Video Game Review: "Batman: The Telltale Series" - A New Kind of Knight

Ah, my first video game review in over two years. The reason for that is that I don't play as much as I used to. I only got one video game in all of 2015, Arkham Knight, and there was just so much to process that I couldn't really put it in words, not to mention it was really a slow year for me. Next year will pick up for me though in the games department with new sequels to Injustice and Marvel vs. Capcom. But let's focus on today's game.
What may surprise people is that for the longest time, I've completely avoided online gaming, even when it came to DLC. Part of the reason is I didn't always have the best connection and I thought that DLC wasn't important enough if it wasn't already available on the physical disc. It wasn't until I got my Xbox One, which required an internet connection, and the Arkham Knight expansion pack came out that I finally gave in.
Which brings us to "Batman: The Telltale Series". When it was announced, I didn't really care since it was an online game. But when they announced a season pass disc, I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm a guy who prefers to physically own things rather than digitally; comics, movies, games, you name it.
For those who don't know, Telltale Games creates what you would call "choose your own adventure" games, where choices you make along the way impacts what happens later on.
Knowing this, going into this Batman game, I expected something like the Arkham games but with less button mashing. After getting the game back in September and just finishing the season finale this week, I have to say that if you're looking for a new kind of Batman experience, this is right up your alley.

First off, some key aspects of Batman's history get turned upside down in this series. So if you're well knowledged in that department, best forget that with this game (or remember and be prepared for some surprises). I kept expecting one specific twist that I won't spoil to be revealed as a hoax by the end, but it doesn't. In that respect, I give props to the story writers for taking such a twist, and adding an extra layer to this version of Bruce Wayne, as well as how it relates to the game's main villain. Coincidentally, while this isn't an Arkham game, the Asylum still plays a major part. I guess if it ain't broke, right?
I will talk about a few characters in how they've been re-imagined though. First off, Oswald Copplepot, AKA Penguin. This version is a lot more slender and is able to put up a fight than what we're used to; he even wears a penguin mask, which may sound ridiculous, but actually works within the context. He's also a childhood friend of Bruce; the comics, and even the Arkham games, have referenced before about a relationship between the Waynes and Copplepots, so the two being old friends is a nice addition.
At one point in the game, Bruce ends up in Arkham and interacts with three well-known Batman villains: Zsasz, the Ventriloquist, and as you probably expected, the Joker. Apparently though, Bruce has not had any interaction with any of them, or if he has as Batman, is just playing dumb. That applies to Zsasz and the Ventriloquist, but with this version of Joker, he has yet to make a name for himself, only being known as "John Doe", and appears to be a model patient, despite his eccentric behavior and nihilistic views. I guess it's plausible for Joker to lay low before making his public debut, but it does kind of feel weird to see him interact with Bruce in Arkham and knowing his fame isn't preceding him. I prefer to see Batman's villains as a response to the hero's presence in Gotham.

The voice acting is pretty top notch in the game, many of whom I recognize from various other projects. Bruce/Batman is voiced by Troy Baker (Joker in Arkham Origins, Hawkeye in Avengers Assemble), Selina Kyle/Catwoman is voiced by Laura Bailey (Kid Trunks in Dragon Ball Z, Black Widow in Avengers Assemble), Harvey Dent is voiced by Travis Willingham (Thor in Avengers Assemble, Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist), and Penguin is voiced by Jason Spisak (Razer in Green Lantern, Wally West in Young Justice). Other characters like Alfred, Gordon, and Vicki Vale also have some good voices behind them. Joker's voice, provided by newcomer Anthony Ingruber, is...interesting. It might be that it's hard not to compare anyone who voices Joker to Mark Hammil, but Ingruber's Joker is a different take, reminding me of Michael Emmerson's in the animated Dark Knight Returns adaptation. It would have been nice if Troy Baker had provided the voice again, but given how much the game deviates from the Batman norms, how it was done probably for the best.

It should be worth pointing out that this game has an M rating, which it rightfully earns. Right off the bat (no pun intended), a security guard is shot right in the face with blood splatter to boot, and it doesn't end there. Given the game's stylistic approach similar to that of a comic book, showing more graphic imagery goes right in line with that, much like DC's animated film line has done. This also makes for some pretty intense fight scenes. While they're only quick time events (as in having to push the right buttons at the right time) as opposed to direct combat in the Arkham series, the gamemakers did a great job at immersing the players into the situation. It made me feel like I was Batman, and that if I didn't act quickly, who knows what could happen. The final battle of the game probably the most epic out of all of them.

But let's get right to what makes this game so unique: choices. It's this aspect that makes the Telltale Series better than the Arkham games at least in one way. While the Arkham games are pretty much a straight path (aside from having the option to do side missions during the main story and earning upgrades along the way), the Telltale Series offers many paths. This is your chance to be the Batman, as well as Bruce Wayne, you want to be. It's definitely a thinking man's game.
Personally, the choices I made during my playthrough were based on a number of factors. Will this make for a better story? How will this make me (as Bruce and Batman) viewed by others? Overall, the choices I made had more to do with emotion or restraint, because that's the way I see Batman, something along the lines of Kevin Conroy or Christian Bale's versions. There are some opportunities for Batman to take a more brutal approach, such as breaking a mercenary's arm even after he gave you the information you needed. When it comes to a brutal Batman who does whatever it takes, the most extreme case that comes to mind is Frank Miller's version from "All Star Batman and Robin", who enjoys hurting criminals and corrupt police officers and often refers to himself as "the Goddamn Batman", earning his designation from comic book reviewer Linkara as "Crazy Steve". Just for fun, at some point, I'll play through the game again through what I felt were the "wrong" choices. But aside from that though, there are choices in the game where I feel like Bruce or Batman can come across as a dick, even when it's not necessary, and considering what Bruce is going through in the game, he needs as much good PR as he can get.
But that's just my take. How you play Batman is your business, which makes this game so unique.

In a way, I see the Telltale Series similar to the Dark Knight trilogy, taking a more realistic approach while offering it's own spin on things, whereas the Arkham series adhered mostly to the comics with some cinematic quality. As far as comic book inspirations I sensed from the game, I definitely noticed the spirit of The Long Halloween coming through, as well as a more obscure Batman story "Jekyll and Hyde", which I highly recommend.
It's worth noting that since they referred to the last episode as the "season finale", which makes it a safe bet that a sequel is already in the works, with hints that it will be Joker as the main villain, and who knows how far the soon to be Clown Prince of Crime will go to top the craziness that's already happened.
As this was my first Telltale game, I'm really excited for what they'll do with the Guardians of the Galaxy game they'll be putting out next year.

Overall, this is a must-buy/must-play for any Batman fan, especially for those wanting something different from the Arkham series. Considering it's the Holiday season, the Season Pass disc would make the perfect gift for the Bat-fan in your life.

RATING: 9/10

'Never-Ending Reboots': The Cinematic Future of the X-Men

So we've had quite a bit happen since my "Inhumans vs. X-Men" post in regards to the X-Men's place in Marvel's future. But now we're not just talking about comics, but film as well.

Starting with the big news, it's looking possible that Fox has plans to reboot the X-Men as Bryan Singer steps away from the franchise. On one hand, I feel this is disappointing because I really would have liked to see where the young X-Men shown at the end of "Apocalypse" would go. If anything, they could have done a soft reboot. But I guess this would give them more of a fresh start and drop the "each film takes place 10 years later" pattern they've gone through. Besides that, now would be the best time. Not only did "Apocalypse" bring things full circle, but Hugh Jackman's last performance as Wolverine is slated for next year's "Logan" film.
Here's the thing though. Fox needs to tread carefully. I applaud the X-Men franchise for lasting this long without fully hitting the restart button, despite the revitalizations of the "First Class" trilogy. Audiences are wary when it comes to reboots. As much as I loved the Amazing Spider-Man franchise, it was never fully accepted, mainly because some felt it was too soon after the original trilogy, leading to many compare and contrast debates. But of course, this lead to Spider-Man being rebooted again into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a much warmer embrace. I've already mentioned before about a rumor of Marvel consulting with Fox on their future movies, but let's come back to this later.

Another major announcement this week was an Inhumans TV series set to debut next September. Originally, Marvel had been planning an Inhumans film at the tail end of Phase Three/beginning of Phase Four, but was taken off the schedule for unknown reasons. While Inhumans have been appearing on "Agents of SHIELD", the actual Inhumans spin-off will most likely do what the movie would have and feature the main characters of the Royal Family such as king Black Bolt and queen Medusa. Despite the Inhuman presence on "SHIELD", they haven't exactly taken off in the comics like Marvel has hoped for. This could be a factor to why the movie was scrapped and moved to TV. This is probably a good thing though. Despite the connective nature of the MCU, events of the TV series, even the Netflix shows, have yet to be mentioned in the films. So chances are a character like Daisy Johnson/Quake probably wouldn't even had made an appearance in an Inhumans film.

Lastly, it was revealed that there was deal made between Marvel and Fox. Nothing too big, just a character swap. As James Gunn was writing the script for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", he was doing so with a major focus on Ego, the Living Planet. However, he would find out that Fox, not Marvel actually had the rights to the character. This really put him in the bind because he didn't have back-up plan, which would have been problematic for the cosmic sequel. But as luck would have it, Fox would approach Marvel to use Negasonic Teenage Warhead for the Deadpool movie, and thus a trade was made, and one that's most likely to work out best for both studios.

