Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #2 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The second issue of Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader’s Castle continues to recreate some of the best tropes of horror fiction, tackling giant monsters in a very fun, slightly silly way.

The stories continue on with the mystery that’s been building, with Darth Vader’s attendant Vaneé continuing to collect sacrifices for his ritual. It now seems like his gaze may have shifted from Milo Graf to his sister Lina, who has been having nightmares of her brother trapped inside Vader’s castle, calling for help. Knowing that she can’t get to Mustafar on her own, Lina asks Mon Mothma to help, but Mothma refuses to give her a ship. This results in Leia advising Lina where she can find a competent smuggler and pilot who can get her where she needs to go.

Anyone expecting this to be Han Solo obviously didn’t pay enough attention to the cover, as Lina finds herself going to Jaxxon T. Tumperakki, everyone’s favourite rabbit man. It’s here that we discover that Jaxxon, like the Graf siblings, has been having nightmares, and he recounts his tale. Now, this is where the issue gets pretty ridiculous, as Jaxxon describes a dream where Chewbacca is transformed into a giant monster and starts to trash the planet. It’s silly, it’s over the top, and probably one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen in Star Wars, but I honestly loved it.

Where last issue we had a zombie story, this one we get a love letter to the classic kaiju movies, and it’s so wonderfully weird. Chewie becomes this giant creature and causes havoc, destroying settlements and terrorising the regular sized folk, so just like with kaiju movies they need to send another giant monster to fight him – by making Jaxxon into a giant monster too. It might make zero sense, but it doesn’t have to. This is just a nightmare that Jaxxon had, and it’s a ton of fun to read so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this.

Much like the first issue there are two different artists working on this book. Francesco Francavilla once again provides the art for the ‘real’ parts of the book, those that are actually taking place outside of the dreams. Just like the first issue, his art has a frantic, messy style to it that suits the tone of the story. But I was also pleased to see just how well he’s able to capture the likenesses of certain characters too. For example, I instantly knew Leia was in a scene even before anyone called her by name because he captured her face wonderfully, without having to change his style in any way.

The dream sequence parts of the book feature a different artist than last issue, with Derek Charm providing the line work and colours. The difference in art styles is less jarring here than in the first issue, and they’re similar in a lot of ways. But whilst the art in the first issue’s nightmare was supposed to capture the creepy feel of a zombie film and was quite simple and realistic, this art goes a little bit more cartoonish. This works brilliantly with it being a nod to giant monster films, which were always a bit goofy, a bit childish, and often bright and in your face.

With more hints at a bigger plot forming, more characters coming into the story, and some brilliantly fun moments this is a great issue, and one that is continuing the energy and excitement of the first issue. With a small preview of the next issue at the back seeming to hint that we could be getting swamp monsters next, this is quickly turning into one of the best Star Wars comics around.

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Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth – Documentary Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Whenever the subject of pregnancy comes up there’s a chance that comments will be made about what things would be like ‘if men could get pregnant’. People joke that men couldn’t handle the pain, that the changes would horrify them, or that if men had to go through it it’d be a lot easier as they’d go out of their way to make it a better process because it’s no longer something that only women can go through. The thing is, men can get pregnant. Men can give birth. And Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth gives viewers an insight into this reality as it follows journalist Freddy McConnell as he gives birth to his son.

Freddy is a trans man, and as such has the capacity to become pregnant if he wants to. With him entering his thirties, and after a long contemplation, he comes to the conclusion that he wants to start a family of his own, and the best way of doing that is to give birth himself. No pregnancy is an easy process, but this is even more difficult for Freddy, who has to begin by stopping his hormone replacement therapy. Stopping this process allows Freddy’s periods to start again, meaning that he can become pregnant; but it also comes with some negative side effects. We see quite quickly how the change in his body chemistry changes his outlook on things, how he instantly feels less himself, more feminine, and how this brings self doubt, and depression along with it.

Whilst this film is focusing on Freddy’s pregnancy, this moment offers a great insight into how some aspects of gender dysphoria work; how something as simple as the wrong hormone coursing through your body can affect you. For the most part Freddy doesn’t seem to change that much, you still look at him and see a man, yet he feels that’s not true. He feels like his body is reverting, he feels like he’s not getting to be himself anymore, and you can see how much this hurts him, even if it is something he has to go through to reach his end goal.

This isn’t the only hurdle that Freddy has to navigate though; simply being a pregnant man brings with it so much more hardship thn you’d first think. Freddy has to go through all of the pain and discomfort that anyone who’s pregnant has to deal with, but there’s a sense of isolation and loneliness around him because he’s not a woman going through this, and that sets him apart from others. There’s a moment in the film where his family gather together friends and relatives to tell them of his pregnancy, and the people there are trying to be supportive, yet they keep talking about ‘pregnant women’ and ‘women who have babies’.

