A's Fandom Journal

The Agents of Atlas return in October! :D

Wed, 22 Jul 2015 15:21:21 GMT

A team that I love dearly is coming back to comics...

( ...the )

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Introducing Avengers: Origins

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:33:07 GMT

At SDCC this year, Marvel announced the release of a five-issue series of one-shots - 40 pages of "all-new material/no reprints" (according to the solicits) at $3.99 - focusing on some classic Avengers members.

They are:
- Ant-Man & the Wasp, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa with interior art by Stéphanie Hans (out Nov. 2 - tomorrow!)
- Vision, written by Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel with interior art by Stephane Perger (Nov. 9)
- Luke Cage, written by Adam Glass and Mike Benson with interior art by Dalibor Talajic (Nov. 16)
- Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver, written by Sean McKeever with interior art by Mirco Pierfederici (Nov. 23)
- Thor, written by Kathryn Immonen with interior art by Al Barrionuevo (Nov. 30)

( Covers, solicits, and all sorts of previews (only from the first four, sorry!) ahoy! )

More info is available from a marvel.com article in which each writer/writing team explains briefly what their goals are for their issue and a Newsarama interview with all writers except Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 15, "Humanity"

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:06:18 GMT

Yeah new episode! :)

( Featuring two female guest stars (one recurring, one new) among the others and a rather nice story in general )

General Roundup:
Good episode.

We get a new female guest star (very de-aged, but then so are a lot of the characters in this series), another female hero in a recurring role with more screen/voice time (and she's voiced by the same person who voices Black Widow on The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes(!)), a brief look at legacy characters, an interesting backstory for another recurring character, and some nice thoughts on the meaning of humanity and heroism.

One slight downside for me: Kon is rather annoyingly grumpy/angry for a good part of this episode. Part of me understood his reasoning, but part of me got tired of it really fast and was glad when Kaldur pointedly gave him something to think about - and when he appeared to realize that something he'd been thinking was wrong.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 14, "Revelation"

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:43:00 GMT

( In which plenty of things happen )

General Roundup:
Interesting.

This is a villain-focused episode and as such the baddies - some iconic ones that probably any fan will recognize, some more obscure ones (at least for me) - get most of the screen time. It's also a team-up, but quite different from the one that happened in a previous episode. There's quite a bit of fighting, a global problem that literally does not go away in a day, and cameos aplenty (on the Justice Leaguer's side).

It's also nice to see that the kids of the team are trusted to do some important work here. They show they're able to handle it, too, by showing they've learned - from their mistakes, from their YJ mentors (one point in particular delighted me), and from their previous adventures. There's also evidence of character development and I noticed two points in particular relating to Artemis and Wally.

The "revelation" of the title is a pretty big one...but it's made at the end so I won't spoil it in the general roundup :P. Suffice to say that it made me go "ooh", that people introduced in previous episodes weren't for any simple reason, and that I continue to look forward to new episodes of this cartoon.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 13, "Alpha Males"

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:39:50 GMT

And with this, I'm all caught up on YJ! :D

( \0/ )

General Roundup:
Pretty good episode.

When a secret Kaldur's been keeping is revealed, the team shows signs of disunity again...but Kaldur keeps his cool for most of the time and fortunately has someone (in another great greater-DCU cameo!) to give him some advice when he really needs it. I really like the strength of his character!

M'gann also shows that she's no pushover when Superboy starts to patronize her - and she generally does it rather well. I like her character too - also in relation to how she handles the crisis surrounding Kaldur.

Two more villains are introduced and then leave, with no indication that they were working for the Light - although items from past episodes appear again.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 12, "Homefront"

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:19:32 GMT

( In which there's plenty of action at two rather different homes )

General Roundup:
Interesting episode.

We learn a little bit more about Artemis as we see her at home (briefly), school (with some delightful Bat-cameos!), and in the past with a member of her family. There are lots of hints and teases here about her backstory.

Meanwhile at YJ HQ, a plot line that necessitates some careful work by Aqualad is furthered someewhat, although I don't think for a minute that the answer is as obvious as what the text of the show is presenting.

