Movie Catching Up, Part Two

Welcome back to the return of regular blog posts! Hmmmm...well, that may be asking for a bit much, but at least I'm getting these movies out of the way. After this I have three more that I saw in theaters and two more via On Demand.

So Jason Bourne came out of hiding. Just skipping over whaterver happened in the Matt Damon-less C-less "Bourne Legacy," this sequel finds him in hiding but recovered from his amnesia. What brings him back this time? He's contacted by the former CIA operative (Julia Stiles) who helped him in the past and is now also on the run. Through computer hacking she's discovered files about how Bourne became part of the program that turned him into a killing machine -- and it involves his father. Soon they're both being hunted by CIA assassins. The action sequences are what you'd expect, but the film gets bogged down a bit by a subplot involving privacy rights and a secret deal in which the CIA is funding a social media venture to use it to spy on everyone. My grade: B.

Suicide Squad is one DC comic book that I've never been interested in, and in the wake of the film that hasn't changed. The premise: government operative Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assembles a team of imprisoned villains, either wiith special skills (Deadshot, Will Smith), metahuman powers (El Diablo, Jay Herndandez), or just plain psycho (Harley Quinn, Margot Robbie), who are coerced to participate The team's job is to do whatever it takes should someone like, say, Superman (currently still dead in the movies) decided to destroy the planet. Soon there is such a threat and the "team" is sent into action. But secrets and lies threaten everything.

Having Harley Quinn in the mix led to adding the Joker, and there are a couple of cameos by Ben Affleck's Batman. (Meaning all of this takes in the DC movieverse DC Extended Universe alongside Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, etc.) And Jared Leto's Joker is awful, annoying in every scene in which he appears. Oh, Heath Ledger, why did you have to die?

And too many of the Squad members leave no impression as characters. They're just along for the ride or to serve to move the plot a bit. Fortunately, Robbie's Harley Quinn is a live wire, and Amanda Waller proves to be a total badass -- a term that fits Viola Davis as well. And a scene inserted into the credits makes me glad she's part of the DC movieverse DC Extended Universe. My grade: C.

P.S. I suddenly want to go see it again.

My Week In Comics 8-3-11

As it is many times, it's an all-DC week. Although when September arrives and DC reboots, I really don't think I'm going to be on board. The advance publicity has revealed quite a bit, and I dislike almost every change in the series I buy regularly. Which also makes me wonder, if the only books I get regularly are the Simpsons/Futurama books, should I even bother? But that decision is for next month...

Flashpoint 4 (of 5): The story that's leading to all of those changes is nearing its end. War between the Amazons and the Atlanteans is erupting, and a desperate Flash finally convinces this world's Batman to join with other superpowered beings to try and stop it. Some of what happens is a result of what took place in some of the tie-in books. Without that background, a few characters' motivations here is fuzzy. I have to agree with some other commentary I've read, that the main Flashpoint series is being overshadowed by some of the companion books...

Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance 3 (of 3): ...and this was one of them. The amazing cliffhanger in the last issue -- (okay, SPOILER ALERT if you care about these things) where we learned that the murder of young Bruce Wayne in Crime Alley not only resulted in his father Thomas becoming Batman, but his mother Martha is the Joker -- is played out, with flashbacks interspersed revealing Martha's descent into madness.

Superboy 10: As with the other DC books I've been getting, here's the next-to-last issue. And to mark the occasion, Superboy himself appears on a grand total of two pages of the book. The last two. Good thing it's not the very last issue. (The rest of the book was flashbacks telling how the villain of the tale, Tannarak, has been around trying basically the same thing over and over since at least...drum roll...the year 45,025 B.C.)

Superman 714: This, on the other hand, is the end. The end of the series before the new one starts up, and the end of "Grounded," otherwise known as Superman's Walk Across America. Although, technically, did he complete his walk if, in order to rescue Lois from the woman who was holding her hostage in order to draw him out, he flew from Portland to Seattle? Not to mention his time walking from Vegas into and out of Los Angeles just disappearing -- seriously, it's like Hands Across America. There are gaps. Anyway, the finale wasn't all that bad, but it couldn't make up for so much bad that came before it.

