Far Cry 3 – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Far Cry series is one that’s been through some unusual settings over the years. From fairly normal shooter, to dropping the player into the role of a caveman, to 80’s action movie pastiche, it’s done a little bit of everything. But during its early entries it still seemed to be trying to figure out what it wanted to be. The first game put players in the role of a former soldier who gets caught up in a mad scientist’s experiments on a remote island (with the remake having you become one of the experiments), and the first of the sequels putting you in the role of a mercenary in an unnamed African nation in the middle of a civil war, seemingly taking some inspiration from Heart of Darkness.

Despite the tonal differences between the first two games, there was one thing that they had in common: you were playing a character with a history of violence and killing. This seemed to be something that the team behind the new game, Far Cry 3, wanted to explore, as you were no longer put in control of a trained killer, but an ordinary man.

The story of Far Cry 3 places players in control of Jason Brody (Gianpaolo Venuta), who’s on vacation in Bangkok. You get a cut scene that shows Jason and his friends partying, drinking, and having fun, reinforcing that these are just your regular holidaying young adults. When the group go on a skydiving trip they accidentally land on the Rook Islands, a number of tropical islands that are home to a group of pirates led by the vicious Vaas Montenegro (Michael Mando). The group is captured and told that they’re going to be sold into slavery. When they attempt to escape Jason’s brother is apparently killed, forcing Jason to turn to violence to defend himself and escape.

Jason is later rescued by a member of the island’s native tribe, the Rakyat, who sees something in Jason. He gives Jason the Tatau, the tattoos worn by the Rakyat warriors, and encourages him to try and free his friends and stop Vaas. From here players are able to travel across the Rook Islands, taking on Vaas’ men in any way they want, in a journey that will see Jason go from a frightened party boy who fears violence, to a blood-soaked killer.

The story of Far Cry 3 was a big focus for the development team, and they wanted to create an experience that felt different to the previous entries in the franchise. Part of this was done by making the setting much brighter and more vibrant than the second game, more closely resembling the first. The brightness and beauty of the Rook Islands was an intentional decision that they hoped would contrast with the darkness of the story that they were crafting. The team wanted a story that would test the players’ sense of morals, and as such didn’t include a morality system in the game that would chart the players progress, instead wanting this to be something that the player didn’t think about until Jason himself was confronted with it.

There are several times during the game when Jason, who by then will have killed dozens of pirates and killers in order to help save his friends, is confronted by the reality of what he’s doing. His friends will see the transformation in him as he slowly becomes more tolerant of killing, and is even accused of enjoying it. These moments were designed to make the player question the morality of what Jason is doing, and if killing to be a hero makes you any better than the people that you yourself are killing. This story was praised when the game was released, and critics seemed to enjoy the fact that this wasn’t just another shooter that put you in control of a soldier who doesn’t even think about the consequences of their actions, but is directly challenged about them.

To help balance out the questions of morality, the game introduced an incredibly memorable villain in the form of Vaas. Originally designed as a huge, hulking figure, the entire character was redesigned when actor Michael Mando auditioned for the part. Mando delivered such a unique performance that the creative team remade the character to better accommodate him, and his acting. The decision seemed to be a good one, as Vaas quickly became one of the most memorable video game antagonists in history. Not long after the game was released he became instantly recognisable, becoming something of a face of the franchise. A four-part web series starring Mando as Vaas was also released, which only helped to cement his character and performance in audience’s minds.

Far Cry 3 received rave reviews upon release, and had high scores from the majority of publications that praised the story, game design, and experience, saying that it was a huge improvement over the last entry in the series. The game sold well at launch, though Ubisoft would claim that it did not perform as well as they were hoping. Despite this, it sold more than ten million copies, and sat comfortably in the top ten selling games around its release and Christmas.

Thanks to the success of Far Cry 3 the franchise became a hugely popular series, and many of the features that were introduced in this entry would go on to become staples of the series that have been used in almost every game that has come since. Whilst the other entries in the series have done well both commercially and critically, none have really received the recognition and acclaim that this game did, and even a decade later it remains the most memorable entry in the franchise.

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Nightmare at Noon (1988) – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Nightmare at Noon is the latest Blu-ray release from Arrow Video that brings a little-known piece of film history to new audiences, and this time it really does feel like the kind of movie that people perhaps forgot on purpose.

Nightmare at Noon tells the story of the small rural town of Canyonland, an isolated community in the desert of Utah. When the film begins, we witness a pair of mysterious black vans approach the local reservoir, where an albino scientist, played by B-movie regular Brion James, proceeds to fire some kind of glowing green chemical into the water using a fancy gun. Just pouring it in is too simple it seems. Any possibility that they’e working for the water company is put to bed when a local comes along to find out what they’re doing, and they gun him down.

