Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Shades of Magic series is a three-part fantasy epic that spans multiple dimensions that helped to secure V.E. Schwab’s as a fantastic writer. Despite filling three huge books and hundreds of pages it always felt like the series was just the beginning of something so much bigger thanks to how real the worlds felt, how ancient and lived in their cultures were. Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince explores the history of one of these worlds in greater detail, giving readers a chance to know one of the novels main characters, King Maxim.

Set decades before the events of the books, the comic follows a younger Maxim, when he was still just the prince of Arnes. Chided by his father for his obsession with finding people with the skills and magic required to open doorways between the four worlds Maxim is sent away from Red London to port city of Verose, a place teeming with violence and lawlessness.

Already something of a skilled fighter and soldier, though somewhat untested, Maxim and Isra, one of the city’s royal guard, are forced to become a team as they work together to combat one of the greatest threats to the city, the evil Pirate Queen Arisa.

The worlds of Shades of Magic were well established in the books, with a very clear sense of how the worlds differed from each other, and what made each one unique. Despite this, readers rarely saw beyond the borders of the four Londons, as such the setting of Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince feels new and exciting, with Verose a character itself.

The city feels dark and dirty, with small streets and looming buildings. In only a short time there it’s easy to get a sense of how dangerous a place it is, with Maxim being attacked almost immediately upon arriving. The city is filled with dark alleys, crime filled taverns, and spired buildings, creating a patchwork of locations that lend themselves well to almost any kind of action or intrigue V.E. Schwab would want to include. It’s never visually dull, and adds a variety to the setting that some books often lack.

Over the course of the book we get to see Prince Maxim journey from a prideful young man, one confident in his abilities, to one that realises that just because he is a royal, and has been trained by some of the best, he’s not always going to win in every situation he’s in. He learns to change the way he acts, to fight dirty, and to bend the rules in order to win. It’s an interesting contrast to the older Maxim that we see in the novels, yet it’s still clearly the same man, with the same sense of morals and drive to do what’s best.

He’s joined in his adventure by Isra, a woman that’s been toughened by her time serving in Verose, becoming somewhat cold and jaded. Despite this, she proves to be a perfect partner for Maxim, picking out his faults and failings and helping him to see where he needs to improve in order to survive. They both clearly want to do the right thing, her past with the Pirate Queen and their complex relationship proves that, and despite her somewhat jaded views, she’s clearly an incredibly loyal and dedicated soldier.

The artwork in the book, by the talented Andrea Olimpieri, fits the universe of Arnes well. She captures the look and feel created in the books, and translates so many of those images to the page perfectly. Whilst the designs in the book aren’t quite 100% what I imagined when I read the novels, they’re so close that I never once felt that things weren’t right. She took a world that was already so well crafted and brought it to the visual medium of comics.

With more comics set within the universe, following Prince Maxim, to come this is a brilliant introduction to the series. Whether you have read the novels or not, Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince creates a well realised and perfectly crafted world that will immediately draw readers in, with interesting and layered characters. The smaller character moments and the intense magical combat pair together to tell a story that will please readers no matter what they came to the series for. A series definitely worth keeping an eye on.


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The Migration – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

‘Storms and flooding are worsening around the world, and a mysterious immune disorder has begun to afflict the young. Sophie Perella is about to begin her senior year of high school in Toronto when her little sister, Kira, is diagnosed. Their parents’ marriage falters under the strain, and Sophie’s mother takes the girls to Oxford, England, to live with their Aunt Irene. An Oxford University professor and historical epidemiologist obsessed with relics of the Black Death, Irene works with a Centre that specializes in treating people with the illness. She is a friend to Sophie, and offers a window into a strange and ancient history of human plague and recovery. Sophie just wants to understand what’s happening now; but as mortality rates climb, and reports emerge of bodily tremors in the deceased, it becomes clear there is nothing normal about this condition – and that the dead aren’t staying dead. When Kira succumbs, Sophie faces an unimaginable choice: let go of the sister she knows, or take action to embrace something terrifying and new.’

I went into The Migration with certain expectations, thanks in large part to the above blurb, and quotes online that called it “evocative of Stephen King’s classic Pet Sematary”, but Helen Marshall not only subverted everything that I was expecting the book to be, but managed to draw me in to a genuinely unique and imaginative horror story.

The horror of The Migration doesn’t come from the mysterious illness – Juvenile Idiopathic Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or JI2 –that plagues the world’s youth but from the slow decay of the world. Set close to the River Thames in Oxfordshire, Sophie and her family deal with frequent flooding, constant blackouts, destruction around the coast, food shortages, and a pervading sense of hopelessness.

