Category Archives: Reviews

Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered Review

Posted on by
Reply

lego-dc-comics-batman-be-leaguered.33091
It’s time to take a look at the quick animated special that came out a while ago. It was included with the main movie in the DVD so I got to check it out. This is a fun adventure and it’s certainly very short. At just a little over 20 minutes, you can bet that it’ll be over in a flash. It was short, but I do think that it holds its own against the first Lego film thanks to the Justice League interactions. Those were certainly a lot of fun.

Superman invites Batman to join the Justice League, but the Dark Knight refuses. He doesn’t trust Superman after all and the thought of being in a league is not for him. Batman is a solo act after all, but the League members start to disappear one after the other. It’s up to Batman to find out who is doing this and stop the villain before someone actually gets hurt. It’s time to see if Batman has the skills needed to pull this off.

The voices have been switched along with some of the designs. It took a minute to get used to Batman’s new look and voice, but it worked out quite well. Batman is much more paranoid this time around and he is constantly thinking about how he can’t trust Superman. The Dark Knight brings up a lot of valid points so you may start to agree with him after a while. How can he be wrong right? Once again, Batman is really the star of the show and the main reason why this special is so much fun. Batman proves that he can hold his own against any of the other members.

Superman’s voice isn’t as good as the last one, but he’s still a fun powerhouse to have around. He does a good job of trying to recruit Batman. The other Justice League members were fun to see as well. Cyborg is purposely portrayed like his Teen Titans self, which is cool. The writers decided to make Wonder Woman a little mean this time, which was interesting. I can’t say that she was likable here and I guess that means that I just didn’t care for her parody as opposed to most of the others. From the other League members, The Flash is the one who looked the best. His speed is definitely legendary and it’s good to see how fast he can move. You can argue that the film makes him look a little too fast for comedy, but I’d argue that he actually is this fast. He’s the Flash after all! Besides Superman, I’d consider him to be one of the fastest heroes of all time.

I’m still not crazy about the Lego animation, but it’s here and it’s here to stay. These films are mainly comedies so that’s how the style is used. I would prefer another style, but it wouldn’t be a Lego film if they weren’t using Lego animation right? We do get some action scenes, which is always fun and the ending shows why the Justice League are feared as one of the strongest fighting units out there. Stopping them is simply tough, even for Luthor and the other villains. A certain cosmic being also appears. This guy is certainly strong and nearly invincible so I’m glad that the League didn’t try to fight him. I don’t like seeing the heroes lose to guys who can’t be defeated. It doesn’t end up feeling like a fair fight.

Overall, This was a fun special to watch. It was incredibly short, but Batman still had enough time to outshine the rest of the Justice League and also save the day. As far as I am concerned, the film succeeded there. Batman’s reason for joining the League at the end is also pretty intense. You’ll definitely want to stick around for the final part in the Lego series (for now) as it directly continues from this film as Batman’s plot continues to advance. He is not going to let Superman endanger the world….not on his watch! If you like the Lego series or are looking for a humorous adventure with your favorite DC heroes, this is definitely the film to check out.

Overall 7/10

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs Bizarro League Review

Posted on by
Reply

Lego_DC_Comics_Super_Heroes_Justice_League_vs._Bizarro_League_Cover
All right, it’s time to look at another one of the Lego DC films! This is a feature length film unlike the last one that I reviewed although it’s still under an hour so it’s not very long. The Justice League get a big role here this time so Batman won’t have to steal all of the best lines. That being said, he’s still the best character here along with Superman’s fun depiction. It’s a vs film technically although the Justice League doesn’t really get to fight the Bizarro League…I wouldn’t call it a total fight anyway. Still, the real villain is ready!

The film starts out with Bizarro messing up Metropolis as per usual. Superman takes him to an uninhabited planet and convinces Bizarro to think of the rocks as people and just live there for a while. It works and this gives the Justice League time to deal with the many threats that attack Earth on a daily basis. Unfortunately, Bizarro’s world is being attacked by Darkseid so he makes clones of the other League members. Batman and Superman must now do something about this while also taking care of Darkseid. It will be tough, but they are the world’s greatest superheroes so nothing should be able to stop them!

Let’s launch into the positives here. First of all, I still love this depiction of Lego Batman. He only joined the League in order to keep tabs on Superman and he constantly reminds us of this. He carries around a big chunk of Kryptonite and even steals Lex’s plans on how to take Superman down for the count. His dialogue is definitely the best in the film and he even has a “I’m Batman!” moment that was great. The banter between him and Superman is the main reason why the film is so enjoyable. It’s always great to see these two heroes together.

Superman is also likable of course and most of the other League members are neat as well. The Flash is definitely always fun to watch given how fast he is. I’m not crazy about Wonder Woman and Cyborg’s portrayals, but some characters weren’t meant to be parodied I suppose. (The Flash is played pretty straight as his speed is what the writers have fun with, but I actually like the fact that he looks so fast) Guy Gardner is the film’s punching bag and it’s always fun to see him wrecked by the opposition.

This film also had more action than the rest of the Lego adventures. The fight between Superman and Darkseid was fun to watch. It’s a lego fight of course, but it’s still a fight and that was neat. There were also some fun scenes of the heroes beating up on an army invasion. There was really almost nonstop action when you really think about it and that’s another reason why the lego adventure was so enjoyable. It’s good to go all out. The soundtrack also gave the film an extra boost. There were many fast paced themes that played throughout the action scenes. It’s hard to remember them specifically, but they certainly worked well during the fights.

There’s really not much to dislike about the film. It’s very short so things have to move quickly, but for this style I suppose that it works. I don’t want to sound too repetitive and I’ve already mentioned this in my other Lego reviews, but the style is one that can be a little much if it drags on for too long. So, short and direct is a good strategy for it. Lego animation is still relatively low tier for me, but it is a pretty big sub genre at this point. For lego’s, it’s a good effort and most of the humor is based around that fact so the film would be very different if it used another style.

The Bizarro League plays a very small role despite the fact that they’re in the title. They really don’t have any big moments and are just in the background. They certainly could have been better as they came off as a little too deluded and weak if you ask me. Bizarro is the only character who got an actual personality that wasn’t too over the top here. I still find his backwards talk to be rather inconsistent as he starts off a sentence saying the opposite of what he means, but starts to talk normally after that. Maybe the backwards thing only applies to the first sentence of a paragraph or something like that. It’s something to think about I suppose.

Overall, This was another fun Lego installment. I’d say that the short that came with this one is my favorite and this would be second. The edge that they have over Lego Batman is the larger role of the league and the fact that I really like Batman’s portrayal here. I liked his in Lego Batman as well, but he’s even more paranoid over here. The banter between the two main heroes is the selling point of this film, but the fights are also a lot of fun. There was definitely more action than I had been anticipating and the soundtrack was solid as well. I recommend this film if you enjoy the Lego style. It makes for a fun film that is also very short so you will be through it in no time. It will be fun to see what other Lego adventures come out soon. This is also one of the newest films that I’ve seen since it came out so recently. Hopefully, Batman sticks around as the main character for the next DVD film. His theatrical one coming out soon should be fun too.