A few days later we encounter a vacationing couple, Ken (Wings Hauser) and his wife Cheri (Kimberly Beck). They are travelling in the area when they stop to pick up Reiley (Bo Hopkins), a hitchhiker. The three of them stop off in Canyonland to grab some lunch, but when one of the local residents attacks the waitress, stabbing her through the hand, Ken and Reiley end up getting involved in a fight that smashes up the diner, and ends up with them literally thrown out into the street. The crazed local ends up shot in the leg, bleeding green, and is arrested.

But this seems to only be the start of the chaos then is to ensue, as other members of the population begin acting violently, attacking anyone they can. Cars crash and explode, parents chase after their own kids with knives, and gunfights break out across town. All of this is being watched by the mysterious albino, who also erects a magnetic field around the town to stop anyone being able to drive out and go for help. As Canyonland descends into violent chaos, Ken and Riley have to work with the local sheriff and his daughter in order to survive the ordeal.

Nightmare at Noon has a fairly simple premise: a town’s water supply is poisoned, and it turns anyone who drinks the water into a violent maniac who has to kill anyone they see.  It’s the perfect excuse for violence and chaos, with action, fist fights, explosions, and guns galore to fill the movie’s runtime. The trailer, which is included on the disc as an extra, seems to sell the movie on this concept, and is packed full of these moments. Unfortunately, whilst the trailer makes the film appear to be a violent action epic, the actual film is much less so. Large portions of the movie are quiet scenes, where the characters talk through their issues and the situation at hand.

This choice of focus ends up being to the film’s detriment, as you end up becoming bored through these quieter moments. None of the characters are particularly memorable or likeable, and the film doesn’t seem to want to spend these moments getting you invested in them. There’s a scene where Ken has to consider killing Cheri, who’s locked in a cell, infected, where he’s breaking down crying at the pressure of the choice in front of him. In most films this would be a harrowing moment, one where you feel truly awful for the character; but here you don’t. It just feels like another scene of padding.

When the action does finally come it often seems little thought out, and other than one or two moments where a fun gag has been included, like a police cruiser crushing a woman, or a flaming man making a van explode, things feel fairly standard – other than every vehicle in town exploding when hit by a slight breeze, that is. This scenario is the perfect opportunity to try something different, to showcase a different kind of action scene, yet it never seems to want to do anything other than play it safe. There are even a few action moments that go on for too long, and begin to stray into boring; something that no action scene should ever do.

Despite the interesting premise, the film fails to really do much, and ends up feeling a lot longer than its 90-minute runtime. It feels as though none of the actors really care about the project, the script is all over the place, and small choices such as turning people green or using a lightsaber sound-effect for a gadget strike as unusual.

The extras on the disc feel pretty bare bones too, and other than the trailer it comes with behind-the-scenes footage, a featurette with the director on the making of the film, and some on-set interviews filmed at the time of production. It’s not very surprising that there isn’t a huge wealth of extra features for a film such as this, but with a lack of commentary tracks or new interviews – as you come to expect from an Arrow release – it feels very light on the ground.

Nightmare at Noon is an odd film that is sure to have an audience out there somewhere, but likely an incredibly niche one. If you’ve been waiting for this film to get a Blu-ray release this is your lucky day, but if you’re an average watcher and are just looking for something to buy from Arrow’s new releases then this might be worth skipping.

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Godzilla Rivals: vs Gigan #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The one-shot comic series Godzilla Rivals is slowly making its way through some of the biggest names in the Godzilla franchise, having brought the King of the Monsters up against Mothra, King Ghidorah, and more. This issue it’s everyone’s favourite cyborg space chicken, Gigan!

As with the previous entries in the series, this issue is set within its own continuity, picking and choosing which parts of the Godzilla mythos to include. In this world it seems like the Earth has been relatively peaceful for a while, with no real sightings of Godzilla in decades. It’s in this peaceful world that we meet Nancy, a computer scientist working in cyber security, and her younger brother Joaquin. Whilst Nancy is out working all day her teenage brother seems to spend his time shut away in the house, playing video games.

The quiet night that the two of them have planned is interrupted, however, when they hear news that Gigan is attacking the Seattle Bay area, and that Godzilla is there trying to stop him. The fight comes with an accompanying transmission from some insectoid aliens, who announce that they’re using Gigan to conquer the world. As Nancy watches on in horror Joaquin refuses to care, focusing on his video games. Luckily, together, the two of them might just figure out a way to help Godzilla to save the planet.

Most of the other issues of Godzilla Rivals have offered something unique: the issue with Mothra was a fairly traditional adventure; the Ghidorah issue saw Godzilla battling monsters in an alien arena; and the Battra one had a message about ecological dangers. Each one was trying to be something different to the others, and had pretty clear identities. But I don’t really know what this issue wanted to be. To talk about it in more depth, it will involve some spoilers.

