The Suicide Squad Review!

The Suicide Squad is a James Gunn superhero movie without restraints, violent and also kinda funny!  The film is written and directed by James Gunn who had wrote and directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).  There is sounds of crowd cheering for Johnny Cash singing “Fulsom Prison Blues”, kinda appropriate with the Belle Reve prison.  We get Michael Rooker’s character in orange prison fatigues, throwing a ball, along on a bench facing the wall.  Rooker was Yondu in Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy films.  A canary peeps, but finds no love from the prisoner.  He is met by Amanda Waller played by Viola Davis.  The character was introduced in Legends #1 (1986).  Davis was last seen in the August Wilson adaptation, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, playing the title character.  Waller gives the prisoner the Suicide Squad’s purpose and a remote bomb implanted in the back of his neck.  The doctor who sneers at the prisoner after injecting the bomb is Dr. Fitzgibbon played by John Ostrander, he created the modern version of the Suicide Squad in Legends #3 (1987) and the comic book series that inspired Gunn.  

The prisoner is greeted by Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) who identifies him as Savant.  Flag was introduced with the rest of the new Suicide Squad in Legends #3.  The villain first appeared in Birds of Prey #56 (2003).  Kinnaman was in the drama, The Secrets We Keep (2020).  Savant  is taken out of a door and this switches to a prison van.  A quick pan shows Savant’s fellow team members; a character played by Nathan Fillion, Jai Courtney, Flula Borg’s prisoner twirls a javelin, Mayling Ng's character steps down from another van, and Pete Davidson’s character taunts a guard, not funny.  This seems like an odd mix of villains who may not all survive their mission.  Then, a shrieking Weasel (Sean Gunn) appears at the back of a prison van.  They do the epic slo-mo walk in front of the American flag as Rick Flag introduces them; Captain Boomerang (Courtney) he along with Waller and Flag were in the last Suicide Squad (2016) movie, he was a villain introduced in Flash #117 (1960).  Next, Blackguard who was introduced in Booster Gold #1 (1986) while Davidson was also in his bio film, King of Staten Island (2020).  

Mongal is introduced, she first appeared in Showcase `95 #8 (1995), an alien with orangish skin, Ng was in the action movie, Debt Collectors (2020).  Then, Javelin, a villain first seen in Green Lantern #173 (1984), and Borg was in the comedy, Bad Therapy (2020).  TDK in his green armor, a new character, played by Fillion who is known for the lead role in the police show, The Rookie. Lastly, Weasel, a strange, fur-covered human weasel with bulging eyes, he was introduced in non-weasel form in The Fury of Firestorm #35 (1985).  Gunn was Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.  The last team member shows up and it’s Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).  She of course was seen in the first Suicide Squad movie and Robbie as Harley was in Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020).  Boomerang notes that Harley was brought back to Belle Reve and that this is sequel to the first film.  They take off in a V-22 Osprey, an aircraft with two helicopter-like blades.  

A group of Belle Reve technicians go over the profiles of this squad and make bets on whether they will survive, maybe Flag, Boomerang, and Harley.  Waller checks in on them and leaves disappointed.  She contacts Flag and wants them to get to the beach.  Javelin asks about TDK’s name, gets an uncertain response, funny.  Flag gets them ready to drop out of the Osprey at night.  The airplane hovers above the misty, dark waters of a sea.  Weasel drops, but it turns out he can’t swim!  Savant drags him to the surface, but he reports that he died.  The others reach the beach and take cover by the rocks.  Blackguard reveals himself and shouts out that he contacted the army.  He doesn’t last long.  Flag notes that the Corto Maltese army is there.  The country is an island off of South America that first appeared in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #3 (1986).  Harley is ready to take them on with a rocket launcher.  She runs and reaches the safety of some rocks further on the beach with Flag and TDK.  Waller orders The Detachable Kid in and he stands up sending his arms to smack around some soldiers, hilarious!  

Mongal leaps for a helicopter and Savant watches as his teammates are cut down!  He panics and starts to swim away from the ambush.  Waller warns him and uses the Suicide Squad contingency plan, this is something that was threatened, but not seen in the earlier film.  This team was just a diversion for the second team on the north beach.  Waller notes that there is no opposition for the leader of team two, Idris Elba’s character in a helmeted, black suit.  Superman #4 (1987) was his first appearance.  He is on the beach with four other members of his team.  Money is passed around by Waller’s team, including Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee), both of whom are in the Peacemaker series.  We get a flashback to “3 Days Earlier”, Elba’s character is cleaning the prison.  Blackguard drops some sticky stuff next to him.  Waller and her team is watching the man whom she says is Robert DuBois, a marksman known as Bloodsport.  Very similar to Deadshot.  The character was played by David St. Louis in a 2017 episode of Supergirl.  Waller debriefs them on Bloodsport including that he shot Superman with a Kryptonite bullet.  This was in his first comic book appearance.   