Overall 7/10

Alex Rider: Russian Roulette Review

Posted on by
Reply

8cb0d933d490d33b5dca2c00c76168d4
The prequel to the Alex Rider series came out a while ago at this point, but I only just got around to it. As with the Godzilla book, I had it here for months, but I finally renewed it 10 times so this was my last chance to wrap things up. I just made it and am glad that I did as it was a good prequel. The ending was a little rushed I suppose, but it was still a good novel through and through. The writing is much better than what I saw in the Godzilla book and reminds me that we’ve still got solid books out there. You’ve just got to know where to look.

The main character of this Yasha, but his name quickly changes to Yassan so I’ll just keep it that way. The adventure starts him off as a child, but a plague infects his village and his parents have just enough time to give him a cure. Yassan is now the only survivor of that village and it has effectively been wiped off the map. Yassan is now a non person who does not even exist according to computer records. This puts him in a pretty interesting spot as his enemies won’t know about him, but vice versa as well. He goes through many hardships and ends up working as a slave for the man who was responsible for the incident. Through the Alex Rider events, we know that Yassan ends up….well, I won’t say who he works for I suppose, but you should have read the other books already before checking out the prequels. Needless to say, we know the ending, but this book is all about how he gets there.

In that sense, I think that things get a little iffy. As the book is from Yassan’s point of view, we learn a whole lot about the character. He was actually a very nice person back in the day and he really just wanted to fly a helicopter. Unfortunately, the village being wiped out put him on the path to destruction from the beginning. Working as a servant was essentially unavoidable and getting out of the situation was difficult, if not impossible. Those were tough years and his decision to escape was certainly a good one. From there, things just go from bad to worse.

The book’s plot is constantly evolving and adapting because it has to cover a whole lot of plot in a mere 400 pages. (More like 370, but close enough) I don’t want to mention all of the plot developments so I’ll mainly try to keep it vague, but this is still a review so I need to touch on some things. The best part of the book was probably the training facility that he goes too in the second half. That sounded like a pretty interesting chapter in his life and it would have been fun to have seen it get some more screen time. That part is glossed over the most so that we can see him as a professional.

Throughout the whole book, Yassan is mainly trying to not cross the line. He doesn’t mind stealing or committing other such acts in order to survive, but taking another person’s life is something that he doesn’t want to do. Unfortunately, it gets harder and harder to do this as his situation continues to get more dire. One of the reasons why Yassan was such a great character is he continues to choose not to pull the trigger even when it may mean death for him. It’s one of the reasons why he was lucky not to have any friends or family left. The villains could not use anyone as leverage against Yassan and threatening the main character’s life doesn’t have the same impact.

That’s why the ending just comes so suddenly. There is treachery in the air and Yassan gets very upset at the final twist. That being said, it unhinges him more than you would expect and he essentially decides to become a mass murderer just to spite someone. That is the part that came out of left field for me. The whole book, his consciousness had kept him from crossing the line and while he got upset at the end, it still seems like a big leap in logic to just start destroying everyone. Destroy the guy who betrayed you for sure, but taking it out on everyone was a little much. Yassan wanted to prove a point, which is why he didn’t destroy the traitor, but it was still definitely a bit much.

I feel like the author was running out of time and didn’t want to stretch this out into multiple books and just wanted to end things. I would have been happy to have had more books about Yassan, but maybe the fast pacing is what ultimately made this such an enjoyable book. I can certainly say that I enjoyed it much more than any of the Alex Rider novels and this was one of the most interesting books that I have read. The ending is the one sour spot for me and I knew that it was coming of course, but I just didn’t buy it. You could almost say that the author was trapped by the Alex Rider books as he had to keep Yassan in line with his self in the books even if the personality was different.

The author should have almost made this prequel non canon to just let Yassan end out with an escape. Disappearing forever was the plan that he had been leaning towards and it made the most sense. I was almost expecting him to go through with it at one point and then we’d get a sequel to see how he got pulled into the madness once again. That would have made much more sense and I can’t stress enough how much a sequel would have helped the ending. There’s also a chance that a sequel would jump the shark though so maybe it’s better safe than sorry.

The actual writing is very engaging and the author certainly has experience with writing a compelling novel. The characters don’t all sound like generic movie protagonists and they have character. You will feel bad for Yassan as the whole book is basically one tragedy after the other, but the author doesn’t overdo it. It’s sad and you’ll feel bad for the guy, but it’s done naturally and not just brought up to constantly remind you that you should feel bad for him. There’s one quick scene of animal violence at the end involving a spider, but it’s also handled really quickly and I suppose that it is easier for that not to hurt the score in a book than other forms of media. Although, it still depends on how it is handled.

Quite a few characters show up including Alex Rider’s dad. The dad was fairly likable although it’s hard to know what to think of him by the end. I guess I’m not a fan and he could have handled things much better. I also think that Yassan should have been able to defeat him in a fight. Thinking about it, the book doesn’t really have much of a climax. There is action throughout and yet there are very few action scenes. The dialogue is just strong enough to hold the novel up on its own, which is neat. There are quite a few likable characters throughout the book just as there are unlikable ones, but it is a colorful cast. The book gives us some nice details on how Yassan gets ready for a mission without going overboard and it was nice to see him continue to make the right decisions.

Overall, This was an excellent book and just what I needed after finishing Godzilla. Godzilla wasn’t exactly the big return to novels that I had been looking for so I’m glad that I got to find an elite title so quickly. If not for the ending, I dare say that this could be the best stand alone novel that I’ve read. It’s part of the Alex Rider franchise of course and many places just list it as being in the series, but I like to think of the prequel as being its own separate thing. Still canon and in the franchise, but not to be counted with the rest of the books as being in the series. If Yassan had stayed true to himself and ended out on a positive note, I probably would have given this a 10. I’m not even sure which book (If any) I’ve given a perfect score yet, but this probably would have snatched it away. The ending should have just been Yassan walking away and we still could have gotten the moment where he was back in the future and the author leading us to wonder how he got to that point. Still, abrupt ending or not, I highly recommend reading this title. You don’t need to read the Alex Rider books at all to understand what is happening here although it will give you more insight. As with just about every prequel, you can read this before the main series or after it. Either way, it works very well and it’s an engaging piece to read from start to finish. I also read it in hardcover, which helped a bit since I love that format. I’m not sure when I’ll have another book review up as it could be a while, but it’ll be tough to pass this one. It would be cool if the book got a film adaption someday to bring the Alex Rider franchise back into the forefront, but I don’t see that happening for quite a while, if ever.

Overall 9/10

Beyblade VForce Ultimate Blader Jam Review

Posted on by
22

56411_front
I haven’t played a Beyblade game in a very long time. I’ll admit that I’ve missed it as Beyblade is easily one of the greatest franchises that I have yet to really get into. Although, I suppose that playing the games and reading the manga should count as getting myself formally introduced to the franchise. It’s a lot of fun and I enjoyed the first game a lot so I was looking forward to this one. The gameplay is radically different from the Gamecube title and can’t quite match up, but it’s still fun and fairly original. The only game that I can think of, which is pretty similar to this one would be Monkey Ball and those games have less action.