There is a moment in this scene where everyone around Freddy is chatting and laughing with each other but he’s there in the middle of it, silent, looking withdrawn. It seems that these people, who do support and love him, talking about women’s maternity clothes and if he’d be called dad rather than mum, seems to isolate him further; that it reminds him his pregnancy is something that is making him isolated from the vast majority of other pregnant people.

This sense of having to do it alone is further compounded when Freddy’s partner CJ decides that they no longer want to co-parent with him, and backs out of the process. There’s also a point where Freddy reveals to his father via email that he’s pregnant, and going to be a dad, because he’s too afraid to do it in person due to how he expects his father to react. Considering that shortly after this we see Freddy in tears over the response from his father you can’t help but understand why he never had that discussion with him in person. But it’s not all loneliness for Freddy, as every step of the way his mother is with him.

Freddy’s mum in one of the best things about this documentary. She supports her son completely, she’s there to hold his hand as he goes for his first scan, she’s helping him prepare his home for his son, and she’s beside him as he gives birth. There’s an interview with her in the film where she describes Freddy and what he’s going through as being one of the the most amazing things in the world, and how in awe of him she is. This is a parent who loves her child completely, who is there for him every step of the way; the kind of parent every trans person deserves to have in their life. Put simply, she’s wonderful.

Putting together a film like this isn't easy for several reasons. The story of Freddy and his journey takes place over a long period as he works his way towards getting pregnant; and then has to give birth to his son. It could also be easy to fall into tropes around trans documentaries that whilst probably don't come from a bad place, kind of lead to a film that feels exploitative; like the subject is there simply to be something of a sideshow attraction. Luckily, director Jeanie Finlay is not only an incredibly accomplished filmmaker, but clearly a decent human being. She manages to craft this story not only into one that is easy to follow and where you don't feel for a second that Freddy is being exploited, but one that pushes the reality of trans pregnancy and the challenges that come with it into your face, forcing audience members to have to confront their own preconceptions and misinformation. In the hands of a lesser director this wouldn't have been done half as well as it is here.

I know that – with how much hatred there is for trans people in the world right now; with how constant the attacks against us are; and how people are actively fighting to take our rights and protections away from us – there will be people who look at this film and scoff. They’ll say that it’s ridiculous, that men can’t get pregnant, that Freddy isn’t a man, or that trans people shouldn’t be allowed to have children. But they’re wrong. They’re completely and utterly wrong, and I don’t believe that anyone could for a second watch this movie and say that Freddy isn’t a real father, that what he did wasn’t amazing, and that all people like him not only deserve support but should receive the utmost respect for what they do.

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Plainer Jane #3 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Plainer Jane continues to follow the dual life of Jane, a young woman trying to find her way in the world as she splits her time between her studies as a student nurse, whilst also living her dream of being a killer for hire.

A lot of this issue focuses on Jane and her ‘regular’ life, and we spend a good amount of time with her and her best friend, Kat, as they perform their duties in Manchester Hospital. In the previous issues there was definitely a sense that contract killing was really the only thing that Jane wanted to do, and that any career she’d choose as her day job would really only be to pretend that she was living a normal life, as well as paying the bills between killing gigs. And this definitely seems to be the case here.

Kat is passionate about the work, she’s trying her best to learn what she can, to do what’s asked of her, and to be kind to the patients around her. Jane, on the other hand, really doesn’t seem to want to be there. She’s annoyed that her job is basically collecting urine samples, cleaning up bodily fluids, and generally being something of a dogsbody. These aren’t glamorous parts of the job, and no one would really enjoy them, but it really seems more to be that this just isn’t the right place for Jane. The way she talks to the husband of one patient really exemplifies this, as she basically tells him his wife isn’t going to recover and he should just let her die. Not exactly great bedside manner.

We also get an insight into what Jane has been doing in her other job during this section of the book, as people discuss the recent increase in gang related killings around the city. This leads us nicely into a small scene where a couple of criminals meet up to discuss the situation, with one clearly higher up in the chain making some very clear threats to his underling to get things sorted. A hooded figure is watching over this from the other side of the bar, and messages Jane information about it.

