Sym Bionic Titan is a pretty intriguing show. It mixes robots and aliens/giant monsters (Remember, this came out Before Pacific Rim!) The animation could be a turn off for some people, but the animation can be good when it wants too. The animation is actually bad on purpose for the designs so that everyone looks really ugly. It helps create the atmosphere and the facial expressions can be pretty funny. The fight scenes can be pretty good as well.
The plot of the series is that 3 beings crashland on earth. Lance, llana, and Octis are the three main characters. Octis is an android, while Lance and llana are both Galalunians who resemble earthlings in just about every way. Their planet was taken over by the Muttradi and they are now in hiding at Earth. llana wants to go back and free her civilization, but Lance and Octis decide that keeping her safe is the top priority. One day they will go back and save the world, but not for a while. The leader of the villains is General Modula. His hat can shoot energy blasts and he’s not an opponent to be taken lightly.
Lance and friends decide to go to school and keep a low profile. This way they can save the world when they need to do so, but they can also hide from the Muttradi. When the three of them fuse, they form Sym Bionic Titan, which is a large energy robot that is pretty powerful. This attracts the attention of the Government and G3. Both groups want Sym Bionic Titan to be defeated since he’s probably evil.
The series definitely changes as it goes on and while it starts out as a happy school parody with action, it turns into more of a drama with the stakes getting higher and higher. The music is pretty solid for the first half, but during the second half the music definitely starts to vanish.
Lance is a pretty solid protagonist and he’s the best character of the series. Not only is he an expert combatant, but he’s also a quick thinker. When they are captured by G3, it all rides on Lance to save the day. He was part of the army so he’s definitely the most experience. He’s good with many weapons and his robot form is pretty tough.
llana is the princess of Galaluna and she never grew up as a fighter. She quickly adapts on earth and can emit barriers as well as shoot lasers in her robot form. She’s more of an optimist than Lance and always tries to become friends with the locals. Being trusting can definitely be deadly with all of the aliens running around, but she’s still a good character. She’s definitely the nicest member of the three.
Octis is an android, but he acts pretty human. Like most androids, he develops human emotions thanks to his travels on earth. He has some pretty impressive super speed and his strength is also pretty formidable. It’s thanks to him that the main characters can form Sym Bionic Titan and if anything were to happen to him, their fighting capabilities would be drastically reduced.
The leader of G3 is known as Solomon and he’s a pretty good character. He’s not afraid to take on the main characters in a fight and he’s pretty athletic. His abilities are at peak human to slightly superhuman. Since his division is in charge of aliens, they have some pretty sophisticated equipment on their side. General Steel is the leader of the Army and he’s a big rival of Solomon’s. They are always getting in each other’s way and General Steel doesn’t trust Solomon. General Steel doesn’t get much of a role until he builds the Hammer! With the Hammer, he can take on powerful opponents and even overpower Lance and llana. His best battle is against the Orga looking monster and it’s a solid fight.
Kimmy and Jason are humans who introduce romance plots for llana and Octis. They definitely weren’t needed for the story and the romance didn’t add anything to the plot. They were basically filler, but no show can totally get rid of it I guess. I was glad that the show didn’t go the obvious route, so Lance and llana ended up staying as friends. Nothing more and nothing less! That’s how the main characters should always end up.
Edwin is a pretty solid character, but he’s not the smartest character on the block. His nickname is meat and it makes you feel bad for him sometimes. llana’s dad is the King, but he doesn’t appear much. He never really gets to fight, but perhaps in a sequel show he would. The main villain also doesn’t get a chance to appear that often, since the show ended before he could really get going.
Sym Bionic Titan is a pretty fun show. There are plenty of giant monsters and creatures that fight the main characters, (The best one being the monster from the final episode) and we even get a humanoid fight during the flashback part of the series. The monster violence can get a bit intense and the first episode with Kimmy was cringeworthy, but for the most part, the show was solid. The best episode involved underground racing and Lance always shows that he’s the best. It’s too bad that the series was cancelled, since things were definitely still solid. Hopefully, the series gets a sequel at some point. I’d definitely recommend the series if you want to see robots and explosions, or kaiju battles, or even if you just wanted to see the government infiltrate the high school to gather intel. This could be the series for you!