The plot is a little all over the place because the game has to cover a whole bunch of episodes in a relatively short amount of time. Tyson and his friends are the world champions of Beyblade. They were on top of the world, but that’s when the new villains decide to strike. Tyson and his friends are actually defeated by these new players and must train hard in order to surpass them. The problem is that there are also two villain groups to watch out for. These guys try to steal the animal spirits that reside within the Beyblades and that makes each duel a matter of life and death. The Earth and maybe even the whole universe could be forfeit if we are not careful. Tyson’s going to have to step up his game if he wants to win.

The cutscenes don’t always mesh well with the gameplay. For example, a cutscene will end with Tyson about to fight someone and then the next level will be a standard “Reach the goal” stage. The boss fight will end up being in the next battle instead. The cutscenes also seem to come at random points and a lot of battles happen off screen. The actual plot is still fun though and Tyson learns that illegally modifying his Beyblade is not a good idea. He has to win like a main character and that’s what he ends up doing. It solidifies the fact that the Beyblade shows are definitely very good.

The soundtrack is very catchy as they seem to have thrown in one of the theme songs or at least a lyrical piece that fits well with the gameplay. It can be hard to hear what they are saying, but there are very few GBA games that have the budget needed to put in a full song so that’s neat. By the end of the game, you’ll have heard it many times and will be ready to recite the beat from memory. It gave the game a little extra boost of excitement.

As for the graphics, they certainly aren’t anything special, but they’re not bad either. They’re simple and to the point. The backgrounds are all fairly distinct and you can tell which Beyblade you are playing as at all times. The game does seem to have a bit of a low budget though as there aren’t many character models. It just reuses the same pictures constantly in the cutscenes and likewise with the gameplay. The game is still easy to look at so I’ll count it as a win in my book.

Now, let’s finally take a look at the gameplay. As I mentioned earlier, it’s very similar to Monkey Ball. The game is looked at from an overhead view and you have to roll the Beyblade to the end of the course. There are a lot of tight turns so you want to take your time, but you also need to go a little quickly towards the end if you want to beat the “par” time. It’s not necessary, but that’s how you unlock the bonus levels. There will occasionally be minions that you can fight by bumping them off the stage or until they top spinning or you can just skip them. I advise just avoiding the fights unless you need to bump into the other Beyblades to get through.

Boss fights are extremely easy to the point where I wonder if the developers thought about them. Maybe the gameplay just didn’t work very well in that area. The bosses are just other tops that are slightly bigger than yours and you smash them until they stop spinning. It’s extremely easy as bumping into them is all that you need to do to win. Typically, you can win these levels in around 20-30 seconds with ease. The final boss is very anticlimactic because he is no stronger than any of the other bosses. You can just apply the same strategy and still win on your very first try.

There’s not a whole lot of replay value to be found here. You can replay the levels again to try and reach the par time and unlock the bonus levels. Furthermore, you can go through all of the levels and gather the items. Beyond that, there’s not much else to do. The gameplay is a lot of fun so you can work on your hand eye coordination by playing the levels. It takes a lot of concentration not to fall while you are on the tougher levels. It’s one of the reasons why this style of game is so good because it does feel like you are actually improving as you play it.

I got the game for around a dollar at Gamestop and I can safely say that I am pleased with my purchase. It’s certainly not as good as the Gamecube title, but it was a fun ride and it lasted for most of a car trip. The game was probably around 60-90 minutes in length although it could take a little longer if you end up getting stuck on any of the levels. You will never be stuck for very long though as you are almost guaranteed to be able to find a way past the stage as you continue to give it a shot. The items and enemies don’t move around so repetition will help you find out what the best strategy is.

Overall, Beyblade VForce was a fun game. I almost forgot that I had it in the backlog for a while and it was merely by chance that I finally got to give it a whirl. I definitely won’t be forgetting this classic anytime soon. It was a good game and while it is very short, you can get it for a very good price so I’d recommend taking the plunge. I aim to buy the next game at some point in the future, but until then it’s back to Flip’s Twisted World! Perhaps the extra experience with precision has also helped to sharpen my mind to solve all of Flip’s mysteries. We shall see!

Overall 7/10

Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes Unite Review

Posted on by
Reply

Lego_Batman,_The_Movie_cover
It’s time to step into the world of the Lego heroes! The games were quite popular at one point so it makes sense that Batman would eventually get a film of his own. For those of us who haven’t played the Lego Batman games yet, the plot is all new. It was a fun little ride and I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing more Lego animations in the future. Their portrayals of Batman and Superman are always fun.

Batman ends up defeating Lex Luthor for the man of the year award, which makes the evil genius sad. Ah well, at least it helped him realize that he’s going to need the help of the Joker after watching the villain hijack the party and steal Lex’s watch. The two villains free most of the inmates at Arkham Asylum and get ready to unveil their master plan. Batman is ready to stop them along with his trusty sidekick Robin, but will they be enough or will Batman have to rely on his super powered friend this time?

The film is only a little over an hour so it goes by very quickly. You could say that the film is almost nonstop action as a result as the plot is always moving. While I always like for films to be as long as possible, it works well for the Legos since you could get tired of the style if it ran for too long. As it is, the adventure is fun and to the point. The absurd character personalities is one of its main selling points and it never goes too far.

“You feel nervous?” is something that Batman would typically never ask someone, but it’s cool to hear him say that here. You can think of the Lego films as delving into the character’s sub conscious if you like to get meta and this is how they would really act if they weren’t worried about their image. Batman never likes to receive help from Superman since it makes people think that Batman actually needs the Man of Steel’s help. Batman’s always been a solo act and he’s not about to let that change now! He’s Batman after all! His voice was also quite good and he is certainly one of the main highlights here.

Superman is also a lot of fun and he sounds a lot like Captain Qwark, one of the more enjoyable members of the Ratchet and Clank franchise. Superman’s always ready to do the right thing and the movie shows him to be the ultimate hero. He’s more noble and heroic than Batman as well as being much more powerful. This is Superman as he was meant to be portrayed. Robin’s depiction was all right I suppose, but the writers definitely wanted to make him look as bad as possible.

It was cool that Lex actually kept his voice from the DCAU. That’s the kind of extra detail that adds a little more fun to the film as that is definitely the voice that he is well known for. The villains all act as you would expect them too and while they aren’t bad, the heroes are the selling points. Without Batman and Superman, there is no movie. The villains do naturally help for the fight scenes.

Lego animation is right above Stop Motion, but it loses to CG-I and the rest of the animation techniques. It’s something that I would never recommend for any product, but while it’s here, Legos aren’t bad. I would naturally prefer this film if it had a different style of animation, but they ended up choosing Lego style and I can deal with that. Most of the humor is wrapped around the fact that they are Legos and it works well enough. You’re reminded of the Legos that you played with as a kid after all.

The soundtrack is fun as you will recognize a classic Batman theme while you’re watching the film. That’s always good and I can appreciate the nostalgia factor or a good remix. Either way, the consumer wins. I wasn’t expecting this to have much music at all so this was definitely a nice surprise. That’s the only theme that I can remember at the moment, but it’s the only one that I need to remember for the film to earn some points there.