With our real world close to the point of irrevocable damage from pollution it’s a scenario that seems so much more real than many an apocalyptic fiction. There isn’t some huge cataclysm that hits out of nowhere, but the slow unfolding of society’s end thanks to our own thoughtless actions.

This end of the world appears to play a major part in the mysterious disease that afflicts children and teens, though not in the ways that you’d expect. Throughout the early stages of the book Marshall appears to be steering the reader towards a certain conclusion as to what the disease is, especially when bodies are being reported to move after death, and even characters in the story reference zombie fiction; yet this isn’t a story about the undead, or some other zombie-like condition that is often popular in the apocalypse genre.

What begins as a disease to be feared – and there are some genuinely disturbing moments at times – changes into something beautiful and full of wonder.

The Migration focuses on humanity’s will to survive, but not by fighting, and raging against the end, but by embracing change. Those afflicted by JI2 aren’t victims, or monsters, they’re those with a chance to survive in this new world that is coming into being. But it’s not an easy road to this realisation for the characters. In the end it comes down to love, and even a little hope. Despite Kira only being in the book for a short while it’s the love between her and Sophie that drives everything that happens in the story, that brings her fractured family back together, and gives Sophie hope for a better tomorrow.

The Migration is a book that will subvert expectations, will take the reader on a winding journey that will give them heartbreak, fill them with wonder, and leave them full of hope for a better future. More than just a horror, an apocalypse story, a tale of love and family, The Migration is a story of survival for humanity.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 – Top 5 Episodes

Originally published on Set The Tape

Season Three of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. saw some exciting new developments within the series, thanks in part to the continued introduction of super powered InHumans, and the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own super hero team, The Secret Warrior.

Here we attempt to pick out the five episodes that stood out from the pack…

5. Episode 20 – ‘Emancipation’

Sometimes the show ties into the events of the movies, and most of the time these little nods to what’s happening in the cinemas aren’t done particularly well. The first season tie in to Thor: The Dark World being both a particularly poor episode, and hardly a tie in at all. However, ‘Emancipation’ is possibly the best one to date.

With the Sakovia Accords coming into effect during the events of Captain America: Civil War the S.H.I.E.L.D. team finds themselves butting heads with the government as their own powered agents must register. Whilst the film concentrated purely on the Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. takes more of an inspiration from the comics, showing how the Accords effects all people with abilities.

The episode also brings to a head the small story arc of Daisy (Chloe Bennett) being under the influence of Hive (Brett Dalton). Whilst it was never believable that she was always going to be a villain and the team would get her back, the way that they do so here is not only creative, but really well put together.

After having Lincoln (Luke Mitchell) going back and forth over whether he was really S.H.I.E.L.D. material for most of the season it was completely believable that he would willingly break out of containment to go an join Daisy. The twist that he was acting the whole time, and was now a dedicated agent felt pretty well earned, and even led to a seriously cool showdown.

Expecting Lincoln to come out of the stolen Quinjet, Hive instead comes face to face with Lash (Matthew Willig), the hulking InHuman killer. The fight between these two heavyweights is thrilling to watch. The series has built both characters up as major threats, so to see them face off against each other is such an exciting moment. Whilst Lash sadly dies during this encounter, the fact that he is able to free Daisy of her influence is the silver lining to his death.

4. Episode 15 – ‘Spacetime’

Can our heroes forge their own path against a set future, or are things predetermined? ‘Spacetime’ is a particularly dark and sad episode in an otherwise fairly lighthearted show that puts the characters in a tough spot as they try to change a vision of the future and save an innocent man’s life.

We’ve already seen examples of InHumans being able to see the future before with Raina (Ruth Negga) in season two, but this episode really shines a light on the concept, and asks if the heroes can fight against one of these visions to change the outcome.

The fight training with May (Ming-Na Wen) is great, and the idea of using the vision to rehearse a future fight is a really fun idea that I can’t really remember seeing elsewhere before. But, as anyone who has ever seen a similar story in sci-fi/fantasy before will know, May isn’t able to go instead of Daisy as the universe throws problems in the team’s path to make sure that the vision plays out as expected.

The whole concept of whether or not the future can be changed may only feature in a single episode here, but will be a major plot point in the fifth season of the series, and features characters and plot-lines set up here. It’s not just the fifth season that benefits from this episode, however, as Daisy also receives a vision of the season finale, where a member of the team will die. Having seen here that the team failed to change the future it makes the idea that one of our heroes is destined to die a very scary concept.