He refuses to join her Suicide Squad.  DuBois has a visitor, his daughter, Tyla (Storm Reid).  The actress was in horror movie, The Invisible Man (2020).  They get into an argument which turns into a screaming match.  She says she is embarrassed about her father and that she has a court date coming up.  DuBois is furious about this with Waller and she says her daughter could end up in Belle Reve.  He takes a pen to her throat before the guards can cover him with guns.  Waller shouts for them to stand down.  She is absolutely unwavering for the mission priority which she will accomplish at any cost.  Waller says that this mission is too important.  She leads him to his team.  The first is Christopher Smith (John Cena) whose introduction was in Fightin’ 5 #40 (1966).  Cena was also in this year’s F9: The Fast Saga with Rooker.  DuBois starts to argue with him who is the better marksman.  Peacemaker is a psychotic character that will kill as many people for what he calls “peace.” Waller brings them into the cell of Nanaue, King Shark, the bulky, shark-headed man.  His  first appearance was in Superboy #0 (1994).  The character was also in several episodes of The Flash.   

King Shark holds a book upside down trying to seem as if he is reading it.  He is of course voiced by Sylvester Stallone who was Stakar Ogrod in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).  There is a simplicity to the character’s brutality and mind that is charming like Groot.  After Waller takes them past female inmates who whistle for Smith, he doesn’t notice, she takes them to see Cleo Cazo (Daniela Melchior) known as Ratcatcher 2.  This is Melchior’s first English language movie, but she has a strange kindness and of course has a Ratatouille personality rat.  You might end up liking rats with this movie.  She is named after her father who died.  There was a Ratcatcher Bat-Man villain, but this version is new.  Waller wakes her up from bed with walls covered with rat drawings.  She has a rat, Sebastian, perched on her shoulder.  DuBois is repulsed by her rat power. The last member is Abner Krill (David Dastcmalchian) called the Polka-Dot Man.  Krill first appeared in Detective Comics #300 (1962).  Dastcmalchian was in Gunn's The Belko Experiment (2016).    

Later, Waller in a theater, shows them a map of Corto Maltese.  President General Silvio Luna (Juan Digo Botto) has overthrown the royal Herrera family with the help of General Mateo Suarez (Joaquin Cosio).  She then shows them a research facility called Jotunheim that is working on “Project Starfish.” Waller next shows them the lead scientist, Gaius Grieves, The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), in charge of Project Starfish.  The Thinker, Clifford Devoe first appeared in All-Flash #12 (1943), the Grieves identity is new for the villain.  Devoe was a supervillain in The Flash played by Neil Sandilands.  Waller says that the project involves something extraterrestrial.  There is a return to when Bloodshot’s second team reaches the beach.  They see the explosions from the first team and continue until Bloodshot orders them to bunker down.  There is some conflict between the team members.  Polka Dot Man has his face bulging with glowing polka dots.  King Shark has an annoying habit of eating people.  Bloodsport is contacted by Waller that their new mission is to rescue Flag who was found to be alive.  King Shark fills his appetite.  Both Bloodsport and Peacemaker try to outdo each other in their kills.  Polka Dot Man throws his polka dots which disintegrates a tower.  

Then, they find Flag and also a rebel leader, Sol Soria (Alice Braga).  The actress was Dr. Reyes in The New Mutants (2020). At his lab, The Thinker finds that Luna has killed his men and shows the general government footage of finding the starfish-like creature that spouts tiny versions that attach to people’s faces and makes it grow stronger!  It is known as Starro the Conqueror and was introduced in Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), the first villain faced by the Justice League of America!  Starro was also in the comedy superhero show Powerless.  Taika Waititi makes an interesting cameo.  The violence is fully R-rated, very James Gunn, as is the language, but it has his odd sensibility in the best way!  So this leads a question: Could Gunn keep his superhero movie intact while toning down some of the explicit violence and some of the language?  Looking at Guardians of the Galaxy (2013), the answer is yes, but it would still can be seen as a quirky, James Gunn movie.  Then, there is no similar violence and language in the comic books, which was approved by the Comics Code Authority.  The Suicide Squad is faced with a Justice League-level threat, where are they by the way?, Gunn has a group of anti-heroes that are new or re-imagined.  He can handle a number of super characters and give them time to have distinct personalities.  The Suicide Squad features an interesting cast, filtered through the strange James Gunn lens, with a bit of the ultra violence and salty language!  

Four Polka Dots out of Five!

#TheSuicideSquad, #JamesGunn, #IdrisElba, #JohnCena, #MargotRobbie, #Joel Kinnaman, #ViolaDavis, #StormReid, #DanielaMelchior, #SylvesterStallone, #DavidDastmalchian, #AliceBraga, #PeterCapaldi, #MichaelRooker, #NathanFillion, #JaiCourtney, #FlulaBorg, #MaylingNg, #PeteDavidson, #SeanGunn, #JuanDiegoBotto, #TaikaWaititi 

Happy Birthday Charlize Theron!