Overall, Lego Batman is a fun film. There’s not a whole lot to say about it though. If you’ve ever watched a Lego film before, then you’ll know what to expect. They all have a bit of a distinctive formula, which makes for consistently good films. What they lack in originality they make up for in quality. It would be fun to see Marvel jump on board with this as opposed to just having webisodes. I already saw the sequel to this title and will have a review up for it shortly. If you’ve played the Lego games or are a fan of the Lego franchise, then I would recommend checking this out. As long as you don’t mind a parody portrayal of the DC characters, you’ll have a lot of fun. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously and you should just have fun watching it. The dialogue is good and the movie will be over before you know it. This will also be another Batman and Superman team up to add to your viewing history. Oh, and did I mention that the rest of the Justice League show up? (A bit of a small role, but that’s because they get to appear a lot more in the sequel)

Overall 7/10

Godzilla Review

Posted on by
9

godzillacover
It has been a very long time since I have reviewed a book. It may have even been over a year at this point. What better way to get back into the industry than with Godzilla right? The film was fun even though it certainly could have been better to say the least. I know that many people weren’t crazy about Ford Brody in the film and I always thought that he was a bit of a non factor. After reading the book though, I can safely say that the character isn’t very good.

The book follows the plot of the film. Essentially, a creature destroys Ford’s mother along with many other people simply by waking up. Over a decade later, the monster has woken up along with a second one. They are known as the MUTO creatures and their abilities are unparalleled. With the EMP bursts that they can generate, the army is essentially out of their depth here. Their only course of action is to allow the Super Kaiju known as Godzilla to step in and save the day. The question is…did the government have a choice in the first place and can Godzilla really win the 2 on 1 fight? Pondering these questions is what makes the book fun.

I had a hard time getting past the beginning of the book because it starts off a little slowly. To the book’s defense, that is typically the case for just about every book that I read. It’s simply hard to start off with an interesting beginning that will keep you ready for action. Another problem is that the book adds some unnecessary details. See, Godzilla ended up attacking the island in 1954 because some animals were being tested on and it was defying nature. The government nuked Godzilla and the animals were hit as collateral. It makes the humans look terrible once again and you can see why a lot of people just end up rooting for Godzilla here. The Kaiju is the hero here and the humans need to get their act together if they want to win.

I wasn’t particularly crazy about the writing either. As I mentioned earlier, Ford wasn’t necessarily a negative for me in the movie, but I didn’t like him in the book. Not only is he incredibly generic, but he’s simply an unlikable character. He panics a whole lot and is almost always on the verge of tears. He constantly has to “tear himself away” from his son and family because he has a world to save, but he’s always so overly dramatic about it. Towards the end of the book, he even gets annoyed when people come to save him from the nukes. Sure, he’s tired and fatigued, but he should be grateful. It’s hard to simply spell out, but Ford just wasn’t my kind of character. I much preferred his father in the book. That plot was typically a lot more interesting than Ford’s.

Of course, the Godzilla scenes are the reason why you will buy the book. As with the movie, he doesn’t get a huge role and misses most of the first 75% of the book, but then he gets a solid fight in the end. The author definitely seemed to like the MUTOs as they were crushing Godzilla in the initial fight. In the film they temporarily started to overwhelm him as well, but here…they flat out beat him. Ford has to (accidentally) save Godzilla’s life by distracting one of the creatures. Once the MUTO is gone, Godzilla is able to take out the other one. Then he manages to defeat the second and proves that he is the strongest Kaiju out there, but I would have liked more G domination.

I also have to question the fact that the MUTO’s were able to short out his Atomic Breath. It’s not exactly standard electricity so I don’t think that an EMP would knock it out. If it could, then that means that the Government could essentially use the same tactic against him. Godzilla is also able to use it at the very end so I guess that the normal EMPs that the MUTO creatures generate is weak enough for Godzilla to overpower it. I’m glad about that at least. The Godzilla scenes are certainly the highlight as its fun to see the Kaiju in action although he could have looked a little stronger.

Back to the negatives, the writing goes to horror film mode at times as Ford loves to swear when he’s in danger along with just about every other character. It’s something that I always bring up because you wouldn’t have seen it back in the 70’s or earlier. Dr. Serizawa is a character that I didn’t like in any version and I still don’t care for him here. At one point, the government is out of options and they ask the doctor if Godzilla can defeat MUTO. Serizawa essentially shrugs and says his “iconic nature controls arrogant men” (Completely reworded and out of context, but you’ll likely know the line if you’ve scene the trailer. before he says to just let the monsters fight. Cmon Serizawa, the government is looking for a serious answer at this point.

Of course, the government doesn’t look too good when they decide to send a Nuke after Godzilla and the creatures. The climax has them essentially admit that MUTO and Godzilla could easily tank the missile. The plan seemed to be pretty bad from the start and reeked of desperation. While they like to think that there wouldn’t be too many casualties by dumping it in the river, many people would still die through the fish and the radiation that the wind carries. Nukes are never a great measure.

Also, they were hardly necessary. Maybe against the MUTO creatures, but against Godzilla, the airplanes were actually doing well. The book implies that they could have ultimately defeated Godzilla had some more planes come on board as they were dealing a lot of damage to the King. Long time Godzilla fans won’t like that of course, but it’s nice for the government to get in some wins once in a while. It’s like the old saying, “It’s why I’m here.”

I didn’t like the format that the book was in although I suppose that this will vary if there are any other versions. The type is simply too small. It’s part of the style as it allows the book to be small as well, but it’s not worth it. I like the classic hardcover style so much more as the print is nearly double the size of the Godzilla book and it makes the reading so much easier. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve had the book since sometime in February or earlier. I’ve renewed it 10 times from NYPL until I finally read it now. (And just in time too!)

Overall, the book got better once I was past the beginning, but I’m still not crazy about the writing. The characters just felt unlikable for the most part and the animals part in the beginning was really not needed. Godzilla also should have looked more impressive like how he was portrayed in the film. The book had its negatives to be sure and the format also made it a little tougher to read through. If you’re a big Godzilla fan, this is still a book to check out. If you aren’t looking forward to the Kaiju fights then you should probably take a pass on this book. After all, the fights were the climactic parts. If you don’t care for those, then it’s Game Over time!

Overall 6/10

Sword Art Online Fairy Dance Review

Posted on by
Reply

dc_saof1_cover1_再
The infamous arc has returned as I can now see how it is handled in manga format. That being said, there’s really not much you can do when this is still based off of the same arc that was in the anime. The Asuna subplot still destroys the manga, but either way it was not a solid title. Kirito is still hardcore and one of the more intense protagonists out there, but he can’t hold a whole series.

This arc takes place after Sword Art Online and Asuna never actually made it to the real world. Kirito finds out that her mind has been trapped in another game and he sets off to save her. He has to hurry because it will be too late once the main villain goes through with the wedding. With no time to spare, Kirito must make it to the World Tree and complete this game as soon as possible. To do this, he’ll need the help of his sister, Suguha. Suguha is masquerading as a being named Leafa in the new game and neither one knows the other’s true identity. Drama and tension fill the air as they embark upon the new quest.

Well, this arc basically destroyed the Sword Art Online franchise once it was written into novel format and then adapted into the TV show. Seriously, the author just forgot that the series could have been good and naturally it spilled over into the manga world. The franchise should have ended with the actual Sword Art Online arc, but alas…it didn’t happen. Let’s launch into the various negatives here as it’s a sad read from start to finish.

