In The Line of Duty III (1988) / In The Line of Duty IV (1989) – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

In The Line of Duty is a film series that fans of Hong Kong cop action movies might be familiar with, though you might not be aware that you are thanks to some weird shenanigans with the naming of the series. Originally beginning as the Michelle Yeoh film Yes, Madam!, a sequel called Royal Warriors was released the following year. After Yeoh retired from film for a while following her marriage, the producers wanted to continue on the hit series. This is where In The Line of Duty III comes in. Having retroactively re-named the other two films to make them the first and second parts of the franchise, this third film introduced viewers to a new star in the form of Cynthia Khan (real name Yang Li-tsing). With the other two films now established as the start of this new franchise, it’s up to Khan to breathe new life into the series.

In The Line of Duty III begins strong, introducing viewers to their new heroine, police officer Rachel Yeung (Cynthia Khan) as she chases a criminal down the streets of Hong Kong, getting into a fist fight with him, tearing her uniform skirt open in order to perform some impressive kicks, and deals with an armed stand-off. Within ten minutes Yeung has been established as a young cop who’s not just prepared to sit around and take the easy life like her partner, and will rush into danger to uphold the law. From here the film begins its real story, as two Japanese Red Army members launch a campaign of terror across the city.

Throughout the film Yeung is forced to push for inclusion on the case with her over protective uncle, who also happens to be her boss, whilst also being the most competent officer they have. Yeung has several run-ins with the criminal duo, and is eventually partnered up with a Japanese cop, Hiroshi Fujioka (also the name of the actor) who’s come to Hong Kong looking for revenge against the duo over the death of his partner.

In The Line of Duty III is the kind of film that will appeal to fans of 80’s cop action movies. The film has plenty of shoot-outs and explosions to keep the action fans happy, with some really cool and ridiculous moments such as the criminals piloting a remote control helicopter packed with explosives into a hospital, that feels more akin to a cheesy Bond movie. Where the film really excels, however, is in the fighting. Yeoh is a tough act to follow, but Khan seems more than up for the challenge. The scenes in which she’s able to cut loose and fight the villains are the highlights of the movie, and you can see her experience as a dancer coming through in the fluidity of her movements and the stunts she pulls off. There’s a sequence with several crashed cars where Khan slips in and out of them, and hangs off the edges without touching the ground in order to avoid detection, that’s incredibly impressive just from how easy the actress manages to make everything look.

Whilst the film does side-line Khan somewhat in order to hand focus over to her male co-star, the times she is on screen are exceptional. Khan has an easy confidence and presence in her scenes that makes her more than – as some people have described her – a ‘Michelle Yeoh replacement’. It’s clear watching this film that the actress is going to go on to have a long career in film.

In The Line of Duty IV sees Khan return, this time dealing with the evil machinations of the CIA. This time round Madam Yeung has been sent over to the US to help tackle Chinese cocaine dealers. Along with her new partner, Captain Donnie Yan (Donnie Yen), Yeung ends up getting caught up in a plot that sees the CIA selling drugs in order to fund their war against communism (absolutely fictitious of course, the CIA would never, ever do something so heinous) when an illegal immigrant, Luk Wan-ting (Yat Chor Yuen) accidentally comes into possession of incriminating evidence.

When Luk smuggles himself back to Hong Kong after a failed attempt on his life that kills his friend, Yeung and Yan follow after him. Now they have to make a choice: whether they follow their orders to bring him in (orders that will deliver him into the hands of the people out to kill him), or whether they go rogue in order to bring the criminals to justice.

In The Line of Duty IV feels like a big step up over the other film, and features some absolutely phenomenal moments. Khan in particular gets a fight scene that is astonishing to watch, as she takes on some thugs trying to take over the ambulance she’s riding in. Khan battles on the roof of the moving vehicle, hangs half out the smashed windows, and grips onto the front fender as it tries to run her over, all whilst the vehicle is speeding along. It’s a scene that really highlights some of the differences between Hong Kong action films over US ones. In US movies you’ll see the moments where it’s a stunt performer, or you’ll catch glimpses of the harness keeping the actors safe, or half the scene will be shot so that you can’t tell the vehicle isn’t really in motion. But here it’s hard to see the moments where Khan would be wearing a harness, and it really does look like she’s hanging half out of a speeding vehicle.

Later scenes in the film also impress, particularly with Donnie Yen in the mix now too. Yen sometimes got pushed to the forefront of the posters and home release covers for the film thanks to his fame in the US, but it never feels like he’s trying to take anything away from his female co-star in this film. The two of them work well together, and both get some intense fight scenes that showcase their skills. Perhaps more so than the previous movie, this one also manages to find a balance between action and comedy, due in part to the addition of Yat Chor Yuen’s Luk, who plays a pretty normal guy dragged into an extreme situation.