This episode focuses on Robin and Artemis, which is a nice complement to the Kaldur-, Wally-, and M'gann-and-Kon focused episodes we've seen previously.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 11, "Terrors"

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 09:18:09 GMT

( Terrors in name, maybe not always terrors in action )

General Roundup:
Good episode!

This time, two of the team members engage in some real "covert" work and it goes much better than any other attempt the team has made at the same thing. In the process, one of the YJers spends some time with and gets to know a teenager who is the son of another villain. We also get a look inside a supervillain prison - bonus that it's not Arkham - from this 'verse and are introduced to some interesting new people.

Plot-wise, things move forward. Two YJers take a big step forward in their relationship and the mysterious group that's been behind the actions of nearly all the villains throughout the series get some more work done via their proxies.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 10, "Targets"

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:33:12 GMT

( In which different characters have different targets to achieve )

General Roundup:
Very interesting episode.

In the A-story, we meet some well-known DCU villains for the first time, see others from earlier episodes return, and see a fascinating relationship begin to form. Also, the series villains make their mark again - but this time in a much more subtle way.

I also like the B-story of this episode for what it does with the "daily lives" of M'gann and Superboy (who gets a 'civilian' name finally!) and the other young DCU characters (and potential heroes!) it introduces us to.

Among the heroes there's a nice team-up, a friendship that I thought had potential earlier is solidified (much to my delight), and the seed for an interesting plot development concerning the YJers is sown.

All in all, good stuff.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 9, "Bereft"

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:50:53 GMT

( Click for the usual commentary )

General Roundup:
Interesting episode.

We get to see a bit more of M'gann's mental abilities, including what happens when she goes up against someone with telepathic powers of their own. We're also given another (albeit slight) hint about Artemis' background - there's something about her father (whom we didn't see last episode) that she doesn't want the other YJers to know about.

Kaldur doesn't do much this episode, but that's understandable given the situation he's put in.

And the plot that the series villains have been making since episode one continues to develop.

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Review: BBC Merlin Season 4 Episode 1, "The Darkest Hour"

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:27:42 GMT

Merlin is back! :D

( Spoilers for this episode, obviously, and also some references to the last season )

Next time on: ( Spoilers spoilers spoilers )

General Roundup:
Great first episode! There's something here for everyone - drama, horror, friendship, family - and those who like a bit of all will be pleased with this episode, I think.

I love the interactions between the characters, which shows evidence of having changed during the interval between the last season and this one. There are some nice light-hearted moments - and some genuinely touching ones - in the midst of all the drama and confusion.

I also love the contrast in the scenes with Morgana and those she interacts with and the scenes at Camelot. In the former, everything is usually colourless (or in one case, very very vividly one colour), wearied-looking, and foreboding; in the latter, they're colourful, cheerful, and (more often than not) lively. Of course when trouble sets in at Camelot things change, but generally speaking the contrast is quite clear.

Looking forward to next weekend's episode!

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Review: Young Justice Episode 8, "Downtime"

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:25:51 GMT

( In which we get a closer look at the home lives of our heroes )

General Roundup:
In a word: FABULOUS.

This episode focuses mostly on Kaldur - including some of his origin story, which is nice to see because he's a character created for this show - and simultaneously introduces viewers to the Undersea parts of this Earth. We see Aquaman, his family, and other Atlanteans - interestingly diverse and very well-designed from an artistic viewpoint - and the network of relationships they have with one another. They have significant roles to play in this story and it is great. We also, as part of seeing this new part of the world in more detail, meet a water-based villain.

We do get to see the other YJers in their home environments too. We see this Bruce Wayne demonstrate (yet again) that he is a well-rounded character (and meet this 'verse's Alfred), see the Flash family in a warm and relaxed setting, see Artemis and her mother together (although they're in rather different circumstances than Dick or Wally and their folks, leaving plenty of room for story development), and see M'gann and Kon have a pleasant (well...mostly! XD) evening at Mount Justice.

Kaldur - who continues to be a firm favourite of mine - impressed me *highly* in this episode, which focuses on the characters individually while also tying nicely into the overall season's plot with a brief scene at the end.

