniser. Thus begins a war between the Boomers and the youth of society, one where survival itself hangs in the balance, and with the promise that society itself will forever be changed by the outcome.

It's not hard to see the subjects that Boom Bandits is tackling, but like with all good satire it's done in such a way that you get from this what you want to take away. You can read the book simply as a story set in a fictitious future where gangs are fighting back against an oppressive system with little more to it than just being a decent sci-fi story; but if you want to you can go deeper, you can see the social commentary about generation inequality, crime, police brutality, and other topics. Boom Bandits has a lot to say, but it doesn't preach, it allows the reader to find these things on their own and trusts that you're smart enough to see what's being done here. And even if you're not, you're probably still going to have a good time reading it anyway.

Boom Bandits moves at a pretty brisk pace, and it likes to get the reader from important point to important point as quickly as possible. As such, it can sometimes feel like the story is moving a bit too fast, and there are times where I came away wanting a bit more space to explore this world and the characters a little more before the next big set piece of story beat was hit. That being said, enough time is spent with the characters that the few really important ones get fleshed out enough that you can understand their motivations, you feel a connection to them, and you feel bad when some of them don't make it to the end. Other characters, particularly some of the older Boomer characters, don't quite get the same treatment, and come off as a little cartoonish in their villainy, but this may be intentional, as it does help towards showing this 'upper' class as a faceless, detached mass, one that feels less individual and more of a system of oppressors. 

The art, also by the book's writer Bruno Stahl, looks absolutely fantastic. I have to be honest, the first time I read Boom Bandits was as individual issues for the first two parts of the book, and I read these digitally. I enjoyed the art at the time, but I honestly didn't connect with it as much as I did now having the physical book in my hands. The black and white art looks so much better on paper than it does a screen, and where before I may have felt that it needed a little something more to feel fully finished and realised now it just works for me. I loved the art on the book, and even once I was finished reading I'd find myself flipping through it several times, just soaking up the images. Digital comics may be more common now, and often easier to get than physical books, but as far as I'm concerned the best way to experience Boom Bandits is with the physical book in your hands.

Boom Bandits is a book that I enjoyed more as a complete, physical package, so if you missed out on the individual issues and have been holding out for the complete collection this new graphic novel will more than satisfy you. If you like British comics, and are a fan of 2000AD this book will feel right at home for you, as it feels like it was ripped right out of the pages of that publication (in the best way possible). I can't wait to see what Bruno Stahl and Helldunkel Studios gives us next, because this book was an absolute joy to read.

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V/H/S: Beyond - Blu-ray Review

 

The V/H/S franchise has been going on for over a dozen years now, and has been through a number of changes across that time. I remember watching the first one when it was new out and thinking that it was a decent horror anthology, showcasing some low budget min-movies that were clearly made with a lot of passion, even if not a lot of money. As time has gone on, however, the films have become more successful, and the budgets have increased, and the seventh entry in the franchise might be the most impressive looking one yet, with some slick effects and and big ambitions on the screen.

As with previous V/H/S films, V/H/S: Beyond has a framing narrative. In the past these have on occasion been the reason for the other films that we've seen, such as in the first film where someone is literally watching the short films. This time the framing device is simply another film, split into parts and scattered throughout the other pieces, constructed as a documentary movie about a specific incident of a supposed extra-terrestrial encounter. 

This segment, 'Abduction/Adduction', is written and directed by Canadian documentary maker Jay Cheel, and comes across as very believable and realistic, thanks in part to Cheel's experience in this type of filmmaking. Many of the people brought into this segment are semi-famous faces that may be recognisable to people who have some experience watching paranormal documentaries, such as host of Alien Encounters: Fact or Fiction Mitch Horowitz or the Corridor Crew YouTube team who specialise in debunking footage. The segment makes for a nice break between the other films, and the realistic approach to it's presentation does make for a nice framing device as it feels like a small dose of 'reality' thrown at the viewer to break up the more fantastical moments you're moving between.