Both releases come with very little extras in terms of behind the scenes features of making-ofs. They do come with a pair of trailers each, as well as two commentary tracks. Both films come with a track by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (a mainstay on Eureka releases) who goes into the history of the films, the careers of the cast and crew, and gives a lot of additional context to what you’re watching. There is also a commentary for each with action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. In The Line of Duty IV does fare a little better than its predecessor, coming with some archival interviews and featurettes.

Overall, fans of Hong Kong action films, and action films in general will find a lot to enjoy with these releases. Despite the weirdness of the series’ releases and the attempts to retroactively create a franchise, both films are great pieces and deserve to be watched. The ‘rule’ that sequels tend to diminish in quality over time definitely doesn’t apply here, as both films are a great watch, with the fourth one being the best of the two.

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Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #3 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The first volume of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures was a series that I really enjoyed. The conflict between the Jedi and the Nihil was clear and easy to understand, the cast of characters were interesting and engaging, and the story was pretty easy to get along with. In comparison, this new volume, set within the second phase of The High Republic, feels like it’s struggling with each of these things.

This volume has shifted the focus away from galaxy-spanning threats, and multiple Jedi protagonists, to instead focus on a smaller group of people dealing with an issue with much smaller odds. We’ve been following Jedi padawan Sav Malagan as she sweet-talks her way onto the crew of the infamous pirate queen Maz Kanata, as she and her crew deal with a gang of criminals who have stolen their ship. In this issue the team catch up to the bad guys, who have headed to a shipyard to try and get hold of some ships that can cause some damage.

Perhaps the two biggest issues for me when I read this series are that the story doesn’t really feel like it has a clear direction, and that none of the characters feel particularly fleshed out. The first might be something that is eventually dealt with over time, but so far the story feels kind of aimless, like the characters are just spinning their wheels. Is the story just going to be one gang chasing another issue after issue, with the occasional action set-piece along the way to keep it interesting? If so, I can’t really see the appeal in that. It really feels like it needs more than that in order to keep itself interesting; some kind of over-arching narrative that means something, and so far that hasn’t been present at all.

You’d think that with no big story to deal with, and most of the last three issues being one group in a ship chasing after another group in a ship it would at least mean that we’d have time to get to know that group. But that doesn’t really seem to be the case. Maz’s crew all have cool designs, and we’ve been given a small taste as to what their personalities and backgrounds are (though some are still very blank slates), but none of them have been expanded upon in any real way. I couldn’t tell you the defining feature of each of them; I don’t know what they’d do in a given situation; I don’t know what their goals and drives are. They’re a group with weird and interesting designs that make them stand out, but that’s it, they don’t really feel like characters yet, which is a huge shame.

As with previous issues, this one moves either at a snail’s pace, or incredibly fast, and there are moments where not a huge amount really happens, followed by a second half of the book that really crams things in. The result is a book that kind of drags for the first several pages, barely keeping you engaged, whilst the latter half tries to do everything and wants to up the excitement, but it’s such a tonal whiplash with the first half that it’s hard to really feel engaged by that point.

I really wanted to like this series. The first volume is one of my favourite Star Wars comics, and I adored the characters that it introduced, but this series has failed to grab me in the same way. Even with the easy start of already having a character like Sav (who is fantastic in the future) the series isn’t really doing anything new, interesting, or engaging. I really hope that this is just an anomaly, a rocky start for the series, and that it doesn’t continue on like this for much longer.

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Unstoppable Doom Patrol #1 - Comic Review

 

Whilst I've read books with the Doom Patrol in it, this is the first actual Doom Patrol comic that I've picked up. Thanks to having picked up a few things in other comics, and to the popularity of the television series, I'm aware enough of who the characters are and how they operate before I went into this issue; but I was still excited to see what they'd be like out on their own adventures.

It seems like this new Unstoppable Doom Patrol series, and the team's mission, is spinning out of the the events of Lazarus Planet. Following the Lazarus Rain that caused people to mutate and develop powers there have been more new meta-humans popping up all over the place. Whilst some are simply gaining new powers, others are becoming more obviously different, and no longer look human. With the Doom Patrol being all about being outsiders and weirdos, they want to try and help those who've found their lives changed thanks to the Lazarus Rain.

It looks like they've started doing this before the series begins, as they're already joined by a new member; Best Girl. Beast Girl is a small, purple furred girl with horns who's able to manipulate the fight of flight responses in other people. She seems like a pretty cool new character, and has a fairly pleasant personality and seems eager to help. I also like the fact that her code name is Beast Girl, as a nod towards Beast Boy, who was a member of the team for a while when he was younger.

The team head into Gotham in order to help a new meta-human who's being experimented on by a corporation that's been conducting experiments on the new metas. When they arrive the windows of the building above them shatter, and monstrous creatures come pouring out. The Doom Patrol have to try and fight off the creatures, along with the security guards who come after them; as well as the meta that they're there to save, who's grown into a huge hulking creature.