Considering that the Inhumans have been "downgraded" to TV, and that Marvel and Fox are working together to some capacity (including the "Legion" TV series), you're probably wondering where I'm going with all this and what this has to do with an X-Men reboot? Here's a couple more things: the Doctor Strange movie has introduced the multiverse concept, and the originally two-part "Avengers: Infinity War" has been settled to just one with "Avengers 4" being its own entity (as of the end of July).

The conclusion I'm reaching: Marvel and Fox are working to make a new X-Men film universe separate from the main MCU but will include crossovers, with "Avengers 4" becoming an "Avengers vs. X-Men" film to introduce said universe.
Fox knows they're gambling with a reboot, but a reboot with Marvel's seal of approval would benefit both sides. You're probably thinking "why don't they just bring mutants into the main MCU?" Well as I said in a previous post, Marvel has already positioned the Inhumans into the mutant role, and it's too late to turn back on that now. I've always seen the X-Men franchise as being able to sustain its own universe, but seeing it interact with the main MCU would bring about something new. In the main MCU, heroes like the Avengers are seen as role models, despite criticisms they face like in "Civil War". But with the X-Men, considering their evolutionary stance, people do have reason to hate and fear them, not fully accepting them as heroes. The X-Men could view the Avengers and their world as an ideal to strive for.
Imagine this: considering the Infinity Stones are all in play in "Infinity War", it's possible the Space and Reality stones could open a portal to the X-Men's world, and in a post-credits scene, we're introduced to Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Angel stranded in the MCU.
The fact that the Inhumans are stuck on TV gives more credence to Marvel shifting that focus toward an X-Men franchise, especially since the Inhumans were supposed to fill the X-Men role, although they could still on TV. As an acquaintance on a message board has pointed out, given the results of this year's presidential election and the prejudices that have escalated since then, the need for heroes like the X-Men in both comics and movies will probably be stronger than ever.
Now even if the X-Men do start from scratch, it's still possible for the Deadpool movie to remain in tact (keeping Ryan Reynolds in the process). If you think about it, that movie had such a different feel and mostly disconnected from the other X-Men movies, as evidence by how different Colossus was from previous installments. Even the "Legion" TV series could work in the same way, especially with Marvel involved.

Of course, this is all just speculation. But anything could happen, right? The evidence does point to some good will between the two studios. How far that good will go is hard to say. The way I see it though, there would be no downside to this kind of deal with Marvel having some part in the X-Men while Fox retains the rights but allowed to do their own thing without interfering with MCU plans. Everyone would win, especially the fans. Time will tell I suppose.

Movie Review: Doctor Strange - Every Little Thing He Does is Magic

When it comes to a character like Dr. Strange, producing a movie based on him is a no-brainer. Even when the MCU was still beginning, it was something people wanted. Sure enough, the film was slated for Phase Three with Benedict Cumberbatch of "Sherlock" fame in the role.
So I'll be honest. I wasn't as hyped for this film compared to everything else I've seen this summer. Part of it is when you see a Marvel Studios film, they've done no wrong so far so you just expect it to be good. I mean, you know that Cumberbatch will be good and so will the visuals. Even going in after knowing about the great reviews, I still didn't think it would be up there with Cap, Avengers, or Guardians. Well, consider my face red because my expectations were GREATLY exceeded.
I have to hand it to Marvel firstly for not giving away too much in the trailers and TV spots; that's part of the same reason why Winter Soldier blew me away, and it repeats itself here.

Starting with the actors, I don't think there was a bad one in the bunch, and the interaction between them was amazing.
Cumberbatch was beyond excellent in the lead role. I mean, I knew he'd be good, but I wasn't expecting him to give one of the best performances in the MCU yet. His character arc is amazing, from the confident yet arrogant surgeon, to his downward spiral after his accident in a pretty heart-breaking montage of his recovery and rehab, to becoming a well versed sorcerer. In some ways, I saw a bit of other Marvel heroes in his story. Like Tony Stark, he's super sure of himself (as you'd probably expect from one-half of the Awesome Facial Hair Bros). Like Thor, he becomes arrogant and has to learn some humility (not to mention he even has someone close to him who dresses in green). Like Cap, he has something to prove, wanting to help people but try not to kill anyone. What was also nice to see was how green Strange was. In my experience with Strange, I'm used to seeing him at the peak of his abilities. Even if they talk about his beginnings, they usually skim over the training. He doesn't become the Sorcerer Supreme yet, but he's well on his way.
The Ancient One was pretty much what you'd think of when it comes to an all-powerful teacher. I know there was a lot of flack when it came to Tilda Swenton being cast in a traditionally 'old asian man' role (I think they even poke fun at that expectation in the film itself), but seriously, I couldn't see anyone doing any better in the performance she gave.
Brother Mordo is usually seen as a villain, but this film shows us his own beginnings as a fellow student with Strange with the two forming a friendship. I think it was a great move to save him as the villain for a sequel, as this film does a great job of foreshadowing Mordo's dark path after all he goes through.
Benedict Wong as...Wong (seriously, someone did that on purpose) was another fun part of the film. In some stories, Wong is usually seen as Strange's servant, like the Alfred to his Batman. Honestly though, I always thought Wong was more of a sidekick, able to hold his own but not as strong as Strange himself. If anything, the film shows the two on even ground, not to mention the interaction they have is also pretty fun. I think what makes it most interesting is that Wong is the one who's more knowledgeable in the mystic arts instead of Strange. It may be a long shot, but I do hope Wong makes some sort of appearance in "Infinity War", just to see how the two's relationship has grown, saving us from waiting on a sequel.

Now the visuals. I knew this film was going to be trippy and worth the 3D viewing, but it took things further than I expected. Think "Inception" meets "Ant-Man", but cranked up to 10. I reference "Ant-Man" because some of the strange dimensions we see, like the Dark Dimension, actually remind me of the Quantum Realm Scott shrank down to (I'm not too sure, but I think the Quantum Realm was actually shown here too). The best comparison to "Inception" was the skyscrapers being manipulated, but with magic instead of being a dream, making me feel that if "Inception" had gone a little further, it could have been similar to what we saw here. The use of magic by individuals was also interesting as well, from the creation of portals and weapons (making me think of Scarlet Witch's hand motions), not to mention a pretty cool astral projection fight.

In a way, "Doctor Strange" is another game-changer as magic and the supernatural, while being teased with The Hand on "Daredevil" and Ghost Rider on "Agents of SHIELD", has now been fully introduced into the MCU. I wouldn't say it's the same game-changing level as the Avengers or Captain America movies though, as magic isn't actually revealed to the public, but for the audiences, it was still something brand new and amazing.

I really don't want to say much without spoiling anything, I really recommend seeing "Doctor Strange", especially in 3D. Even if you're not sure about it, trust me, you will NOT regret it. Plus, you might as well get familiar with him before "Infinity War".

My Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings:
1. Captain America: Civil War
2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4. The Avengers
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. Doctor Strange
7. Ant-Man
8. Iron Man 3
9. Thor
10. Captain America: The First Avenger
11. Iron Man
12. The Incredible Hulk
13. Iron Man 2
14. Thor: The Dark World

The Frustrations of a Marvel Reader: Inhumans vs. X-Men Edition

At the time of this writing, there's one element of Marvel's comics that's just out of reach of becoming part of their cinematic universe: X-Men, and by extension mutants, due to their film rights being owned by 20th Century Fox. However, Marvel has one property that can fill that void: the Inhumans. For those who don't know, Inhumans are super powered beings who are descended from primitive humans that were experimented on by the Kree alien race, who have for the most part secluded themselves from the rest of the world in the hidden city of Attilan ruled by the Royal Family. Inhumans are born normal until they are exposed to Terrigen mists, which triggers a process known as Terrigenesis that activates their Inhuman abilities. However, it is a very selective process and not everyone is allowed to have powers. As you can tell, there's quite a few differences between Inhumans and mutants. While an Inhumans movie is in the works, they have already been introduced in the MCU on the "Agents of SHIELD" TV show. I really enjoy what they're doing with this concept, even though in some instances you could easily swap out "Inhuman" for "mutant".

But in the comics, Marvel still has mutants, but they have been pushing the Inhumans into the mainstream in recent years. During the "Infinity" event in 2013, the Inhuman King Black Bolt set off a Terrigen Bomb which dispersed Terrigen Mists into Earth's atmosphere, causing any human with Inhuman DNA to go through Terrigenesis and gain powers, leading to a slew of new characters and books focusing on these new Inhumans dealing with the big change they've gone through and what they do with their new gifts.
Now, I don't mind the Inhumans getting the spotlight shown on them, because Marvel is known for doing this when it comes to characters becoming part of the MCU (see Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Black Panther). My problem is that the X-Men appear to be getting the shaft in the process.

There has been much bad blood between Marvel and Fox over the years over the rights to certain characters. Over the years, Fox has owned the rights and produced films based on not only X-Men, but Fantastic Four and Daredevil as well. When Fox was about to lose the rights to Daredevil for not producing a film before the deadline, they asked Marvel for an extension only to be refused; Daredevil's rights returned to Marvel, which later lead to the critically acclaimed Netflix series. While this is not the root cause of their feud, it's one example. Others have included Fox using Quicksilver in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (in a scene that had originally been written for Juggernaut) before he appeared in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (the character is in a gray area that allows both Marvel and Fox to use him). In addition, Marvel also cancelled (or at least put on hiatus) the long running Fantastic Four series some time before Fox's "Fant4stic" was released (honestly though, would you want to be associated with that movie?). But just before that, in an issue of The Punisher, the cast of said film was apparently blown up.

