Monthly Archives: January 2016

Deca Sports Review

Posted on by
Reply

91106_front (1)
I’ve played a lot of Wii games and lately, most of them don’t seem to be that good. Luckily, this one’s a winner. Deca Sports may have only been a few dollars to purchase, but the 10 games inside of it are definitely very good. Trust me, I’ve played a lot of Wii Sport games and most of them suffer from bad controls. This game is not like the rest and may just be the best Wii Sports game out there. I dare say that it may even be better than Wii Sports…maybe. It’s a close battle between the two.

Let’s go through each of the 10 games. First we have a Snowboard game. I love the fact that a sports arrangement game has a better snowboarding game than a game called Wii Ski and Snowboard. A little ironic isn’t it? The Skiing minigame has you going at high speeds, which is already an improvement over the other title and it’s a blast. You have to outrace everyone else, which is self explanatory, but this game really set the collection off on a high note. The next game was Archery. This one was pretty fun and the gameplay was a little different compared to what you may expect. You have to accurately shoot an arrow across a large space and it’ll test how well you can hold the remote without shaking. Definitely a nice test and it felt rather fair.

Badminton was a little dicey. It’s really hard to aim your shots and spiking is also difficult, which can lead to some really long points. It’s just hard to do anything in this game and while Badminton should have been one of my favorite games, it was probably the worst one. Still not a bad minigame, but I do think that the mechanics were handled poorly this time. After that was Basketball, definitely a solid game. You have to try and score baskets, but the opponents won’t make it easy. The game is simple to pick up and play, but still feels like it has some depth to it, which makes for a very compelling minigame. This is another one to write home about folks!

Beach Volleyball is fairly solid. You have to rely on your partner a lot though due to the nature of the game, which can make the games stretch out a bit since the computer doesn’t like to get too aggressive. Still, the actual game is fairly fun. Curling is another game that I’m not crazy about. It’s not so much the gameplay as the actual game that I’ve never enjoyed all that much. This will automatically have to be one of the weaker ones if you ask me. At least this game is relaxing though.

Figure Skating is next on the list and it’s an all right minigame. You have to follow the motions and skate on the glowing circles. That’s simple enough and the game is easy to get into. It’s not as competitive as some of the others, but you can still try to get some high scores while playing. Soccer is a lot of fun as you would expect. Try to score your goals before the other team does! The physics are a lot like Basketball’s, which makes for another fun experience.

Kart Racing is certainly a dynamite minigame and you really get to test your limits as you drive through the stage. It’s a blast and another well done minigame to add to the collection. The array of games was really well picked for this title. Who’d have thought that you’d have Basketball, Karts, and Soccer? Finally, there was a Motorcycle event. That was another fun one although the controls were a little iffy this time. Your vehicle would move very quickly which was great, but it was super hard to turn, which made things a little iffy.

All in all, I couldn’t ask for a better roster of games than this! I played the League, which lets you try out each game once, but there is some extra replay value to be found here. You can play tournaments of just 1 game so that you can become the champion for each title. Alternately, you can also try to beat challenges for each game, which will make you a stronger player. The games themselves are actually a lot of fun and even more so if you have people to play them with. That’s ultimately what you’re looking for from a party game like this one.

I like the graphics for the title. Naturally, they are hardly groundbreaking and don’t test the limits of the Wii, but that’s fine. It’s still easy to identify everything that is happening on screen and that is certainly the important part right? The soundtrack is also very forgettable. That’s a little unfortunate as a good soundtrack can really make everything better. That being said, it does have a very inspirational song that plays on the main menu so that’s one good song. One is better than none after all and I also like the theme for looking at the records. I probably liked some other themes, but just forgot about them.

It’s no surprise that Deca Sports got some sequels. If they keep up this level of quality, then they are definitely games that I’ll keep an eye on. I’m sure that the price is very low so who knows…maybe you’ll see a review for those titles on the site someday! The sequels will be under a lot of pressure to be quite as good as this one though so it’ll be fun to see if they can live up to the hype or buckle beneath it.