For starters, the manga thought that it was a good idea to add more emphasis to the fanservice factor in this title. Not a good start. Just about every scene with Suguha has some fanservice in store and naturally the Asuna subplot contains this as well. This guarantees that you will be wincing throughout your reading and we’re just getting started. This is already the sign of a bottom tier title eh? The anime version actually didn’t have too much fanservice for this arc, a few scenes, but not as bad as the manga. I guess we just went from bad to worse.

Another bad subplot is the fact that Kirito’s cousin becomes infatuated with him. The fact that they’re only cousins is supposed to be reassuring, but it’s not as the subplot is still terrible and completely unnecessary. At least Kirito basically just denied Suguha and went to Asuna in the anime, but here he tries to be more open ended about the whole thing. He doesn’t return the feelings at all as Asuna is the only person for him, but he still didn’t just tell Suguha to move on as he should. Either way, it’s just another part of the train wreck.

The biggest problem with the arc though still lies in the Asuna subplot. The villains just go way overboard and it’s too extreme. Asuna is held against her will for quite a while and the main villain is sadistically in love with her money. In the real world, she can’t move so there’s nothing that she can do to stop the arranged marriage and the villain abuses his power in the virtual world. Kirito basically has to watch as the villain messes around with Asuna and that’s when I knew that it was game over for the title. That kind of plot will always be a big no no in any title and the fact that it happened in Sword Art Online is just terrible. It’s the main reason why the franchise is essentially dead to me. I’ll always like the first arc, but you simply can’t wash away a stain like this from the title. Whenever I think of Sword Art Online, I’ll always remember this arc. The main villain isn’t the only one who messes with Asuna as he also has two lackeys who are just as demented.

It’s too bad really since the manga had some promise otherwise. Kirito’s still a hardcore main character and we do get some nice action scenes. Kirito goes up against legions of humanoids in the final battle and he also has a nice fight against the big fire general. He does a lot to save Asuna so he certainly puts in the effort. If we took out the fanservice, the Asuna subplot, and the Suguha subplot, this could have been a really fun series. That being said, you can’t just take those things away as they do comprise a rather large part of the arc and it’s why I have to give this title a fail/10 in the end. It simply couldn’t manage to actually be a good story.

The art is better than the first series for what it’s worth. It’s just not worth all that much since the series was doomed from the start. It’s three volumes long and the final volume is pretty thick so it’s closer to 5-6 volumes in length. The arc doesn’t need to be rushed as a result although a rushed pacing would likely have helped the series in this case as it could have dwelt on the negative things a little less.

There are more characters of course, but not many more and there’s not much to say about them at this point. Suguha is essentially impossible to like and the same goes for the main villain. Asuna doesn’t really get a role at all aside from being a damsel in distress, which is sad. So…yeah, this review’s definitely a short one as are most of my 0 star films. One day, they’ll make a Superman comic/movie/something that will be terrible and thenI may have a long negative review at the ready…or it could still be a short one if it’s just that sad I suppose. Either way, the important thing for these titles is to at least cover the negatives and since the mild positives were evidently not enough, they’re barely worth mentioning.

Overall, if you ever wanted to know how a manga with good fight scenes, good art, and a good main character can end up being terrible, this is the manga to check out. However, I highly advise against checking this manga out. You should avoid it like a Mouse evading a Lion. The positives that the manga has are simply overshadowed and this will certainly go down as one of the worst manga titles out there. At least, from the ones that I’ve read. This rivals Black Bird as they’re both really down there, although this is likely a tad better than Black Bird…maybe. It’s like comparing a double cheeseburger to a Mc double at Mc Donalds. They’re more or less the same thing, just packaged differently. Looks like .Hack will be the big virtual reality series once again. Take a big glass of water and then watch Yugioh 3D Bonds Beyond Time. It’s the best thing to do after reading this manga.

Overall 0/10

JLA Volume 4 Review

Posted on by
Reply

811SS6qOMcL._SL1500_
It’s time to look at another Justice League volume! It’s certainly not quite as solid as the first one, but it gets the job done. We have some fights with Batman and Superman while also letting the other members have a chance to prove themselves. What hurts this volume a little is how quickly it jumps around and the fact that it almost feels like a side series at some points. That’s still not enough to keep a good Justice League story down though?

The Justice League stories have always been interesting in how they handle the issues. This collection brings around 15-20 different comics, but each issue feels a little shorter than usual. It’s still a big collection that will last you a little while, but the issues aren’t really standard size. At least we still get some good arcs in though. Some iconic ones and some average ones, but they all play a part here.

The collection starts off rather peacefully with Huntress defending Gotham city. The US has apparently decided to just abandon it so many villains are taking this opportunity to have some fun with it. The Justice League can’t go in to help with the situation due to the political issues at work here. That being said, Huntress is really all that they need for the job right? I’m assuming that this situation was set up in an earlier JLA comic or maybe in a Batman series. Either way, it’s an interesting premise.

It’s interesting to see Huntress as one of the main characters. She makes for a good member of the team, but she starts to forget what it means to be a hero as the volume goes on. She nearly crosses the line and Batman calls her out on it. You can bet that he won’t be forgetting such a thing for a long time, which means that she will likely never be back on the League. She had her chance though and Batman does have a point.

Another story features the return of the White Martians. One of them impersonates Bruce Wayne so Batman tells the team to try and take him down. It’s more difficult than you would expect, but they end up accomplishing the task. Another one shot has Hal Jordan return to haunt everyone inside of their nightmares. He shows the heroes that the Joker has a very nice and peaceful part of his mind while all of the heroes have big doubts that plague them. Superman handles his rather well, which is good since he has had a lot of time to dwell on them. Other characters have a tougher time and they remind Hal that he’s supposed to be a good guy in the end. It’s sad for Hal since he used to be such a great hero, but is now confined to being…The Spectre! At least he gained powers beyond comprehension, that’s no small positive.

Next up was one of the big arcs. Lex Luthor has decided to bring together a new team. He has Prometheus, The General, and Queen Bee on his side. Together, the 4 of them plan to bring down the Justice League and wreck chaos throughout the world. Lex chose a bad time since a powerful being has also showed up to take care of the multiverse. The League is split up and facing many different enemies, but we know that they can still come out on top as long as they put on their game face!

We got one more one shot as the JLA had to fight off a race of micro beings who were inside a kid’s brain. In the end, one of them becomes the last survivor of his race, much like Superman. The final arc was the famous Tower of Babel. Someone is systematically taking down each member of the Justice League and the villain is using Batman’s plans to do it. Can Batman outsmart…himself!? The League hopes so because they may be doomed with a capital D otherwise!

The series has had a cosmic element to it for quite a while now. During this arc, the angels decided to forget about this universe and focus on creating another one once everyone is destroyed. The Presence is name dropped as well, which shows you how large scale the threat is. That being said, the cosmic beings are almost inconsequential at this point. Superman can probably defeat them anyway and there are bigger fish to fry. Superman being overcome with doubt and despair is a little much even if it is the villain’s ability. At least Superman managed to snap out of it although I don’t think that it should have been much of a problem in the first place.