Immature? Probably. Funny? Well I know I laughed when I saw that.

Because of this bad blood though, this has lead to a number of conspiracy theories that Marvel has been slowly killing off the X-Men franchise. For example, some people actually believe that Marvel ordered that no new characters be created in the X-Men books because that would mean Fox would gain their film rights; that is pure crap though as new characters are still being introduced. For example, there is a new young mutant Sapna being mentored by Magik. In addition, the fact that Marvel doesn't immediately announce any X-Men books in the aftermath of an event like "Secret Wars" and "Civil War II" leads to the belief that Marvel is cancelling the books like they did Fantastic Four.
Despite a part of me that worries, I never believe rumors like this. The X-Men and mutants have been around for over 50 years and are such a pivotal part of the Marvel universe for them to be just gotten rid of. And besides that, the idea that they would cancel to the comics to try and hurt the movies is ridiculous as what happens in the comics has little bearing on whether or not people will see the movies.

But even if they are still part of the comics, what's happening in them does seem to show Inhumans overshadowing the X-Men. As the Terrigen Mists becomes integrated in Earth's atmosphere, this has resulted in a side effect in mutants, killing them, striking them with a disease deemed "M-Pox", and making them sterile. In summation, mutants are (once again) facing extinction as the Inhumans thrive.
As I said, I enjoy that Marvel is doing with the Inhumans on TV as part of the MCU. In the comics though, I just don't care. I'm sure they're finding an audience and that's good for Marvel and fans, but it's just hard for me to be interested. Part of it is that I find Inhumans, particularly the Royal Family, to be too uppity and don't seem to work well with other heroes, easily taking offense. They're "super people with attitude" as Hulk once described them on an episode of "Avengers Assemble." But I think the fact they have a hierarchy is what makes them less relatable than mutants. The only aspect they share are that they have powers due to their genes. Mutants however have always been a metaphor for puberty, with the changes teens go through and having to deal with them, and bigotry, that people hate others for something that have no control over, in this case having powers in place of race or sexual orientation. Even though mutant villains like Magneto have global aspirations, they're still, in a way, normal people.
The main part of my trouble with Inhumans though is the fact that WE STILL HAVE MUTANTS IN THE COMICS. I and many others have grown up with the X-Men and they are well known in pop culture. Not everyone would want to read the apparent 'knock-off' while the original is still around. The only X-book I have on my pulllist at the moment is "Extraordinary X-Men", which is the current flagship book of the X-line, and I enjoy it for the most part because of the character line-up, even if they are dealing with the threat of extinction due to the Terrigen. The best way to describe it is that the Inhumans are the stepdad of the Marvel universe; no matter how hard they try, the Inhumans will never have the same impact as the X-Men, even if you do take the X-Men's trademark "Uncanny" adjective for the main Inhumans book. (Note: I don't mean that to be an insult to stepdads; I'm just using that whole "you're not my real dad" line some kids say for a comparison.)

In a few months time, Marvel will begin the "Inhumans vs. X-Men" miniseries, where the tensions between the two finally explode as the Terrigen is about to saturate the Earth to a point where it will be uninhabitable for mutants. I was planning on reading this, but the solicits for January were released and left a bad taste in my mouth:

• New Attilan is conquered. Medusa and her generals are being held prisoner as the X-Men prepare to cleanse the world of the Terrigen Cloud. • Could this be the end of Inhuman progeny? • Now, the only hope for the Inhuman legacy rests in the hands of an unlikely crew of young Inhumans.

It was at this point I realized two things. The first is my already indifference to the Inhumans, that I hardly know any of the characters of their side, let alone these young ones. I mean, in the image at the beginning of this post, I probably know only half the characters on the Inhuman side. But the most damning thing is that they're portraying the X-Men as the villains, when they're the ones fighting for their lives. While I'm just going by the solicit info, even if the X-Men do cleanse the Terrigen in the atmosphere, I don't think that would do anything to the already existing Inhumans who have powers. The only problem I could see is if they no longer have any Terrigen Crystals, which probably would end the Inhuman lineage (if anyone knows what the deal is with that, feel free to let me know). My point remains the same though that Marvel seems to be playing favorites again with Inhumans defending themselves against the X-Men, even though they have every reason to fight. And this isn't the whole "their existence could lead to our extinction so we have to strike first" argument humans in any X-Men story use; the threat to the mutant race is clear and present. At least back in 2012's "Avengers vs. X-Men" event, the real antagonist was the Phoenix Force with the two teams arguing over how to stop or use it. The conclusion I reached was to skip "Inhumans vs. X-Men" all together, even the "Extraordinary X-Men" tie-in.

But there is a light in the distance. Last week, Marvel announced "ResurrXion", the post-IVX revitalized line of X-Men titles:

""Extinction is no longer staring them in the face, so the X-Men can exhale and turn their attention back to doing what’s defined them since the beginning: Protecting a world that hates and fears them," said the editor. "These new titles won’t cast the X-Men as members of a species fighting for their survival but rather as big, bright, colorful super heroes who want to demonstrate to the world that they want to walk with them hand-in-hand into the future. They’ll have costumes with capes, a school, and softball games. Oh, there will be softball games. The goal is to tell exciting new X-Men stories while keeping an eye on the tropes and touchstones that longtime X-Men fans cherish.""

Well things are obviously going to work out for the X-Men at the end of IVX, and I couldn't be happier. Not only have they admitted the X-Men haven't gotten the best treatment, but they're about to flourish again, and I haven't been this excited for the X-line since "Regenesis" back in 2011. I have a feeling this will accomplish what "Rebirth" is doing for DC. While very little is known about these titles at this moment, the ones I'm looking forward to most are the Blue and Gold books.
I hope that this news will finally put to rest the conspiracies of Marvel killing off the X-Men. In fact, this actually fuels reports of Marvel and Fox patching things up. Not only are they working together on the "Legion" TV series coming to FX in February as well as another series coming to Fox, but there's rumors that Fox will be seeking Marvel's consultation on future films. Will this lead to a deal similar to the one with Sony over Spider-Man? We can only hope; just keep Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.

So if you like the Inhumans, good on you. As for me, I'll be waiting for "ResurrXion."

Rebirth Reviews Part 3: Batman Beyond

A bit late on this since I've been watching and writing up my review on Luke Cage, but we're back with my Rebirth Review series. Since my last post in the series, I've made a few decisions: I WILL be buying the first volumes of each Rebirth title, but I've decided not to do full reviews for each story arc. I worry that there may be some cases where I may not have enough to say for a write-up and I'd prefer to do an all or nothing approach. So now I'll just be reviewing the Rebirth one-shots, such as today's issue...

Written by Dan Jurgens

Art by Ryan Sook

Batman Beyond's history in the New 52 universe has been...interesting. The "Futures End" 2014-15 weekly featured Terry McGinnis traveling back in time to prevent an apocalyptic future with the world controlled by the artificial intelligence Brother Eye. Unfortunately, Terry would end up dying on his mission, passing on his suit and mission to that timeline's Tim Drake. Tim was able to alter the future and ended up being transported back to the year Terry came from, only to find Brother Eye still in control, but to a lesser extent. It's a distinction without a difference, which in my opinion makes the whole of "Futures End" pointless. This would lead into the new "Batman Beyond" series with Tim in the lead. The first arc wrapped up the Brother Eye storyline, which in my opinion hurts "Futures End" even more because it didn't actually wrap up in its own series. The second arc of "Batman Beyond" dealt with the aftermath and some reconstruction, even reestablishing the Justice League Beyond as seen in the animated series, and the third arc actually felt like a traditional Batman Beyond series. For me the series was a mixed bag with interesting the elements but the art was hit and miss.

A lot of people didn't like Tim Drake taking Terry's place, but I didn't mind. The way I see it, it was because they didn't realize that this Beyond series was not the same as the one from the animated series, or even the comic book continuation series that ran from 2010-14. While the New 52 series retained elements from Beyond that people were familiar with like villains and supporting characters, there were references to the present day DC universe as well, like Tim using Gordon's mech suit from his time as Batman during the first arc against Brother Eye, and that the Superman introduced in the second arc was actually Jon, the pre-Flashpoint Superman's son carrying on his father's legacy. Since it's beginning, DC touted this as the "definitive future of the DC universe". I scoff at that since futures and timelines always change when it comes to comics, but I digress. If anything, this makes Batman Beyond the most unique of the Rebirth titles because it doesn't take place in the present day DCU.

Now here's where things start to get confusing. The "Futures End" timeline that Tim came from had been erased, and we learn that the Tim from the new timeline had gone missing without a trace, never to be found and Bruce putting up his Red Robin suit as tribute (don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but it might be connected to what happened to Tim in the most recent arc in Detective Comics). We also learn that the Terry of this timeline didn't actually die but had gone missing during Brother Eye's attack on humanity, lost his memory and had been brainwashed Spellbinder into believing he was the villain Rewire from the comic continuation series...comics are weird, huh? In the final issue of the previous volume, Terry had regained his memory and Tim returned the mantle of Batman to him, allowing Terry to reclaim his life and Tim to make his own path (only to be mysteriously teleported somewhere, but I guess that'll be picked up on later). So with all this backstory out of the way, let's finally delve into the Rebirth issue.