Happy Birthday Charlize Theron!  One of Charlize Theron’s early film roles was as Helga Svelgen in the crime film, 2 Days in the Valley (1996).  She had a cameo role in Tom Hanks’ film That Thing You Do! (1996).  Theron played Mary Ann Lomax, the wife of Keanu Reeves’ character, in The Devil’s Advocate (1997).  She was brilliant as Jill Young in the remake of Mighty Joe Young (1998).  She plays Jillian Armacost in The Astronaut’s Wife (1999).  Theron was in the drama The Cider House Rules (1999) playing Candy Kendall.  She was in the action film, The Italian Job (2008) playing Stella Bridger.  Her most distinguished role was as serial killer, Aileen Wuoronos, in Monster (2003), directed by Patty Jenkins.  She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role.  Charlize Theron played the lead role in the live action adaptation of the sci fi animated series, Aeon Flux (2005).  She played the ex-wife of Will Smith’s character with powers of her own in Hancock (2008). Theron had a part as The Woman in the adaptation of the apocalyptic novel The Road (2009).  

She played the washed up fiction writer, Mavis Gary, in Young Adult (2011) from writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman. She was the leader of the exploration crew, Meredith Vickers, in the sci fi film Prometheus (2012).  Next, she played the evil queen, Ravenna, in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).  One of her sensational roles was as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).  She returned as Ravenna in 2016’s The Huntsman: Winter’s War.  A brilliant part was Theron voicing Monkey in Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).  She played spy, Lorraine Broughton, in Atomic Blonde (2017).  Then, Theron played the manipulative villain, Cipher, in The Fate of the Furious (2017). She worked again with Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody in Tully (2018).  Theron starred in the comedy, Gringo playing the co-head of Promethium Pharmaceuticals.  She has produced and starred in this year’s film, Long Shot.  Theron has voiced Morticia Adams in The Addams Family animated film!  She played Megyn Kelly in Bombshell (2019).  Theron produced and starred in the Netflix adaptation of the comic book, The Old Guard (2020).  This year, she returned as Cipher in F9: The Fast Saga  Happy Birthday Charlize Theron!   

#CharlizeTheron, #Monster, #MadMaxFuryRoad, #KuboAndTheTwoStrings, #AtomicBlonde, #Bombshell, #TheOldGuard, #F9TheFastSaga

 

Bad Batch, “Return to Kamino”, Review!

The Bad Batch season one is coming to a close with the two part finale!  Last episode, the clone trooper, Gregor, was saved from the Imperial facility on Daro.  Prime Minister Lama Su is ordered to be killed by Rampart and he takes away Nala Se.  Clone Force 99 has encountered a new type of trooper, the TK trooper, and Hunter stays behind so the others could escape!  He is faced by Crosshair while in his cell.  An Imperial shuttle travels through hyperspace.  On board, Hunter is watched over by troopers when Crosshair enters and takes his comm.  Crosshair says the squad will know it’s a trap.  On Ord Mantell, Echo is working on repairing the Havoc Marauder, and Omega is restless.  Wrecker walks in while Tech is also busy working on the ship.  Tech notes that Hunter’s comm shows that he is not on Daro.  The Imperial shuttle heads towards Tipoca City, it is occupied by Star Destroyers as the Empire is evacuating the planet, Hunter is taken to Rampart.  He notes that the Bad Batch’s activity on Ryloth got his attention.  The Havoc Marauder heads to Kamino, Omega notes that there is a landing pad at Tipoca City that will not be occupied by troopers, Echo notes that there are only three cruisers. 

Tech pilots the ship through the eternal storms on Kamino.  He finds that they reached the coordinates, but doesn’t find any landing pad, Omega tells him to get the ship lower.  Finally, the submerged platform rises, and the Havoc Marauder lands.  The Bad Batch has returned to Kamino!  Omega feared going back, but now she is ready with Hunter in danger.  She points out that they can take the “tube system” to Tipoca City.  Her knowledge of Kamino is proving very handy.  She activates a domed platform to take them down the tubes and then underwater to the city.  Omega tells them that the private system leads to Nala Se’s private lab. Hunter says to Crosshair that the reg troopers and the Kaminoans are missing and realizes they are shutting down the cloning facility.  E-02 notes that they lost the unknown ship that they were tracking.  Omega and the others reach the secret lab, she says that she was created there, as well as Experimental Unit 99.  Echo has accessed the system, but finds it empty.  They hear a noise, but it is just AZI-3.  The medical droid was in the pilot and last seen in the third episode, “The Replacements.”  