It's at this point that Batman and Robin (Tim) arrive on the scene ready to take over. I love how Crazy Jane, now the group's Chief, just instantly shuts him down on this matter. This might be his city, but this is their mission, and their kind of area, so she doesn't allow him to take over or dictate what's going to happen. It almost feels like a bit of meta commentary on how Batman will suddenly appear books that aren't even Batman books, and will take over things. Unstoppable Doom Patrol teases the idea of that happening here, but say no, because the Doom Patrol are not your average super heroes, and aren't going to step aside out of the spotlight for Batman. There are also some fun moments where Jane talks about the revolving doors at Arkham and the repeating systems villains find themselves in.

Whilst all this is happening Robot Man and Beast Girl manage to get through to the new meta, and are able to calm him down enough to get him to agree to go with them. This new member of the team, called Degenerate, is powered by his anger, and seems to be a big, lumpy ball of rage ready to kick off at any moment. He makes a nice counter balance to Best Girl, the other new member, who just seems super chipper. After things settle down in Gotham we see a brief scene that shows that the government is up to something, and that Peacemaker has selected someone from Taskforce X's espionage unit to infiltrate the team; giving us hints that there's something big coming for the Doom Patrol.

Scattered throughout are scenes that follow Monsieur Mallah and the Brain, who has now got himself a robotic ape body like his friend. The two of them battle through hordes of the undead to enter the stronghold of General Immortus. Once inside, Mallah turns against Brain, and the two of them have a fight that leaves one of them apparently dead. This is a pretty surprising turn, as the two characters always come as a pair, and it seems to be showing that not only is Dennis Culver going to be trying new and interesting things for some of these familiar characters, but that you're going to struggle to be able to predict everything that's going to happen.

The art on the book, by Chris Burnham and Brian Reber as artist and colourist respectively, looks fantastic. Burnham has a style that fits in the super hero universe, but kind of also feels very different. The work reminds me of Frank Quietly a lot of the time (one of my favourite comic artists), and much like Quietly, Burnham's art is able to marry the 'normal' parts of the universe with the really bizarre. Characters like Degenerate and Beast Girl look fantastic, with Degenerate looking lumpy, misshapen, and gross thanks to all of the little details and flair that Burnham give him. Beast Girl manages to look completely alien and weird, but also incredibly cute too. The panel where she uses her powers to scare off some enemies is one of the most adorable things around. The writing on the book is great, and the art makes everything pop and grab your attention. I honestly can't wait to see what this creative team does together, because it seems like it's going to be fantastic.

This might be my first real Doom Patrol comic, but it's definitely not going to be my last. This series is going to be one that I'm eagerly awaiting each month, and I've definitely been given a jolt to go back and try some of the older stuff. If you're similar, if you've never really tried a Doom Patrol book before and are unsure about giving this series a try, just try it. It's only six issues long (so far, hopefully more!) and if the first issue is any indication it's going to be a fantastic six issues that you're not going to want to miss out on.

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Snow Angels: Library Edition – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Jeff Lemire is one of those writers whose work you’ll find at ‘The Big Two’, having written some great stuff for both Marvel and DC Comics, but if you really want to see Lemire’s best work you have to look at his creator owned stuff: things like Sweet Tooth, or Black Hammer. Snow Angels: Library Edition brings together the complete ten issue run of the Lemire (and artist Jock) science fiction tale for the first time, and is an absolute must read.

The story begins on a cold, desolate world. A world covered in ice and snow. We meet a father and his two daughters: twelve-year-old Milliken, and eight-year-old Mei Mei, who are living in The Trench. The Trench is a huge rift in the never-ending show, a canyon that allows the small group of humans to survive in conditions that would otherwise guarantee their deaths. There are only really three rules in regards to The Trench, rules that the girls have had drilled into them since they were born because they could mean the difference between life and death.

The first rule: The Trench provides. Anything that the people might need to survive, from food, to scavenged items, are all present within The Trench. Rule two: you must never, ever leave The Trench. There is only death awaiting anyone who decides to leave The Trench; with winds that can strip the flesh from your bone, snow in every direction, and the mysterious Snowman prowling the ice, leaving The Trench is a death sentence. The final rule: The Trench never ends. It goes on forever, and trying to find the end will only bring madness and death.

The three of them are out hunting one day, tracking food for their community, but return to find everyone dead. The bodies have been torn open, sliced apart, and blood stains the snow. The Snowman has finally come for them. The old children’s tale seems to be true, as a mysterious figure begins chasing the three survivors, hunting them through The Trench. However, when the three of them discover the impossible, the end of The Trench, nothing will ever be the same for them.

Snow Angels is a story with a ton of mystery to it. As the story begins we’re dropped into the middle of an unrecognisable world, one where the constant snow and ice have made just surviving a constant battle. But where is this place? Is this an Earth that has gone through an ice age, or is it an alien world? Where does The Trench come from? Who or what is the frightening Snowman who’s hunting the central family? What are the mythological Colden Ones, and do they really exist? It feels like every new concept we get introduced to throughout the story is a further puzzle, an additional mystery that needs answering in order to solve the greater questions. But despite this, the book never feels overwhelming, you never feel like you’re getting lost. This is down to the strength of the writing.