While the big boss was fun, the most enjoyable part was certainly the fight with the Injustice League. Although, Superman fans will not be pleased with the fact that he was losing to The General. The General had the clear edge although it was the kind of fight where both opponents couldn’t really manage to deal any damage. The General was just landing more hits. As for Lex, the plot didn’t end well for him as he underestimated the true enemy, which really threw him for a loop. You could say that he never really got an ending to his plan or his own fight. Queen Bee looked decent, but it’s hard to consider her as big of a threat as the other three members. Although, she could certainly beat Lex Luthor or maybe even Prometheus in a true fight.

Prometheus has always been a really interesting character. I like his gimmick of copying fighting styles and he has had many fun fight scenes through the years. That being said, I never got to read a full comic with him so this was my first opportunity. He loves to brag about how he beat Batman, but it seems like an accident has messed with his mind a little. While he is still dangerous, he’s not as focused and Batman uses this to his advantage. Prometheus definitely had the edge initially, but Batman can fight dirty when he needs too. It may not be as satisfying as winning in a normal fist fight, but that’s why they call it…Prep Time!

It’s fun to compare the arc to Justice League Doom. As expected, I have to go with the comic over most of the film’s changes. Most, but not all. The strategy for dealing with Wonder Woman was similar in both versions, but having the fights inside of her head certainly makes more sense so I give the comic props there. Green Lantern’s attack is much more inventive and realistic as well while dealing with Batman is less risky than in the film. I have an issue with how Superman is taken down in both versions to an extent since he’s Superman, but the comic version was likely more effective. The movie did succeed in the fact that we got a big final battle with actual villains and that Superman gave Batman the kryptonite in the end. Having Batman just vanish would have been sad. Superman also felt more understanding in the film.

Of course, you can sympathize with both cases here. It’s no fun to fight alongside an ally who is constantly focusing on ways to defeat you. I wouldn’t be able to trust someone like that and you can say that relations with Batman are already frosty at times. Batman is right in the sense that the heroes do tend to get mind controlled fairly often so we need a backup plan. My problem is the fact that Batman just put these plans in a computer where anyone could steal them. He should have just memorized the strategies in his head. Had he done that, I would have been completely okay with what he did. Still make the tech necessary to stop the League, but throw it in the vault with the thousands of other gadgets and don’t label them. We know that Batman is smart enough to pull this off and everything would be all right.

I liked Batman and Superman’s portrayal. Batman did make a risky call that backfired when he made plans on the other heroes, but I can understand and agree with his intentions. He also made sure that Huntress did not cross the line. Superman seemed to be a little agitated at times and perhaps he let the politics get to him a bit much, but he’s still the Man of Steel that we are used too. There’s not much to say about Kyle or the Flash as their roles were small, but they are good heroes as well. I do think that the Flash really overreacts whenever someone mentions Hal’s name though. It can be a little irritating. Wonder Woman is certainly upset at Batman’s decision and she can perhaps be a little too arrogant, but she’s another good hero. Having someone break your trust can certainly put you in a bad mood.

Orion and Big Barda are around for a little while and they prove that they can be just as tough as the other League members. Still, if I was the JLA, I wouldn’t trust them all that much. They are heroes, but New Gods first and politics could make them oppose the League. Aquaman is openly hostile towards them and I’m glad that he doesn’t back down from Orion’s threats. I would certainly be rooting for Aquaman in a fight and it’s safe to say that this was the original hardcore depiction of Aquaman. As intense as he is in the New 52, he was every bit as gruff and commanding here. Plasticman is still the weak link of the team by far.

If I had to even name a negative for the comic, it is definitely Plasticman. He’s seriously not funny and he’s a weak link to the team. Plasticman is also against Batman’s decision and being broken to pieces also made him revert to his serious form for a little while. Plasticman’s facade of innocence and laughter simply couldn’t hold up forever. At one point he shape shifts into someone’s clothes for them to wear and that’s the kind of thing that really crosses the line and should have gotten him ejected from the team ASAP. I already didn’t like Plasticman and this portrayal of him did not help matters at all.

As for the art, I definitely like it. All of the heroes look larger than life and their abilities have never looked so impressive. You can instantly think of this as one of the big Justice League runs. That being said, the characters are constantly posing, which can be a little odd. One of the big examples of this is when Batman jumps out of a portal with a few other characters saying “Get me tactical.” I looked for the image to post it here, but it proved to be a difficult challenge so I’ll just wait until you read the volume. It starts to get a little hilarious and that’s one of the reasons why this series has been so entertaining. I encourage you to read the first volume so see more examples of this. I’m more than satisfied with the art and it works well for action scenes and dialogue ones.

Overall, This was another fun volume of JLA. The battle against the Injustice League was easily my favorite part of the collection. I also liked the famous Tower of Babel of course. I could have used a little more action, but the writing and art are strong enough to keep the volume interesting regardless of how much action is inside. Morrison really understands the Justice League and I am really liking this portrayal of them. For starters, they are super professional. All of the heroes (Minus Plasticman) are fairly experienced and mature so they can execute team work with ease. The League feels powerful and they can really handle any threat. I feel like they are the Avengers, but physically and mentally superior so they can handle tougher threats. Losing a certain member at the end will hurt them though and I wonder who they will replace the guy with. Of course, this isn’t here to bash the Avengers, but I’m just showing you why I’ve always liked the Justice League. They’re essentially the ultimate team and these comics continue to prove it. I just wonder how the comics will manage to keep the intensity up. Hopefully it’s not at the expense of replacing more members with some weaker ones as that wouldn’t be cool. This is a must read for all DC fans and you won’t regret doing so. Now, if only a film could adapt this series one day and play it straight. I’d love to see a good Batman vs Prometheus fight someday.

Overall 8/10

The Lost World: Jurassic Park Review

Posted on by
2


It is time to look at the sequel to Jurassic Park! It’s no secret that I wasn’t a fan of the first one and I was hoping that this title would be an improvement. The sequel was certainly better than the first one, but I can’t say that it was a significant difference either. It falls into the animal violence issue as expected and the characters are not quite as cool as they could have been. Third time’s the charm, or so they say, but let’s take a deeper look at this film.

Ian has tried to forget about the Jurassic Park incident, but that proves to be impossible very quickly. Everyone knows that he has been there and he can’t find any peace. While he was paid a decent sum of money to stay quiet about what happened, his reputation is still in ruin. Making matters worse is the fact that his girlfriend decided to venture off to a dinosaur island on her own. John Hammond effectively used her as bait since he knows that Ian will have to go after her. Ian leads a small strike squad there, but a bigger group is also on the island to enslave the dinosaurs. It will be a race against time and money as Ian tries to get everyone back home in one peace.

For starters, let’s look at what the film did wrong so that we can end the review off with some positives. First of all, the animal violence is certainly back. A dog is eaten in one of the final scenes of the film and it’s the kind of moment that makes you want to go and get a hoagie from 711 to help douse the pain. There’s no point for this scene to be there and it’s just animal violence for the sake of violence. It’s not cool and it wrecked any chance that the film had of actually being decent. Without this scene, I think that a 4 may have sufficed although I suppose that it still could have gotten a 3.