The issue is pretty much about Terry getting back into the swing of things, not only as Batman, but as Terry McGinnis. His brother Matt and best friend Max help him get settles in, but he's most worried about trying to get back in touch with Dana, his old girlfriend. Since Terry and his friends are young adults now, something to note is that Dana has become a social worker. Back in the animated series, all I really remember about Dana is that she was just Terry's girlfriend who would get upset with Terry for being late or not showing for their dates because of his Batman duties, so it's nice that they've added another layer to her.

As I mentioned before, the timeline retains many elements seen from the Batman Beyond animated series (with this issue even going through Terry's Batman origin exactly the same way which is nice for brand new readers and I would hope get them interested in checking out the animated series as well) with some differences, but while the previous volume tried to tie it in with the present DCU, based on this issue, it appears that with Terry back, they're trying to distance themselves and make it feel like the old Batman Beyond. Tim Drake and Brother Eye aren't mentioned at all, and the only references to previous events are Terry's previously perceived death, that he misses having Bruce in his ear, and that his mother died "in the war", i.e. Brother Eye's attack. Maybe it's just as well since DC may be trying to win people back over after killing Terry and replacing him with Tim. But still, even if new readers or old Batman Beyond fans (who may have skipped Tim's tenure) picking this up may be confused by the differences between the series. I know I keep saying that they're different, but my guess is that unlike other alternate version of Bruce's Batman, Batman Beyond has its own unique mythos, which makes it hard for some to think of different versions of the concept.

The art is similar to that of the previous volume drawn by Bernard Chang, which for me again means it's kind of hit and miss, at least based on this issue. But this brings me to one of my overall complaints. Terry's suit has some slight modifications. First off, unlike the cover, Terry's eyes have gone from white to red, and they're no longer just triangles but have weird lines coming from it. It reminds me of the way Scarlet Spider's eyes were drawn sometimes in the 90's. In addition, while not as prominent throughout the issue but more through cover art for future issues, the heels of his boots are also now red. That aspect doesn't bother me as much, but combine that with the now almost demonic looking eyes, it really hurts what was originally such a simple design.

But my overall problem with this issue? It's not a one-shot, or even just a set-up issue. The villains featured are the Jokerz street gang who Terry notices are starting to up their game, going after money and even committing suicide by Joker toxin to avoid talking to the police, and he wants to know what's going on. Terry doesn't really get any answers here, and the last we see of him is Venom powered Jokerz member bringing a wall down on him. I do hand it to this issue for ending on a pretty shocking splash page and it'll definitely make you wonder where it goes. Even so, this really should have been an #1 and not a Rebirth one-shot. What they could have done was something similar to Avenging Spider-Man #15.1, which acted as a bridge between Amazing Spider-Man #700 and Superior Spider-Man #1, which showcased Otto Octavius preparing his new life in Peter Parker's body. What they could've done here was showing Terry upgrading his suit, explaining the differences shown between volumes.

So overall, Batman Beyond does for the most part act as a good jumping on point but does have its problems. But it's nice to have Terry back and I'm interested in seeing where things go.

And with that, that concludes the Rebirth reviews for the titles I read on my regular pull list. Now I wait for the DC Rebirth Omnibus, and this series will return in February with REBIRTH REVIEW MONTH, where I'll review the remaining Rebirth one-shots.

TV Review: Luke Cage - Sweet Christmas!

While being around for decades, Luke Cage hadn't really gotten mainstream attention until he became part of the Avengers in 2004 and boasting a more contemporary look, later making appearances in video games (Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2) and animated series (Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes). At the time of their announcement, Luke Cage was probably my third most anticipated Netflix series after Daredevil and Iron Fist. We saw Cage's MCU debut in Jessica Jones' series, giving us just a taste of the character in anticipation of his own series, and it's within this series that we truly get to know this character as well as see aspects we haven't before in the MCU.

As I said in my Jessica Jones review, Mike Colter was probably the perfect choice to play Cage. He embodies pretty much every thing I know about the character and how you'd expect him to be. While mainly a supporting character in Jessica Jones, we finally get to see the character for who he truly is, and he's much different from the other Netflix heroes we've seen so far. For the most part, Cage is very open with who he is and works to help others when he can, offering a sense of hope. He doesn't hide his identity like Daredevil and while his past haunts him, he doesn't let it consume him like Jessica. He's essentially a man of the people, even being described in the show as "Harlem's Captain America". In one episode where we learn his origins, I constantly got a "Shawshank Redemption" vibe. Besides that, Cage is sometimes quippy, which I believe adds a little more humor compared to the other Netflix shows (I cracked a smile every time he said "Sweet Christmas"), and is very smooth with the ladies. He's just an all around fun character to watch.

In terms of tone, I'd have to say this is the most authentic environment I've seen in a Marvel production. What I mean is that the character interactions just feel natural and I believe this is best shown during the scenes at Pop's Barber Shop, just people shooting the shit with each other; I think that goes hand in hand with Cage's more open nature compared to Daredevil's or Jessica's. You get a real sense of community and solidarity (particularly during a segment in episode 12 with multiple people wearing hoodies with holes in them similar to Cage when he gets shot at as a way to support him) and when something happens to any character, you feel something for them. In addition, the tone matches those of the other Netflix series in terms of intense violence and more. In some ways, it takes it even further than it has before. Pretty much anything can happen outside of saying "fuck" or showing a woman's nipple. Plus, if you never thought you'd hear the 'n' word uttered in something Marvel related, prepare to be wrong.

The action is pretty much what you'd expect when it comes to a bullet proof, super strong hero. There's a lot of shoot outs with Cage just walking through them, often crushing guns beyond repair, and knocking thugs out with just one hit, which does make for some funny moments. It's kind of what I was expecting back in Jessica Jones, that someone super strong should just take care of an enemy with just one hit.

Much like "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Suicide Squad", the show offers a very unique array of music that really helps build some atmosphere to tie into what was happening in that moment. It's not my kind of music preference, but I really enjoyed which and in what way the songs were used. Episode 12 even includes an original song called "Bulletproof Love" by rapper Method Man, who Cage saved prior. Lots of superheroes get their own theme song; now Luke Cage does.

We have two supporting female leads in the series with Detective Misty Knight (played by Simmone Missick) and Claire Temple (reprised by Rosario Dawson and returning from Daredevil and Jessica Jones). They're both very independent and can handle themselves well, taking Luke's help when they absolutely need it. It was interesting to watch Misty's character development, believing in the system and questioning if Luke's actions are helping or hurting Harlem, only to continue to have her faith shaken throughout the series. As for Claire, this is the mos prominent she's been in all her appearances so far in my opinion. While she was important in Daredevil, the chemistry between her and Luke just made her feel even more so.

Now for the villains. While Daredevil and Jessica Jones have had one main villain, Luke Cage has a myriad of villains that are very entertaining in their own ways.
* Diamondback: In a way, this character reminded me of the Reverse Flash, in that he hates the hero mostly because he can't be him. I won't go into any spoilers, but there's a lot of bad blood between him and Cage that makes for some entertaining interactions. If anything though, his emotions and hatred of Cage constantly gets the better of him, which leads to forming what should be a really stupid plan in episode 11, even if it does work. In his final battle with Cage, he wears a battle suit that I thought looked really ridiculous.
* Cottonmouth and Mariah Dillard: Cousins raised in the same home, these two have a very unique relationship, having the same goals but working on different sides of the line (even if the latter has one foot across it). Cottonmouth was a pretty scary guy, acting calm and cool one moment and then going berserk the next (much like Kingpin), although he does have a sense of honor. As for Dillard, one thing I liked about her is that in the first episode, she remarks that they shouldn't be overconfident or they could end up like Fisk; it shows that with everything going on in New York, the bad guys know they need to play it smart. And due to her performance by Alfre Woodard, she reminded me of Amanda Waller, although much more emotionally vulnerable in comparison. It initially makes her a sympathetic character, but as the show reaches its conclusion, you will quickly grow to hate her, but in the way that you love to hate her as a villain. It was with these two, as well as Diamondback, that I've started to notice that the main villains of these Netflix series like Kingpin and Kilgrave all seem to have horrible childhoods. I don't if I should go so far as to say that it's starting to get played out, but there could be room for variety.
* Shades: Out of all the villains, this guy was just fun to watch. He has a very smooth and charismatic side as well as conniving and manipulative, which makes me feel like he's probably the smartest of all the villains of the show.
* Tone: Okay, honestly, this guy only last for two episodes, but what he does is so damn evil that he deserves a mention.
Another thing I've come to realize after this show is the perception of how Marvel uses their villains between the movies and TV shows. While the movie villains seem to be hits or misses or somewhere in between, the Netflix villains usually receive the most praise. The way I see it, it's because since the Netflix series are basically 13 hour movies, it gives the writers much more time to write fleshed out characters. Honestly, if the villains are written well, I don't care how much time is focused on them.

Much like season two of Daredevil, Luke Cage ends on a bit of a dark note, even more so than Daredevil in my opinion, but there is still a sense of hope. Between these two, it makes me wonder just how the plot threads laid out will factor into "Defenders", because that will be the next appearance for both heroes given the projected release schedule of the Netflix series.

Overall, Luke Cage is another successful series for Marvel and Netflix, once again giving us a variety of new things, despite a few things spark some familiarity. The way I see it, Jessica Jones is still the best series, Daredevil is still my favorite, but Luke Cage is right behind them, although it was better than season two of Daredevil.

