Comics Reviews: Batman 448, Detective 615, Batman 449, Detective 616, Legends of the Dark Knight 8

Batman 448 coverBatman #448 – “Pawns” – Marv Wolfman, Alan Grant/Jim Aparo/Mike DeCarlo

This is the first chapter of “The Penguin Affair”, which crosses over into Detective before returning here to conclude next issue. The story starts three months ago, with an ugly hunchback being pounded by some punks. Penguin (and his sexy chauffeur, Lark) pick the hunchback up and Penguin says he’ll help him. Apparently, he feels a kinship with the guy since they’re both physically unattractive by the usual standards. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 448, Detective 615, Batman 449, Detective 616, Legends of the Dark Knight 8”

Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 42, Green Arrow 32, Firestorm 97

Wonder Woman 42 coverWonder Woman #42 – “The Silver Wing of Terror” – Mindy Newell, George Perez/Chris Marrinan/Romeo Tanghal

This one starts with Silver Swan (who we last saw in issue 16) practicing her deadly attack on a Wonder Woman android. She practically obliterates the target, but her boss (Henry Cobb Armbruster) gives her shit and slaps her around because the face is still intact. You’d think Silver Swan would just waste Armbruster, but apparently she’s in love with him, so she takes his abuse and actually flies off crying. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 42, Green Arrow 32, Firestorm 97”

Frankie Drake Mysteries Season 1, Episode 1

Frankie Drake titleMother of Pearl – Director: Ruba Nadda/Writer: Michelle Ricci

Welcome to my first review of Frankie Drake Mysteries, a Canadian show about a couple of female detectives in Toronto in the 1920s. This first episode starts with a classy couple (Abe and Nora Amory, played by Canadian stalwarts Derek McGrath and Wendy Crewson) staying in a fancy Toronto hotel. Abe is a steel magnate from Pittsburgh in town to do a deal, but he gets a shock when he finds a string of pearls missing from the hotel suite’s safe, with a feather left in their place. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Season 1, Episode 1”

Comics Reviews: New Titans 66, Legion 7, Suicide Squad 41

New Titans 66 coverNew Titans #66 – “Fatal Attraction” – Marv Wolfman, George Perez/Tom Grummett/Al Vey

This one starts with most of the Titans at a dinner party to celebrate Terry Long publishing his mythology paper (finally). Dick is absent (circus business) as are Jericho and Raven … which leads to speculation that they might be on a date together. We see Jericho and Raven and both of them do have romantic assignations—but not with each other. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: New Titans 66, Legion 7, Suicide Squad 41”

Comics Reviews: Justice League America 38, Justice League Europe 14

Justice League America 38 coverJustice League America #38 – “Spy” – Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis/Adam Hughes/Joe Rubinstein

This one starts with a tabloid story about the Justice League by the guy who was digging through their garbage last issue (Wally Tortolini). Naturally, the story isn’t very flattering, but Tortolini is quite proud of it. He’s stunned when his editor refuses to run it and storms out. We see the editor talking to Vivian D’aramis (aka Crimson Fox), who distributes the tabloid in Europe and who apparently pressured him into killing the story. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Justice League America 38, Justice League Europe 14”

Xena Series Review

Xena title cardWell, this is it; after almost three years and nearly 150 posts about Xena, I finally got to the end of that series. In my very first Xena post, I mentioned how Xena became my favourite show of all time as soon as I started watching it, and doing these reviews has only confirmed that for me. Also, Gabrielle is still my favourite character and, yes, I still like Joxer (when he’s written properly). Continue reading “Xena Series Review”

Comics Reviews: Batman 447, Detective 614, Legends of the Dark Knight 7

Batman 447 coverBatman #447 – “Earth Day! Demon Night” – Marv Wolfman/Jim Aparo/Mike Decarlo

Last issue Batman confronted NKVDemon, a rogue Russian super-agent who’s killing off various government people he thinks are responsible for weakening the Soviet Union since the beginning of glasnost. Batman and NKVDemon were fighting on a high catwalk and Batman was wounded and knocked off. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 447, Detective 614, Legends of the Dark Knight 7”

Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 41, Green Arrow 31, Firestorm 96

Wonder Woman 41 coverWonder Woman #41 – “The Ties That Bind” – George Perez, Mindy Newell/Chris Marrinan/Romeo Tanghal

This is kind of a downtime issue, much of which is in epistolary form, the characters speaking through correspondence. Julia Kapatelis is on an archaeological dig in Turkey, looking for the site of the original Themiscyra. She gets a letter from her daughter Vanessa, who’s a counsellor at a summer camp (along with her friend Lucy). Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 41, Green Arrow 31, Firestorm 96”

Xena Season 6 Geography and Chronology

Xena title cardWelcome to my geography and timeline review for Season 6. As usual, this is my attempt to bring some continuity to this season’s episodes, trying to figure out where they took place and in the best possible order to make the whole thing flow better. Continue reading “Xena Season 6 Geography and Chronology”

Xena Season 6 Overview

Xena title cardWelcome to my overview of Season 6 of Xena, where I try to touch on some of the themes running through not only this season, but the entire series. (I won’t link to individual episodes, since they can be accessed in the Tag Cloud under “Xena Season 6”). The main theme of this season was that of tying up loose ends, saying farewell to various characters (including Xena, unfortunately), and finishing off Xena and Gabrielle’s character arcs that started way back in Sins of the Past. Continue reading “Xena Season 6 Overview”