Another point against the film is the fact that the humans start to enslave them all. I came to watch Dinosaurs be the kings, not to watch them get defeated by the humans. I never like to watch the humans fight these creatures because the humans will always win and it is sad to watch the dinosaurs be defeated. One of them fractures his foot and other dinosaurs are quickly thrown into captivity. I could have done without that plot altogether and the film would have been better off without them.

This film also decided that the first one wasn’t edgy enough as this becomes a pseudo slasher at one point. You will possibly be surprised at just how violent the title can get as blood runs rampant here. It’s an unnecessary change and we didn’t come to Jurassic Park to watch a slasher film. Another scene that’s just painful to watch is the one where the mini raptors attack the villain. He’s a villain who is used for animal violence so the film has him brutally murdered, but it’s just not a good cycle. Essentially, we’re supposed to feel good since the bad character was killed off for doing something mean, but instead we’re just given two bad scenes that hurt the film even more. If we didn’t get the scene of the human antagonizing the dinosaurs, then we wouldn’t have needed the scene where he dies so violently. It’s a case of bad character development.

As you can see, the film was in pretty hot water throughout and it couldn’t recover. A raptor is even stabbed as it falls to help a “hero” moment turn into a fail. Now, let’s gather our bearings and look at what the film did right. Well, I actually like Ian as the main character. I think that he was more impressive in the first film and his dialogue was certainly a lot better, but he can hold his own film. He’s always ready and Ian warned the people that this was a bad idea from the start. You really can’t blame him for what happens and he actually gets the short end of the stick when you consider his reputation.

Ian’s daughter is less likable. She’s an improvement from the kids in the last film, but she still panics and holds the team back at times. If she had not told Ian to take her up to the trees where they would be a bigger target, Ian could have potentially stopped the falling tractor scene from ever taking place. Making a fire in a dinosaur land is also not a great move and she made a pretty big mess in the portable home. She means well, but this is why kids should not be main or supporting characters in most films.

The final big character is Sarah, but I can’t say that I was very impressed with her either. She left Ian without saying anything, which I found to be very irresponsible. She also acts as if Ian is not around because she takes many big risks when she doesn’t need too. Petting a dinosaur and messing with a cub is practically asking to be eaten. I don’t see how she would have survived the adventure and I couldn’t take her side in the disagreements. She placed everyone in danger by coming to the island and she’s not remorseful in the slightest. Ian’s got his faults as well of course, but at least he only puts himself in danger.

As this is the sequel, Lost World certainly feels a lot lower budget than the first film. The soundtrack and effects are not nearly as good as the first film and this one could have easily been a straight to DVD film. It definitely doesn’t have that theatrical feel that the first one had. You can say that for many theater films so it’s not unique to this title, but you could never say that the first film did not feel theatrical without grabbing some Air Head candies to keep you from making a straight face. The slasher elements and constant 3D (In your face) techniques also keep it from feeling quite as grand and real. I’m still not a 3D fan and I probably won’t be for another 40-60 years, when we will have finally learned how to make true 3D.

Some parts of the film do test your imagination a little bit like the actual premise. I don’t believe that the government would not have made a move at this point. People died in the Dinosaur adventures so they would not allow dinosaurs to quickly be brought into the cities and zoos. That’s simply not going to happen and with the amount of red tape that we have in the US, it would be years before any real traction would be made at that front. At most, They’d just let people visit the dinosaur land at their own peril, but there would likely be a huge fee and I could see them just keeping the island as a testing facility.

The Raptors still remind me of good ole Yoshi whenever they appear. They are my favorite dinosaurs although the good ole T Rex is in second. The Raptors mean business and there are not many animals who can defeat them while the Raptors are in a group. The climax may have had the dog scene, but I liked it a lot otherwise. It’s played out like a Kaiju film as everyone is running away from the Dino and many yells can be heard. The stakes have simply never been this high before and it was a decent reaction of how people would respond to such a creature. I think that some people wouldn’t be frightened as there are people of all sorts of personalities, but having everyone run away does make for more enjoyable scenes of terror.

Overall, The Lost World is a decent follow up to the second one. It greatly reduces the animal violence, which is certainly a good thing although it is weaker than the first film in all technical aspects. It simply doesn’t command your attention the same way that the first did although you will still be interested in seeing what happens anyway. The landscapes simply aren’t as interesting, but there is less mud and gross scenes, which is great. If you liked the first film, then you’ll like this one. Otherwise, you should skip this one and just wait until a really good dinosaur film arrives on your TV.

Overall 3/10

Essential Hulk Volume 7 Review

Posted on by
Reply

61e52Xd3FiL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_
I’ve certainly read a lot of Hulk comics. More of them than I had originally thought as I have already read the first four Essential Hulk volumes. This one takes us deeper into the Hulk mythos and we really see why he had such a tough life back then. Nothing ever seemed to go the Hulk’s way and you end up feeling bad for the poor guy. He didn’t ask for this and the Hulk just wants to be left alone. His comics can be good or bad depending on the writer since the Hulk is a character that can be difficult to truly understand. I think that the writers did a decent job here.

Naturally, there are a lot of adventures in this collection. The Essential series typically includes over 500 pages worth of adventures so there are well over a dozen comics here. This is actually the final Hulk Essential so far, but it seems like they are released once every three years so perhaps it is still going on. It’s amazing that the Hulk got around 300 issues for his series. Nowadays, it’s hard to see a title reaching that long. After the Amazing Spiderman finished with 700, I doubt that we’ll ever even see a title crack 200 anymore. 100 would still be tough, but I’d say that it is still doable.

As there are only three annuals, I’ll quickly mention those first. The first annual is one that I’ve already read twice as Hulk teams up with Angel and Iceman to take on the new Master Mold. It’s a solid comic to read and the Hulk gets his respect. Master Mold was never really in a position to defeat the powerhouse. Another Annual had the Sasquatch attack the Hulk to find out how tough the Green Goliath was. It’s one of those times where you have to ask Canada what they are thinking. Bruce Banner had just been trying to relax and he didn’t want to fight, but he was forced into a confrontation. That kind of thing seems to happen to him constantly and you can see why Banner is always on edge. This issue was probably the best annual and the fight between the Hulk and Sasquatch was a lot of fun. The issue made it clear that the Hulk is much stronger though. Unfortunately, the ending is pretty tragic as the person that the Hulk was defending ultimately becomes afraid of him and the Hulk leaves without a friend once again. It’s an ending that will make you dislike the Alpha Flight team even more than usual and I do wish that the Avengers would come in to teach them a lesson.

Finally, the third annual is the most dull of the three. A guy attacks the Hulk with some robots that are essentially large chess pieces. You may have to stifle a yawn as Hulk beating up on robots is nothing new and I’m not sure how this became an annual. Using it as a normal sized issue would have certainly been good enough for me. All right, with the annuals out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the individual issues and arcs that were present in this collection!

One of the first arcs had Hulk go to Sampson’s base for treatment. They were making a lot of progress and the Hulk was starting to become a very nice character, but Moonstone decided to sabotage this effort on behalf of The Organization. It wasn’t hard for her to pretend to be an innocent civilian who was being attacked by The Hulk, which started some trouble. The Organization then grew bolder and got Captain America, Quasar, and Falcon into the mix along with Hulk. The four heroes proved to be too much for the villains and that was a nice team up. Captain America certainly looked reasonable. I’m sure that the Falcon would have been likable as well if he hadn’t been knocked out for the duration of the comic.