3. Episode 09 – ‘Closure’

Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) has always been portrayed as a man who loves being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., he loves spy history, enjoys saving the world, and generally seems to always be having something of a good time even when things aren’t going too well, always happy to hand out a funny one-liner. So to see Coulson essentially lose his shit and go on a revenge mission is absolutely chilling.

The relationship between Coulson and Ros (Constance Zimmer) was one of the more fun things to watch during the early half of the season, seeing these two people who are well seasoned in espionage and the world of secrets realise that they’re not only allies, but become lovers, was kind of sweet. The opening scene of the episode is still one of the most shocking in the series. Whilst getting ready to eat, and discussing their next move against Hydra, Ros is shot in the throat by Ward using a sniper rifle and dies. It’s so sudden and unexpected that I was expecting it to be a dream sequence Coulson was having, but no, Ros is killed out of nowhere.

The rage that overtakes Coulson the rest of the episode is genuinely scary, as he’s a man who never normally gives into his anger like that, and it means that the Ward story will finally come to a head. After back and forth over how bad Ward really is, whether it’s a product of his upbringing or if he’s just evil things are put to bed as there’s no way he can come back from this. He murdered the woman Coulson loved, so now he’s going to die.

Despite cramming a good amount of plot development into the episode with Ward and Malick (Powers Boothe) finally opening the portal to Maveth, the episode moves with a hell of a pace, and never loses energy. Plus, the final shot of Coulson diving out of a plane, falling through an open castle roof and into the portal is a phenomenal shot to end the episode on.

2. Episode 10 – ‘Maveth’

Continuing on from ‘Closure’ the mid-season finale sees Coulson chase Ward through the portal to the alien planet Maveth, intent on getting revenge before Ward is able to find the mysterious creature that Hydra worships. The return to Maveth feels well earned, and the fact that there are three parties there with their own agenda, Coulson for revenge, Ward for power, and Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) in order to save Will (Dillon Casey) meant that there was enough to keep people walking across a blue desert entertaining.

Whilst Coulson and Fitz deal with the situation in space (something that most people would never have expected when the show began) the rest of the team assault the Hydra controlled castle, bringing together the Secret Warriors for the first time. It’s great to see this fledgling team in action, and has some great moments. Joey (Juan Pablo Raba) melting bullets was very cool, and Lincoln’s speech about understanding that everyone is scared about going into combat being undercut by a deadpan May saying ‘I’m not’ is some great comedic timing, and very true to her character.

This episode also saw Mack (Henry Simmons) set up in a big way as he took command of the situation, and was even willing to sacrifice himself to save Coulson and Fitz. With Mack’s future character development focusing a lot on how good of a leader, and how decent a man, he is, this is really the beginning of this story for him.

The heart of this episode, however, is on Maveth, and it finally brings to a close Wards story. The moment that Coulson kills him feels earned, as there’s no way the character could ever be redeemed. The fact that Coulson uses his robotic hand to crush his chest is particularly brutal, but has a certain sense of symmetry as Ward broke Coulson’s heart when he killed Ros.

The reveal that Will died getting Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) home is a really sad moment, especially as Fitz gets to spend so much of the episode getting to know him. For a character that is only in two episodes of the season the audience becomes really well attached to him, and his death is actually effective.

However, the deaths of both of these men become connected, as the final scene of the episode shows Ward, possessed by the creature that was controlling Will, back on Earth, very dead looking. The decision to kill Ward but keep Brett Dalton on the show as a super-powered monster was an interesting one, and made for an exciting mid-season closer.

1. Episode 05 – ‘4,722 Hours’

Despite having Simmons back for a few episodes after being trapped on an alien planet for months the audience knew very little of her experiences there, except that it had led to a lot of trauma for her. ‘4,722 Hours’ not only goes backwards in time to show her experiences, but makes the bold choice to set the whole thing on the alien planet with Simmons, and only features Fitz as the only other regular cast member in the final moments.

Despite the potential of having a lone character stranded on their own be slow or dull this episode never feels anything other than exciting. Perhaps it’s because it’s the first time the series has fully embraced space and gone full-on sci-fi, but a large part of it is down to the acting talent of Elizabeth Henstridge. We know Simmons is going to be okay, but she draws you in so well that there are moments of tension where you fear for her safety.

The introduction of Will makes a lot of sense. Simmons probably would have come back a lot crazier than she did if she was on her own the whole time, so his presence helps to keep her grounded and the events less traumatic for her. It also gives her a good reason to want to go back to Maveth.

The biggest thing that Will brings to the table, however, is a sense of horror. Not because of who he is or what he does, but the stories he has of what he’s been through, and the ghostly creature that stalks the surface of the planet, killing anyone it finds.