It would seem that Jane has been getting some repeat custom from this man, being hired multiple times to kill various members of this criminal enterprise. It’s not clear in this issue who this might be, or why they’re doing this, but it’s something that I’m looking forward to finding out, and it adds a layer of mystery to the series. Is this someone from a rival gang wanting to kill off competition? Someone in that gang wanting to kill off people so they can move up the chain? Someone who wants to see the criminals gone because they oppose crime? Or is it a rogue cop doing whatever they can to get rid of crime in the city? There are a ton of possibilities, and it feels like this is going to be a central narrative going forward, which was something the series felt like it was missing in the first two issues.

The art for the issue continues the trend as in issues one and two, with very clean black and white illustrations with minimal background details or shading in order to make the characters and what they’re doing stand out more on the page, with the only colour being used being splashes of red here and there. There are a couple of exceptions to this, however. At the beginning of the issue the art style – by Donna A Black – is completely different, taking on a full colour, painted style that’s a vast contrast to the rest of the work.

There’s also a small section at the end of the issue, a kind of back-up feature called ‘How Jane Met Kat’, that’s drawn and coloured by guest artist Guiseppe Sabe Di Stefano. This part of the book is also in full colour, but unlike the colour section provided by Black, feels a lot more comicbook-like in the sense that it still looks hand drawn, though with a style and look that makes it clearly very different to the rest of the issue.

This feels like it’s the most developed issue of the series so far, with some insights into Jane and Kat, as well as it feeling like a major narrative thread that’s going to last a while has begun to make an appearance. I’ll be interested to see where things go next for our young contract killer.

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Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader’s Castle #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The release of this new series of Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader’s Castle feels very fitting as we begin to make our way towards the Halloween season, as this latest story in the Star Wars universe sets aside the science fantasy to embrace the horror of a galaxy far, far away.

Set after the fall of the Empire and the death of Darth Vader, readers once again return to Vader’s fortress castle on the fiery planet of Mustafar, as the spirit of Vader, or what’s at least claiming to be the spirit of Vader, instructs his attendant Vaneé to perform a ritual to gain revenge on those who have wronged him. Now, you’d probably expect the target of Vader’s revenge to be someone like Luke Sywalker, but no, instead we find ourselves checking in on Milo Graf on Orchis 2.

Having not yet read the previous Vader’s Castle titles I was unaware that the Graf family made appearances in those books, but as someone who read the Adventures in Wild Space series it was great to see Milo, Lina, and CR-8R showing up here.

It’s whilst searching through the remains of the Graf Library that Milo recounts a strange dream he had to CR-8R, a dream where he was the Jedi bodyguard to a Republic senator. Thus begins the main bulk of the issue, a dream sequence/possible flashback to the Clone Wars, as Anakin, Padme, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Jar-Jar Binks investigate the planet Rubinero after all contact with it was lost.

This is where the spooky elements of the book jump up a few notches. We’d already had some great, creepy stuff so far, but it’s during this sequence that we see our heroes having to fight through what is essentially the Star Wars version of a zombie outbreak. As you can guess from the cover and the title of the comic, it involves some kind of infection spreading through droids, turning them on people. If that isn’t bad enough, it doesn’t seem to be isolated to just mechanical beings, putting even more horror into things as the infection tries to take over living people too.

This is a great section of the comic, and seeing Anakin having to cut down C-3P0 with his lightsaber because he’s trying to kill him is a shocking and brutal moment, though not as shocking as the droid coming back together in a mass of tentacle-like wires as he gets back up to try and kill his creator yet again. There are some genuinely scary moments here, and some shocks that feel well earned, as characters we know and love are left fighting for their lives in one of the most horrific moments in any Star Wars media I’ve ever seen. And the issue ends on two shocking moments that made me genuinely angry I didn’t have the next issue because I needed to know what happened next.

Cavan Scott has crafted an incredibly good horror yarn here, teasing a sense of unease across the first few pager, before shifting things radically as we enter the dream/flashback that builds its own tension in a very different way before suddenly turning full horror. This isn’t the first time that Star Wars has done horror, ‘Legacy of Terror’ from the second season of The Clone Wars and the Death Troopers book are two great examples of this, but this might be one of the best done.

The artwork really works well for the spooky feel of the story too. Francesco Francavilla provides the art on the sections of the book that are set in the present time, taking place on Mustafar and Orchis 2. His art style is somewhat messy, with thick, bold lines that look like they’ve been drawn with a bit of speed. For example, the straight lines haven’t been drawn to look perfectly straight, and you can see wobble as if they’ve been drawn freehand. This, along with the darker colour pallete, and the sickly colours used give it a very primal look, almost like a nightmare where the details might be missing, but the atmosphere is one designed to make you feel ill at ease.