Overall, Deca Sports is a title that everyone should have on the Wii. When you consider the extremely cheap price that the title goes for..it’s a steal! No matter who you are, I’m confident that you will enjoy at least 5 of these games. Most of the games are unique and a whole lot of fun to play. 10 good games is better than 30 iffy ones (Like certain other Wii Party games) and this game has withstood the test of time. Online play would be great for this game, but when a local party game is This good, it can stand on its own without such things. Hopefully the next Wii games that I play are as good, but it’s unlikely.

Overall 7/10

Pokemon XY The Strongest Mega Evolution Act IV Review

Posted on by
Reply

Mega_Evolution_Special_IV_Poster
It’s time to close out this series since Act IV appears to be the last one. It’s been a fun ride and was certainly filled with a lot of action. It definitely gets you hyped for the climactic clash between Alain and Ash. I’m satisfied with how this all ended even if Alain’s naivety can be a bit much. Seriously, his goals seem pretty iffy and he certainly takes contradictory steps to get him to the end goal.

Alain decides that he wants to be the strongest Pokemon Trainer of all time. His boss Lysandre tells Alain that he will need to defeat 10 Mega Pokemon trainers in a row. If he loses even one of them, Alain will be forced to hand over his Mega Stone and he’ll be fired. Alain doesn’t seem to mind the fact that this is basically a threat and agrees to the challenge. “Fight’s over son” is what his opponents should have said, but none of them went that far. In the subplot, Mairin is forced into tears once more and her Pokemon helps a prisoner escape the evil facility, but becomes sickly in the process. This is alarming and it seems like Lysandre may not be the nice guy that we thought he was. Of course…who ever actually believed that one right?

As always, the animation is quite good for the special. This one was basically just nonstop action the whole time and while the fight in episode I was probably still the most impressive, the quality doesn’t let up here. It’s still sad to see the Pokemon wait for the trainer to give out an attack instead of making a move, but it seems to be their destiny. After all, getting caught by the Pokeball has always seemed like a subtle form of brainwashing, which is what made the N plot from the Unova days so interesting. Maybe it also takes away some of their intelligence or free will to even think about doing something without a command. It’s something to think about. We get quite a few Mega Pokemon here as Alain runs through them all with minimal effort.

One thing to note is that Alain’s Charizard has the edge over most of the Pokemon thanks to the type advantage. It was interesting to see so many grass Pokemon in the mix, maybe Lysandre has a heart inside of him after all! That being said, I have to call in plot hax to the fact that Alain won all of the fights. Especially when you consider the fact that the very first opponent was giving him a lot of trouble. There’s no way that he should have been able to have defeated an Elite Four member in his weakened state. I’m not buying it and that’s why Ash is always routinely defeated by these guys. They mean business pure and simple.

There was one intriguing moment in the film where the Dub seems to have messed something up. I forgot the context so you’ll have to watch the film yourself. It involves Alain answering a question with a big No, followed by a little line and then a No. It was just odd and I don’t think that it was intentional. Maybe….but unlikely. The soundtrack was pretty fun. Oddly enough, the soundtrack for the full length Hoopa film wasn’t very good, but this special used quite a few themes from the games and that’s always fun to see. We had a remix from what I think was probably the Red/Kanto games and another one from the newer titles. Good music themes can always make the difference in a film so you want to have good ones.

I’d say that the main frustrating part of the film is Alain. His goal is to become the strongest Pokemon Trainer, which is a great one. The problem is that he goes about it the wrong way. Being Lysandre’s Yes Man is not the greatest job in the world and he’s mean to Mairin for no reason. He wants to make things right by saving her Pokemon, but it really made no sense to be rude to her earlier. He can’t seem to make up his mind. Furthermore, it’s odd that he doesn’t even suspect that the organization is evil. I thought that it was obvious when the group grabbed the crystal and it should be even more evident now that a Pokemon is sick from the mysterious lab. They were clearly imprisoning a Pokemon and while the heroes don’t know that, the dots should be connected now. It seems like a Professor is close to figuring out the truth though.