This creature proves to be one of the best things of the episode, and it’s appearances are genuinely creepy, perhaps the scariest the series has ever been. It’s a testament to how well put together these scenes are that knowing Simmons is okay it’s still terrifying to see her confronted by the ghostly, zombie-like astronaut.

One of the biggest jobs of this episode, it seems, is to further keep Fitz and Simmons apart, maintaining the ‘will they wont they’ of their romantic relationship. Where in some shows it feels force when two characters are kept apart, and situations feel contrived, the fact that Simmons was trapped on another planet, thought that she would never return to earth, and had only a man for company, it’s not too surprising that she became romantically involved with him.

‘4,722 Hours’ is a hugely important episode in the Fitz/Simmons love story, it fills in an important narrative gap, sets up a lot of the drive for the first half of the season, and showcases how brilliant of an actor Henstridge is. A stand out episode that still remains one of the best the series has produced.


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Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse the Official Movie Special – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The release of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse in late 2018 saw a change in comic book movies. For the first time in decades an animated comic book movie not only hit cinemas, but also wowed audiences around the globe, sweeping up dozens of awards.

The new Titan Books Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse the Official Movie Special explores the creation of the film, from the first beginnings of an idea to the scripting, design and casting.

Unlike most of the modern comic book films, Into The Spider-Verse was a big gamble. Not only would it see several new versions of characters introduced to audiences, along with some that they may never have encountered before, but it would also need to develop its own distinct visual style. It delves into the early stages of this process, talking to the film’s directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsay and Rodney Rothman, as well as production designer Justin K. Thompson amongst others.

The book goes into great detail on all of the film’s main characters, looking at the six heroes one by one before moving onto the villains. These insights are great, not only going into in-universe info on them, but spending time discussing why the filmmakers mad the choice to include them, how they went about adapting them for their story and why they cast their actors.

Whilst some behind the scenes books can be packed with writing, this book breaks up the contents with beautiful pieces of artwork that perfectly capture the style and tone of the original film. The artwork is exceptionally pretty, making the book a piece of art in itself, filled with snapshots from the film, design sketches and character sheets.

The book also incorporates many of the design elements that are used within comics, and the film, such as bold narration boxes. These small design choices makes the book feel less like a standard making-of book, standing out from the rest of the crowd as something a little special.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse the Official Movie Special might be a brief book at only 96 pages, but it covers the film in great depth, providing the reader with insight into the film that adds further context and understanding into how what has quickly become a critically acclaimed film. With such huge success surrounding the film, and a sequel and spin-off in the works, the book plays an important part into building a successful and beloved Spider-Man franchise.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 – Top 5 Episodes

Originally published on Set The Tape

The second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. saw some huge shifts in the series, not just in quality, but in plot elements that would fundamentally change the show for the rest of its life. Here we attempt to pick out the five best episodes of the season, episodes that weren’t just well made, but that stood out as game changers.

5. Episode 15 – ‘One Door Closes’

After the reveal earlier in the season that Mack (Henry Simmons) and Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) were secretly working for another branch of S.H.I.E.L.D., one that’s working against Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his people, ‘One Door Coses’ not only fills in a lot of this backstory but pits the two teams against each other.

The flashbacks to the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier are great and really show that these aren’t a group of villains, but people that are just as dedicated to what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for as the heroes. The inclusion of Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless) is a nice nod to the beginning of the season, but also means that Battlestar Galactica fans have the added pleasure of seeing her on screen with Edward James Olmos once again.

The episode is filled with intrigue and action; it moves the plot forward in an exciting way and fleshes out the backstory of not just some of this season’s new characters, but the Universe as a whole. The fact that the ‘heroes’ essentially lose by the end of it just makes it even more exciting.

4. Episode 17 – ‘Melinda’

This episode might not have had too many huge action set pieces, but managed to pack in a lot of character moments and shed some light onto one of the more mysterious members of the main cast.

In Afterlife, Skye (Chloe Bennet) learns that Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) is her mother. Whilst this had already been revealed to the audience, it was something of a surprise that this was shared with Skye so quickly. It’s normally the kind of thing a series would drag out for a number of episodes, keeping the main character in the dark. The fact that it was so quickly revealed to Skye highlights that the show runners may have listened to some of the criticisms about slow pacing during the first season.

However, the best part of the episode is the focus on Melinda May’s (Ming-Na Wen). Specifically, how she came to earn the nickname ‘the cavalry’. Despite some misleads in earlier episodes, we were told that she rescued an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. team on her own, but the details were more than a little vague. Here we discover that she not only came up against an InHuman with mind control abilities, but had to kill them to eliminate the threat. The biggest problem, however, is that the InHuman was just a child.

