Month: June 2021

Xena Reviews: Season 2, Episode 2

Xena title cardRemember Nothing – Director: Anson Williams/Story: Steven L. Sears, Chris Manheim/Telepay: Chris Manheim

This one starts with Xena and Gabi going to the Temple of the Fates, something Xena does every year to honour her brother Lyceus, who died helping her fight Cortese eleven years ago. The temple is attacked and Xena and Gabi fight the invaders. Heeding a warning from Gabi, Xena kills a swordsman who turns out to be very young, barely a teenager. Continue reading “Xena Reviews: Season 2, Episode 2”

Comics Reviews: Legion of Super-Heroes 19, New Teen Titans 17, All-Star Squadron 54, Infinity Inc. 23

Legion of Super-Heroes 19 coverLegion of Super-Heroes #19 – “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” – Paul Levitz/Greg Larocque/Larry Mahlstedt

This one starts on Manna-5, a planet that’s recently experienced some damaging tidal waves. Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl, and Colossal Boy are there to help the victims and prevent any more tsunamis. Everything’s going fine until Phantom Girl and Ultra Boy suddenly vanish. Colossal Boy calls headquarters, where Timber Wolf and Blok are on monitor duty. They summon Element Lad, but before he can figure out what to do, he vanishes as well. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Legion of Super-Heroes 19, New Teen Titans 17, All-Star Squadron 54, Infinity Inc. 23”

Comics Reviews: Superman 416, Action 576, DC Comics Presents 90, JLA 247

Superman 416 coverSuperman #416 – “The Einstein Connection” – Elliot S! Maggin/Curt Swan/Al Williamson

This story actually starts a few years ago (on March 14), with Lex Luthor arriving in a motorboat at the New Jersey shore. Superman shows up to grab him (although Lex’s only crime so far is breaking out of jail), and we learn that there’s something about this particular day that has a particular meaning to Lex. He seemingly teleports away, but Superman figures out that he’s hiding invisibly and follows as Lex hitches a ride to Princeton University. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 416, Action 576, DC Comics Presents 90, JLA 247”

Xena Reviews: Season 2, Episode 1

Xena title cardOrphan of War – Director: Charles Siebert/Writer: Steven L. Sears

This one starts with Xena and Gabi in centaur territory, talking about an imminent attack by a warlord named Dagnine. Dagnine used to be in Xena’s army and she knows how dangerous he is, but she isn’t sure if the centaurs will welcome her help, since she fought them too in her evil days. Continue reading “Xena Reviews: Season 2, Episode 1”

Comics Reviews: Batman 392, Detective 559, Batman & the Outsiders 30, Outsiders 4

Batman 392 coverBatman #392 – “A Town on the Night” – Doug Moench/Tom Mandrake/Jan Duursema

This is basically a series of linked vignettes showing Batman and Catwoman hanging out on a typical night in Gotham. Now that Catwoman has reformed, she wants to help Batman in his nightly patrols, but she also wants to spend some one-on-one time with him. The story starts with Batman pounding some drunks in an alley and Catwoman swinging in to help. The drunks are no match for the two vigilantes and after using one strand from her cat o’ nine tails to tie them up, Catwoman suggests she and Batman hang out and get to know each other. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 392, Detective 559, Batman & the Outsiders 30, Outsiders 4”

Comics Reviews: Green Lantern 196, Firestorm 43, Vigilante 25, Warlord 101

Green Lantern 196 coverGreen Lantern #196 – “3” – Steve Englehart/Joe Staton/Bruce Patterson

This one starts with Guy Gardner enjoying his new status as a Green Lantern (after receiving a ring last issue from some renegade Guardians). Guy is in his old neighbourhood in Baltimore, using the ring to demolish the tenement where he used to live. He heads out to sea to look for the Shark, who the Guardians have told him to find. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Green Lantern 196, Firestorm 43, Vigilante 25, Warlord 101”

Xena Season 1 Geography and Chronology

Xena title cardHey Xena fans, this special post is my stab at unraveling some of the geographical and chronological clues in the first season of Xena. Why am I doing this? Well, I’m a continuity guy, so I like it when the episodes fit together in a logical order and I like to figure out where Xena and Gabi’s adventures are taking place in each episode. Naturally, the writers at the time were usually more concerned with telling good (or great) stories instead of with making everything fit together logically, so a lot of the place names and travel times in the episodes don’t really make sense. Continue reading “Xena Season 1 Geography and Chronology”

Xena Season 1 Overview

Xena title cardWelcome to my overview of Season 1 of Xena: Warrior Princess. Like most first seasons, this one was mostly about establishing the characters and letting us get to know them. But it’s not just us in the audience who have to get acquainted with the characters, they also have to get acquainted with each other. Continue reading “Xena Season 1 Overview”

Comics Reviews: Legion of Super-Heroes 18, New Teen Titans 16, All-Star Squadron 53, Infinity Inc. 22

Legion of Super-Heroes 18 coverLegion of Super-Heroes #18 – “Has Anyone Noticed a Crisis Going On?” – Paul Levitz/Greg Larocque/Larry Mahlstedt

This one starts at the Time Institute, with Rond Vidar losing it when he realizes the Crisis has been going on for weeks (or went on for weeks in the distant past, I’m not sure how that works for a series set a thousand years in the future) but nobody seems to have noticed, even though Supergirl and Kid Psycho were killed. Vidar goes to see Brainiac 5, but he’s freaked out too because he also can’t remember anything that happened in the Crisis, even though he participated in some of it. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Legion of Super-Heroes 18, New Teen Titans 16, All-Star Squadron 53, Infinity Inc. 22”

Comics Reviews: Superman 415, Action 575, DC Comics Presents 89, JLA 246

Superman 415 coverSuperman #415 – “Supergirl: Bride of—X?” – Cary Bates/Curt Swan/Al Williamson

This one starts with Superman searching for oil deposits under the ocean when he gets an emergency signal from the Fortress of Solitude. Someone has broken in and set off a particular signal, one that was used by Supergirl. (Supergirl was recently killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths.) Superman zooms to the Fortress and finds an alien taking a strange object from beside Supergirl’s statue. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 415, Action 575, DC Comics Presents 89, JLA 246”