He says that all of the clones were sent off-world, the embryos and infant clones?, and the droids are being deactivated and medical personnel taken away.  Tech has detected Hunter’s comm at the central cloning platform.  Omega takes along AZI-3.  Hunter tries to reason with Crosshair pointing out that he is being controlled by the inhibitor chip.  Once Crosshair has served his purpose, he will be eliminated.  A trooper notes an intruder on Platform 5.  The Bad Batch running on the Tipoca platforms in the rain absolutely reminds me of playing the non-EA Battlefront II (2005).  You play a clone trooper in the 501st Legion with Boba Fett go to Kamino and end up stopping production of the clones.  They enter an empty corridor of the cloning platform.  The Bad Batch take cover as some of the TK troopers pass by with some cargo on a repulsorlift, getting shades of Luke on Cloud City!  Tech follows the signal, I hear Leia shouting out, “Luke, don’t!, it’s a trap!”  Three years before Admiral Ackbar said the same line, more or less.  Tech has tracked the signal to the floor above them, the training room, Tech lays out the plan to go to the turbo lift to reach the training room.  Tech goes ok as second-in-command, I wonder if this is his formal role in Clone Force 99. 

 Wrecker, Tech, and Echo go to rescue their comrade and want Omega to stay behind because they are Crosshair’s targets. The lift takes them up, but they are surrounded by troopers, Crosshair has Hunter covered and throws his comlink.  He orders them to drop their weapons and wonders about Omega.  Crosshair sends ES-2 to find Omega.  Wrecker activates the signal on his gauntlet.  AZI-3 wants to follow instructions and go to the research lab, but Omega wants to rescue her friends. Omega sees all of the droids used for training!  Crosshair says the Bad Batch are disloyal, Hunter says they are only loyal to themselves, and Crosshair says they abandoned him.  He says he will give them a chance!  The trooper reaches the level with the droids and finds Omega at work.  ES-02 reports she has Omega in custody.  Crosshair orders her to be taken to a shuttle to go off-world.  Crosshair says to Hunter that she will be safter off-world than on the run.  Then, he says they are superior to all of the other clones.  He still realizes he was a brother to the Bad Batch.  A glimmer of hope for Crosshair?  It’s kinda strange that the others don’t add to the conversation.  

Tech nudges Wrecker at a flash in a panel.  Crosshair has his blaster on Hunter and orders the others to stand down.  ES-03 says they refuse the order!  Their turning down Crosshair’s order does not go well for them.  AZI-3 activates a panel that knocks out ES-02.  Crosshair tells the Bad Batch to join the Empire, another Empire Strikes Back reference, they have to say, “No!, it’s impossible!” They hear alarms go off and several racks of droids emerge on the training floor.  Wrecker strikes down Crosshair who struggles with Hunter.  This has come full circle!  On a platform, AZI-3 points out the number of droids and Omega uses her energy bow to blast a few droids.  Hunter begins blasting the droids and then Crosshair fires on them, the Bad Batch is finally back!  ES-02 shoots a few droids and then withdraws contacting Rampart about the situation.  Rampart orders a full withdrawal.  ES-02 reaches the shuttle which heads to the Venator-class Star Destroyer.  Imperial Star Destroyers must be under construction.  Rampart contacts Tarkin who gives the order just like in Star Wars (1977)!  A stunning episode of the Bad Batch!, I might imagine that they might be seen as dead by the Empire, the Bad Batch could deal with the threat of Rampart or form the beginning of Captain Rex’s resistance!    

Five Vibo Knives out of Five!  

#BadBatch, #ReturnToKamino, #AZI3, #ES02, #BattlefrontII, #TipocaCity

Happy Birthday Vera Farmiga!

Happy Birthday Vera Farmiga!  One of her early roles was on television as the archer, Caitlin, in the fantasy series Roar (1997).  Farmiga’s first movie was the thriller, Return to Paradise (1998).  In 2001, she played Josephine, the mother of Snow White in the television movie, Snow White: The Fairest of Them All.  Farmiga’s next series was playing Alex Cross in the action series UC: Undercover (2001-2002).  Then, she was Detective Susan Branca in Touching Evil (2004).  Farmiga had a part in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006).  In 2009, Farmiga brought awards attention to her performance as Alex Goran in the comedy drama, Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman.  Farmiga was also in the sci fi movie, Source Code (2011).  She directed and starred in the drama, Higher Ground (2011).  

A powerful role was as Lorraine Warren beginning with The Conjuring (2013).  She also started playing the mother of Norman Bates, Norma Louise Bates, in Bates Motel (2013-2017). Farmiga reprised her part as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring 2 (2016).  Next, Farmiga crossed the country in the comedy drama Boundaries (2018).  She starred in the sci fi thriller, Captive State (2019).  Farmiga awakened the Titans in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) playing Dr. Emma Russell.  Annabelle Comes Home (2019) had Farmiga returning as Lorraine Warren. Farmiga had an Emmy nomination for the miniseries When They See Us (2019), directed by Ava DuVernay.  This year, Farmiga returned as Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.  She has upcoming, the Hawkeye MCU series playing Eleanor Bishop!  Happy Birthday Vera Farmiga!  

#VeraFarmiga, #Roar, #UpintheAir, #WhenTheySeeUs, #TheConjuringTheDevilMadeMeDoIt, #Hawkeye 

The Outpost, “Going to Meet the Gods”, Review!