'Stork' is the first main segment of the film, and was perhaps the one that I enjoyed the most, simply because it felt like a mash-up of movie and first-person video games in the best way. 'Stork', Directed by Jordan Downey, with a script from Downey and Kevin Stewart, follows a group of specialist police officers named W.A.R.D.E.N., who are investigating a case of several missing babies. The latest member of the team, brought on for their first mission, is tasked with filming events and acting as an observer, getting to see what the others do. After having a tip that the missing kids have been taken to a creepy old house, the team heads in for answers, but find horrors waiting for them instead.

Those watching the film who've had experience with first-person perspective horror games will find 'Stork' very familiar, and there are a number of points during this section where I had to remind myself it wasn't actually a video game. It has a great mixture of action and violence with creepy horror that made it one of my favourite parts of the film. The creatures that the cops find waiting for them feel like regular zombie-like entities at first, but as things progress they become weirder and scarier, to the point where I'd loved to have seen more of it. 

The second chapter is 'Dream Girl', written by Virat Pal and Evan Dickson, and directed by Pal. Set in Mumbai, the story focuses on paparazzi videographer Arnab (Sayandeep Sengupta) and his slightly bumbling assistant Sonu (Rohan Joshi), who are sent onto the set of a new film starting the biggest sensation in Bollywood, 'Dream Girl' Tara (Namrata Sheth). Sneaking into Tara's trailer after watching her shoot a dance scene, Arnab discovers something truly shocking about the hit star that will lead to death and destruction on the set.

'Dream Girl' continues something of a tradition in the V/H/S series, of including non-English language movies. I love seeing these included in the V/H/S series as it showcases horror filmmaking from around the world; which is something that I enjoy a lot of. I've seen a lot of East Asian horror, and some Spanish horror, but this was my first foray into Indian horror, and it was really cool to see. It's not often that you get a horror film that includes a Bollywood dance number, and it made this part of the movie stick out as something pretty unique and interesting. It may not have had some of the best effects work in the movie, but I think that it'll end up being a pretty memorable segment for most people.

'Live and Let Dive', directed by Justin Martinez, with a script from Martinez and Ben Turner, feels like the most ambitious of the movie presented here. Beginning with a group of friends going skydiving for a birthday event, the film begins with our group in the air, journeying to jump height in the back of a small plane. However, when a UFO appears near the plane, and the Air Force engages them with jets, the small aircraft finds itself in danger. A mid-air disaster strikes the plane, and the cameraman is thrown out of the shattered craft. We get a pretty impressive scene of the fall through the air, with pieces of the plane and other jumpers sailing past, as we fall towards the ground below. It's a visually impressive moment, and one that showcases how far the V/H/S series has gone, having begun as very small scale movies and having become mini alien invasion disaster movies.

Once on the ground things only become worse for the lead character as aliens hunt him and his friends through an orange grove. The setting makes for a surprisingly good location for the characters to be chased through, as despite being in broad daylight and out in the open the rows of orange trees make for an oppressive, maze-like environment that the filmmakers put to good use as the monstrous aliens hunt them down. 'Live and Let Dive' has a lot of effects work, from the opening moments right up to the end, and I was hugely impressed with how good it looked considering it's a short, lower-budget movie. It showcases just how much can be achieved with limited resources by competent craftspeople.

The next short film is, unfortunately, the one that clicked the least with me. 'Fur Babies', written and directed by Justin and Christian Long, feels very out of place amongst the others. It's one of two of the films that doesn't seem to have a connection to the overall alien theme, though you could argue that the other on, 'Dream Girl', may have a tangential connection, 'Fur Babies' does not, and feels more akin to something like The Human Centipede or Tusk. The story centres on a group of animal rights activists who learn of a doggy day care centre where the owner has stuffed her old dogs and have decided that she's 'mutilating' animals. It's a big leap to make, though one that is very close to the truth. A few of the group set up a sting operation to catch her out, but end up discovering something terrible in the process.

If you're familiar with the two films that I compared this segment to you're probably able to figure out what's going on in this segment. I don't see any connection to aliens or UFO's, I don't really get why it's been included in this collection over the more loosely defined V/H/S/ movies where you get a broad mixture of stories. It's also, to me, one of the least interesting movies here. You can see where things are going pretty early on, and if you're not into the weird body mutilation style movies it doesn't really offer much to entertain.