In contrast to this, Megan Levens and Charlie Kirchoff provide the art of the dream/flashback section, and it has a completely different style to the rest of the book. The line work is a lot neater, with thinner, more precise lines, and the colours make it all feel very muted and adds to the idea that this was Milo’s dream. It makes it stand out from the rest of the book, and works to show that thematic difference, as well as having some brilliantly detailed horror moments too.

Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader’s Castle is a great start to the new series, one that sets a great tone, has a ton of atmosphere and a story that I’m desperate to find out what happens next in. If you’re one of those people who discounts the Star Wars Adventures series as ‘just being for kids’ you’re doing yourself a massive disservice by not grabbing a copy of this.

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Godzilla Rivals: vs. Mothra – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The latest entry in the Godzilla Rivals series sees the titular king of monsters taking on the queen, Mothra. Whilst it made sense for the series to begin with Hedorah, what with it being the 50th anniversary of the film on the month of release, it was only a matter of time before Godzilla and Mothra ended up together in this series of one-shot comics.

The issue follows investigative photo journalist Mima Kinjo, who’s been stationed with the Japanese Self-Defence Forces at Kanoya Air Force base. Whilst sitting in on a meeting she hears a report about a mysterious giant glow beneath the waters of Lake Ikea. Whilst several of the soldiers laugh this off as a drunk sailor telling stories, the Admiral swiftly orders them them to sink charges into the lake and destroy whatever’s inside.

His eagerness to bomb the area catches Mima’s attention, and she decides that she’s going to have to find out what’s in the lake before the JSDF destroys it. Thanks to her history with diving she’s more than able to head into the depths of the lake, but she’s unprepared for what she finds. Shackled to the bottom of the lake is the giant monster known as Mothra, wrapped in chains stamped with the JSDF insignia. Returning to the base to confront the Admiral, her plans are disrupted when Godzilla arrives on the scene, heading towards a populated area. Knowing that Mothra might be the only thing that can stop the giant lizard, Mima heads back into the lake to free her – but will her actions save the day, or cause even more destruction?

The main focus of this story isn’t the monsters. It’s the people. And it’s especially Mima who matters here. In fact, she’s the only character in the story who even gets a name. Even the Admiral, a major figure in this tale, only ever goes by his rank. Because of this we get a good sense of who Mima is, we learn about her past, we see what motivates and drives her, and we come to understand why she’s willing to risk unleashing another monster in the hopes that it could save the day. She’s a surprisingly strong and well defined character for one that we only get to know for this one issue, and it really speaks to the strengths of Mary Kenney’s writing. Even the unnamed admiral gets a good showing, with the two of them getting ample room to grow and develop over the relatively short forty pages.

Despite the big focus on people there’s also a lot of action across the issue. When Godzilla finally arrives on the scene there are some great moments of him fighting against the military. We get to see him destroying naval vessels as well as aircraft as he storms his way through populated areas. A lot of these sections are delivered without dialogue or narration, and they work really well because of this. The reader is left to take in the carnage and the destruction that this creature causes without the distractions of words getting in your way. And by the time that Mothra arrives on the scene to combat Godzilla you’re worked up to the point where you’re desperate to see the titular creatures clash.

The art on the issue is provided by SL Gallant, Maria Keane, and Adam Guzowski, who provide the pencils, inks, and colours respectively. The team work well together, and deliver a worn and lived in feeling world. It feels like regular people in the regular world, without over the top designs or bright colours making it feel fantastical in any way. This really helps to convey the human elements of the story, and allow it to feel grounded. Though this does change once the monsters arrive on the scene and things take on a more spectacular feel. The colours are bolder and more vivid, and the panels feel tight and up close as the action takes place, putting you right into the thick of things. The team are also wonderful at capturing the spirit of both the monsters, and they look absolutely fantastic throughout.

Godzilla Rivals: vs. Mothra is a great love letter to giant monster movies, as well as the titular monsters. It feels like a ton of care and attention have gone into the project to ensure that it feels like part of that universe, and I’m sure any fan will have a blast reading it.

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X-Men Destiny – Throwback 10

 

Originally published in Set The Tape

The X-Men have been one of the most popular parts of the Marvel Universe since their creation, and over the decades that popularity has continued to grow. At one point Marvel was running the risk of going under completely, and it was thanks to the dozens of X-Men books printed per month that the company was able to continue. With how popular this slice of the comics are it’s kind of shocking that there has never been a really great X-Men game. This was something that developer Silicon Knights tried to rectify in 2011 with X-Men Destiny, but sadly fell far short.