Lemire is very clever with Snow Angels because he gives the reader enough time to get used to each new shift and twist in the tale before introducing a new one. We have time to get to know the three characters, to see what kind of people they are, and to understand their way of life before that’s forever changed with the arrival of the Snowman. We’re given time to get used to the idea that they’re being hunted by this thing through The Trench before the book takes The Trench away from us completely. Upon seeing the length of the book I was initially a bit apprehensive, as near to 300 pages is a big commitment.

However, it never once feels like you are reading a huge, bloated story. Because each of the pieces of the tale are given enough time to breathe and to settle in before something new is brought in, the book is big, but it isn’t long. I completed Snow Angels in a single sitting because the story moved at such a brisk pace, kept me wanting to find out what happened next, and I just didn’t want to put it down. Lemire has done an amazing job at balancing pace, action, and length to create a story where it feels like you get a lot more time with it than most creator owned one-off tales – though you do also come away wishing it had been even longer.

Jock’s art is also another huge factor in the book being such a good read. His artwork lends itself brilliantly to this story and setting, and some of the best parts of the book are the moments where Jock delivers a huge, two page spread of the vast nothingness of these locations. The stark white, the effects of the howling, snow filled winds, the tininess of the characters on the page, all come together to sell us on the almost hopelessness of the situation. But there are lots of moments of beauty to be found here too, and Jock is able to turn desolate and barren locations into scenes that look beautiful on the page. It’s hard to see this book working as well as it does with any other artist working on it, and it feels like the perfect marriage between artist and script.

Snow Angels is a story that might have slipped under some readers’ radars when it was first released, but this new edition is a book that I will absolutely be recommending that people pick up. From the mystery of the story and setting, to the tense action and horror of the Snowman chasing our heroes, to the tender moments of love this family shares, there’s something here for every reader. Plus, it just looks absolutely gorgeous too.

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Tim Drake: Robin #6 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

With issue six the first arc of Tim Drake: Robin comes to a close, and this might be one of the worst Robin comics I've ever read. I really wanted to like this series, I love Tim as a character, he was my first Robin, and I love that he's being allowed to be bisexual and that this book would explore that. But it is just so dull, so uninteresting, and so off-putting to read that the only thing keeping me with this title has been sheer stubbornness. 

The main thing that's not helped this series for me has been the story. I just haven't cared about it. The plot feels overly convoluted and doesn't make much sense to me. Tim is the detective Robin, so yes, give him a mystery story; but this isn't really much of a mystery as all of the mystery is someone redoing existing mystery stories. Tim isn't really solving crimes, he's remembering fictional detectives solving crimes and working back from there.

The villain, once revealed, also doesn't really do much for me. It's basically just another Clayface. And yes, the book can claim that its not, that it's alchemy mixed with Clayface clay, but it's still the basic Clayface model with a few new bells and whistles. And Moriarty himself is a bit of a nothing. He's a Robin fanboy who wants to be Tim's arch nemesis. Well, then do something to earn that, don't just turn up and whine that Tim doesn't want to play with you.

Even when out of his hero guise the book fails to make Tim feel interesting for me. He just doesn't feel like Tim Drake. There's not a single moment in the book where it felt like the Tim I'd been reading for the last couple of decades. This could have had any name attached to the character and I'd have believed that it was a new creation rather than Tim. 

The artwork doesn't help with that either, as the Tim presented here doesn't look anything like Tim. The artwork kind of doesn't look anything like any other DC book or character. Having variety in art style is important, and it's great to have new artists with their own distinct style, but the characters should at least look like the characters. I honestly don't get on with the art in this book, and I know that's a me issue because it's down to personal taste, but the weirdly shaped and overly large heads with the almost stick thin bodies just feel off to me. 

Another criticism of the art that I've seen, which I kind of have to agree with, also ties into how the book seems to be handling Tim's queerness. Tim is drawn very effeminately at various points throughout the book. I don't know why. It's not how Tim normally is, and it's not how he's been portrayed in other books since he came out either. Being queer and effeminate is absolutely fine, and if that's how Tim always is that'd be cool, but this is the only book that does it. And that just adds to the feeling that this just isn't Tim. It's like the book is trying too hard to go 'Tim's queer now, see, look how queer he is' and it feels like it's gone too far into that and lost what makes this character who he is. Tim isn't defined by his relationship with Bernard, and doesn't need to be. He's strong enough to stand on his own.

I'm honestly glad this arc is done, and that we're getting new artists going forward. Whilst I'm not holding out much hope in the quality of the writing improving, at least the new art might make it easier to read. I really want this book to be good, to showcase how fantastic Tim is; but so far it's become one of my most hated DC titles each month.