Two has drained the disloyal and has grown powerful.  Falista kneels at an altar, Two says “it is time” and that Falista is ready with “gods” guiding her.  Her Zinj glows green and the rest of her forehead looks demonic.  Tobin, in a hooded cloak, sees Munt to get more ale.  Munt takes him into the tavern, he hides as another cloaked figure appears, Garrett Spears is there.  He makes up an excuse he is returning a book to Janzo.  Tobin’s excuse is he is there for bath salts.  He asks if Garrett has found the assassin.  Munt has a small flask for Tobin.  When he leaves, the bootleg party begins, Garrett wants the soldiers wait for Talon to bring the Blackbloods. The beginning of the rebellion!  He takes away Luna from gambling at the tables.  They are interrupted by Talon’s entrance with Wren, Zed, and the children from the portal.  The children are refugees from the Plane of Ashes.  I wonder where they are kept in the Outpost, the children don't seem to wonder at a place that isn't the Plane of Ashes, and why none of them are hungry or thirsty.  

THE OUTPOST - - “Going to Meet the Gods” - - IZUKA HOYLE, JESSICA GREEN - -  Photo: Aleksandar Letic/NBCU International -- 2020 Outpost TV LLC. Courtesy of Electric Entertainment.

In secret, Tobin is drinking the flask and sees a wagon of goods.  He reveals himself and wants to know what is being taken away in the wagon.  Tobin takes off the sheet hiding the cargo and it is the dead bodies killed by Two!  Tobin later tells his wife about the death of the traitors.  She says that they must be sacrificed and he wanted them to be tried.  Morning at the Outpost, Zed is sad over the death of Corvin, the texts are read by Wren, but she can’t find what is needed.   Munt has brought clothes and has a scene with Warlita pretending to be nobles.  They decide to try out the bed and jump on it!  A very child-like scene for the two of them!  Janzo checks on Wren, she finds being a high priestess and mother is almost too much, he gives her encouragement.  

In Talon’s room, Garrett joins her, she is struggling with leaving the Blackbloods in the Plane of Ashes.  Yes, she didn’t save her people.  Zed had asked her many times to bring the Blackbloods back, but Talon didn’t really have a reason why did not bring them back.  In the forest, Wren addresses the Blackbloods, and she leads them into a ritual.  She sings, a nice vocal performance by Izuka Hoyle, as everyone gives tribute to the fallen.  This is a very quiet, kinda moving scene.  Talon gives her tribute, but Zed walks away.  Night falls on The Outpost, Talon is summoned to meet with Falista, she says the Blackblood are welcomed.  Talon is to be made the governor of the Blackbloods.  Falista is excited that Talon had the same vision of the “gods.”  She tries to use her Zinj when Talon leaves and see Vorta who says, “Prepare the way.”  It looks the plans of Vorta and the others are coming to pass, especially with the missing Two.  

THE OUTPOST - - “Going to Meet the Gods” - - GEORGIA MAY FOOTE  - -  Photo: Aleksandar Letic/NBCU International -- 2020 Outpost TV LLC. Courtesy of Electric Entertainment.

Talon draws the symbol she saw in the vision, Wren identifies as it as a symbol of the Seven, Zed takes Talon to track Two.  Tobin sees Luna gambling and that she has bandage on her left arm, the same place where he struck her with her dagger.  Luna races across the upper level of the Outpost, but she is caught by Tobin.  She is brought before Falista and of course Tobin.  She wants names of her fellow conspirators.  Falista sentences her to be hung in the public square!   Garrett and Tobin share prohibition drinks, he says that Luna is just a kid, Tobin says he could have spared the girl if Garret told him.  Garrett needs to start his revolution soon!  A guard enters Luna’s cell, sends away the other guards, and takes off his helmet, it’s Garrett.  He takes Luna to escape over the wall.  There's always a chance for characters in The Outpost.  

Wren is brought before Falista who demands that she bow before them.  Falista is surprised she doesn’t know about the selikor.  A guard reports about the illegal tavern.  At the Nightshade, Munt asks Janzo about love.  Guards arrive to arrest all of them including Janzo!  Across the misty forest, Talon and Zed walk and she thinks that Zed blames her of the Blackbloods’ deaths.  He blames himself at Corven’s death.  Talon has her dagger out and sees Luna.  Janzo is brought in chains to Queen Falista.  She will spare Janzo’s life if Wren can tell her about the selikor.  Falista uses her zinj to make Janzo scream in pain.  Wren says she will need Janzo’s help.  Talon asks Luna about what happened to her in the sewers.  She tells a story about her sister and Dredd looking for the next Dragman.  He took away her sister and Luna went on her own.  Talon admits she found a new family at the Outpost.  Zed takes them to a cave to hear a roaring, it’s a Locuri, Vikar, with Two.  It might be the “gods” are there!  Are they ready for the release of the "gods"?  A good episode of The Outpost with the growing threat of Vorta!  

Three Daggers out of Five!  

#TheOutpost, #GoingToMeetTheGods, #Selikor, 

Fight Girls #1 Review!