The game, originally released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, and the Nintendo DS, doesn’t have you play as any established X-Men character. Instead, players take on the role of one of three characters that begin the game attending a peace rally/memorial to Professor Xavier, who was recently killed. There’s Japanese school-girl Aimi, who is the closest Jubilee fans will get to play as her; Adrian, who’s part of an anti-mutant hate group; and Grant, who plays football. If these character descriptions seem vague don’t worry, they don’t get the chance to develop at all.

Whichever character you choose they find their latent mutant powers activating when the rally comes under attack from the anti-mutant cult The Purifiers. This is where you get another choice, of which powers you want to take on. There’s super strength, speed, or energy projection to pick from, each of which can be upgraded and altered over time as you play and unlock different upgrades. From here you have to fight your way to safety, meeting a handful of characters from both the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Come the end of this first mission you get to choose which faction you want to join up with.

Before the game’s release there was a lot of talk about how player choice will matter in X-Men Destiny, how your choices affect the game, and how each player would be able to craft their own experiences. Whilst I suppose it’s true that which character you pick, which power you go for, which upgrades you use, and which side you join do add a lot of variables, it by no means makes for big moments of player choice that alter the game in any real way. In fact, most of the game is very similar no matter what you choose.

You get sent to the same places, get given the same mission objectives, and the story advances in the same way no matter what choices you make, with the only real difference being who gives you your orders, and some tiny dialogue changes that don’t mean anything come the end. Perhaps Silicon Knights were trying to be too ambitious in their story, penned by comic writer Mike Carey, but at least they could make the game play good to make up for it, right?

Sadly, no. The game ends up being nothing more than a button masher, with players having to engage in uninspired and dull combat over and over again against waves of ever more pointless enemies. There are a few boss fights thrown into the mix, with a few of them actually being quite enjoyable – but then I’m not sure if they were really any good, or just good in comparison to the rest of the game.

The graphics of the game were also something of a letdown, with many outlets at the time comparing it unfavourably to games from the previous generation. There are blocky character models, badly made animations that make everything look stiff, dull and flat environments, and explosion effects that could have come from the PS1.

It’s a shame that the game was as bad as it was, not just because as a fan of the X-Men I was hoping that the game would meet the hype that was being built around it, and that we’d actually get a decent X-Men game. The biggest part of the disappointment was that this was yet another failure for Silicon Knights, a company that had shot to acclaim with titles like Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, two absolutely amazing games. But thanks to this and the huge failure that was Too Human, it seemed like Silicon Knights’ time had come to an end.

And it seemed like others felt this way too, as thanks to a lawsuit with Epic Games, Silicon Knights were made to destroy all games they’d produced using code from the Unreal 3 Engine, meaning that Too Human and X-Men Destiny were removed from digital storefronts, and all unsold copies recalled and destroyed. Because of this, both games have become something of rare finds on the pre-owned markets thanks to the destruction of the unsold units and the initial low sales. As such, if you come across a copy on your travels it’s going to be a rarer find, though probably not one you’d want to pick up to try out.

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Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone - Book Review

 

'There are monsters in the world. When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumours about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.

'There are monsters in the woods. As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…

'There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name. Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unravelling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.'

Lakesedge is a darkly Gothic fantasy romance filled with queer characters and strange magics, making it a good read for the Halloween season.

The story follows Violeta Graceling, a young woman who has been living with a surrogate mother, along with her younger brother Arien, since her parents died when she and her brother were young. Whilst it's great that she and her brother have a roof over their heads rather than having to survive on the streets it's not perfect for them, especially because of the strange magic that Arien seems to control. Whenever Arien has nightmares, which seems to be a common thing, dark shadowy magic flows from him. His surrogate mother being a good godly woman sees this as a connection to Lord Under, the god of darkness and death, so hurts Arien whenever this happens.

Violeta has spent years trying to prevent her mothers anger from causing serious harm to her brother, as well as trying to keep it hidden from the rest of the village. Everything seems to change, however, during the most recent tithe when the local lord, Rowan Sylvanan, comes to town. The young Lord is a figure of fear for the locals, due to rumours of him having drowned his entire family in the lake beside his stately home. Rowan sees the magic that Arien has, and decides that he wants to take him back to his estate with him.

Trying her best to prevent this, Violeta finally has to accept that she can't keep Arien at home; but she can still try to keep him safe. As such, she makes Rowan agree to take her along too. Arriving at the estate, Violeta and Arien discover a dark corruption has overtaken the lake, turning its waters black. With the corruption threatening to spread and harm more of the world Rowan wants to try and use Arien's magics to help combat it; but they don't have much time left before the corruption becomes unstoppable.