Over the course of the issue, Nancy learns that the aliens controlling Gigan are feeding him combat data from everyone on the planet playing a certain brand of video games; using the online connection to send Gigan fighting moves. She will eventually use this to help win the day, by hacking in from her living room and ruining the system. This is a pretty unexciting story, and watching a couple of people on their sofa typing on a laptop or playing a video game doesn’t add a whole lot of excitement or awe. The fact that it doesn’t make much sense either doesn’t help. Video games have their moves pre-programmed into them, so just the games existing should give Gigan access to the moves. Yet somehow players doing them allow him to, and when no one is playing the game Gigan just stops. I read through this a couple of times, and still don’t understand how this was supposed to work.

The writer seems to try to add more drama into the high stakes finale of not playing a video game, by continually hammering home throughout the issue that Joaquin retreating into gaming after losing a family member in 9/11. Joaquin refuses to watch the news because he doesn’t want to see more buildings destroyed, and focuses instead on his games and keeps playing. So when he has to save the world by not playing a video game it’s treated as some huge moment full of emotional angst, and it just doesn’t land at all. I’m sure the panel of the game controller hitting the floor, discarded, is supposed to be seen as some huge moment, but it feels almost ridiculous. Well done kid, you helped save the planet with the grand task of not playing a game.

The inclusion of 9/11 in a world where buildings are regularly destroyed and broken down feels very weird too, and it almost feels jarring. It’s like the time Marvel Comics had Doctor Doom crying because of 9/11 like he hasn’t killed thousands of people himself. It’s like tonal whiplash that throws you out of the story. Perhaps in a different genre it would work, but in a Kaiju story a building being destroyed is nothing unusual, and shoehorning a real-world tragedy in like that feels so out of place.

Outside of that, the fights between Godzilla and Gigan are the only parts of the book that are enjoyable to read, and the combat between them is done surprisingly well. The creative team make good use of the versatility of Gigan, having him deploy most of his tricks at some point or another. The art team of Sid VenBlu, and Valentina Pinot make it all look dynamic and action packed, and the panel of Gigan squaring off against Godzilla whilst using an aircraft carrier as a shield was particularly cool.

Overall, Godzilla Rivals: vs Gigan was the first real disappointment of the series. The fight between the monsters was great, but the story and how everything unfolded was borderline ridiculous to the point of almost feeling like a bad parody. Hopefully the next issue in the series will be an improvement.

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ZombiU – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Wii U was something of a strange console when it was first released. There seemed to be little fanfare around it, especially compared to the Wii (and the later Switch), and even as someone who’s into games I knew virtually nothing about it when it hit shop shelves. I’ve met a number of people who thought for a while that it was some kind of add-on controller for the Wii, before learning it was a completely new console. Despite not knowing much about it, one of the things that immediately grabbed my attention was the game ZombiU, as an adult action horror-oriented game on a Nintendo console definitely stood out.

ZombiU is a survival horror game set in London 2012, where a zombie virus has swept through the city, turning most people into the living dead. Armed with whatever they can find around them, the player sets out to try and stay alive, find answers, and hopefully discover a cure before it’s too late. Whilst this may not initially sound too different from the dozens of other zombie games on the market, ZombiU takes a slightly more grounded approach. It’s set in London, so guns and firearms are a rarity in the game, and players will often have to fall back on hand-to-hand combat instead.

The game also tried to set itself apart from other games in the genre by including a perma-death system. If your character is killed by a zombie, which can happen in a single bite if you’re unlucky, your character is gone. You don’t get to reload the checkpoint and try again. Instead, you then take over another character, who is recruited to the cause by the same mysterious figure who was guiding you through the game before. You start back at scratch, though the areas your last character unlocked and secured are still open to you. If your previous character had some good items or a particularly useful weapon on them you can head back to where you were killed, where you’ll find them as a zombie. Killing your old character gives you the opportunity to get your stuff back, though if you’re killed before doing so it then becomes lost forever. Looking back at it, it was a little bit Dark Souls-like in that way.

The game also made use of the Wii U’s new controller system in some interesting ways. The screen was used to control the player’s inventory, where the contents of your backpack would be displayed. But when it came time scan the environment the pad would come into play, with the player physically moving it around and using the central screen. Whenever you used a keypad to open doors you would also use the screen in the controller to do so. In these moments the TV screen would switch from first-person view to show your character doing the task, allowing you to keep an eye on their environment, lest a zombie sneak up on you and kill you. It was a pretty unique and fun system.