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Tim Drake: Robin #7 - Comic Review

 

I've been having a hard time with Tim Drake: Robin. I like the character of Tim, he was the Robin for most of my early Batman stories, and my first run of Teen Titans. He was my first Robin before Damian came along. I like him, and his Red Robin series is one of my favourite. As such, when he gets his own book again, particularly one that will be exploring his new queer identity, I should be loving it. Sadly, the first six issues were perhaps some of the worst comics I think I've read in the last few years. There was nothing in the story that grabbed me, he didn't feel much like Tim, and the art was absolutely wrong for the book and I found it super ugly.

Things seem to have improved a little with issue seven, however, thanks in large part to the book getting a new artist. The new art is much better, and whilst it's not exactly what I'd have picked for the title it's still enjoyable enough, and doesn't end up making people look like weird, ugly trolls like the previous one did. It's got a very manga-like feel at times, and it reminds me of some of the romance books the medium has on offer. Which fits really well as this is a story about Tim and Bernard going out on a date together.

The two of them arrive in a fancy restaurant that Bruce got them reservations for, but things start to go wrong as they run into Bernards horribly homophobic parents. Things get tense, and then Tim bails on them because he has to go jump into costume as Firefly turns up. Whilst Tim is battling the villain Bernard tries to get his parents out of the burning building, but his father ends up screaming in his face that he wished Bernard had never been born. 

After Tim beats Firefly the two of them start to head home, but something Bernard says makes Tim realise that there's another villain at play and so he runs back to the restaurant with a bad excuse for doing so. Bernard follows behind and finds the building back on fire, Firefly free, Phobia helping him, Robin trapped, and everyone inside the building arguing with each other (including Bernards parents). Bernard goes in, helps to free Tim, and then watches as his boyfriend saves the day. And he knows that's what he's seeing, as he reveals through narration that he's aware that Tim is Robin.

This issue is an improvement on what came before, but it's still kind of bad. After beating Firefly it seems like Tim leave with Bernard without waiting for authorities of the fire brigade to arrive, so when he goes back everything is still chaos. Did he leave civilians in a burning building or did they go back in? Does he regularly just leave villains on the street? How does he get out of the fire cage like he does? Who knows, the writer doesn't seem to care to explain.

Tim is supposed to be one of the smarter members of the Bat Family, but this issue makes him seem the exact opposite. He runs out of every scene with a terrible excuse 'oh I forgot my sweater' that immediately falls apart 'what do you mean where's my sweater? Oh right, I must not have brought one'. He seems someone who's been a hero for a week, not the seasoned vigilante trained by Batman. It's no surprise Bernard knows his secret; he might as well have run back in to see Bernard having forgotten to take the costume off for how well he's trying to keep the secret.

Like with every other issue of this series, this doesn't feel like Tim Drake at all. Compare Tim here to how he's being written in the Batman back-up feature and I'd honestly believe it if you told be that this was a book set on another Earth. Tim is incompetent, makes mistakes, and acts like someone who's had little training. It feels kind of embarrassing. On one hand I'm sad that the series is being brought to an end with issue ten, because Tim deserves better than that. On the other hand the end can't come soon enough, because this series feels like an insult to the character.

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Gears of War: Judgment – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

By 2013 the Gears of War franchise was pretty well established. Since first appearing on the Xbox 360 in 2006, the series had become a firm favourite amongst gamers, becoming one of the tent-pole titles for the console. Its mixture of third-person shooting and cover mechanics, high octane action, and the beefiest of beefcake men set it apart from some other shooters.

And as the third game in the series seemed to bring the story of mankind’s battle against the evil Locust Horde to an end the question of ‘what next?’ was raised. What next would be a new sequel series set decades later, with Gears of War 4, but before that we get Gears of War: Judgment.

Gears of War: Judgment is not a sequel to the third game, and instead of continuing the story after the conclusion it was decided that the best thing to do would be to go backwards in time instead. But, rather than explore the emergence of the Locust, or even the human civil war that came before it (both things that the later sequels would shine more light on) we kind of got more of the same, with another game set during the events of the Locust War. The two characters from the main series Delta Squad who players don’t get to control, Damon Baird (Fred Tatasciore) and August ‘Cole Train’ Cole (Lester Speight), get thrust into the spotlight here, as we get to explore their time before they meet up with the rest of Delta Squad.

But rather than just give us another Gears of War game, new developers People Can Fly messed around with the format a little bit. Rather than telling a fairly traditional story in chronological order, where players are able to explore a large-feeling world through big levels, we get a story told in flashback, where our characters are on trial, and their testimony becomes the game-play. Key moments from their testimony become small arenas in which the player is tasked with surviving.

These levels kind of feel like the Horde Mode offered in previous games, though they don’t last anywhere as long. However, the game introduces some new elements that stop it from becoming Horde Light. Each level has objectives that the player has to meet in order to earn stars for their rankings.