My Week In Comics 7-20-11

With time running out before the big September relaunch/reboot/whatever you want to call what DC Comics is doing, it almost seems like there should be a countdown clock. Since these posts are dated with the day the books were in stores, and the actual relaunch begins August 31st with the final issue of Flashpoint and the 1st issue of the new Justice League series the same day, we'll go with that. As of July 20th it's T-minus 42 days and counting...

Supergirl 66: Second of a three-parter. Of course, since it's the next-to-last issue before September. Supergirl is undercover as another college student goes missing, so she's mostly in civilian garb, secretly using her powers so as to not let the other students in on her identity. And it's not often you have both mechanical rats and a reference to "Bewitched" in the same story.

Superman/Batman 86: Same deal here, next-to-last issue, except this series isn't coming back in September, at least not right away. Clark Kent has a dilemma -- whether or not to finish the article on the Batman/Wayne corporation connection that got the Gotham reporter killed.  (Remember, this story is set in the early days, long before Batman, Incorporated.) Oh, and it turns out the Joker is involved.

Simpsons Comics 180: The Simpsons are going to Canada! Again! Permanently! Illegally! Along with the rest of Springfield! After Mr. Burns shuts down every business in town! Why do I keep talking like this!?!

My Week In Comics 7-6-11

Let's get right to this...

Flashpoint 3 (of 5): DC Comics continues to hype their coming final blow to their business reboot as well as selling "Flashpoint" and its tie-ins. One thing they're saying is that some of the changes occurring in September are being hinted at or previewed in "Flashpoint." A badly-hurt Barry Allen makes that point early on in the 3rd issue of the main series: "If we don't fix this soon...I won't even realize it's wrong." Yes, but we will. Anyway, Barry makes a speedy recovery and finally convinces Batman to help him get as much of the old gang -- the Justice League -- together again. So much has changed, but since Barry learns that a rocket ship crashed from outer space years ago, he knows that somewhere out there, there's a Superman. We knew that because of the "Project Superman" tie-in book that came out a week earlier. And since events in that book take place in flashbacks and the first issue ended with the arrival of the rocket from Krypton, this book lets us see what Superman is like now (and, gruesomely, the status of Krypto).

Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance 2 (of 3): Meanwhile, in the Batman tie-in, we learn that in the Flashpoint universe there is an Oracle in Gotham, but it's not Barbara Gordon. And in a stunning and tragic sequence, we learn the identity of this world's Joker. And that is one of the most surprising and entertaining reveals I've read in a book in a while.

Superboy 9: Again, not that it matters, since everything changes in a couple of months, Superboy faces off against the Hollow Men and learns that his ally is not who he appears to be. And we learn the true mission of the from-the-near-future Psionic Lad...I mean, Psion. He changed his name. But it doesn't matter since he probably won't exist in the new DC universe.

Moriarty 3 (of 4): The "to be concluded" note on the last page solves the mystery of how long this series will last. The mystery of exactly what the threat to London (and/or the world) entails is a bit clearer, I think. Took me two reads to come up with a guess. Moriarty also "catches up" with Inspector Lestrade, using him to deliver a message to Dr. Watson. With one issue left, it remains to be seen whether or not Moriarty's presumed-dead nemesis will make an appearance. My money's still on "yes."

My Week In Comics 6-29-11

I haven't posted anything in a few days. I find myself once again in a bit of a rut with this whole blogging thing -- but at least I'm not backed up with movies to write about. (What, you think I'm going to see that Transformers crap?) I do plan to post about how I spent the 4th of July. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you already have an idea. For now, though...

