Month: September 2016

Mighty Thursday #8

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Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: Derailed

By Peter David (Writer); Mike Wieringo & Roger Cruz (Pencils); Karl Kesel, Oclair Albert, Victor Olazaba, & Mike Manley (Inks); 2006

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Summary

Hold onto your webs, spider-fan A major character from Peter Parker’s past returns! Meanwhile, is that the Hobgoblin terrorizing the skies? And if so, how is he connected to the shocking changes in Spider-Man’s life? Continuity fans better break out their back issues, because both Spidey’s past and future will change when an old (and unexpected) foe executes his master plan!

Plus: Presenting “Web Log,” an off-beat Spidey tale that starts at the very beginnings of Spider-Man’s career and goes all the way through to the distant future…as seen through the eyes of a woman who is convinced that the web-slinger has been stalking her her entire life. And finally, think Spider-Man doesn’t have to worry about death anymore, having escaped its grasp in “The Other”? Think again, as — years after his origin — Spider-Man finds himself back in the ring, squaring off against a masked wrestler whose name literally means “Death”…and for good reason!Read More »

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Book Review – Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

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Summary:

The last thing the wizard Drum Billet did, before Death laid a bony hand on his shoulder, was to pass on his staff of power to the eighth son of an eighth son. Unfortunately for his colleagues in the chauvinistic (not to say misogynistic) world of magic, he failed to check that the baby in question was a son. Everybody knows that there’s no such thing as a female wizard. But now it’s gone and happened, there’s nothing much anyone can do about it. Let the battle of the sexes begin…

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Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett is the third novel in the fantasy comedy Discworld series, this time focused on a new cast of characters. While I enjoyed the perilous escapades of Rincewind and Twoflower, I have been looking forward to reading about characters who aren’t quite so hapless. The story follows Eskarina Smith, a young girl who inherited a wizard’s staff at birth and has an unbridled knack for magic. She is accompanied by Granny Weatherwax, an old witch who serves their community and takes it upon herself to guide Esk into the magical arts.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #7

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Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Deluxe Edition

By Neil Gaiman (Writer); Andy Kubert (Artist); 2009

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Summary

From the moment he declared war on crime, the Batman knew his story would eventually come to an end. But for each soul he has touched, either as an ally or an enemy, a lover or a friend, an inspiration or an obsession, the life of the Dark Knight — and its tragic conclusion — is viewed differently.

Now, those closest to the Caped Crusader gather for his memorial service. Stories are told, feelings are revealed and tears are shed in a final retrospective of Batman’s long and astonishing career. And for those of you who think you know the Dark Knight, prepare to find out you never did.Read More »

Movie Review – Don’t Breathe

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IMDB Summary

Rocky, a young woman wanting to start a better life for her and her sister, agrees to take part in the robbery of a house owned by a wealthy blind man with her boyfriend Money and their friend Alex. But when the blind man turns out to be a more ruthless adversary than he seems, the group must find a way to escape his home before they become his newest victims.

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Directed by Fede Alvarez and starring Jane Levy, Stephen Lang, Dylan Minnette and Danial Zovatto, Don’t Breathe is an American horror thriller film released on August 26, 2016.

Before I knew anything about the film I noticed its unassuming poster at the theatre. It caught my eye, but otherwise seemed to be generic horror movie fare. As can uncannily happen, however, soon afterwards I started to hear a lot of the buzz that the movie started generating. This got my butt into a theatre seat and I am very happy with how things turned out.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #6

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Avengers: The Initiative: Basic Training

By Dan Slott (Writer); Stefano Caselli with Steve Uy (Artists); 2008

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Summary

The super-hero Civil War is over, and the government won. Now all super-beings and costumed heroes are being drafted into America’s new superhuman armed forces: the Initiative. The heart of the operation is Camp Hammond, where Avengers veterans such as Yellowjacket, War Machines, and Justice train the next generation of heroes. Can young cadets like Cloud 9, Hardball, Komodo, Rage, Slapstick, Trauma, and Ultragirl live up to the Initiative’s superhuman standards? Find out as they and dozens of other heroes from throughout the Marvel Universe clash with hordes of Hydra, the incredible Hulk, and even the amazing Spider-Man!Read More »