From pretty early on in the book there's a lot of set up for stuff to come, promises of big stakes, frightening confrontations, and world building; but after Violeta and Arien reach Rowans estate things slow down a lot; which is odd considering how quickly the book moves. In the early parts of the book the story is being set up to be a very dark story, something closer to horror than anything else, and Rowan is a big part of this too. He's described as being a monster, and Violeta absolutely hates him when they first meet. And whilst he does come across as grumpy and rather uncaring it quickly becomes apparent that he's actually a decent guy; albeit one who doesn't like to explain himself much, which leads to more than one occasion where Violeta storms ahead and makes a fool of herself.

I was expecting Rowan to be a figure that took a long time to figure out, that he was going to be closer to an anti-hero more than anything else, but at some point all of the parts that made him seem like a much darker and more mature figure just fell away. What was left after this was a love story between him and Violeta that should have resulted in the two of them ending up together a lot sooner than it did. 

The reason there were issues with the two of them, and the book on a whole for me, was Violeta. Violeta is a hot headed character. She thinks she knows best and doesn't expect that anyone else can do as well as she can, even when its a situation where she has little knowledge or expertise. For example, when she believes that she's found a solution to solving the corruption she goes ahead and acts without talking to anyone else, despite all those around her having more knowledge and experience, and her actions putting herself at serious risk. This tends to be what keeps her and Rowan apart a lot off the time, as every time they come close to getting together she ends up doing something impulsive and reckless. I know that we're supposed to have characters that are confident, even if they're not competent, but there were times when Violeta went beyond reckless into plain foolish.

I also think the pacing of the book didn't help with my struggle to connect with Violeta too, as there are large sections of the book where we skim over days and weeks of time to jump to the next major event. Whilst I know we can't follow every single moment of these characters lives and have to focus on the important parts it did feel like we were missing out on a lot of development, especially in the interpersonal relationships. In one chapter Violeta would be somewhat guarded towards another character, keeping them at arms length because they didn't quite trust them, whilst the next they were good friends who spent time together and confided in each other. The little moments between these two states, where we could have seen these bonds forming were missing, and as such I felt little connection to the characters beyond being pieces of the story.

It's a shame, as there was a lot in the early parts of the book that I liked, things that are present throughout the entire novel yes, but that felt only half done by the end. I enjoyed the story for what it was, but I didn't feel much for the characters that inhabited it, and think that if we'd have been given more time with them, more time to see relationships grow and develop, I might have come to love the book.

As it is, I enjoyed Lakesedge, and found it to be a perfectly fine fantasy story with some interesting ideas and some great queer representation, but it just failed to grab me and excite me in big ways. Hopefully this will be something that changes in the second book, and I'll end up coming to like the series more.

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Silent Hill 2 – Throwback 20

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Whilst Resident Evil has come out on top of the survival horror genre there is another game that has long been a close competitor, a series that might not be as big, and might not feature as much action and adventure, but in many ways is a lot more frightening, and pushes the horror part of survival horror: the Silent Hill series.

Following the critical success of the first game, as well as the fact that it sold enough units to enter the ‘Playstation Greatest Hits’ line, a sequel was quickly put into the works for the new horror series. With Konami having little information about the upcoming Xbox and GameCube they decided to focus their attention on crafting the game for the new Playstation 2; this allowed them to bring new graphics and flare to the series, allowing for the team to create a more dynamic and disturbing environment than the first game.

The story of the game had almost no connections to the first, something that was something of a surprise at the time of its release, as many were expecting it to return to the story of Harry Mason. Instead, the game centres on James Sunderland, a man who receives a letter from his dead wife, Mary, claiming that she is alive and well and waiting for him in the town of Silent Hill, where the two of them holidayed together in the past. James heads to Silent Hill looking for answers, but finds a deserted, fog covered town filled with bizarre, nightmarish monsters.

Not long after arriving in Silent Hill James comes across a woman named Maria, who looks exactly like Mary. Maria claims she has no knowledge of who James is, and the two of them work together to get through the town. Unfortunately, a monstrous entity called Pyramid head appears and kills Maria. Despite watching her die at the hands of the monster James later finds Maria alive and well, until she is once again killed by more of the monsters. James soon comes to the realisation that he’s being punished for killing Mary years before, smothering her as she lay dying in hospital, and that the creatures of the town are aspects of his broken psyche come to torment him for his crime.

Whilst the first game in the series dealt with supernatural forces, and delved into the history of the town and explained some of what was going on, Silent Hill 2 takes a very different approach to its story. It’s not concerned with some grand narrative related to the town and the creatures that make it their home; instead focusing on one man’s journey and his guilt over what he’s done in his past. This not only makes the game feel a lot more focused, but it also leads to some interesting development choices too.