Frank Cho brings his latest creation, Fight Girls, to AWA Studios and it’s a checklist of all of the things Cho draws best!  His first comic book was Liberty Meadows that in newspapers, but moved it to Image Comics.  It is about an animal sanctuary with the beautiful Brandy Carter pursued by Frank, a veterinarian, with some hilarious animals, Ralph, the small circus bear, Dean, the addict pig, Leslie, a timid frog, Truman, the polite duck, and best friend to Truman, Oscar, the dachshund, it is Walt Kelly’s Pogo mixed with a little Calvin & Hobbes, and some cheesecake!  He also created Jungle Girl and a limited series for Marvel, Shanna the She-Devil as well as working on Savage Wolverine and Mighty Avengers.  The competitors are seen on Cho’s cover with the dark-haired number 4 running while there are profiles of other competitors.  There is a nice variant by Derrick Chew that has a contestant running from a dinosaur.  It is a five issue limited series.  

We see at the beginning a program, Empire Feed, similar to the Hunger Games.  They are  covering the abdication of Queen Regina Victoria Dore from the Gilmoran Empire.  She couldn’t have a child so there is a contest of royal competitors.  I have a sense that she will come into play latter.  The winner will be queen of the Empire!  There is a large picture of the empty throne while everything is explained.  We see the floating capital city, Grace Point One, enclosed in a dome and on a massive rock with many circular thrusters.  This is at the planet, Califax, home of the Gilmoran Empire.  The shift to all of the ten competitors from across the Empire.  Their outfits are white short t-shirts and shorts with their numbers in red.  They are transported to the surface.  There are strange reptiles and birds racing across a large tree branch.  Contestant #1, Dyana Adamson, a woman with long, blond hair tells everyone to be focused.  

We get a jungle scene, again classic Frank Cho, with “Challenge 1: Jungle.”  The Empire Feed’s drones hover over the contestants.  She points out the goal, a teleportation pad on top of a temple.  Dyana seems to be calm and calculating. She wants the competitors to all work together until the finish, but Contestant #7, Xandra Blackwater, a red headed woman with an eyepatch, strikes her with a tree branch.  The commentators note that Dyana was a favorite.  A splash page has Sandra telling the others to run.  Contestant #6, Asher Vindal, who looks kinda like Archie Comics Betty, is horrified at her act.  At the Deep Mine, Helgrave is the McSwiggin Bar & Grill, Cho’s college friend is Mike McSwiggin, also a character in Liberty Meadows.  The patrons are discussing the contest when a tough guy, Bob, with cartoon pig shirt and biker outfit and his bald friend in orange suit are getting ready to work.  Back in the jungle, the commentators note that the contestants have broken in three groups while a hyena-like creature watches Contestants #3 and #4 from a ledge. 

Contestant #3 is Kelsey Otu from Alkalon, short, blond hair and Contestant #4, Tora Winter from Sevendor has dark hair with a white streak.  Tora reminds me of Countess Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine from Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.  The commentators have brought in an expert, Dr. Mike McSwiggin, from Liberty Meadows?   We see close-ups of the hyena beast stalking the contestants. It leaps at Kelsey while Tora uses a branch to lift the creature away.  It lunges for Tora, she kicks it away and uses the branch.  A shadow falls on the beast and in a splash page a dinosaur creature with spines chomps on it as 4 watches.  McSwiggin identifes it as terrosaur.  Another dinosauroid struggles with its prey.  Closeup of a frog that leaps away as we get a silhouette of four contestants running across a massive, fallen tree, moody with some Mike Mignola stylig in the shot.  A raptor dinosaur crushes it and the frog croaks!, very funny Mr. Cho.  The contestants are Contestant #9, Callidore’s Danni Vore, who has long, brown hair, Asher, and Contestant #5, Lily Dupree, a short haired brunette from Europa Minor.    

Danni’s back is turned, a series of short panels, as the raptor, nice large panel, leaps at her.  McSwiggin is fascinated at the raptor’s behavior as it latches onto Danni’s back and she trips Asher.  A silhouette shot as the raptor feeds on Danni and see Lily making her way under the tree trunk. The commentators call for close-ups of the raptor feeding, nasty!, it looks up and Lily kicks it.   She has moved the raptor behind Danni’s corpse and we see Asher climb up the tree trunk.  The raptor races to get to Lily, but Asher tosses it over the tree trunk.  A massive crocodile-like beast rises up and chomps on Lily and Asher, really violent.   We get to the pyramid with two runners, Xandra and Contestant #2, Jaxa Wyman, a woman from Califax, with short, blond hair and dark complexion.  Xandra is of course scheming and makes the final.  Bob and his colleague ready for her with a knife and a gun. There are four other contestants who make it to the final. An interesting one is Contestant #10, Pondo Shen, an Asian woman with long, dark hair from Lunar Base 2.  We haven’t seen her since the beginning and she finishes after Sandra and Jaxa.  At the Grace Point One, prime minister building, he watches the footage of Dyana.  He wants to deal with Xandra Blackwater.  Some hints of sci fi, Frank Cho touches of beautiful women and jungle for this issue, and intrigue about the contest.  