The final film is 'Stowaway', directed by Kate Siegel, and written by Mike Flanagan. This segment is a homemade documentary film, made by a woman named Halley (Alanah Pearce), who has travelled to the Mojave desert to talk about the numerous UFO and alien sightings that the local residents have been reporting. Filmed on an old home movie camera, which results in her accidentally recording over her daughters birthday party footage, the film looks very amateurish, and feels like it was from a few decades ago, giving it a very The Blair Witch Project feel that works well here. After discovering some strange lights in the sky, Halley follows where one seems to come down to the ground and discovers an alien spaceship. 

The low quality of the footage and the amateur approach for 'Stowaway' gives this segment a very grounded feel, and helps to hide a lot of the potential imperfections that you'd perhaps come across trying to bring to life the interior of an alien spaceship. It's hard to see things, you get only small glimpses of what Halley is discovering, but that just adds more realism and more mystery to events. 'Stowaway' has an almost tragic feel throughout, both in Halley's reaction when she realises she's taped over a precious memory in pursuit of something others will likely mock her for, and then how her story ends. It's a great way to close out the film, especially as it leads into the final framing segment that has a similar dark tone that rounds out the movie leaving viewers feeling unsettled.

Alongside the film the new Blu-ray release comes with a number of extra features. There are a number of image galleries for the various segments, offering some behind the scenes looks, as well as a set tour with the team from IGN for the 'Stork' segment that gives a really cool look at how this came about, and the location where much of the film was made. There's some pre-visual footage for the 'Live and Let Dive' film that shows some of the special effects work that went into bringing this impressive segment to life, and an audition tape for the 'Fur Babies' segment's key actor Libby Letlow. There's also some timelapse footage that shows how the alien spaceship for 'Stowaway' was made, and some behind the scenes footage of 'Dream Girl' that gives a look at the various aspects of the mini-movie, such as prosthetic work, set building, and dance practice. The extras are a great showcase of the various types of work that goes into making even a short movie, and whilst there's not a huge amount for every movie, there's a broad range of extras gathered from all of them that you come away feeling like you've gotten a great idea of how V/H/S: Beyond was made.

As someone who's enjoyed watching how the V/H/S series has evolved over time, and who likes discovering new filmmakers to follow, V/H/S: Beyond is a great movie. A couple of the segments from this film definitely make it into my list for favourite V/H/S stories, but even those that didn't still left me very impressed, and I adored seeing how much bigger the series feels now, with movies that feel like they've got bigger budgets, bolder stories, and better effects. For fans of the series, and horror fans in general, V/H/S: Beyond is a great addition to your movie library.

V/H/S: Beyond is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital from 10th February 2025.

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Wolverine #6 - Comic Review

 

Writer: Saladin Ahmed, Artist: Martín Cóccolo, 
Colourist: Bryan Valenza, Letterer: Cory Petit

After a few issues with Logan babysitting Leonard, a teenage infected with the Wendigo curse, we've finally gotten back into the main thrust of this first arc, which sees a mysterious infection that's turning people with Adamantium in their bodies into mind controlled killers; as well as turning their Adamantium from silver into a golden coloured metal instead. We pick up with Logan after his fight with Constrictor, Lady Deathstrike, and Cyber last issue, joining him in the middle of a vision that makes him think he's trapped deep under the earth, like Adamantium ore, after having been infected in the final moments of issue five.

Drawn out of his vision by Nightcrawler, it seems that Logan is no longer infected, whether because his healing powers allowed him to fight it off, or the infection chose to let him go, it's not clear yet; but Logan is back in the game and ready to go after his foes. However, they've vanished, leaving bodies and destruction in their wake. It's amidst this destruction that Logan comes across family, as the other Wolverine, Laura Kinney, is in the middle of fighting Leonard. Luckily, Logan is able to stop the fight, and father and daughter are able to team up to continue their chase of their infected enemies. It turns out that Laura has been on their trail too after a group of metallurgists in the UK were killed, leading the two Wolverines to come to the conclusion that anyone with knowledge of how to create Adamantium is being targeted by the infected. 