RATING: 9.5/10

TV Review: "Ultimate Spider-Man: Return to the Spider-Verse" - Creative, But Lacking (SPOILERS)

In it's third season, "Ultimate Spider-Man" produced a very entertaining four part storyline called "The Spider-Verse", which featured the main Spider-Man chasing the Goblin through the multiverse and meeting alternate versions of himself along the way, teaming up with all of them in the end. Apparently this went over so well that they decided to recapture the magic in season four's new four part storyline, "Return to the Spider-Verse". Did lightning strike twice? Let's dive in.

Earlier in season four, Miles Morales/Spider-Man traveled from his world to aid Peter Parker/Spider-Man when Doctor Octopus used the Siege Perilous to draft the Goblin from Miles' world into his new Sinister Six. The battle resulted in the shattering of the Siege Perilous and Miles unable to get back to his own world. While working to find a way to get him home, Miles would join Peter's spider-team and take the stupid name of Kid Arachnid to help differentiate himself from Peter in the field. For the sake of dignity, I'll just be referring to Miles in this review as Miles.
As the four-parter begins, we learn that when the Siege Perilous shattered, it spread across alternate dimensions and was now trying to reassemble itself, causing realities to begin to smash into one another, which will eventually result in total multiversal destruction. Since it was their doing, Peter and Miles are tasked with using a shard of the Siege Perilous to track down the remaining pieces across the multiverse and reassemble the gem before it's too late.
I remember during my review for the first "Spider-Verse" story about how the basic concept has been used before in the 90's animated series and the "Shattered Dimensions" video game. In this instance, my mind quickly jumped to "They're just copying the plot of 'Shattered Dimensions' now." In the game, the Spider-Men had to retrieve fragments of the Tablet of Order and Chaos to restore balance to the multiverse. Despite that, I'll still be reviewing this story on its own merits.
This leads to our first stop...

BLOOD SPIDER

Peter and Miles land in an alternate 19th century Manhattan, where they realize that vampires have taken over half the planet and spreading. The last hero remaining: the Blood Spider.

In the comics, Blood Spider was a supervillain trained by Taskmaster with the goal of defeating Spider-Man. In terms of popularity, the character never really caught on, so a different take, at least in name and origin, is a welcome change. While the previous "Spider-Verse" story mostly visited established worlds well-known to fans (with the exceptions of Spyder-Knight and the gender swapped world of Spider-Girl), this was our first indication that this year's story was going to get more creative with their universes.

That said, this version of Blood Spider is freaking badass. He's got a great costume (I always like a black/red color scheme), his web-shooters fire stakes like spider-stingers, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to end the vampire threat to his world. As far as I know, there hasn't really been a vampire hunter version of Spider-Man, so this was a pretty fun and dark take on the character, though there's indication he did/does have a lighter side to him, like there is still a more familiar version of Peter there.

In the course of the story, we learn two things. First off, it's the Lizard who leads the vampires and helped unify them in their world conquest. I scratch my head at that. Why and how Lizard? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have Morbius, an actual vampire, lead this army of the undead? The second is that the Siege Perilous has the ability to temporarily suppress vampirism in a human, and combining it with a UV light, they're able to cure all the vampires across the planet. It seems that the Siege Perilous will be granting others additional abilities to add more to the story...much like the tablet fragments did for the villains in "Shattered Dimensions." Again, I'm reviewing this as its own, but if I notice similarities to something else, I'm going to point it out.

By the end of this segment, we meet our main villain of the story: the Wolf Spider. Coming from another universe, he intends to gather the pieces of the Siege Perilous so that he can conquer the multiverse himself. So now it's not only a ticking clock, but a race for the fate of all existence.

WEB-BEARD

Well, this one was weird. In terms of animation and tone, it's similar to the Spider-Ham segment from the previous "Spider-Verse" story. Very comedic and reminiscent of Looney Tunes. I got quite a few chuckles from it. Aside from that though, there's not much substance other than "Look, it's Spider-Man as a funny pirate." I'm not even sure if this is supposed to be a parody of anything specifically. Besides that, this version of Spider-Man wasn't even the highlight of the segment for me. That honor goes to the animal pirate versions of Web-Beard's crew made up of characters from "Guardians of the Galaxy": Rocket Raccoon, Cosmo, Howard the Duck, and even Groot makes up their ship. Honestly, I would have liked to see a pirate universe of the whole Guardians of the Galaxy crew with Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax as well. A pirate Spidey here just feels out of place.

Anyway, the main plot of this segment is that Peter and Miles have to help Web-Beard and his crew work through their trust issues over treasure while also fighting off a kraken. Oh, and the fragment of the Siege Perilous they're looking for? It's just sitting in a treasure chest and doesn't have any action until they use it to open a portal to the next fragment. Even Wolf Spider doesn't appear or is mentioned.

While creative, this segment doesn't meld with the common aspects of the rest of the universes shown in this story, but as we'll learn later, it's not the weakest.

WEB-SLINGER

Things start to pick back up in this segment. In this alternate old west world, we have the cowboy Web-Slinger taking on Sheriff Dr. Octavius "Doc Ock" Holiday, who killed the previous sheriff Ben Parker, and placed a strong hold over the town.

I'll start with Web-Slinger himself. As far as I know, there hasn't been an old west version of the character, so again, I have to applaud the creativity. The guns that shoot out web-bullets are a nice touch, and the costume itself is pretty much what you'd expect from a cowboy version of the character. You have the spider like symbols and on the front and back of the poncho which also has web pattern on the ends and around the neck. If I have one problem though, it's with the mask. The web pattern just looks weird when it's only a half-mask. I think it would have worked better if he had a regular domino mask like the Lone Ranger with a plain red bandana over his mouth.

I really liked this version of Doc Ock, even more so than the mainstream version on this show. It's just nice to see Doc Ock up and walking again, not to mention he's even created his own mechanical arms thanks to the fragment he found of the Siege Perilous, which he was also able to use to fight off Wolf Spider from taking it (Yes! The main plot returns!).

Ock also has a right-hand henchman called the Phantom Rider, who wears all white everything: shirt, pants, gloves, mask, hat, and cape. At first I though this was a version of Moon Knight, but the end of the story brings a pretty good twist that I won't spoil here, but it does make for an emotional moment.

If there's one fault I have with this segment, it's that it wastes a perfect opportunity for a classic old west saloon brawl. The battle crashes into a saloon and while the patrons run, the piano player continues to play, only for the battle to lead back outside 15 seconds later. I don't know if it's considered cliche, but how can you go to an old west world and not have a saloon brawl? Was more time really needed for the Web-Beard segment? Even the preceding "Spectacular Spider-Man" series played with the idea with Spidey fighting Mysterio on a saloon movie set, with the piano playing and Spidey even getting hit over the head with a bottle. But I digress.

I kind of found Web-Slinger similar to Spider-Man Noir, specifically the aspect of the main villain being responsible for Uncle Ben's death, but also that he's pretty serious, gruff, and fighting corruption. There's also a sense of realism, but that's downplayed by the magical elements at hand.

NOIR

Speaking of Noir, we have our only returning universe from last year's "Spider-Verse". But he's not alone this time. As you can see from the pic, we are introduced to this universe's Hulk. Since there was never a Hulk Noir comic series and he didn't appear in any of the others, this is an original creation, using the Mr. Fixit look and name from the mainstream universe, which fits with the Noir reality. He even has two partners in Noir versions of General Ross and Rick Jones.

As we re-enter this world, Peter and Miles wind up in the middle of a shootout between Fixit's crew and Hammerhead's. Peter and Miles get pulled away by Spidey Noir, who is more than happy to let the two gangs finish each other off. At first I found this to be little dark, even for Spidey Noir, but I'd like to assume he'd step in if civilians were in danger. Surprisingly, Miles agrees with him, which adds for some conflict between him and Peter during this segment. But when Hammerhead's receives a new tommy gun powered by a fragment of the Siege Perilous created by Martin Li, Spidey Noir feels the need for him and the other Spiders to step in. During the battle, the fragment becomes loose, and when Li grabs it, he uses its power to become this universe's version of Mr. Negative. Unlike the mainstream version, this Mr. Negative uses the Siege Perilous to turn people and objects to stone, using it on not only Ross and Jones, but Hammerhead as well, taking over his crew in the process. It's not like Negative's actual powers are as dangerous as that, so I can welcome this change.

The Spiders and Fixit retreat back to Spidey Noir's place, where we find not much has changed. At the end of last year's Noir segment, it seemed him and Mary Jane were going to reunite, but in the time since, it's revealed that Mary Jane had been killed during one of the battles between Hammerhead and Fixit. It kind of sucks that he didn't get a happy ending, but I guess when it comes to darker vigilantes, much like Batman or Daredevil, there's no such thing. As you can imagine, Spidey Noir isn't feeling any love for Fixit, which leads to them duking it out. Miles thinks they should just let Fixit be taken care of, but Peter believes there's still a hero in Fixit, much like the Hulk in his world.