I do like the concept of having a “hero” who is being tricked and working for an evil organization since it can lead to a good fight between heroes. Case in point, Ash and Alain are going to be facing off against each other soon so that’s going to be great since Alain is already an established character. It’s like having Yugi fight Jaden or Batman going up against Captain America. Of course, the former barely counts since it’s best when the two characters are seriously fighting each other with something at stake. I’m certainly going to be on Ash’s side and I want him to crush Alain, but Alain is still a good main character. The fact that he’s getting suckered so easily and convincingly is part of why I’m looking forward to Ash pounding him flat. Alain needs to learn from someone who knows, that you’ve gotta see the bigger picture. That’s probably how Ash made it all the way back to age 10 after so many years. Charizard is a great partner for Alain as well and it’s easy to see how they’ve beaten so many opponents. He really means business.

There’s a nice twist ending in the film as well. If there’s anything that can match up to a crossover battle, it’s seeing the next big villain. The Pokemon that was being experimented on is getting ready for vengeance and hopefully he is able to take down the villain organization. Those guys have definitely got to go. Steven should know that the group is evil as well since he’s supposed to be a pretty wise guy so this is all partially his fault as well. I still don’t care for Mairin as a character and she’s definitely not needed here, but she could be worse I suppose. She’s mostly getting in the way though, but Alain still needs to remember that there are no johns (excuses) in Pokemon battles.

Overall, A Pokemon special with nonstop action the whole time is definitely a good way to get me interested in what’s happening. Alain’s story ends here and it’ll be great to see him return from Ash’s point of view soon. In the anime, Ash just got his Mega Pokemon recently so since Alain can’t stand to see another trainer use a Mega that he has not defeated, things are definitely going to heat up a lot in the upcoming moments. With that epic cliffhanger at the ready, I’m looking forward to seeing the Pokemon’s true form. I remember seeing it a while back and the design was certainly awesome. Steven and Mairin may be rather uninteresting supporting characters, but all that you need in the end is a good main character to have a TV special succeed. While Alain is a watered down Sasuke, he still has his moments and I’d say that he ended this 4 part special as a good (naive) character.

Overall 8/10

Captain Murphy vs Larry Appleton

Posted on by
Reply


sealab-2021-season-two-20050317112016736
larry
Larry Appleton may look like a decently tough guy, but I feel like he’s outmatched against the Captain here. Captain Murphy is a fighter and he’s trained in hand to hand combat. Whether it’s the real deal or his parody self from the sequel, Murphy knows how to fight so that gives him an automatic edge over Larry Appleton. Poor Larry, he’s lost quite a few rounds. Captain Murphy wins.

Gallantmon vs Zero EXE

Posted on by
Reply


gallantmon
Zero_EXE
Zero EXE is not as powerful as his X counterpart, but he is still a force to be reckoned with. His sword skills are able to give Protoman a run for his money and Zero also has a few long range options. Gallantmon’s blasts are definitely more powerful though while he loses at close quarters combat. I’d say that Zero is simply outgunned in this round as his sword speed is not enough to stop Gallantmon’s Shield of the Just! Gallantmon wins.

Cloud vs Villager

Posted on by
Reply


unnamed
Villager really got popular thanks to being in the Super Smash Bros game and I will admit that I’m impressed that he got into the club. It’s always good to see a new fighter and while I don’t like to play as him, his moveset is strong. That being said, Cloud would definitely crush him in a fight. He’s faster, stronger, and has more attack options. There’s really no argument to be made for Villager (That I’m aware of) and Cloud would just need one high speed slice to end this. Cloud wins.

Civil War #3 The Return of Thor Review

Posted on by
2

51S2hL8NwpL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_
Whoa, I’m reviewing a stand alone issue instead of a trade paperback? Well, these things happen I guess and it was pretty awesome to have acquired this issue. Nothing beats reading a comic in its true form right? Naturally, the comic is short though and you can read it in around 5 minutes or so. Following that logic, this review will naturally be on the short side. This is in the middle of the Civil War event, but it’s still easy to understand what’s happening. There’s even a previously segment just in case readers did jump on here.

The government passed a bill for heroes to surrender their secret identities or they would be hunted down. Captain America leads the side for freedom and Iron Man is on the side of the government. Most of the issue follows Iron Man as he tries to recruit as many allies as possible. Doctor Strange says no and then the X-Men also refuse. Iron Man does leave some subtle threats and clearly can’t be trusted, but such is the way that things go when politics are involved. Captain America’s team is really just lying low, but when they hear that a few hundred people are trapped in a factory, they decide to make their move. Unfortunately, it turns out that it was a trap by Iron Man’s team and the big battle to decide the fate of the country begins.