Flashpoint: Lois Lane and the Resistance 1 (of 3)
Flashpoint: Project Superman 1 (of 3): The Lois Lane book was actually released a week earlier but I skipped it. After taking another glance at it I decided to try it. Since everything in this Flashpoint universe is changed, these two books aren't actually related. Lois is still a Daily Planet reporter, but to her disgust she's stuck covering Fashion Week in Paris instead of hard news (along with Jimmy Olsen). Then fate intervenes, in the form of Emperor Aquaman's flooding of western Europe as part of the Atlantean hostilities against Wonder Woman and the Amazons. Olsen is killed but Lois survives and is taken by the Amazons to New Themyscira (the former Great Britain), where she ends up (thanks to her possession of Jimmy's camera) joining the resistance movement. Meanwhile, the Project Superman book takes place in flashbacks, starting 30 years ago, when a U.S. soldier arrives at a secret underground facility in Metropolis (with a certain General Sam Lane in charge), having volunteered to undergo treatments that would give him superpowers. Ummmm...isn't this more of a Marvel thing? Anyway, the goal is to have a powerful hero who can also present himself as normal-looking to the world -- all the better for the good old USA. But things don't quite go as planned, and a few years later our super-soldier is kept locked up in the facility, until meteors crash into Metropolis, and on the last page we see that one of the meteors is actually...you guessed it...a rocket carrying a baby. Which brings up a question: how would the changes in Earth's timeline caused by the Reverse-Flash cause the ship from Krypton to crash-land in Metropolis instead of on the Kent farm in Smallville? This seems more like a random change done for plot purposes, unless the coming DC Universe reboot in September is even more drastic than I imagine.

Batman, Incorporated 7:  Meanwhile, in the unchanged (for now) DC universe, we have a story that doesn't have a lot of Batman. It centers around one of those he inspired, Man-of-Bats, who fights crime on his reservation along with his son, who's called Raven. But unlike Bruce Wayne, Man-of-Bats doesn't have unlimited resources, and the Leviathan criminal outfit is making things on the reservation much tougher.

My Week In Comics 5-25-11

This week I bought two DC books and two from Bongo Comics. However, after some news broke today, I'm not sure I should even bother writing about the books of one of these companies. (I will, of course, but not in this post. If you follow the comic book publishers' doings, you already know what I'm talking about. If the news hasn't gotten to you and you don't care to go searching for it, I will enlighten you in my next comic book post.)

Action Comics 901: So "Reign of Doomsday" has actually turned into "Reign of the Doomsdays." There are four of them now (plus the original, who's incapacitated at the moment), thanks to Lex Luthor. Each has powers similar to the Super-person it went after (for example, Superboy's Doomsday has tactile telekinesis). A new character is introduced, and some of Superman's dialogue is off. Can you ever imagine him answering a question with "Ha! What can I say? Busted!" And now this whole thing, dumb dialogue and all, is threatening Earth. Not that it will matter in a few months...

Gotham City Sirens 23: The Joker and Harley Quinn are reunited...and it feels so good, unless you're in Arkham Asylum with them. As chaos reigns, Poison Ivy arrives to break up the happy couple, while Catwoman tries to stay out of it. Bonus: both Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in costume. Two Batmen for the price of one! Not that it will matter in a few months...

Simpsons Summer Shindig 5: Let's see...we have the Springfield Bear Patrol in action. Remember the "We're here! We're queer! We don't want any more bears!" chant? Apparently this was an outgrowth that hasn't been explored

My Week In Comics 2-23-11

Imagine that: a post about my comic book purchases on the very same day I got them. I know it's a radical departure for me, but I only picked up two books today and I have a spare moment, so why not?

Action Comics 898: That wacky, greedy Larfleeze is back, and the Orange Lantern is after Luthor. It wasn't quite as wildly lunatic as the Larfleeze Christmas special; then again, it shouldn't be. Luthor is nearing the end of his quest to change all of the black energy spheres, thus somehow acquiring power. And, as Larfleeze learns (as did the Joker last issue), something terrible is going to happen when it does. The last-page reveal of the being controlling the Lois Lane robot pretty much explains why Superman will be back to deal with all of this in issue 900.

Gotham City Sirens 20: At the end of last issue we found that Harley Quinn has decided to kill her old boyfriend, the Joker. In this issue, with narration coming from her serious, Dr. Harleen Quinzel side, she gets started on her plan. This story is effective in many ways, except neither of the other stars of this series make the slightest appearance, and it's completely devoid of the humor that was a selling point for the series. Maybe they should have done a Harley Quinn miniseries separately to tell this story.