Meanwhile, Mr. Negative modifies a spotlight on top of a tall building to amplify his powers and continues to turn people to stone from great distances. Think of the giant freeze cannon used in "Batman & Robin." Negative is approached by Wolf Spider, who wants to join forces with Negative much like he did with Lizard in Blood Spider's world. While he explains the potential for more power, Negative isn't having it and attacks Wolf Spider, who decides to open a portal to another dimension and leave. You know, for our supposed main villain of the event, Wolf Spider doesn't seem as much as a threat as Goblin was last year. Goblin stayed until he got what he wanted, the blood of that world's Spider-Man. Between this and the mention of his unsuccessful encounter with Doc Ock Holiday in Web-Slinger's world, Wolf Spider's kind of cowardly. I suppose it's more of a strategic reasoning and he's still finding other fragments in other worlds while Peter and Miles are on others, but I have to wonder how he's accomplishing this if he seems to run at the first sign of trouble.

Back to the main story, Miles gets turned to stone by Negative, leading Peter, Fixit, and Spidey Noir to another retreat. Peter blames them because they couldn't stop fighting, but when Spidey Noir brings up that it's Fixit's fault that MJ died, Fixit reveals the truth. Hammerhead had tried to bring a building down on top of Fixit along with everyone else in it, but Fixit was holding it together as long as he could so people could escape. MJ was there as a reporter but did her part to get people out too. Unfortunately, the building finally caved in before MJ could make her own escape. Spidey Noir forgives Fixit and the three begin a plan to stop Negative. First, they use a blimp (don't ask where they get it) to crash into his spotlight and they lure Negative and his henchmen to a theater, where they're able to pick off his henchmen one by one through stealth moves (reminding me of the Noir levels of "Shattered Dimension") before turning to Negative himself. Spidey Noir gets turned to stone protecting Fixit, which can be seen as a bit of redemption for himself. Before Negative can do the same thing to Peter, Fixit grabs him and takes the fragment for himself, using it reverse all the damage caused around the city, reverting Miles, Hammerhead, Ross, Jones, and everything else to normal. There's one other thing it does though.

The feel of this universe is that it's all black and white, hence the Noir designation. But once Fixit uses the fragment to repair the damage, he also brings color to the world. I honestly think this was a mistake on the writers' part because it takes away this universe's unique style compared to all the others we've seen. While I can't speak for the other Noir titles, the Spider-Man ones had a bit of a sepia tone rather than black and white, but even then it had its own style. Here, they go with natural colors similar to the main universe and it just seems weird. Even Miles' world from last year still had a different pallet than the main one.

So overall, it was nice to revisit the Noir universe again. It retained its sense of realism even though it did deal with magical elements, much like the Web-Slinger segment, but I felt the realism was more prominent here, though that could be attributed to the fact that we had already seen this world before last year. Spidey Noir himself was still pretty badass, not taking any crap from anyone, though we still see he has some heart, and I really felt for him when it was revealed he lost MJ, who was probably the only person that gave him some kind of normalcy and calmness in his life. Sure, in the previous Noir segment, Aunt May was mentioned and that he "hadn't seen her in years", but no mention this year. It's possible that even if they did reconnect, he probably pushed her away again after MJ died. It was also kind of cool to get a Noir version of Hulk, even if they did just seem to pluck the mainstream version and drop him here, but it showed he had some relationships in this world, probably even more than what we were shown. Like the "Guardians" characters in Web-Beard's world, it's something that I would have liked to explore more, but at least they were able to make both Spider-Man and Fixit interesting, which they failed to do with Web-Beard. Still, it makes me wonder how they would have done a Hulk Noir miniseries during the time the imprint was still running.

SPIDER-GWEN

Last year's "Spider-Verse" story featured a Spider-Girl segment that really didn't adhere to the most well-known version of the character, that of Peter's daughter May. Apparently when it comes to female spider characters, this show has a problem.

Since her debut in the comics in 2014, Spider-Gwen has become quite popular, starting from a one-shot character to being given her own ongoing series. For those who don't know, in an alternate universe, it was Gwen Stacy that was bitten by the spider, giving her powers and becoming Spider-Woman. The Peter Parker of this world would become the Lizard and died in battle with Spider-Woman, who would end up being blamed for his death. There are many other differences in this universe that are pretty interesting, but let's not take away focus. That focus being how this segment completely ruins the Spider-Gwen concept.

So to start off, this version of Spider-Gwen lives in Miles' universe, which in my opinion is CHEATING. We find out that crime has been rampant since Miles disappeared, getting so bad that police have been targeting heroes and villains because apparently some villains were pretending to be heroes, although this is never brought up again, which makes me think they just needed some bull reason for the police to be after Gwen like they are in the comics.

Second, it turns out that Gwen doesn't have any powers. Realizing the city needed help and being inspired by Miles and the late Peter of her world, she put together her own suit with tech that helps her stick to walls, shoot webs, and even a "digital spider-sense". It's worth mentioning that Peter was her friend. FRIEND. They could have made it more faithful and emotionally powered if she said "boyfriend", but expecting romantic relationships in this show is too much to ask at this point (hell, Noir had MJ and she died). You know what I really hate about this? It takes away this Gwen's significance. In her comic, she's the main spider-powered being of her world. She was bit by the spider. She lost the person she loved. Before the "Spider-Verse" event in the comics, she had no idea about all the alternate dimensions where Peter was Spider-Man in a majority of them. To have her following in both Peter and Miles' footsteps here doesn't give her her own identity. The aspect I do like though is that Aunt May acts as the Oracle to Gwen's Batman, mostly because it gives her the chance to interact with a version of her nephew who's alive in another dimension, making for some good emotional moments.

Anyway, they track the Siege Perilous fragment to an evidence locker in the NYPD where they encounter Wolf Spider, who has kidnapped Miles' mother for leverage. It's here we see the full capabilities of Wolf Spider's powers, the most prominent being that he has four large spider legs coming from his back. They battle and the good spiders manage to take away the fragments Wolf Spider had collected to completely reform the Siege Perilous. They save Miles' mother and retreat back to the Morales apartment. Peter is about to bid farewell before Wolf Spider busts in to steal the Siege Perilous back, revealing not only that he knew where Miles lived because he killed him along with ever other hero in his own world, but that he's Peter Parker (please hold back your "shock"), and that he's apparently the only evil Peter Parker in the multiverse. First off, it's not really shocking that Wolf Spider turned out to be a Peter Parker, because not only did they spoil it in the commercials, but a majority of universes have a Peter Parker as Spider-Man. However, it was interesting to see a purely evil version of Peter, making me think of DC's Earth-3, though the whole "conqueror of the world" thing is a bit of a stretch.

Peter, Miles, and Gwen track Wolf Spider down to his underwater lair where he begins siphoning off the lifeforce of the multiverse's spider-people to make himself more powerful, capturing Miles and Gwen as well. Peter then allows himself to be caught, entering a sort of mindscape where all of the spider-people are being held captive so he can inspire them to never give up. Peter gets freed as well as Miles and Gwen as the rest of spider-people inside Wolf Spider begin to fight back and tear him apart until he explodes, with Peter's reasoning being that all the good spider-people can't be contained by one evil version. So it all comes down to the power of good is stronger than the power of evil, a message I'd expect from a children's show aimed at a lower age group.

With the multiverse saved, Peter plans to head home, but Miles and his mother decide to come with him to his world since they don't have any other family and that Gwen is now the spider of their world. Okay, the Gwen thing I understand, but why the hell would Miles and his mother completely uproot their lives?! Does she not have a job? Do they not have any friends at? How do they expect to make a living in another universe? I mean, I guess SHIELD can help out with that, but still, it's all just an excuse to keep Miles as part of the show...which I guess means he'll still be using that idiotic Kid Arachnid name instead of being the Spider-Man of his own world like he's earned. I remember in Miles' own segment in the last "Spider-Verse" story when Peter said Miles didn't have to be like Peter Parker to be Spider-Man because "Miles Morales is just fine." I guess he should have followed that up with "but if for some reason we live in the same universe, I keep the Spider-Man name."

I guess the biggest problem with the Spider-Gwen segment is that it just uses the name and focuses mainly on Peter and Miles.

To begin my conclusion, let me rank the segments from my favorite to least:

1. Noir

2. Blood Spider

3. Web-Slinger

4. Web-Beard

5. Spider-Gwen

As for my overall feelings of "Return to the Spider-Verse"? Well, it was at its strongest when it was original and creative (except for how they portrayed Spider-Gwen; I can't forgive them for that). But it lacks a lot of what made the first "Spider-Verse" work, from a cohesive theme between each story as well as an unrelenting main villain. Wolf Spider had a lot of potential from his first appearance in Blood Spider's world, but mostly took a backseat until Spider-Gwen's. While it was obvious he was a Peter Parker, they could have built up more mystery about who he was. Hell, I had some theories that he was a zombie Peter either from Miles' or Gwen's world (before they revealed it was the same world) that came back to life and turned evil due to the Siege Perilous.

Another thing I liked in the original was that all the spiders came together to fight together in the finale, and while we kind of get it here, it would have been better to see an actual fight rather than the whole "good overpowers evil" morality lesson.

I might also be playing favorites too since the original story featured mainly alternate Spider-Men that were well-known, which made it fun and why I viewed it as a tribute to Spider-Man's overall legacy. With the new one, I don't get that same feeling. While still entertaining, it didn't have the same heart, which makes me hope they don't try another "Spider-Verse" story in season five.