Definitely a fun issue and Marvel’s art was really at its height here. There aren’t any current Marvel titles that can match this level of quality. You can really feel the epicness as the teams go at it and every character design is really on point. The energy blasts look great and the issue is over before you know it. It helps that there is an ad on every page of course. I wonder how many people actually care about the ads enough for it to affect their purchasing habits. Hopefully a lot, but I don’t really mind the ads since it does make the comics feel official somehow.

I’m still on Cap’s side as always and they certainly seem to be portrayed as the heroes, but it does depend on who you think is in the right. That being said, Cap’s team is at a big disadvantage as far as power and numbers are concerned. It’s why having the X-Men on Cap’s side would have really tipped the scales. At least having Spider Man at the ready would help the resistance and those who followed the event definitely know what side he ultimately ended up on.

The cliffhanger for the issue is definitely pretty intense even if it’s obvious that this cannot be the real Thor. “Operation Lightning Bolt” definitely sounds ominous right when the characters utter the phrase and it certainly doesn’t help Cap’s chances of getting through this in one piece. It would have been really cool for Hulk and Thor to have shown up, but as the event was only 7 (Really short) issues long, it probably would have been very rushed so better not to bite off more than you can chew right.

Overall, Civil War is still one of the best Marvel arcs out there. It was short, but it definitely changed the status quo for a little while and I’m always up for seeing heroes fight other heroes. It does make you have to wonder how these guys can ever work together again, but that’s just the nature of the business. Of course, people do seem to love having Captain America and Iron Man fight so they have a lot of disagreements in the modern comics. Cap’s usually in the right if you ask me, which is almost a little odd since you would expect Iron Man to be the guy who defies the government. In the upcoming film remake, it’ll be interesting to see who’s on the right side as Iron Man seems to be the guy that I will be rooting for so far. So far……it’s likely going to be a tough call though. Either way, if you’re looking for a good single issue to buy, definitely check this one out. There’s a lot of action and Spider Man certainly gets his props as he gives Cap a good fight!

Overall 9/10

Dragon Ball Z Extreme Butoden Review

Posted on by
Reply

dragon-ball-z-extreme-butoden
It’s been a while since I got to play a new DBZ game so now I’ve finally gotten to end that draught. It’s great that the Butoden series has finally reached America. DBZ has had many great series like Budokai and Tenkaichi so this just adds onto that list. The fact of the matter is, DBZ has a great track record with the video games. Battle of Z was a little disappointing and likewise with Ultimate Tenkaichi, but most of the games are all stars that didn’t just start out as amazing titles, but have withstood the test of time. This one is a portable incarnation so it may not have the same amount of depth as some of the other DBZ fighters, but certainly enough to keep you going for quite a while and the gameplay is solid.

There is a story mode in the game, which briefly covers the manga series. They cover it all in 10 battles so you can imagine that this is a heavily abridged version. It can be quite funny to go through if you pretend that you’ve never seen the show since you would be seeing a very different version of the events. There are also “What If” stories for many of the main characters like Goku and Vegeta. I use the quotation marks since they can barely considered What Ifs as you are mostly just going through the story mode from their points of view. A pretty big missed opportunity if you ask me. A fun What If was the final story that you unlocked after beating the others though, which shows it all from the villains point of view. We get to see Broly and Bardock with new origin stories to fit them into the canon universe and it’s pretty fun. The story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense though and most of the events have no real logic or rhythm to it, but these things happen.

The soundtrack is solid and there are quite a few good tunes to be found in the game. The action themes are memorable and there are a few good villain themes as well. It’s a very small soundtrack, but one that works quite well. The graphics are good as well and should remind you of the classic DBZ arcade games. It’s fun to see the characters standing tall, which makes the fighting gameplay more fun. It’s part of the appeal for the Street Fighter games. You like to have tall 2D fighters who aren’t minified so that you can really feel the combos. The opening cutscene that plays when you turn the game on is also really good and it’s always great when the DBZ games add this in for that extra impact. You can see some cool hypothetical battles this way.