Overall 7/10
I’m sure that just about everyone has watched The Wizard of Oz. It’s a living legend that everyone always hails as one of the all time classics. I can’t say that the original was that great (No real action and I’d only give it a 2-2.5/5) but it is definitely a film that I won’t forget. Making a prequel to that movie is pretty ambitious, but was the risk worth it?
Well, the film starts out as Oz is conning people with his magic tricks. He loves his work and people give him a couple of coins. He’s not a great magician and he is quickly discovered to be a fake. He’s a pretty awful protagonist and proceeds to flirt with as many people as he can. Someone tries to beat him up, so Oz makes a break for the balloon and gets in. You’re actually left wishing that they had knocked him out and taken him to jail, but maybe he’ll still get defeated once he’s in the land of Oz.
Once he makes it to Oz, he meets one of the Witches, Theodora. He tricks her into thinking that he’s the magician of legend and eagerly awaits his gold. They travel for a while and he keeps on saving the day by accident. Oz also suckers Finley into becoming his slave for life. Once Oz makes it to the castle, they tell him that he will need to slay Glinda, The Wicked Witch of the South. Oz doesn’t want to do it since the danger is high, but he’ll do anything for gold. He heads on his way and is ready to slay the witch!
Well, Oz is definitely one of the worst main characters in a while. He’s like a junior Captain Kirk or James Bond. He never really gets what’s coming to him and the film tries to portray him a hero by the end. I really hope that nobody fell for this trap. He hasn’t changed at all and will keep on acting the same way, only now he is rich as well. He’s a character that makes you wince whenever he’s on screen.
Glinda, Theodora, and Evanora are the three witches of the film. All of them are played for fools by Oz and it’s a bit embarrassing. They have actual powers, but once Oz summons up a little light and magic, one of them makes a hasty retreat, while the other one flies off into the distance. I guess Oz is a very fearsome individual eh?
The film doesn’t really have much of a soundtrack, but most live action films are lacking one as well. The fight scene at the end was decently good, (Even if the movement was a little fake) but having one fight scene can’t save an entire film. It was a decent film and I’d recommend it if you have always wanted to see a movie about Oz, but it wrecks his character from the original. If you want to see a classic reborn into the modern world, check out Yugioh Bonds Beyond Time!
Overall 4/10
20 years ago, I’m sure that nobody would have wanted Wolverine to be the leader of an Xmen school. He’s better as a loner right? Well, he may be the Principal at the school, but he’s still a bit of a loner as well. For the most part, he’s not with the school until the end, but on his own hunting for the Hellfire Club.
After Broo was defeated in the last issue, Wolverine has decided to track down his assailant, no matter what the cost. Unfortunately, the kids have psychically shielded themselves and can erase their scents thanks to nano machines. In another plot, Beast is talking to several geniuses about how they can help Broo. Reed Richards and Tony Stark offer solutions, but Beast is always one step ahead of them. I think the author may be overestimating his intellect, or underestimating Stark and Richard’s. It was an interesting subplot, but I always wince when they have to resort to asking someone else. Between Stark and Richard’s, they should know just about everything.
In another plot, Angel decides to go and find some mutants. The first one on the list is Shark Girl. Mystique and Silver Samurai 2 randomly show up and decide to fight. Angel has some new abilities so he does pretty well and Shark Girl has the upper hand against Mystique. For once, things are looking good for the heroes. Finally, in another subplot, Shadow Cat is trying to hire a new teacher, but it becomes difficult when Deadpool and Spiderman appear to shake things up.
Later on, the Xmen get mind controlled by a witch and she forces them to perform circus stunts. I have to say that I don’t agree with this at all. Wolverine has plenty of mental blocks in his head and Rachel Summers is an incredibly powerful telepath. There’s no way that the Witch could overpower that. It was definitely sad for the Xmen and they had to wait for the Xkids to come to their rescue.
Meanwhile Frankenstein’s monster is also on the loose. He’s after the last of the Frankenstein lineage, but can he defeat the kid? The kid has his pet robots, but they aren’t very powerful. The kid must team up with one of the Xmen (Oya) to take him down. Will it prove to be too much for them?
