Comics Reviews: Superman 345, Action 505, DC Comics Presents 19

Superman 345 coverSuperman #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”

Comics Reviews: Batman 321, Brave & the Bold 160, Warlord 31

Batman 321 coverBatman #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”

Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 3

Opening titleEpisode 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”

Comics Reviews: Flash 282, Wonder Woman 264, Green Lantern 125

Flash 282 coverFlash #282 – “Mishmash” – Cary Bates/Don Heck/Frank Chiaramonte

Last issue Professor Zoom told Flash he knew who had really killed his wife, Iris. Before Flash could inquire further, Zoom attached a pair of density boots to Flash’s feet, causing him to sink into the ground toward Earth’s molten core. Flash uses his super-speed aura to protect himself from the heat (and to keep a sheath of oxygen around himself), but the boots are too dense to vibrate out of. As he gets deeper underground, the heat finally melts the boots enough for Flash to vibrate free, but he’s immediately swept into a flow of molten magma. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Flash 282, Wonder Woman 264, Green Lantern 125”

Comics Reviews: JLA 175, Legion of Super-Heroes 260, Jonah Hex 33

JLA 175 coverJustice League of America #175 – “But Can An Android Dream” – Gerry Conway/Dick Dillin/Frank McLaughlin

As you can tell from the title, this one focuses on Red Tornado. Gerry seemed to like using Reddy to reflect on what it means to be human. The story starts with Red Tornado resigning from the JLA over some mistake he made on a mission. His teammates assure him they don’t care about his screw-up, but he quits anyway and heads down to Earth to “find himself”. He starts by reviving his old John Smith identity and going to see Traya, the orphan girl from the Middle East that Reddy’s sort of adopted. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: JLA 175, Legion of Super-Heroes 260, Jonah Hex 33”

Rule Britannia!

Gulliver's allegianceYes, I’m cheering for England–my dad is from there, after all–so I hope they make it through to the final. (Off to a good start … Trippier just scored from a free kick.)

Of course, there’s no doubt who Gulliver is cheering for either …

(I know that’s a UK flag, not an England flag, but I don’t have a St. George’s flag, so it’s the best I can do.)

UPDATE: Well, Gulliver’s not happy at all now. Congratulations to Croatia on making it through … France will be quite a challenge, I’m sure.

Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 2

Opening titleEpisode 2: Resonance

This one starts with a bank robbery in Chicago, but the thieves have a pretty wild way of dealing with bystanders and guards … they use some kind of sonic pulse to stun everyone and knock out electronic devices, including cameras; the pulse comes from speakers stitched inside one thief’s trenchcoat. Continue reading “Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 2”

Comics Reviews: Superman 344, Action 504, DC Comics Presents 18

Superman 344 coverSuperman #344 – “The Monsters Among Us” – Len Wein, Paul Levitz/Curt Swan/Frank Chiaramonte

It was a dark and stormy night … No, this isn’t a novel by Bulwer-Lytton (or Snoopy), but it is rather “gothic” in theme. It starts with Superman blocking a lightning bolt from striking in downtown Metropolis and using his heat vision to evaporate the storm clouds. He rushes to a mansion (Castle Kanlyn) outside the city and changes to Clark Kent. Clark is ushered into the mansion by his host, Ms. MacArdle, to find Lois is waiting for him. They’re there to report on a séance where the participants try to contact the spirit of a dead magician named Roland Randall. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Superman 344, Action 504, DC Comics Presents 18”

Comics Reviews: Batman 320, Detective 488, Brave & the Bold 159, Warlord 30

Batman 320 coverBatman #320 – “The Curse of the Inquisitor” – Denny O’Neil/Irv Novick/Bob Smith

This one starts with a mail carrier delivering some stuff to an office belonging to a guy named Sigerson. The mailman and a cleaning lady both think it’s strange that they’ve never seen the mysterious Mr. Sigerson. We soon find out why; Sigerson is an alias used by Batman, and the office is a mail drop. Batman subscribes to a clipping service that sends him info about crimes all over the world, but he doesn’t want that correspondence addressed to Bruce Wayne. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 320, Detective 488, Brave & the Bold 159, Warlord 30”

Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 1

Opening titleEpisode 1: Pilot

Welcome to my first review of Warehouse 13. I’ve never seen this show before, though I remember thinking it looked interesting when it was on, so I’m going in with no preconceptions other than knowing the basic premise of the series (two Secret Service agents investigate weird phenomena and work in a gigantic government warehouse that’s off the grid). I’ll give my overall impressions at the end of the review, so let’s just jump right into the first show. Technically, this could be counted as two episodes, since it was a two-hour premiere, but Wikipedia has it listed as Episode 1, so that’s what I’m going with. Continue reading “Warehouse 13 Reviews: Season 1, Episode 1”