Category Archives: Reviews

6 Thoughts on the First Season of Luke Cage

I look forward to the Marvel Netflix shows about as much as I look forward to their new movies each year! The quality is through the roof, and I can always count on a solid weekend of binge-watching, as if we were dealing with a 13-hour movie. I’m totally OK with that! The production values are great, the stories and characters are phenomenal, and Marvel continues to be outstanding entertainment. Their new show, Luke Cage, proved to be no exception last weekend.

Season Rating: 8/10 – Very Good

Sometimes I think it would be great to get a full movie/TV crossover, and sometimes, when I’m in the middle of a great show, it just doesn’t matter. Luke Cage deserves to stand on its own as a solid, enjoyable entertainment. It’s a full season of television that delivers powerful drama, amazing characters and some great special effects. This is the sort of superhero storytelling that I could only have dreamed about as a kid.

So join me after the jump for my season review of Luke Cage on Netflix! Expect FULL SPOILERS for the show!

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/1/16

Tomorrow is a big day, my henchies! I will be on my lonesome bringing Gamer Girl & Vixen to my first ever solo comic book convention! It’s Uticon right here in Central New York, so it’s not that huge of a deal. But it’s gonna be me, alone, selling comics and spreading the good word of Gamer Girl & Vixen. I might tell you how it went afterwards, if I feel up for it! Hopefully I don’t mess up completely.

And fortunately, we had some good comics this week! I’m going to take that as a good sign.

Comic Book of the Week goes to the new issue of Spider-Woman, for not only being it’s usual character-driven self, but also delivering a solid Civil War II tie-in. That is no easy task!

It also teases the Spider-Woman/Hulk relationship we never knew we wanted

It also teases the Spider-Woman/Hulk relationship we never knew we wanted

I also picked up Teen Titans Rebirth #1 this week, but it was little more than a roll call issue for all the new members. I’m not going to do my usual big-sized reviews of Teen Titans anymore, but I’ll definitely give the new series a try on a Hench-Sized level. We’ll see how it goes.

Comic Reviews: Batgirl #3, Captain America – Steve Rogers #5, Ms. Marvel #11, Spider-Woman #11 and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #12.

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/24/16

This was a banner week for comics. I grabbed a whole pile, read a whole bunch, and largely enjoyed myself. Comics are a fun medium, with lots of good stories, great characters all manner of adventure. And this week was especially good, with new issues of All-New Wolverine, Luke Cage & Iron Fist, Patsy Walker and even Mighty Thor; talk about a handful of favorites!

But Comic Book of the Week has to go to the new issue of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers from BOOM! Studios! This comic is tapping into every single one of my nostalgic veins, and I can’t stand it sometimes.

‘Member Megazord? ‘Member Green Ranger? I ‘member Green Ranger! ‘Member Dragonzord? Yeah!

She's got you there, Green Ranger

She’s got you there, Green Ranger

I also picked up the latest issue of Civil War II, but this series is just a mess. There’s no real character depth, no real rivalry or focus. This is possibly the flimsiest Big Event I’ve read in a good long while. It’s all just nonsense, and I’m glad I dropped it quick.

The Night of the Monster Men event running through the Batman comics is shaping up to be pretty cool, though. I didn’t bother reviewing the issues, but they’re fun nonetheless.

Comic Reviews: All-New Wolverine #12, Astonishing Ant-Man #12, Harley Quinn #4, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers #7, Mighty Thor #11, Patsy Walker a.k.a. Hellcat #10 and Power Man & Iron Fist #8.

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/17/16

Brace yourselves, people, this week is a wild one. What will be the fate of Tim Drake? Dare we keep reading and find out? Robin is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters, and Tim Drake is my favorite Robin. Can I even stand to read the new issue of Detective Comics?

You’re gosh darn right I am! It wins Comic Book of the Week for a blowout issue, but you’re going to have to keep reading to find out why.

That's right, Tim, drop the word 'Red'

That’s right, Tim, drop the word ‘Red’

This week also saw a large release of a lot of non-Big Two comics that I’m reading. So even though DC Comics had a few other treats this week, I’ve decided to forgo them all and focus on some indie darlings like Faith and Kaijumax! This week’s reviews feature four different publishers!

Comic Reviews: Detective Comics #940, Faith #3, Kaijumax #4, Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy #4, and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers — Pink #3.

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Comic Review: Teen Titans #24

And so we arrive at the end of the Teen Titans in the New 52. It has been an incredible journey, from the heights of potential, to horrendous mediocrity, to these past few limped along months. For reasons that are unknown to me, DC Comics decided to stick with the core team and concept for the New 52 Titans for the entire five year span of the imprint, despite shaking things up pretty much everywhere else at the company. Heck, this comic has even survived past the New 52 itself, with Rebirth all anyone is talking about. Yet we come not to bury Teen Titans, but to honor it.

Because Teen Titans goes out with an issue I always wanted from this series, but never got. In fact, Teen Titans #24 proves there was a good comic hiding in these pages all along.

ntt24-01

Comic Review: 7/10 – Good.

But even as we try to say goodbye to Teen Titans, I still get to hang my head and sigh one last time. Because this isn’t really the finale of Teen Titans, it’s an epilogue/tie-in to this week’s Detective Comics #940. So despite everything this comic has done for itself after all these years, despite keeping the core team and concept together all this time, Teen Titans doesn’t actually get to end on its own merits. The finale is just a follow up to another, much better comic. How embarrassing.

I will be spoiling the big news in Detective Comics #940, so don’t read ahead if you don’t want to be spoiled — though I’m not sure why someone would read my review of Teen Titans before reading that phenomenal Detective Comics issue.

Suffice to say, Teen Titans #24 is a series of vignettes as the remaining Titans recall some of their favorite moments with one of their favorite team members. The scenes have real character to them, the sort of character that was almost entirely missing from Teen Titans as a series. If we had anything in the comic even approaching the scenes mentioned in this final issue, Teen Titans could have been pretty good.

Instead, we bid everybody goodbye and will likely speak no more about this version of the Teen Titans. Let’s hope the next people do a better job.

Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and review!

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