The revelation that May had to kill a child is devastating, particularly as we get to see how fun and full of life she was before it happened. It makes the change in May all the more sad and adds a whole lot of depth to one of the characters we knew the least about.

3. Episode 21 and 22 – ‘S.O.S.’

The two part finale (I know it’s two episodes so this is a bit of a cheat) manages to not only meet the expectations built up over the course of the season, but beats the previous season’s finale.

‘S.O.S.’ sees a lot of changes going forward, not least of all due to several characters being killed off or leaving the series through other capacities. After all of her changes and the ups and downs of her journey it’s genuinely sad to see Raina (Ruth Negga) die, though the fact that she did it knowing that she was going to her death but that it would help Skye see the truth about her mother was something of a noble end for her.

Jiaying and Cal (Kyle MacLachlan) each get a fitting end, with Jiaying dying at the hands of her husband in order to save their daughter, and Cal being given a new life as a reward. The reveal that Jiaying was the true monster, simply manipulating Cal, was a stroke of genius and meant that the ends for both characters feels incredibly satisfying and well earned.

Outside of the character moments the episode packs in the action with Coulson and his team fighting their way through the InHuman forces across the aircraft carrier. Not only do we get some great, great fight sequences, but some pretty cool super-powered battles too. Plus, Mack’s comments to Gordon (Jamie Harris) still remain some of my all time favourites:

Mack: It’s Gordon, right?
Gordon: And you are?
Mack: I’m the guy that kills Gordon.

Ward (Bret Dalton) also manages to get some good development. His path for revenge is clearly laid out for season three. The brutal torture of Bobbi, as well as the tragic death of Agent 33 (Maya Stojan), puts to rest any possibility of a redemption for the character.

The introduction of the Secret Warriors programme at the end of the episode and Coulson losing his arm certainly sets some interesting elements up for the coming third season.

2. Episode 19 – ‘The Dirty Half Dozen’

After almost two seasons we say goodbye to the Bus. Thankfully, the team’s original base of operations goes down in a blaze of glory as the original team come together once again, including Ward, as they assault a Hydra facility.

The first time that we’ve seen the whole of the original team together since the first season, this episode goes a long way towards showing how much these characters have changed over a relatively short period. The fact that it’s Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) who set out to kill Ward during the assault was a surprising, if not unpleasant, turn of events.

The highlight, however, is getting to see Skye in all of her secret agent glory in one of the best action sequences the series has given the audience to date. Filmed in one continuous shot, Skye dodges and weaves her way through the room, taking down Hydra agents in hand to hand combat, using guns and even utilising her powers. It’s hugely impressive and shows that Skye has gone from a hacker that couldn’t throw a punch to an agent that could fight alongside some of the best in the MCU.

There might not be a huge amount that happens in this episode, but the first season team coming back together, and some great action makes this an absolute standout.

1. Episode 10 ‘What They Become’

There are a number of big, game changing episodes across the seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first being the reveal that Hydra has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and the destruction of the agency, but the most surprising comes in ‘What They Become’.

Bringing to a close the mystery of the hidden alien city, the episode officially introduces the InHumans to the universe when Skye, revealed to actually be the comic book character Daisy Johnson, is transformed and given superpowers. The scene is hugely dramatic, not least because it sees the shocking death of Agent Triplet (B.J. Britt). Whilst we didn’t know Trip for long the death feels so pointless and throwaway that it makes it all the more tragic.

The episode showcases a lot of Skye’s father Cal too, having MacLachlan go through a huge range of emotions, including dorky father and ruthless killer. The scenes with him and Coulson are great, and showcase how good both actors are, especially when their characters both have Skye’s best interests at heart.

Whilst the episode concluded many of the story elements introduced in the early parts of the season, answering the mystery of the city, as well as killing Daniel Whitehall (Reed Diamond), the introduction of super powered people and Ward still out in the world meant that this felt like the start of something bigger rather than the end of certain chapters.


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Batman: The Court of Owls – Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Of the three recent Batman novels published by Titan, one is based upon a comic, one is a retelling of an animated series episode, and one is completely new and original. Batman: The Court of Owls is the latter, telling its own story that draws upon the events of Scott Snyder’s first story on Batman following the New 52 revamp.

One of the advantages that writer Greg Cox has here is that he’s able to draw upon the source material without having to feel shackled to it the way the writers of the other Batman novels are. For example, in Harley Quinn: Mad Love Pat Cadigan has a destination set out for her, having to build up to the events of the animated series; yet this is something that Cox can sidestep. He doesn’t have to incorporate the work of another writer, or shape his story to fit.

