Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #9 - A Review

The best part of Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword is the same strength shared by all high-quality anthologies. Should you find something in the collection not to your liking, you can always go on to the next offering and be certain of finding something enjoyable.  That's certainly the case with this ninth issue of the series, which contains a wide variety of tales based on or inspired by the works of Robert E.Howard.

The issue's first offering is its weakest - a strictly standard Conan the Barbarian story titled Den Of The Pleasure Goddess. The script is inoffensive yet made intolerable by the hack artistry of Freddie Williams II.  Thankfully, this issue closes with a far better Conan offering - a colorized reprinting of the Roy Thomas/John Buscema adaptation of Howard's Black Colossus.  There is no comparison between the two chapters and the final story showcases why Howard and Buscema are considered by many to be the definitive creative team for classic Conan comics.

The Lovecraftian tale of Conrad and Kirowan comes to a better conclusion than what was suggested by its lackluster first chapter. Admittedly, there is less action here than in a standard Howard story but what the text lacks in excitement is more than made up for in the artwork of American Vampire artist Alberto Albuquerque.  There is some classic weird imagery here, as a group of academics is told the tale of a book that can open a gateway to Hell.


The rest of the book is equally enjoyable.  The tale of Sailor Steve Costigan and his efforts to ditch an unwanted fanboy following a boxing match is an enjoyable sports tale.  And the conclusion of Breckinridge Elkins - Mountain Man is one of the funniest things I've read in a good while.

Doctor Who, Series 8 - Episode 7 - Kill The Moon

THE QUICK, SPOILER FREE REVIEW

I'm still not sure what to think about this episode but it did make me think.  And that, as far as Doctor Who goes, is usually the sign of a good episode.  Usually.  There's enough problematic aspects to this episode for me to be reluctant to endorse it but it is worth watching at least once in spite of its flaws, which makes it far stronger than a lot of episodes that are best skipped entirely.



THE PLOT 

After being accused of telling Disruptive Influence Courtney Woods that she isn't important, The Doctor elects to take Courtney and Clara on a quick field trip to Earth's moon so Courtney can be the first woman to set foot on its surface. Naturally, the TARDIS scoots them forward a bit too far and they wind up on a space shuttle carrying Earth's last three astronauts to the moon on a mission to blow up it up.

Why?  Because The Moon has been mysteriously increasing in mass and gravity to the point where it is threatening all life on Earth.  The Doctor's glib on the subject of how much he knows and what is supposed to happen, saying this is one of those vague points in time where an Important Decision must be made.  But for once The Doctor is reluctant to interfere and it will fall to a teenage girl, a school teacher and an astronaut to decide what to do when it turns out The Moon is a giant egg on the verge of hatching!


THE GOOD PARTS 

* The script by first time Doctor Who writer Peter Harness has a lot of clever moments, good lines and generally does a good job of explaining itself.  This is one of the few stories to truly explore The Doctor's unique memory and sensory powers - how he feels the turn of the universe, as it were - and just how he decides when he can and cannot interfere.

* Capaldi establishes his Doctor as a magnificent bastard with a firm emphasis on the 'bastard' side of The Doctor this time around.  At the end he's all smiles and plays up that this was all a glorious teaching exercise that he had planned out to some degree.  And for a moment, you almost believe that until you see behind the mask and realize The Doctor is trying to convince himself what he's saying is true more than he is trying to sell this BS to Clara.

* The direction and cinematography of the episode are top notch.

* The CGI on the monster bacteria is motion-picture quality.

* I don't know if Courtney is being groomed to be a replacement companion at this point.  After last week, I would have said no, but now I'm not so sure. In either case, she is well played here as a realistic teenage girl with the perfect mix of innocence and moral certainty.

* Clara's speech at the end.  No matter what problems this episode has, it is worth sitting through just to get to Clara's speech at the end in which she gives The Doctor the dressing down he's deserved for a while on behalf of every companion who was forced to make a difficult choice so The Doctor wouldn't have to.  And Jenna Coleman nails the performance here.


THE PROBLEMS

* Let's just get this one out of the way first - the whole episode is one big metaphor regarding the ethics of abortion and the script is not at all subtle in letting you know this fact.  From The Doctor's leaving the decision of what to do about the moon child in the hands of three women (a maiden/mother/crone triumvirate no less!) to The Doctor emphasizing that this is the women's choice and no business of his to Clara's pushing a big button that flashes the word ABORT in big red angry letters, we are told repeatedly that this is a Very Important Episode that is really about Very Serious Issues. The problem is that metaphors have to have some sense of subtlety to be truly effective and the script is about as subtle on this point as Brian Blessed leading a parade of marching bands and dancing elephants.

* We're told there's been all manner of disasters on Earth because of the moon breaking apart yet we so no evidence of this anywhere in the episode.

* On that note, I refuse to believe that humanity are a bunch of bastards for making the decision that no, we don't want to wait and see what happens when the giant space dragon hatches and trust it will all work out somehow when the fate of the human race is at stake. There are many reasons we suck as a species. A sense of self-preservation is not one of them.

* The supporting cast for this episode is woefully underwritten, with the two male astronauts serving no purpose other than to be cannon fodder for the episode's monsters.

* Giant spiders are the ultimate sign of lazy design in any medium and the bacteria should have looked like... anything else, really.

* CONTINUITY GAFFE FOR THE SAKE OF A BAD JOKE: Courtney is somehow able to post pictures on Tumblr from 25+ years in the future, despite Tumblr apparently being an archaic form of technology. And the communication networks supposedly being unreliable due to the effects of the moon breaking apart. And let's not forget The Doctor had to reprogram Rose Tyler's mobile phone to be able to do anything while time-traveling in the first place and there';s no indication he did this for Courtney anywhere at any time.