These collectable stars encourage you to not just survive, but to try and meet certain expectations, to push yourself harder, and to try to become better at the game. However, there are also Declassified Missions, small changes to the testimony that add more detail, and offer challenges to the player; things like low ammunition, explosions reducing visibility, or more enemies appearing.

The Declassified Missions are incredibly fun to tackle, and they can make even the easiest of the levels feel like a challenge. They force the player to try different tactics, to use weapons they might normally never pick up, and to play smarter. From a narrative point of view these Declassified Missions are fun because they shows how different people will remember the same events in different ways, and plays into the idea of unreliable narrators.

An added bonus to playing the Declassified Missions is that it allows the player to unlock the ‘Aftermath’ campaign if they’ve earned enough stars. This campaign takes place during the events of Gears of War 3, and shows what Damon and Cole were doing whilst their compatriots were off on the main mission. It adds some extra detail to the third game that isn’t necessarily needed, but is fun to have nonetheless.

Despite being a spin-off game (which sometimes struggles), and despite messing with a tried and true formula, Gears of War: Judgment was well received upon release, being praised for giving players something new in the Gears of War universe. The twist on the standard formula helped the game to feel different, and you could argue that it encouraged those who might have begun to get a bit bored with the series’ regular play style to give it a go in hopes of getting something different.

Whilst most of the changes added to Gears of War: Judgment wouldn’t be retained for the main series when Gears of War 4 and Gears of War 5 were released, it did set the stage for spin-off games that would try to be different to the main series, with others like Gears Tactics and Gears Pop! taking even bigger leaps away from the standard formula. If you missed out on Gears of War: Judgment first time round it might be worth your time finally giving it a try.

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Action Comics #1052 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

The second issue of the new Action Comics set-up definitely makes an improvement in quality over what was already a decent start, and begins to make each of the three stories within its pages more interesting.

The main story, 'House of Metallo', picks up where the last one left off, with the Super Family rushing into battle as Metallo destroys the newly opened Steelworks, and having already beaten Superboy unconscious. The team take the cyborg on the best they can, though have some trouble thanks to his new upgrades and improvements. The fight ends with Superman sending him into orbit, leaving him to freeze in the vacuum of space.

Whilst the team discuss what's happned, the connections Metallo has to War World, and enjoys some domestic bliss, Metallo returns to Earth and begins to prepare to take the Kryptonians on again, preparing his own 'family' in order to fight them.

So, after an enjoyable start that didn't really have anything that grabbed me, this story has me invested. We get to see how strong the new Metallo is, we learn that the Unmade technology from War World has played a part in his newly created form, we discover that Luthor isn't the one pulling his strings as we first thought, and now Metallo is going full body horror and turning people into machine killers like him. 

Whilst all of that is great, there are a ton of tiny details that also make this a hugely enjoyable read. I loved the moment when the team are talking about what's happened and Jon just whispers over to his 'aunt Kara' with his hand open so that she'll hand him one of her chocolates. It's a tiny moment, but one that reinforces how this isn't just a super hero team, but a real family with strong bonds and connections. This gets reinforced with the twins, who really bring a lot of the domestic touches to the book. Things like them getting used to brushing their teeth at night before bed, or getting bedtime stories. Though the moment we see how they're still struggling to adapt, with them sleeping on the floor, and Otho tying her blankets around her arms like the chains she wore on War World is a heartbreaking moment. These kids really do need this family's help, and I hope it goes well for them, because they deserve a happy ending.

The second story, 'Home Again', continues our tale set in the past for those who're desperate for more young Jon stories. Here Jon meets an alien princess who has crashed to Earth looking for Superman, and the two of them come under attack from robots out to capture the young woman. Meanwhile, Lois gets a knock on the door in the middle of the night as the man who was recently transformed into Doombreaker has come looking for help; midway through being transformed into a Doomsday creature once again.

This story is okay, there's nothing here that's really grabbed me or wowed me so far, and things seem interesting enough. There's potential for this to be a really decent story, but so far it just seems to be coasting a little. Hopefully the next instalment will give us a little more and we'll be treated to something cool.

The final story once again takes us to visit Power Girl in her new position as a psychic counsellor for the hero community. This time her patient is Supergirl, who's unable to talk in English, and is speaking an alien language whenever she tries. PG heads into her head to try and fix the problem for her, and the two of them have a pretty emotion fuelled confrontation.

I love Power Girl, but I really wasn't sure about this issue. Her and Kara have a lot of issues to work out here, and it's hard to really understand it all because we don't really quite understand what Karen's origin is now. I'm going to have to go with her pre-New 52 origin, where she came from the original Earth-2, because anything else feels too messy now. And if that's true it's kind of a shame that she's now sort of on the outs of the Super Family as she really wasn't back then, and she had a good relationship with Kara. But here she feels left out, unloved, like she's not really one of them, and she butts heads with Kara a lot. There are hints a bigger things to come with this back-up, of something or someone working in the background, but so far it's failing to really impress. 