Perhaps most strange about this game, however, was that it didn’t start life as a zombie survival game, but as a fast paced, sci-fi shooter that was a spin-off of the Rabbids franchise. Originally titled ‘Killer Freaks From Outer Space’, the game had monstrous versions of the Rabbids, which players would kill with guns. It was much more fast paced and frenetic than ZombiU, and whilst the game was initially received well when it was announced, it was decided during development that it was too fast, and too unsatisfying for players. A massive overhaul was done, and the game pretty much went back to square one, becoming ZombiU.

A large part of the redesign involved the new setting, and London was chosen in part due to the mixture of modern architecture and medieval buildings. And the game utilised both of these kinds of setting across the story. You could fight your way through housing estates, challenge zombies in old Underground tunnels, and kick them into the Thames off scaffolding. But perhaps the most stand out environment in the game was Buckingham Palace. Part of the story involved sneaking into the Palace in search of answers, and players were able to fight through large rooms, killing Palace staff and the iconic Yeoman Warders, better known as Beefeaters. Perhaps the only let down in the inclusion of this location was that it didn’t feature a zombie Queen for you to go up against.

The released game was pretty well received, and had some decent reviews, with most publications giving it high marks. The use of the game-pad mechanics, the perma-death system, and the scariness of the zombies were all praised as highlights of the game, and things that made it stand out from other, similar games on the market. Despite the high praise, the game failed to sell well upon launch, and as a result it became unprofitable, and plans for a sequel were scrapped. Over the years, however, the game has found an audience who appreciate it, and versions were ported onto both the Xbox and Playstation under the name Zombi in 2015.

ZombiU might not be one of the most popular or best selling zombie games on the market, but it’s still an enjoyable experience, in large part because it tried to be different. It offered an experience that wasn’t the same as the big selling names, and the original Wii U release was a unique game-play experience that was lost even on the ports of the game. If you like zombie games and have never given this one a chance, now might be the perfect time to give it a go.

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Andor (Season One) – TV Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Star Wars is well known for its bigger than life aspects: the space wizards, the laser swords, the bounty hunters with jet-packs, the monstrous villains, the huge battles, the spectacle. But when you take all of that flash and flair away, what is Star Wars actually about? I’m sure there are some who would suggest it’s about adventure, or family, and whilst those things are true I think the thing that Star Wars is really about is the dangers of fascism, of evil systems, and about allowing those things to take root.

Those messages are all over the franchise. In the original trilogy the villains’ soldiers were called Stormtroopers, and the Imperial uniforms were based upon those of Nazis. The sequel trilogy told the story of a galaxy that had already beaten back fascism, but had allowed it to take root once more in their complacency. And the prequel trilogy showed how it begins, how it grows in the shadows, how it makes itself look appealing. There’s the famous line of “So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause” that might be one of the most important things George Lucas has written.

This is what Andor is about. It’s not about the spectacle, it’s about ordinary, regular people living under the heel of fascism, and finding the bravery and strength to fight back against it, even if it means their own death. It does this primarily through the character of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), who we first met in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which ultimately saw Cassian die in order to warn the universe of the Death Star. In that film we met a man dedicated to the cause, who had given his life over to stopping the tyranny in the galaxy. He was willing to kill; to do unspeakable things to do it. But the Cassian we meet in Andor isn’t there yet. He’s just a regular man.

Andor is the longest of the Disney Star Wars shows to date, with a first season run of twelve episodes. Almost taking a leaf out of The Clone Wars book, the series is split into some distinct arcs, with a main overarching story throughout. The first three-episode arc introduces us to Cassian when a pair of cops take a dislike to him and stop him in a back alley. Afraid for his life, Cassian kills them, and thus begins a series of events that sees the police coming down hard on him and his town, bringing the full force of their authority with them. Luckily, Cassian gets to meet a mysterious figure called Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), who he’s been selling stolen Imperial tech to for months, and the two of them are able to effect an escape. This sends Cassian out into the galaxy with a man whose mission is to end the Empire, and sees Cassian learning more about the evil that exists out there.

Cassian is, for most of the series, an unwilling participant. He kills a couple of cops because he’s been backed into a corner and thinks he’s going to die. He has to flee his home, leaving his mother and friends behind because he knows he’ll be arrested. He ends up working on a job to steal from the Empire because he’s got no other choice. He’s constantly being pushed and pulled, shoved around, and for the majority of the series he doesn’t get to make his own decisions. And that’s because this entire twelve-episode arc is the story of Cassian finally becoming the man we see him as in Rogue One. It’s a long journey, and at times an incredibly painful one for him, but by the end you really don’t question why an ordinary man would stand up against a fascist force like the Empire.

But Andor isn’t just about its titular character, as is features multiple stories and more original characters than any other series yet. One of the cops who fails to arrest Cassian on his home-world, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), forms an obsession with getting the man who cost him everything (his failure at capturing Cassian getting him fired) and he ends up at the bottom, living with his mother, working a dead-end job, trying desperately to do what he considers the right thing thanks to his devotion to the Empire. Andor does a surprisingly good job at humanising these kinds of characters, and you begin to understand why some people would love the Empire, even if you don’t agree with those characters yourself.

