Reviews, ruminations, and (occasional) ramblings.
Episode 6: Burnout
This one starts in St. Louis, with Myka and Pete investigating an explosion at a police station. Myka wishes they had some time off, instead of just going from case to case. Pete notices a huge generator outside the police station and there’s another shot of a generator inside; I think this will be significant later … Chekhov’s Generator, as it were. Continue reading “Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 6”
Superman #346 – “Superman’s Streak of Bad Luck” – Gerry Conway/Curt Swan/Frank Chiaramonte
You can guess the theme of this story by the title, and Superman’s bad luck starts on the first page. It’s winter and the streets are icy as hell, which means traffic accidents. This one happens to involve Lois Lane skidding out of control toward a delivery truck. Superman scoops up some sand from a nearby construction site and dumps it on the street, giving Lois enough traction to slow down. But the truck driver freaks out for some reason and bails out of his vehicle, leaving it to plow straight toward Lois. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 346, Action 506, DC Comics Presents 20”
Batman #322 – “Chaos—Coming and Going” – Len Wein/Irv Novick/Vince Colletta
This one starts with Selina Kyle looking through a scrapbook of her exploits as Catwoman and feeling a bit wistful at leaving that life behind. Elsewhere, a newspaper van delivering bundles of the Gotham Guardian is assaulted (and sliced in half!) by Captain Boomerang. He’s pissed off at the Guardian’s owner, who he says owes him a million bucks and has 24 hours to pay up. Batman shows up to tackle Boomerang, but the villain uses the old “endanger-the-innocents” ploy to distract Batman long enough to escape. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 322, Detective 489, Brave & the Bold 161, Warlord 32”
Episode 5: Elements
This one starts 400 years ago on the island of Manhattan. A Native American ceremony takes place, with someone intoning a prayer and setting out a stone, a bowl of water, a chunk of rock, and an arrow. The shaman says, “When he comes, let these elements be his strength and our hope” and dons a cloak that glows with magical power like Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak. Continue reading “Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 5”
Flash #283 – “Flashback” – Cary Bates/Don Heck/Frank Chiaramonte
Last issue, Flash found out (thanks to a videotape from the murder scene) that Clive Yorkin wasn’t the one who killed his wife Iris, though Yorkin did witness the murder. Flash went into the future to see who did kill Iris, but the murder was still unsolved. On his way back to the present, Flash figured out who the real killer was, but upon arrival his cosmic treadmill exploded, seemingly killing him. This issue opens with Flash’s arch-nemesis, Professor Zoom, gloating over the wreckage. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Flash 283, Wonder Woman 265, Green Lantern 126”
Justice League of America #176 – “The Dream Factories of Doctor Destiny” – Gerry Conway/Dick Dillin/Frank McLaughlin
Last issue, Dr. Destiny built a new version of his Materioptikon which could bring people’s nightmares to life. The JLA destroyed his infernal machine and are now tracking him to his hideout by homing in on Destiny’s twisted psyche courtesy of Green Lanterns ring. They trace him to an abandoned film studio and bust in, only to face more manifestations of their own darkest fears. Superman and Wonder Woman decide to bypass the usual brawl and head into the main building to look for Destiny, only to find Zatanna has beaten them to it. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: JLA 176, Legion of Super-Heroes 261, Jonah Hex 34”
Episode 4: Claudia
Last episode, the Warehouse began experiencing random power outages caused by whomever hacked Artie’s computers. The unknown hacker sent Artie a message (“knock knock”) over the power grid. Artie has also been having weird flashback dreams lately, but he doesn’t know what’s prompting them or what they mean. Continue reading “Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 4”
Superman #345 – “When Time Ran Backward” – Gerry Conway/Curt Swan/Frank Chiaramonte
This one starts with Superman stopping an experimental satellite from crashing into metropolis. The satellite is called NEWS-1, which you’d think would indicate a news satellite, but it actually stands for National Environmental Weather Satellite; it’s not a weather monitoring satellite, it’s meant to be for weather control … built by STAR Labs, of course. But something went wrong, prompting Superman’s intervention. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 345, Action 505, DC Comics Presents 19”
Batman #321 – “Dreadful Birthday Dear Joker” – Len Wein/Walt Simonson/Dick Giordano
This one starts with Commissioner Gordon at the police station, opening an invitation to a party thrown by the Joker. Naturally, Gordon dismisses it as one of Joker’s stupid pranks, but he’s forced to take it seriously when all the cops in the building start laughing uncontrollably. Batman shows up in response to a call from Gordon and sees the Jokermobile outside the station. The roars of laughter from inside warn Batman the place is filled with laughing gas, so he dons a rebreather device for protection and busts in. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 321, Brave & the Bold 160, Warlord 31”
Episode 3: Magnetism
This one starts in a museum in Paris. Pete is hanging upside down, Mission Impossible-style, examining the guillotine that was used to behead Marie Antoinette. A quick scan reveals it as an artifact with occult powers, but when Pete tries to remove the blade, he drops his wrench. Continue reading “Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 3”