Probably the best episode to date.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 7, "Denial"

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:43:35 GMT

( Plenty of Denials indeed. )

General Roundup:
Not bad an episode.

We're introduced to the magical side of this 'verse (Earth-16, according to the DC Wikia), meeting some interesting characters and getting to see a drawn-out magical battle.

My only personal gripe is about how one of the magical characters (a favourite from the comics 'verse in not much more than a cameo appearance here) is written - but that gripe is so strong that it makes me wonder about the characterization of the magical "villain" of the episode. How different is it from the comics, I wonder. And am I less willing to accept the change of characterization for one because they're a favourite while the other is just someone I know in passing? The only thing I can really say for sure is that I didn't like how one was written even though I wasn't bothered by the other.

We also see what the members of the team that are present in the episode (one isn't) feel about magic, and how that may or may not have changed by the end. There's also a nice continuity nod to a habit that Kid Flash has been exhibiting in the other episodes.

The 'romance' plot continues to move forward slowly...and this episode puts an interesting touch on it.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 6, "Infiltrator"

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:38:43 GMT

( In which we finally meet the last member of the team )

General Roundup:
Finally, finally, we meet the team's last permanent member - Artemis. I like her already - she's no-nonsense, experienced, and competent. In that way she's like Aqualad, who is proving to be a good leader for the team - who are now, much more than before, starting to behave like one.

I like the look at one of the team members' civilian life - and a certain humour aspect that's used in that scene is done very well - and the introduction of some more DCU characters (villains and civilians). We also see that one character who appeared briefly in episodes one and three isn't out of the story completely - and I think that's great. There's also a nice sense of forward movement in terms of the plot being hatched by the shadowy enemy.

I'm not keen on the new angle to the "romantic" part of the overall plot, however. But again, I believe that a lot will ride on how the situation is resolved.

And the following shots of M'gann - which panned upwards in the animation - ( really pulled me out of the scene they were in, because my first thought when I saw them was WTF ).

They were completely unneeded, unwanted, and took away my interest in an otherwise really good set of scenes.

And there wasn't even any need for it. The following scenes, that came earlier, were fine as they were ( and got the message (these kids are having fun in the water) across too ).

Thankfully the rest of the episode was much better - enough for me to say that overall, I thought this was an interesting and engaging episode. Note to the creators: just leave out stuff like that one unnecessary bit with M'gann at the beach and we're absolutely golden.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 5, "Schooled"

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:37:54 GMT

( In which there are a lot of lessons learned )

General Roundup:
Interesting episode. The team is slowly coming together.

Superboy is the focus here and while it seems like he may have only one gripe, it's a pretty valid one. His attitude doesn't help the situation the team find themselves in but at least he seems to see that - and want to change? - by the end of the episode.

We also get another appearance - and a spoken one, this time! :D - from a person important to the kids' further development. This person has lot to teach these kids about combat - and they'll also probably be important for Superboy's personal development. That has the potential to be a great.

We also get a hint at the arrival of the last member of the team! That should be fun to watch.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 4, "Drop Zone"

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:06:30 GMT

I can't think of a pun to make on the title of this one. XD

( So just read on for spoilery commentary and by-the-moment thoughts )

General Roundup:
Not a bad episode. The kids finally find - select - a leader, we get a tiny look at some of the other characters in this universe, and there are ties to the first episode and set up for future ones.

Not sure I like the "romantic triangle" forming, though. Yes they're teenagers and teenagers are prone to crushes (boy do I have experience with that! XD) but whether I'll ultimately accept it or not will depend, I think, on how it is played out and/or resolved.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 3, "Welcome to Happy Harbour"

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:43:30 GMT

( In which things are not Happy at all )

General Roundup:
The boys spend some time with M'gann in this episode. They face a villain who learns not to underestimate them, and they also learn a little bit more (IMO and I hope!) about the value of teamwork when it comes to taking down an enemy none of them can handle alone. They also come to realize that maybe having a mentor isn't as bad as they thought - and I like that small bit of development.