As far as the character roster goes, there are 25 playable characters. You’ll be able to play as just about all of them in the story modes, but not all of them so that gives you an incentive to play some regular battles or enter the Adventure Mode. Adventure Mode greatly helps the replay value of the title since it’s quite long and should provide you with a bit of a challenge. There are around 75 support characters who will jump in to help you if things get rough. Naturally, these allies are extremely useful if you decide to increase the difficulty or if you want to play the game competitively. I never really used them and just focused on my standard combos, but that’s not technically the right way to go about this.

As for the core gameplay, think of it as your average 2D fighter. You have your normal combos and projectiles to mix things up. Each combo can be extended and you can also knock an opponent into the sky to start following up with some aerial attacks. The two dimensions are fun and having support characters naturally deepens the actual combat system. On easier difficulties, you can get by with just spamming the Y button over and over again (Which is what I did) but naturally that won’t work against stronger opponents. The gameplay is definitely solid and that’s certainly the most important part of the game.

As referenced earlier, there is definitely a lot of replay value to be found here. You can play through all of the stories and complete Adventure Mode. Doing all of the stories should take around 4 hours and I’m not sure how long Adventure Mode is. There are a variety of other modes to delve into and the fact that this is a fighting game also strengthens the replay value since it can be fun to just pop it in and start winning once in a while. If you have a friend who owns the game, then all the better!

I looked around and it seems like Japan has online play for this game. At the time, the U.S. version did not and I can’t tell if we ever got the mode. If we didn’t, that’s a little unfortunate, but certainly not a dealbreaker as I wasn’t really planning on doing online all that much anyway. If it does/did get patched in, that’ll still be a fun bonus though. Online play is the future and as long as it doesn’t come at the expense of local play, then it’s always worth it.

Overall, Dragon Ball Z Extreme Butoden is a solid fighting game and a nice way to continue the DBZ saga. It’s good to see the series alive and well as the franchise is getting its second wind with the new Dragon Ball Super anime and other merchandise that is now readily available. I look forward to getting some more Dragon Ball Z games eventually. I definitely recommend this title and any fighting game fan should definitely enjoy it.

Overall 8/10

Justice League Volume 6 Injustice League Review

Posted on by
Reply

61GdtjxqLtL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_
It’s been a while since I’ve read a New 52 Justice League adventure. I read a few volumes from the Morrison run, which was a lot of fun so now I can really compare it to the current versions of the League. It is still a little humorous to see the new Batman and Superman for various reasons, but they are still great characters as well, just a little different. I shall get into that shortly. I’m not so sure about the title to this volume, but I suppose that things have changed so maybe it’s a fair title…maybe. Either way, this volume’s a blast and the ending is sure to be exciting for DC fans everywhere. Especially after one of my latest reviews.

Lex Luthor helped to save the planet from the Crime syndicate back in Forever Evil. I knew someone who reeeeally loved that arc and I basically know everything about it since that was back when I was heavily following the blog events through various reviewing sites. It was a blast although I wanted the Justice League to appear more, but it did sound exciting. It makes sense that this would come back to bite the League though since the world wants Lex on the Justice League. None of the League members are for this, but then Batman gets a “brilliant” idea. He’ll have Lex join so then as Bruce Wayne, he can go to Lexcorp and dig up the villain’s evil secrets so that the heroes can arrest him once and for all. It doesn’t help that Lex Luthor walked up slowly to Wayne Manor and exclaimed that Bruce was actually Batman. So, Lex is on the team and things move very quickly. The evil Green Lantern’s Power Ring finds a girl who is afraid of the world and transforms her into a super villain. She is not evil, but she’s a prisoner in her own body now. Some bounty hunters are after Lex since they can now get rich quick and finally, a plague spreads across the country, which threatens to destroy the League once and for all.

We may as well start with the art in this title. It is nice and streamlined, which is always good. I would say that the art is terrific like usual, but I’m afraid that this isn’t the case this time. It’s mainly the facial expressions that can get a little dicey at times, mainly Shazam. There is the chance that this is intentional since Shazam looks disgracefully bad, but I can’t confirm that so it needs to be noted. Aside from this, the comic looks great for the action scenes and intense energy blasts throughout. This is still a definitive looking comic for sure.