Quasar is interesting as he is built up to be sort of like Superman when he appears. He follows The Hulk and they have a rematch in the following issue. He is soundly beaten, but Quasar is still a powerful fighter. He has dealt with cosmic beings in the past after all and he even plays a role in The Infinity Gauntlet. I definitely don’t mind the character. It’s unfortunate that he is also against The Hulk, but the gamma being is used to it at this point. At least the Hulk was able to best him in 1 on 1 combat.

Another team up had the Hulk face off against the Machine Man. An organization…perhaps The Organization!, decided to have someone pose as the Machine Man and steal one of Hulk’s new friends. Hulk followed and really did a number on the real Machine Man as the Hulk ripped him to pieces. They ultimately come to terms and defeat the true enemy, but not before having a big fight that lasted through 2-3 issues. It was impressive to see the Machine Man give such a fight and they essentially leveled an entire city. Never let it be said that the Machine Man is a light weight! Naturally, the Hulk has been tricked once again and even more people turned against him, but at least the Hulk finally had an ally on his side as well. His name actually isn’t Manny, but Fred. (Courtesy of Comicvine) Fred helped the Hulk out by pointing a (unloaded) gun at the “villains” before the misunderstanding was wrapped up.

Do you remember the famous city of gold? Well, the Hulk got to go there after some men appear and say that the Hulk is the chosen person of prophecy who will save them all. For once, the Hulk believes that they are attempting to trick him from the start and goes along with them to destroy the city from the inside. It’s not a bad strategy and I was glad that the Hulk was ready because the people were actually trying to trick him. The Hulk ends up fighting these mages along with a villain named Goldbug. The sorcerers are stronger than they appear and Goldbug actually ends up helping the Hulk. While the Goldbug did betray the Hulk early on, he wasn’t a bad villain. I grew to like him and he did save the Hulk from certain death towards the end of the arc. They made for a good team as they squashed the plans of the villains.

Time for the final two arcs! Talbot has decided to end the Hulk once and for all as he builds a powerful suit of armor. The Hulk figures out that the army has decided to keep the body of Jarella for experimentation and decides to rescue her. The lady deserves a proper burial and the Hulk isn’t going to let anybody stand in his way. Talbot is certainly in over his head, but Captain Marvell has arrived to help. I was glad that Marvell helped Hulk ultimately get to Jarella’s world, but he should have been up front with Talbot. He knows that Talbot is effectively going crazy with bitterness and resentment so he should just level with the guy. “Talbot, I’m here to help the Hulk. Don’t try to stop me!” Things ultimately didn’t work out so well because Talbot got the last laugh. Marvell still looks decent, but it’s safe to say that the Hulk had the edge here.

Hulk ends up making it to Jarella’s planet, which was on the verge of being destroyed. As his final mission, the Hulk needed to save her land from the invaders. This wasn’t very difficult for the Hulk and it was a relatively peaceful way to end the saga. It’s still sad that Jarella had to die in the first place, but at least Hulk saw to it that she could be back home. As for how the Hulk will get back to Earth, it’s hard to say. There are definitely many ways to go about it though so that shouldn’t end up being a real problem.

As you can see, this collection was definitely sadder than most of the Marvel comics. I can see why sales fluctuated so much with the Hulk title because it really isn’t for everyone. You feel bad for the Hulk because it almost seems like he is destined to have no friends. He is constantly betrayed by the people that he trusts and the ones who are loyal have a tendency to die or disappear. The Hulk even cries at several points because it all starts to be too much for him. The Hulk is powerful, but he still has emotions and these events can really make him feel bad. If he were smarter and able to talk more like in the current Marvel shows, it would be different. As it is, The Hulk is smart enough to know what is going on, but not smart enough to stop these tragedies from happening to him.

I do like the Hulk a lot here. He may not be the smartest weapon in the tool shed, but he means well and always tries to help people out. Things just don’t always go his way and there are many villains who are constantly trying to frame him. The Hulk’s strength is usually enough for him to take the win and he has always been quite the fighter. Bruce Banner looks less impressive as he is always out of the loop and rarely appears. You could say that the series is really all Hulk, all the time. There are a few supporting characters, but I can’t say that many of them are very interesting.

Rick Jones shows up for a guest star appearance and tries to help the Hulk on TV. I also liked the guy that Hulk met in a bar. I forgot his name, but the kid loved defying the current status quo of the US and he had a lot of ideas. (I think his name was Manny) He was a loyal friend of the Hulk’s. Jim Wilson was another guy who tried to help the Hulk out, but all three of them were ultimately not enough when the going got tough. General Talbot finally cracks in this collection as he blames all of his failures on the Hulk. Naturally, he is just kidding himself as per usual and he ends up just being another enemy to add onto the long list of foes that the Hulk has to deal with. Betty’s role is also very small, but it seems like it was about to get bigger before the comic ended. She is back in town and now that she has divorced Talbot, she is ready to start her life over again. Unfortunately for her, General Ross had a heart attack and isn’t doing well.

Doctor Sampson is looking after him. Sampson is pretty likable here and he does a good job when he was in control of the Gamma Base. As with just about everyone, Sampson is suckered by the villains into thinking that the Hulk is a bad person at one point, which can be annoying. It’s like the whole world is against the Hulk isn’t it? Ah well, at least Sampson did try to help the Hulk for quite a while.

The art’s in black and white, which can make it a little tough to tell just how good it is at times, but I’d say that it works out fairly well. You can always tell what is happening and the action scenes are fun to follow. I believe that the artist may have changed once or twice since we switched comic series once to Captain America and the volume also included 3 annuals. Either way, they were all pretty good and I would give the comic a thumbs up here.

It’s very impressive that the Hulk got a series with around 400 issues. You can tell that he’s been through a lot and I hope that he found a happy ending somewhere during his journey. Right now, he could certainly use a happy event. I have less sympathy for Bruce Banner since he is able to talk to people when he wants too and is more intelligent so his situation isn’t quite as bad. I could see Banner being decently content and at least his mind gets to take a break when the Hulk is in control. With Ross and Talbot temporarily out of the way, the Hulk can finally get some peace and quiet.

Overall, This Hulk collection was a good one. The Hulk is still not quite as exciting as some of Marvel’s other big heroes, but you really do start to feel sympathetic to the big guy. The art is good and we do get some nice guest stars to keep things fresh. There weren’t many big villains to be found here, but they can’t always be around. Plus, Hulk’s villain gallery is a little smaller than the average hero’s. It’s an easy collection to jump into so I certainly recommend this if you’re a big Hulk fan or just want to read some quick Marvel comics. The size of the volume certainly makes it worth the purchase as long as you don’t mind the art being in black and white. This is the final Essential so far so I’m essentially caught up with the Hulk. Hopefully, I am able to read volumes 5 and 6 so that I can say that I have read the whole saga so far. With the Hulk TV show still going on, I won’t have to say good bye to the character for long!

Overall 7/10