The result of this is a book that works in complete isolation as its own entry into the Batman mythos. Yes, it draws upon the events of the Snyder comics, acting in some way as a sequel to those events, but you don’t need to have read the comic to understand anything that happens.

Batman: The Court of Owls gives readers a mystery story, one that relies more on Batman in the role of the ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ than martial artist vigilante. When an art professor at Gotham University is killed Batman discovers that the mysterious Court of Owls, a group of wealthy and powerful people that have controlled the city from behind the scenes for generations, is behind the brutal slaying. Investigating into why an elderly scholar would become the target of deadly assassins Batman discovers an even bigger mystery, one that involves a missing young woman and her research into an artist and his muse from the turn of the last century.

To say much about this central mystery would be unfair, as it’s a very well written story that deserved to go unspoiled, but it’s not what you expect. There were several moments throughout the book where you may imagine where the story is headed, but each time expectations are subverted. Unlike some mystery stories, which throw in twists that don’t quite work in order to surprise the reader, Batman: The Court of Owls is surprisingly consistent, with unexpected turns that work logically within the universe and don’t draw you out of the narrative.

Whilst the story centres on the mystery of the missing student, and explores the history of both Gotham and the Court of Owls, it also contains a lot of action. Utilising the deadly and highly trained Talons, the Court is able to dispatch foes that test Batman to his limit. In the comics these assassins were augmented by chemicals that meant their wounds healed almost instantly, and even allowed the Court to revive Talons from centuries past to fight for them once again. The Talon within this book is close to unstoppable thanks to these advances, which means that Batman has to fight harder, and dirtier, that we’re used to seeing.

With a central mystery that explores the history of Gotham, an adversary that pushes Batman and his allies to the limits, and a story that moves at a brisk pace and packs in dynamic action Batman: The Court of Owls is a faithful follow-up to the comics that still stands on its own as a fantastic adventure.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2×07 – ‘The Writing On The Wall’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

The mystery of the strange symbols being carved by both Agent Coulson (Clark Greg) and John Garrett (Bill Paxton) after being exposed to the alien derived chemical GH-325 final comes to a conclusion, and it’s a lot more surprising that first speculated. When a man covered in tattoos of these strange symbols goes on a killing spree, carving the same symbols into his victims the S.H.I.E.L.D. team discovers that Coulson and Garrett weren’t the only people to be exposed to the chemical, but several other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had too.

Using the Hydra memory machine Coulson is able to retrieve some of his hidden memories as the director of the T.A.H.I.T.I. project. It appears that a number of other agents that were killed in action were revived using GH-325, but after a short time began to express disturbing behaviour, including obsessively drawing the symbols. These agents eventually had their memories erased and were given new identities and civilian lives.

Now this is the kind of plot that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does really well. A hunt for a serial killer with links to shady government dealings, that sheds light not only on one of the central mysteries of the season but the past of S.H.I.E.L.D., this is definitely the kind of thing that we could use more of.

We knew that Coulson was the director of the T.A.H.I.T.I. project, but getting to see more of what he did during this time, and the development of the technology is interesting. It also sheds more light onto the flashbacks we’ve already seen of Coulson going through the process after his death in Avengers Assemble, he wasn’t just asking to be killed because he was in pain, but because he knew that the process was going to cause serious psychological damage to him.

The revelation that the killer, Derick (Brian Van Holt), was once a dedicated agent who fell victim to this process also makes him somewhat sympathetic, and not just some deranged killer needing to be stopped. The final confrontation between him and Coulson is certainly makes for one of the more interesting and three-dimensional villains of the week.

Despite the fact that the episode doesn’t tell us exactly why those who have been exposed to GH-325 draw these symbols we get a surprisingly interesting reveal that it’s not something as expected as a language that needs translating, but a three-dimensional blueprint to a city. Not what viewers were expecting, and if you say you saw that coming you’re definitely making it up. Now that Coulson has been cured of his compulsion to draw these symbols the team gets to focus on something infinitely more exciting, racing Hydra to a hidden alien city. Definitely a step up on season one.

The episode also manages to squeeze in some more developments to the Ward (Bret Dalton) story, and actually makes it fun and engaging again after the previous episode almost bored me with it. Finally free and on the run some of the team are sent after Ward to try and recapture him, leading to a pretty cool sequence in a bus depot where Ward slyly reveals to Triplett (B.J. Britt) that he knows he’s being followed by flashing the C4 strapped to his chest.

With most other villains this would definitely be seen as something of a bluff, but after seeing how being incarcerated almost drove Ward to killing himself earlier in the season it’s definitely believable that he’d rather kill himself than go back, and it makes him a much more dangerous adversary. By the end of the episode Ward has managed to worm his way back into Hydra, betrays Sunil Bakshi (Simon Kassianides) to S.H.I.E.L.D., and is even preparing to get revenge on his brother.