From what I've seen of M'gann, I like her. In addition, Kaldur’s continually proving to be my favourite. I think the characters' ages (oldest to youngest) go like this: Roy, Kaldur (unless the two of them are around the same age?), Wally, Dick, and M’gann. Let’s see where Artemis fits in when she joins! I'm still looking forward to that. It'll be nice to have another female perspective on the team - that way, maybe the boys will stop picking on M'gann so much. And if Artemis *isn't* a rookie, and she teaches M'gann to be more assertive, that'd be a very welcome outcome too, IMO.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 2, "Fireworks"

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:26:28 GMT

Continuing to the second half of the pilot. The characters are mostly referred by abbreviations of their hero names.

( In which there are plenty of Fireworks indeed )

General Roundup:
This is an enjoyable episode.

The boys from the last episode get out of a predicament and form a team. They're introduced to another main character towards the end, one of the girls, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her and to the arrival of the second girl.

The villains of the day are defeated, but a larger more mysterious group is set up as well. That'll be the ongoing plot of the series, I suppose.

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Review: Young Justice Episode 1, "Independence Day"

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:53:01 GMT

So based on the fact that the new episodes of the animated Young Justice are coming out again, I thought this would be a good time to start watching the series. I'll be commenting on and reviewing the episodes as I watch them.

I've read up a bit about the series and I know some basics ( that I'll keep under here in case anyone doesn't know and doesn't want to be spoiled ). In the review(s) I do I'll generally use their code names (or abbreviations of them) although I reserve the right to use civilian names too if it feels best at the time of writing :P.

( Spoilery moment-by-moment commentary below )

General Roundup:
Interesting first episode (or first part of the pilot). We're slowly beginning to see the personalities of three of the six main characters - I'm looking forward to seeing them learn to work together and learn from each other.

So far? I like Aqualad the best, easily.

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Comic Review: Teen Titans #96

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:01:35 GMT

Teen Titans #96: "Beast of Legend"
J. T. Krul (writer), José Luís (penciller), Sandro Ribeiro and Jonas Trindade (inkers), Carlos M. Mangual (letterer), Jason Wright (colourist). The cover is by Nicola Scott, Doug Hazlewood, and Jason Wright.

( Spoilers ahoy! Plus brief a note on the mythology in this issue )

My thoughts:
Not too bad an issue. It felt a bit shorter than the others in this arc, though, probably because a fair amount of it (at least in the first half) consisted of panels where text (thought?) boxes were the only words, and that too from the perspective of only one character (Gar). That's not to say it was static and boring, however, because it wasn't - Gar was continually jumping around, transforming as he did so, which provided quite a bit of dynamism.

And I liked what I read in Gar's thoughts. This is a character who is ready to move past his younger days and drop or modify some personality traits that, although they might have been appropriate for the time, are not so any longer. I liked this on first read much more than I liked the only other comic I've read that featured/spotlighted mainstream DCU Gar for an issue (Titans #15, IIRC) on first read.

Also, we get some info on Kiran's powers! Hopefully the next issue will finally make clear what exactly it is about her that's affecting Raven so much. Tataka's words and Vijay's actions appear to show (at least to me!) that there just might be something about Kiran that she's not telling us or the Titans. In addition, I would really like to know if the tatoo (for lack of a better word only) she appears to have on one arm has anything to do with her powers - it glows when she uses her 'light beams' with that hand but she can use the 'beams' from her other hand as well so...yeah. Interesting.

The first thing that I noticed about the art - before I went back and read the artist credit - was that it definitely wasn't what I'd been looking at for the past three issues. Luís's work isn't bad - meaning that it's not badly porportioned or unnaturally posed - but it does make a stark difference from Nicola Scott's. To me, the difference was particularly noticeable in the portrayal of Kiran, at least a couple of pages into the issue, and in some panels where all the characters looked less fully detailed (i.e. more "sketched", again only for lack of a better term) than I was used to seeing.

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Comic Review: Teen Titans #95

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:07:11 GMT

Teen Titans #95: "How the Mighty Fall"
J. T. Krul (writer), Nicola Scott (penciller), Doug Hazlewood (inker), Jason Wright (colourist), Carlos M. Mangual (letterer). The cover is by Scott, Hazlewood, and Wright.

