4 issue test #40 - Super Sons

Robin has an ego, Jon Lane-Kent has powers. They’re the sons of Batman and Superman and they get on like a house on fire. And by that, I mean the fight that would inevitably ensue between them would leave the house on fire. And boy was it fun to watch them play off each other. Superman did a 2-part story featuring the both of them learning to get along, not extremely successfully, but it’s been hinted since the beginning of Rebirth that they’d be getting a title between them and here it is.

In the writer’s seat is Peter Tomasi who already has experience writing both Robin back from when he was writing Batman and Robin and Jon-Lane Kent from his Superman title. He was the one who wrote the initial crossover, and instigated the dynamic between them. In the art department we have Jorge Jiminez who has a wide range of credits from DC, having done Arrow and Smallville Comics to Earth 2: Society and issues of Superboy and Superman.

Does the gimmick wear or is this a new classic team-up? Let’s take a look at #1-4

Doctor Who series 10 episodes 6-7 review - Extremis/The Pyramid at the End of the World

We continue our look at Doctor Who with a surprising dip in quality, I won't lie. Here are my Ravings

TV Retrospective - The Sarah Jane Adventures series 2 part 3 - The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith/Enemy of the Bane

We continue our look at the second series of the Sarah Jane Adventures with the final episodes of series 2

4 issue test #39 - Kamandi Challenge

We’ve got an interesting one here, first it’s a continuation of an old DC comic style, and we have the titular Kamandi.

Kamandi is a character I only have a passing interest in. He was created by Jack Kirby as a rival to Planet of the Apes when DC couldn’t get the rights to the franchise. Jack Kirby is a legend in comics, creating the New Gods for DC and also having a hand creating a lot of Marvel staples, along with Stan Lee of course. They call him ‘The King’ for a reason.

But to the DC Challenge idea. This is where things get a bit more intriguing. Usually a 12-issue mini-series like this would have a consistent writer and artist on the whole arc. Here, though, each issue is tackled by a different artist and writer. There is a bit of a game about setting narrative traps, where an issue would end on a cliff-hanger the next writer would have to resolve. Of course, it couldn’t be impossible, since the writer would have to provide their own idea for a resolution.

Seeing how this is tackled, it doesn’t really fit the 4-issue test style I usually use, so there may be some changes to the style I use here, but we’re still looking at the first 4 issues, so let’s take a look.

#46 - The Killing Joke (Rage Issues 3rd Anniversary)

Well, we’ve done it. This tiny little site that struggles to get more than 20 views a post has managed to keep running for 3 years!

Sorry if I sound rather un-optimistic but this year’s calibre of movies just keeps getting worse, from the abysmal Barley Lethal to the insulting Riverdale and Back again, this year has been on fire for Rage reviews, and yet I still did less than I did last year. And I’ll probably do even fewer this year as I try and expand my range a bit. But today, to celebrate my third year of doing this, I’ll be reviewing a movie I’ve intended to review for a long… actually it’s the Killing Joke.

I was (un)fortunate enough to see this movie in cinemas before its release onto DVD, I gave it a mixed review but I was positive overall in my short summary. Something needs to be done about that because let me be clear, this is not a good movie.

But before we begin a little info about the Killing Joke comic book that the work is based on. Considered an iconic Joker story, it was written by Alan Moore, a writer famous for being somewhat grouchy about his work at DC and for Watchmen and V for Vendetta. He doesn’t ever attach his names to adaptations of such projects and this is no exception. In fact, he doesn’t think it’s very good and in one aspect it is controversial. I’ll get to that later. In the production team, we have an old friend in Bruce Timm, someone who should know better than this sh*t.

In the voice acting department we have some old friends. Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Tara Strong are voicing Batman, the Joker and Barbara Gordon respectively, as they did during the last part of the animated series (Batgirl went through several voice actors) but on the other hand with the writer we have Brian Azzerello, who did the controversial New52 Wonder Woman, a well-acclaimed(ish) Joker story and at point of writing is working with Frank Miller to make DKIII not Suck, most likely without success because this is still Frank Miller… Yeah, I’d rather put my head in a blender than read DKIII, especially at the price they’re selling these issues at, it’s insane!

OK, I’m going off track. So, let’s just dive into Batman: The Killing Joke and see why this deserves an anniversary review.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 Finale review - World's End

We've come down to the end of another season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

TV Retrospective - The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 2 Part 2 - Secrets of the Stars/Mark of the Bezerker

We return to the second series of Sarah Jane adventures with Secrets of the Stars and Mark of the Bezerker