Despite only being in a small portion of the episode it shows just how competent a villain he can be, and makes him more interesting than he’s been since his reveal as a Hydra agent back in season one. If Ward continues to be used this way for the rest of the season he’s sure to become one of the more interesting members of the cast.


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Marvel Action: Avengers #2 – Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Marvel Action: Avengers continues to tell the story of the brainwashed Tony Stark in it’s second issue, which begins to shed more light onto what the evil AIM (Advanced Ideas Mechanics) are up to.

With Iron Man missing his memories thanks to the evil organisation he’d been led to believe that he’s one of their agents, operating the stolen Iron Man suit. It’s interesting that Matthew Manning has decided to go with this idea, instead of the standard Avenger being turned evil plot that is often used in the comics.

Rather than simply being the hero turned bad it put both Stark and the rest of the team in an interesting position. The Avengers think that Tony has been kidnapped and that an AIM agent is operating his stolen suit, and Tony thinks the same, but that he’s the agent. Instead of a simple fight the bad version of the hero and snap him out of his brainwashing scenario the heroes don’t even know that they need to break the brainwashing because they don’t know it’s him. It’s a great twist on a fairly common trope.

We do get to see, however, that this brainwashing isn’t perfect, with Tony having flashes of his adventures as Iron Man coming and going. Whilst the AIM scientists try to make him think that this is just a byproduct of using the armour it starts to become clear to him by the end of the issue that it’s more than that. Perhaps this less than perfect mind control will allow the rest of the team to be able to snap Tony out of it by the end of the story arc.

The issue also introduces an old foe of the Avengers, who is now also under the control of AIM. The giant space dragon Fing Fang Foom. Whilst one of the most ridiculous characters that could have been chosen to be pit against the heroes it’s brilliant to see him flying into battle against them, and will certainly lead to an exciting fight in the third issue.

In the first issue the designs of the characters costumes bore some analysis, and whilst the second doesn’t introduce a load of new looks, Fing Fang Foom is essentially exactly the same, it does offer a couple of neat new looks. During one of Tony’s memory flashes we get to see an older version of Captain America, complete with his classic fish scale armour look, and gets an upgrade into the Advanced Iron Mechanic, the Iron Man armour with an AIM aesthetic over the top of it.

Marvel Action: Avengers continues to tell an interesting and engaging story, and whilst it doesn’t move events forward in huge ways this issue it does set the stage for a huge confrontation in the third issue, and fingers crossed a satisfying conclusion.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2×06 – ‘A Fractured House’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

When Hydra launch an assault on a United Nations meeting, having the attackers pose as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, members of the United States government make the former security organisation their prime target.  Thankfully for the team, Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) is able to recognise the frightening new weapons that they have used and they are able to track down the real attackers.

‘A Fractured House’ is the first real weak episode of season two. The reason for this, a focus on Grant Ward (Bret Dalton). Ward was definitely one of the weakest characters in the first season, only really becoming interesting when it was revealed that he was secretly working for Hydra. Sadly, now that Ward is a prisoner of S.H.I.E.L.D. he’s even more boring to watch than in the first season.

Whilst the revelation that the United States Senator that is pushing for a task force to hunt down S.H.I.E.L.D. is Christian Ward (Tim DeKay), the older brother of Grant Ward was fairly surprising it doesn’t feel like this was used to the best here. After meeting with Coulson (Clark Gregg) things begin to get complicated when we learn that there’s a possibility that Christian wasn’t the abusive older brother that Ward made him out to be during the first season, and that Ward was the one torturing their younger brother. The inter-cutting between two brothers telling their own versions of events is a well made scene, though.

Sadly, any mystery of what may have actually happened and who is telling the truth here seems to have been completely wiped away by the end of the episode, when Ward escapes from captivity whilst being transported to his brothers custody, killing his guards. This also squarely puts to end any possible notion that there may have been some kind of redemption story for him this season.

Whilst the Ward story is weak the rest of the episode remains fairly entertaining, with the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. main team doing their best to locate those behind the UN attack and bring them to justice. After the brief but entertaining introduction to Bobbi ‘Mockingbird’ Morse (Adrianne Palicki) it’s great to see her in action for real this episode, especially working alongside Agent May (Ming-Na Wen).

The action sequences are competent, but lack any real wow factor that the series has shown it is capable of in the past, yet don’t fall into the trap of feeling flat and by the numbers. It’s a good indication that whilst the show has managed to find it’s feet and how it wants to go about telling its stories it’s not being lazy in its execution.