Well, a lot happened in this collection and we learned that you should never trust the Circus. Some characters weren’t handled so well like Mystique and Silver Samurai 2. I usually like the new Silver Samurai, but I couldn’t stand him in this one. His character personality seemed pretty weird and he was very weak. Mystique also seemed to lose most of her intellect and started a battle that she shouldn’t have. She usually has a plan to fall back on, but not this time.
Wolverine is decently good for the beginning, but seeing him get brainwashed was pretty sad. I still don’t buy it. Wolverine tries to stay strong and even resists the beer, (With help) but the ending was pretty rushed. The romance with Storm at the end wasn’t really needed and wrecked both characters. What happened to professionalism? Storm also wasn’t that good in this comic.
So who was a good character? Deadpool and Spiderman were pretty epic, but they were guest stars so I guess they wouldn’t really count. Blade also had a (Very out of character) cameo, which was pretty intense. I have to say that Angel may have been the best character. In this comic, he finally set a goal for himself and he’s using his new powers to their full potential. Now, he doesn’t need to just keep dodging until the opponent gets tired, but counter attack and win with raw power.
I still can’t say that I like the Hellfire Club. None of the kids are very interesting and while they all talk really tough, (Get ready for two kids threatening each other, over and over and over..) I can’t take them seriously. Frankenstein’s Monster isn’t a really interesting villain either.
The art in the comic was decently good. This artist is a “splasher” so when someone gets punched, he’ll immediately have little webs of blood on him. I never fully understood the concept, but the art is still pretty solid for the most part. Not the greatest art, but still a bit higher than average.
Overall, this is a pretty good Xmen comic. It may not be extremely high on action, but you’ll at least get references to AVX and past comics. Angel gets a fight and I’m sure that more fights are around the corner. Contrary to what the cover may suggest, Frankenstein’s monster doesn’t do so well against Wolverine. The character cast may not have been my favorite, but you don’t need to enjoy the characters to like the comic right? Thanks to the art and the fast pacing of the story, you’ll find yourself reading through until the end.
Overall 7/10
Mxyzptlk has always been one of Superman’s trickier foes. Superman can’t really stop him unless he gets the guy to say his name backwards. That’s just about impossible to do against the average joe, but luckily Mr Mxyzptlk isn’t that smart. Still, can he hold his own for an entire book against the Man of Steel?
This is the longest Superman book so far and nearly reached 100 pages. We get to see a lot more of Clark Kent than usual as Mr Mxyzptlk keeps messing with him. Mr Mxyzptlk makes Clark Kent late to work, kick over a chair, spill some water, and even makes the world forget about Superman. Superman tries to prove himself to the world, but they’re too skeptical. Superman realizes that he must stop Mr Mxyzptlk and also stop all of his pranks before someone gets hurt. Mr Mxyzptlk has turned the town fair’s rides into giant animals that are wrecking havok on the world. One hero may not be enough this time!
It was a pretty fun book and it’s always good to see Superman use his brains to solve the situations. Superman’s a solid protagonist and he’s someone that you find yourself rooting for. Early on, he reminds the readers that he’s Superman and he is able to do everything at super speed. The other characters weren’t that great in this comic. Once Kent starts getting out of control, they should suspect that something’s up. In Metropolis, things like this happen all of the time. It would have been nice to see Lois or Perry suspect that something was up and get their own subplot. Maybe if the book were a bit longer.
Mr Mxyzptlk is still really mean to Superman, but we never really understand why. He seems to just be like a kid who wants to have a little fun. I guess, watching Superman mess up can be fun, but it must get old after a while. As far as villains go, Mr Mxyzptlk isn’t my favorite and I don’t think that he’s meant to hold his own book. A role as a supporting villain would work better I believe.
Overall, this was a pretty fun Superman book. The ending was very abrupt, (Only a few lines after the villain is defeated) but it was still satisfying. If you’re a Superman fan, or just like to read a quick/fun story, then you’ve come to the right book. I’d definitely recommend this title.
Overall 7/10
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