Characters like Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) are a prime example of this. An ISB (Imperial Security Bureau) supervisor, she’s in a high ranking and powerful position. But she’s one of the only women there, and she’s relatively young. As she battles to make her voice heard and to get her point across, you begin to feel for her, seeing her fighting against misogyny in the workplace. She makes a lot of sense, and she’s smarter than most of the men there, but she’s ignored. By the time she’s finally commanding respect and achieving her goals she’s doing so by torturing characters you’ve come to care about. You start off wanting her to succeed, forgetting what that eventually leads to; much in the same way fascism sucks people in with good promises before becoming a force for evil. You’ve been made to see the Empire as human, as individuals rather than a faceless mass, and it forever changes Star Wars for you.

But it’s not just the Empire that gets the focus, as another returning character who gets a decent amount of screen-time is Mon Mothma, played by Genevieve O’Reilly once again. Mothma is still an imperial Senator, but is quietly working in the background, building alliances, shifting money around, and slowly building the foundation for what will become the Rebel Alliance. Her scenes are perhaps some of the most isolated in the show, with the only other characters she interacts with involved in the larger story being Luthen, and her cousin, Vel (Faye Marsay), who’s part of Luthen’s cell. This isolation is intentional, and shows how alone she is in things, how she’s working towards this goal of a free galaxy pretty much alone. She’s perhaps the character who is least served in the season though, and whilst her story is fantastic, she’s the one character I hope gets given more to do in the second season.

Andor features other important characters that weave in and out of the story, such as the inmates in an Imperial prison, several ISB members, Cassian’s mother, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) and his partisans, and a pair of rebels who are the first real, overt queer relationship in the franchise. The series feels alive, the universe lived in and populated. The smaller, recurring characters make the series more fascinating because they’re simple, ordinary people rather than Force wielders, ace pilots, or daring soldiers. Come the end of the season, when you’re waiting for the damn to break, for the spark to ignite, you’re waiting for ordinary people to say ‘no more’ and turn upon the regime that’s trying to kill them.

The final episode of Andor feels more awe inspiring and more inspirational than the vast majority of the franchise because it’s not that far removed from our lives, it’s not something that could never happen. It feels real. It feels personal. Tony Gilroy has crafted a Star Wars story that is going to speak to anyone from a marginalised group, anyone who has experienced oppression, anyone who has seen and gone through abuse of power. Andor puts a lot of reality into this space fantasy franchise, and the result is a story that might be one of the most compelling Star Wars has ever delivered.

The series isn’t just relying on the strong story and amazing acting to impress, as it’s also one of the best looking live-action Star Wars series to date. The Volume, which was used to great effect in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett is missing here, and instead the series takes us to physical locations. Aldhani is a sprawling place filled with hills and valleys, and our actors trek across them without much digital trickery. Cassian’s home on Ferrix is a large, sprawling town that was made for the show. Even Coruscant, which has predominantly been produced via visual effects, is made up from physical locations that the production team went to, with stark, concrete architecture being enhanced with set extensions to add scale only, rather than to produce the entire thing. Andor feels so much more real and alive than any other Star Wars, because for the most part it actually is.

Andor was a series that some fans complained about when it was first announced, asking why we needed to know about this one character from one film who ends up dead. And whilst the series does give that character more screen time, and does give him more depth, it’s not just about that. Andor gives us a realistic look at life in the Empire, at life under oppression. It shows us that the fight against the Empire wasn’t just a handful of heroes, but thousands of worlds, and millions of people doing whatever they could, whether that be small acts of defiance or a full-scale uprising. Andor makes Star Wars feel real and tries to inspire its audience to try to fight for a better world too, and for that, it deserves huge praise.

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Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #3 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

It’s been a couple of months since we had the last issue of Dark Horse‘s Star Wars series, Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories, but the wait seems to have been worth it as the third issue continues to deliver fun and entertainment as we delve into the sequel era.

This issue, written by Cecil Castellucci, takes readers to the remote farming world of Kamil, an agricultural hub in the galaxy. Set between the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, two of the heroes of the resistance, Poe Dameron and Finn, have been sent to Kamil on an important mission: secure livestock. Poe, being the brash kind of guy that he is, thinking that he’s needed for big and important roles, sees the mission as being beneath him. He thinks that his skills and his time are being wasted on this. Finn, on the other hand seems to understand the importance of their task, stating quite clearly that an army needs to be fed.