I also need to give a quick shoutout to the epic ending of the graphic novel. Spoiler time…spoiler time. Are you still reading? Are ya? Well, Hal Jordan has returned! Since I just read the Green Lantern comic and reviewed it on the blog earlier, it’s great to see him coming back to the League. It was literally the final page of the comic so he hasn’t done anything yet, but this is certainly the muscle that the team needed. Furthermore, he’ll be very useful for the upcoming Darkseid War arc. It’s just such a powerful moment in the comic and I certainly missed him being on the team. Can you believe that he has basically missed the entire Justice League series at this point? It’s uncanny!

Jessica Cruz gets a big role here since she was taken over by Power Ring. (AKA Volthoom. It’s pretty cool to see him again after his destruction in the Green Lantern comics. I’m assuming that this is a different version from the other Earth since he was the Green Lantern’s power ring. How characters can change across universes right?) She becomes ready to fight right away and accepts her power so she’s certainly a good character. At first, she’s still scared of the world due to a traumatic backstory so she doesn’t start off on a high note, but gets there and that’s what counts. Her Green Lantern abilities will definitely be useful in future conflicts and having 2 Green Lanterns can never hurt right? It also means that we have yet another Green Lantern from Earth after Simon Baz was recently recruited. The Corps are getting stronger and stronger.

Cruz’s Power Ring was also wanted by several factions, which made for some good fights. Remember the Doom Patrol from the good ole days? Well, they’re back and in this continuity, they were all saved by a mad scientist. They feel indebted to him so they’ll obey his orders no matter what. At least their consciences are not totally gone as they want to save some civilians, but still hesitate in the end until the Justice League save them. They are also totally fine with fighting the Justice League so I certainly wouldn’t call them heroes right now. True heroes know when to question an order and furthermore, they know when to flat out disobey one. None of them are very powerful at the moment, although Mr. Negative seems to be the power hitter of the group. Lex Luthor and The Chief do have a verbal fight, which is always interesting to see. It’s basically just the Chief responding with “That’s not true” (Like a certain Presidential debate) while Lex accuses him of everything under the Moon. I’m inclined to think that Lex is telling the truth in this case and The Chief seems to have been tricked by someone, but it doesn’t change the fact that The Chief appears to basically be evil in this version.

Meanwhile, Lex’s role in this comic is really good and his fans will be thrilled. He has a battle of wits against Bruce Wayne and it isn’t even a close fight. Lex completely destroys Batman in the debates to the point where he makes Batman and Superman act very petty with rage. It’s a blast, but essentially it all starts when Lex piecies togiether Bruce Wayne’s secret identity as Batman. Bruce tries to deny it for a while, but Lex knows and nothing can undo that. He even breaks into Wayne Enterprises and while Alfred puts up a good fight, this is Lex that we’re talking about. Lex claims to want to be a hero at the moment so the team lets him in (For more petty reasons) and we’ll see how long he can keep this up.

One thing that you have to know about comics is that the status quo will always reset at some point. Lex will certainly be a villain again so we just have to wonder how long it will take. He has a shady plot already as he has hired Captain Cold to be his head of security and is taking a lot of blood samples. Why is he doing this? For all I know, it could be more heroic reasons and this is just some more misdirection to trick us all. He does seem to want to live up to the Justice League’s expectations though and tried very hard to save the day twice, but each time he was beaten to the punch. Batman ended up saving the day with Jessica Cruz before Lex and then the plague was stopped by Superman. Although, Lex is still the one who ultimately provided the cure. It reminds me of the Superman Adventure that I read recently where Lex really wanted to help a kid, but was beaten to the punch by Superman and thanks to a misunderstanding from his henchmen, he put the kid in danger. Things don’t go Lex’s way when he tries to be a hero so then it’s back to being a villain. I think he’ll last a while as a hero though and Lex is definitely an interesting character to read about. It’s amazing how different he is than during his New 52 days in the Superman comics where he was a trainwreck.