Five Drones out of Five! 

#FightGirls, #FrankCho, #XandraBlackwater, #PondoShen, #KelseyOtu, #ToraWinter, #RacheLauren      

Wonder Woman #775 Review!

Wonder Woman is traveling the afterlife worlds from Asgard to a familiar Olympus, but everything has changed.  “Afterworlds part 6” is by Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan and Andy MacDonald provided the art.  MacDonald worked on several titles for Marvel and for DC, and provided art for the last issue.  This issue features a cover by Travis Moore that has Wonder Woman against a gate of the Graveyard of the Gods with many arms reaching out for her!  The variant cover is by co-writer Becky Cloonan, a moody piece with Diana in a pit of green smoke with a skeleton behind her.  Janus, the dark counterpart to Diana, walks the steps of Lesser M’aleca’andra under the red skies of Mars.  She has killed many of the Green Martians who look like the Martian Manhunter.  She uses her God Scraper, a hand scythe, to slash open a gate to other worlds and walks through it.  At the Graveyard of the Gods, Diana is walking with Deadman and Ratatosk, she looks a little scrawny.  

She wonders about the missing headstones in a field of grass.  Diana drives her sword into the grass and there is a rumbling in the ground, headstones begin to burst up like in Poltergeist (1982), “You only moved the headstones!”  In a splash page, Deadman explains to Diana that they are the graves of forgotten gods.  Diana leads Deadman away, there’s a strange bit of dialogue, “On me”, I’m not certain what this references.  They notice a figure in a green robe chisling a new headstone, he works out, “Hro”, I think this refers to H’ronmeer, the Martian god of death.  The figure says he has been waiting for Diana!  His eyes are sewn shut with snaggly teeth.  Ratatosk leaps off Diana’s shoulder to find the missing residents.  He has found the tomb of Hermes and tells Diana that he found it when the fog told him. The massive Keeper of the Grounds appear behind them.  He has a staff, black robes, and a plague mask with a long beak.  

The Keeper asks if she is the reason for all of the death and she explains that she is going to return the Olympians and finish Janus.  He threatens to keeper her in the Graveyard. She challenges him to a game of wits.  Diana’s giving the Keeper the Bill & Ted: Bogus Journey treatment!  The Keeper challenges her the riddle game and will return the gods if she wins.  Diana should give The Keeper a melvin!  Scratch that the riddle game is a big part of myths.  The well known riddle giver was Gollum.  Diana thinks to her time in Asgard with Siegfried.  She has the answer.  The Keeper continues with the next riddle and Ratatosk says he has the answer and ends up crushed by The Keeper.  Deadman and Diana try to explain that Ratatosk was not part of the deal.  The Keeper tires of Deadman talking and seals his mouth, Matrix-style.  This gets him laughing like a crow.  A final riddle which Diana happens to answer.  The Keeper will return the gods, but not her friends. 

Diana gives him a riddle that the Keeper know the answer, but can’t say.  He frees her friends and the gods.  Deadman gasps for air, but they do not have a coin for Charon.  Diana makes a bargain for one to stay while the gods and the ones Janus killed return.  The gods return in a shower of green-tinged white light!  Deadman says he is going to leave to see about Janus.  They return to the robed figure chiseling “Diana” on the tomb!  The tomb is now a portal back to Olympus.  The male Janus is being punished by the other gods, but Diana speaks up for him.  Hephaestus, the smith of the gods, he kinda looks like Hellboy, says the other Janus took the God Scraper from his forge.  Hermes confirms it.  Zeus sends away the other gods to speak with Diana. Later, she asks Hermes where the female Janus could have gone, he says the Satyr’s Grove.  Hephaestus says he will destroy the God Scrapter when she returns it.  She finds the well and plunges into it finding herself upside in the fairy world, Elfhame!  In “Cursed Object”, Young Diana faces a Clio possessed by Circe.  She is able to be brave and free Clio.  Still, the pages Diana found are dangerous, as well as Circe!  Wonder Woman #775 offers a strange afterlife with some seemingly familiar characters, can't wait to get to Elfhame!  

Three Lassos of Truth out of Five! 

#WonderWoman, #Afterworlds, #LesserMalecaandra, #GodScraper, #TheKeeperOfTheGrounds     

Getting Wolverine Right in the MCU!

Wolverine is of course well known from Hugh Jackman’s portrayal since X-Men (2000).  He has the beard, but Jackman is charismatic, Wolverine is not, he’s the opposite.  Wolverine is type of person you don’t want to be around; aggressive, coarse, blunt, and just disrespectful.  There was a little bit of this in X-Men and through most of the X-movies, but it slowly was set aside for Hugh Jackman’s leading man status.  I always thought the height was wrong with Jackman, Wolverine is 5’3”, a little short, Hugh Jackman is 6’3.”  