I liked the way that the characters approached this situation in this issue. We know from the movies that Poe has some issues with authority, despite deeply respecting Leia, and feels like he should always be kept in the loop, or put on the most important missions; and that carries across to his character here. Finn on the other hand, seems to understand the importance of the smaller jobs, perhaps due in part to him essentially being a janitor whilst in the First Order. He understands that you can’t have the big heroes, the important missions, or the victories, if you’ve got no food, no fuel, and no one to take out the trash. He tempers Poe really well in this story, and you really do see how the two of them work much better as a pair than they do on their own; each of them complimenting the other.

To that point, there are probably going to be some people who read this book and come away seeing this as the perfect scenario in some kind of Finn/Poe fan fiction pairing. With a few tiny tweaks it could very much be, with the two of them setting up a homestead not for the Resistance, but as their new life together. There is quite a bit of subtext seeping into this issue that supports the popular theory that the two characters are in love, and they do come across like a couple more than once. So if you’re a shipper, this might be a comic that you want to pick up.

For those not into Star Wars romance, there’s still a lot to enjoy here. The schemes that the two of them come up with in order to try and complete their mission, and the various dangers that brings them into are fun, and some of the best scenes are of the two of them trying their hardest to get an in with some of the local traders in a series of terrible scenarios. The artwork really helps to make these moments enjoyable too, and Andy Duggan and Dan Jackson do a wonderful job at packing the panels with interesting things and cool aliens to look at.

The book looks great throughout, and the art team manage to make Kamil feel busy and lived in. The people that call it home are wonderfully varied, and there are species from across the Star Wars universe who make appearances. Some of the best moments in the book are when you spend some time just taking a look through the backgrounds at the weird and wonderful creatures and see the strange stuff that they’re up to.

One thing that I have noticed in this issue that may be connected to something bigger is that there’s a wookie plushy in it. That might sound strange to bring up, but in the first issue an important MacGuffin was hidden in one, and in the second issue Leia found one in an old shop. Here, Finn gets hold of it, and it ends up being gifted to Rey, who the next issue is about. This could be a tiny thing that’s being done just as an Easter egg, and it might not mean anything; or it could be some big scheme that the writing team are up to, and that the thing hidden in the toy in the first issue is weaving its way through all of these stories before some kind of reveal. Perhaps I’m clutching at straws, but it seems like there could be something more going on here.

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories continues to be an enjoyable reading experience for all audiences, able to appeal to adults and kids alike. This issue captures the characters well, sends them on a fun adventure, and gives the reader a lot of fun stuff to discover.

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Batman vs Robin #3 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

Batman has arrived on Lazarus Island, looking to save his son and put an end to the attacks; but Damian isn't alone, and has enslaved the other former Robins, preparing a nasty surprise for his father.

This isn't the first time that we've seen these characters fight Bruce, as each of them has thrown a punch or two at their mentor/father over the years; but this is the first time that all of them have been there, that they've made a gauntlet for Bruce to have to fight through. And to make it a little bit different Damian has given each of them a magical artefact to help them out. Tim gets a cloak that allows him to turn invisible, Jason gets a trident that controls water, Steph gets a staff that manipulates plants, and Dick gets the most deadly weapon of all, the Sword of Sin.

The former sidekicks all get a go at Bruce, with Tim getting taken down first after trying sneak attacks, and Jason and Steph tag teaming their former mentor with their new magic weapons. It's Dick, however, that proves to be the most challenge for him; which feels appropriate. He's the oldest, he's been a hero the longest, and he was Batman for a while too. But it's the sword he wields that gives him an edge, as the magics within it cause all of Bruce's fears and worries to come to the surface; and coupled with the accusations from his family it serves to slowly wear him down, allowing him to get wounded several times.

Considering the gauntlet only lasts for one issue, it's one of the more effective times that Batman has been slowly worn down and weakened, precisely because Damian knows what buttons to press. He understands his family and the issues they have, even if they don't talk about them and have mostly moved on, he knows what old wounds to reopen.

Whilst all of this is going on Nezha continues to drain magical artefacts and beings, depositing the raw power inside the Helmet of Fate. However, there's a moment in the secret lair that gives him, and Damian a moment of pause, as Shifu Pigsy, the mentor to the Monkey Prince, is brought in. Pigsy has a moment where he seems to be able to reach Damian beneath the mind control, appealing to the person beneath. Hopefully this is the first seeds of something that will lead to Damian finally breaking free at some point. Pigsy also reveals that Nezha's doing what he's doing because he fear another magical being, and that his opponent is already coming.

Back outside, Bruce is about to get run through with the Sword of Sin, but uses the one thing he has at hand to stop it; Alfred. The sword impales Alfred, and Bruce reveals that he's known Alfred was a fake sent by Nezha the entire time. The demon spirit breaks free from Alfred and flees, whilst Alfred begins to fade away. However, Alfred reveals to him that in order to make him Nezha had to take off a piece of Alfred's soul, and that the man laying before him now is a part of the real Alfred. The two of them get a moment to share some parting words, where Alfred tells him that his death isn't his fault, before he fades away.