( Spoilers )

My thoughts:
Interesting issue! I loved the last-page reveal - I think it's a brilliant take on the mythology in this story. It was, for me, really a "whoa, wow" moment. In addition, the explanation about why exactly Rankor needed prisoners (quite apart from the fact that he's this story's villain!) was an interesting one when added to what the final page revealed.

However, I think that Kiran seems a bit too eager to say that ultimately, 'fate' will take its course, no matter what. Especially since this comes right after Gar tells her (and I'm paraphrasing here) that he admires her emotional strength during the time her parents are missing.

Also, I'm not sure about the point of part of Bart's scenes. He sets something in motion that he hopes will help the others, but if they're not going to acknowledge that at all, what's the point of even having him do it?

The issue's artwork is, as usual on this title, nicely done by Nicola Scott. Some readers might like that there's a bit of a 'fanservice-y' moment too, concerning Kon. :P

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Sigil Megapost - Part 1

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 18:57:49 GMT

I've written reviews of #1 here and #2 here (second post at that link) and now I'm doing a post with scans!

Sigil is a four-issue limited series, the second of two CrossGen titles (the other being Ruse) to be recently revitalized by Marvel. Since the fourth issue just came out last week, I figured this was as good a time as any to do a post about it. The trade - called Out of Time - comes out in September.

I think there's a fair amount about it that makes it interesting, including the facts that the protagonist is an interesting teenage girl, that it passes the Bechdel test at some points, and that there are pirates (including an awesome lady captain) involved.

What brought it to my attention, however, were two of the names on the cover (by Jelena Djurdjevic) of the first issue - Mike Carey and Leonard Kirk. As a fan of both Carey's work on The Unwritten and Kirk's work on the first Agents of Atlas miniseries, the idea of a collaboration between the two had instant appeal for me. As I found out later, the storyline and art (including some really nice colouring by Guru eFX) would justify my interest.

13 scans from two issues - 7 from #1 (22 pages) and 6 from #2 (20 pages). The images are different sizes because some are taken from previews and some are my own scans.

Note: There are scenes of grieving (a funeral; in the second set of scans) and scenes of bullying (in both sets of scans).

( Sigil #1: In which we meet our heroine )

( Sigil #2: In which Captain Sin is awesome )

Part two coming soon!

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Teen Titans #95

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:24:48 GMT

In which things get more difficult for our young heroes. Six scans under the cut.

( Oh 'How the Mighty Fall' )

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20 Hoshi Sato icons

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 01:18:08 GMT

20 icons of Ensign Hoshi Sato, Communications Officer of the starship Enterprise NX-01, from the TV show Star Trek: Enterprise.

Made for Round 23 of the contest at startrek20in20.

Examples:

( Breaking a Vulcan encryption code would be easier than this )

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Teen Titans #94: Solstice and the Teen Titans

Thu, 26 May 2011 03:30:30 GMT

Adapted from my post at scans_daily - six pages from Teen Titans #94.

( Myths, demons, and intriguing powers - all in one issue! )

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Dear New Directions (on Glee) -

Mon, 16 May 2011 22:43:39 GMT

Please don't take your backing musicians - your regular pianist and the backing band and/or orchestra that appear whenever you need more instrumental accompaniment than what Puck or Sam or Finn can do with guitars and/or drums - for granted. They're more than "just furniture"*. They shouldn't be invisible (they're certainly not inaudible!) and they should count.

Be proud of all your musicians. All of them. A little appreciation for the various "band geeks" and "orchestra geeks" can't hurt.

I'm speaking as a person who has been both a choir (although not a show choir) and concert band member - at the same time - while in high school. While the music departments at my schools never faced the difficulties McKinley's does (thank goodness we never had a Sue Sylvester!), I think this is a fairly important issue.

Thank you.

Note to the producers:
Yes this is a show about the kids of the show choir, but you could at least make what references you make to the other musicians at McKinley a little less flippant, you know? I'm not sure if they all have to travel to competition together or if the competition venue provides its own accompanists, but you know what? If a theme of the show really is "the power of music to bring people together", then it'd be nice to be appreciative of the instrumentalists as well.

* ( Slight spoiler for 'Rumours' )

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