2014 - A year in retrospect

2014, what a year it's been. There have been 4 Marvel movies (ranging from good to brilliant in my opinion), a movie that's essentially a toy commercial that was actually very good, and mostly movies I really don't give a sh*t about. We've had 3 new DC Comics TV series (ranging from good to very good in my opinion) and a new Marvel one coming soon (I'll give it a chance, but a Peggy Carter series really isn't all that appealing to me) we saw an end to Beware the Batman (wow, that ended on a wimper) and the continued downfall of the comic animated tv series industry (there is also some downfall in the animated direct to DVD stuff too, but Assault on Arkham was great) We saw the end of the Legend of Korra, with tears of both joy and sadness. We also saw the release of games such as Infamous: Second Son, Destiny, Sunset Overdrive and Titanfall (I only own Infamous: Second Son from this list, and I thoroughly enjoyed it) whilst Batman Arkham Knight has been delayed.

In DC comics we see the launch of a huge array of new titles, with a new creative team and relaunch on the Teen Titans (I'll get to that later in the week), a series called Arkham Manor (which is effectively a mini-series given that it ends with Batman Eternal) a bunch of weekly mini-series including Batman: Eternal, Future's End and Earth 2: World's end (I only read Batman eternal, but I'd struggle to recommend it), Dick Grayson is known to the world (and surely a simple Google search would tell anyone Bruce Wayne is Batman from that) and is a secret agent. Lex Luthor is a member of the Justice League. With Marvel Peter Parker returns to being Spider-man, after Otto Octavious took the reins for a while and... That's really all I know about Marvel comics, I'm not an avid Marvel reader.

So, with all that, let's take a look at this site. I first designed it to kill time when I wasn't revising for exams. A had a few reviews I wanted to do, and I did them, now I have over 100 reviews on the site (and I've lost count so I couldn't do a 100th review special, it was a probably a TV review anyway)

So, at the time of the year to look back on your successes, let's take a look at my top 10 most popular reviews. Before we begin, I'm going to exclude Son of Batman (Rage issues #4) from this list. It is a popular review, however, it was at a point where I barely understood the tool, and I didn't know how to make a jump point on an entry, so you couldn't see the entire review on the home page (spoilers and everything) instead I used a link to a separate page for it, but eventually I came back to the review and added the jump point, what I'm saying is it's hard to quantify who visited the page via links, who read the whole review on the entry, and who read the entry just to get the initial page link.

So, with that said, let's take a look

4 issue test #1 - Grayson

It’s time to welcome a new feature to the list, the 4-issue test. Where I review the first 4 issues of a new comic and give my opinion as to whether I think the series is worth picking up. We start off with Grayson. Normally I’d put a little background after this, but the comic should be accessible to those who do not know anything, so let’s begin, Spoilers ahead guys.

                                    

Editorial: Goodbye Avatar Korra

If there's a show out there that has a reputation for having strong woman (both good and evil) without them being... defined by their gender let's say. It's the Avatar franchise (not the movies, the TV shows, there's a big difference)

In Avatar The Last Airbender you have Katara, Suki, Kyoshi, Toph, Azula, Mai, Ty Lee just to name the main ones. That's not to say that sexism didn't exist in this universe. Sokka started out a tad sexist, and Katara had to fight the sexist waterbending Master Paku to try and get herself taken seriously.

I believe in equal opportunities, but that's not necessarily the case with Network Executives. There was some debate about putting a girl as the lead in the new Avatar series, because they believed it might put boys off. Fortunately in a focus test the boys proved that there is still sense in the world, and didn't give a sh*t, and thus was born: The Legend of Korra.

Guilty Pleasures #10 - The Polar Express

Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year everyone.

Time to look at a Christmas movie. The Polar Express is an adaptation of a book by Chris Van Allsburg, released in 2004, it had a decent box office performance, but was not considered a great success owing to its massive $165 million budget.

It received mixed reviews from critics, with many not liking the motion capture animation (all be it, a better version of it than a lot of films) with a 56% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 61 on metacritic.

What's my opinion on the film? Well time to jump into this holiday classic find out just how interesting a film this is.

Legend of Korra Book 4 finale review - Day of the Colossus/The Last Stand

And so it has finally come, tears will be shed, blood will be spilt, and a character will die, this the finale of the Legend of Korra

TV Retrospective: Arrow Season 2 episodes 1-3 review

We now take a look into Season 2 of the series, before we dive into the first episode, I'll briefly mention the series 1 recap bonus. It's a basic recap of events leading up to the season 1 finale, and their eventual outcome. It’s quite thorough, but it is just a recap of events narrated by John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn) and there is no chance in hell I will be reviewing it, with that said, let's dig into season 2 of Arrow and see how the destruction of the glades pushes the quality of the show.

Guilty Pleasures #9 - Space Warriors

It’s been a while, but we’re back, and our next outing is space warriors. How could you possibly go wrong with a title like that?

A movie released in 2013, I happened to come across it in Asda for £5, with a title like Space Warriors, I couldn’t resist. My research reveals very little about movie. I don’t have any budget or box office figures that I could find, implying that it was definitely done on the cheap.

Reviews about this, like most of my Guilty Pleasures are… mixed. However, unlike the usual movies, I’ve had to watch a movie to form an opinion, because there are so few of them. I did a post a few early responses to the movie on Twitter but that’s it.