This episode also sheds more light onto the mystery of why Simmons would walk out on Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) when he needed his best friend the most. It would have been easy for the series to say that she was ordered to by Coulson, to make it something completely out of her control, but instead they take the brave choice of having it be a major part of their relationship this season. Fitz was getting worse with her around.

It’s something of a cliche for television shows to keep characters in love apart, and most come up with some pretty poor excuses to do so, but this one feels a lot more genuine. Simmons cares for Fitz deeply, but was presented with the revelation that being around him was helping to destroy his already damaged mind. She had to make the choice to hurt them both by leaving in order that he could one day be himself again. Whilst this was a huge sacrifice on her part it definitely leads to major baggage for the two of them to work through over the rest of the season.

Whilst the episode manages to move the plot and character arcs forward in organic and interesting ways the overall focus feels too clustered, and the inclusion of the heavy Ward elements drags at times. At least with Ward now out of S.H.I.E.L.D. custody there’s a chance that he might be able to do something interesting this season.


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Friday the 13th – Throwback 10

Originally published on Set The Tape

It would be easy to call the 2009 Friday the 13th a remake. It came out around the time a lot of remakes of popular 70’s and 80’s horror films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and A Nightmare on Elm Street, but you can’t help but feel that this fails to fall into that mould.

For one thing, the very first film, which was so popular that it knocked Empire Strikes Back off the number one spot in cinemas, doesn’t follow Jason Vorhees at all, with it instead being his mother, Pamela Vorhees. Not only does this new film recount the events of the very first Friday the 13th within the opening titles, thereby giving any unfamilar audience members the info they need to get started, but the events that fill up the rest of the film aren’t a retread of any of the existing sequels.

Yes, Jason comes across a group of teens who do drugs, drink, and have sex so therefore need to be punished with brutal deaths, but that happens in all of the films and is more a trope of the series and horror films in general than a specific scenario. This Friday the 13th follows the formula of the series, but tells its own story. So can it really be a remake?

Whether a remake or not, it’s pretty damn good. Horror franchise sequels can often get a bad reputation, mostly due to their flimsy plot and excuses to ramp up the killings and gore factor, and Friday the 13th is no exception to this. Instead of trying to compete with these old films the 2009 version chooses to tell its own story instead.

Twenty five years after watching his mother (played by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Nana Visitor) Jason Vorhees (Derek Mears) stumbles across a group of teens camping up at the remains of Crystal Lake where he has been living. Whilst attacking and killing the group he discovers that one of the girls, Whitney (Amanda Righetti) looks like his mother, and kidnaps her. Several weeks later Whitney’s brother Clay (Jared Padalecki) is searching for his missing sister when he comes across a group of teens heading up to a cabin near Crystal Lake for a weekend of partying. Clay and the teens soon become the targets of Jason.

It’s a fairly standard kind of horror set-up, and doesn’t contain anything revolutionary, but the plot around Whitney looking like Pamela Vorhees and her brothers search adds a little something extra to the standard partying teens get killed scenario. The teens are the standard mix of attractive Hollywood teens, but have some pretty good actors amongst them, including Ben Feldman from Superstore, Travis Van Winkle from The Last Ship, and Danielle Panabaker from The Flash. They’re a great mix of actors, all of whom are able to pull of the silly teenager shenanigans, yet also portraying the fear and desperation of people being hunted by a killer.

If there’s one cast member who stands out, however, it’s Jared Padalecki as Clay. Honestly, this is just a personal thing, but after years of seeing him play Sam Winchester in Supernatural watching him searching for a missing girl and having to fight an unstoppable, almost supernatural killer kind of threw me because I was just waiting for Jensen Ackles to turn up too. Whether or not he was cast in the role because he would essentially be doing the same thing he’d been doing for years on TV it’s great casting, as he’s clearly very comfortable in this kind of role.

The film is full of vicious killings, some of which are gruesome to watch, yet the filmmakers manage to keep things from going too far into the gore territory and become off-putting. The main thing that may put some people off the film would be the nudity over the violence. Whilst the violence is fairly toned down and less gory for a slasher film Friday the 13th embraces the old sensibility of showing their characters having sex. They don’t just make it clear through scripting and direction that two people have gone off to have sex, they show Juliana Guill naked on top of her costar. This is sure to appeal to some, most likely teenage boys, but feels a little gratuitous and unnecessary.

A new addition to the Friday the 13th franchise, the film takes the best parts of the series and does its own thing, telling a fairly well rounded story that makes more sense than some of the previous entries. With smart direction, good cinematography, and a well cast group of actors it stands up as a pretty darn good addition to the series.


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