There are clues scattered throughout the game thanks to other people that James meets in Silent Hill, also apparently being punished for crimes in their past, whilst the creatures that follow him and try to kill him were all designed to reflect parts of Jame’s subconscious, as well as an element of humanity. One of the most obvious examples of this is the creature that would become the most iconic monster of the entire franchise, Pyramid Head. This tall, hulking creature was designed to evoke ideas of an executioner, one who has come to punish James for his crime and bring justice for Mary. The creature was also, according to artist Masahiro Ito, designed with a rusted, jagged metal head to evoke ideas of pain, as well as sexual frustration that James felt towards his wife as she was dying.

This focus, this care in the design and functions of the monsters was definitely an improvement over the first game, and led to a much more visceral reaction to the scares. And the scares in this game work so well, allowing for the slow build of atmosphere, with disturbing sound effects and strange music creating an ever pervading sense of unease, unlike other horror games that rely on jumps and big moments to frighten the player.

Upon its release the game was very well received, with high review scores from critics and excellent sales figures. The game went on to become one of the most beloved of the series, and was ported to other consoles, as well as receiving a HD re-release a decade later. Possibly one of the best examples of the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 2 is a game every horror fan should make time to try out.

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Cold War Creatures: Four Films From Sam Katzman – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The 1950s was a decade that saw a big shift in horror films. Before this ghosts and ghouls were the predominant fare, with vampires and monsters and other such creatures being tied to the world of the supernatural and the spiritual. However, with the advent of the 1950s, and following the horrific attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a new breed of horror began to emerge; films where science was the cause of the things that frighten us. Cold War Creatures gathers together four such films, all produced by Sam Katzman, that took traditional monsters and added a science twist.

The first film in this collection, Creature With The Atom Brain, took the concept of zombies and added in an element of gangster movies, and a big dose of ‘atomic’ science. Beginning with a lumbering man breaking into a casino to kill the owner and escaping with the money, the film follows a police scientist and his partner as they try to get to the bottom of the case. With witnesses claiming the assailant kept walking after being shot, signs that they possessed super human strength, and traces of radiation left behind, the police come to the conclusion that atomic science is behind things.

The plot of Creature With The Atomic Brain (1955) is pretty laughable. A criminal using a mad German scientist to reanimate corpses with atomic science in order to get revenge on the men who betrayed him is somewhat farcical; yet the film plays it completely straight, and you  have to give it a lot of credit for that. The super strong walking dead are also quite enjoyable, resulting in some spectacular scenes of carnage and destruction as they terrorise the city.

Next up in the set is The Werewolf (1956), a new take on the classic monster. Whilst the Universal Monsters had helped to shoot the werewolf into popular culture over the years it had become something of a joke; due in large part to it appearing in films such as Abbot and Costello Meet The Wolfman (1948). This film, in contrast, treats the titular monster as a figure to feel sorry for. Rather than being a monster out to harm people the werewolf is a victim of science; a man in a car accident who is experimented on by scientists trying to find ways for humans to survive a nuclear holocaust.

The werewolf is left to be hunted by the frightened townspeople, as well as the scientist who experimented on him. This poor amnesiac man is hunted like the animal people think he is, and is driven to transform into a monster because he’s not given the chance to do anything else. It’s a pretty sad story, one that puts unscrupulous science as the villain. The werewolf effects are pretty well done in this film too, and whilst it doesn’t have some of the great miniature work that other films in this set have, there are some great set pieces for viewers to enjoy,  especially the final moments of the film.

The Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) is probably the most traditional of the films presented in this set, and doesn’t really feature any science gone bad. The story is set in Africa, where a ship carrying a fortune in diamonds has long since sunk into lake Mora Tau. Over the years various treasure hunters have come to try and claim the fortune, but have all met violent deaths at the hands of the zombies that protect the prize. We follow the latest group of treasure hunters as they come to try and claim the fortune for themselves.

The zombies in this film very much follow the traditional zombies of old, undead workers who have been raised through some form of voodoo or dark magics. Unlike other films in this genre, however, there isn’t anyone controlling the zombies, and instead they’re more of a force of nature, appearing whenever they need to protect the diamonds. This feels like a fun old adventure movie, and the scenes set underwater are a lot of fun, especially when the seaweed-clad zombies stalking their way across the bottom of the lake as divers attempt to secure their prize.