This was a pretty solid and entertaining issue. The fight with the former Robins was good, and the criticisms of Bruce they all brought up felt valid and earned, even if they were retreading old ground. But that is kind of the point I guess, old wounds being reopened. 

The introduction of Pigsy into the story, giving insight into what Nezha is doing was good, and seems to be laying the groundwork for Monkey Prince to turn up as part of the next event that's coming out of this. 

The moments between Bruce and the parts of Alfred that were the real him were surprisingly moving, and made the inclusion of the fake Alfred actually mean something. It's helped to put some of Bruce's guilt to bed, helped him to accept his father's death, and is driving him towards going to save his son. It was important.

Overall, this was a good issue, and it looks like we're getting closer to the final confrontation between Bruce and Damian.

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The New Golden Age #1 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

I've loved the Justice Society since Jeff Johns' run on the title, where he was able to bring back a load of the Golden Age heroes, bring them up to date, and introduced new generations of heroes to join their ranks. Ever since then the team has had an on and off relationship with DC it would seem, being erased from the main timeline, being brought back, being given nothing to do, showing up for big events. They've kind of been a bit all over the place; which is a huge shame as they're DC's best team by far. Now, however, Johns is back, and he's doing something incredibly bold with the them.

The New Golden Age is an extra sized one shot that kicks off both the new Justice Society book that's coming, and the new Stargirl limited series. It also pulls in some events from the end of Flashpoint Beyond, so expect time travel and universe changing shenanigans.

The events of this comic are split across several different timelines, we visit the Justice Society during their first meeting, catch up with Doctor Fate in the 1970's, catch up with Khalid Nassour, the current Doctor Fate, in present day continuity, and travel to the distant future of the 31st century. There's also multiple points in time, in the future, where we drop in on Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman.

First off, to get it out of the way, the Helena Wayne segments aren't related to Earth-2, which would be a fair assumption given the history of the character. This book isn't dealing with multiple Earths, nor it this a story about the Justice Society of another world. This is firmly the main DC universe. It's just one that's changing slightly.

The sections dealing with Helena are in the future of the continuity we're reading now, and she is the daughter of Earth-0 Batman and Catwoman, meaning that they get back together at some point. There are references to people and things in those segments that make it pretty clear. However, there is time shenanigans going on, so who knows how set in stone this all is.

Helena is having visions of a mysterious man who's been cropping up throughout her life, watching her, taking joy in her moments of pain. This same man also kills the new Justice Society in the era of the Legion of Super Heroes, something that seems to reverberate backwards through time to each Doctor Fate. It seems likely that the man, who's probably a time traveller, is Per Degaton, someone that Justice Society fans will be familiar with.

We also get some moments that show some of the people removed out of time shown at the end of Flashpoint Beyond are integrating back into the timeline, as Alan Scott reads a headline about the Russian super hero/villain Red Lantern in the 1940's. However, knowing what we do about the Stargirl series, it seems like not all of them have returned to their timeline correctly. With the end of the comic being set in the future, where the Justice Society is older, and Helena gets the news of her father's murder and decides to become Huntress, it's unclear for those who've not read solicitations what shape the new Justice Society series is going to take, whether it will involve more time travel, or if it'll be set in the future. Whatever shape it's going to take, this seems like an intriguing beginning.

The comic features multiple artists, all of which take on different styles depending on when its set and who they're following. The segments set in the past have a much more classic comic look to them, and it helps to illustrate incredibly quickly that the reader is in a different time. These styles also differ greatly in both the modern day, the far future, and the Helena Wayne segments, all of which makes for a complex and shifting narrative easier to understand.

The Justice Society are back, they've got an ongoing series, and some of their characters are getting mini series too, so if you're a fan of the original super hero team this is a really exciting time.

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Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

Dark Crisis days are always a stressful time. The series is very good, and a genuine joy to read, but there feels like there's so much at risk and so many heroes that could fall that reading each issue is just too stressful; and issue six might be one of the most nerve-wracking chapters of the event yet.

The Justice League have managed to break out of their fake worlds and are together again on Pariah's planet, watching as the new multiverse forms in the skies above them. However, Pariah has already taken the full might of his dark army to Earth-0, where the remaining heroes have gathered at the Hall of Justice for one final stand. But their enemies have dozens of villains, and some heroes, on their side. And when your enemies have Darkseid, Necron, and the Spectre amongst its ranks your chances of survival go down considerably.

As the League try to find a way back home, the heroes of Earth-0 do their best to hold the line, hoping to give Mr Terrific the time he needs to put their last plan into action. But will everyone make it through the battle?