The two of them are able to track their foes to a facility in Arizona using the Blackbird's tracking system, and head there to continue the fight. Finding even more death, they're surprised when they come face to face with Donald Peirce, the mutant hating Reaver, who's cybernetics are coated in Adamantium, allowing him to be infected too. Joined by the other infected, the two Wolverine's have to fight for their lives; but discover a familiar, ancient face, leading them in a final page reveal that promises some interesting things to come. 

It feels like Wolverine has begun to increase in quality over the last two issues. After a fairly promising start the book seemed to lose a lot of momentum as Logan took a few issues out of the main story to deal with Leonard, something that so far doesn't seem to have added much to the series. Perhaps he's a Chekov's Gun, and he'll end up being important at a later point. The last two issues feel more like what people tend to come to a Wolverine book for though, as we get lots of blood, and action scenes where Logan and Laura fight their way through familiar and fan favourite faces.

The story is still kind of thin, there's some kind of ancient entity called the Adamatine that wants to change Adamantium and make the people with it in their bodies into mindless drones to its will, but that's about it. We don't know what it is, where it came from, or why it's doing this; though the final moments of this issue do give the impression that some kind of explanation will be coming next time. But, what we have here is enough in the sense that it's what we need as an excuse to have our titular hero and his daughter get into some fights. After all, we don't really expect complex, intellectual stories in a Wolverine title, we expect fighting and some Logan angst; and that's what we've been given so far.

The art team, Martín Cóccolo and Bryan Valenza, make some great work, and even if the story isn't to your taste it's hard to deny that the book doesn't look really nice. Everyone looks crisp and clean, character designs are really nice, and you get a great sense of the death and destruction happening around Wolverine as the background details are usually really well crafted. Even when the book felt a bit slow for my liking on previous issues I couldn't fault the artwork, and that continues here with some really great fight scenes and smaller character moments that never leave me disappointed.

After the last page reveal I'm very curious to see what's going to be happening next. It's something of a morbid curiosity as my experience with this character has been in stories that I've not hugely enjoyed, but perhaps Ahmed will change my mind on them and this will be the story that makes me see them as an interesting and impressive antagonist.

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Batman #157 - Comic Review

 

Writer: Chip Zdarsky, Artist: Tony S. Daniel, Jorge Jiménez, 
Colourist: Tomeu Morey, Letterer: Clayton Cowles

I have to be honest, the longer Chip Zdarsky's run on Batman has gone on the more I've ended up disliking it, and this final arc might be one of the best examples for why I dislike it. There are multiple reasons why this issue annoyed me, things such as Bullock being fired from the cops again after just having gone back to them, a lingering question over whether Gordon was mind controlled or not when he murdered the mayor so might actually be a killer, Thomas Wayne having had an affair, Gordon having had an affair. Things that either cast our characters in a poor light, or things happening just for the sake of having them happen to have no lasting consequences (like Bruce maybe having a brother who's taking away his company, but no, he's not really his brother so that whole sub plot was a big nothing).

But the thing that I disliked most was the ridiculousness of the stakes and what Batman does in this issue. The simple (ish) plot about The Riddler messing with Gotham and framing Gordon for murder turned into a global plot by the Russian government to steal tech that would allow them to get the US nukes and start World War III, meaning Batman is now racing to stop a nuclear apocalypse and global war. This leads him to boarding a private jet and stopping the Russian agents, killing one in the process because everyone kills now I guess. However, the jet loses control and is crashing towards Gotham. So batman climbs onto the plane, uses two machine guns and some explosive gel to blow the wings off so it'll fit on the street it's crashing towards. He then lands the wing-less jet perfectly, bringing it down right in front of the villain. Before the jet even stops moving he's dived out of the windows, throwing batarangs to save a woman being hung, and lands whilst hitting the villain in the face. Because Batman can do ANYTHING.