Book Review – The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

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Summary from Goodreads

The Chrysalids is set in the future after a devastating global nuclear war. David, the young hero of the novel, lives in a tight-knit community of religious and genetic fundamentalists, always on the alert for any deviation from the norm of God’s creation. Abnormal plants are publicly burned, with much singing of hymns. Abnormal humans (who are not really human) are also condemned to destruction—unless they succeed in fleeing to the Fringes, that Wild Country where, as the authorities say, nothing is reliable and the devil does his work. David grows up ringed by admonitions: KEEP PURE THE STOCK OF THE LORD; WATCH THOU FOR THE MUTANT. At first he does not question. Then, however, he realizes that the he too is out of the ordinary, in possession of a power that could doom him to death or introduce him to a new, hitherto unimagined world of freedom.

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The Chrysalids by John Wyndham is a book that has sat at the fringes of my interest for a long time, neither forgotten nor explored, even before I read and enjoyed The Day of the Triffids. I first heard about the novel from my older brother many years ago when he was reading it for a high school English class. While I distinctly remember him saying he found it boring, the idea of religious extremism directed at physical mutation and/or deformity in a post-apocalyptic world left a lasting impression on me.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #5

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Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn

By Jim Owsley, Keith Giffen & Gerard Jones(Writers); M.D. Bright (Penciller); Romeo Tanghal (Inker); Anthony Tollin (Colourist); Albert T. Deguzman (Letterer); 2003

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Summary

Only the fearless can be entrusted with a Green Lantern’s power ring, the universe’s most powerful weapon. When Abin Sur, the Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814, crash-landed on Earth, he knew it was time to pass the Emerald Mantle to a deserving human. After quickly studying billions of people, the ring selected test pilot Hal Jordan, who was busy making a mess of his life. Now gifted with an incredible trust, Jordan needs a crash course in both using the ring and what it means to be a Green Lantern. And he had better learn fast — Legion, the alien marauder who has already killed four Green Lanterns, has arrived on Earth to hunt down his fifth.Read More »

TV Series Review – The Get Down Part 1

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IMDB Summary

The Get Down focuses on 1970s New York City – broken down and beaten up, violent, cash strapped — dying. Consigned to rubble, a rag-tag crew of South Bronx teenagers are nothings and nobodies with no one to shelter them – except each other, armed only with verbal games, improvised dance steps, some magic markers and spray cans. From Bronx tenements, to the SoHo art scene; from CBGBs to Studio 54 and even the glass towers of the just-built World Trade Center, The Get Down is a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco — told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city, and the world…forever.

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Though promotional material had caught my eye, I might not have gotten to The Get Down without the recommendation of a friend. It is a Netflix Original series created by Baz Luhrmann, the first part of season one released on Netflix on August 12, 2016. Described to me simply as the origins of hip-hop mythologized, the series more than exceeded the implications of this idea. While well-grounded in the setting of the South Bronx in 1977, the series has a prominent musical flair, accented with disco and Kung Fu movie styles of the time. It walks a tightrope between reality and larger-than-life eccentricity near flawlessly, depicting many characters and circumstances as mystical or miraculous without getting carried away enough to break the audience’s captivation.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #4

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Batman: Lovers & Madmen

By Michael Green (Writer); Denys Cowan (Pencils), John Floyd (Inker) & I.L.L. (Colourist); 2009

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Summary from Goodreads

A tale set early in the career of the Dark Knight that sheds light on who the Joker was before he became the Clown Prince of Crime. Discover how Batman first crossed paths with the punk who was destined to become his deadliest foe, and see just how far he’ll go in order to bring down the new criminal insanity that’s inspiring Gotham City’s underworld.Read More »