The opening pages of the issue hit hard, after a more quiet introduction there's a huge two-page spread of the war at the Hall of Justice, and it's a stunning sight to behold. Raven has grown giant and is fighting the Spectre, Starfire is holding back Necron, Jon Kent is battling Darkseid, and a whole bunch of heroes are trying to survive Doomsday. It's chaos.

But amongst this chaos we get small moments where we get to focus on some of the conflicts going on, such as Beast Boy taking on Deathroke, that really feel like they matter. It's not just action for the sake of the end of the event, there are personal stories and personal stakes here too that feel earned. Perhaps the one that hits the best is Jon. For those that have been reading Superman: Son of Kal-El you know that he's been without his father for months, trying to figure out the kind of Superman he wants to be, and how he wants to live up to that legacy. Now is father is gone again, possibly forever, and it's up to him to protect Earth. He steps up in a big time here, standing alone against enemies like Darkseid, Eclipso, and Doomsday, ready to die if needed. 

There are some other tense moments, such as the apparent disintegration of Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Connor Hawke, Steel, and Firestorm. Now, for a moment I was sitting there stunned, but then I remembered Pariah did that trick with the League, so they're probably okay. Frankenstein getting ripped in half, not so sure about that one though.

The art, by Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sanchez looks great throughout, and the amount of detail that they put into the huge battle scenes is truly stunning. You can tell that this is a big event book, because every panel is packed, the art is consistently great, and it feels no expense has been spared. The art is the best it's looked all series here, and there are some truly stunning moments.

There's only one issue left of the main Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths story left, a few tie ins still to come though, so stuff is going to have to have to wrap up pretty quickly. However it ends, it feels like its going to be big.

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Goosebumps: Say Cheese and Die (R.L. Stine) – Throwback 30

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

It’s time to talk about Goosebumps yet again, as we’ve reached the anniversary of yet another of R.L.Stine’s classic children’s horror books. Some of you may be a little surprised to have seen this book appear here, as here in the UK Say Cheese and Die was the second book in the series released by Scholastic. But originally it was the fourth, so we’re doing it fourth. Publishing is weird right?

Speaking of weird, Say Cheese and Die is wonderfully Stineish in its weirdness, and follows a group of four friends who end up getting involved in a frightening situation. Greg, Shari, Doug, and Michael are trying to find something to keep them entertained in their small town, and the four of them decide to explore the mysterious Coffman House, an old, dilapidated building that local legend claims to be haunted. Breaking their way inside, the kids fail to find a ghost (something of a surprise for a book in this series), and instead discover an odd homeless man called Spidey.

Avoiding Spidey, the four of them find a secret out-cove in one of the walls that hides a weird looking camera. Having an interest in photography, Greg decides to claim the camera for himself. He takes a picture of Michael, and the camera produces a photo from the front that shows Michael falling, rather than leaning against the railing like he was when it was taken. Moments later, the railing breaks, and Michael falls, injuring his ankle. Fleeing the house, as the noise has attracted Spidey, the kids take the camera with them.

Greg keeps using the old camera, and keeps getting strange photos. His father’s brand new car has a photograph of it wrecked, his brother’s picture shows him running across a baseball field looking afraid, and Doug’s picture shows him with his neck twisted at an odd angle. When the next day all of the pictures become real, his father’s car crashed, his brother running afraid to help him, and Doug getting injured, Greg begins to suspect that there’s something wrong with the camera. However, it isn’t until he takes a picture of Shari, who doesn’t appear in the photo, that things become really worrying, as Shari soon goes missing.

Say Cheese and Die is one of the more famous of the early Goosebumps books, not particularly because of the plot, but because of the cover. Here in the UK the cover showed an evil looking camera with a face sinking into some orange goo, but in the US the cover depicted a family of skeletons at a barbecue. This artwork, which depicted a scene that wasn’t originally in the book and had to be added later so that it matched, would go on to become one of the most remembered in the series. The fact that Stine liked it so much that he added an extra sequence into the book to include it, speaks to the popularity of the moment.

Outside of this, Say Cheese and Die is a fairly standard haunted/cursed item type story, and doesn’t really feature many of the wild twists and shock endings that the series would be well remembered for. As such, there isn’t really a moment here that makes you shake your head and think ‘this is too silly’. It actually bears some passing similarity to the episode of The Twilight Zone ‘The Most Unusual Camera’, a series that Stine has said he’s a fan of and may have been an intentional homage to the show. Speaking of shows, this would be one of the stories that would go on to become part of the Goosebumps series, appearing in the first season.

One of the less wacky entries in the series, Goosebumps: Say Cheese and Die came along a few months after the initial wave of releases and helped to keep the series selling well, with more than 2 million copies of the book being sold.

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