RATING: 4.5/10

Movie Review: Suicide Squad - A Jumbled Puzzle (SPOILERS)

Here we are again. Another DC film, another bashing on Rotten Tomatoes. I understood the mixed reaction to "Man of Steel." I'll keep defending "Batman v Superman" for being unfairly criticized. But with "Suicide Squad", I hate to admit it, but maybe the critics aren't unfounded this time. Now, personally, I've never been that interested in the Suicide Squad in the comics. That doesn't play a role in my feelings of the movie though. I've seen plenty of comic book movies where I don't follow the source material and I can still enjoy them. Hell, after the second trailer for "Suicide Squad", I thought it could be even better than "Batman v Superman." Now, it's not as horrible as the critics are making it out to be. It had all the right pieces and was still entertaining, but I find it to be the weakest of the three DC Extended Universe films so far.

The story itself is not what I was expecting. I kind of thought it would be a lot more grounded and dirty compared to "Batman v Superman" with these nasty and crazy people forced on a black ops mission going after a certain villain with a connection to one of the team members and then it explodes into something out of their league. But in actuality, right off the bat their main mission and target are that of a magical nature. Now that kind of story could have worked, but when it takes up most of the movie and and we know the scale of the threat straight away, there isn't too much in terms of build-up.
At the very least though, the action is pretty grounded, considering most of the characters aren't superpowered. Everyone has their moments, but just don't expect it to be at the level of "Batman v Superman". However, it didn't help during the climax of the film where there's a lot of smoke and dust that obscures the fighting and half the time only features character silhouettes.

If there's anything that saves this movie though, it's the characters. The introductions are so-so, working better for some than others, but its when they first come together and begin working as a team, playing off each other, that's where they truly shine. I think it's better to go through and give my thoughts on each character:
* Viola Davis as Amanda Waller: She's a cold-hearted bitch...which means her character was done justice. She's manipulative, willing to kill anyone to protect her self interest (even her employees), and even considered using Enchantress to create an army of near indestructible minions for her own use.
* Will Smith as Deadshot: Come on, it's Will Smith. Of course he's going to give a charming performance (we can forgive him for "After Earth; he was Shyamalan'd after all). Out of all the male characters, he's the one who's the most snarky. He's also probably the only guy on the team who's truly bad but still has a heart when it comes to his daughter.
* Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn: Oh hell yes. Robbie is Harley incarnate. She's funny, sexy, and like Deadshot, still has love in her heart for a special someone. That special someone is a homicidal clown, but it's still love. So why isn't she my favorite overall? Well, it has to do with one of the issues of the film: pacing. The film begins with some introductions to the team. Most of them were done well, but I thought Harley had a very abridged version. We see some brief flashbacks to when she was still a doctor at Arkham and joined up with the Joker, but again, it's very abridged. I know this Harley already has a history and fans know it, but I wanted to know more, like how exactly did this version Joker ensnare her? But I'll have more on that later. Point is, Robbie killed it and if she is going to star in a female centric DC film, bring it on.
* Jay Hernandez as El Diablo: Out of the whole team, El Diablo is the only one with actual powers and is also the most sympathetic character in the movie. The way he uses his powers is really entertaining to watch, even when he does the littlest things, although there's one moment during the climax that was a little over the top, but still fits with what was established. But to borrow a quote from Black Widow, he "avoids the fight because he knows he'll win." Because he was responsible for his own personal tragedy, he turns himself in to Belle Reve as penance and really doesn't want to get involved in the battles at first.
* Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag: Flag is a character I kind of had to warm up to, mostly through his animosity with Deadshot which later turned into mutual respect. But what the film wants more is for you to feel emotional for Flag because his girlfriend, June Moore, is the human possessed by the Enchantress and there's the possibility that he'll have to kill the woman he loves. This is a problem of pacing, as well as exposition. Through Waller, we find out that she placed Flag in charge of Moore because she knew it would lead to a romantic relationship between the two, which makes Flag easier for her to manipulate. The problem is though, we don't see this relationship grow, and it made me question, why should I care? More on Enchantress in a bit.
* Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang: What you see in the trailers is pretty much what you get. He's violent. He's crazy. He's Australian. He drinks. It makes for some laughs though, but I feel there's more that could have been done with him, especially since he's one of the most well-known members of the Squad. It's possible he could have been outshined by everyone else, especially Smith and Robbie, but then again, Jai Courtney hasn't found much luck in Hollywood between the recent Robocop and Terminator reboots. I hope he gets another chance to play the character again, like in the Flash movie looking for payback.
* Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc: Croc doesn't do much but deliver one-liners at first, but he does become a little more impressive during the climax. My problem though is I thought he was a little small. Most of the time he's wearing a jacket, but out of it, he's not as muscular as you'd think. It's like his head is too big for his body. In the comics, Croc's body does mutate further, so a future appearance could work things out.
* Karen Fukuhara as Katana: Why was she even here? Her in-story reason was to watch Flag's back in case one of the Squad goes after him. But on two occasions where Flag is being dragged off by Enchantress' minions, it takes most of the Squad to save him. She just didn't seem necessary, despite entertaining sword skills, particularly in the climax. But her introduction does bring out a good Harley moment...and she gets hit on by Captain Boomerang...so there's that.
* Adam Beach as Slipknot: Okay, is there anyone going into this movie who DIDN'T expect the character that was barely shown in trailers to go rogue and get his head blown up because of it so they could demonstrate the nanobomb? ...I didn't think so.
* Cara Delevingine as June Moore/Enchantress: So while an intended member of the Squad, they flip the script and make her our main villain of the movie. She actually has two forms: her possessed form, which is a lot more dirty, and a complete form, which makes her more like an evil goddess. Not only does the dirtier appearance look more believable, but I would have believed Doomsday was actually there in "Batman v Superman" than the complete Enchantress here (and the overacting didn't help). Oh and apparently she has a brother who helps...except they don't tell us his name...which made he again question why I should care (I looked it up when I got home though and it's Incubus, but I stand by my IDC). I honestly just didn't think this was the right choice for the main villain. I would have liked to see her work with the team, which would have helped build her relationship with Flag more, and when the major shit went down, that's when she could have gone full powered.

But let's talk about what probably for a lot of people was one of the main draws for the movie: Jared Leto as the Joker. Coming off eight years from Heath Ledger brilliant depiction of the character in "The Dark Knight", many were expecting Leto to at least compete with, if not top that performance. The verdict: still in deliberation. The Joker isn't in it as much as you'd expect and it's questionable whether he was necessary. I thought they were showing very little of him in the trailers so they could save the good stuff for the film itself, much like Spider-Man in Civil War. In fact, that's a good comparison. It's a glorified cameo that wasn't so much a necessity but adds more fun. But while we saw enough of Tom Holland's Spidey to compare him to Maguire and Garfield, we don't get that luxury with Leto's Joker. This is another problem with the pacing. We don't have time to fully immerse ourselves with this Joker, although there's enough to see the potential in this version. I heard that a lot of Leto's scenes were scrapped from the final cut, which is noticeable. We don't get the "I can't wait to show you my toys" line, we don't see him with part of his face burned and pulling a pin out of a grenade with his teeth, and a set photo from a flashback scene of Harley pointing a gun at Joker also didn't seem to make it. Hopefully we get to see these scenes when it comes out on DVD, either through deleted scenes or another extended cut (more on that in a bit). The worst part of it though is that we don't get to see Leto's Joker interact in person with Affleck's Batman. Even if it was just 30 seconds (no pun intended), it would have been enough for me. Leto has potential, but as is stands, Heath Ledger is still the best Joker.

Speaking of Batman, his appearances in this film were brief but still entertaining. Compared to how he was in "Batman v Superman", it was actually nice to see him taking in actual supervillains like Deadshot and Harley Quinn (who he punches out hard after she comes at him with a knife).

Closing out the topic on characters though, DC really needs to stop building mystery around what characters certain actors are playing. Back in "Batman v Superman", Scoot McNairy played Wallace Keefe, the Wayne employee who lost his legs during the battle in Metropolis. Speculation before that included Flash and Jimmy Olsen. With "Suicide Squad", we get two instances. Ike Barinholtz of MadTV fame played a head security officer at Belle Reve, and the last speculation I saw was that he could be Hugo Strange. But the bigger speculation was who Scott Eastwood was playing, either being an undercover Dick Grayson or Oliver Queen. I listened intently during the movie to catch his name, only to watch the credits to find he was just another soldier. So seriously DC, stop making us speculate who certain actors are playing. We're going to automatically assume it's someone big, only to make us feel stupid when it's no one important.

Now this is more of a little problem, but I had a hard time seeing where this film stands within the grand plan of the DCEU, even though it's built off of events of "Batman v Superman" and the mid-credits scene offers more build-up for "Justice League". It's easier to see with the MCU, especially since all the Phase One films were leading up to the Avengers. But while we have "Man of Steel", "Batman v Superman", and "Wonder Woman" leading up to "Justice League" with "The Flash" and "Aquaman" coming afterwards, where does "Suicide Squad" fit in? Maybe there's just something I'm not seeing.