Overall, this is a decent issue, with three very different kinds of stories with three distinct art styles. Whilst the overall quality does seem to go down as you move through the stories, with the strongest definitely being the first, it's still a good read.

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Action Comics #1053 - Comic Review

 

Things start to go a little bit wrong for the Super Family in the latest issue of Action Comics as Metallo enacts the next stage of his plan, having converted members of the Blue Earth group into kryptonite powered machines.

The main story sees Steel coming under attack from the new Metallo drones and having to be assisted by Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, and Kong. The new minions that Metallo has at his disposal now are pretty horrific, and lean hard into the body horror aspect of the character. We've seen Metallo lose his skin to reveal the machine beneath many times in the comics, and I don't think many readers think much of it. But here there's a big emphasis on how gross that is, with the machine parts bursting out of his victims, with their flesh stretching and splitting, pieces flapping in the wind like fabric. It's absolutely disgusting, and I kind of love it. It makes Metallo feel dangerous and frightening because he can do this to you.

Speaking of powerful, one of his drones is able to take out Supergirl with a huge kryptonite explosion. This is the second member of the family rendered useless in a fight with a Metallo, and it's really stepping up his level of power. It's starting to feel like Superman having a whole squad of Kryptonians around him is actually needed, rather than it being a bit of overkill.

We also get confirmation this issue that Luthor isn't behind what's going on with Metallo, and that the voice he's hearing pretending to be his sister is another being. Luthor is cagey about who or what it is, but is worried when Superman tells him about it, making a point of Metallo hearing voices in that particular body being a bad thing. We know that Luthor stole stuff from War World to make that body for him, so it's going to be interesting to see where this goes, and if it ties back into the stories that came before.

This issue also does some big things with the younger members of the family. We see a little bit more of Jon being depressed and unsure about his new siblings. There were hints of this in previous issues, but here it gets addressed in a big way. Osul comes into Jon's room to see him after Jon falls into a bit of a bad mood after his dad suggests bringing the twins on a outing with him and Jon. Osul apologises to Jon, saying that he's sorry for taking attention from Superman because he's not his real kid. This seems to jolt Jon out of his melancholy and makes him realise that his feelings are in turn impacting the twins.

Jon reveals to his new younger brother that he's not angry at the twins, or jealous of them, but that is sad feelings are coming from the fact that he lost his younger years with his parents. He's seeing his mother and father interacting with the twins and its reminding him of what he lost. I like that he's not being mean towards the kids for this, as that would have been very unlike Jon, but the fact that there does feel like there's consequences to his age-up is a big thing. It's something that I was hoping to see explored, as it brings something to his character that makes him stand out from the other members of his family. I love that as soon as he realises his feeling bad has had a knock-on effect on the kids he makes a point to reassure them that it's not because of them, and that they're absolutely a part of his family now. That feels like a Superman thing to do.

Unfortunately, whilst he and Osul were talking in his room Otho was watching a news report of the violent protesters who want to get rid of the War World refugees. Having grown up on a world of violence, and having seen the hate these people are showing towards her and her brother, she leaves the Kent home and flies down to the protest, and starts attacking people. The last things we see are explosions, people running, and at least one body. 

The inclusion of the family drama with the younger members of the family is great, and is stuff that I'm finding more interesting than the Metallo stuff. It's adding extra drama, and could go on to have bigger consequences for the family than anything Metallo can do to them. I'm very interested to see where this particular plot will be going in future issues, and how Otho is going to continue to struggle to find her place on Earth.

The second story, set in the past, kind of feels like it's treading water a little. Doombreaker manages to get away from Superman and eventually finds the missing piece that Jon hid, and Jon and his new alien princess friend stage a breakout from the cell they're in on the flying saucer, and cause it to go crashing back down to Earth. 

There's not a lot in this story that's actually grabbing my attention. It doesn't seem to be adding anything new or interesting to the characters at this point in their lives. The story kind of feels like stuff we've seen several times before. And the art is very dark and gloomy looking, and as such fails to grab my attention in any way. It doesn't really feel like there's anything here that justifies telling a story in the past, that needs us to go back to this point in our characters lives. If you've been missing younger Jon and are desperate to have more of him than this story is probably going to do something for you, but otherwise it's kind of nothing.

The third story continues the new era of Power Girl, with her having her new psychic abilities. I love Power Girl, I think she's a great character, but I'm not sure if the writer shares that sentiment. The Power Girl presented here feels very different to the one we've been reading for the past couple of decades (minus the New 52 alternate Earth version). She's incredibly stand-offish about having anything to do with the Super Family this issue, something continued from the last one. She tells Jon more than once that she's not a part of the family. This kind of goes against all of the times when she has been part of the family, and also raises the question of 'if you don't consider yourself part of if why did you get your new costume to match theirs and included the crest on it?' 