The other part is that Wolverine is savage like an animal, it’s not a scream like someone angry, it is an animalistic howl that would chill you to the bones.  He is a brawler, ready for a fight, and will take a beating so he can come back to give a real hurting.  Wolverine lapses into a berserk animal, the more damage he takes, it should be a blur of blood and motion when he gets into a rage.  Logan would be constantly sniffing, not just when enemies are around, it would be how he works out a place and unfamiliar people.  He has been on his own for some time so doesn’t really fit in well with others. Wolverine is also very hairy, hirsute, you wouldn’t want to see him shirtless.  He is very much like the wolverine animal.  

The character of Wolverine was fully introduced in The Incredible Hulk #181 (1974) by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe.  He joined the X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975) by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum still in his yellow uniform with stripes.  Chris Claremont had started his long run with X-Men and John Byrne took over from Cockrum.  In Uncanny X-Men #139 (1980), we had his brown and yellow suit. Also, that Wolverine’s name is Logan, this was the intention of Claremont and Byrne, no other names!  Wolverine was always Canadian, I would actually like a Canadian actor to play him.  

I’m really thinking Taylor Kitsch, he is a little tall though, 5’11”, Kitsch did play Remy LeBeau in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).  Kitsch has the chops to handle the drama and good with action, I'm thinking John Carter (2012).  Also, Stephen Amell, who has experience playing superheroes with Arrow, he’s even taller, 6’1.”  He played Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016).  It is possible that there is new or unknown actor that fits the criteria to play Logan.  I think a strong contender is Adam Beach, still tall though 6’0”.  Beach did play Slipknot in Suicide Squad (2016), but that was more a cameo.  Also, he was the father of Dani Moonstar in The New Mutants (2020).  I think it’s time for Adam Beach to play a superhero lead role.      

The part of Wolverine is his classic saying, “I’m the best there is at what I do”, he repeats this endlessly in the comics, but you know when he says it, there’s gonna be violence. Wolverine’s claws, the other part I didn’t like about the X-films’ Wolverine was the popping the claws sound effect, it sounds like the sword blade taken out of a scabbard, wrong.  It is so distinctive that I feel I know what it exactly sounds like, SNIKT!  The first part is the claws coming out of the bionic housing, the last part is the claws locking into place. When he pops the claws they rip of the skin in his hand from silicon plugs, but his healing factor stops any bleeding, still he does feel the pain.  

The retraction of his claws also has a sound effect, SNAKT!, the claws sliding back and locked in the bionic housing.  

His past is always mysterious like the cowboy, Man Without a Name, it should never be revealed.  He slowly becomes calm, meditative as a samurai, in Japan.  I think Wolverine should be introduced in the second phase after the original X-Men team appears.  It has to be established about mutants, the x-gene, and the X-Men team before a new Wolverine is introduced.  What I found from the X-movies is that the good mutants were all supermodels and the villains were not.  Mutants should be strange, their powers disturbing, not typical super powers.  So the mutants will hate their powers not just use them as super heroes, they are more anti-heroes.  A better film was X2: X-Men United (2003) since it brought in Nightcrawler, a strange looking X-Man, but with heart.  Wolverine at first glance is a brute, but look deeper, he is an honorable warrior.  

#Wolverine, #MarvelCinematicUniverse, #HughJackman, #LenWein, #HerbTrimpe, #DaveCockrum, #ChrisClaremont, #JohnByrne, #Logan, #TaylorKitsch, #StephenAmell, #AdamBeach       

Happy Birthday Jason Momoa!

Happy Birthday Jason Momoa!  He began working in tv playing Jason Ioane in Baywatch Hawaii (1999-2001).  His first genre work was as Ronon Dex in Stargate: Atlantis (2005-2009) fighting against the alien Wraith.  Momoa took everyone’s notice as Khal Drago in Game of Thrones (2011-2012), the Dothraki chieftain and husband to his khalessi, Daenerys Taergaryn.  He also filmed Conan the Barbarian (2011) playing the lead role.  Jason Momoa co-wrote, directed, and starred in Road to Paloma (2014) as the Native American Wolf traveling on a motorcycle trying to escape the law.  In Wolves (2014), Momoa played the leader of werewolves.

He had another iconic role in his cameo as Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).  Momoa also played Declan Harp in Frontier (2016-2018), an outlaw trying to stop a company trying to take over the fur trade.  Momoa then returned as Aquaman taking on the otherworldly Steppenwolf in Justice League (2017).  He plays Baba Voss in the sci fi show, See, the second season is coming soon!  Jason Momoa had the lead role, Arthur Curry, in Aquaman (2018) directed by James Wan.  He voiced Aquaman in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019). Mamoa was also Aquaman in Zack Snyder's Justice League.  He has the part of Duncan Idaho in Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve.  He is currently filming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom!  Happy Birthday Jason Momoa!  

#JasonMomoa, #StargateAtlantis, #Aquaman, #LegoMovie2TheSecondPart, #DuneMovie