When the negative reviews started hitting, so did the behind the scenes drama of reshoots and alternate cuts. After the response to "Batman v Superman", despite denials, reshoots for "Suicide Squad" were partly done to insert more humor and make it a little lighter. First off, I don't think that this is a film that needed to be "lighter". On a scale of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Deadpool", this film is somewhere in between. I reference those films because those are the ones that WB were most likely trying to evoke from audiences, with the bad guys trying to be good.
Speaking of "Guardians" though, "Suicide Squad" also has an extensive repertoire of music, featuring almost twice as many songs as the Awesome Mix with a mix of classic rock, some hip hop, and a pinch of alternative. While it was entertaining and some songs were used better than others, it didn't have the same magic like in "Guardians", and I couldn't help but feel like they were trying too hard in that aspect. I might have bought the soundtrack if it wasn't cut in half and had a majority of the good songs on it, and I was hoping it could have been as good as the Awesome Mix. 
One could say it is lighter than "Batman v Superman", mostly for the humor. It's hard to tell whether more jokes were added during the reshoots, but I wouldn't have been surprised. I wouldn't say it hurt the film though. There was a lot of laughs at the showing I went to and I was adding to it. I do take it as a sign though that they're trying to lighten things up for the future films, which will probably help "Justice League" more than anything, despite my own feelings that they should still try and stand out from Marvel.
But this brings me to a major issue that's affected both of DC's movies this year: studio interference. "Batman v Superman" got thrashed by critics for its theatrical cut but redeemed itself with the extended edition. Is history repeating itself with "Suicide Squad"? Will there be an extended edition for that as well? My point is, we shouldn't have to wait an additional few months to see the true version of the movie. WB needs to learn to respect the vision of the director, and they need to learn that lesson soon. "Wonder Woman" is the last DC film before "Justice League", and if they can't get one positively received film before that, it could affect some's expectations for what is essentially going to be their "Avengers" moment. I'd hate to see Wonder Woman, the first female hero finally getting her own movie, to go through the same thing.

So overall, maybe I'm being a little overcritical, but I still found "Suicide Squad" to be an entertaining film even with its problems and possibly being a little over-hyped. I'm glad though that other fans are enjoying it more than I did and that they're flocking to theaters this weekend; the screening I went to was more packed than when I went to "Batman v Superman". I think I might enjoy it a little more after seeing it again, but at the moment, while it's not my favorite DCEU film, it still has its merits despite what the critics say.

RATING: 6.5/10

Rebirth Reviews Part 2: 'Justice League' and 'Nightwing'

Welcome to part two of my Rebirth Review series. Before we get to the actual reviews first, a bit of an update on how I'm proceeding this series after the Rebirth one-shots.
I'm still toying with the idea of getting ALL the first collected volumes of each corresponding Rebirth series that I'm not currently reading, but there are some I know for sure I'll be getting.
The series I'll be reading in trades regardless: 'Superman', 'Titans', and 'Teen Titans'.
The first volumes of books I'll be getting just to try them out: 'Green Arrow' and 'Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps'. I'm also considering getting 'Supergirl' because the art by Brian Ching looks pretty good and the story could be worth a shot.
That said, let's start this part of the series with seeing how the flagship New 52 title begins anew.

Story and Art by Bryan Hitch

After nearly five years, Geoff Johns, recently promoted to president and chief creative officer at DC Comics, hands the reigns of the Justice League over to Bryan Hitch. This isn't Hitch's first foray into the League though. After "Convergence", a new 'Justice League of America' series was launched with Hitch writing and drawing. That series has yet to be concluded because much like Jim Lee and David Finch, Hitch is notorious for not being able to work on a deadline. It's part of the reason that while I had interest in 'JLA', I decided to trade-wait that story because of the expected delays, even though the story itself has been referenced in other books, including this one. I'm not even sure I'll still get it at this point.

Speaking of art, Hitch does draw this one-shot and he has a unique style, where you can look at it and immediately say 'that's by Bryan Hitch.' Personally, I'm not a big fan. It's not that it looks bad, but it just looks off to me. He does a good job with landscapes and alien creatures, but people's bodies (particularly the faces) are sometimes in weird positions. Maybe it has to do with the characters being in motion. Thankfully though, Tony Daniel, who has worked on not just the previous volume of Justice League, but also Batman and Superman, will be the main artist of the book. He's quite good and is able to make a deadline (and also provided the cover above).

Story wise for this one-shot, there's one thing that works, and one that doesn't. For what works, it's the character interactions, particularly the League discussing how to handle this giant alien creature called a Reaper from engulfing a city (they don't say which one) and its inhabitants. They all sound like you'd expect. But outside of that, there are two other scenes shown. One is at the home of the pre-Flashpoint Lois and Clark, who are discussing whether Clark should join up with the League now that their Superman is dead. The League, still mourning, have also been discussing this idea, though uneasy about the fact that another Superman has been living on their world for years and not sure. If anything, the League, especially Batman, wants him close to keep an eye on him and make sure he can be trusted. Between the two conversations, the other correlation is how the New 52 Superman's death and the discovery and succession of the pre-Flashpoint Superman may be too connected to be a coincidence.

A couple more notes. I've felt more this way while reading Action Comics, but I see it applicable here as well. When I read Superman and Lois, the voices I hear are Tim Daly and Dana DeLaney from the animated series. With the New 52 versions, I kind of felt like I had to force those voices in my head because they were very different from what people expect from the characters. But using the voices with the pre-Flashpoint versions, it feels so much more natural, because these are the versions people expect. That's also kind of the reason I don't like that the League are uneasy about this Superman because they don't know him. Batman even says "He claims he's Superman, but we know nothing about him." I know this trustbuilding will probably be a plot-point in the book for awhile, but I myself, already familiar with this character, know he can be trusted. In the end though, he doesn't officially join the League, but says he'll "be around".

Now the thing about the story that doesn't work. The threat of the story is one of an extinction level. On one hand, it's nice that to see a story where it doesn't take 6 issues to fight off an invasion. However, it appears that this is Hitch's go-to story. Between from what I've heard of Hitch's 'JLA' and reading the first issue of the new volume of Justice League (and I've been trying not to talk about the stories following the Rebirth one-shots so soon), it involves an alien force threatening to destroy the Earth and take over the population's minds. I realize that the League is THE team to fight off the major threats, but there should be some variety. Geoff Johns' run included a villain targeting the League because he blamed them for the death of his family, and a virus outbreak that was granting normal humans super powers. I know it's too early to tell, but I hope Hitch brings some different story types. Another thing about this story though is that I think Hitch is channeling the first Avengers movie, especially in the end where they tell the creature to run and let his kind and anyone else know that Earth is protected by the Justice League. It's kind of similar to what Nick Fury said: "[The Avengers] surely are [dangerous]. And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it."

I guess the only other thing to talk about is the team line-up. Carrying over are Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. And in addition to the pre-Flashpoint Superman, the other two members are the new Green Lanterns, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz (not sure why the League needs two Lanterns but whatever). Baz hasn't had much spotlight since his debut so it's nice to see him in a starring major role again. Cruz has been working with the League since after "Forever Evil" trying to use Power Ring's powers for good, but was inducted into the Green Lantern Corps at the end of "Darkseid War". Apparently there's some kind of attraction between her and Flash and a future solicit says shes going to ask him out, which will kind of put a damper on my thought from the Flash Rebirth special that Barry and Iris were going to get back together. Guess we'll have to see what happens.

Justice League's Rebirth one-shot in my opinion isn't a perfect set-up for the future of the series (especially the art), but it offers an idea of what's to come: big threats and a good team dynamic.

Written by Tim Seeley

Art by Yanick Paquette

For the last two years, Dick Grayson has been playing super spy in his eponymous title, "Grayson". But now he's back in black (and blue) in the role he's made his own, Nightwing. While this one-shot sets up his return to his former identity, it also pays tribute to his previous title as an agent of Spyral. It's written in such a way that I feel that a new reader can easily follow along with what happened, along with make them interested in going back and read the "Grayson" title. Having read it myself, I really do recommend it. The best interactions Dick has in that series as well as this one-shot are with fellow agent Tiger (who Dick affectionately calls 'Tony' to his annoyance) and Midnighter, member of the superhero team Stormwatch who considers him and Dick to be "arch-frenemies".

Looking toward the future though, Dick and Damian are hanging out, which acts as a framing device for Dick's last missions as a Spyral agent (shown through flashbacks). I always enjoy the interaction between the two, going back to when they were partners as Batman and Robin. I won't spoil the specifics, but there's some follow-up to events from the "Robin War" crossover event that's a little too complicated to explain here and just gets glossed over in the one-shot. So I guess that's one aspect that probably requires from additional reading to understand. Let's just say it has to do with the main antagonists Dick will be facing for the beginning of his new series.

Dick has a cool inner monologue about the meaning of the name 'Nightwing'. Many may not know this, but it actually comes from a superhero from Krypton. It meant 'eternally reborn to start anew'. It certainly fits with Dick with all the roles he's undertaken in his career, from Robin, to Batman, and now, once again, Nightwing.

While Yanick Paquette is only working on the Rebirth one-shot, the art here is excellent. There are some instances where I think Dick or Damian's faces look a little weird, but I've gotten used to it after a couple re-reads (though I guess weird faces is the connection between these two reviews).

Now for a little commentary on aesthetics. First off, when Dick became Nightwing again when the New 52 began, he had a black/red color scheme instead of black/blue. Some people were upset about it, but I wasn't. Personally, I think the red kind of fits better because it connects more with his past as Robin. But I do like the blue. That said, I also kind of wish they went back to the logo they used for his solo book in the 90's and early 00's. It would have fit better with the 'Rebirth' theme. Either that or at least removie that bat-symbol behind the name in the current logo.

Out of all the Rebirth one-shots I've read so far, Nightwing's is the one that's nearly perfect, paying respect to the past that mostly won't leave readers asking questions while setting up what's to come.

It's going to be awhile before the next part of Rebirth Reviews, but when we return, it will be to the future world of Batman Beyond in another story of role reclamation.