She then goes on to say that she's a loner, and doesn't really do families at all. This again, seems to go against everything we've seen of her as part of the Justice Society. She sees the JSA as her family. She's got family albums with photos of them inside, and she's shown masses of emotions towards them that speak of incredibly strong bonds of love. But here the writer has thrown that all away to give us an angry, loner Power Girl. This issue also has her rejecting the name of Karen, a name that she's had for decades. The story gives us a very convoluted and weird explanation for why she should change her name to Paige too, suggesting that might be her new name.

I'm all for people changing their names if they want (I've changed mine), but this seemed to come a bit out of nowhere. Her reasoning behind changing her name also seems to be 'well it was never my real name, I never had one'. So? It doesn't matter if that was the name you were born with or chose, if that's the name you want then use it. There's been zero indication before this moment that she has an issue with that name, and it feels like the writer is trying to make a mark on the character by giving her new powers, by changing her personality, and by giving her a new name. At this point would it not be easier to just make a new character?

I was really happy that we were going to be getting Power Girl stuff in this book, but only a few issues in I'm yet to see Power Girl. This character seems to be a reinvention of the character to the point that it feels a bit like character assassination. Not even the reveal of an awesome JSA villain on the final page could make me feel excited for things to come, because this just doesn't feel like the Power Girl I love anymore.

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Masters of the Universe: Masterverse #2 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

In the previous issue of Masters of the Universe: Masterverse we were introduced to the main conceit of the series: the sorceress of Castle Greyskull is trying to convince Zodac, the cosmic enforcer, that Prince Adam is a good choice for the powers that he wields; that he is the kind of hero that the world of Eternia needs. Using mirrors that give glimpses into other worlds, Zodac and Teela Na hop from world to world, like channels on a television, seeing how each universe fares with Adam as their hero.

In the first of the two tales in this new issue we travel to an Eternia where the vast land is covered in water, and the locations that fans are used to seeing characters travel to with ease have become islands instead. Upon a ship we encounter General Adam, son of the King, who has been sent with his troops to find the mythical isle of Greyskull, in order to attain the secret power housed within. Along the way the crew will have to contend with threats from beneath the ocean waves.

This story feels like a decent enough twist up on the already established Masters of the Universe formula that can easily be established in on sentence: He-Man as a ship based adventure. With the concept being that simple, most of the changes come in the smaller details, such as the different personal relationships in this world, and the new role that Skeletor takes on. The story also includes an appearance from the character Jitsu, who takes on a somewhat important role in this tale.

The art style on this story fits the tone really well, and E.J. Su and Michael Wiggam have a much more traditional comic style than the book’s second story. Things are clear and easy to make sense of, with the moments of action being full of energy and movement. The character designs are decent, and the faces seem very expressive and it’s easy to see the emotions going on in the character’s heads via the art. The only real complaint about this first story is that it ends very abruptly, and that it would have been nice to see a bit more of it.

The second story takes a very different turn in both visual style and tone. Presented in complete black and white, this is a noir detective story more than anything else, set in a world where He-Man and Skeletor have long since vanished in battle, their respective power bases gone with them, and the heroes and villains left behind have had to adapt to their new world. Man-At-Arms has been thrown out of the palace in disgrace for hiding Adam’s identity as He-Man from the king, and has opened a detective agency with ‘Evil’ Lyn Powers as his secretary/assistant.

When Duncan is approached by Orco, who has accidentally made the King vanish, he sets out on a case that could have huge ramifications for the kingdom. Along the way he’ll have to contend with former foes, and sinister magic in order to save the kingdom that has turned its back on him.

Out of the two stories presented here this is by far the most interesting because it’s so different from what we’ve come to expect from the franchise. Mashing together this setting with the tone of a 1930’s detective story is a move that I’d never have seen coming, and Seeley has managed to make it work pretty well. Man-At-Arms being the cast out detective looking to make things right fits well, and the fact that Lyn is his assistant is the icing on the cake as far as weirdly ridiculous choices goes. The thing that stands out as odd about this story, however, is that it doesn’t feature He-Man at all. With the main conceit of the book being seeing what He-Man is like in different universes it feels odd that he’s not here for this one.

The art style for this story, created by Victor Santos, works perfectly for the tone that the story is trying for. Everything is presented in moody black and white, with thick shadow and heavy darkness shrouding almost every panel of the book. Things look and feel oppressive (perhaps the intention of a world without He-Man), and we’re often left with the vague impressions of the images we’re being shown, rather than detailed art. The hard silhouettes and shadowed features convey the barest minimum at times, but manage to give you everything you need.

The framing story also takes a new development by the end, and it looks like perhaps the next issue will be taking a slightly different approach as far as the kind of stories that we’re going to be treated to, with the possibility that we’ll be getting some darker versions of He-Man. Perhaps most excitingly though, the cover reveal for the next issue hints that we might be getting a female He-Man too (She-Woman?).

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