This has been a common theme in Zdarsky's run. We've had Batman literally falling from space and walking away without much hassle, him fighting his way across the multiverse, having to battle an unstoppable robot that even Superman can't beat, stopping World War 3. Batman is a great character when he's a vigilante detective, but Zdarsky seems to want him to be the greatest human that's ever lived who can fell from space, save the world, and do the impossible without any preparation. This run feels like the worst example of the Bat God trope, and if Zdarsky turned around and revealed that it was all a parody of those kind of stories I'd still be annoyed, but at least it'd feel like it made sense.

The art, by Tony S. Daniel, Jorge Jiménez, and Tomeu Morey is superb, and the book looks great, and there are some really great panels here that out of context look like amazing Batman moments. But in context of the story and everything that's happening great art can't make up for a poor story. That being said, if the art wasn't as good as this I dare say I'd have ended up marking the book lower.

I really tried to like this issue, and the entire Zdarsky era, but by the close of this issue all I felt was relief that it was over. The final scene raising the possibility that Gordon murdered a man without mind control and did it in a fit of rage took out any sense of joy of the book at least being over. 

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Absolute Superman #4 - Comic Review

 

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: Rafa Sandoval, 
Colourist: Ulises Arreola, Becca Clay

There's been a shift in comics telling stories about corrupt governments, cruel corporations, and people in positions of power oppressing the regular folk to the point where they've become so broken that violent uprising is the only option left to them. Marvel and DC are doing this in their alternate universe lines of Ultimate and Absolute and it's interesting how these themes are present in both companies at this time; but then I look at the world we're in now and it's not hard to see why we have art like this. The latest issue of Absolute Superman takes a step away from the mysterious new Man of Steel to follow Lazarus agent Lois Lane as she tries to find out more about the mysterious helper of the downtrodden.

Lois' journey takes her around the world, talking to various people that have been saved by Superman, learning more about him, but also more about Lazarus and the people that she works for. We saw a small change in Lois in the previous issue, where she wanted to write her own report instead of allowing the clearly evil Brainiac 'AI' (we know it's totally not an AI) to do it for her. This issue we see this change in her continue, as she strikes out on her own, goes against protocol, and even dismisses the warnings from her father. Perhaps the biggest sign that she's the decent, kind Lois that we know and love is that she beats the crap out of a Peacemaker and arrests him for brutalising civilians, showcasing that despite the massive differences this world has a lot of these people are still the decent, kind people we know.

This issue also introduces us to two of the previously mentioned Omega Men, a group of terrorists/freedom fighters that have been bringing the fight to Lazarus in order to challenge their grip on the world. One of them will be immediately familiar to Superman readers, and it brought a huge smile to my face to see them this issue. The other, Omega Prime, is less obvious, and I think that when the mask comes off it could end up being anyone we know, or a completely new character. Whoever she is, I like her relationship with the other Omega Man, and her design is pretty cool too.

The art is provided by Rafa Sandoval and Ulises Arreola, who make fantastic work. This is one of the coolest looking books DC has on the shelf at the moment, and the style fits the darker, grittier tone that the book has well. The slums and war-torn places that we visit always look great, full of detail that sells the fact that these are bad places, places that you'd never want to find yourself, let alone live in. It's these smaller details that really make the book work for me. Whether it's the workings of General Lane's robotic legs, the cut in half helicopters, or the bulky Peacemaker armour, the book has a very real, tactile quality that I adore. 

Superman isn't in the issue much, despite his presence being felt throughout, but when he is on the page the art team make him feel larger than life, and the depiction of his dust cape remains one of the the more visually impressive parts of the series. This Superman feels so different to our regular one, and even without any dialogue just his presence on the page marks him out as different to Clark.

I'm loving the Absolute books, and each one of them is recreating these iconic heroes in new and interesting ways that feel unique to these titles, yet manage to stick to the qualities that made these heroes last for almost a hundred years. That being said, it does feel like each of the books has their own distinct identity, and they could almost be their own universes. I'm hoping that we get a little cohesion at some point, even if it's smaller details. Show us Peacemakers in Gotham, have a mention of Amazons in Superman, do something that shows this is the same universe, because whilst I'm loving these titles they don't feel like the same world yet, and the longer that feeling goes on for me the weirder it gets.

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