Legend of Korra Book 4 Chapters 10-11 review - Operation Beifong/Kuvira's Gambit

We take our look in the final days of the Legend of Korra, as I do my penultimate review of the game (possible rage-review of the game notwithstanding) This week Lin, Opal and Bolin mount a rescue mission and Kuvira unveils her latest weapons

Constantine Episode 8 - The Saint of Last Resorts (part 1) review

Welcome to my next, and sadly also my last Constantine review - I have enjoyed the show, but it's content is somewhat above my head, and it's notoriously difficult for me to review. It's also where the show takes its mid-season break, so...

Arrow - Season 3 Episode 9 - The Climb review

It's time to rejoin season 3 of Arrow, as the hour has come for a showdown with Ra's al Ghul himself and Sara's killer finally is revealed

The Flash Episode 9 - The Man in the Yellow Suit review

It's time for the Flash to come face-to-face with his Mother's killer for the first time

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 Episode 10 - What they become review

It's a week of mid-season finales, so let's dig into Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and see exactly how the circumstances play out

TV Retrospective - Arrow Season 1 episodes 22-23

So, it's time to finish our look at the first season of Arrow, as things build to a climax that's not to be missed

Constantine Episodes 6-7 review - Rage of Caliban/Blessed are the Damned

We once again take a closer look at DC's most heroic a**hole, John Constantine as his battles against rising Darkness intensify

Flash vs Arrow/The Brave and the Bold review

It's time for the long awaited Flash/Arrow crossover

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 Episodes 8-9 review - The things we bury/Ye who enter here

It's been a while, but let's take a look at Agents of SHIELD as it's full steam ahead toward the mid-season finale.

Legend of Korra Book 4 Chapters 8-9 review - Remembrances/Beyond the Wilds

It's TV Month

Except it isn't, but with TV seasons drawing to a close, let's dig into chapters 8-9 of Book 4 of the Legend of Korra and see how things progress

Please note: When I originally wrote the review for remembrances, I was unaware of the budget reasons behind the clip show format of it. I have modified to review slightly, increasing its review score and adding a few references to it, but I kept it mostly in tact for comedic purposes.

TV Month - TV Retrospective - Arrow Season 1 episodes 19-21

In the final (and a bit late) installment of TV Month, we'll be taking a look at the next 3 episodes of season 1 of Arrow (I may eventually get round to doing this with Season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. once this is over)

TV Month: The Flash episodes 6-7 review - The Flash is Born/Power Outage

TV Month draws to a close, as we dive into the next 2 episodes of the Flash

TV Month: Star Wars Rebels Episodes 8-9 review: Empire Day/Gathering forces

In the penultimate instalment of TV Month

We take a look at the motley crew of the Ghost once again, as we have the first 2-parter of the series

TV Month - Gotham Episodes 9-10 review - Harvey Dent/Lovecraft

TV Month is beginning to draw to a close, as we only have a Star Wars Rebels and a Flash review before December knocks on the door

Oh, and this, Gotham

TV Month - Constantine Episodes 4-5 review - A Feast of Friends/Danse Vaudou

Whilst you're still patiently waiting for my belated Arrow retrospective, why not dig into the latest adventures of John Constantine as he is... Still a bit of the b*stard

TV Month - Arrow season 3 episodes 6-7 review - Guilty/Draw back your bow

I am sorry guys, the TV retrospectives on Arrow have been indefinitely delayed.  I hope to have them up soon but work commitments mean I can make no promises

But let's have a look at Arrow right now, as we dive into the the next two episodes of the season, with the big crossover in 2 weeks time

TV Month - Editorial: The Highs and Lows of Doctor Who series 8

Doctor Who has recently completed its 12 episode run for series 8 and it's been a great season... ish, so let's take a look back as I give my top 5 highs and my top 5 lows from series 8 of Doctor Who

TV Month - Legend of Korra Book 4 Chapters 6-7 review - Battle of Zaofu/Reunion

We take a look once more into Korra's crazy world, as Kuvira and Suyin come at odds over Zaofu and Korra makes her return to the world.

I'm just gonna use as the series image from now on

TV Month - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episodes 6-7 + The Flash episode 5 reviews - A fractured house/The writing on the wall + Plastique

With 2 reviews due up today, I thought I'd put them both up in one long post, so let's start by digging into the latest episodes of season 2 of Marvel's agents of SHIELD

TV Month - Star Wars Rebels Episodes 6-7 - Breaking Ranks/Out of the Darkness

We return to the front once more, as we take another look at Star Wars Rebels, and how their fight against the empire proceeds.

TV Month - Gotham Episodes 7-8 review - Penguin's Umbrella/The Mask

Lots of stuff happens in these 2 episodes, so let's take a look at Gotham's latest outings, and see how much more awesome it can get (yeah, I enjoyed these episodes)

TV Month - Doctor Who series 8 finale (episode 12) - Death in Heaven

So we're left with major revelations from the last episode, and the promise of some interesting ideas for this episode, so let's dig into Doctor Who - Death in Heaven, and see whether it lives up to it's hype.

TV Month - Constantine episodes 2-3 review - The Darkness Beneath/The Devil's Vinyl

TV Month - Arrow Season 3 Episode 5 Review - The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak

It's that time again, where we look at the TV from the past week, and today we'll be looking at the past of Felicity Smoak, as, as with everyone else, it comes back to bite her