The final film in the set might be one of the best, though not because it’s of better quality. The Giant Claw (1957) is the Sam Katzman take on a giant monster movie, and thanks to some goofy, low budget effects it’s an absolute delight. When a mysterious, huge UFO begins destroying aircraft, a team is set up to look into the phenomenon. However, they soon discover that this isn’t some form of aircraft, or enemy missiles, but instead a giant alien bird. Protected by a force-field of antimatter, the creature is invulnerable to all kinds of conventional attack, leading our heroes to have to turn to science to try and find a solution.

The titular Giant Claw monster is, if I’m totally honest, absolutely awful looking. Instead of looking like a deadly, alien bird it looks like crazed, googly eyed half plucked chicken, flying through the with a wobbly neck and a rubber beak that never stays the right shape. It’s so ridiculously bad that it’s enjoyable, and helps to make this a more memorable film than if it had better effects. There is a lot of fun model work in this movie though, with the creature ripping apart buildings in New York being a particular highlight.

Each one of the films comes with an introduction by author and film historian Kim Newman, who gives insight into the film and the world in which it was created, as well as full feature length commentaries by a variety of film critics, who go into detail about the film, the way it was received, and the impact it had on cinema. Each movie also comes the Super 8mm version of the movie, a condensed 20 minute version of the films that were released for home viewing. In addition to this, each disc has a visual essay, exploring different aspects of Sam Katzman’s work; which come together to give a very detailed and informative look at the prolific filmmaker.

Cold War Creatures is a box set with a lot of content, yet it feels like it’s only scratching the surface of a genre and era of film that’s absolutely fascinating. Anyone who’s a fan of kitschy, schlocky monster movies is going to find something they’re going to enjoy in this set, whether it’s the more serious movies, or the absolutely goofy ones, this set has something that’s sure to satisfy.

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Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – The Monster of Temple Peak #2 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The second issue of Star Wars :The High Republic Adventures – The Monster of Temple Peak starts off with some bold action as former Jedi padawan Ty Yorrick is forced to fight for her life against a vicious Rock Weaver high on Temple Peak mountain.

Picking up right where the last issue left off, our hero Ty has discovered someone else on the mountain with her, some invisible being that has been following her trail. Before she’s able to question them, however, they fall afoul of a huge spider-like creature, leaving it down to Ty to save them both from being killed. Thanks to her experience fighting monsters, and a little help from KL-03, she’s able to beat the monster.

It’s here that we’re introduced to Drewen, a member of the rabbit-like Segredo species, who’s been following Ty on her mission up the mountain. Wanting to learn how to become a Jedi, Drewen has been following Ty hoping that he can convince her to train him; something she refuses to do. As the two of them have to spend the night together to wait out snow something else is stalking the two of them…

The second issue of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – The Monster of Temple Peak doesn’t feel as big as the first one. It’s introducing less, and not as much of the story happens; however, it does feel like we get the chance to know Ty a little better. There are a number of times in the issue that we get to see how her mind works, where she’s confronted with something that relies on her having to make a hard decision. These choices not only give us a good insight into what makes her tick, but also encourages the character to reflect on her past, which gives the reader the opportunity to see some flashbacks to her backstory. A backstory that’s incredibly interesting, and that I hope we get more of as the series progresses.

Despite not having as much happen as the first issue, as issue one packed in a lot of monster hunting and planet hopping, there’s still a decent amount of action packed into the pages. Ty’s battle against the Rock Weaver is an impressive way to open the issue. It’s the kind of foe that we don’t often see Jedi going up against, and she’s forced to have to think fast on her feet in order to get through the encounter unscathed. Much like the rest of this issue I felt like this battle gave us a good insight into the character, especially the abilities and methods she’s picked up in hunting various creatures across the galaxy.

The art in the issue is provided by Rachael Stott, Vita Efremova, and Nicola Righi, and it’s some of the best Star Wars comics art at the moment. The art is beautifully detailed and crisp, with every panel filled with detail. Whether it’s Ty herself, who’s always drawn looking dynamic and strikingly beautiful, or the cold and unforgiving environment she’s travelling through, everything looks fantastic. And the colours, provided by Efremova and Righi, are a big part of this too. The team know when to lave the artwork looking colder and more muted to push home the nature of the mountain, and when to add striking colours to enhance the action scenes and to bring warmth to the characters.

It’s still early days for this series, and it very much feels like Cavan Scott is still setting up all of the important characters for us to follow; yet it’s one of the more entertaining Star Wars comics around, and one of the most intriguing entries in The High Republic we’ve had so far. This issue adds new mysteries to the story, and leaves me wanting to read the next one as soon as I can.

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