As for Batman…his fans will be a little sad. He gets pulverized by Lex so he basically gets a pouty and starts think of his own plan. He lets Lex join so that he can run through Lexcorp and find incriminating evidence of his past…that’s not cool. The thing is, Batman’s let this get personal, as has Superman. They spy on Lex, talk behind his back, and then they’re basically lying to his face. Batman even sheds some fake tears on stage as Bruce Wayne to try and one up Lex. It’s just very humorous the whole time as Batman and Superman don’t even try to hide the fact that they can’t stand the guy. It’s understandable of course, but definitely interesting to note. Batman and Superman still feel younger and more inexperienced than their Pre 52 selves even though they’re older now. It’s the new them though and as I mentioned earlier, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s made for a lot of good stories and this ongoing rivalry with Lex has proven to be a great subplot so far…even if I’m actually rooting for Lex at this point. (Sorry JLA!)

Flash, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg have less of a problem with Lex, but it’s not personal for them yet. Wonder Woman’s been giving Lex the benefit of the doubt more than the others, but with the unspoken threat that she will destroy him if he tries anything..ruling by fear has always been effective. Flash is the one who tries to keep everyone in check, such as when Wonder Woman almost put the lasso around Lex’s neck. Flash gets everyone to calm down and we’ll see how the team dynamic goes now that “You Know Who” has returned. At the very least, he’ll probably yell and exclaim how awesome this is since he loves to make fun of Batman.

We can’t forget about Shazam either…*sigh*. Remember his portrayal in Young Justice? One of the only flaws in that show was that they treated Shazam like a joke and that’s what happens here too. He’s always getting flustered, acting like a kid who’s never been outside, and has no sense of intelligence within him. Shazam is always spouting off random nonsense about wanting to eat Hot Dogs and not getting with the program. Why did they have to retcon him so that he always has the mind of a very young kid? It was definitely a very poor choice if you ask me. At least make his kid form be a little likable, but this is just way too extreme. I wanted to like the character…but it’s impossible!

If you are hoping for a lot of action then you’re definitely in luck. The Justice League vs the Metal Men is a great fight and then the Plague arc also has a lot of action. Batman’s cool zombie form is definitely a blast and he’s even able to use energy bolts towards the end. Wonder Woman fans will also be happy since she ends up taking on most of the League on her own. This version of her has definitely been great and it’s good to see her holding her own like this. I still believe that Superman’s got the edge, magic or not, but WW is certainly one of the team’s heavy hitters. She also has a lot of hand to hand experience and her raw power was boosted in the New 52, making her more of a complete fighter.

There’s also some foreshadowing here for some big arcs coming up. Owlman’s certainly not through yet and we have to get ready for the Anti Monitor’s awakening. Lex has something up his sleeve and the new Bizarro clone should also be pretty interesting. We also can’t forget that someone wants Lex Luthor dead. I almost forgot about that part, but even though it is essentially Captain Cold’s subplot, it’s a good one. The first mercenary that the group sent was decently tough, but nothing special and the heroes were able to take him out rather quickly. The cool one was Bullet. I love this guy’s design and it’s slightly inspired from Robocop. He doesn’t seem to be super powerful, but he’s not afraid to mix it up with the League. I hope to see more of him soon and this bounty hunter plot is really getting interesting.

Overall, This is a great Justice League comic. Aside from Shazam, there’s really nothing to dislike. The characters are all written well and the plot is engaging and moving at a very quick pace. There are a lot of action scenes scattered within so you’re never running low on those and the plot would be able to still be interesting even without the battles. The art is solid although the faces need some work. If you’re hesitant about getting into Justice League, don’t be. This run can hold its own against any other Justice League series and it’s why their titles are still the best in all of comics. With a certain character finally returning as well, things are only going to look up for the series from here! Of course, the team is borderline overpowered now so it makes sense that the Darkseid War is next. Get ready for things to be shaken up!

Overall 8/10

Dio Brando vs Piccolo

Posted on by
17


DioBrando_ASB
piccolo-dragonball-z-1
Much like with the Vegeta battle, Dio Brando is simply outclassed here. Piccolo can easily overpower or outspeed Dio Brando. Brando’s abilities won’t be potent enough for him to survive a Special Beam Cannon attack or a quick combo from Piccolo. Piccolo can move at insane speeds so he will be able to land some hits on Dio before the guy even knows what’s happening. That is the true power of a Z fighter! Piccolo wins.