THE FINAL VERDICT

There's a lot to admire in this episode, despite the annoyingly unsubtle political statement at its heart. The performances and direction are great and the script is good during the moments it isn't hitting the audience over the head with its message.  If nothing else, it encourages discussion about points beyond the usual trivia so for that reason alone I'm willing to give this one a thumbs up.

Thor (2014) #1 - A Review

After a long self-imposed exile, Odin has returned to his people to find that much has changed in his absence. His wife, Freyja, has taken up much of his power in his absence and is now loath to relinquish her position as The All-Mother of The Aesir. More, following a battle in the realms of Midgar, his beloved son Thor now finds himself unable to lift his hammer, Mjolnir. Indeed, even Odin himself cannot stir the great weapon, despite having personally crafted the enchantments on it that prevent it from being wielded by the unworthy!

This bodes ill for many reasons, not the least of which is that the enemies of the Aesir run riot on Midgar in Thor's absence.  But hammer or no, Thor will not let his obligation to protect the people of his chosen home go unmet. And Mjolnir must be wielded by a worthy warrior, though the warrior may not be Thor...


Jason Aaron offers new readers a number of mysteries with this first issue. What could Nick Fury say that could cause Thor to lose his worthiness? Are Nick Fury's actions even related to how Thor lost his hammer? If so, why can't Odin move it? And who is the mysterious woman who is able to lift Mjolnir at issue's end?  This last mystery does seem to have an obvious answer, but we will need to wait another issue (at least) before the obvious theory is confirmed.

Aaron wisely spends the second half of this issue showing that Thor is still a threat and still a hero even with the loss of his famous weapon. Hopefully this will quell the worries of established Thor fans who feared Thor being made to look foolish or second-rate in the wake of the news that a woman would be wielding Thor's hammer for the foreseeable future.


Russell Dauterman proves a skillful artist.  The amount of detail he puts into the artwork on this issue is astonishing.  Sadly, much of that fine detail is lost due to thin inking.  There are some panels where it appears like the only inking was a black outline around the different characters and even then certain elements of the art are difficult to distinguish from one another.  This makes the action difficult to follow at times, in spite of how good everything looks.

Still, this is a promising first issue overall. The mysteries of the on-going plot are sure to intrigue both new readers who may only know Thor from the movies as well as long-time fans of the Odinson.  To say nothing of the mystery of whom the new wielder of Mjolnir is!

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two Annual #1 - A Review

The Year Two Annual for Injustice: Gods Among Us differs from the Year One annual in three important respects. First, this annual tells two separate stories compared to last year's single story annual. Next, the tone of these stories is decidedly more serious than last year's annual, which saw Lobo hunting Harley Quinn. Finally - instead of being solely the work of Tom Taylor - the scripts for this issue were written by Marguerite Bennett, who co-plotted the stories with Taylor.


The first story focuses upon Jim and Barbara Gordon and their efforts to find peace in their relationship as Jim's inevitable death from lung cancer grows closer and their investigation of the seeming reappearance of Jim's wife/Barbara's mom, who has been missing for years. Bennet's script perfectly captures both characters and plays out the mystery quite well.  Sadly, the visual tone is all over the place due to this story having been rendered by four different artists with decidedly different styles.


The second story fares better in this regard, having been drawn entirely by Injustice regular Jheremy Raapack.  It too focuses on a troubled relationship - that of Hal Jordan and his former mentor Sinestro as they seek out a Qwardian artifact.  The story here is engaging but Bennett's take on Sinestro - which is reminiscent of Geoff Johns' anti-heroic take on the character - doesn't quite gel with the more openly villainous Sinestro that we've seen in Injustice so far. This is a minor point, however, and it is to Bennett's credit that the reader still won't be sure how sincere Sinestro is about regretting how things ended between him and Hal by the story's conclusion.

Despite not being essential to the overall story, fans of the Injustice will still want to pick this one up.  Fans of Marguerite Bennet's writing on other recent titles will also enjoy this one and shouldn't have any trouble with these stories despite them being set in the complex mythology of the Injustice universe.  The stories more than make up for the somewhat scattered artwork.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Three #1 - A Review

John Constantine has never been one for getting involved in noble causes. When Duty Calls, you can usually find John running the other way. But Superman's war with the Green Lanterns has changed many things and killed a lot of innocent people. And while he's not one for getting involved in noble causes, John Constantine also isn't one for letting bullies get away with murder.

Throw in a new magical menace that has been awakened by Superman's actions and John has ample reason to get involved even before things get personal.  So the rest of the world had best be wary. For when John Constantine gets involved in things, it usually means that a bad situation is about to become a whole hell of a lot worse.


Any fears that might have existed about this series dipping in quality as it shifted in gears from super-heroic space opera to street-level mysticism prove completely unfounded.  Tom Taylor rounds the curve into the new series effortlessly and his decision to focus this year upon DC Comics' magical heroes and their response to Superman becoming a tyrant is proving to be an interesting one thus far. John Constantine is the perfect central character for this story, being both an every-man figure the newer readers can identify with but also one of the few characters who can play comedy and horror with equal effectiveness - an essential trait in this series!


The artwork by Bruno Redondo and Xermanico is as wonderful as ever.  The characters are all well designed and the action of the story flows naturally throughout.  Colorist J. Nanjan creates some rather impressive effects throughout, particularly the light reflecting off Doctor Fate's helmet.  And because I don't think I've ever praised it before, let me say that the lettering by Wes Abbott is quite lovely and easy to read.